268 replies to this topic

[plu]

Hi all,

I have been visualising your runs all morning now for the real story.

cheers Plu

[Grey beard]

Can't wait to hear all about it...

[Slow Sue]

I got a very excited call from Wombatoutofhell this morning. Very emotional and he believes he went under 4 hours. Can't wait to read everyones reports.

[Grey beard]

 Slow Sue, on Apr 13 2008, 01:03 AM, said:

I got a very excited call from Wombatoutofhell this morning. Very emotional and he believes he went under 4 hours. Can't wait to read everyones reports.

Spooky! Just got a text message and his time is the same as my first marathon - to the second!

[alisonjc]

 Grey beard, on Apr 12 2008, 11:45 PM, said:

Spooky! Just got a text message and his time is the same as my first marathon - to the second!

Oh that's great news - looking forward to your race report Wombat!

[Vurt]

3:21 for me

[Wine trail runner]

3:00:10 or thereabouts (3 mins PB).  Great crowd support despite the rain during the first half.  Thanks to the WTR team: Lulu, Long Arms & Easy Tiger.

Edited by Wine trail runner, 13 April 2008 - 05:26 PM.

[GRIFFIN]

Woohoo ~ Been there, done that, got the T shirt !  

After a very poor training program, no run over 20km and being quite ill for the last three weeks.

It was a very scared GRIFFIN that went down to Telopea Park this morning, to run his 10th straight Canberra Marathon.

Felt really good for the first 10km, then the muscles started to complain about being exercised after such a long stand-off.

But when you are running to fulfill a dream, pain doesn't even factor in the equation.

So I just kept smiling, waving to all the CR cheer squads, got entertained by I Hate Toast's and I Love Toast's fantastic shows, you two were great, thank you !

Then there were some absolutely amazing friends, who followed me around the whole of the race, cheering me on and giving me the drive to succeed.

But best of all, there was my gorgeous wife, who also became a GRIFFIN today (spectator variety), she too went round to quite a few vantage spots and cheered me on.

My race time was not really an issue for me this year; however, I managed to run 3.40.53, which I consider to be quite respectable for me, given the circumstances.

Another year over, which saw quite a few huge PBs, some very sore runners, but all-in-all I would say some very happy Cool Runners...

Well done to each and every one of you, whatever you did over the weekend, and thank you for coming to Canberra !

Yours in Running Writing

Gary GRIFFIN Bowen

[MissZ]

 Vurt, on Apr 13 2008, 05:04 PM, said:

3:21 for me

Thats awesome Vurt! Well done.  

[plu]

Without stealing too much  thunder Wombatface just called.

Rain at the start, cleared a bit and a small hail storm for the latter 50 km runners.

Luckylegs did about 5:30 for the marathon only 5 minutes slower than two years ago.  

Colin I believe ran a perfect 3:30 though he was not the pacer.  

Superflake looked a bit strained at 21km

CJ just outsdie a PB

I believe Johhny Dark's salt tablets worked this time well done mate.

One,  in a previous life , professional female triathlete  set a World Record for the age 40 50km.

We know what Tim did ( I want his injury) - huge effort and in the vicinity of the 3:15 bus was RobR, Eagle, Speedy Geoff and  Horrie.


It's all a bit of chinese whispers so happy to be corrected.

Thanks Ewen.

cheers  PLu

BTW: any news on Whippetgal and Nando.

[Anth]

Spent Saturday watching the 5km and 10km events, with Mrs Anth clocking up a sensational 56:25 for her first effort at 10km's. She was quite chuffed with the result and I was majorly proud of her efforts.

This morning I went out nice and conservatively given that I had little in the way of training under my belt and I was intending to do the 50km. Conservatively meant I went through halfway in 1:52:30 and got picked up by the 3:45 pacing group. After sticking with them for a while (they were being led superbly by the CR pacer) I pulled away at the 30km mark and after a big final sprint down the straight, came in in 3:39:31.

After developing a mad blister (wet socks!) early on in the race and a slight strain in the calf I decided to give the 50km a miss and save the energy for next weekend.

While the time is 6 minutes outside my PB, it's by far the best marathon I've done so far. The splits were 1:52/1:47, I was in control of my race the entire way, and I passed a stack of people on the second half of the run (and only got passed by one guy). Last year I ran my debut marathon in Canberra in 4:22:15 and got beaten by the Parkes Way loop. This time I finished comfortably and gave the Parkes Way loop the finger on both occassions.

