Deciding on which marathon to choose as my first having not got into London I read a few reviews and decided Liverpool would be the one and I wasn't disappointed.

It was very well organised from the beginning. I received my racepack in the post but I still went to the expo on Saturday afternoon, which was nice to start getting into the spirit of things and pick up my t-shirt.

On race-day it was incredibly warm but there was enough space on the course to not make it crowded and plenty of water & aid stations along the way. All the marshalls and volunteers were great. The crowd support was sparse in areas but that was to be expected and it didn't matter as you had bands playing at regular intervals. Everyone, runners, marshalls, volunteers were all very friendly and I found myself running with a smile on my face for most of the race no matter how much my legs hurt. 

The route went up to Goodison Park and through Anfield stadium which was a nice touch, before heading back into town and out to Sefton Park. I found the park one of the hardest parts as it felt so warm but it was a lovely place to run. After running around the park you make your way back to the prom for the 'finishing straight' which is about 4 miles long, mentally that was tough but when you saw the finish line was lined with so many people cheering you on it was brilliant.

Overall it was a great race, the heat definately played its part along with some of the meaner hills but all in all a great race and I will definately be back.