A fantastic time was had at the Great Welsh Marathon weekend of events. Here is a recap to remind you of those antics, or an account of events if you were unlucky enough to miss out

The majority of us arrived on the Saturday and headed to Pembrey National Park; Steph, Mary and Richard ventured to Wales’ miniature Stonehenge that also looks like the sacrificial stone from Narnia.

Pembrey boasts many activities in its’ beautiful country park!... Including ski slopes, beaches, Toboggans, horse riding and bike rental. However, unfortunately, most of them were closed! (The Toboggan was closed an hour before we arrived due to technical difficulties and the miniature railway wasn’t open, however we could see the owners of the trains enjoying themselves on the trains as they were working on the train engines and testing them out.

In the voice of Alan Partridge A HA!... You can't close a beach (really), so off to the beach we go! (Our first attempt involved us climbing a dune and thinking it was just the other side, but then realising it was much further)

Wales is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and the beach by Pembrey did not disappoint. We all ventured down there, dipped our feet in the sea and wrote GoodGym in the sand. It was beautiful... like a scene from The Notebook.

WAIT, WHATS THE TIME? … THE GRAND NATIONAL!

Emma and Darren were both excited about the Grand National and so we couldn’t have them miss it! … To the nearest pub we go!!

We went to the closest pub, purchased a cheeky beverage and plonked our derrière's firmly in the seating area! And, with faces of excitement watching the horse racing, Darren and Emma were both on the edge of their seats. Darren was so excited he was sitting on the chair like he was a jockey on a horse.

The race is over… It’s time to check in to the hotel and go for food. We checked into our hotel and quickly freshened up before head to Atalia!! Ben asked the receptionist for her help printing the ‘Not to be opened before 7.45 GoodGym quiz’ and once that was done we were on our way!

ATALIA – HERE WE ARE!

We all had food in Atalia and Steph, Richard, Steve, Dom and Mary joined us too! Our GoodGym family was growing.

It’s now time for the….The Great Welsh Marathon GoodGym Quiz… and in teams a fierce quiz off took place. Well done to Darren, Lucy, Richard and Liz – YOU WERE THE CHAMPIONS! A highlight which we were all oblivious to at the time was Steph fabricating a GoodGym location which we were all gullible to as it doesn’t exist, and it has never existed! Darren and Aimee demonstrated their Wales renown poses and then it was off to bed!

RACE DAY!!

Waking up to 3 alarms, which may sound excessive but there would be nothing worse than missing out on the opportunity to run a marathon, it was race day. My pre marathon food of choice was a cooked breakfast… "I just couldn’t say no!"

Fed and feeling good it was time to head to the start! We all parked at festival fields and headed to the start. We had a group photo – CHECK IT OUT! And then lined up at the start line ready to race!... It was wet and windy, but we were BORN FOR THIS!

GO GO GO

It was race time. Marathon runners headed off at 9pm and half marathoners 5 minutes later. The conditions were tough… with rain and strong prevailing winds making each stride more challenging. Despite these conditions, everyone did FANTASTIC and displayed excellent running form! We said hi each time we passed one another and Aimee and parents provided invaluable support!

A HUGE WELL DONE TO…

• Aimee – Leading the cheer squad, Aimee’s enthusiasm was unquestionable and she helped us when the going got tough!
• Dom’s Parents – Epic cheering!
• Ben’s Parents – Epic cheering!
• Ben – Marathon
• Steph - Marathon
• Dom - Marathon
• Steve - Marathon
• Alex – Half Marathon
• Welsh Dave – Half Marathon
• Liz – Half Marathon
• Mary – Half Marathon
• Nathan – Half Marathon
• Richard - Half Marathon
• Martin – Half Marathon
• Emma – Half Marathon
• Lucy – Half Marathon
• Darren – Half marathon

A huge thank you to everyone for making this weekend incredible! You all did fantastic and you deserve to put your feet up with a warm cup of hot chocolate Onto the next race of the big 6, the Lakelands Trail Event – Click here to find out more and get signed up!