I’m recovering from a bit of a knack that I subjected myself to running the ABP half past weekend, and I’m resting it this week. It’s put me a couple of weeks behind where I want to be for the Lanzarote marathon, but that’s marathon running, I suppose.
Anyhow, I thought I’d better check the course, and make sure it’s measured as properly as I can. Because there’s a few metres more grass than allowed in a road race, there’s no point getting it measured with a calibrated bike, a GPS will suffice.
As we know, the lap is tantalisingly short of 6km. This is the third device now where I’ve measured the lap as 5.95km while walking the shortest route and taking the racing line wherever possible.
This means that 7 laps comes up 545m short of the full marathon distance.
A lap of the playing field where we finish the race is 375m.
In order to allow us to go slightly over, this year at least, we’re going to run as follows:
Starting from the hut, 2 laps of the small playing field, then 7 laps of the Maravan course.
This should bring the total distance down to a more acceptable Marathon distance.
Happy Darren in a rare example of him actually running a race
If you’re anything like Darren, fresh from the ABP Half Marathon yesterday, you’ll be jonesing to get out again.
Tape2Tape gave you a glimpse of what to look forward to in November, but their course barely scratches the surface of the Maravan. By the end of our race, you’ll have seen nearly every inch of one of Europe’s biggest holiday parks.
Plenty of entries still available in all categories:
I’m working with Zerowaste again this year on the medals for both the Maravan and the Marabank, and I hope to be able to share some design proposals soon.
Zerowaste are great – they understand the event and come up with some really nice designs. They also produced some trophies for the scout group I’m supporting, and even take back old medals that we’ve not issued for recycling.
As we look to become more and more sustainable as an event, I’m looking for ways to reduce our footprint, and Zerowaste was a good choice. I’m looking forward to sharing this year’s designs with you soon.
Doing my weekly check of entries, I spotted that we’ve now got seven teams already in the relay.
Most exciting! I’ve been hoping for more relay teams for a while, and this yea looks like it’s setting up to be a fun one!
Still plenty of entries available. I’ll do my medal order at the end of the month, and once that’s done I’ll decide how many entries I’ll cap the event at.
Good start this month. We’ve got 14 people joining us for the Maravan, and currently 4 relay teams.
I’m keen to get relay numbers up again this year, it was super when we had teams from across the North joining us for an end of season social, and if we get enough entries I can afford chip timing and relax all weekend.
There are still plenty of spaces available in all the events, and although I’ll keep entries open as late as possible, it helps me get medals if I know roughly how many I need, as I have to pay in advance.
The event has a licence for 250 people in total for the whole weekend, so come one, come all and see why people come back to this wonderful little event.
August has come, and as usual, this is the month that entries start coming in with a bit more fervour.
I’ve still to get medals, but all the important paperwork, permits, insurance and the like are already paid for.
And we’ve already got three teams in the relay. We’d like a bit more of a crowd for the relay this year – it really is great fun.
If you haven’t yet found out what it’s all about, then have a look round this website and find out what makes people come back year after year.
And if you have entered, why not bring a friend along, we’ve got plenty of places still available for both halves, bot full marathons and the relay.
As I’ve said before, this event is difficult to sell, but it’s such fun and we rely on the word of mouth of folk who enjoy this year after year to get their friends to join in.
Darren has nominated the West Grimsby 3rd & 8th Scouts at the official charity of Vigilantes Running for this year.
Why suddenly an official charity?
Well, you see, every year big major charities pay thousands of pounds to have representation in the London Marathon, some smaller charities get a bond place every few years.
Tiny community charities, like a local scout group, never get representation on that stage. And at the minute, West Grimsby 3rd and 8th doesn’t even have a Justgiving account, so they can’t raise funds for challenges like this the usual way – we’re working on it, more news on that soon.
Darren has been lucky enough to get drawn out of the hat for 2026’s London Marathon, so thought, what a better way to promote their current two big projects than “representing them” in the London Marathon.
Thanks to our friends at EventEntry, we’ve put an optional additional donation box on the entry form so you can give as much or as little as you wish at the same time as you enter.
And what will this worthy cause do with the funds it raises?
There are two main projects. The first, is to gather together the equipment it needs to take the young people from this deprived area of Grimsby to an international Scout jamboree in Lincoln, and the second, much more exciting project, is to redevelop their 1950s headquarters to bring them up to 21st century accessibility standards, to provide a valuable community facility in the area and to allow more young people to enjoy scouting.
Thanks for anything you can spare. I’ll share Justgiving details as soon as I have them.
