Running The Belfast Marathon Relay 2025 With Team AG Wilson

 


Last year I participated in the Belfast City Marathon Relay with AG Wilson and ran the 3rd and 4th leg which totaled about 9 miles which was the longest distance I had ever ran. It was an enjoyable experience, so when the opportunity to run the relay in 2025 came up, I had to take it. 


The months leading up to the marathon included an injury and a fight with the flu, but then turned into a period of consistent training and my joint fastest 5k time. So, going into the relay I was feeling good. The main goal from the relay was to test my fitness to see if I was ready for the 10K as  I planned to do a couple of 10Ks over the next couple of months.


I arrived on the train to Grand Central and met up with the other members of Team AG Wilson. Then I caught a train to York Street Station with the other members who were doing leg 5. After waiting a while I then decided to do a warm up - It was difficult to find a good warm up spot as the area was very crowded. I did manage to find a street that wasn’t crowded to do my warm up on.  I only did a 1k warm up compared to my usual 2 mile warm up and strides as I wanted to make sure I was at the change over point on time.


As my team mate completing the fourth leg approached the change over point, they passed the baton and I started. The start of leg 5 was very easy as it was downhill, but that made it hard for me to find a comfortable pace. However, I was able to control my pace and kept in between 4:15 and 4:30 per km pace.


(Me running at the Belfast City Marathon Relay)



Around the 2nd or 3rd Kilometre my ankle started to feel not quite right - It wasn’t affecting my running, but I knew to be careful. The 3K to 7K point was comfortable and very uneventful. I was trying to stay above 4:30 per Km and trying to get past the other runners, which was easier said than done. There were times  I was forced into jogging pace, because there was no room to get through. There was also a bridge at around the 4k mark which had a steep drop, which nearly caused me to fall.


At around the 7k mark I started to pick up the pace, which was easy as most of the last part of the leg was downhill. However, there were a lot of runners and the crowd was very close to the narrow route, which made running through very difficult. However, I managed to get through and sprinted towards the finish line. My time of 37:44 for 5.6 miles was very good and would have easily gotten under sub 43 in the 10K. Overall I enjoyed the experience and found it encouraging that I am on track to do well in an upcoming 10K.


(Team AG Wilson at the Belfast City Marathon

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