In which we wrap up our travels on the South Island, run Queenstown and prepare to return home.

Another day, another scenery filled grey, rainy west coast day. We left Fox glacier in the rain and tippy toed our way down the range to the west coast. On a day varying from driving rain to bright sunshine there was one constant. Wind. On the coast we swapped from vistas of snow capped peaks to beaches and rugged promontories . We paused at Haast to visit the tourist centre and find some information on the walks and sights as we headed toward the Haast pass, the lowest pass over the Southern alps but in the end only visited those close to the road because of the weather.
We stayed overnight in a chalet styled cabin and then headed into Queenstown via Wānaka where we paused long enough to hike to the top of one of the local peaks and chat to some visitors from Boston.

Milford sound

Any visitors to this part of the world do a trip to Milford sound. It’s almost a given. It’s a whole day. Five hours down through Te Anau, into the sound through the tunnel, a two hour boat trip and then the bus trip in reverse. It can be driven but I was grateful not to have to and I doubt the little car would have made the prodigious climb up out of the sound. We were driving a little Toyota vitz hybrid that was very frugal and suited for the two of us but didn’t have a lot of grunt.

Again a very grey day with clouds around the peaks. It meant we got lots of moody grey images but not the astonishing views of mountain tops that can occur. It should be noted that Milford sound gets rain sme 250 days of the year so we were not Robinson Crusoe in that respect. It was an amazing trip and we’ll worth the time.

Queenstown marathon

This trip was set up with two marathons in mind. Auckland and Queenstown. Auckland had been very successful finishing second in age group and 3.11.58. Queenstown is a different event with 70% on trail and lots of up and down. The time was never going to be as quick. Apart from that we had been touring for three weeks with lots of driving and no long runs so I wasn’t sure how it was going to go. It is a point to point event from Arrowtown, an old gold mining settlement, down the bike trail, around Lake Hayes, back onto the Queenstown trail, into town (past our apartment) and finish at the Rec reserve.
So, Friday, the day before the marathon picking up numbers in the pouring rain. Even the locals were a little on edge. We wake up Saturday, race morning to bright sunshine although only 7 degrees C. Who knows?
On the bus out to Arrowtown and have a chat to a nice young man from Christchurch, have a coffee, wait to the last minute to strip off and away we go. First kilometre has a stiff uphill and then down. Good way to shock the legs. Through the Main Street of Arrowtown and out onto the trail. Legs were wondering what was going on, not having to race for a while they thought we’d gone into a Christmas break or at least were hoping. Down to Lake Hayes, had gone out too quick again but was starting to settle, a couple of stiff rolling hills weren’t appreciated but were negotiated. A runner came past who looked to be of about my vintage. Hmmm, might be running for second. I could see him for quite a while not getting away but not coming back. Over the bridge on the Shotover river. Went through half on schedule or a bit quick and headed toward Queenstown. At about 30 kms my legs and I had a bit of a discussion. They thought that was far enough. I pointed out that this was point to point and even if they stopped we would still have to walk in and we’d be out there for a much longer time. They relented and even though we certainly didn’t get any quicker we didn’t drop lots of time.
It is always interesting at this point when spectators tell you that you are looking good but you feel not such.
Lat kms back into town and around the gardens. Keep hoping the spectators will stay their side of the fence and the half marathon walkers will stay out of the way. Up the hill down the ramp and to the finish in 3:23.23. So ten minutes slower than Auckland but a much tougher course. Turned out the old guy wasn’t so old so I won my age group. Great success! Legs pretty much shot but the rest of me did ok.
This was my eighth and final marathon for the year after Hobart (paced 4hr), Canberra (3.30 wet), McLarenvale (3.14), Brisbane(paced 3.40), Cairns (paced3.40), Melbourne (3.18), Auckland (3.12) and Queenstown (3.23). Time for a break from marathons until April of next year. A bit of track work and some tuning up.

One curious difficulty we had with both New Zealand marathons was the prize for both age group wins were ASICS vouchers. This was fabulous and much appreciated until we read the fine print that it was only for online purchase and only delivery to a New Zealand postal address. Not much use for a touring runner. Our Airbnb host in Queenstown generously allowed us to use their address and passed on the top and socks we purchased with the Auckland voucher but the voucher in Queenstown was swapped for a couple of ice coffees and some sun screen.

