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Jonathon's Racing Attacks and Adventure Packs!

Amazing racing and training adventures on roads and mountainous/hilly TRAILS, freewaybikehike and triathlons. Dreams of a SIX FOOT 45km finish,(DONE 2011,2013,2014,2015!),then ULTRA-TRAIL AUSTRALIA (50km DONE 2016! 100km DONE 2018!!!), memorable Melbourne Marathon and Gold Coast racing. Over a decade dreaming of a SUB 3HR MARATHON, sub 18min 5k, sub 38min 10k, sub 90min Half marathon etc...(shattered? or still realistic?)

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Location: Perth, Western Australia, Australia


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42.2km SB; 2004; 3.55 2005; 4.02 2006; 4.18, 2007; 4.10 2008; 3.55
2009; 4.11 2010; 4.05 2011; 4.02 2012;3.49 2013; 4.12 ... 2014; ; 4.08 ...2015; 4.00
2016; 4.11 2018; 4.15 2019; 4.25 2020; 5.38 ... 2021; 5.44 ... 2022 DNF at 37km
More ongoing GOALS;
***PB's pursuit; 5k 21.49, 10k 41.01 21.1k 1.41, ...42.2k 3.49

MM and the G!...

In recent years I have been enjoying races like;
December; 6-INCH(46km offroad)2005;--6 hrs 25 min...
2006; 7hrs 04 min 2008; 7hrs 00min...2009; 6hrs 16min
...2010:--5hrs 49min..2011:---5hrs 30min..2013---7 hrs 24min... 2014--- 7 hrs 06min 2015--6hours 43min ...2016---6hours 41min... 2017--7hrs 3min?... 2018-7hrs ... 2020 8hrs 19 ... 2021 8hrs 51
October; Melbourne Marathon 2007; 4hr 10 . 2008 DNF at 23km..
2009 4hrs 11. 2010 4hrs 05min...2011;4hrs 02min...photos
2012; 3hrs 49min 52secs PB!... ..2013; 4.12 2014; 4.08 2015; 4.05... 2016; 4.53
Rottnest Marathon 2004; 4hr 32min ... 2013; 4hr 16min... 2019; 4hr 41min 59secs
August; City to Surf most years since 1997 see HERE for details,photos.
PERTH C2S PB's; 4K;17min 25 (2002) 12K;52min 52 (1997)
21.1K;1.54.20 (2007) 42.2K; 4.00.20 (2015) (2010 video..45secs into it)
Perth City to Surf Marathon finisher 2009,2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019.
June/July;
GOLD COAST; 2012 HALF; 1.44 2013 HALF; 1.47 2014 HALF 1.49
2015 4.11 ..., 2016 4.11..., 2019 4.25
PERTH Marathon(42.2km)
2004; 3hrs55min
2005;--4 hrs 02 min. 2006; 4hrs 18min 2007;4hrs 33
2008; 3hrs 55 2009; 4hrs 41min 2010; 4hrs 30min
2011; 4hrs 12min 2012; 4hrs 6min 2013; 4hrs 19min 2014 4hrs 48min 2018 4hrs 15min
2019; 4hrs 28min
2021 5hrs 44min
May; Ultra TRAIL AUSTRALIA;
2016 50km 9 hours 50min 956th
2017 100km DNF CP4 57km
2018 100km 24hrs 33min 15 913th
2019 100km DNF CP3 46km 2021 CP2 DNF (severe back injury)
April;TWO DECADES of Bridges racing; 1997; 43min 43 1998; 41min 01
1999; 47min 29 2000; 46min 47 2001; (5km) 30min 01 2002; (5km) 22min 48
2003; 42min 40 2004; 48min 50 2005; 44min 40 2006; 48min 07 2007; 49min 16
2008; 50min 42 2009; 49min 54 2010; 48min 39 2011; 52min 55 2012; 47min 02 2013; 54min 45 2014; 48min 47 2015; 49min 53 2016 52min 20
March;6 Foot Track 45km;
2011; 6.53 2013; 6.54 2014; 6.47
2015; 6.14!!! 2016 DNF


