Tresco Marathon

I freely admit that I am an ignoramus and didn't know until a few weeks ago that Tresco even existed. Boy, am I glad that I found out about it and the well-kept secret of the marathon it hosts.

Initially I was disappointed that I couldn't get into the London Marathon - missed the deadline as usual, but I am truly grateful that fate took me on a journey 28 miles off the Cornish coast to the beautiful Isles of Scilly and to the Tresco Marathon. Although a hugely different experience to London and New York, it was the best marathon I have done for so many reasons.

I was grateful to hook up with Ian, Nancy and the other guys from the Mounts Bay Harriers, Penzance, and was truly treated like one of their own, despite not paying any membership fees. Result! I proudly wore my new Mounts Bay Harriers' vest for the run and it now has pride of place in my wardrobe. (OK, my laundry basket - sorry, guys, but it's been a busy week!) You will have to wait until the book comes out in the Autumn before learning all about Jeremy's guitar riff, Mark's electric whisk preparation techniques and all the other inside information. I've always been a bit of a marathon loner and I think that running as part of a team helped to make this a more special marathon for me. Thanks, MBH.

Everything about the Tresco is different, from the dawn "Saving Private Ryan"-type landing on the beach to the ceremony, where everybody gets their medal presented from travel writer and all-round good egg, Bill Bryson. Then, of course, there's the meandering, hilly, three-and-a-bit mile circuit that you have to run over seven times to make up the marathon distance.

"These hills aren't all that and a bag of hay" I said to Nancy on Lap 2. I'd changed my mind by the time I was walking up them by Lap 7. Walking. I'm still embarrassed by that and kept nervously looking behind me to see if I was going to be overhauled by Tobemory. Luckily, the other runners were feeling it too and all those pesky wombles were probably running up the Mall at that very moment. We did have The King, so I did manage a quick (and bad) Elvis impression en-route.

The Tresco was a marathon of firsts for me. The first time I haven't been able to run the second half of the race more quickly and also the first time that I've had to walk. I ran with the awesome Nancy Hill for some 21 miles at a pretty good pace, but ran out of ooomph when faced with the biggest climb for the penultimate time.

Nancy went on to become 2nd lady home - a fantastic performance, while I walk-ran the last five miles. I'm not really sure how, but still managed to record a new PB, smashing my previous best by a whole 12 seconds.

The only real negative was my disappointment at not being the fastest Wickham home. I was queueing at the registration and commented that there was another Wickham listed in the race programme. "Stephen Wickham, he's my nemesis!" I commented, jokingly, of course. My long-lost cousin promptly turned around and introduced himself and then proceeded to show me up by running a good deal faster than me. D'oh!

I cannot speak highly enough of the event, with the wonderful support from the locals, the superb organisation and the general feel-good atmosphere. All this against a beautiful, picturesque backdrop. If you ever get the chance to run the Tresco, you simply have to take it.