And then on to home. Two stars to the right and straight on to morning.

We left Queenstown and headed for Dunedin on the east coast. This involved a bit of up and down across the spine of the South Island. It was interesting to see the difference in climate and geography. The west side is very dramatic being more exposed to the winds from the Antarctic coming up from the south west. The eastern side contains more flat, fertile land and has more farming with beef, sheep and grain. We were back to touring and stopped at Larnach castle for a look see. This is one of the tourist hot spots in Dunedin and has been being refurbished for over forty years. The gardens are very impressive and the coffee and scones are pretty good too.

We were staying in a little cottage on the Otago peninsula just out of Dunedin from where we could visit a couple of beaches with fur seals and penguins. We didn’t manage to see penguins but we walked one of the beaches and came upon half a dozen fur seals or sea lions sunning themselves on the beach unconcerned about people wandering past (at a conservative distance).

Leaving Dunedin we headed up the coast, we stopped at Baldwin street in Dunedin which is in the Guinness book of Records as the steepest street in the world. Well. We had to walk up that. Not just us! It is a tourist Mecca with people coming from everywhere to walk up. I reckon I could have run it but it would have meant putting on shorts and runners. Pretty solid walk.

We kept on. Visiting the towns of Oameru and Timaru. Oameru is an important old port that has recast itself as a tourist town with many of the old warehouses repurposed as hospitality venues and retail stores. They also have a pretty nice brewery. At Timaru there was talk that the penguin colony comes in and nests on the sea wall. We went down to see but were far too keen. Arriving well before dusk we waited and waited. We sat on one of the rocks on the sea wall and a nice volunteer came and told us to move back as the penguins come up the sea wall. As we hadn’t even smelt a fishy breath by then I was starting to wonder. A while later to great excitement two penguins turned up to a quiet rock star welcome. They then disappeared under the rocks and turned up again just underneath where we’d been sitting.

Several more made their way in and waddled through the tussocks and rocks completely unconscious of the people watching on.

So. Here we are in Christchurch. The little car has gone back to the company at the airport. We thought we’d drop it off early and I would have a run back. It seemed to make more sense than paying for parking overnight and then taking it back and I needed the run. Didn’t get lost. Nice weather yesterday, raining today. Thought it would be a chance to get this done before we get on the big red bird and home, as long as qantas remember that they are an airline not just a promise of one.

Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas to all. There’s a beer in the fridge. Pop over.

As we head towards the crossing of the straits.

On our way out of Rotorua we paused for a walk through a redwood forest I’d run through earlier that morning. The story goes that in the early 1900’s foresters planted several trial crops of trees including redwoods and beech for a timber forestry. The radiata pine must have won because they are everywhere including on every second truck on rural roads. The redwoods must have not made the grade and they have grown into a forest of National significance and some really nice walking trails. After that we left Rotorua and it’s average weather and headed up into the hills over the spine of the North island and headed for Whanganui via Taupo. The weather was still intermittently showery with a solid drenching followed by periods of sunshine. At some periods we could see we were heading into heavy rain but it had moved on before we arrived. Very strange.

Along the way we found several places that had similar geothermal properties to Rotorua. Even even as far down as Fox glacier on the mid West coast of the South Island,on the walk up to the glacier viewing point there is a small warm pool. It is interesting to look out over the countryside as you drive and see steam coming up from a paddock.

We paused to have a look at Huka falls, where the water from Lake Taupo runs down the Waikato river and over an eleven metre drop. The amount of water is quite staggering and it has been set up so there some great views and walks nearby.

We spent two days in Whanganui. At first blush there isn’t a lot to do there but it was historically an important port town and at one stage had a tram line and a bustling port. These days it sits a little bit out of the way but retains some of the charm of days gone by. There are a couple of outstanding murals, some quaint gardens and their own opera house. Nothing on while we were there but we did have a look in the museum to get a feel for the area’s history.

There are a couple of beaches with dark sand which is a bit different and lots and lots of driftwood. It was coming up to Guy Fawkes night so I thought this might be an opportunity to clean some of it up but there didn’t seem to be any interest. The Whanganui river runs through town so I took the chance to run the couple of bridges where the Whanganui marathon runs but I don’t plan to be back for it.

