Rotorua Marathon

We got to the marathon start about an hour before the race started, parked right outside the venue and had a cup of coffee in the cafe overlooking the start line. It was pouring with rain so it was good to be able to sit in the dry waiting for the start rather than out on the course. Imagine doing that at the London Marathon. It helps that the Rotorua M had just under 1400 runners while the London one last week had nearly 40 thousand!

Jogging out to the start line trying to warm up a bit. It wasn't cold but felt a bit stiff from the car journey and then sitting in the cafe.

My loyal supporters. I had given them the option early in the morning of not going with me because the rain was so heavy when we got up and the forecast was that it was going to last all day. They wanted to come though and I am sooooo glad they did. Would not have been the same without them there. They had their very fetching macs on though so they were OK.
That's me in the middle waiting to start. I lined up towards the back of the 4:30 group and just in front of the 5:00 one. Target was to beat 5 hours but I wasn't going to kill myself to get 4:30.


So I set off on my journey while Jo and the kids set off for their 'day out' in Rotorua. They spent the day in Number One Shoe Shop where everyone got new shoes except me, Valentines restaurant eating an all you can eat breakfast buffet and the Rotorua Museum where they erm ... looked at things. They then watched the finishers from the 4 hour mark onwards. Meanwhile I was out on the course .....

It all started OK. The rain kept us all cool but it soaked my trainers and socks and made them feel really heavy. Probably dosn't seem that it could make much difference but it wasn't pleasant running with a 'squelch' each step. It also made my laces come undone and I had to stop to sort them out. Only small niggly things but I could have done without them.

I went out really slow to make sure I had enough energy to finish. There was a group of about 10 of us all going at the same sort of pace (slow) and as we passed one of the marshalls she shouted out "Go the walkers!" and then she realised and said "Oh sorry .... go the runners!". I didn't care though. I knew that I would be catching most of the runners who were going past me towards the end of the race. If they had lined up in the 5 hour group behind me they were going way too fast for that pace and probably wouldn't last.

I kept the same pace for the first half of the marathon and hit the 22.1K mark at 2 hours 23. Bit slower than I had hoped but OK. I felt good and was still going nice and easy. I was running in a small group mainly behind a bloke about my age who was running in a very relaxed style. I decided to try to draft him to the end. I kept telling myself that there was a tow rope between us and imagined him pulling me up the hills. Seemed to work and I survived the big hills without walking. I was determined not to walk at all even if my slow shuffle was not much faster than some walkers like towards the end of the half ironman.

I knew that because I had started out at a slow pace (tactic honestly) I would be able to pass people in the 2nd half of the race. This is a big buzz late in the race. Cruel I know but there is nothing better than seeing someone in the distance and reeling them in slowly until you pass them and move onto the next. I'm never going to win any of these races but in that kind of situation its great to be going the best and fastest of all the people around you. Not so good to be passed at this point though. Couple of blokes obviously in their late 60's or even 70's passed me towards the end. Very demotivating!

My goal was to pass 25 people in the 2nd 22.1K. It was going well in the first K and I was up to double figures early on. Passed 25 people within the first few K and then more and more. So many people were walking at this stage and some were stopped at the side stretching. I still counted them. I lost the incentive to keep counting fairly quickly and stopped when it got passed 50. Reckon I must have passed nearly 100 before the finish. Not many people passed me but that was because not many people were behind me at the halfway point but that's beside the point :)

The hills at 20K were killers but I had lots of energy left. The hills at 30K weren't as steep but it took a lot out of me. I had recovered from it at 32K and decided that as there were only 10K left I would increase my pace and try to complete the 2nd half quicker than the first. This tactic lasted for about 500m when my mind realised that I really didn't have that much energy and perhaps it would be wise to go back to my slower pace. My legs agreed and we carried on with the plodding. Still continued to go past loads of people.

The last few K were hard. I think its more that you get so close to the finish that you think to yourself you've done all the hard work lets just get this finished and go home. 39K to 41K were particularly hard as it went through an industrial bit and there were no runners around me and I just wanted to finish. Luckily I had my emergency Jelly Babies to hand and these gave me a boost of energy. More psychological than physical I suppose but they did help.

The last K and .2 was easier. I caught up with the runner I had been tracking for most of the race and thanked him for getting me up the hills. He was a first timer as well and had the same goal of finishing sub 5 hours. We were both definitely going to do this. We turned the last corner together and then I saw Jo and the kids.
I left him (that's him in front of me) to sprint to the finish as Adam and Laura joined me for the last 100m. Can't tell you how good that was and how proud I was that they were running with me. I swapped my water bottle for Laura's bottle of coke. Tasted so good after gallons of water and Leppin.

Finished in 4 hours and 48 minutes 24 seconds. Well pleased. Second half marathon was 2:25 so just a little over the first half time. Almost a negative split but not quite. Happy with that though!!! :)))))))



This is the moment below just before I started to seize up. Think I was walking OK at this point although it felt like my legs were working and walking on their own.
Starting to feel the effects and starting to seize up
I picked up my free water bottle, T-Shirt and banana and went for a sit down to recover.

You might have noticed in the pictures above that my running top is a bit redder than when I started. I have had 'jogger's nipple' in the past but I thought I had solved the problem recently with plasters over each one. It had worked brilliantly in all my long training runs. No rubbing at all and no blood. However it hadn't been raining in any of my long training runs. During the race the rain had washed the plasters off. Not sure when but I had noticed a bit of blood after about 10K. Didn't hurt at all so ignored it. Not much I could have done anyway. No men's sport's bras at the aid points. Jo reckons I need to get one for the next race. Bet you can get them somewhere on some dodgy site on the internet ;)

By the end the blood was quite extensive. They were extremely sore when I got home and it was agony getting the dried blood out of the matted hair. Nice image :)

Had to take a picture of the effects of my war wounds :)


Really pleased to have survived my first marathon and especially pleased with the time. Also pleased that I didn't walk at all. Nothing against the people who combine walking with running but I just hate walking full stop. Jo knows that all to well. She loves walking everywhere but I'd rather be in the car or running or biking. Anything other than walking.

Think I can go faster and so I'll be back next year to go for an attempt at 4:30. Might even find a flat marathon somewhere and go for a sub 4 .... now I'm dreaming :)