Good times. Goooooood times. And not bad for a couple of training runs of 10k's and a longest run of 16k.

The volunteers were great as always, as were the various CR cheersquads around the course. You guys braved the rain, made so much noise and were absolutely superb.

Congrats to Griffin on his Griffin and to everyone else who ran on the day. It was great to meet a number of CR's over the weekend, including PlodBod, Wobbler, Wombat (complete with the obligatory hug on behalf of Frank), Carmen and Paul Every who looked fresh as a daisy.

Now for a week of rest ahead of next weekend's Brisbane Marathon and my first crack at the "back to back marathons" challenge.

[RaceMikeRace]

Just got home and am about to fire into some cocktails and a massive pasta.

Too tired to write now but I planned for 3:10 and I crossed the line at EXACTLY 3:10 so I was pretty damn happy!  Met a bunch of great CRs and had a terrific day with my Canadian in-laws just arrived in the country yesterday and bundled into the car from Sydney airport to drive to Canberra to cheer me on.

I paced almost exactly on 4:30kms the whole way through (except for having to speed up to stay on target after a pee break behind a tree) and unbelievably felt good the entire way (sore, but never REALLY hurting) so I thought I'd continue on for the 50km.

I sprinted like hell down the last straight to try to get in under 3:10 and that was that.  I kept going after the marathon finish line and could barely hobble my way round to the 43km mark at which point I thought "You're an idiot, give it up".  So I let my betters continue on for the 50km (respect to you all!) and dragged my sorry carcass back to the finish line to cheer people on.

Ok the gin is calling.  Congratulations to everyone today!!!

[SwimRideRun]

Painful for me, it was special just to finish. I had to dig deeper than ever before.
Cheers to the vocal pair in costume underneath Kings Avenue bridge. the "No siesta- running fiesta' posters were tops:)

[Greg]

 RaceMikeRace, on Apr 13 2008, 07:01 PM, said:

Just got home and am about to fire into some cocktails and a massive pasta.

Too tired to write now but I planned for 3:10 and I crossed the line at EXACTLY 3:10 so I was pretty damn happy!  Met a bunch of great CRs and had a terrific day with my Canadian in-laws just arrived in the country yesterday and bundled into the car from Sydney airport to drive to Canberra to cheer me on.

I paced almost exactly on 4:30kms the whole way through (except for having to speed up to stay on target after a pee break behind a tree) and unbelievably felt good the entire way (sore, but never REALLY hurting) so I thought I'd continue on for the 50km.

I sprinted like hell down the last straight to try to get in under 3:10 and that was that.  I kept going after the marathon finish line and could barely hobble my way round to the 43km mark at which point I thought "You're an idiot, give it up".  So I let my betters continue on for the 50km (respect to you all!) and dragged my sorry carcass back to the finish line to cheer people on.

Ok the gin is calling.  Congratulations to everyone today!!!

WELL DONE MIKE!!! HuRTS certainly paid off.  
See you for 45 minutes of 60on 30 off on Tuesday  
Cheers
Greg

Edited by Greg, 13 April 2008 - 06:36 PM.

[RaceMikeRace]

 Greg, on Apr 13 2008, 07:33 PM, said:

WELL DONE MIKE!!! HuRTS certainly paid off.  
See you for 45 minutes of 60on 30 off on Tuesday  
Cheers
Greg

Thanks Greg!
I agree, HuRTS definitely did the business.
No running for me on Tuesday, we're taking the in-laws off to Port Douglas for a week!
See you next week for some intervals.

Mike

[Jo Be]

What a great weekend!  My whole family were able to participate in an event.  First 5km for my 10 yo who was pretty chuffed to beat Dad.  Then both kids had a blast in the Kids' Marathon.  They both wore CR hats and want to thank the cheersquads who cheered on the mini-coolrunners.  They can't wait to come back next year.  I wasn't looking to break any records after 6ft so took the 50km option and though I didn't exactly push it in the marathon was happy with the overall finish 4:06ish.

Really great atmosphere.  Thanks guys.
Jo

[Whippet gal]

Shattered. The rain and cold made me cramp up really early and there was no saving it from there.
Finished six minutes slower than I thought I should - 3.01.
So very, very disappointed. Will mope for a while and then set about planing my revenge.

