Community refreshments

The route for my spring marathon is now confirmed. The inaugural Marathon of the North posted the full route on their website yesterday and I have reviewed the course for potential points of wind resistance. Ok, there will be huge chunks of it that are not all that scenic but when I am running along the rugged north east coastline, with the wind attempting to blow me into the North Sea, I will be appreciating the beauty of it all. Honest, I will.

Because running in the North East isn't all about the scenery. Most of the Great North Run itself is along dual carriageways, although crossing the Tyne Bridge is spectacular and it does have a stunning final 1.5 mile section, where I defy anyone's flagging spirits not to be lifted by the sight of the South Shields open water. What running in the North East is all about is the people. More specifically the 'community organised refreshments'.

The Marathon of the North website has a wonderful disclaimer on the home page 'Water/isotonic stations are as marked on the map. There may be additional community organised refreshments, which are to be used at the runner's discretion'. This is a fairly essential disclaimer for potential first-time visitors to the North East - that's because the locals love to come out into the streets for the runners, even in fairly bleak weather, and feed them. People in the North East are all about making sure you're fed. When I was a kid, I thought it was just my family, but then I ran my first Great North Run. Now I've run the race a few times, in varying weather conditions, I can confirm 'community organised refreshments' include orange segments, jelly babies, Coca Cola, ice pops, baby wipes and, my own personal favourite, someone around 11 miles who stands at the end of their drive with a giant tin of chocolate digestives. At 11 miles, this is always very tempting and only the thought of indigestion on the last mile stops me from putting my hand in the biscuit tin and taking a handful. If that same person wants to stand in Roker Park on May 6th, at the 35k mark, I might not be so restrained.

When a region offers so many snacks to its runners, it gets a disclaimer on the race website, you have to love it. I'll remember that when the wind blows in the wrong direction on the day...