The first marathon I ran was in October 1984. Our platoon Sergeant thought it wise to enter a group of us for the Snowdonia Marathon. At the time I was 17 yrs of age at the now long gone Army Apprentice College Chepstow.
I had never been a runner, in fact I was always at the back of the PT lesson during my time in green. I smoked, and was at the back of the class for most stuff physical.
The chance to run a marathon was new and exciting in the 80's, unlike now when there is one every weekend somewhere. As I remember there was around 9 of us that went up to Capel Curig in the Bedford for the event. I can't remember doing any special training for the marathon, but I do remember a few things about the race.
Out of the 9 of us, all of whom could beat me in the 1.5 mile fitness test, I came in 3rd. I remember picking most of them off in the later miles. There was a message for me there. Distance leveled the playing field. I also remember the killer hill after 21 miles. This is where I stopped and walked for the first time that day.
I finished the course in 4h 06m. I did the Cardiff marathon a couple of months later, but never beat this time.
In 2006 I eventually gave up smoking.. This was a turning point in my life. I put weight like so many other people do but leading a quite active job, decided that the extra stone had to go and out came the bike.
Cycling on my days off and sometimes the 14 miles to work soon shifted the weight. I enjoyed the cycling and could now see the point in getting fitter.
Soon it was 2008 and I was looking for a challenge - I found the Snowdonia Marathon was still running: could I go back at 41 and do it again?
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