Lots of CRs out there - thanks for all the support along the way - you really helped lift the spirits.

[superflake]

DNF at 27ks. My first race DNF in 4 years. The heel was killing me so I took the hard decision to pull out when I could.
Not happy I had to pull out but I really could not run properly due to the pain. A terrible feeling to DNF. Not something I wish to go through again, but I have probably been lucky.

I'll be back when I can sought out why I have this pain.

Thanks for everyones support before, during and after the race. Much appreciated.  

[Easy Tiger]

Well done to Mark Tucker, that's a great performance from a talented athlete on his farewell tour.

Tucks 3rd place, brilliant! Leaps to number 4 on the all time Striders list, over some very strong runners including Chris Truscott and Darren Benson. Reports suggest DB is flying in China and CT is in his best form for 10 years, this battle is far from over. Uncle Dave 3rd all time, keeps his nose in front of the chasing pack, with Gold Coast his chance to stretch the gap. Tucks is still improving consistently from 3,000m to Marathon, i'm enjoying watching the ride, just wish it was from a closer seat.

Congrats to WineTrailRunner on the big pb, he nailed the race again this year. Between WTR and his team manager Lulu, they've again orchestrated a clinic in target race preparation.

Hope Running Angel is celebrating her performance. An excellent day out after an interrupted prep, sounds like she got through intact and looking ahead to a huge improvement.

[Spud]

Had one of my most enjoyable marathons pacing the 4hr group. A fairly big group with a few first timers. Great bunch, it was very satisfying watching them achieve their goals. Finished with the 7.8km lakeside loop to make up the 50km in 4.37.
Apart from a cold first hour where I struggled to get warm I had a blast out there. The support for CRs and Striders has quite the reputation down there now, it was awesome.

Thanks to Rod, B+, Hamburglar and our wonder chauffeur Aunty Karin for the company.
Fun times.  

[rodthehornet]

Had a great day out as the 3:45 pacer.  Kept within about 20 seconds of all the 5km splits until the 30km mark.  Set free the strong ones in the group at that point and wound back the clock to help the others.  Finished in 3:44:3X.  

I had some gold finishers with Noids doing a 25 min PB and a fellow doing a 40 minute PB.  Best run of the day was a strider girl who stuck with me to 30km at 5:12 pace and then steamed over the last 12km in sub 5 min/km for a 3:34.

Nature called at the 23km mark and would have been quite a sight seeing the pacer disappering into the trees.  I was expecting the rest of the group to come off the course with me on my expedition.

Was a real fun day and would recommend to anyone giving pacer duties a go.  It is just as much of a buzz getting people over the line for their own PBs as running a PB.


Cheers
Rod

[inhisshadow]

 RaceMikeRace, on Apr 12 2008, 05:01 PM, said:

Just got home and am about to fire into some cocktails and a massive pasta.

Too tired to write now but I planned for 3:10 and I crossed the line at EXACTLY 3:10 so I was pretty damn happy!  Met a bunch of great CRs and had a terrific day with my Canadian in-laws just arrived in the country yesterday and bundled into the car from Sydney airport to drive to Canberra to cheer me on.

I paced almost exactly on 4:30kms the whole way through (except for having to speed up to stay on target after a pee break behind a tree) and unbelievably felt good the entire way (sore, but never REALLY hurting) so I thought I'd continue on for the 50km.

I sprinted like hell down the last straight to try to get in under 3:10 and that was that.  I kept going after the marathon finish line and could barely hobble my way round to the 43km mark at which point I thought "You're an idiot, give it up".  So I let my betters continue on for the 50km (respect to you all!) and dragged my sorry carcass back to the finish line to cheer people on.

Ok the gin is calling.  Congratulations to everyone today!!!

That's a brilliant result there Mike - well done! It's a testiment to a solid and consistant training regime.

[Kanser]

It was great watching from the sidelines. Some great performances out there today. The rain definitely didn't stop Uncle Dave or Tucks today. I cycled around the course and met Tucks and Dave at about 28k. I couldn't believe how strong they were at that stage. Tucks overtook J Horne at about 29k and I actually thought he might close the gap on Dave but Dave really put foot down at 36k and I struggled on a bike to get back to the finish before him. Great run by Springer in 2.52, Mike Race (the HuRT squad definitely helped) and Kate Coburn finished very strong in 3.13. Pity about Blue Dog and Superflake but they'll bounce back.