We travelled on. To the National capital, Wellington. This was just a couple of days to prepare for the crossing of the Cook strait. Wellington is an interesting city. At about 420,000 population, according to google, it is smaller than any Australian capital bar Hobart. It is similar to Hobart in that it climbs into the hills rapidly as you move back from the water. It does give many scenic views of the harbour although going over the hills as I did on one run and you seem very remote very quickly. I did the Parkrun in Wellington and ran 21.54 for the 5 km without any stress so hopefully that showed that Auckland marathon hadn’t caused any significant harm. I found Wellington a very enjoyable place with lots of gardens and green spaces. Some fascinating houses built on ridges that you wonder how they stay up there. Impressive nonetheless.

To the boats: Go South.

Next stop, Picton on the South Island. We drove the little car on and retired to the saloon for the trip. It was very civilised with a view out the front window. We watched some of the other passengers brave the elements but watching them rug up for the Antarctic and have scarves fly sideways we decided to wait within. A very calm couple of hours during the daylight and a couple of left turns and there we were.

It doesn’t take long on the South Island before you realise that the scenery is more dramatic. A couple of walks around Picton looking down to the harbour and then a coastal sojourn and we were well underway. There are a couple of villages on the scenic route from Picton to Nelson which is probably just as well. It’s not far but there are roadworks on and off all the way along so a coffee stop every now and then is earned. We stayed in a place called “The Honest Lawyer” in Nelson. It is a quirky place on the Monaco peninsula just out of Nelson but has a bar and a restaurant and parking. Really enjoyable. I went for a run down to the Nelson athletics track for some track work but didn’t realise there was a 5 km series run from the pub every Monday night through summer. I got back pretty hammered just as they were drawing the meat raffle and giving out prizes.

We did a nice walk out into the Abel Tasman National Park. It was fascinating watching tractors used to launch and retrieve boats and kayaks due to the distance the tides move.

We move on and head underground.

Moving on from Nelson we headed over to the West coast. I had been looking for a place somewhere a couple of hours on from Nelson and we found the village of Charleston. It didn’t come up in the planning and is a tiny little place but it does have a tavern, a beach, beds, a train and caves. We sat up on the point next to the frayed New Zealand flag and watched the sun disappear into the Tasman sea a long way south and west at this time of year.

We were only overnighting in Charleston and had planned to move on but the opportunity was there to go caving and see glow worms. We ummed and ahhed for a while and then joined the 9 am tour. Very glad we did and highly recommended. A short bus ride takes you to the narrow gauge railway which chugs through temperate rain forest to the steps leading to the cave mouth.

Lights and helmets on and in we go. The guide, Ray, points out many fascinating insights into the formations and takes through several caves. At one point he says to switch off all of the lights and it is pitch black. No light at all. Can’t see your hand, can’t see anything. Slightly unnerving. Ray asks if anyone can point back to where the cave entrance is but nobody has any idea. It would be so easy to be lost down here. At another point we switch off lights and the glow worms appear as points of light. As our eyes adapt more and more become visible until it looks like a night sky but metres underground. Glow worms are the larvae of a mosquito like creature that spends its larval form hanging from cave roofs or under trees with a sticky thread extended to trap insects for food. They then pupate and have a short frenzy of adulthood where they mate, lay eggs and die.

From Charleston we had a pretty decent day’s drive to get to Fox Glacier. We stopped at several places along the way. It seemed every bend had another breathtaking view of the coastline or a pretty beach or such. We did the walk around the pancake rocks in Punakaiki and marveled at the geology and the power of the water. We passed through Greymouth, a bit too late for the Monteith brewery tour. More coastline and then up into the hills and through Franz Josef and into Fox.
Spent a couple of days here. Fox has more glacier than Franz Josef where the glacier face has retreated back up and around the corner from the viewing area. Fox also retreated back a long way so that face isn’t visible but there are a number of views from further away that show the upper parts of the glacier surface. I wonder at the future of the glaciers themselves but also as a tourist destination as the glaciers become all but invisible will they be the draw that they have been in the past. Is it worthwhile to extend paths so the face becomes visible or are they simply chasing a disappearing glacier? There are a couple of places where heavy rain and debris that washes down have taken out roadways so maybe putting in more paths is a fools bargain as the climate changes and flooding becomes more sudden and intense there are bigger problems than whether the tourists get a good view. I’ll leave that to brighter people than me.