Delighted to confirm that Marabank is to return to Burton Waters in March 2026, on the 7th and the 8th March, and we’re hoping to have a bigger and more fun event than last year.
You may remember Michael Bruce from the past couple of years? Well, it turns out that his first double marathon, which he ran with us on the Banks of the Foss Dyke in 2024 has inspired him to bigger and better things.
Well, we’re proud that we could go some way to helping, and so, for anyone who enters between now and 17th May 2025 – the day Michael will finish his epic challenge, we’ll donate £3 of each entry fee directly to Michael’s fundraising efforts for Brathay.
It’s very possible that you’ve come to this website today because you’ve seen a poster like this, and want more information.
We’ve compiled, I hope, a relatively decent set of FAQs for both the community and the local running community.
What’s this running race? It’s called the Lincoln Marabank. It’s a social endurance event, for no more than fifty people every day, using a stretch of the Foss Dyke either side of Woodcocks, Burton Waters.
When and where? Runners start any time after 9am on either or both mornings on the canalside next to Woodcocks, they then run as many times as they fancy along the canal stretch between just before Saxilby Road, and just before the Pyewipe. It’s approximately 1.9 miles, so one lap is approximately 3.8. The event finishes at 4pm, some people will do just one lap, some might do ten or eleven. The focus is on having fun, though.
Is the path closed? Not at all. Our focus at all our events, it to be able to turn up, run, and leave again while having the minimum effect on the community. You will still be able to use the paths as normal, all our runners are under strict instructions to give way to all other path users.
Do you have permission? Insurance? We seek permission every year from the Canals and Rivers Trust who own the towpath, and have a signed license for this weekend permitting us to use it subject to cleaning up after ourselves, not causing a nuisance, and letting you know about the event in advance. Hence the signs.
In exchange for this permission, we’re giving between £3 and £5 per runner to the Canals and Rivers Trust to support their work maintaining England’s oldest canal still in regular use.
The event also holds Public Liability Insurance to the value of £10 million, and a race licence from the Association of Running Clubs. It is a properly, nationally sanctioned event.
The race director holds a Level 3 award in emergency first aid and a fully equipped first aid kit which is sufficient for a small informal event of this size.
Who are you? We’re Vigilantes Maravan CIC, a tiny, volunteer-led nonprofit event organiser, with a mission to provide social endurance running events to communities all over Lincolnshire. We’ve organised Cleethorpes’s Maravan running festival for the past 12 years, and have organised the Lincoln Marabank since last year. Our events do not make a profit, all proceeds are invested back into either the event or other events, with any money over and above these costs going to good causes. Any leftover food goes to foodbanks. We try where possible to source local suppliers.
Can I join in? We’d love you to. The Marabank is open to runners of all abilities – it’s probably our most accessible event. Sadly, as it is, technically speaking, an ultra marathon, we can’t allow children to enter on their own, but anyone who can walk, jog or run 5k or thereabouts is welcome to enter. It’s a tiny event, though, only 50 people each day, so once it’s full, it’s full.
There may be a possibility of late entries or entries on the day, but that depends if there’s any space left. We recommend entering in advance.
If you fancy coming down to watch or lend a hand, that’s also fantastic as well, especially if you hold a first aid qualification or are happy to use a timing tablet or hand out medals.
What do I get if I run? You have access to a fully-stocked feeding station from beginning to end, with sweets, drinks, salty snacks, cakes, brownie and biscuits. Everyone who finishes even one lap gets a custom designed medal made of sustainable materials which is unique to this event – nobody else has them. Then, once you finish, depending on how many people enter, there’s likely to be a goody bag with things like crisps, chocolate bars and cans of pop. The more people that enter the more we can get for the goody bag, so if you’re entering, why not bring a friend along too…?
Sustainable bespoke medal
Other “facilities”? Matt, mein host at the Woodcocks, is offering us his hospitality again this year. That’ll be the only place on the course where there are toilets, and we don’t want to be an inconvenience, if you’ll pardon the pun, so we’d appreciate it if you’d stop for coffee before, or a beer or a meal after the race. No obligation, though, and we’ll be putting a decent amount of money across his bar before the weekend’s out.
Parking is at the Woodcocks, too, it’s abundant, please don’t park on streets on Burton Waters, and if you’re coming from further afield the on-site inn offers good value accommodation with a 20% discount on food if you book a room directly with them.
If you’re lucky enough to drive an electric vehicle, there’s a pair of 25kw CCS chargers on the car park, and a few Type 2s in Burton Waters itself.
