Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Marathon

Lovely marathon. The course gets a tad monotonous in places but overall flat and muddy sections. The last couple of miles back along the sea front were hard going as back on tarmac and into a headwind and seemed to go on forever. Loads of people questioning the race distance after as watches were clocking 26.5-7 ish miles. Personally didnt really care about time or distance was more about the winter challenge. Its a trail marathon but its probably 60:40 between more road type surface and trail. It rained all night previous so many puddles and much mud but still okay in road shoes over trail. The tide does come in on the reverse and was already blocking a bridge on the return (4:35 finish time) Lovely aid stations which were well stocked throughout. Friend pulled out just before half way. Hobbled to half way point which had a coach returning with relay runners. Had a real struggle to get someone to help them. They were insisting they turned round and went back despite pointing out the injury. Eventually took number off and snuck onto the coach. I get that numbers were limited but they didnt intend to hurt themselves and surely they must expect a few injured runners on the course. Lovely volunteers though and can see why its rated highly. There was no t shirt but could buy the one from last year. Was a hoodie you could buy. You got a medal, large bag of crisp things, packet of biscuits, beer, and a cliff protein bar with a bottle of water on finishing. They had a small expo open with Runr, cliff and some other stalls. Really lovely room pre and post. A good value race and introduction to trail running for road runners. We were encouraged to take a drink carrier as reducing cups on course. Probably 75% had hydration packs. Imagine its good for spectators as a good few points they could find you by car or they could go off into Portsmouth for a few hours and return. Give it a go!

Fantastic event. My 2nd year in a row and bring on 2019.Great atmosphere, varied course and well organised. Plus you just cannot beat the free post marathon beer at the finish line.Minor criticism, as it's an out and back course, the return leg can be a bit tricky navigating through runners going in the opposite direction. This is particularly difficult during the trail section shortly after Hayling Island.

I found this to be a well organised event and would recommend it for those looking for one final marathon if the year. The course is over all sorts of terrain and the conditions made it a tough race to run. The hard conditions probably explain the slightly sombre mood at times. This could also be explained by the fact I set off too fast and struggled badly in the last 5 miles therefore the sombre mood may just have been me.