Tomorrow we head onward to Makarora overnight and then into Queenstown for about five days including the marathon on Saturday. I’ll do one more New Zealand blog next week after the marathon to let everyone know how it went. It will contain Milford sound for those not really interested in marathons but I will leave you with a couple of bird pics. The weka is a very friendly cross between a duck and a chook. They’re happy to check whether you have anything spare you might want to share.

The kea is a whole other kettle of parrot with signs up around town saying do not feed the kea. Obviously the signs need to be translated into kea because they take no notice of them.

New Zealand, Aotaeroa, the land of the long white cloud.
I had been here just on forty years ago with three other blokes on a kontiki tour. For Anne it is the first time. Things have changed. We flew into Auckland airport a little late after Qantas decided to take a leaf out of Jetstar’s playbook and delay departure by thirty minutes. They then sent the notice of the delay two hours later while we were in the air.

Picked up the car at the airport, a neat little Toyota Yaris hybrid and headed downtown. We’d decided on an overnight in Auckland to take some stress out of arrival in case anything went wrong. Hotel was ok, a bit old but had parking and close to the piers for later in the week. Unfortunately this was the best night we spent there. Had a little shake out 12 km on part of the marathon course.

Tuesday we headed up to Paihia in the Bay of Islands. A pretty spot that would be very busy in Summer but not too bad in this, the late Spring. We did a couple of walks and a cruise to the hole in the rock but the weather was starting to turn with remnants of a tropical cyclone causing high winds and rain. Even the boat Captain described it as “a bit lumpy”

After a short intermission we headed back to Auckland for the marathon. This turned out to not as straightforward as we might have expected. We turned off the main highway and came down the coast to look at some of the beaches. Very pretty country. As part of the trip we headed to Waipu to look at a cave system that holds glow worms, a larval stage of a fungus gnat. The larvae hang from the cave ceilings and bioluminescence causes them to glow. We didn’t see glow worms but we did manage a flat tyre. And here’s where the fun started. 12 km out of a country town in a valley. All the Toyota has is an inflation kit and it didn’t inflate the tyre. The instruction manual is in Japanese. There is no mobile coverage. Hmmmm.

A life saver in the form of a nearby farmer suggested that there was some mobile coverage from the top of his property but seven or eight attempts at pressing one for roadside assistance and tell me your rego number and hold the line until it drops out please and we were getting nowhere. The farmer who seemed to prefer to be nameless but had a dog called Oscar gave us a lift to town where the men at the tyre shop were having a quiet after work ale. They replaced the tyre (our expense) and we were back to the car and on our way with many thanks to Oscar’s dad.

Back to Auckland.

We spent the night in Warkworth but I really can’t tell you much about it because it rained consistently all night and we wanted to get back to Auckland to see what could be done about the car seeing as we now didn’t have a spare or an inflation kit. Short answer is not very much.

Auckland marathon

Good night sleep on Friday before the marathon. We went to the expo held at a building called the “Cloud” which we thought was more like the idea of the sand worms from the Dune books. Everything seemed to be going ok for a four am wake up on Sunday to get to the ferry for the six am start. Could have done without the neighbours having a loud discussion of someone’s shortcomings from 2 am to 3.30 but there you go.
Out at a bit after 4.15. No rain but blowing an absolute gale. We gathered with some apprehension at the start but everyone knew what we’d signed up for and away we went. First couple of kms are always about settling in. I had a plan to be around or just in front of the 3.15 pacers and hopefully be in a group when we hit the wind. I found a nice group of about ten and settled in. The first half has all of the hills in it and the final one is over the Auckland highway bridge. Straight up and straight down. There was a prize on offer for the quickest up the one km on the bridge but with more than half to go I wasn’t playing that game. The group started to splinter at the half which went by in around 95 minutes. This was on target or slightly in front. I wanted 3.15 but knew I would tire in the second half so five minutes up the sleeve was maybe a bit willing but better than trying to make up time later.

An old bloke came past and asked me if I was 60+ like him. I only found out from the results later that he won the age group. I saw him again later but couldn’t ever really get close enough to challenge him. Heading south to the turnaround, into the wind. I guess we had gotten used to it or we were a bit protected and preoccupied but it didn’t seem as bad as earlier. Around the markers 30km down, wind behind or across and heading back to town. Starting to tire but had a time in mind and pacers to stay in front of.

