Hunter Valley Marathon 2010

It was a very early start rising at 3am to drive from Sydney to the Hunter Valley to join up with 124 competitors in the marathon field. Having driven through the dark I arrived in the vineyard just prior to sunset to find people arriving to create a true country carnival atmosphere in the wineries district.

I previously completed the Hunter Valley Half Marathon in 2008 and had been looking forward to returning to take on the full marathon event in the Hunter through a mix of trail and outback roads.

This was a great learning experience for me as having completed loop course marathons this course confirmed the extent to my dislike of the race format. I managed to put in a good first half and then struggled to hold this together in the second half by which time I was content to see it through to the end and was not too concerned in relation to the time. The muscle tightness was primarily due to the fact that I had not had a massage treatment since the Gold Coast Marathon and was really feeling it in the right calf with this freezing up and not allowing me to fully stretch out.

There is nothing worse than having to run around a oval and watch the Half Marathon competitors being cheered across the finish line when you are confronted with spectators running across your path before you are then sent out again to do the same course.

I understand that there are restrictions placed on race organisers with the availability of roadways and time restrictions in place although will always prefer to run a new course than do two laps of the same. Let's just say that this is extremely boring and uninspiring and I will select to take on a new adventures in the future.

Gold Coast Marathon 2010

Following the successful completion of the 90km Comrades Marathon in South Africa - the next challenge was to return to take on the Gold Coast Marathon for the third straight year.

The excitement and adrenalin rush of the marathon build up was to again get the better of me as I managed to hold 5:15km for the first half of the race. This achievement was to prove meaningless as it was always going to be unsustainable over the back end of the race.

At the 25km stage I hit the wall and started to tighten up and find the lactic acid kicking in to the point where I could not stretch out. I was then a little more concerned when I started to notice a strain on the lower left side although this was later to prove to be nothing serious.

SPLIT TIMES - Five Kilometre Splits
split time distance pace
5KM 00:25:09 RUN 5.00 05:01
10KM 00:25:23 RUN 5.00 05:04
15KM 00:26:15 RUN 5.00 05:15
20KM 00:27:47 RUN 5.00 05:33
25KM 00:30:48 RUN 5.00 06:09
30KM 00:34:09 RUN 5.00 06:49
35KM 00:38:44 RUN 5.00 07:44
40KM 00:43:54 RUN 5.00 08:46
Finish 00:16:38 RUN 2.20 07:34

Half Way Splits
Half Way 01:50:55 RUN 21.10 05:15
Finish 02:37:56 RUN 21.10 07:29

While pleased to improve on the 2009 race time I will have to learn the art of preparing for the 42.195km distance and pacing myself in the first half of the race to help ensure I have something left in the tank for the run home to the finish line.