As of October 2022; 37 road marathons finished (Perth x14, Melbourne x9,Perth City to Surf x7 Gold Coast x3 Rottnest x3 SunsetCoast x1)
Have also finished 20+ ultra races; 6 inch 47km ultra finished 12 times, six foot 45km ultra 4 times, Ultra Trail Australia ultras 2 times, Truth 50km ultra once within cutoff (and once outside cutoff), Lark Hill 50km ultra, 6hour track race, 24hr track race.
Also completed the Bloated Goat 31km (1500m Vertical gain) 2 times which is similiar effort to a 46km ultra.
DNFs in UTA100km, WTF50miler, WAMC40miler race, Truth 50km, Six foot and 6 inch.
The first 3 DNFs were after covering more than 42km, and with Truth one was a 25km DNF and the first one I finished the full 50km but was 19minutes outside cutoff battling an ankle injury for 36km.
In road marathons 3 DNFs one at 23km in the 2008 Melbourne Marathon due to severe ankle injury in the first 1km, and PC2S @ 30km, also 2022 Perth Marathon at 37km too fat and slow

Most races October 2009-October2020; >
30/10/2020 50th John Gilmour 10,000m track race 58min
20/09/2020 XTR Sunset Coast Marathon (#36) 5.38
30/08/2020 Fat Lamb PTS 20km
02/08/2020 Perth Half Mara 2.04
11/07/2020 Jumbuck PTS 3.39
08/03/2020 Darlington Half Marathon 2.07
01/11/2019 John Gilmour 10,000m Track race 51min
06/10/2019 Perth Marathon 4hrs 28min. #13 see here
01/09/2019 Rotto Biddi 3hrs.09.44
25/08/2019 City 2 Surf Marathon 4hrs 48min
17/08/2019 TW Parkrun 5km 24.29 (5th)
3/08/2019 Truth 50km DNF (at 25km in 4hrs 26min)
28/07/2019 RunMelbourne Halfmarathon 2hr 03min
21/07/2019 Champion Lakes R2R Halfmarathon 1hr 55min (32nd)
7/07/2019 Gold Coast Marathon 4hrs 25min
16/06/2019 Rottnest Marathon 4hrs 42min
18/05/2019 Ultra Trail Australia 100km DNF at 46km (CP3) 8hrs 58min
17/03/2019 Fat Lamb 20km 3hr 29min 49th of 70
02/03/2019 Lark Hill 25km 3hr 54 (Night race forgot headlamp)
24/02/2019 Swissmurdie 2hr 35
09/02/2019 Busselton Half marathon 2.13 (Late start actually 2.05)
20/01/2019 Chi Gong 1hr 58 134th of 158 finishers
16/12/2018 6 inch 47km 7hrs (12th finish)
21/10/2018 Rottnest Half 2hr 03 min
16/09/2018 Fremantle Half 1hr 58min
04/07/2018 Truth 25km 3hrs 11min 55 (PTS)
24/06/2018 Eagle 22km 2hrxx(59min officially, but 43min on my watch as started late)
17/06/2018 Perth Marathon 4hrs 15min
19/05/2018 Ultra-Trail Australia 100km 24hrs 33min 15secs 913th of 964 finishers
218 withdrawals
03/03/2018 Lark Hill 50km
17/12/2017 6 inch 48km 7hrs
06/08/2017 Truth 50km 8hrs 22min 59
16/07/2017 Jolly Jumbuck 21km 2hr 54min (94th of 129)
02/07/2017 King of the Mountain 16km 1hr 41min
20/05/2017 Ultra-Trail AUSTRALIA 100km DNF (at 58km and 10hours 38min)
26/03/2017 Bloated Goat 30km 5hr 18min
18/12/2016 6 inch 48km 6hrs 41min
16/10/2016 Melbourne Marathon 4hours 53min
25/09/2016 WTF 50 miler DNF at 55km
14/08/2016 Truth 50km DNF at 25km
3/07/2016 Gold Coast Marathon 4.11
14/05/2016 Ultra Trail Australia 50km 9 hours 50min
3/4/2016 My 20th consecutive Bridges fun run 10km 52.20 (hammy strain)
12/3/2016 Six Foot Track DNF at 30km 5 hours.
---------------------- 20/12/2015 6 inch 47km 6 hours 43min
15/11/15 Bloated Goat 30km Trails race (1600m Vert) 5hrs 43min
18/10/15 Melbourne Marathon 4.05
13/09/15 Fremantle 10km 47min 22
30/08/15 Perth City to Surf Marathon 4 hours 00min 20 secs.
05/07/15 GCM 4.11
24/05/15 R4R Half Marathon 1hr 46min 13secs
12/04/15 Bridges 10km 49min 53secs.
04/04/15 Perth Trail Series Truth & Consequences 50km ULTRA 8hours 49min
14/03/15 Six Foot Track 45km 6hrs 14min 11secs Smashing PB!!! (32min)
21/12/14 6 inch Trail 47km 7hrs 06min 30secs
12/10/14 Melbourne Marathon 4hrs 8min (8th fastest marathon in 25 finished)
14/09/14 Fremantle 10km 49min 26 (first K 3.47 5k split 23.02)
31/08/14 Perth City to Surf 42.2k 4hrs 34min
06/07/14 Gold Coast Half Marathon 1.49
15/06/14 Perth Marathon 4.48
01/06/14 Elleker Half Marathon 1.59.
21/04/14 40 miler DNF (28miles)
06/04/14 18th Bridges 10km 48min 47secs...since 1997
08/03/14 6 Foot Track 45km 6hrs 47min 02. (824th) A PB!!! :-)
09/02/14 Snakes and Ladders 15km 2.05
15/12/13 6 inch Trail Ultra 7.24
27/10/13 Rottnest Marathon 4.16.41
13/10/13 Melbourne Marathon 4.12.55
25/08/13 Perth City to Surf Marathon 4.13.28
11/08/13 Perth Half Marathon 1.54.05
28/07/13 Fremantle 10km 50.06 (very sick but first 1k in 3.55)
07/07/13 Gold Coast Half Marathon 1.47.29