At this point let me talk to you about time. Everyone knows time can be flexible. A good time is only a couple of minutes away from a bad time. A change in conditions can cause time to speed up and eke away while you watch on in desperation. In the case of this marathon I had several times in mind as a consequence of it being two events in one for me. I was running the Auckland marathon but also the Abbot Global virtual run. Why? Even curiouser.
I turn 65 in two weeks. That means I move up an age group. For qualifying for the World Age Group Championship age is taken on the day of the event. So I race in the 60-64 age group. In the virtual event on the other hand age is taken on 31st December so in that I fall into the 65-69 age group. The virtual run finishes November 5th and there are live results already. Quickest currently is 3.16.44, second is 3.21 and third is 3.31. First three get an invite to the world championships. So there was my great, good and hopeful. Similar positions for the 60-64 age group are well below three hours so guess where I’d rather be racing. Another point to bear in mind is that the virtual is taken off the gps track of my Garmin watch not the AIMS measurement which is used to certify the course. Most watches seem to read longer than the measured course due to not being able to run tightly around corners or the “racing” line on the course.

Back to the race. By 32 km official, my Garmin read 32.4 so a bit long but I was still strong and had about 50 minutes of running left to go, all going well. It was time to dig in and get the tough kms out of the way. Some soreness in the ankles and maybe a whinge from the hamstring but not slowing by much. We went over the rail bridge at 39 km and I wondered whether this might be the end of me but picked up with crowds around the pier area. At 39 km my Garmin said 39.1 so it seemed to be coming back to the measured course. Still had fifteen minutes as I came down towards the piers and was intent on not leaving anything on the course. Through 41 km and into a series of left and right turns. I was still about 400 metres from the finish when my Garmin ticked over marathon distance in 3.10.13. No, I didn’t stop there and ran through to the official finish in 3.11.59. (not 3.12).
So well under 3.15, well under 3.16.44 and a long way under the 3.18.44 from Melbourne two weeks ago. Whew!! Second in my Age group to the old bloke that went past. 163rd overall out 1763.
Received an ASICS voucher for my efforts but can only be used online and only delivered to a New Zealand address. Still to be worked out.

Get out of Auckland.

We went along to pick up a replacement car to replace the one with mismatched tires and no inflation kit and received a slightly older but still serviceable Toyota but not the Yaris. It works but doesn’t have the pickup or the information system. At least it stops the nice Japanese lady from talking at us on startup. Headed down to Rotorua via Hobbiton.

Yes, it rained, yes it was windy but good fun nonetheless. Very informative guide who could describe where parts of the movies had been filmed and how they were set up. Still raining. While not cutting the tour short, there was a keenness to get out of the rain and onto the complimentary ale at the Green dragon Inn.

Then on to Rotorua. For those who don’t know of Rotorua, it has lots of geothermal vents and there is steam coming out of the ground in many places including the park near the middle of town. Some of the pools have a slow boil continuously rolling with warnings that they sit at 100 degrees C. A byproduct of these vents is that the town has its own aroma, a slight Sulphur smell. Probably a good time to visit as the rain and wind keep the smell down.

Rotorua has its own marathon that involves one forty km lap around the lake. With the weather today we couldn’t even see the other side.

A bit of food haze after a big lunch so thought I would get the blog underway. Tomorrow we head further south towards Wellington and then on to the South Island.

Melbourne marathon recap.

The exciting thing about this year’s Melbourne Marathon was that it would be my tenth. At last! Spartan status beckons ! It has taken twenty years with my first Melbourne being in 2003. That was one and done. Definitely never needed to run another.

In 2008 I ran my second. The guys at the club were in training and we thought we could improve. Wrong! 2008 was one out of the box. Thirty degrees C and a desiccating north wind. The first 20km down to Beaumaris were a breeze, literally, with the wind behind us. Turning back into it, a whole new story. Finished, but only just.
Must be able to do better. Back we went. What do they say about people repeating things and expecting a different result? But we did improve and we started to travel to other events. We tried to get back for Melbourne but a couple of years clashed with major events like London and New York. In 2022 we ran Berlin, London and Chicago. Chicago was held the same day as Melbourne. We didn’t make it back. Cue 2023. There was a chance we would be in Washington for the Marine Corp marathon but that fell through and this was our chance.

