Well the Dunedin Marathon has been and gone. The race started out at Otakau which is at the end of the Otago Harbour. Starting at 8am we ran from here along the harbour edge towards Dunedin before heading back out the other side of the harbour to the finish in Port Chalmers.
As this was my 4th Marathon I am becoming wise to some of the strategies in running this distance... Start slow and build into it, the race and the effects of the distance don't really take effect until after the 30km mark!!
Heading from the start inot town I settled into a comfortable pace, running about 5min/k's which was a nice easy pace to hold onto. I saw a few eager punters steaming along puffing at about the 10km mark, as they passed me I thought to myself "I'll be seeing you later on down the road". Along the way I was very lucky to have Cherie cheering me on and providing drink and motivation, a big help in a run this length. As I neared Dunedin I had to make a quick stop at the Vaxuhall Yacht Club Loos - a very welcome relief.
Passing along the head of the Harbour and around to Logan Park past the 30km mark I was still feeling fine and maintaining a comfortable pace. It was here we met up with the half marathon walkers and started to pass them, it was here also that I started to see and pass other marathon runners who had gone out too hard in the first part and they were walking and cramping up, a lesson I had learnt in previous marathons.
Still with the support of Cherie I made my way towards the end, the last 5-7km were pretty painful as my muscles were now pretty fatigued. Up over the Roseneath Hill with Cherie running alongside and over to give it all I had left for the last 2km to the finish, the last km you always seem to get a little spike of energy from somewhere.
Anyway along the road and down the finish shoot to finish in 3hrs35min. Not the fastest time I have done, but by far the best I have felt, managing to run strong and steady for the whole duration. More learnt now for next time!
Placed 22nd Open man and 46th overall from the 132 runners. for full results you can go to http://www.moromarathon.co.nz/
Run 42.2km, 3hrs35min