16/06/13 Perth Marathon 4hrs 19min 55secs
My 10th consecutive Perth Marathon...Click to see -> how I became a SPARTAN...

19/05/13 Joondalup Half Marathon 1hr 58min 26secs 310th of 495.
07/04/13 Bridges 10km 54min 45seconds.
09/03/13 6 Foot Track 45km 6 hours 54 minutes 20 seconds. 740th of 804...blog post or ...photos! page.

24/02/13 Perth Trail Series Qi Gong 14km 1hr 37min 04 Placed 79th of 117 finishers.
09/02/13 Busselton Half Marathon 1hr 51min 58 secs 219th. full Busso results here
02/11/12 John Gilmour 10k track 47.17 ..see here
14/10/12 Melbourne Marathon 3hrs 49min 52secs ..(777.)
16/09/12 Fremantle 10km 47min 16
26/08/12 City to Surf Marathon 4hrs 42min 41 secs
15/07/12 Lake Joondalup 10km 47min 30.
01/07/12 Gold Coast Half Marathon 1hr 44min 49 secs. 1668th of 9035 finishers

17/06/12 Perth Marathon 4hrs 6min .. (post and photos here)
20/05/12 Joondalup Half Marathon 1hr 47min 01secs. (151st of 313 finishers)
15/05/12 Masters 5000m 21min 58secs
13/05/12 Bunbury Half Marathon 1hr 46min 45 secs. (76th of 240 finishers)
22/04/12 PTS Ellis Brook 21.8km trails race 3hrs 12min 28secs. 39th.
01/04/12 Bridges 10km 47min 02
25/03/12 17.3km (690m ascent) Swissmurdie trails race 2hrs 19min 17secs 54th of 60.
20/03/12 MastersWA 1500m in 5.56, 100m in 14.3, 400m in 76.4, 5000m in 23.33.
26/02/12 WAMC Swan Twilight 5km 24.32
26/02/12 Perth Trail Series Qi Gong 14km 1hr 44min 08 secs 70th of 102.
04/02/12 Busselton Half Marathon in 1hr 49min 31 secs.
18/12/11 6 inch 46km 5hrs 30min PB!
09/10/11 Melbourne Marathon in 4hours 02minutes 49secs...photos...

12/09/11 Fremantle 10km in 45minutes 50 secs.
7/8/11 Perth Half Marathon in 1hr 47min 46 secs.
17/7/11 Lake Joondalup 10km in 46min 33secs.
19/6/11 Perth Marathon in 4 hours 12min 54secs (351st of 547.)
12/6/11 Lake Monger 10km in 48min 09secs
22/5/11 Bunbury Half Marathon 1hr 51min 44secs 109th of 261 finishers
10/4/11 Bridges 10km 52min 55
12/3/11 6 foot 45km in 6hrs 53min 07 secs...819th...of 877...33 DNF's...4 outside 7hr cutoffRace Report and race photosPre & post race photos,initial ELATION
Note; Completing 6 foot is a major goal achieved which I have had in mind since 2005!!!!!!!

