Yorkshire Marathon: What are the road closures and route plus our big race preview

"When you’re stood on the startline you know everyone from the local scene," begins Gareth Cooke, 28, of Barnsley, an ever present in the Yorkshire Marathon field since its first running in 2013.

"Yorkshire is just a friendly marathon. The race seems to attract that.”

Cooke takes to the startline of the Yorkshire Marathon for the ninth straight time on Sunday morning, one of hundreds of participants putting their body on the line in the pursuit of a large sense of pride and a time that is a few seconds faster than the year before.

ROAD CLOSURES AND MAP

"It’s one of those races I always try and make the start line for because I’m a proud Yorkshire lad,” continues Cooke, who works for his hometown Barnsley Football Club, and whose personal best around the 26.2-mile course is two hours, 25 minutes, enough to earn him fourth place in 2018.

"It’s an enjoyable course where it’s not too flat, but it’s not too hilly.

“I did the Berlin Marathon in September, I was there when Kipchoge broke the world record which was pretty cool. I was at mile 23 or 24 and they put it on big screen at the side of the course.

"He’s another level, but watching it gives you a proper kick.

"I’m very relaxed about Yorkshire this year, having just run Berlin. It might be a case that I run under two hours, 30 minutes or I’ll take it as it comes on the day.”

Cooke eptimoses a large percentage of the amateur field for the Yorkshire Marathon, though not many are perhaps as dedicated as he is.

“When I’m peaking I’ll do 110, 120 miles a week. I’ve run every day since November 2015,” he says, which, when you think about it, is astonishing commitment to what he accepts is unlikely to be something he ever does professionally.

"Unless you’re at the very top you just get sponsorship,” the Barnsley Athletics Club member says of the realities of running.

“I could hit the qualifying time for a world championship, but I might still not be professional.

"My times I’m running at the minute, I’m a good 20 seconds a mile off that level.”

The love of running, then, is a driving force for Cooke just as it is for Sarah Lowery, another Yorkshire runner who is back at her home marathon for the first time in three years.

“It’s going to be a bit of an unknown for me,” says the 40-year-old from Sheffield, who has been running marathons for half her life.

"My first was London for charity and I got the bug, but I plateaued in 2016, so I got myself a coach who has knocked my times down considerably.

"My personal best was bang on three hours at the time, but my coach gave me more structure, I was probably over-training.”

Lowery, who works at Sheffield University, had a breakthrough in the 2016 Yorkshire Marathon which spurred her on to run the Amsterdam Marathon in 2018 and the Berlin race the following year.

But echoing what Cooke says about the Yorkshire Marathon, the friendly embrace of what organisers call a festival of racing, is something she is eager to get back to on Sunday morning.

"Races like Berlin and Amsterdam have got that busy that we’ve gone back to York because it’s well supported, there’s lots of people running it but it’s not ‘busy’,” says Lowery, who runs around 65 miles a week in training, complementing that with gym work.

"It’s not completely flat but for somebody who lives in Sheffield, I’m not going to moan about it being hilly.

"There’s a few from my training group running the Yorkshire Marathon so hopefully we can work together.”

As well as the main event, thousands more will be taking part in the Yorkshire 10-Mile, which has proved extremely popular since its launch in 2015.

Starting just after the marathon, the 10-miler provides runners with an opportunity to experience the excitement, colour, enthusiastic crowds and vibrant atmosphere of marathon race day while tackling a more manageable 10 miles.

ROAD CLOSURES AND MAP

In addition, scores of teams have entered the Yorkshire Marathon Relay. The challenge splits the 26.2 miles into six legs of between three and six miles, making it accessible to runners of all abilities and open to companies, sports clubs, groups and other organisations.

The Yorkshire Marathon is staged under the umbrella of Jane Tomlinson's Run For All.