Thwarted by injury, I was determined to go & support my running buddies, take some photos & get a general sense of the day. Arrived a bit late & had to run towards the start (exact position had moved from last year). Heard the starter's gun & started my stop-watch. Saw the speedy HM elites haring down the main straight, eventually the running traffic got so thick that folks were spilling over both sides of the road. I had to dash from the centre to the side to get out of harm's way.
Moved up to watch the marathon start. They had a slight incline at the start, & headed the opposite direction - south, a 13k run to the turn-around (one I'd done as a training run). Once they were away it was just us spectators - time for coffee. Managed to get into a cafe & was the 2nd order but the queue as I walked out stretched to the door.
Decided to head up the road a km or so for a good vantage spot for the HM photos. Thought the bridge over a canal/ creek at 20k looked good. So too did Plu, who was already in place. Introduced myself before taking up a spot - probably getting in the way of Plu (sorry). Nice quiet spot, was able to call out a few words of encouragement but Troopy was unable to catch eventual winner Michael Shelly. Stayed around until the numbers started to get pretty thick (1.40-45 pace).
Headed back past the start & saw the marathon leaders coming past, the 2 Africans followed by the eventual winner Ietami from Japan. Went up to the Broadwater bridge, good photo possie with high-rise buildings in the background. After a while I realised i needed to high-tail it back to the finish to see the winners come in.
Quite inspirational to see how everyone did. A much bigger crowd on the sidelines as well gave good support. Names & nicknames on runner's bibs was a good idea, was able to call out but the font wasn't big enough - usually my shout was as they ran parallel or past me.
Photos here: GC HM & M 2008
