The Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Marathon has become something of a Christmas/birthday tradition for Stu Nicholas
It wouldn’t seem right to end the year without Stu Nicholas having run the Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Marathon. It’s been such a regular fixture for him over the years and he’s enjoyed so much success in it as well, winning it three times and coming close on numerous other occasions. You could almost say that Stu is as much a part of the history of the Portsmouth Coast Waterside Marathon as it is part of his.
Winning the race in 2021 and 2022, Stu had to settle for third place last year when James Baker picked up the win and Phil Mant of Aldershot, Farnham & District took second.
Being an out and back route following the coastline of Southsea and Portsmouth, the race is always subject to impact from the wind. It turned out to be quite strong on the day which made it a much tougher race for any as, as soon as they turned they had to face a forceful headwind for entire second half. Those who had started off to quick were sure to be suffering as a result.
Opening with a 6:11 for his first mile, Stu was then followed it up with a 6:04 and then a 6:08 before upping the anti with a 5:56 for his fourth mile. Another 6:08 saw him reach the five mile point. He then went even faster for the next four miles, with a 6:02 followed by a 5:59, a 5:56 and then another 6:02.
He went on to reach 10 miles in 1 hour and 28 seconds before going to on reach the half way stage in 1:19:29. He was out in front with James Gray at that point. Who could forget the year that Stu shared the race win with Robert Fryer of City of Portsmouth when they ran the entire race together and then went over the line together.
On this occasion though, once they turned they felt the brunt of the headwind and that was what they had in store for the second half of the race. It was going to take some strength and some character. Fortunately Stu has both of those in abundance.
Stu had to weave in an out of all the Santa’s which made for an interesting last 5k
A 6:12 for his 14th mile was then followed by a 6:15 for his 15th. Then he registered a 6:45 for his 16th mile and a 6:27 for his 17th. Just when it seemed like he might be slowing down, Stu suddenly found some resolve and got back on pace.
Clocking a 6:10 for his 18th mile, he then went through the 19th mile in 6:14 before somewhere churning out a 6:05 and a 6:08 to bring himself up to 21 miles. It was a very impressive show of strength from Stu and James Gray was long gone. He was out in front on his own and just needed to keep on the throttle to see it through.
With the wind pushing back though, it wasn’t going to be easy. Stu went through 22 miles with a 6:19 split before registering another 6:08 for mile 23. After that he started overtaking some of the half marathon back markers as well some runners who were competing in the 5k and 10k Santa Runs. It certainly made for an interesting last few miles.
Managing to get through those at around 6:30 pace, Stu cruised home for the win. Making it to the line in a magnificent time of 2:41:59, Stu had only gone and done it again. It was his fourth time of tasting victory and must have tasted incredibly sweet.
The medal was definitely significantly bigger than the mince pie
Almost three minutes went by before the next marathon runner arrived at the finish. That was Thomas Adams who clocked a time of 2:44:53. James Gray then arrived in 3rd place recording a time of 2:46:46. He’d faded quite a bit over the second half of the race in comparison to Stu.
Richard Smith completed the course in 2 hours 49 minutes which put him 4th and Martin Bradley arrived in 5th place with a time of 2:50:16. Ross Christie came in in 2:50:37 to take 6th place.
Stu’s wife Anna was there to support him and hold his medal whilst he tucked into his mince pie
Rosie Read was first female in a time of 3:01:21 which put her in 9th place and Helen Knight was 2nd lady and 1st vet in 3:11:09. That put her in 20th place overall. A total of 616 runners successfully completed the marathon, with the slowest of them taking 6 hours 45 minutes.
It was a fantastic way to end a terrific season for Stu. He’d achieved a lot, finishing 4th in the Men’s Individual standings for the Dorset Road Race League and winning the Purbeck Trail Series. He also finished first no less than 30 times in parkrun.
He’s already gone on to continue in that vain, finishing first in both his first two parkruns of 2025 and the signs were already pointing to another super strong year on the cards for Stu. Last year he also managed a superb PB of 35:35 at the Stubbington 10k and that will be next race on Stu’s agenda for 2025. That’s also the next round in the Hampshire Road Race League and formidable looking Bournemouth AC outfit will out in force for that one, eyeing up a First Division win.