[Jimboy]

Congratulations Luckylegs.5.35.06 look forward to your race report.You are an inspiration to us young 'uns.

[CaptainSmeg]

Hey there folks.

Wow, it was great to see so many CoolRunners today, in the race and on the sidelines!
I had a fantastic day - my first Marathon and Ultra combined.

Had a blast crossing the line with my best buddy who smashed his PB, and then tacking on the extra loop. Definitely happy to be qualified for 6-foot.

Congrats to all today, and thanks so much for the support!

See you around the traps....

Cheers,
SmegHead.

[SouthAustralian]

This is amazing to hear all these stories! Living vicariously through other people's experiences is certainly second best, but a brilliant second best. Thank you to all those who are sharing what happened to them, so that those of us who couldn't make it can get some sense of the sights, sounds and smells. Will there be photos posted?
Can i also thank all those Canberra marathoners who did the favour for me
I appreciate it.
Well done everyone!
Bloody Ripper!
Frank in SA
PS who's coming to the Adelaide marathon later this year

[MrD]

Congratulations to everyone that finished today! From starting out in sprinkling rain, then developing into quite a heavy shower, then for the sun to burst out and become quite hot - its never easy to run with in these conditions.

I'm over the moon with my result, made even better because a lot of my family were down there to welcome me into the finish line. Colin said at the 10k on Saturday I'd do 2:48. He is a good judge of form. I Finished in 2:49:47 and 23rd position.

Got to 10k in 38 something and knew it was quick but that did include some large downhill stretches, especially around Parliament House. Between 13 and 19 km out on the desolate highway I hooked onto a mini pack which was being well driven. Lost touch with this group around the turnaround point and got through the half mark in 1:21 something. Normally I would be stoked with a half PB but not when I have another half again to go! So knew things were gonna get worse. Was passed by a few others including the 3 leading ladies on the way back. Was getting very fatigued by 33km and the sun didn't help here. Splits were slipping away but was constantly being encouraged by the crowd, some fellow Woodstockians and of course my coolrunning buddies! Thanks heaps, was trying to do the same back in vain with my gasping for breath.

At 38km something strange happened and I got another wind and thought I 'mentally' picked up the pace. Did some quick calculations and had my sights set on a sub 2:50. I pushed hard the last 5 km although the km splits were probably the same as the previous 5. I did work a lot harder. At this point I was having second thoughts about the 50k option.  Coming into the last stretch which is a lot longer than it looks I was racing the clock to get under 2:50. Got there and then literally yanked the little red ribbon off my number and threw it down in very dramatic fashion. There was no way I was taking another step! Sat down and almost threw up 5 goos next to the lovely lady helping me to take off the timing chip but managed to hold it down.

Caught up with a few coolrunners afterwards, it was good to see alot of you guys achieve your goals. Whippetgal, sorry to hear about your mid race injury, 3:01 is an awesome time and just goes to show what you are capable of on any other day. l

[essaytee]

Just arrived home (Melbourne).   3.25 for me and I'm not complaining.   Heaps of CR's and great encouragement, it's like rent-a-family.

[tucks]

Great race today, my main goal for this year was a sub 2:30 marathon and it was great to get it at the first attempt.  I wasn't too happy with the wet conditions, discovered some nasty bloody patches on my ankles at the finish from the wet shoes but the rain definitely kept the temperature down.
Thanks Kanser for the support out there on the course, it was good to have a chat to keep my mind off the running.  Great run by Uncle Dave, I managed to keep the distance between us pretty steady until about 36k and then he just put the foot down.

[RaceMikeRace]

Great race reports guys - so many CRs did so well today, it's really inspiring!

And as a few people have mentioned - the amount of support for boh CoolRunners and Striders was HUGE.  Thank you to all the volunteers and cheer squads, especially the guys under the Kings Ave Bridge with 6 different outfit changes!

In other news I must have seen at least half a dozen cases of badly chafed bleeding nipples, the memory of which still makes me wince.  I think we should institue mandatory band-aid checks at the start line.  

