Melbourne Marathon 3:32.30 net

Wow! Too easy at the end. I should do no training more often!!

I decided to start with the 3:30 group and just see how it goes. I know that if I had been a little more consistant with my training then sub 3:25 should have been my goal. My only hesitation now was the lack of good strong mid-week runs that would get me through the hard bits.

I saw many friends and co-runners at the start line and caught up with Chilliman & Eat 'Em (Mark) near the bag drop. Mark and I wiggled our way through the crowd to start a bit behind the 3:30 pace group. 500m into the run we had easily caught up with them.

The first 5km seemed to fly by as I was concentrating more on dodging the people around me than worrying about pace. 5-10km was a bit easier to run and I pushed ahead of the 3:30 group around Albert Park Lake, but I don't think I found a good rythym until I was down into St Kilda. I felt a bit flat going through Brighton but was still holding good pace. My goal now was to stay ahead of the 3:30 group for as long as possible! Mark and a small group were also running ahead of the 3:30 group and they caught and passed me coming into Sandringham. I wanted to go with them but didn't feel that I had the legs to sustain the pace they were running at. I was hitting sub-5min kms but they were on about 4:50 pace or even a bit quicker. At the turn-around point I could see that the 3:30 group was just a over 1 minute behind me. I hit a bit of a down patch here so I turned on the iPod for the first time and cranked up the music to get me home!

Sandringham to Elwood was just hard work. This was where my lack of training really showed. I am actually quite surprised with myself for getting through this bit pretty well considering. The 3:30 group overtook me going through Elwood and I momentarily lost the plot. I stopped and walked for about 1 minute while I had my 3rd gel and some water and waged the mental battle to start running again. From Elwood up to Fitzroy St wasn't quick but at least I was running.

Once I turned into Fitzroy St I made a real effort to work the 'hill'. I think I passed about 20 people just in 1km! I hit the top of Fitzroy St and was greeted by my parents and sister on the right and the CoolRunning cheer squad on the left! I stopped here briefly to tell them that I was over it (!) and Sue gave me a lemonade icy-pole which was exactly what I needed. I turned into St Kilda Rd with the mental mantra that I would not stop again.

St Kilda Rd was just fabulous! My music was blaring (too embarrasing to tell you what I was listening to), the weather was fantastic and I felt good again. Halfway up I found Mark really struggling. I tried to get him to run with me and yelled a bit of abuse at him to get his f***ing arse moving! A bit further up I saw the lovely Slowaz (Warren) and he ran with me for a bit. I would have loved his company for longer but I told him to go back find Mark give him some help.

Turning into Federation Square and down into the MCG area was a buzz! People everywhere and one of my favourite running songs had just come on my iPod (you can't engineer that if you tried!) I had a totally daggy hero moment or two running around the outside of the MCG with people clapping and and cheering. I heard someone call out to me but didn't see who it was. Around the back of the MCG and into the stadium. Unreal!! The grass felt sooooo good under my feet and I was almost a little embarrassed to be running around the ground. I saw a few people in the stands as I came through the finish at 3:33.20 gun time.

Once again I finished feeling way too good. I walked around for a bit and chatted with Tiger Boy, Slim DJ and a few others. Found my family and friends in the stands and enjoyed myself until the chills set in. 3:32.30 net time. A PB by by 4 minutes!