The Westlink M7 Cities Marathon is a point to point Marathon 42.195km with one turn around point. It is based in Sydney's Western Suburbs and travels through three different Local Government Areas namely Liverpool City, Fairfield City and Blacktown City.
This Marathon is particularly unique to others organised every year around Australia, with the race route on Westlink M7's shared pathway for an uninterrupted journey from Prestons to Rooty Hill. The race route is traffic free on a sealed surface. There is a gradual increase in elevation from 5km - 15km, however the hills are not too steep. There were 190 Marathon Runners that completed the Athletics Australia/IAAF Certified Accurate 42.195km course.
This was not up there with some of the more scenic marathon events in the world with the sights of freeways, factories and paddocks the backdrop for this event. The entire event was on the continuous pathways and with no support crowds on the course to add a little atmosphere.
The day was quite warm with many doing people taking on the half marathon relay and passing on to a partner to run the second half of the run. This explained why it was a little tough keeping pace with a few people over the 15-20km stage as they were clearly aiming for the finish line as as opposed to me taking on the full distance. It is fair to say when I realised that the new runner started at the half way point that there was little chance of keeping pace.
This was a "ugly event" for me and one that will not rate as one of my favourites. It is a great local event to promote running in the Greater West of Sydney!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Gold Coast Marathon
Having recently been struck down with a serious case of the flu where I was in bed for more than five days prior to the marathon - it really was a major ask to prepare for one of the premiere marathon events in Australia. Little did I realise that it would later turn out to be a battle to simply last the distance ...
The 2009 Gold Coast Airport Marathon stretched south to Burleigh Heads, adding a scenic and flat section to the internationally recognised event. The race started at the Southport Broadwater Parklands and stretched to a southern turnaround point at Burleigh Heads, rather than the previous turnaround at Miami.
I was pleased with the first half of the race and as per usual was caught up in the adrenalin rush from the start going out in around 5 minute per km pace for the opening 15km. At the 26km mark I could wait no longer and decided enough was enough and made the call to visit the toilets. After weighing up the decision to stop or not - it was a great relief to have taken more than 3 minutes out. It was soon after this when back on the course that the stomach cramps started to kick in! This was the time where I recognised that the recent course of Tamiflu medication was playing havoc with me and the back end of the race would be a real challenge. I did my best to keep going though found it challenging to get the right mix of fluids and food down.
In addition to the stomach dramas, I started having issues with my shoes being too tight, my mind closing down and not being totally focused on the job. It was a real test simply to stay upright by placing one foot in front of the other over the final 15km.
I recall seeing a fellow runner struggling on and limping home towards the final stages and put my hand out as a sign of encouragement to see it through to the end whereby he grabbed my hand briefly! It was a magic moment of camaraderie that only marathon runners can share ...
It was pleasing to finally see the finish line in sight. Mind you even when I thought the finish line was close and I made my final charge it turned out that the actual finish line was still a way off with the line another 500m away around the corner. I finished in physical pain all over with my left ankle injury flaring up. While it was a hard day in the office - my work for the day was done ...
Five Kilometre Splits
5KM 00:27:20 00:26:11 RUN 5.00 05:14
10KM 00:54:01 00:26:40 RUN 5.00 05:20
15KM 01:20:15 00:26:14 RUN 5.00 05:14
20KM 01:51:01 00:30:45 RUN 5.00 06:09
25KM 02:24:46 00:33:44 RUN 5.00 06:44
30KM 03:04:24 00:39:38 RUN 5.00 07:55
35KM 03:45:50 00:41:25 RUN 5.00 08:17
40KM 04:30:21 00:44:30 RUN 5.00 08:54
Finish 04:45:40 00:15:19 RUN 2.20 06:57
Half Way Splits
Half Way 01:58:06 01:56:57 RUN 21.10 05:32
Finish 04:45:40 02:47:33 RUN 21.10 07:56
I will be sure to return to the Gold Coast in 2010 to complete some unfinished business!
The 2009 Gold Coast Airport Marathon stretched south to Burleigh Heads, adding a scenic and flat section to the internationally recognised event. The race started at the Southport Broadwater Parklands and stretched to a southern turnaround point at Burleigh Heads, rather than the previous turnaround at Miami.
I was pleased with the first half of the race and as per usual was caught up in the adrenalin rush from the start going out in around 5 minute per km pace for the opening 15km. At the 26km mark I could wait no longer and decided enough was enough and made the call to visit the toilets. After weighing up the decision to stop or not - it was a great relief to have taken more than 3 minutes out. It was soon after this when back on the course that the stomach cramps started to kick in! This was the time where I recognised that the recent course of Tamiflu medication was playing havoc with me and the back end of the race would be a real challenge. I did my best to keep going though found it challenging to get the right mix of fluids and food down.
In addition to the stomach dramas, I started having issues with my shoes being too tight, my mind closing down and not being totally focused on the job. It was a real test simply to stay upright by placing one foot in front of the other over the final 15km.
I recall seeing a fellow runner struggling on and limping home towards the final stages and put my hand out as a sign of encouragement to see it through to the end whereby he grabbed my hand briefly! It was a magic moment of camaraderie that only marathon runners can share ...
It was pleasing to finally see the finish line in sight. Mind you even when I thought the finish line was close and I made my final charge it turned out that the actual finish line was still a way off with the line another 500m away around the corner. I finished in physical pain all over with my left ankle injury flaring up. While it was a hard day in the office - my work for the day was done ...
Five Kilometre Splits
5KM 00:27:20 00:26:11 RUN 5.00 05:14
10KM 00:54:01 00:26:40 RUN 5.00 05:20
15KM 01:20:15 00:26:14 RUN 5.00 05:14
20KM 01:51:01 00:30:45 RUN 5.00 06:09
25KM 02:24:46 00:33:44 RUN 5.00 06:44
30KM 03:04:24 00:39:38 RUN 5.00 07:55
35KM 03:45:50 00:41:25 RUN 5.00 08:17
40KM 04:30:21 00:44:30 RUN 5.00 08:54
Finish 04:45:40 00:15:19 RUN 2.20 06:57
Half Way Splits
Half Way 01:58:06 01:56:57 RUN 21.10 05:32
Finish 04:45:40 02:47:33 RUN 21.10 07:56
I will be sure to return to the Gold Coast in 2010 to complete some unfinished business!
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