4/3/11 3000m in 12min 40 (19th of 19 finishers)Momentum building a little,sub 13 done! :-)
18/2/11 5000m in 23min 31 (20th of 20 finishers...4 DNF's)..results
5/2/2011 21.1km Busselton Half in 1hr 51min 41 secs for 124th of 218 finishers.
19/12/10 46km 6 inch trails race in 5hr 49min (63rd of 79 finishers)
10/12/10 5000m in 22.43 18th of 18!
5/11/10 John Gilmour 10,000m in 47min 36. (23rd of 31)
10/10/10 Melbourne Marathon 4hrs 5min...2895th of 5027 finishers...
12/9/10 Fremantle 10km in 46min 53...a big SB and my best time since 2005!
29/8/10; 42.2km in 4hrs 15min for 537th of 830 finishers...my 6th best of 12 M. finishes.
19/8/10; 5000m in 22min 06.0 secs (SB by 0.6 of a second, & Stan did a SB also that night)
22/7/10; 5000m in 22min 06.6 secs. (SB and 17secs off my track PB)
20/6/10 Perth Marathon in 4.30.
13/5/10; Masters 2000m 7.55 (first sub 8min run since 2005) & 5,000m 22.42
22/4/10; Masters 800m 2.46 & 5,000m 22.29!~(2nd best ever track 5,000m, track PB is 21.49,)
3/4/10; Australian Masters 35-39yrs; 4th in 1500m 5min 34secs. see here...
28/3/10; Bridges 10km in 48min 39secs. 388th of 1646
25/3/10; 300m in 47.6, 600m in 1.57.0 100m in 14.6
18/3/10; Masters 1500m in 6.03 & 10,000m in 49min 35
28/2/10; 4th place in 6 hour Track Race at Coker Park; 45.003km
6/2/10; Busselton 21.1km in 1hr 52min 50 secs
20/12/09;6 inch 46km 6hrs 16min
15/11/09; Peninsula 5km 22min 5225th of 73.
6/11/09; John Gilmour 10km 48min 39
11/10/09; Melbourne Marathon 4hrs 11 min 33 secs
4/10/09; Freo funrun 5km in 22min 53 secs
... ...
2011; 5hrs 30min 6 inchPB!! 2012; 3hrs 49min PB(Melbourne Marathon)!!2014; 6hrs 47min PB! @ 6 foot!

The next big things racing wise maybe;


6 inch 47km
on 20th December @ 0430hrs, countdown (activated a few days before?) is;


Kathryn and I welcomed our daughter K into the world May 2015 A.D.!

Kathryn and I welcomed our daughter J into the world June 2010 A.D.!
Kathryn and I welcomed our son J into the world in late July 2007 A.D.!
Our challenge is to be good parents with the Creator Gods help!



... 2004 ...2005 ...2006 ...2007... >...2008...2009...2010 ...2011... 2012.

but for the most important thing in life;
there is only 2 ways to live!...Bible Gateway...

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Tennis @ Busselton Mercure.

Been taking some well earned time off running after the Melbourne Marathon on October 7th, need to manage bruised heel? and a few other hopefully temporary ankle and knee niggles. Went down south with my wife Kathryn and our 11 week old baby Jacob to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. Spent some time taking Jacob to see the ponies,kangaroos and feed the chooks at a semi-rural property we spent a few nights at.

Then it was on to revisit one of our honeymoon destinations last year, which is now known as the Mercure-Busselton-apartments. They have some very nice tennis courts, so Kathryn and I had a bit of a hit there. Then managed to have a good solid 2 sets (I got thrashed 6-1,6-1, but was hitting a few aces on my serve, and we played some pretty good rallies all around the court) for an hour or so with a bloke called Rob who was there with his family taking a break from his defence force commitments, he apperently has a 10km PB of 37min and is thinking of training up for an interstate marathon in future years. My heel was ok once I warmed up, but a bit sore afterwards.

