On the 17th May, Grantham Running Club member Daniel Bates joined more than 46,000 runners from 116 countries taking part in the various races making up the Riga Marathon weekend in Latvia.
Donning the green and black vest of the club for the first time, Daniel’s main aim was just making it round the course having retired from marathon running in 2019.
Despite his modest expectations, things went much better than expected, and Daniel not only ran his best 10K and half marathon times in 6 years, but ran his fastest marathon in 7 years, crossing the line in 4:14:18.
What made this run more remarkable was that only 6 months ago Daniel sustained serious injuries in a near fatal car accident, making this race finish an emotional one.
Daniel remarked that this is now one of the best marathon events in Europe and will definitely be back next year.