[Hamburglar]

I also had a great weekend. I shrugged off a cold to feel pretty good at the start line. I didnt enjoy the freezing conditions of the first 5k and my hands started to swell. I felt strong all day and came home in 3:41 and continue on for a 50k finish in 4:25.

Bad luck for sub50 who just missed his sub 3 debut. Congrats to Horrie who did a big PB and which gives me something to target for my next marathon  

Anyone heard from sfGnome?

[kb]

I just want to say a huge "well done"   to my superstar buddy Nihao who raced her debut marathon today.  I'm not going to spoil her thunder but she had a blinder.

Oh my goodness.  How much have I had   with my tri buddies tonight.

Yay nihao.  I loooove you!

kb

Edited by wildthing, 13 April 2008 - 09:15 PM.

[inhisshadow]

 Hamburglar, on Apr 12 2008, 08:08 PM, said:

I also had a great weekend. I shrugged off a cold to feel pretty good at the start line. I didnt enjoy the freezing conditions of the first 5k and my hands started to swell. I felt strong all day and came home in 3:41 and continue on for a 50k finish in 4:25.

Bad luck for sub50 who just missed his sub 3 debut. Congrats to Horrie who did a big PB and which gives me something to target for my next marathon  

Anyone heard from sfGnome?

Well done HB - mate your made of some pretty hardy stuff.

Cheers
IHS

[vat]

Big congrats to Johnny Dark who finally got under 3:30 with a 3:26:22 - awesome, worked hard, well deserved.

[Vurt]

 Hamburglar, on Apr 13 2008, 09:08 PM, said:

Anyone heard from sfGnome?

He was in a good deal of pain trying to get back to his Car. I didn't look pleasant

Hope everything is okay Bruce :|

[Chunderbolt]

Not the 4 hours I wanted, but 4:07:45 is a nineteen minute PB, so I'm happy.

My training partner (Captain Smeg) and I started with the four hour group, but after the first few K we broke away a bit. We didn't at any point get more than a couple of hundred metres in front of them, but when we went through 10K in about 54 minutes I knew I might be in trouble, and we made a concious effort to slow down. The four hour group passed us a bit before 20K, and we went through the half in 1:57, so that section was right on the pace.

My first coach once told me that you should go through the half in a marathon feeling great. I felt fair. I was worried.

So I was trying to hold it together from there, but I was slowing down. up to 30K we were only losing a few seconds per K, and at 30K my beautiful wife and son were waiting with a much anticipated Red Bull. It didn't help much - I was struggling and we went through the next few K in 5:50 to 6:00 (target pace was 5:41)

At 34K I was really struggling, and I took my first walk break. I tried to urge Captain Smeg on to the 4 hour marathon he could've achieved from here, but he wasn't having a bar of it. Captain Smeg has been my best mate for twenty years, and today we were finishing a marathon together.

And that's what we did. A few more walk breaks and we finished in 4:07:45. Captain Smeg kept going and finished the 50 in 4:54:49. Top effort from a first timer - and thank you for sticking with me!

[PEEKIE]

Well Done Coolrunners, espescially first timers and those who broke PB's

[superflake]

 Vurt, on Apr 13 2008, 09:21 PM, said:

He was in a good deal of pain trying to get back to his Car. I didn't look pleasant

Hope everything is okay Bruce :|

I do know he came back from Black Mtn via the truck. He was holding the back of his knee I think when I saw him at the finish.

[Horrie]

A great weekend for Team Horrie in the nation's capital. 2 PBs for me today. A 7 and a half minute PB for the marathon to finish in 3:18:15 and a 19 minute PB in the 50km for a 4:04:10.

Tim ran his second fastest 5km ever to finish in 40:XX and BlueBel went sub 55 for her first 10km in a year and a half.

Thanks to Dave and Fran and all the wonderful volunteers that help make Canberra such a great weekend. This marathon would have to be the best for spectator support of all that I run in and makes it a must do on your running calendar.

[sook54]

So great to hear the stories from you wonderful crazy people who fronted up for the marathon today! You are all heroes, even those who had to pull out, commiserations. And also big congrats to the cheer squad, sounds like you really made a difference!

[Rags]

3.39.54 for me a 1.35 PB - I am happy

Congrats to Go girl, JD, Horrie and Chunderbolt all had huge PB's and Uncle Dave on his second place and PB's in the marathon and 50k.

Thanks heaps to the CR Cheersquad an awesome bunch!