Kathryn, baby Jacob and I had a very nice weekend adventure together, and the tennis was good, I hope to do some running again soon when I am ready and the opportunity presents.

Also chatted with someone on the weekend who is going in for an ACL operation similiar to the one I have needed for my knee since 2000.
Lately I have been having thoughts that maybe my body needs a break from running altogether, but I suspect the lure of racing will put that thought to rest.
I worry about the effect on my back,knees and ankles, considering I have done a lot of racewalking 20km-50km between 1989-1999, run 6 marathons 2004-2007, and 2 Ultra 45km races, while managing serious back (since 1996) and knee (since 2000) issues.

Other than 6-inch 45km in December, and a few officiating duties for WA Marathon club, my running for 2007 is pretty much done. Maybe some triathlons this summer, or if I get really fit, maybe run some track races with Masters or Athletics WA but not a huge priority as yet. Might see if I can help out at some of Nathan and Daves Ultra activities. Be interesting to see if Kelly Ex. gets her sub 3 hour marathon in the New York marathon next month. see here to follow her progress.

I'd like to go watch Rottnest Marathon (this weekend) and Busselton Ironman triathlon on 2nd December, (great to hear that an Australian Chris MCCormack won Hawaii Ironman (the pinnacle of Ironman races in the world) the other week) and will try, but my family commitments with Kathryn and Jacob are a much higher priority!

I guess as I get older doing recreational/leisure related things like tennis, hiking,mountainclimbing,bodysurfing,camping,trathlons and mountainbiking are going to become more of a priority than running. Its always a bit of a mission mentally to work out "where to from here?" after racing a Marathon.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

4hrs 10min to get onto MCG in the 30th Melbourne Marathon

Sunday 7th October Ran 4 hours 10 minutes 28 (unofficial wristwatch time) in the Melbourne Marathon. Half Splits 1.56.51/2.13.37. HR 183 at end. (I soaked up the experience of running 3/4 of a lap of the MCG by finishing strongly which resulted in a high heart rate.)

Update Monday 8th October 2007; Official results from http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/racetecresults/
says I did 4hrs 10min 22 for 1680th place out of almost 3000, so almost in the top half of the results, was 289th in the 30-34 year old males category, and 1365th male.
Although I just located another listing of results which suggests I was 1735th of 2622 finishers, 296th of 384 30-34 year old males, and 1401st of 2005 male finishers. There was quite a few DNF's (DidNotFinishers) too...SEE HERE...


Photos online now from http://www.supersportimages.com/
Scroll down to near the end of this post to see photos from the last 5km of my 42.2km Marathon...

Like this one;


Enjoyed the experience similier to my City to Surf Half run in August in that respect. It truly was a remarkable incredible experience I'll remember for the rest of my life as one of the most special! races I have done so far, right up there with finishing the Sydney Olympic 20km walk trial in the Olympic Stadium, and stuff like that. Well worth doing for that reason.

Its been pretty hard to get the start line for this one, and remained so right up to the last hour or so. I had managed to get a taxi as far as the TAN (Royal Botannical Gardens), but had to run for 20 minutes to the start at the MCG, but still managed to get there by about 0650am, and for once I was at the start line by 0715am (30minutes before the original start time) having deposited my clothing in the Ponsford stand section underneath ("in the bowels of ") the MCG. I met the first of many Perth (WAMC members) then, and continued to meet new WAMC people or see a few familiar faces during the day, including the old Swiss bloke with his big swiss flag and bell, who often does the Perth Marathon, and shouts Ole Ole.

I literally shoved my way through the crowd to Clarkeys pace flag when I saw them pop up in the crowd about 10 minutes to go, they also had australian flags attached which made 'em easier to spot, but they were actullay quite hard to find in a massive crowd.

They had trouble getting all the roads closed and we started 25 min late, at about 8.10am. But they had Steve Monaghetti, & Rob DeCastella being interviewed before the race which was very interesting. One of the most amazing sights was seeing a wheelchair athlete trying to push their way through the crowd, but everyone made way for them. They had this giant blimp in the sky near the start line, and a few helicopters following us and stuff.

There was one woman called Shirley Young who is 78? and has Alzheimers but was doing her 30th consecutive Melbourne Marathon!!! Heard about that in Runners World magazine I read on the plane on the way over and also during the day. Heaps more to write about but for now, onto my race.

