Gold Coast Half Marathon 2009

L to R: Marwa 1st; Shelley 2nd; Dent 3rd at the 20k mark. 62.09 for Marwa - 1 sec margin over Shelley.

Drove down to the GC with Cec arriving a little bit late. Jogged towards the start line & then found myself in a crush of other runners all trying to get to the start. Only one narrow pathway. Jumped the barrier in order to get there quicker & found an area near the 1.20 to 1.30 hr self-seeded start. Of course everyone who was late regardless of form just pushed in here. Made the start a walk - took about a minute to get over the line. Then about 2 ks to weave thru' the chaff.

I still had a cough from my 3 week bout of flu so had promised not to over-do it. 1st k took about 4.30. But as the crowd thinned a bit I was able to run 4.10-4.15s comfortably. Was a bit frustrating, I had set my sights on running a PB for this race & had been training well until my illness. The conditions were also perfect: cool, no breeze, fine -alot of folks ended up with PBs.

Saw the leaders, last year's winner Michael Shelley, Martin Dent & Dickson Marwa sprinting for home. Gave me a bit of an adrenalin burst & I picked up the pace.

Eventually caught up with the 1.30 pace group just before half-way - it was huge. Ran with the B pacer, Gary M for a while. The A pacer, David J, kept up a pretty remarkable running commentary & a perfect pace. Spoke to a few PCRG runners who were in this group.

Ran for 5 of the last ks with Luke who also finished the Twilight HM with me. Got a shock at the 20 k mark when I spotted Puntermatt sidelined with a cold. Tough break - you would've blitzed the marathon.

The finish shute was particularly busy with 10k finishers getting in the way. No way you could do the heroic finishing sprint - which suited me. Finished in 87.36 & felt like I could do another one. Caught up with others in my Sunday & Wednesday running group - all had PBs: Pete - 78; Stef - 80; Wayne - 87; Darren - 88. Went on to have brekkie & then watched the marathon. Matty L & Mike H also PBed: 2.55 & 2.56 outstanding efforts. Inspiration for my next goal, the Noosa HM August 2.