Well, apologies for the delay - I've been on holiday the last two weeks and had no internet access and only patchy mobile phone coverage. But I'm back now so here's the race report, which I actually wrote sitting in a tent somewhere very early one morning in the Queensland hinterland. Sigh.
Blackmore’s Sydney Half Marathon Race Report
As I sit down to write this it is exactly one week since I ran the half marathon. Since that time Mrs MLCM and I have been travelling, spending much of our time on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, where the weather is superb, the mountains spectacular and the beaches stunning. I’ve been for just one run, which was yesterday – a marvellous dawn run along a firm, flat beach which allowed me to cover 11km in 59:46, better than race pace and almost certainly a training PB for 10km. So you could say I’m well pleased with my form at the moment.
But to that race report:
Sunday 19th September: Awake at 4, up at 4:30 on a warm Sydney spring morning. Too early really and perhaps not ideal, but race nerves at least had me up in plenty of time to consume a good breakfast before the race. Not that I hadn’t properly carbo-loaded the night before. I had and I was well-hydrated too (even soberly so) but apparently my subconscious that knows me better than myself (or so it keeps claiming) was leaving nothing to chance in my attempt to go sub-2 hours for the half mara for the first time.
I have come close to the 2 hour half a couple of times, most recently in May, when I finished the first of the year’s big town half maras in 2:05, and had done so without attracting the attention of the medics at least sufficiently to know that with a bit of effort I could crack the 2. I think the pressure that had put on myself made me nervous (hence the early rise), but everything to that point suggested it shouldn’t be too tricky if I stuck with my race plan, which was the run every kilometre between 5:30 and 5:40. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?
MLCM Jr (Chris) and I caught the 5:29 train to the race start on the northern approach to the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge. This being the one time of year that the bridge is closed to traffic, the Blackmore’s Running Festival, a series of running races of which the half marathon is the first event of the day, is extremely popular, especially with families for which there are two short fun runs.
About 8,000 of us lined up in three starting pens. Chris and I were in different pens – myself in pen B and Chris in C. I saw the 2 hour pacer at the start of my pen, but I was stuck at the back, probably the best part of 100 metres behind him. I suspected (correctly as it turned out) that my old Garmin Forerunner 201 would struggle with the race’s skyscrapers, bridges and tunnels, so part of my race strategy was to find the 2 hour pacer (if I could) and tag along with him. But having to make up 100 metres from the start was going to be no easy thing.
The gun went and we shuffled across the line. The first two kilometres were also the first and biggest hill, with the race high point being at the 2km mark at the middle of the bridge. Not a major climb, and running across the bridge was definitely a memorable way to start the race. The crowd of runners was fairly dense until we turned onto the bridge itself, but even so I was surprised to run the first kilometre in 5:15. Thinking the climb up the bridge would slow me down anyhow I didn’t consciously slow the pace and so of course arrived at the 2km marker in 10:30 … great, already I had blown my race plan out of the water. Of course the third kilometre was a gentle downhill and so despite attempting to slow the pace I arrived at the 3km mark in – you guessed it – 15:45. At least I was consistent! Two things happened at this point though: I saw the first casualty of the race, a man on the ground covered in blood (probably a result of running the start too fast, I thought to myself) and also my Garmin for no apparent reason went all Red Dwarf on me and suddenly added 1.2 kilometres to the distance covered, claiming I had run 4.2 km in 15:45 (I wish) and it was now warning me that I had better slow down.
Great.
OK, so by now I realised I had to seriously slow my pace or I was going to blow myself out of the water completely. I also had to rely on the course kilometre markers as my GPS was now functioning purely as a stopwatch. And of the 2 hour pacer there was nothing to be seen.
Throwing out the anchors, I ran through the 5km point in 26:45, which meant I was at least now running my target pace. And being ahead of schedule I was now able to also use the drink stations, which turned out to be important because it was a surprisingly warm morning and I was really quite thirsty, which was something of a concern.
At around 6 kilometres we started looping around the Botanical Gardens and I could see most of the runners ahead of me. The 80, 85, 90, 100 and 110 minute pacers I saw. But the 120 minute guy? Nada. Nothing. Not a hint of him. He must be up there somewhere, not too far ahead, surely?
The 10km mark was passed in a little over 55 minutes and I knew I was on track, but slowing a little. I was by now feeling both the pace and the warmth of the day, but still feeling fairly comfortable. “Just keep going” was all I kept thinking. Not much of a race strategy, but it was working.
Around 11 kilometres we reached another loop-back point where we could see the race leaders already sprinting for the finish. And then behind them again came the pacers: 80, 85, 90, 100 … 110 minute pacers. Again I saw all of them except my man. Oh well, I was travelling OK and probably didn’t need him now, but it was a little concerning to think he was ahead of me somewhere and I hadn’t yet caught him.
We ran up through the Rocks district and Darling Harbour before turning around and then it was my turn to run past the people behind me. That was a good part of the race for me, and to see I was so well up in the field gave me a bit of a boost. Chris streamed passed me, about 2-3 kilometres behind where I was, but travelling OK for someone taking part in his first race of any kind.
Soon I could smell the finish. Back through Darling Harbour, the Rocks district, under the Sydney Harbour Bridge and then quite suddenly you can see the Sydney Opera House and the finish line. It’s still 2km to the end but now I knew I was home and hosed.
The last scramble around Circular Quay was brilliant. I didn’t need to sprint (just as well) – I was well inside my goal time and just needed to keep going. I crossed the line in 1h57:12 (official net time), collected my medal and allowed myself to feel a little elated.
And then I spotted him. Standing all by himself, the 2hr pacer! I had to find out why I hadn’t caught him despite my running three minutes under the target. He explained he was instructed to pace 2 hours gun time, and it had taken him three minutes to cross the start line. So he effectively ran 1h57 as well, which is why I never caught him. I thanked him anyway for “being up there somewhere, for me to try and catch” and he seemed pleased.
It was pretty much impossible to get back to the finish area to wait for Chris. We had anticipated this and had agreed to meet back at home instead. Something of a shame but as I trudged along the roadway above Circular Quay leading towards the train station I caught sight of him approaching the finish, so I knew then he’d run a good race. In fact he finished in 2h10m, a great effort given he’d not run the distance before or even any kind of race!
Back home we compared notes and agreed it had been a good race. A little crowded in places but picturesque and basically flat and fast. Our only criticism was that a lot of good runners who had entered late were penned at the back, in group C, so for the first few kilometres there were lots of fast runners weaving their way through the crowds which was cause for concern. Really I think the organisers could have accepted the late entries in their correct starting pen and just adjusted the size of the group accordingly. Other than that though, a really well run event. Hats off to the organisers!
In hindsight, completing the sub-2 half was mainly a matter of sneaking up on the goal by consistent training, the right kind of race goals along the way and careful consideration to diet in the weeks leading up to the event. I trained on average 30 – 35 kilometres a week (not consistently, but often enough that a week off here and there didn’t matter), with a long slow run for endurance and short, somewhat faster runs for speed and strength. I substituted hills for intervals to save my knees (which hurt if I sprint too much) and ran with the lunch time running group at work which gave me an extra run each week which I think made quite a difference. In the last few weeks before the race I did all my shorter training runs at race pace or thereabouts, and that made a heck of a difference as well.
In the days after the race I had no discomfort at all, so I know now I was well prepared and definitely could have gone faster. But for the warmer weather perhaps I would have run 1h55m. It matters not at all – I reached my goal and am happy.
Of course that was just a step along the way. Next up is the Point To Pinnacle in seven weeks time. And that means between now and then I have to run a lot of hills.
Mountain Toptober.
