Serpie Planner - event reports

Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Marathon (23 Dec 2012)

Danny Kendall finished 6th overall

Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Marathon (17 Dec 2017)

This race had it usual festive overtones, with quite a smattering of red and white and Christmas jumpers apparent. For many a runner, I am sure it has become a firm favourite in their running diary and probably marks the real start to the Christmas period, as it always seems to sell out. There was plenty of white [frost] on the ground which lasted most of the morning. Although the sun broke through at times, the temperature barely rose much above freezing, although fortunately the wind remained tranquil sparing the thousand or so runners of the usual last 1.5 mile blast direct into the wind along the Southsea promenade to the finish line.

This out and back race took us across the usual mix of every imaginable surface including pebbles and muddy beach although the return leg included a detour which added the best part of a mile to the excursion on account of the tide being too high to permit running back along the ‘beach’. Unfortunately the water stations were not dispensing gels this year, choosing to replace these with the mince pies that are usually available at the end of the race.

The out and back format afforded us the opportunity to spot the leaders as well as encourage our mates and the inclusion of a 50k ultra added a little extra interest, especially on the return leg.