The Run

2024 was my eleventh Melbourne Marathon, each of them different and each special in their own way. When I ran my first back in 2003 we ran point to point from Frankston to Melbourne. It was a long way and it was to be one and done. Nevertheless the lure of a better performance and changes to the course have brought me back another ten times and I now proudly call myself a Melbourne Marathon Spartan

In 2024 we had good weather and conditions. Cool but clear with a bit of wind to roll in later. I hadn’t had an ideal preparation with a back problem leading to a very difficult run in Sydney four weeks before. In the intervening weeks I had more consistent running but there was no time to get the long runs under the belt so we decided to run a conservative event and treat this as a long training run. The whole aim was simply to get through and not suffer as I had done in Sydney.

With that in mind I wasn’t too concerned to be further back at the start than I would normally be. I could see the 3:40 pacer up ahead and lots and lots of runners. The start was eventful as runners pushed through slower runners and tried to get some running room. We went through 1 km in 5:14 which is about where I wanted to be so I settled down and rolled along. With a bit more space 5 minute kilometres were pretty easy so I spotted the 3:30 pacers and used them as a gauge to keep my pace steady. The day started to warm up and was pretty dry so I was mindful of the need for a drink at most of the water stations. Seeing a number of runners cramping later on made me grateful that I had gotten enough fluid in. I think Boston earlier in the year had taught me that it is not necessarily the heat that can get to you. There it was cool but dry and many people suffered the same fate.

Down onto Beaconsfield parade and through the half on a good schedule and feeling OK. This was the first point at which we noticed that the wind was starting to get up. I reached the turn around down at Elwood at 23 km and wondered if and when the pain was going to start. In Sydney I hit the wall about this point and the lost nearly an hour in the last 19 km. I figured anything from here was going to be a bonus and would lower my comparative time. I was, however, feeling pretty good. I was rolling along at 5 min / km without too much drama. There was a bit of a headwind but nothing too difficult. I knew that I would run out of legs sooner or later but just kept at it. Up to Fitzroy street where there is a hill that leads to the merge with the half marathon runners, 30 km down.

We merged with the half runners and I passed the 2hr 20 pacer so those around them were running at just under 7 min/km. This made it difficult to maintain 5 min/km as we dodged and weaved around them. Most of the runners were pretty good but there were groups that were not. The half runners came out of Albert Park on our left and most stayed over to the left to give marathon runners a clear run. We could use the lane on St Kilda road adjacent to the tram track so that helped. However down behind the Arts Centre on a dodgy little back street there was not room for any finesse and all runners were caught up in the chaos. Coming around onto Linlithgow Ave near the Sydney Myer music bowl half runners went to the right and marathon runners straight ahead so half runners had to move from the left to the right side of the course.

I lost a bit of time and momentum up St Kilda Road and around into the gardens and this at 35 km is the last significant hill on the course so it was hard to get it back. I slogged up the hill and could feel I was starting to fatigue. Down Domain Road I was hoping to stride out a little and get some momentum toward the finish but I was running out of puff. The last 3 km was a bit tough but I was happy that I kept up a pace a bit over 5.10 / km through to the finish and it never really blew out. Into the MCG and around the lap of the plastic. I’m not sure of the point of covering the grass with a plastic layer, maybe to define the course but it always feels that you aren’t really running on the ground.

Finished in 3:38’53 for fifth in my Age Group and did no serious damage. Could I have gone faster? Maybe, but the chances of blowing up and really hurting myself would have been much higher. I would have to have gone out faster and hoped for the best without any logical belief that this was possible.

Time for a break and to build some strength in my back and core and to try and get some speed back into the ageing legs, A bit more track running and hills and even a bit of (ugh) stretching.