Manchester Marathon: Postponed

Quote Reset Refocus

So yesterday, the inevitable happened. In the midst of the corona virus craze, the Manchester Marathon, for which I have been training for months, was postponed.

At the moment we don’t know when it will be postponed to and I’m not sure if I’ll even be able to run it, as I’m worried it may clash with my planned trip to Machu Picchu later this year.

To say I’m gutted is an understatement.

The marathon training has taken over months of my life and I have sacrificed a lot. The longer training runs have been tough both physically and mentally, with many starting at 6.30 am and in the worst weather conditions imaginable.  

The worst part is, I had gotten through the toughest runs of the training and had literally JUST done my longest run of 20 miles, which I did last Monday after booking the day off work to do it. It’s gutting because I would now be in the “taper” stage (where you basically taper down the running to prepare for marathon day), as the marathon was supposed to be merely 4 weeks away.

When I first heard the news, my initial reaction was, great, all this training and for what? What was the point in all those early mornings, getting up at 4.30 am and heading out in the freezing cold rain? What was the point in putting my body and legs through hell and hardly being able to walk? 

However, after having had a bit of time to think about it. I’ve realised, whilst it is a damn shame and annoying, there was a point to it all and I have achieved and learnt a lot in the process of marathon training.

All that training has made me physically and mentally stronger, which will stand me in good stead for future training (and, for Machu Picchu). 

I shouldn’t gloss over the fact that I have RAN 20 MILES either, as well as completing several other long training runs of 14, 16 and 18 miles – distances which I never dreamed I would be able to run. This in itself is a huge achievement. 

rachel-and-louise-post-20-mile
Manchester marathon training – 20 mile run

What I’ve come to realise, is that whilst I cannot change this event, I CAN change  how I choose to respond. I could give up, or wallow in self pity, but what would that achieve? Instead, I choose to respond by keeping going and running the marathon regardless

Myself and a few of my friends that have all been training so hard for this event WILL run our own marathon on the 5th April (the date that the Manchester Marathon was meant to be). 

We are organising our own route and finishing with a party and Prosecco, because, why not? 

If the Manchester marathon does get rearranged to a date I can do, then I’ll try my best to do it and on the plus side, it will give me more time to train. If not, then I will have ran my own marathon on the 5th and I might look at a marathon again for next year.

Sometimes, things happen for a reason. If anything, this experience has taught me that I’m surrounded by supportive, determined and resilient people, and for that I am so grateful.


You can follow my progress and keep updated on our own “non-Manchester marathon”, over on my Instagram, and you can sponsor me here.



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