Back to the race
The night was warm, about 25 to 27 degrees. I ran the first marathon with friend Andy Heyden, and we chatted the whole way.
He was unable to stay for the full 12 hours, so I was on my own from 3hrs 30 mins onwards, which I didn’t mind, honestly, as I needed some time alone to get it done. I ran every lap consistently, and at no point did I feel bored, or that I’d had enough, or I was pushing the pace.
Being an out and back course with different distance events sharing the trail, and starting at different times, there was always someone approaching in the other direction, or someone to overtake or overtaking me.
There was always a brief exchange of words, a chat or just a mutual nod or cheer to keep me entertained – best of all, most runners were smiling, which was a great booster.
I sat on a stable and comfortable effort and reached the 100kms mark in 8hs 50mins, just before my watch ran out of battery. I continued to run totally by effort, losing track of my actual distance or pace, which felt good for a change.
I didn’t have an official support crew for the night and I was lucky that a volunteer named Dave offered to help by keeping me fed and accommodating all my requests of different drinks at every lap.
It was so hot, I went through half a bottle per lap, or seven litres of liquids in 12 hours, and every lap I just felt like having something different…it was either more ice, electrolytes, coke, less water.
No shortcuts
Dave was setup at the finish line and, with about 70 minutes to go, he advised me that if I could keep my laps (5.26kms) under 30 minutes, I would most likely have enough time to attempt one last half lap before the 12 hours. I started my second last loop thinking I didn’t actually need to do another half lap. It was a training run, and I’d already reached a good distance.
Also, I’d thought to myself that if I did another half lap, it would I’d have to jog back from the other end of the course anyway, so one more lap it was.
I thought briefly that at the other end, there would be nobody to cheer when I finished, and if just kept the pace, I wouldn’t make it and nobody would know any different.
Then another thought came to mind.
“This sounds like taking a shortcut, and that’s cheating. What’s good about that?
I laughed to myself as these are the exact sorts of thoughts I have on my training runs.
So, I increased my pace just a little and surely, I got to the finish line two loops later with exactly 15 minutes left – enough to complete another half loop…only just! I had to bolt the last 200-meters to reach the timing mat a few seconds under the 12hs cut-off.
Pictured: Luca Turrini. Photograph – Supplied.