I ran with Clarkey (see Cool Running Melbourne Marathon thread) and Charles, the other 3.30 pacer for the first 9km and we were hitting around 4min.55secs-5min.05secs pretty much every 1km with the exception of the first 1km (5.16 I made it) which was slow cos it was such a massive crowd of marathoners and half marathoners (about 8000 of us) all running together on 2-4 lanes of road. for the first 12k or so before the Half runners went on their way. It was just like the City to Surf, in that it took over 40 seconds for me from the gun just to walk across the start line due to the crowd of runners. Plus I was about 20 metres from the front, so a lot worse for others behind us, who in some cases took about 5-10minutes from the gun to cross the start line.


I hit 9km in 45min and 10km about 50min flat maybe a second or two under 50 minute, so a solid place with Clarkey and the other pacer, but not too demanding although I started to find it a bit hard from 7km or 8km onwards.

Then I felt something rubbing in my sock and not wanting another blister fiasco like in the Perth Marathon, this time I stopped within that km and cleaned out my shoe again for the umpteenth time today. So wanted to avoid what happened in July. Found a few bits of sock fluff sticking to my foot, and removed them. Only lost 1 minute but couldn't get back to Clarkeys group which was disappointing because I had hoped to stay with them for at least 15km to 21km or more. Up until then it had stopped me running too fast, but also kept me going at it from 8km onwards when I started to feel my lack of faster running in recent weeks.

At about 14km in I saw someone racewalking at a pretty good pace and went over to say hello, and it was Jarrad Tallent who was in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and is one of the young faces of the future of Australian Racewalking (he recently did 81min for a 20km walk and 3 hours 53 min in his first 50km walk, and I reckon he gave me a right thrashing today, (edit; He did 3hrs 19 racewalking the whole way as far as I know...Nathan Deakes tells me he splitted 42k in 2.58, which equates to a 2.59.20 marathon, during his world record 50k walk in Geelong last year...) and I was running! Good chatting to Jarrad about the various good elite racewalkers in Australia a bit.

Just after? (its hard to remember the right sequence of events in an unfamiliar course in another state with heaps happening all the way, similiar to running the Perth city to surf sort of feeling with thousands of runners in front and behind me) I chatted with Jared Tallent, I spied the 1 hour 50 Half flag for the half marathoners, so decided to try and run just ahead of them for a few km before they peeled off. This worked ok for a short while, but then I had to duck into a public toilet for no 1's Drank a little too much maybe. Had trouble finding it, and with my second unscheduled stop of the race (about 3-5 minutes this time) I was feeling mentally a bit demoralised and I knew my chances of getting back to the 3.30 group were probably over.

Unfortunately cos I didn't fly over early enough I couldn't do my own drinks and I was relying on copious amounts of powerbar drink and water. It was ok, tasted alright, but I really wanted a big powerade so much, and unfotunately the friend who kindly placed one out there only put one out on the third table, when I kind of needed one on the second table also. At the same time the weather decided to heat up a bit, and I started to get a bit dehydrated and discouraged. Soon the 3.45 group caught me, and I just couldn't find the strength, mentally/physically to stay with them, which was my intention. On the positive sign the left calf/shin wasn't really giving me any major trouble, and the right heel was fine so maybe the copious coldpacking with a coca-cola can early that morning while I was watching the IAAF golden league T&F meet at 5am on Fox Sports 3 in my hotel room (and also a few times on the previous evening with the cold can), did the job, although the left shin is very sore now and my left knee is pretty sore too.

So after the 3.45 group went I had to reassess my goals, and I knew I had to stay well ahead of the 4 hour group to be a good show of a PB today, which I was keen to do. Manmaged to do that for awhile throwing in some 5-5.20 per km stuff which while not great was ok. Then Horrie the one of the 4 hour pace group leaders caught me, and I tried to get away but probably worked to hard to do so, cos a few km later they went past me, and I struggled hard to hold onto them but just couldn't sustain it for more than a few km. Lost them well before the turn-around point in Sandringham, but struggled on from there hoping to do a half-decent time even though it became abundantly clear that for various reasons (the heat, my poor drinks strategy, my lack of faster reps type training/less than ideal number of long runs, and some mishaps on the day trying to stay with pace group due to toilet break and socks...) my dreams of a sub 4 and maybe a PB were not going to happen today. My Carboshotz bottle worked well, which is something I have not done in recent years I think.

