Ed Gumbley finishes 15th in Copenhagen Marathon in 2:38:05

Ed’s last four marathons:

Berlin 28/08/08 – 2:36:53

London 25/04/10 – 2:35:14

Berlin 25/09/11 – 2:35:38

Copenhagen 20/05/12 – 2:38:05

Once Ed Gumbley had recovered and showered he reported that he had a great afternoon in Copenhagen, cheering on some of the slower runners and enjoying the sunshine and atmosphere, whilst consuming a couple of beers and some good food. The pain from the morning was soon forgotten ..well almost.

"Although it was not what I was hoping for, I’m pleased with the time and had to dig in deeper than ever before" he said. "I probably shouldn’t have gone with the early pace as my training had been a bit mixed over the past few months, so it was a gamble. However if you don’t put yourself on the line you never know what you might  be capable of."

He ran with a group of  three to half way at about 2:30 marathon pace and felt comfortable, going through halfway in 1:15:12.  Soon after things got tougher and he lost touch with the group and was by himself for the rest of the race.

"By 14 or 15 miles I was really struggling and seriously contemplated dropping out for the first time ever" he said. "It was already very painful and I had so far still to go and knew it would just get worse and I might not even make it. I decided to keep going to 30km and then decide what to do. I then just focused on reaching each km marker and really gave it everything. I was practically in tears in the last 5K! I was therefore very pleased just to finish and 2:38:05 and 15th place is still respectable. That was a very hard way to run a marathon!"

He said that the atmosphere was great all around the course with spectators out cheering right through to the 6:30 finishers. He was not so keen on the surface though: "The cobbled streets were horrible, particularly near the end." He had an elite entry so had access to the elite area and could put my own drinks on the course. "This was very useful as the Powerade and water on the course was in cups" he said. "However, I got my hydration strategy wrong and drank far too much and felt bloated and almost had to have a toilet stop."

Ed is now on holiday presumably doing more of what he did on Sunday afternoon than on Sunday morning!