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.
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