Perth City to Surf Marathon a 4.13.28 course best

Lovekin Rd climb done a lot easier this year. Kings Park exit only a few km away. Happy...

 

Lovekin Drive ascension at about 29km is the 2nd of the big four hills.
No 1 is Malcolm St at about 23km to enter Kings Park.
No 3 is Underwood Ave at Selby St intersection at about 35km.
No 4. is Oceanic Drive at about 40km.

Tossed up about whether to enter this for a few weeks,
 my initial thought was no I'm focused on Melbourne, I don't need to do it,
 but training not going that well, and a few weeks of
not getting long runs done = it became more and more
attractive to put in
a hard 42km to make up for the pathetic few weeks...Finally managed to get out
for 3 hours on some very hilly!!! Jane Brook/ Eagle View Trails,
(wife and kids played at rellys place nearby while I went for a long run,
 a family win-win situation...) and then Swanview/Eagle View on the Wednesday
(after finishing work in Swanview that night) for a 13km, and 2 days later on Friday,
 I decided to spend about 20% of my pay that week on an entry.
Like Gold Coast in July, I knew it was a big risk financially, but figured it was
 the right thing to keep me racing and motivated... The flat fast first 21km,
and the fun of catching up with other runners, being part of this amazing event again,
 became hard to ignore... Decided to try some beetroot juice from
The Running Centre on race morning... no sure if it helped, but I had a good race,
 so maybe it did. Also got some Gu chomps which I have decided
 since training with some other marathoners at BT runclub last year,
are a better option than the Gels...less messy... The night before as I got
 my new RUNTRC shirt ready, I psyched up by looking up some
RUNDMC tunes that I'm pretty sure my brother Seth was
 into when he was at school with Radar... something different
 some RUN DMC to go with my RUN TRC shirt...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpyZP4huGbo

 

Got my usual parking spot close to the Convention Centre, did bodyglide,

 visited the portaloos as is traditional, and had a chat with Jeannie

who is one of the people who has now done all 5 Perth City to Surf Marathons,

and a regular for the WAMC Perth Marathon in the last 5 years too...,

and jogged around the "holding area"....

Saw Simon E. from Bt Runclub spectating near the start line, and had a chat

with Nathan and Ryan (2.44 in his marathon debut!!!) on the jog up to the start,

 also Tim E., others. Spotted Ben N., and had a chat with a bloke who had

an Assyrian flag! with him of all things...We started about 8minutes late from memory....

Craig Mottram (the 5000m world champs bronze medallist

 from many years back, who holds a bunch of Australian records,

 and this year won the Gold Coast 10km 2 months after doing

 his first ultra-marathon (Great Ocean Road in 2.49 for 9th)

this year after retiring from track after the 2012 London Olympics)

did the start line gun/hooter, as we headed off by streetlight lighting....

some light rain in the warm-up.

Some ACDC at the start as I got around the Kenyans and had a few moments

in the lead with Big Kev at the 500m mark in a cruisy 1min 48secs...

Unfortunately no photos or video so far of that, but its a replay of previous years

to some extent although the Kenyans started very slow this year...

I think there is something on TV Sunday 8th September...

Hopefully I make it into some of the shots. BK asked me if I was going to

win today, and for a split second I entertained the fantasy of trying to stay

at the front for longer than the 500m mark (I think it was 800m last year),

but instead took that as my cue to settle... Soon after some of the better

 marathoners of Perth like Ryan, Scott H., Nathan, Tim E.,

Barry from BT runclub, Ben N.,  and Ben M. from BT runclub  came past,

and a heap of others. Scott H. was in a MR INCREDIBLE suit,

and how he can run well under sub 3 hours in that suit is a bit amazing.

But his absolute domination of the Kep 100km this year with a

 massive record smashing shows just how world class he is when he gets it right.

So a lazy 2.50 (or whatever it was) in a Mr Incredible suit is not so hard for Scott! Amazing!

Tried to lose the lactic acid and settle into something

around the 4.50-5.10 pace area...

on Riverside Drive and Mounts Bay Rd.

Saw some woman with a Perth Trails Series

 shirt at about 7km-8km, and worked hard to

 keep the first 10km split around the 51min mark...

.....

Mounts Bay Rd about 7km in with 2 drinks on board here...

Up along the Swan past UWA and Matilda Bay etc, I spotted a

 First Aid Station and stopped to get some bandaids for my nipples,

as I had forgotten to do that today,

and I know that bleeding nipples from chafe,

can be a barrier to finishing, and also result in some very painful moments

for days after the race... Walked for a while to sort out the bandaids,

and I think I drank the first of two Gatorades I was carrying

for the race as handhelds about here...

Saw Terry come past me, and Andre and a few others,

and tried to get going, saw Jane in her 2011 6 foot track shirt

(brings back amazing memories for me) coming back towards UWA,

and also Jeannie and others going very well...

Caught upto Terry about 15km,

just west of UWA, and tried to step it up a bit, running ok,

but nothing spectatular, I think this is the area I need to work on for Melbourne,

 and that is sustaining sub 5's or at least 5.15-5.30's from about 15km onwards...

My first 12km-15km seems ok, but I'm falling apart too much after that..

Got to halfway in about 1.55/1.56 (1.54 by Garmin), which is well under 2 hours

 so not too bad although I was a bit disappointed as I would have liked to have been under 1.50..., and more towards the 1.40-1.45 area has been the standard thing for me in my sub 4 hour marathons...

Then it was Malcolm St climb (little or no walking up it this time) , some cheering people at the entrance to Kings Park, recovery from Malcolm St, settle, and then attacked on the big downhill with the very special!!!!!!!!!!! views to the Swan River below....

