Running the Dorney Lake Marathon
A sub-3-hour marathon attempt on a fast, flat track around a lake
Just outside of Windsor, UK, Dorney Lake has been home to competitive rowing for decades — and in 2012 hosted several Olympic events. The flat track around the lake is perfect for running and cycling, which makes Dorney Lake an excellent location for a PB attempt on a UK Athletics-certified course. In fact, in 2020 63% of runners said they achieved a personal best on the course.
It was these reasons why I chose Dorney Lake as the venue for my first sub-3-hour marathon attempt as the conditions were extremely well suited for it, especially when coupled with the small field size of just a few hundred runners.
So, if you’re thinking about hitting a fast time in the marathon, Dorney Lake is an excellent place to give it a go. Here’s what you can expect.
Dorney Lake Marathon Pre-race Organisation
Organised by Active Training World, the Dorney Lake Marathon takes place twice per year in April and October. The dates have coincided with the London Marathon dates over recent years, with the 24th April 2022 event I attended in the ‘traditional’ London Marathon timeslot while the 2nd October 2022 Dorney Lake Marathon is on the day of 2022’s London Marathon. So oftentimes, people who are unsuccessful in getting a place at the London Marathon look to Dorney Lake as a nearby alternative.
One thing you’ll notice about Dorney Lake Marathon is that there’s little advertising or fanfare. It’s registered in several race aggregator sites, and about a month before race day you may start to see Facebook ads stalking you, but it’s not hugely publicised. That continues even when you’re registered, with just a couple of pre-race emails to give you the important race day information you need to prepare.
This lack of publicity in itself isn’t a bad thing, but when signing up you should be prepared for bare bones contact prior to the race.
COVID-19 Safety Measures
By the time I ran the Dorney Lake Marathon in late-April 2022, all COVID-19 restrictions in England had been lifted. There were therefore no special arrangements for the race, other than sensible advice to avoid it if you were ill and give other competitors as much space as possible.
Getting to the Dorney Lake Marathon
Dorney Lake is just outside Windsor, Berkshire, and is easy to reach by car. While a few hardy souls decided to bicycle in, we were travelling from South London so came by car, parking just 1-minutes’ walk from the start/ finish line.
Dorney Lake Start Village
There are limited facilities at Dorney Lake, but with a small field of just a few hundred runners, what is there is sufficient. A handful of portaloos plus on-site toilets mean you never have to wait more than a few minutes to take a toilet break, and while the main café wasn’t open, there was a very nice coffee van selling a great selection of hot and cold drinks and snacks.
A few tents were setup for medals and post-race refreshments, but overall, the start village is sufficient but fairly rudimentary.
Dorney Lake Marathon Course
Dorney Lake is, well, a lake, built for rowing competitions. The marathon course tracks around the lake in two horseshoe shapes, covering four laps in total. This means that as nice as the scenery is, it is rather repetitive.
But the magic thing about Dorney Lake is the elevation gain — or lack of elevation gain! Over the full 26.2 miles, there’s only 131m (431ft) of elevation gain, which is what makes this course such a favourite for those chasing PBs and marathon qualification times.
The elevation comes from a bridge crossing the water and the fact that one leg of each horseshoe section is higher than the other. It’s certainly not New York Marathon-style bridges or Athens Authentic Marathon hills, but later in the race you do start to feel the ups a lot more.
On the occasion I ran Dorney Lake we had a light crosswind, which thankfully never turned into a full-on headwind, but I can see how on the right (or wrong!) day a stiff headwind could put a serious dampener on your PB aspirations.
At the far end of the lake are water stations, one on each horseshoe. This means you’re never more than about 5km (roughly 3 miles) from a drink or gel. Water was handed out in 250ml bottles, which meant you could grab a bottle and comfortably run with it. Much better than plastic cups!
Dorney Lake Marathon Race Strategy
My race strategy for Dorney Lake Marathon was very simple: run as many 6:45-minute miles as possible. I’d trained at this pace and knew it’d give me a few minutes’ grace towards the end as I tired, so the longer I could keep it up the higher the chance I had of hitting my sub-3-hour goal.
A sub-3-hour was my primary goal, but I was also looking to achieve several other goals as well.
A sub-3:05 would get me a London Marathon Good for Age qualification time, while anything under 3:10 would technically be a Boston Qualifying time (obviously subject to whatever cut-off occurred for the 2023 race). Finally, anything under 3:08:31 would be a marathon PB for me after I’d clocked that at the Athens Authentic Marathon the previous November.
Race day weather was good — around 12C and sunny at the gun but rising to 22C by mid-morning. And after 17 very consistent miles at target race pace, by Mile 18 my legs started to tire in the rising heat.
By Mile 22 my sub-3-hour was still on — just — but rounding the boathouse for for my last 5k I slowed to 8:45 minute per mile and at this point I knew I wouldn’t make it. The heat had sapped my energy reserves and as much as I tried, I couldn’t increase my pace for anything longer than a few seconds.
My London Marathon GFA qualification time slipped away as I rounded the top of the second horseshoe for the final time and I crossed the finish line in 3:05:51.
So, in my first sub-3-hour marathon attempt I fell around 6 minutes short. I also missed a London GFA qualifying time by just 52 seconds but reflecting immediately after the race I knew there was no way I could’ve recovered almost one minute in my last few miles.
I was spent.
But I did come away with a technical BQ time with a -4.08 cushion, and a three-minute or so marathon PB. So, I got to literally ring the PB bell at the end 😊
Overall, Dorney Lake Marathon is a great race if you’re aiming for a PB or a qualifying time for something like London or Boston. It’s certainly not the most interesting marathon route — and never claims to be — but the ease of access and good organisation on the day make it an excellent choice for anyone chasing a fast time.
If you’ve liked this race report, you can check out my other reports on Running the New York Marathon, Running the Brighton Marathon and Running the Athens Authentic Marathon.
Follow me on Instagram and share your own running journey with me.
