Although originally from Bermondsey in South London, I spend an awful lot of time on the south coast taking part in long distance races, so for the third time in four years, I found myself on the start line of the Eastbourne Marathon. We were informed prior to race day from the mainstream media that it would be a cold and windy day in the south of England, but the registration and changing tent was the evidence of this. Although in past years it has been a wee bit chilly, there was a warm atmosphere outside the tents and a lot of people mingling. This year's event had very little people standing in the open, a lot of umbrellas turned inside out and even the chap doing the warm-up looking relatively underwhelmed by it all. Luckily, just before the race started, the wind dropped slightly and by 10:00 Princes Park was packed with those ready to go. The race started with a loud horn and we were away! Chasing the lead car with the leading pack, the race started well for me and although there was a side/slight headwind that we were running in to, we covered the first couple of miles relatively quickly and comfortably clear of the 1:30 pacers - that was until the infamous hill that has nearly defeated me in previous years. I have said in previous reviews about this hill and although I knew what to expect from previous races, this is still an absolute killer of a climb and I was overtaken by the pacers before reaching the top. Luckily for us all, what comes up must come down and once at the top we were able to take off the handbrake, put our feet down and bomb down the hill towards the seafront. Overtaking the pacers halfway down and maintaining the pace on the downhill and flat along the seafront, I hit halfway comfortably in around the 43 minute mark and was on for a good time heading towards the marina. Approaching 10 miles, the wind picked up considerably and although the marina is sheltered by a number of flats and apartments, the gale did come in to play. Hitting 11 miles in 1:13:ish and with the 1:30 pacers further behind me then I thought, I was well on course for a good time and potential course PB. That was until I re-entered the seafront portion of the race... As we turned the corner we were suddenly hit by what felt like a brick wall. Looking out towards Beachy Head and the pier in the distance, the waves were smashing into the coastline and were the visual representation of the strength of the gust that was hitting us front on. This severely impacted our pace and in classic Tour de France fashion, the other runners around me and I were using each other as windbreakers and after looping under the underpass, headed towards the finish line still under the 1:30 mark. Raising my pace to ensure I finished strong, I crossed the finish line in a time of 1:29:30. I grabbed my medal, which was the same style as previous years just with a different colour, before meeting the patriarch of the Avery Fan Club, my Dad. This was another great race in Eastbourne and although the wind played a bigger factor than previous years, I was happy with the time and back to a level of fitness that will hold me in good stead for my marathon and ultra in April and May respectively. A great and challenging race which I recommend to anyone who wants a tough half marathon to conquer.