Personal worst 4.53 in my 9th Melbourne Marathon and 30th Marathon

Nice 2km jog to the start. really relaxed pre-race,and got a few photos before the crowds arrived.

Was planning to take it out in 4.30's-4.50's but after two 4.40's didn't feel up for it,and decided to try and conserve energy into the headwind in Albert Park lakeand cruise into 10k about 50-53minutes,but was struggling to get any good K splits...still madeit to 21.1km in 2hrs 01 minutes, but the fact I wasn't finding any sub 5min K's a sure sign the 3.49 PB wasn't going to be an achievable target...
.........................................Had a lot of trouble with coughing fits, so I don't think I was fully recovered from the virus I got about a week earlier.  That eats into the body energy reserves,so lack the edge required to run a fast marathon... About 25km I hit the headwind again trying to get back to the Tan on the gradual uphill. Was inspiring to see Raf!! (spectating), Jane, and Shona on the course, and I managed to find some good splits for 29k and 30k, but then the switch from carbs to fats hit, and between that, the headwind, dwindling motivation and poor training buildup, plus not being fully well,I just lost the plot as usual from 30km until 35km in a big way. Also lost a lot of time waiting in a porta-loo queue about 28km?... Powered through the Tan hill easily, and found a bit of momentum in the last few km where it wasnice to see Ewen in the crowd at Flinders St station/Fed Square... Had another bad patch mentally/physically about 41km where I walked a bit, but got going again in the last 1200m to make sure the racewalker in the red and black horizontal stripes didn't beat me, and enjoyed turning up the power going into the MCG, and celebrating numero NINE. Official results etc Might get around to buying some race photos if the finances ever free up enough...

Saw lots of spartan shirts out there, and I hope to return and earn my spartan shirt next time, and hopefully be in far better condition next time. Been a really tough year with moving house twice, and I have been sick a lot this year. However my adventures on singletracks in a discovery tour of perth hills has greatly progressed.  Between Ultra Australia 50km dream coming true, the 4.11 at Gold Coast Marathon, the WTF 50 miler DNF at 55km and now the Melbourne Marathon I have kept things primed, and out of the ruins I could emerge a much better runner next year. Not much point in racing though much more unless I drop 5kg-10kg of weight. Sick of carting around 81kg+...  Just the the unofficial secret bluff knoll half and 6 inch left to try and aim for this year, so maybe start "pre-season" early this summer, with the aim of trying to shift some of the excess weight this summer... Going to try and get to the gym more, and  be more disciplined with better food. The Yasso sessions with Robertos group were excellent this year and just sad I wasn't able to translate them into good PB races.  Also regret not being able to race in World Masters. Perth Trail Series could be worth a look again this summer, and I want to improve my Bloated Goat and Truth times. Another shot at WTF in the next few years is also a consideration. Going after the UTA100km looks a bit iffy (for a start I'm not entered yet),but I might consider trying to get a spot late if my weight goes under 76kg, and I can get training consistently above 10-14 hours a week... Better finances and a proper job would help too. This 20 hours a week stuff is not ideal.

Its been a year of DNF's mostly due to a series of influenza type viruses... Been soooo sick this year...
Six Foot DNF at 30km. Truth DNF at 25km, and WTF DNF at 55km (not due to sickness mostly just poor nutrition fueling,which is crucial in an ultra,probably not well trained for it either,only entered a few days before)....

Truth 50km DNFed at 25km after 4 hours of noseblowing breaks every 20minutes.....................

WTF 50miler was a fun experience especially in the first 14km, and the first 40km was ok...but my failure to load up on enough food mid race forced an end to that one...

Hope to learn from mistakes,and build on the work done this year to have a much better 2017!!!! God willing...