Powerade bottle at 27km was a life-saver! Enjoyed that one. So big thanks to the person who got that out there for me. My long runs prep and meter reading training while more than adequate to get through the whole 42km without much walking, was not enough for me to sustain sub 5min 30 1km splits in the last 15km when the 1km markers seemed to be taking forever to get to in contrast to the first 10km of the race which went very quickly while I was with 3.30 pace group.

In the second half of the race especially it became a battle to get enough fluids in and to keep the body temperature down. Probably my less than adequate food and fluids intake in the days before the marathon didn't help either. (Mostly too busy trying to get on flight and get to Hotel room in challenging circumstances the night before!).

However I was passing a lot of people that were now walking, plus even saw a few runners being attended to or stretchered off by ambulance staff. In the last 15km or so I started to get a few momentary cramping up of my right calf muscle which was very annoying and not something I have experienced before. Could be lack of fluids drunk in the days before the race, (my prep was pretty shoddy in that regard), or maybe it was becasue I missed the salt from the powerades I normally drink. I normally have 3 in a marathon but because of my mess-up with the drink dropoff I only had one in this race, although the powerbar sachets do have some salt too. Could be just the hot conditions too. Started quite cold but heated up a bit after 2 hours or so. Not sure. Anyway I did a calf stretch which seemed to help. although it did came back a few times later on but I seemed to sort it those times without stopping. However this my 3rd stop, mean't any chance of getting back to the 4hour pace group was gone. So I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to run over 4 hours today.

However mentally and physically I started to feel a bit better after the powerade and also after seeing Richard and Jane and a few from the Hills Group that I have run with many times about 10minutes behind me after I did the turnaround. Nice to see people I know, especially when you are beating them (dastardly thought I know)...Seriously though I feel a big sense of gratitude to the hills group people I ran my long runs of 27km (x2) and 33km with as they were a major source of encouragement to me in the last 2 months, and without them there is no way I would have got to do this race. Also to Epi for the shoes, and of course to my wife Kathryn for letting me go away to do this race. Big thanks! to all these people and others.
Eventually started to hit a few 5.50 per km splits which was better than the 6.30-7min per km rubbish I had been serving up for a few km. Saw an Asian woman who was doing similiar to me and was passing a lot of people, and I ran with her for about 5km which helped my rhythm a bit. Had a strange pain around sternum area which worried me a bit at one point, but it went away. Then about 37km I was too busy eating my icypole and the asian woman got too far ahead... as we came off Fitzroy Street, and headed down the tree-lined St Kilda Rd towards the Melbourne CBD...



heading down tree-lined St Kilda Rd with less than 5km to go...

I was still hitting around 5.45-6.15 per km which wasn't too bad and I knew around 4.10 was possible if I could hold on.


After 40km of running in the 2007 Melbourne Marathon, fatigue,heat and dehydration all a factor as I begin the last 2km (see tram in background)or so near Flinders St Station,


I worked very hard to keep things ticking over all the way to the MCG including the climb at 41km onto William Barak bridge (grit the teeeth and pumped the arms a bit to get up this one)...




I think this photo is near Federation Square or on the outside part of the MCG, less than 2km to go but I am not sure...

Had a few stoushes with some runners during the last few km, and the feeling running around the outside of the MCG with a massive crowd cheering you was awesome, as was entering the MCG, and running around the hallowed turf! I put in my trademark sprint for home with 150m to go and improved the placings a few more, and the announcer yelled out my name around the MCG as a small crowd watched us finish. Threw up my hands melodramatically (as did a lot of runners, I think the emotion and the feelings going through the mind are very strong finishing on the MCG, its similiar to finishing an Ironman I suspect, just very special, I expected it would be, and thats one of the main reasons I decided a month or so ago I wanted to run this one. It did not disappoint!) like Bekele or someone getting a world record, and enjoyed the moment immensely.


on the final turn in the G! finish less than 150m away, announcer calling out my name over the public address system...indescribable feeling!



finally on the hallowed turf of the MCG! ...

more photos of what it looked like inside and outside the MCG to come...


Many thanks to Supersport Images and Myimages for selling the photos to me.

