From: andrewt@cse.unsw.edu.au (Andrew Taylor) Subject: Another Sydney Marathon Report Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 03:40:36 GMT Yesterday was my second marathon. I took up running mid-last year to mark my 40th by running the 2001 Sydney Marathon. My goal last year was sub 3:30 and I ran 3:31:25. This year I began to wonder if I was capable of a sub 3:00 marathon. I began training in mid-April. A 87:25 in the Sydney Morning Herald half marathon in late May was encouraging and 85:06 in the Bankstown Half-Marathon in August (without tapering) more so. Up at 4am to allow plenty of preparation time. Monica rose without complaint to drop me at the railway station at 5am. The first Koel of the season is calling steadily in the cool dark silence. Their arrival marks the start of spring in Sydney. Passengers a dichomotomy: runners exuding nervous energy and worse-the-wear nightclubbers returning home at dawn. A 10k is run in tandem with the Sydney Marathon and follows its route for 8k. Thankfully this year they've split the starts. The 9000+ 10k runners start at 7:30, the 1700+ marathon runners at 7:00. Lined up only 15 minutes beforehand and finished up only a row behind the 20 seeded runners. A Grey Butcherbird is singing beautiful melodies from a St Leonards Park tree as we await the start. The first few kms are downhill from North Sydney towards the Harbour Bridge. Didn't see any km markers, but knew I was going too fast when I passed the leading women on the ascent of the bridge. Tried to slow down. The view from the harbour bridge including the Sydney Opera House is glorious - but I can't remember seeing any of it. Reached the 5km marker in the city at 19:32. A minute faster than my intended split. Tried to slow down again. Surprised at the number of people ahead of me as we go up Oxford street. Stay close to my goal pace for much of the next 15km which includes a circuit of leafy Cenntenial Park and out-and-back leg on Anzac Parade turning around near where I work. Reach the half way in 1:26:53 very close to my goal time - I've planned a faster first half because its fairly flat unlike whats to come. However I've been uncomfortable at times and my quadriceps don't feel good - worryingly early in the race for that to be happening. Somewhere before the halfway mark. A runner apparently named George catches me. George belongs to the Sydney Striders running club and they have many supporters among the spectators - not a few of which know George by name. George is running strongly at a good pace for me, so I decide to stick with him. Its flat now with some long downhills through the city to the 25km mark. The race then gets serious with a hard climb over Anzac bridge. This is close to home and I often run over the bridge which makes it easier. Pass a few runners including the first one reduced to walking. At the 28km mark my sister Anne, Monica and my 3 year-old daughter Zoe are waiting. Don't stop just high-five Zoe and keep going but it lifts me for the next hill which isn't easy. Its now warm and very polluted. Bushfire brigades around Sydney have been conducting their last control burns before summer over the last few days and the wind has brought smoke from over 100km away into the Sydney basin. You can see and smell the effects. They burnoff every year but the weather doesn't usually bring the smoke in like this. Last Christmas the bushfire brigades fought extraordinary battles against 2 weeks of ferocious bushfires across the state so its hard to complain. After 30km we skirt Iron Cove on part of my stock training run in the last few months. Should be a pleasant view but the smoke spoils it. A friend Liz is there with her daughter to cheer me on. She says I was looking good - better than some of the runners ahead of me but my legs aren't feeling good. I lose touch with George in the next couple of kilometres and am feeling depressed. There is no respite now with hill after hill coming. At 37 kilometres I calculate that with 4:30 kms I can break 3 hours. This doesn't seem impossible so I give it everything I've got. My legs just can't seem to do enough though. Every kilometre marker comes a few seconds too slow. Sub 3 hours remains tantalizingly possible even as I climb up the approach to Olympic Park after 40km. Its a long straight down Olympic Boulevarde and I can hear the finish of the women's third place-getter being announced and still think I might break 3. The last 200m is a blur. The cheering from the spectators lining the course is very loud. When I get close enough to read the finish clock its already ticked over to 3:00. Lie on the ground 10 metres past the finish line. Volunteer check I'm OK, but thankfully leave me to lie there for a minute or two. Last year I had postural hypotension after the finish - not serious but a little scary. No trace of it this year when I stand. In fact I'm feeling good, too good for the finish of a marathon, that is except for my legs. My quads and one calf aren't in a good state but the rest of my body could have gone faster. Limp to a chair to remove my timing chip. George is in the next chair. He ran 2:59:10. I thank him for pacing me. He kindly says I helped him too, which I doubt. We agree that its a very tough course. Male and female winners say so too in today papers. My parents and Monica+Zoe find me in the finish area. My parents live outside Sydney and don't like the city traffic and dad can't walk far. But they had no trouble and were here more than 30 minutes before the first runner. They got a prime spot on the finish line and enjoyed the spectacle. Not sure what my finish time was as I didn't manage to stop my watch. So all I know is 3:00 + some seconds. Last year this would have been 37th overall and 2nd in the 40+ age group. But this year I guess I'm 50-60th overall (out of 1700+) and 5th or 6th in my age group (out of ~300). Still its a PB by 31 minutes. Stephen Bwire from Tanzania won in 2.17.30 with his compatriots claiming the other two places. Heather Turland was the first woman in 2:51:05. Last week's newspaper said she gave up serious running because training takes too much time away from her family, but she has come out of retirement to support the event. She is certainly an inspiring sight. Beforehand I thought I'd be very depressed if I just missed 3 hours, but I'm feeling happy. today, but I have been thinking what I could have done better. I'm sure a better planned-and-executed strategy would have got me under 3 hours. Also seems to me more experienced runners my age are better at getting the most of their bodies. I guess something you learn. My training peaked at ~110 km per week. It would be hard to find time for more - I only managed this much by running to and from work. Not sure my body could have coped with more anyway. I suspect a significant amount of adaption occurs only slowly and its only 15 months since I started running. I train in Asics 2060/70s+socks but I've raced this year in Asics DS Racers with no socks. This feels fast and was good in the two half marathons but I had some minor discomfort around half way yesterday. Only a minor blister evident at the finish though. Don't know if it slowed me down. They provided gels at 28k but I've never used them and didn't think this was the time to start. Quite a few runners seem to swear by them. Sports drink at every station to 35k + water over my head for cooling seemed to work well for me. I'd seen a suggestion of chips and coke as post-marathon food and this mixture of salt, sugar, fat and caffeine was easy to stomach. As was a James Squires Pilsener or two yesterday evening. I'll run next year, its a great home-town event, but I'm not sure how seriously I'll train. I see Phil has now posted a more-to-the point report but here is a second account anyway. Apologies for its length. Andrew Taylor