Walking the 40th Belfast City Marathon

It all started with a throwaway comment by Jean Haworth when we were finishing our Breast Cancer Now five mile walk in October 2021.  “Well we’ve walked five miles so our next challenge should be the eight mile Belfast Marathon Walk in May.”  So the seed was planted for the Belfast City Marathon Walk and in February, Elaine Woods, Linda O’Connor, Lynda Willis, Siofra O’Reilly and of course, Jean registered to do the walk while raising funds for local cancer charity, Cancer Focus.

Training then started in earnest. As well as individual walks, the group got together on 26th February and 2nd April to walk five miles around Antrim Castle Gardens.  Siofra and Lynda even walked part of the actual Marathon route on 20th April to see how hilly it was.

An early start

Our marathon walk day started at 8.15am on Sunday 1^st May 2022 when we gathered at Carson’s Statue at the top of the Prince of Wales Avenue in the Stormont Estate.  We looked just like the hundreds of marathon runners proudly wearing our matching T-shirts complete with numbers but the difference was we were carrying backpacks, wearing coats and the umbrellas were up.  Time for a few photos and then the crowd started to move towards the starting line.  Of course, we joined them but soon realised we were surrounded by runners! 

The countdown started and at 9am on the dot, a swarm of runners headed for the Stormont gates and on to the Upper Newtownards Road.  When we reached the starting line, we were told to stop by the marathon officials as we were walkers and our starting time was 9.15am. 

Ready, steady, go!

And then we were off!  Even though we were at the front of the pack, we were soon overtaken by speedy walkers who were keen to get a top time for the walk.  Our ambition was to finish the walk and didn’t really care too much about our time so we walked at a comfortable pace down the Stormont hill and then on to the Upper Newtownards Road heading towards the City Centre.

Sunshine and showers

Ballyhackamore was the venue for our first supporters, Ivan Little (Siofra’s husband) and our friend Christine Watson who had even made a sign for us!  As well as their cheers and photography skills, they brightened our walk with little bags of mixed grapes to give us a little energy burst. 

In between the showers, there was some sunshine by the time we reached the start of the Beersbridge Road where Jean’s husband David was cheering us on our way.  Then it started to rain again as we plodded towards the Castlereagh Road so time to put the umbrellas up and coats on again. 

More supporters

We had been dreading the Castlereagh Road as we knew from one of our practice walks that it was a long gradual hill up to the Montgomery Road turnoff.  But we were delighted to be cheered on by more supporters along the way.  The Willis family pulled out all the stops this time with Lynda’s son Jonny and his girlfriend Alana Patterson waiting patiently for us at the entrance to the Tesco store and then her husband David and younger son Jordan at the junction of the Castlereagh and Montgomery roads. 

As well as our family members cheering on, the local churches gave us encouragement as we passed their doors.  Not only were their toilets open but they had refreshment tables for the walkers to grab a cup of water and a mini traybake.  One church even had their praise group performing for us to add an inch to our step as we plodded bravely up the Castlereagh Road.

Time for a banana

We passed the four mile mark at the Montgomery Road and we got hearty cheers from the Cancer Focus stand as they spotted our blue t-shirts heading their way.  But then we had a lovely treat from Lidl – they were handing out ripe bananas to give us another energy burst to keep us going.  The overflowing bin beside their tables showed how popular bananas were with runners and walkers alike.

Aches and pains

We turned the corner on to the Cregagh Road but then some of our walkers developed aches and pains.  Jean came to the rescue and pulled some Ibuprofen tablets out of her backpack while Elaine provided a tutorial in leg stretches.  The pace slowed down a little but everyone was determined to keep going and to finish the walk together.  Not too many churches along the Cregagh and Woodstock Roads so we had to rely on our own snacks to keep our energy levels up.  Whether it was an apple, Kendall mint cake or some chocolate, everyone had a little treat to keep us going as we headed towards the Albertbridge Link Road where there was an official Belfast City Marathon Water Stop.

The Finish Line

The end was now in sight but we were slowing down as we trudged up the Ravenhill Road.  The gates of the Ormeau Park were a very welcome sight but we still had to walk along the Ormeau Embankment until we reached the finish line entrance.  We were being overtaken by runners who were completing their 26 mile marathon while we humbly strolled to the finish line after our eight mile walk.  But we did it and received our medals at the finish line before heading to the Cancer Focus tent to sit down.  One of our group even managed to get some physiotherapy for her sore legs while the rest of us were happy to eat a Kit-Kat and drink some juice.

The Verdict

Didn’t we do well?  The five of us all finished the eight miles and we were so proud that we did it even though it stretched us to the limit of our fitness.  It had definitely inspired each one of us to walk more as we practiced for the event.  The icing on the cake was to raise an astounding £2410 for Cancer Focus which was well in excess of our original target of £500.  Thank you so much to everyone who supported us.

Will we do it again?  You will have to keep an eye on our blog to see if we do!