What a day, what a race! Together with Natalie and Patrick, I had decided months ago to run the Manchester Marathon as this year's spring marathon. The preparation went well, but also involved some downs. At the Winter Warmer Run in Glasgow, our 10-kilometre preparation race, I fell after 600 metres and was suddenly bleeding in icy water in what felt like minus five degrees and sleet. In the end, I still won the race, as did Natalie, but had only manageable fun. At the Brighton Half Marathon, we then ran against what was probably the fiercest wind I have ever experienced in a race. Despite saving my energy for the last five kilometres and giving it my all, I lost almost two minutes on the final section and just missed a time of under 1:15 hours. Natalie had a similar experience in Brighton, although she was able to run closer to her best time and finish in sixth place.

On the first weekend in April, the Manchester Marathon finally arrived. On Saturday, Natalie, Patrick and I ran a relaxed parkrun as a warm-up and then spent most of the rest of the day resting our legs. On Sunday, as usual for big races, we got out of bed early and headed for the Event Village, which was not far from the world-famous Old Trafford, Manchester United's stadium, in temperatures that felt too frosty. After the spontaneous decision was made whether to wear arm warmers or not, we headed for the start line. A little late, the starting signal was given and the big show we had been eagerly awaiting for months began.

Even though we were heading for different finish times, we all felt the same: we quickly found our way into the race and were already happy about the great atmosphere in the city centre after a good five kilometres. "Smile Every Mile!" I read on a sign proudly displayed by a spectator at the roadside. I tried to think about this over and over again during the many remaining kilometres. Even though I didn't always succeed, I tried to follow the advice and tried to stay positive at all times. After 1:14:11 hours, I was the first of us to reach the half marathon mark. Patrick followed after 1:20:45 hours, Natalie after 1:27:12 hours. The fast first half was followed by a second half that was also mostly flat, but peppered with several bridges, some of which were connected with short but definitely worth mentioning climbs. Since the race design of the eventual winner was almost the same as mine, you could follow my marathon best time chase live on the broadcast. Combined with the split times, I was well informed and saw not only Becky Briggs cross the finish line after 2:29 hours, but also me cheering for a time of 2:29:14 hours. Two and a half minutes under my best time, which I had set only six months earlier in London, and at the same time under 2:30 hours for the first time. Madness! I was overjoyed and waited for Patrick and Natalie. Patrick followed me after 2:44:27 hours, improving his best time, which he had set at his only marathon to date in spring 2017, by around 17 minutes. Impressive! And when Natalie also crossed the finish line after 2:55:13 hours, thus improving her best time by over ten minutes, our marathon day together was perfect. On this day, a lot of things we had worked for for a long time and always, always kept going had paid off.