The Tissington Trail half and full marathon took place on 26th April 2026 as a more rural alternative to the London Marathon. For Caroline Davis, it presented an opportunity to take part in a marathon she had not completed before and a route for the Virtual London Marathon.
The trail starts at Ashbourne, then heads Parley Hay, with an immediate hill to deal with before settling into a gentler incline.
Derbyshire was at its best with just the right amount of sunshine, for marathon running and with lots of sheep and cows in the fields next to the trail and polite cyclists and walkers.
Caroline looked on in awe when the front runners came back past for their second half of the race and the lead runner was very jovial, saying well done to everyone he passed.
It was a pleasure to reach Parley Hay and the turn around point as it was now her turn to say well done to everyone who had a mile or so to go to reach the halfway point. She also spied fellow Grantham member Nick Payne who was coming up behind me.
The way back to Ashbourne became a steady downhill, which helped with the final part of the marathon and Caroline’s London Marathon App showed a negative split, which she had never managed before.
From 17 miles there was a steeper downhill section and Caroline used the half marathon km signs to help push back to the start/finish. There was a last cheeky hill right at 26 miles so it was one last haul then the short stretch to the finish line.
Caroline crossed the finish line back in Ashbourne in an official time of 4:19:0, pleased to get under 4.5 hours, she felt OK until she had to walk uphill to the car park. Nick Payne completed the marathon in 5:31:11.