The Cool Running cheer squad people (for example Courtlylove and others) that gave me an icypole at 37km or thereabouts was a welcome boost! too. Saw another Cool Runner in Cato at the turnaround near the Sandringham football club with his dog all dressed in Cool Runing gear!!!!!!!!!!***LOL***
Saw the famous Luckylegs (70 something woman) with about 2km to go in her marathon who is a regular on Cool Running. Heaps of Cool Running hats all over the course and a few shirts. After the race went to a local pub "The Transport", where I ordered a coca-cola and ate some potato chips (lots of salt to replace the salt I used in the run) and debriefed a bit with a bunch of Cool Runers including Digger,Clarkey,DIJ,SimonS,Courtlylove and husband, Superjacent,Cammo and others. I noticed that they have their nickname on their hats as well which I think is excellent. Have to get one of those hats! Been meaning to for years. On the way there I scored a large bag of powerbar 150ml sachets from a race marshal/volunteer who was packing up.

While we were sitting outdoors at the pub we saw an old lady struggling to the finish in the heat (she must have been out there over 6 hours) so I hobbled down and gave her a few of the powerbar sachets I had, since the marshals had packed up for the day and all the Melbourne roads that had been closed for 5 hours for the Marathon by the Police, were reopened by then so she would have had to run on the footpath for some of the way. We knew that before we entered the race.

So what can I say I had one of the most wonderful days of my life, was well worth the hassle I had to go through to get there. MY time was a lot better than my useless 4.33 in the Perth Marathon, its one of my better marathon times (3rd best of 6 marathons I have run since 2004), so not too unhappy with it, especially my less than ideal preparation, although a little disappointed I failed to go sub 4, and did not knock off the PB, I think overall it was well worth the trip.


I'm typing this in an internet cafe in St Kilda, so will leave it it that for my race report for now. Official results come out on Tuesday on the Melbourne Marathon website, so after that I reckon. I suspect I will get in a lot of the offical photos too. Have to check them out when they come out.

It was great to meet a few of the people I have seen post on Cool Running in the last few years too...So that will do for now, will add a few more details later. Time to go recover ready for my flight home and back to work tomorrow, and to find out how Dave,Nathan and Milov went at waterous 100miles run this weekend....
A special day.

Monday, October 01, 2007

Undying 10k reps session in 45.17

Monday 1st October 2007; Ran 10km reps session in 45minutes 17. (4min 31 per km on average) Heart rates at the end of each rep ranged from 180 to 201 beats per minute, although mostly around the 186 mark.

Pushed things to the limit at the end of one rep which is what brought on the 201, which is a pretty high reading for me, I think my second highest of all time. A bit of a step up to take on a tough session like this, but I knew today was probably my best opportunity to get it done with plenty of time to recover before the Melbourne Marathon this sunday. A crucial session I was very keen to get done, as it is a major step towards better fitness, and getting my body used to some faster running, which I need to do if I am to go deep into uncharted (for me) sub 4 hour territory and nail a PB, which is my goal for this weekend, otherwise I would not go to all this trouble and expense just to be a part of the incredible experience that will be the 30th Melbourne Marathon,. If I did not think a PB was a reasonable chance I would probably not go, or I would have entered the 10km or something.

So I brought out one of the "big guns" in my training arsenal, which is perfect for an occasion such as this. Listened to a bit of my new Demon HunterThe Triptych -special edition CD before for a bit of motivation including one of my favourite songs off that album called Undying (the wild boar remix and the original mix)....Was dry retching a bit about half way through the session, and it was a bit tough doing a hard session like this one, when I have not done anything at this level of intensity on the track for over 3 months, but I handled it ok.

Conditions were almost perfect, very little wind, and sunshine but not hot, so couldn't ask for better weather today. The track was rather bumpy and covered in yellow sand in a few places which made it a little more difficult than usual but not much of a factor, especially with my experience running on trails all the time, plus the fact that I wasn't looking to hit split seconds for 200's, just wanted to run somewhere around the 4.15-4.45 per km mark, which is exactly what I did. This is the session I failed to get done before the two half marathon races I did in the last month or so, which would have helped my times in those a lot.

Hard but very satisfying session to successfully complete. The time of 45.17 is pretty slow for me for this session, given I did 43.17 in June this year,(see here) and my best from 2003 is 39.58 for this session, but its right about what I needed for this weekends plans. Thanks God!