 

Entering Kings Park recovering from climbing Malcolm St,
and then starting to feel good again.

 

...
Then one of the toughest
parts of the race for me,
getting through those windy roads,
and up the Lovekin Rd climb,
which in past years
has been a nightmare,
this year the legs metaphorically said,
"no worries, we can smash this
after 3 hours near
Eagle View Trails hills
and neighbouring Jane Brook"...
Strava segments on the previous weekend.
Thanks BT Runclub for getting me into Strava...

 

... 

Doing the hard yards... Tried to really attack after getting out of Kings Park,
 and hit one really good
 purple patch with some 4.40's action where
 I saw Radar on a bike near the railway line in Subiaco...
Was cool watching the leading Half marathon runners come past including
 a tight bunch of the top 4 absolutely hammering it to some sub 70min action!
Some of the top 10 runners gave me some positive words.
Means a lot to me to hear that from them :-)
So thanks people like Radar and Chris, others, your encouragement probably worth a minute
 or so at least if not more to me, and given I only got the course best by 2 minutes,
that helped a lot. Cheers!

dashing to the end

AIRBORNE...

almost there...

 Finished my 20th Marathon and got a Seasons Best and City to Surf Marathon best time (in 4 finishes)...

Gun time is 4.13.30 Net time is 4.13.28

 (It took me 2 seconds after the gun/hooter went off at the start to cross the start line)

 

My 11th best time in 20 road marathons done and makes the highlight reel for 2013...

List of my marathons @ http://trailblazer777.net/maratop10live.html

 

Fantastic encouragement from many people, shed a tear or two at the bottom of the Underwood Drive / Selby St with the amazing cheering going on... I think they had some Pat Benatar song going there...

 

Was a good feeling ripping up the last 300m, with maybe a bit too much of a big finish where I mowed down half a dozen runners, I think maybe I didn't work hard enough on the Oceanic Rd hill, but dragging my now 81kg up that is still not easy, although after my 3 hours on Eagle View Trail a week before the race, it was a whole lot easier than previous years... Saw two of the BT little mexicans Gill and Kelly..., and headed for the recovery tent, and some powerade...Saw Andre, Eulalia, and others there... Saw Sarah looking after her PRC teammates, and waited for Jeannie to finish. She was clearly not having a good second half of race as the clock was well into the 4.30's zone. Then Vaughan (in his first marathon a very good 4.33) recognised me (I didn't recognise him initially with his trademark thrash metal long mullet gone, although the ACDC hat was a bit of a giveaway, although they are more like hard rock/pop metal the soft metal stuff)....

 

Windchill was significant...so hobbled to my Aunties place, and she gave me a lift to the train station...On of the best perks of the City to surf, the free train travel, although some early trains into the city before 6am would be good for marathoners, but we are too hard core to need that...

 

Pretty happy to get a small Seasons Best, and shave 2 minutes off my best City to Surf time, plus complete marathon number 20. Had some bad patches, and my Half split of 1.55 or so a bit slower than I wanted, but was always going to be more a "hard training run", than a peaking target race...   Thanks to the Creator Triune!!! Only decided to enter a few days beforehand

.... Strava thoughts after the race; There is 28! segments on this course. Stopped about 10km in to get some bandaids from first aid to stop my nipples bleeding. Had some trouble about 24km (in 7.59 K!) with being unable to open my Gu chomps packet while holding cup of water in one hand and bottle of Gatorade in the other. Tried putting cup of water in my teeth, that didn't work, and in the end gave up on my slippery wet hands, and ripped it open with my teeth... Got fired up later on seeing Radar on the bike, when I was finding some good attacking groove, and Chris too. Was 4 runners in a tight bunch of 4 hammering past near Challenge Stadium in the Half, they ran about 69min... Some sweet moments today. Nowhere near PB pace, but thats tough to do on this course for me and I am still trying to get good training momentum, so couldn't expect too much. Tried The Running Centres beetroot juice today for the first time, and I think it helped. My chomps/gel and 2 gatorades as well as water on the course mix seemed to work well, and only carrying 1.2L of drinks as 2 handhelds, probably saved me a few minutes...Joined Kevin and 1 other leading the field at about the 500m mark in 1.48 (3.36 pace), and it was a good feeling having a chat out the front on ST Georges. . Didn't want to get too much OBLA happening so backed off after that.Cool that Mottram started the race be interesting to see if he does any more marathons after doing Great Ocean Road 45km this year in 2.49 for 9th...... Eagle view trails last week helped me smash the hills much better this time. Left knee a bit sore, and some minor blisters. One of the bandaids I got from first aid must have come off because I had plenty of blood at the end. Recover and reload for Melbourne now I hope... will need to take it easy for a few days, maybe about 7-10 days...will just have to gradually ease into it, be patient for a few days until I feel ready to go after big sessions again, but two weeks from now I want to hard at it again...
If you are looking for uneven 1km splits you have come to the right place this time; 1km-10km; 3.58, 4.51, 5.23, 5.37, 4.46, 5.27, 5.16, 5.07, 4.59, 5.02
11km-21km; 7.02, 7.03, 5.03, 5.06, 5.27, 5.45, 6.12, 5.06, 5.22, 5.35, 6.09,
22km-32km; 6.10, 7.06, 6.15, 7.59, 4.42, 6.48, 6.39, 6.24, 7.16, 7.04, 5.42.
33km-42km; 6.16, 6.08, 5.14, 7.14, 6.23, 6.46, 6.36, 6.37, 7.10, 5.37