Anticlockwise round Cambridge

15 Mar 2026

This is the third post in a row about running. Sorry. I’ve been training, and I ran a marathon. 3 hours, 40 and a bit minutes to complete the Cambridge Boundary Run. My timing made it 03:40:36 but the official time is slower due to the time to cross the start line.

That was the first time I’ve run that far, and it was fuelled by adrenaline and quite a few energy gels: my watch simultaneously awarded me fastest Half, fastest Marathon and Longest Run. Although the old Garmin 265S wasn’t quite sure it was going to count it as a marathon. Might’ve been a few metres short?!

Obviously there are harder ways to complete a marathon, but I think this was a tough one. Not having much experience of running beyond 30km, friends had warned me that’s when it really starts to hurt. My split times confirm it. And the organisers found the steepest hill I know of anywhere near Cambridge to round things off with about 3km to go. I was tied up with cramp and couldn’t move for a few seconds at the top.

Huge thanks to family and friends who turned up at various points to cheer me on and pass Lucozade, and were rewarded with just a sweaty person in a hurry bundling past them. You all gave me a lift!

Here, mostly for my own future reference, is a pre-run checklist:

• Lucozade stash en route if poss
• Set an alarm for the morning
• Collect race number
• Gloves / hat
• Sunglasses
• Sweatbands
• Bone-conductor headphones
• Arm pouch
• Energy gels
• Vaseline
• Watch (charge battery, load route, PacePro, LiveShare)
• Phone with downloaded podcasts
• Safety pins

I say for my own future reference. I think I might run one more marathon on a flat course and see how I do. After that, I think I’ll leave those distances to others and drop back to my head-clearing 10k circuits.

Cambridge Boundary Run on Garmin Connect

Tags: cambridge, running, sport