Here is my brief report as one of the 3.45 pacers for the marathon.
It was my first ever time pacing, along with my mate Kathryn, both of us having done the Oxfam Trailwalker 3 weekends previously so confident we’d be able to make it through the distance. We picked up our running belts with the flags sticking out of them and did a bit of mucking around trying to get the things to sit right and not smack us in the back of the head every step for 42 kms. We took up our positions in the middle of the yellow bib group and got chatting to the runners around us as to what our pacing plans were. Basically that was to expect a slow first km with the bottleneck, then hit around 5.15min/kms until halfway to make up for the first km and bank a small amount of time (like a minute and a half) to allow for a slightly slower paced 2nd half.
The gun went off and we fast-walked to the start line, crossing the mat exactly one minute later. We regrouped a bit on the bridge deck and I got the first chance to meet some of my fellow 3.45 hopefuls, Greg, Michael and a bunch of others. Chatted to some lovely people, but after a few kilometres the day got hotter and the conversation started drying up as people started to look more and more focussed.
Kathryn was chatting away with some people around her and pushed ahead by about 30 seconds or so, we were both on target and it actually provided a good spread for people to try to fit in between. I got the chance to run with the lovely LBP into Centennial Park and shortly after the park regrouped with Kathryn and the two pacers ran together for a few kilometres. Back into the city K forged ahead a little and we continued that way through to the finish.The splits were fairly even for the first half, averaging around 5.14 min/km and we ended up crossing the halfway point at exactly 1:51:21 by gun time which was right where we wanted to be – just a little ahead of schedule to protect against any second half fade. And fade looked like a reality as the day got hotter and hotter.
There was a little reshuffle of positions around this time as a few people dropped off the pace in the second half – the City West Link was particularly brutal, especially that hill right before the turnaround. Quite a few people experienced cramping and I handed out salt tablets like popcorn which helped some! We also tried to make sure everyone was drinking enough by walking through every aid station and grabbing a couple of cups ourselves. Along with the dropoffs we had a few pickups for the bus and even a couple of guys who had chased for three quarters of the race and finally managed to catch up right as we went back through the city!
The last 10km was unrelenting with the heat and hills and the group around me battled through silently, but did a great job of keeping the pace up as we went through the Pyrmont hills and freeway flyovers, until we finally starting cruising the downhill past the IMAX into the final few kms of precious flatness! From here we all knew that it was simply a case of maintaining 5.20min/kms for the next 20 minutes and we’d be there.
This was definitely the best part as we rounded the bridge, passed the CR cheersquad, through the quay and finally the stretch towards the Opera House. I sent a few punters sprinting off along East Circular Quay and we ended up crossing the line at the perfect time – Kathryn at 3.44.25 and myself at 3.44.50
I can say it was definitely the most enjoyable marathon I’ve been involved in, I met some lovely people and I was happy to see many of them achieve their time goal. Great cheering too!
It was my first ever time pacing, along with my mate Kathryn, both of us having done the Oxfam Trailwalker 3 weekends previously so confident we’d be able to make it through the distance. We picked up our running belts with the flags sticking out of them and did a bit of mucking around trying to get the things to sit right and not smack us in the back of the head every step for 42 kms. We took up our positions in the middle of the yellow bib group and got chatting to the runners around us as to what our pacing plans were. Basically that was to expect a slow first km with the bottleneck, then hit around 5.15min/kms until halfway to make up for the first km and bank a small amount of time (like a minute and a half) to allow for a slightly slower paced 2nd half.
The gun went off and we fast-walked to the start line, crossing the mat exactly one minute later. We regrouped a bit on the bridge deck and I got the first chance to meet some of my fellow 3.45 hopefuls, Greg, Michael and a bunch of others. Chatted to some lovely people, but after a few kilometres the day got hotter and the conversation started drying up as people started to look more and more focussed.
Kathryn was chatting away with some people around her and pushed ahead by about 30 seconds or so, we were both on target and it actually provided a good spread for people to try to fit in between. I got the chance to run with the lovely LBP into Centennial Park and shortly after the park regrouped with Kathryn and the two pacers ran together for a few kilometres. Back into the city K forged ahead a little and we continued that way through to the finish.The splits were fairly even for the first half, averaging around 5.14 min/km and we ended up crossing the halfway point at exactly 1:51:21 by gun time which was right where we wanted to be – just a little ahead of schedule to protect against any second half fade. And fade looked like a reality as the day got hotter and hotter.
There was a little reshuffle of positions around this time as a few people dropped off the pace in the second half – the City West Link was particularly brutal, especially that hill right before the turnaround. Quite a few people experienced cramping and I handed out salt tablets like popcorn which helped some! We also tried to make sure everyone was drinking enough by walking through every aid station and grabbing a couple of cups ourselves. Along with the dropoffs we had a few pickups for the bus and even a couple of guys who had chased for three quarters of the race and finally managed to catch up right as we went back through the city!
The last 10km was unrelenting with the heat and hills and the group around me battled through silently, but did a great job of keeping the pace up as we went through the Pyrmont hills and freeway flyovers, until we finally starting cruising the downhill past the IMAX into the final few kms of precious flatness! From here we all knew that it was simply a case of maintaining 5.20min/kms for the next 20 minutes and we’d be there.
This was definitely the best part as we rounded the bridge, passed the CR cheersquad, through the quay and finally the stretch towards the Opera House. I sent a few punters sprinting off along East Circular Quay and we ended up crossing the line at the perfect time – Kathryn at 3.44.25 and myself at 3.44.50
I can say it was definitely the most enjoyable marathon I’ve been involved in, I met some lovely people and I was happy to see many of them achieve their time goal. Great cheering too!
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