THE START LINE-UP

LISA JACKSON HEADS TO DOVER TO JOIN FELLOW MARATHON ADDICTS AT THE USUAL SUSPECTS CHALLENGE

THE START LINE-UP

LISA JACKSON HEADS TO DOVER TO JOIN FELLOW MARATHON ADDICTS AT THE USUAL SUSPECTS CHALLENGE

Sparrowfart is not my favourite time of day, especially on a Saturday, so you can be sure it was something pretty special that lured me out of my cosy bed at 6am on 17 December, 2016. And it was! I was on my way to join 150 like-minded individuals in the Usual Suspects Challenge, a multi-lap trail event where every participant’s name is listed on the medal as a way to immortalise all the runners who’d been part of our local running community over the past year. The race was particularly memorable because 2016 was the year I finally reached my goal of joining the 100 Marathon Club. When I started out running marathons, I’d run just one a year in a foreign country and never dreamed that, back in the UK, there were dozens of marathon enthusiasts quietly knocking off a marathon (or even more than one) each week in small events I’d never heard of. All that changed when I spotted people running in the club’s distinctive blue and yellow kit and was inspired to begin my own quest for the vest. Turning up at dozens of local marathons I soon noticed the same ever-present smiling faces, and soon I too was a familiar presence on The Circuit, as it’s known among us marathon addicts.