Sunday was predicted to be cloudy with rain later. Ideal marathon weather. Also very fortunate as Saturday was windy and Monday has intermittent showers and wind. We were a bit apprehensive as Steve Monaghetti rang the start bell as rain started to fall but it quickly stopped and we were on our way. I was planning an easy run as we are heading to Auckland for the marathon there in two weeks time. Melbourne was a tune up so looking at 3.30ish and don’t hurt anything.
Didn’t look at the watch for the first 2 km as I was talking to someone but 3rd km was 4.35, a fair bit under the 5 min/km that works out to a 3.30 marathon. I tried to settle back a bit but looked over an saw running legend Rohan Day who organises some fabulous runs around Melbourne so I popped over and had a quick chat. I noticed I was near the 3.20 pacers so I figured if I sat behind them for a while and then lost a bit of time later on then I wouldn’t be far off what was intended.
Went through the half in just under 100 minutes so on schedule.

Down along the beach I just tucked in behind the pacers and had a little nap. They do a great job and it is quite hypnotic to simply watch a shoulder and run. Up Fitzroy St to 30 km and wonder where the bear is. That’s the one that jumps on you and makes the last part of the marathon difficult. On to St Kilda road. The half runners in one lane and us in the other until the Merge. We come together with half marathon runners who are running their own race at their own best pace. Unfortunately it is a slower pace than ours. I lost the first 3.20 pacer in the crowd and when we turned away from the half runners he was some 200m in front of me.
Struggled a bit up the hill to the observatory around the tan but still holding on. Back down Domain Rd and up the little pinch at Latrobe’s cottage. That’s the last hill and barring anything unforeseen it is now go as hard as you can for as long as you can. Around the corner at Flinders st station and still near the back 3.20 pacers. No way was I running 3.30 from here. The guys were a bit below 3.20 so sub 3.20 was definitely on as they were running to gun time whereas I was looking at net time.

Around Brunton Ave and stay out wide to get running room. Into the MCG and onto the plastic mat. I can understand that they don’t like 40 odd thousand runners running on the grass but it does dilute the effect of finishing on “The MCG” Line up the finish.Gun time a touch over 3.19, net time 3.18.43. Good run. Looking at the records it is my third fastest time in Melbourne only beaten by 2012 and 2014. Also ended up 7th of 108 in my age group but I move up to the next age group next month so something to look forward to. No major damage. On to…….

Where to from here.

Yes, the Land of the Long White Cloud. New Zealand.

When we didn’t get into New York we had flights to and from New Zealand that were already booked. We decided to visit as Anne has never been and my last visit was some forty years ago with a group of mates. It may have changed somewhat.

Now it just happened that the Auckland marathon is on during the time we are there. Auckland marathon is also one of the qualifying events for the World Age Group Championships which will be held in Sydney next year. So the plan was to warm up in Melbourne and go hard in Auckland. Might have gone bit harder than that plan in Melbourne but what can one do?
An interesting age group problem came up in the planning. I turn 65 on the twelfth of November but the Auckland marathon is the 29th October. This means any time I run there counts as a qualifying time for the 60-64 age group where there are some rally quick runners even though I’ll be 65 when the Competition is held. I queried this with organisers but the only answer was to run a marathon between my birthday (12 November) and the end of the qualifying period (31 December). There’s only one, it is in New Zealand and it is scheduled for two weeks after we fly home. Not going to happen. The Abbott guys came up with a suggestion that I could run the Global Run Club Virtual marathon and that has an age based on the end of the qualifying period so 31 December. If I can run quick enough to be in the top three of that event for my age group that will be enough for an invite. So that’s the plan. We’ll see how it pans out.

And then….

We still have three weeks of touring. We have hired a car and will see just how far we can get. Already booked the Cook Strait ferry so North island and South Island. I found it all just fits in with Queenstown marathon in November so that gives us a fixed point and then we fly out of Christchurch. Should be a relaxing stroll from Arrowtown to Queenstown on the trail. It appears they only have 60+ age group so no racing, just a picturesque run. And then maybe a nice NZ red wine. Fun.

The middle part of the year : Get out of Melbourne.

In the middle of the year in Melbourne it can get very depressing. Weeks and weeks of cold, wet and dark eventually take their toll. We don’t have snow but continual days of enough rain to make everything sodden and tops below sixteen degrees C. This year we thought we’d give back to marathon running by pacing a couple of events. The Atlas group run the Hobart, Brisbane, Cairns and Sunshine Coast marathons. A friend Adam with whom I paced the 2019 Melbourne Marathon suggested we pace Brisbane which led to the idea of heading somewhere warm in July and pacing in Cairns. Hobart was a later inclusion to gain some marathon conditioning for Canberra. (See earlier blog).

