Sydney Marathon Success!

The Sydney Marathon was a much anticipated event and the very first home city marathon for the Sydney born and bred Marathon Man. Following the previous week at the Marathon Expo the adrenalin was truly flowing at the start of the event in Milsons Point. The weather forecast of 23 degrees proved more like 32 degress on the day with the heat making it a real challenge and bringing back memories from the Sahara Desert earlier in the year. Once again the excitement got the better of me and the run over the Sydney Harbour Bridge was absolutely magic. Making the journey through the Botanical Gardens, up Oxford Street and through Centennial Park and then up and around by Randwick Racecourse was like going for a training run with lots more people down the middle of the road rather than on the footpath. The first half of the race was completed in 1:52 which was fine though again it was the second half of the race that I found a real challenge. It was at this time that I realised that the one critical item I left behind were my salt tablets which helps to prevent the loss of fluids in the body and keep the mind sharp. It seems there were a number of other people that were effected by the heat with many dropping like flys in the heat. This did make me think a little and when feeling a little faint make sure that I stopped and collected my thoughts so as to push through the barrier and make it through to the finish line. I greatly appreciated all of the fellow runners who passed comment something to the effect of "you must be hot..." I found the second half of the course was largely uninspiring for me with little scenery outside of the incredible Opera House and Sydney Harbour in the final kilometre which makes it one of the best finishes in the world. Indeed, I am now discovering that it is not only the weather that makes a big difference on the day of the event as each marathon course presents new challenges with some being flatter and more runner friendly than others. While setting out to break the magical 4 hour barrier this goal will have to remain for now with the final time of 4:16:16 a credible time that can be improved in future years.