3 PBs in one day

M7 Marathon Race Report
2hrs 23mins 35 seconds

Thought I’d get this down before I went to sleep, while every bit of fatigue is still fresh.

I awoke anxiously at 4am due to a chest cold that had started in my upper chest the afternoon before. So, I was unusually pessimistic and moody (for me) particularly given I hadn’t been sick for over 12 months, and today of all days, I get the beginning of a chest cold! Thoughts of all that training being wasted…

Anyway, self pitty doesn’t make for good blogging, so on with the report:

Did a very easy warm up that felt good on the chest, 7am arrived and we were off. 4 Kenyans and 3 white guys to the first 5k.

By 9-10k it was just me and Colin running slightly under my planned 17m21s / 5k pace (2:26:30). First 10k in 34:15 s. From 10-20k the Kenyans were out of sight, and I was just hanging on to Colin’s pace, struggling a bit but still cool.

After my 20-21k refueling drink (I can’t elaborate what it was, but its legal in most countries I’m sure) Colin suddenly dropped off, he later commented ‘I sprinted off’, either way I was alone. And then I did the days first PB hitting the half way in 72mins 17sec.

At 22k the fun started. The first Kenyan was in range and coming back to me quickly. With less than 20k to go it became a matter of just monitoring each km and maintaining hard running. The course had km markers every 1000m which made it excellent to watch your times/ pace/ and distance to go etc.

Then, way down the road I could see the last 3 Kenyans, each separated by some distance. This pumped me up greatly, having 3 targets to focus on was a perfect way to run the final stages as I could watch each one slowly move back towards me. The next Kenyan was passed at 8k to go, the next one about 4k to go.

As this was happening, all the runners going in the opposite direction were cheering the same thing, “they [the Kenyans] look real bad, you will get them” This encouragement, nay classic Australian sporting rivalry, pumped me up enormously. I felt like Deek passing that little Ethiopian in the final stages of the 1982 Commonwealths Games (I really did imagine this).

Then I saw the little red singlet of a struggling runner who was awkwardly lurching with a weakened looking stride, it was none other than Julius Maritum. At 1.5k to go he got a glimpse back at me, hanging on to his win, with me 23seconds in deficit by the time the finish line arrived.

This brings me to the 2nd PB for the day, my second half marathon PB of 71mins 17 secs. Total 2:23:35 finish to take 13 minutes off my marathon PB (formerly 2h36mins), hence creating the days 3rd PB.

Overall, it was a really tough race for me. Not just the event, but the 9 week lead up had been a tough period of training, particularly the new track sets and the wintry Blue Mtns conditions (hey I’m a triathlete we were designed to race in Summer). You hear people talk about the marathon as a ‘journey’ and ‘life changing’, well I can relate to those comments a bit now.

It was a race where I learnt a lot about the sport of marathon, with a lot of “little things” to improve upon next time, sub 2:20 is just a bit more time, experience (lots of which I learnt today) and faster course.

Hope everyone else had a great race! The Westlink M7 Marathon is certainly a great event, and is well organized particularly with the SMCs involvement now.

Particular thanks to who ever put all those km markers out on the course, and those who manned the drink stations, thanks

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