Longford Marathon, Ireland - 30th August
This was Steve Edwards' first time running the Longford Marathon and had heard it was mainly a flat course so he set out at just under 7min/mile pace with the intention of perhaps finishing around the 3 hour mark.
He reached halfway in 1:30:10, so far so good and therefore continued at the the same pace. Having got to mile 20 in exactly 2:17, a sub-3 was still not out of the question, but with a slight incline along a busy main road for the next 2 miles, Steve lost vital seconds which although he tried to make up, by mile 25 he was left with exactly 8 minutes to run the last 1.2 miles.
In the end it was very close, despite running the second half of the course in a negative split by 9 seconds and running the last mile in 6minutes 35seconds, it wasn't enough and Steve narrowly missed out by 11 seconds crossing the line in 3:00:11. At first Steve was quite disappointed, but having reflected back, it was his 3rd sub 3:05 in 5 weeks, so perhaps being a little hard on himself. In terms of positions, Steve finished 2nd V45 and 17th overall.
Report Highlights
Sergiu Ciobanu wins Longford in 2:25:26, with Wieslaw Sosnowski 2nd in 2:35:45. Steve Edwards was 15th in 3:00:11.
Steve Edwards completes his 3rd sub-3:05 in 5 weeks.
Other reports may be found on our recent race reports page.