[The Sloth]

Quick report from me.
Aimed for a solid marathon and push through to 50k.
Cold start, good running though.
Felt the thorn between 4 roses during the first 10k as I got caught between the sorting out of some of the leading female contenders.
Intermittant rain - some heavier than others.
Aimed to hit 4:10 per k all the way, but faded (mostly post 30k). Jumped on with a couple of other guys running strongly at about 40k to lift the pace again.
Manged 2:59:06 and PB of 7 seconds for the marathon. Nice.
Wasn't able to push the pace for 50k, was passed like I was going backwards by two guys, but trundled home without anyone else passing me and avoided walking (1 up on last year).
Finished the 50 (relatively) strongly in 3:39:36 fo 8th place (!). Might even get my name in R4YL .

Thanks to all the support out there - top stuff. Special mention to the Toasties - superb effort. If there was a CR award for best supporters you would be favourites.
One final note - the CR supporters give a 'go CR' to anyone in the gear, and I have always appreciated that and had it spur me on. However today as I neared the finishline for for the 50k, I heard the CR crew yell 'Go Sloth'. As someone who hasn't made it to a lot of CR get togethers, I didn't expect anyone to necessarily know who I was, so I was blown away by that. Maybe it was the depleted emotional state of having run 50k, but it made me feel very special . Thankyou all, love your work. I would have come up to say g'day, but by that stage the legs were pretty much seized up.

[sfGnome]

Back home, propped up in bed, loaded up on prescription drugs but sadly no more comfortable than I was earlier    My hip seized up at about 30k, leaving me unable to move, let alone walk. Lucky I'm a scrawny runner now, because the first aid bloke picked me up like a baby and carried me to the 'pick-up' truck. My two boofy boys and my weightlifter wife have literally been carrying me around all day (would you believe that tiger angel carried me up our front flight of steps on her back - I told her that step-ups with a 68kg dead weight should go in her exercise diary   ).

Sad to have DNF'd, annoyed that I could have been so dumb as to try and carry an injury into a marathon, disappointed that the only race my children have every seen me run finished so ignominiously, but absolutely over the moon at JD's and Chunderbolt's runs (and looking forward to reading of some other's results too!).

[Professor]

Mixed emotion tonight...I was immensely happy to have backed up from a very sucessful 6 Foot with a respectable time, hugely disapponted to have flagged so badly in the last couple of k's. Set out looking for 3.0x, and ran with RaceMike Race and Horrie for 10k's. I was still bang on target with RaceMike at about 28k's, and kept within about 50m of him to the Death Valley turn. He pulled away then, Horrie caught me with 5 to go and I still thought 3.15 would be a pretty easy finish. Wheels fell off, and I had nothing. Zip. After about 31k's of even splits, that last 9 was in 53 mins. At least the only cramps I got were in the last 300m! How do you run 42.2 k's, and end up with a huge 6 sec PB? 3.21.53 gun time, 3.21.44 net. I am still happy with the time, just down it wasn't done 'in style!" RaceMike did a great job, Horrie showed his strength, and blew me away running the 50 to boot!

Big congrats must go to my part time training buddy JD for his fine PB, with the silver easily won by GoGirl! Shes got some more big PBs in her yet! Great PB! And Unc's in there somewhere too...can run!

I would have put the house on Blue Dog going sub 3, seeing him and Superflake DNF was like backing black or red on the roulette table and zero comes up! Commiserations guys...I'm sure the battle will continue. And sorry to hear the news gnome..

Thanks yet again for all the support, both Striders and CRs.

Prof

PS- How good is Eagle - apparently crook at 6.30, misses the start by 5 mins, and still runs a 3.16. Unbelievable!

Edited by Professor, 14 April 2008 - 12:36 AM.

[Nihao]

Awww, thank you Wildthing!!

Yesterday's race was my first marathon and I did 4.37.  I'm pretty happy with that!  Most of my training I fitted in around training with the Balance Triathlon Club.  As I hadn't done a marathon before I followed the Striders MTG email notices on how far I should go on the long distance training runs.  These runs I mostly ran from Cent Park to Maroubra and then back via Eastgardens, Randwick way.  They were loooong training runs and quite often very slow so I was kind of expecting to come in around the 5 hour mark yesterday.  

