The race starts outside the magnificent 14thcentury cathedral known as ‘La Seu’ which is one of Europe’s tallest Gothic structures. The first ten kilometres is out and back along the seafront towards the military museum at the port before heading up into the narrow cobbled streets of the city, taking a winding route to return to the cathedral. At this point, the half marathoners peel off left to the finish whilst the marathon runners get to do it all again.
In the build up to the race, the organisers sent participants an email containing a warning about the higher than average temperatures and the need to stay hydrated during the race. Staying hydrated was not a problem come race day as a torrential downpour at about 6:45am meant that parts of the course were flooded and the race starts were delayed by an hour so that the water could drain away.
Then about 2 hours 15 minutes into the marathon, the heavens opened again, which gave welcome relief from the increasing temperatures. This year the race did not live up to its strapline of ‘follow the sun’.
Six Matlock AC runners took on the Marathon distance with Colin Davenport leading the charge to finish in 11th place in a time of 2:57:05. Second back was Andy Mellor who continued his fine form since banishing the Marathon demons in a time of 3:26:28 for 82nd place. Other finishers were Dan Ashcroft (218), Jon Tyson (331), Pete Bush (542) and Dennis Belbin (555). There were 732 finishers.
In the Half Marathon, Craig Allen was first MAC in 1:34:42 for 159th place, followed by Peter Wilmot (226), Jack Cummins (461), Simon ‘bleeding nips’ Flitter (804), Gavin Elliott (891), Jay Bird (2,131), Lisa Walton (2,990) who were also joined by Alison Butlin, Ripley RC (1,355). There were 3,218 finishers. In the 9k Club legend Mick Moorhouse made an appearance taking 2nd V70 in 45:20.
