The last of the Phoenix Firebird Series took place on a cold and crisp day. This was the fourth in the series of marathons taking place along the Thames Path in Walton on Thames throughout the year with a huge (see picture below) medal on offer for those completing all four races.

The event promised to be an uncomfortable run with my quads still recovering from Barcelona 10 days earlier and so it proved! The event was the usual 4 out and back laps along the Thames and I was thankful for the company of Matt Dunn for the race.

There’s not a huge amount to write about the race. Lap 1 started ok, my quads felt like they had run 26 miles rather than the 6 miles they had as I started Lap 2. Matt stopped for a toilet break which meant I ran Lap 3 by myself and was getting slower each mile as my legs felt constricted. Thankfully Matt caught up with me on Lap 4 as I was tempted to walk on more than one occasion before silently admonishing myself and plodding on.

I was relieved to finish (in 3.35 with Matt) and claim the biggest medal I have in my collection for completing the series. I’m not quite sure where this battle for the biggest marathon medal will end but I’m going to need a bigger shoebox to store this one in.

Thanks to Rik Vercoe and volunteers for hosting the event, that’s me done for the year. Race Results can be found here

You might describe the medal as a little ‘over the top’.. thanks Rik