Throughout the race yesterday I tried to keep up with the 4.30 pacer (thanks for your motivation and tips!!) and managed to do so the majority of the way but around the 32km mark I fell off as my quads and calves started to hurt big time!!  I continued on trying hard not to focus on my sore legs - just doing that was hard enough.  Throughout the whole race though I felt great and my breathing and heart rate was all good!  

I was very glad to round the final corner and see the finishing chute!  I had a great time and overall it was a great learning experience as I really didn't know what to expect.  

Many thanks to Wildthing, AK, Nick, Tiger Angel, the Striders and everyone on the course who cheered me on!  It really kept me going!

Edited by Nihao, 14 April 2008 - 06:47 AM.

[Anth]

 Professor, on Apr 14 2008, 12:32 AM, said:

PS- How good is Eagle - apparently crook at 6.30, misses the start by 5 mins, and still runs a 3.16. Unbelievable!

I saw Eagle flash past me at the 4km mark and thought that he must have missed the start, but then wondered if I was just seeing things in the rain. That's a great effort and a great time.

[Leofisio]

 Spud, on Apr 13 2008, 08:53 PM, said:

Had one of my most enjoyable marathons pacing the 4hr group. A fairly big group with a few first timers. Great bunch, it was very satisfying watching them achieve their goals. Finished with the 7.8km lakeside loop to make up the 50km in 4.37.
Apart from a cold first hour where I struggled to get warm I had a blast out there. The support for CRs and Striders has quite the reputation down there now, it was awesome.

Thanks to Rod, B+, Hamburglar and our wonder chauffeur Aunty Karin for the company.
Fun times.  

Hi Spud,

I was the guy with a blue singlet that followed you most of the way (up to 28k mark), as I told you it was my 1st marathon, your help was great! I finished in 3:55:14 and I am very happy with that. Your support was absolutely crucial to save our energy for the business end of the race. Thanks a lot!  

[CaptainSmeg]

 Chunderbolt, on Apr 13 2008, 09:38 PM, said:

And that's what we did. A few more walk breaks and we finished in 4:07:45. Captain Smeg kept going and finished the 50 in 4:54:49. Top effort from a first timer - and thank you for sticking with me!

Thanks dude.
It was more fun discussing music along the run! (Still haven't remembered that corker of a song we came up with).

Best lines from songs that captured our mood at different markers that we came up with:
Bon Jovi at 21.1k: "Woah, we're half way there, woah living on a prayer"
Paul Kelly at the 41k mark: "Came in on a Sunday, every muscle aching, walking in slow motion, like he'd just been hit!"

Crossing finish-the line alongside my best mate with our families cheering together will always stick with me - by far a much better experience than than chasing a finishing time by mysef.
And being my first marathon, it was also my PB! (Cripes, I'm sore today... tomorrow will be hell!)

Cheers,
SmegHead

[scurry711]

15min PB for me howeverI just noticed that my gun time and net time on the results page are exactly the same. No way. It took me a minute to get to the start. I see that some who finished around me have their time adjusted and some don't. I think there was obviously an issue with the timing chips. I was on 3.30 pace until 32k then died in the arse and limped home but still happy with my PB.

[Joey74]

Hi All,

Well I did it!!  

Canberra was only meant to be a training run for me for the Gold Coast Marathon (meant to be my first). Plan was to pull out at the 35km mark.

I got to 35km and felt great (hurting like hell) but just felt so comfortable in my running. My thoughts were its only 7kms go, I can run/walk the next 7kms if I have too, to cross that finish line. I didn't have to worry about the walking I RAN the whole 42kms with a few walks in a couple of drink stations. My aim for GCM was 5hours I crossed the line in Canberra in 5.03. I couldn't have been happier.

The feeling that now I have run a marathon, I am a marathoner!

Well done to everyone who ran yesterday. The cool runner cheer squads (even tho I wasn't wearing my CR cap) they still cheered everyone else on. The cheering from all the spectators even in the pouring rain was amazing.

Thanks so much for my gorgeous other half, doing all the driving to and from Canberra and running around cheering me on. Thank you to the lovely Rosie from Brisbane who I ran with for the first 24kms or so. She was amazing and we chatted along our way. The time just passed so quickly.

I am still on cloud nine from yesterday, sore as hell but head still firmly planted in the clouds. Super effort from everyone.

Jo