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Gold Coast Marathon - RunMarathon


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Gold Coast, Queensland
Australia
Gold Coast Events Management
15C / 59F
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 56m 25s
Overall Rank = 1179/2628
Age Group = M35-40
Age Group Rank = 198/332
Pre-race routine:

I got up at 4:45 travelled down to the coast. As I got closer to Southport the traffic got pretty bad and at one stage I started to think that I wasn't going to make the start. I finally found a park and got all my stuff together and headed over to the start line.
Event warmup:

I did all the usual things and was feeling relaxed standing amongst two thousand people waiting for the the starters gun. I had decided to run out in front of the 3:45 pacer and was hoping to not get passed.
Run
  • 3h 56m 25s
  • 42 kms
  • 05m 38s  min/km
Comments:

The gun went off and it only took 1 minute to cross the line. The crowd spread out pretty quickly and I was able to get into a good pace right from the get go. The 3:45 pacer was behind me and I was feeling good. The race all went to plan and I was travelling alone nicely until about the 21k mark. One of mates who I was hoping to beat come waltzing up behind me and said hello. We chatted for a while but I could see that I was slowing him down a bit so I said don't let me hold you back and with that he disappeared off in front of me. I was a bit grumpy at this stage and started to direct bad thoughts in my friends direction (I'm not a very good loser). To make matters worse the 3:45 pacer (and about a thousand other runners) passed me with ease at the 30k mark. They flew past me and it felt like I was standing still. I knew then that I wouldn't be running under 3.50 because I just didn't have the will or strength to go any faster.

At about the 32k mark I got the shock of my life, when I saw my mate (who had passed me with ease earlier) standing on the side of the road stretching his legs. My first thoughts were “you beauty, there’s a chance I can beat him after all” and I offered some words of support as I passed him. A few meters down the road I looked back and saw that he was still standing there stretching and all of a sudden I started to feel guilty. For me the race had changed. Why didn’t I stop and check to see if my mate was ok? Why was I more concerned with beating him? He would have stopped to check on me. I started to feel awful for continuing on and not stopping and talking to my mate. By the time I decided to go back, I was more then 2k’s in front of him and decided that it was just too far to turn back now. Luckily for me, another 2k’s down the road saw the course do a u-turn and double back on itself. This meant that I would again pass my mate but in the opposite direction, I had a chance to redeem myself and check on my mate. It was somewhere around the 36k mark that I finally passed him and was able to cross over to the other side and check on him. He had started to walk but I could see that he was struggling to run. I tried to encourage him as much as I could (I’m not a very good motivator) and told him that the important thing was to get to that finishing line any way possible (one goal we both had was to finish the race without walking but that didn’t matter now). My mate thanked me for stopping and told me that he was ok and to get back to my race and so I did.

The final 8k’s were the toughest 8k’s I have ever run. My legs and knees were killing me. I tried to make it more manageable by breaking it down into 1k segments and ticking them off in my mind as I went pass each k marker. I struggled to the finishing line and was so so happy to finally cross it under 4 hours.
Post race
Warm down:

I drank heaps of water and found some watermelon.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Nothing really. I stuck to my training plan and followed it pretty much to the letter.

Event comments:

The marathon is indeed a challenging race. In my training the furthest I ever ran was 30k's and it was always going to be interesting to see how I would go with the extra 12k's.

My mate send me a text after he had finished saying that I was a "Legend" and that I had helped him get though the race. I don't know if it was the endorphins finally kicking in but reading his text made me feel happier then when I had crossed the line.




Last updated: 2007-06-29 12:00 AM
Running
03:56:25 | 42 kms | 05m 38s  min/km
Age Group: 198/332
Overall: 1179/2628
Performance: Good
1 - 5.27 2 - 5.02 3 - 5.19 4 - 5.12 5 - 5.11 6 - 5.06 7 - 5.05 8 - 5.05 9 - 5.12 10 - 5.10 11 - 5.25 12 - 4.51 13 - 4.52 14 - 5.04 15 - 5.05 16 - 5.16 17 - 5.18 18 - 5.19 19 - 5.24 20 - 5.30 21 - 5.33 22 - 5.15 23 - 5.22 24 - 5.15 25 - 5.34 26 - 5.35 27 - 5.51 28 - 5.52 29 - 5.46 30 - 5.59 31 - 6.03 32 - 5.55 33 - 5.55 34 - 6.05 35 - 6.05 36 - 6.40 37 - 6.10 38 - 6.26 39 - 6.20 40 - 6.28 41 - 6.46 42 - 6.14 42.2 - 0.59
Course: The course starts in Southport and then heads south to Miami. It then turns backs north and passes pass the start/finish line and keeps going until Runaway Bay. It then turns south again back to the start/finish line at Southport.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2007-07-03 6:58 PM

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Veteran
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1002525
Brisbane
Subject: Gold Coast Marathon


2007-07-03 8:54 PM
in reply to: #871367

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Extreme Veteran
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500100
Melbourne
Subject: RE: Gold Coast Marathon
Congratulations on a sub 4 hour mary.

What a run, not only tough physically, but mentally as well.
You obviously need to give yourself more credit as a motivator!



2007-07-04 3:41 AM
in reply to: #871367

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Extreme Veteran
392
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, Queensland
Gold member
Subject: RE: Gold Coast Marathon

Mate, you are a LEGEND! Cool

Well Done on the first Mary! 

2007-07-05 2:04 AM
in reply to: #871367

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Veteran
1108
1000100
Perth, Oz
Subject: RE: Gold Coast Marathon

Wow great job!! what a brilliant time! a sub 4 hour marathon is something I can only ever dream about!

 I htink you should give yourself more credit to.  you obviously made a difference to your mate and helped him cross the finish line too.  the fact that you thought about it once you'd left shows you were concerned about him!

great job hope you recover quickly what an awesome effort

2007-07-05 9:04 PM
in reply to: #871367

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Expert
738
50010010025
Alabama
Subject: RE: Gold Coast Marathon

congrats mate! that was very thoughtful of you to check on your mate, I`m sure he really appreciated it knowing you were looking out for his well being.  It`s nice to have friends out there, but you taking time out to see if he was okay proves to him that you are a true friend. Well done, they say you learn something at every race, sounds like you learnt lots out there.

 Hope the legs improve. Well done to fininsh under 4 hours.

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