Brisbane

This was my second time running this marathon and one secret I can let you in on. The Storey bridge doesn’t get any easier the second time around. Actually, we run up and down it twice over the two by 21km loops so really it’s the third and fourth time. The organisers were a bit more forgiving this year and took out a hill at the 8 and 30 km marks (two laps, remember).
Adam and I were pacing 3.45 which works out to roughly 5.17 / km. This is pretty easy for us on the first lap but does get a bit more challenging later on. They don’t let pacers cut corners any more than real runners.
Early start just on sunrise and away. Conditions were good, with a cool start and we headed off from the Botanical Gardens and around to the approach for the bridge. First couple of kms were a touch quick as we chatted with those around us and I caught up with Adam’s news. We settled down and ticked off the first lap.

One of the characteristics of this and Hobart is that half and full marathons start at the same time. What that means is, at the end of the first lap 2/3 -3/4 of the field disappear. It becomes an entirely different event with many less runners around. The drink stations are less crowded and the cheering becomes more personal. There’s plenty of room to move if only we hadn’t already run 21km it would be a breeze. Back over the bridge and out along the river. This is a beautiful part of the course with views down and across the Brisbane river. Coming off the river is a bit of a climb and then a bit of running in the suburbs out to the furthest turnaround at Newfarm. Adam dashed off ahead needing a nature stop which perplexed a couple of our accompanying runners but he was soon back and more comfortable.

We headed back along the river under the bridge safe in the knowledge we didn’t have to climb it again. Adam was feeling chipper so he decided to run 3.45 to gun time while I ran it to net time. We finished within a minute of our aim time so pretty happy with that. A bit of a sit down and then to the pub on the corner near the finish for a Guinness and a cheer for those coming in later.

Cairns Marathon, a little ray of sunshine

After a wee Jetstar, we arrived in Cairns just after midnight instead of the booked 3.20 pm. Four hours at Brisbane airport instead of the direct flight. We found our lodgings and listened to the neighbours chat until 4 am. There went the night before rest. We had a quiet Saturday and went to bed early. Up at 4.30 am and down to the start to get ballooned up. About 16 degrees and just a suggestion of humidity. We started at 5.45 and completed most of the first lap before the sky lightened. A magical sunrise gave us a bit of a rush but the thought that it could well involve a sharply higher temperature gave us pause. This is 4 X 10.5 km loops again with the half runners for company. The difference between Brisbane and here is fairly marked, not only in climate but the Cairns course is pretty much dead flat. No bridges, no hills just a couple of turns and good crowd noise along the esplanade.

Again, we lost most of the field at the half and I was on pace. I was the only 3.45 pacer so conscious of not getting carried away. I ran the third lap with a nice young lady from the Atherton tablelands doing her first marathon. I talked at her and tried to take her mind of the increasing kilometres and humidity. I lost her in the last 10 km but she ended up running 3.48 which is an amazing first effort. Last lap was getting warmer and I was tiring but still on pace according to my watch. At the 40 km marker my watch said 40.4 km so there was a mismatch of about two minutes. I kept my pace through to the finish in 3.46 and with my watch reading 42. 55 km. Close enough I reckon.

Having completed the run we’d set out for, it was time to relax. Sunday afternoon we joined the after party for drinks and chat. Monday was off to the botanical gardens for brunch with friends. We had a couple of options to complete the week but wind spoilt the idea of going out onto the reef so we went to the aquarium to say we’d seen the underwater. Wednesday was the tourist train to Kuranda and back by Skyrail and then on Thursday out to the Atherton tablelands courtesy of a very kind friend Mark Sharkey.
Friday it was goodbye to Cairns but wait there’s more! We had to be out of the motel by 10 but the flight wasn’t until three so we headed off to the Cairns agricultural show for a couple of hours. Wood chopping, show jumping and farming exhibits. Good fun.
Surprisingly our flight left nearly on time. 28 degrees when we left Cairns, 8 degrees when we arrived home in Melbourne. C’est La vie

Where to from here? A bit of cross country, a couple of training half marathons and then Melbourne Marathon in October. Two weeks later is Auckland which will be the hard one as it is a qualifying event for the World Championship. A couple of weeks around New Zealand and then Queenstown marathon to round out the year. So first things first. Train hard and don’t get inured.
So far so good.

