Georgie Simmons reports on a great run at the inaugural Bournemouth marathon…

I found this to be a lot harder than my first marathon but I did feel
a lot less nervous as I knew what to expect to some extent. As I was
aiming to beat my last time at the Brighton Marathon, I think it was
why it felt a lot tougher. Towards the end I felt like I was falling
to pieces but I kept going especially as I knew that I was in the top
ten females and I wanted to keep that position.

The first 13 miles felt great and the views were beautiful. I had lots
of cheers from the crowds shouting ‘Come on Vegan!’, which was good to
hear. After mile 13 it was then when I began to feel tired and I could
tell that the ‘hard parts’ were now about to commence. With the help
of my watch, I managed to stick to my set pace. Although, after
running up a certain hill I did slow down and it took a while to
recover! On the evening before whilst watching the 10k, I could
remember pointing out the hill and saying to my partner that I hope I
didn’t have to go up that hill during the marathon!

Overall, I really enjoyed the experience and I felt proud to be
wearing my Vegan Runners vest and to know that other fellow Vegan
Runners where sharing the same experience with me. I am very pleased
with my PB of 3:18:39, which is 5 mins quicker than my previous. I
have a good for age place in the Virgin London Marathon 2014 so I have
set myself up for an even tougher time to beat..eeek!