So there I was..... Southport Queensland, a winter's Sunday morning, slightly chilly at 06.30am, standing nervously at the back of the pack, bouncing with excitement.
It was an amazing sight to be on a small hill in the middle of the Gold Coast highway just on sunrise looking at a writhing snake of humanity determinately making its way through the starting gate of the 2010 Gold Coast Half Marathon.
9000 runners taking up both sides of the highway, crowned with morning sun, all heading in the same direction, all pulling me forward. What an inspiration.
It was my first distance event and surprisingly I felt quite relaxed. I knew I had put in the training (although not enough- never enough), I knew I was determined to finish, and that ‘my time was now'. So I made a commitment to not waste this opportunity, to put in a big effort, to run hard, and most of all, to have fun!!
My goal time was 2hrs 30min so when I found the pace runner for 2:20 I decided to run with him for a while. I figured I'd stay with him until I got tired. But in the excitement of the event, with everyone around me trying so hard, I just didn’t stop running. I ran and I ran. I couldn’t believe it – I’ve never run so far before. What a buzz. What fun.
Suddenly there was only 3 kms to go and I was ahead of the pace runner. I realised I had a great chance to record an incredible time. Everything changed in my head. It put a smile on my face; as you can see in the photos, I was having a ball. I picked up the pace and ran hard to the end. I entered the chute, the crowds were cheering and clapping, I got another burst of energy and I sprinted to the finish.
2 hours 15 minutes 19 seconds. 15 minutes under my target. Wow!!!!!
And there it was –in a click of a timing machine I was a half-marathoner! I smiled with satisfaction. A great feeling. As I always say to myself - The discomfort of the run is temporary, the result is permanent. Damn right.
There were lots of fun things along the way. Towards the end I saw a sign held up by a random supporter that read ‘Your feet hurt cause you’re kicking butt’. ;-) Thank you to that person. Nice.
I saw an overweight guy jogging slowly, wearing a black t-shirt that read ‘I am NOT a virgin’. What the??? Funny!
I followed a girl for a while who was wearing the three layer of clothes; you know the bra, singlet, t-shirt look. I was thinking; ‘Gawd I’m glad I’m not female and have to wear all those clothes to stop things bouncing.’ When we hit a turnaround point I saw she was amazingly flat-chested. ‘Ooops’ I thought, ‘maybe it should be me wearing all the clothes, get my man boobs under control, stop the big buggers from bouncing.’ It was funny in my head at the time. :-)
I ran for a while with a bunch of ladies from the Hamilton Running Club from New Zealand, which was really nice - It reminded me of the great support I get from Chrissie in Hamilton and our other friends in NZ.
In the second half of the run I listened to my I-pod to the music from my 50th birthday. Thanks Therese.
The last thing I should mention is how well I did with my nutrition. Two hours before the start, at 0400 I had two pieces of fruit, a cup of coffee and a Growling Dog energy bar, and I drank 600mls of water. Along the way I grabbed cups of water from the aid stations, and then, at the turnaround point I had an energy gel. This was a great idea as it gave me a heap of energy and I’m sure it was what gave me the energy to finish with a burst. A smart thing to do.
So it was lots of fun, I learnt a lots of lesson and in the end I gained a lot of satisfaction. Best of all, for the rest of my life, I can now say I’m a half-marathoner.
I recommend it to everyone.
More later, journey on
James
Word Count - 748
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