I had been looking forward to taking part in the Beachy Head marathon for nearly a year since booking back in November 2016 after reading all the great reports from last years race.

I was expecting a tough race after reading on the website to add 45 minutes to your normal road marathon time, this event did not disappoint.

I am fairly close to Eastbourne so drove down on the morning and parked on the seafront pretty close to the start area, only about a 10 minute walk. Registration was straight forward, toilets, refreshments and bag drop all within a close area to the start/finish area. After getting organised it was great to meet up with fellow #ukrunchat and #visorclub members like Mark (doing his first marathon), Mike Avery, Bal, Kaya, Clare, JK and Deborah. Great to have a chat to everyone, get a few photos and organise to meet in the pub (right by the finish line!) and wish everyone luck. At this point I thought I should point out to everyone that the total climb on the route was higher than Ben Nevis, really think that stat was appreciated by all.

Standing in the start pen you look straight ahead and the challenge starts to kick in, it is straight out the gates and up hill. It is a bit of a rush at the start but I actually quite enjoyed it. You reach the crest of the hill, legs are burning and you’re thinking, that’s fine, I’ll catch my breath. Oh how wrong I was, you look to the right and the hill just continues to climb, and climb, and climb.

The whole marathon route felt like I was either climbing or descending hills with very few flat parts on the course. The majority of the route is off road with just a few short sections on tarmac. The ground was decent under foot so trail or road shoes would of been fine, just one or two pretty muddy patches. The weather was glorious, cold but sunny and I think we were very lucky with that, wet and windy conditions would make this race at least another 10% harder which it doesn’t need!

Some of the views are particularly stunning and the support along the course was great considering it is a rural event. Plenty of support around the villages and lots of people out walking along the coastal paths.

The marshals all around the course were very effificient and encouraging and the numerous aid stations throughout the course were brilliant. Great selection of drinks and snacks including Mars Bars and sausage rolls.

There are quite a few hills on the route that you simply can not run (including some particularly brutal thigh burning steps) and most people walk the hills to catch their breath before taking advantage of the downhill sections. After navigating the cruel seven sisters you finally reach the Beachy Head pub looking down on to Eastbourne and you know it’s a steep downhill finish. 

Crossing the line and collecting the medal there was time to get a few photos with the hill in the background before heading round to the bag drop. I also decided to buy a hoodie as a souvenir from the event which I thought was reasonably priced. In the bag drop area a marshal was advising us all that the canteen was open and free food was available (small donation made) for the marathon finishers. I found my way there and a jacket potato with beans and sausages with a cup of tea really did hit the spot, a really great and appreciated thing to put on for the runners.

I headed off to the pub and met up with some of the #ukrunchat gang for a quick drink and a catch up before finding my car and heading home.

A highlight of this event was meeting Steve May at about 3-4 miles out on the course, Steve was running his 153rd marathon that day and it was a pleasure to run the course with him. The miles passed as we chatted away and we kept each other going when the hills showed their teeth. We crossed the line together in approx 4 1/2 hours which overall I was fairly pleased with as we hadn’t been pushing the pace and it wasn’t an event to worry about times.

I’m not sure if I would do Beachy Head marathon again soon but I would recommend it 100% to anyone that asked. It really is a stunningly beautiful and brutally tough event.