I have a rule about only doing a marathon once. The exception is my home marathon, Christchurch. This year I chose Wellington as my daughter is at university there.
The race started at 7.30am. I woke at 5am and chowed down a bagel with cream cheese and jam. I couldn’t tell what the weather was
but I chose to wear singlet with arm warmers, compression shorts with running shorts and a beanie with gloves. I walked down to the stadium. It was about 1k away. It was raining lightly.
I found Richard Merrett and hung with them for a while. I looked at what other people were running in and started to get paranoid about my choice. Tough – I had checked my gear bag in and this was what I had.
We lined up at the start. It was cold. It was dark. It was wet. It was windy. This woman asked me if I was Robyn - I didn't have a clue who she was. She recognised me from cross country. She runs with the Tri Club. She wanted to run about 3.35 and I would have been happy with 3.45. She thought she would run with me to keep on pace. I said “no way." I was not going to go out fast - a finish was all I was hoping for. Anything better was a bonus. I looked back and we were really close to the front. I like to start at the back, and not get caught up with speedsters at the front. She convinced me it was such a small field it wouldn't matter.
We went out fast. By the first k I said, “I'm not doing this. I know it's a mistake and I want to go slower - I may not see you again so have a good race.” She ran on and I let it seemed like hundreds go past me. I was starting to think I was going too slow and would be the last home. Really old people, people with strange gaits, all running past. But I thought, no, this isn't a race, it's a long training run, do what you want to do, what you have to do. Plus my ankle was really sore. I had been starting to think it was a stress fracture. Even when the wind was at my back I tried to rein it in. I couldn't see the splits on my watch - it is too small so I was just going a little on the time and working out how many ks I'd done. We pased the half marathon turn around so I knew a quarter of the race was done.
I have run the Wellington to airport route many times on my trips to Wellington so am vaguely familiar with it. Plus I studied for a year in Wellington in a previous life and used to bike the bays each weekend. The second half of the course I had run when up there last year so it was reasonably fresh in my memory too. Each time you went around a bay you had periods of straight head wind and periods with it at your back. I had stripped off my beanie and gloves almost at the beginning but when the rain hit I put the beanie back on. Unfortunately I had lost one of my gloves so I ran Michael Jackson style. I wasn't cold even though I was in singlet and shorts. The sea was rough as and I could see the interisland ferries already heaving around through the swell. I knew if it was this bad in the harbour by the time they were in Cook's Strait most of the passengers would be heaving as well. I also knew if I was on the ferry I would be up the top loving it. The sea invigorates me and I was enjoying the tang of the salt air as we ran.
At about 17k out we started to see the signs on the other side of the road for the way back home, so I could see instantly that I had 25k to go. Then 24k. I realised these signs were coming quite quickly. I ran past our friends’ house. They were still asleep but I was tempted to bang on their front door to wake them up. The first runner was finally coming back the other way. It was much later than I expected to see them. I think everyone was finding it tough. I saw Richard – he was on track for his sub-3 and was second girl! The last four k before the halfway turnaround was unfamiliar to me. There was a nasty hill. I am ok on hills. I have trained on them and I just go up. I started to pass people, people who had run past me quite confidently ages ago. I saw Sarah, the girl from the Tri Club. She had passed the turn around and was running back.
I reached the turnaround. It was home all the way from here. My pace picked up automatically. I am like a horse going back to the stable. I ran up and over the hill and thought I am going to pass 50 people before I get back to the finish - starting with him! And that is what I did. I passed Sarah, she had nothing left. I passed the F'Art team. I passed pink shirt and knock kneed gait. I got to 28 kills before we met up with the half marathoners and it was just horrendous. These were the slow runners, the runners who had so much gear they needed a horse to carry it. The runners who took up the whole footpath with their width or with their mum and their auntie as well. I played dodgems. I just felt like I was getting faster.
A girl in a blue shirt had the audacity to pass me. Bitch. I kept her in my sights. My Garmin was about 500m ahead of the k markers. John Ingles calls out my name - that was cool. I could see the Westpac Trust Stadium, the finish just across the harbour - but still 6 or 5 or 4k away. With 6k to go I hit the wall. Bam. But one thing I have learnt from earthquakes is that brick walls fall over really easily. I just pushed through that wall like it was polystyrene. I was on a mission. I don't really know what that mission was, but I was on it.
About then I kicked sand in the blue shirt girl's face. We had been playing cat and mouse for about 3k but I finally got her. There was a nasty couple of k along the waterfront where we were running on timber and it was greasy. I was a little worried I could arse over and ruin everything. It was also here that the wind blew my leg at the back of a stride into my leading leg. I kid you not - the wind blew my leg into my other leg. It was strong.
Finally I could see the ramp up to the finish line. That was just mean, really mean. It was long and it was steep and there was the finish line and I had finally crossed it. I was tired and I was pleased to stop but I could have run further if I had needed to. My Garmin measured 42.8 - I thought I had extra distance on there. My chip time was 3:37:04. It was not a PR but I was not aiming for one. I had numerous goals and under 3.40 was one of my top ones. I was happy.
I picked up all my stuff and met someone else I knew. Just then the wind changed intensity and went from strong to galeforce and blew the finish down. By the time I got back to the hotel I was completely soaked from the rain.
I had a shower. Everything stung. I had so much chaffing on my arms from the wet, despite the bodyglide. Then I had to walk down to Te Papa - about 2k in the other direction. There were still runners coming in - pity those poor buggers. I picked up my cellphone which I had left there the day before, and then walked back to the stadium for the prize giving. I was still beating people home. I found out that I had come third which was totally unexpected
I might take a day off from running today!
Robyn Perkins 23 Jun 2011
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