How am I feeling about it all? Still positive. I can see I am slowing down or not slowing as much as it is taking more effort to reach a pace I could maintain easily a couple of years ago. I’m not recovering as quickly from hard runs. I’m also nearly 65 so almost on to another age group. Hopefully everyone else in that age group is slowing just as quickly. The body is holding up. There are creaks and groans that are quite comical as my running group heads out but we can still complete the work. All in all, we’re doing ok.

Hobart Airport Marathon

Arrived in Hobart about two hours later than expected (thanks Jetstar) but getting through the airport was simple and on to the skybus. We found our lodgings and dropped our bags and went for a tour. Down to the docks and Salamanca place. We picked up numbers and pacing singlet and went for a look at the course around Battery point. There is a hill. Not a terribly big hill but it was going to be out and back over it three times so cumulatively could be a challenge.

Saturday we headed down to Salamanca market. This was extremely busy as there was a cruise ship in port and everyone headed to the market. It was interesting but crazy crowded. We found a pie at the bakery truck and sat around doing some people watching. We then popped back to the expo to check how many runners there were in the marathon. About 160 and about 400 in the half which started at the same time. A quiet afternoon and pasta for tea and early to bed. This was the end of daylight savings so we get an extra hour of sleep but the organisers use that to start earlier at 6.00 am.

Sunday rolled around and up before dawn. We gathered to attach balloons and chat amongst the pacers. Then over to the start and away we went. Cool and overcast I was looking at 5.40/km for four hours total. First km was 5.20 but I knew there was the climb up to Queens domain to come. Second km was around 6 min so back on schedule. Went through 10 km about one minute quick and the half about 2 minutes under. We lost the half runners and all of a sudden it became much more solitary. I had a couple of runners to talk to and support but really only about ten or so around at any one time. I chatted and encouraged as I could and we had the 10 km field whoosh through. On Sandy Bay rd for the last time I had a bit of time up my sleeve and had a look behind to see if I could find anyone to push through but there was no runner that I could see behind us. On the last lap we had the 5 km field around us. This was nice for the numbers but made it hard to see who was running the marathon and how they were going. We passed the finish line and completed the loop and finished. I ran 3:56:19. A little under my goal time but as I said there was nobody behind that I could help.
A bit later we headed out for Guinness and chips and then Monday we walked the rivulet about 5 km out to the Cascade brewery. Unfortunately we were too early for the bar to be open. We then had a bit more time about Hobart waiting to head out to the airport. While waiting we received word our flight had been cancelled. Another day in Hobart. We hired a car and drove up Mount Wellington and then out to Richmond to look at the old convict built bridge and the goal. We found a scallop pie at the bakery and an award winning vanilla slice. With a bit of time to kill we went for a walk along seven mile beach. We resisted the temptation to walk all seven miles and adjourned for a Tasmanian beer at the club near the airport.
Dropped off the car in plenty of time. Jetstar had managed to run late again so about an hour late we headed home. Not a bad effort for a quick weekend. Two canceled flights and two each more than an hour late. Fortunately they will compensate us for the extra accommodation and meals. Turned out the extra day had more sightseeing in it than the rest of the time in Hobart itself.

No serious damage done so time for Easter and then on to Canberra.

Canberra Marathon

Shortly after coming back from Hobart I managed to hurt my back. Usually this is an inflammation injury that comes good after a couple of days. This time it remained stiff and sore all the way through to the Canberra Marathon. Added to that was news that cyclone Ilsa had managed landfall just south of Broome and was joining a low pressure system to drop rain across the country. In our case it meant rain and cold wind in Canberra just in time for the marathon. Cold, wet and stiff, not the best start.

Canberra is an early start at 6.15 am. So we were up before 5 and listening to the steady beat of rain. Sometimes this eases with the dawn but not on this occasion. We gathered, we started and off we went. Up around Parliament House and back down. I was looking for the 3.15 pacers but they were way in front of me. I checked my watch and could see they were already well under their goal time. I decided to try and hold my own pace figuring if I could run 3.15 pace they would come back to me. At 21 km I went through in 97 minutes so on 3.15 but working way too hard for what I was achieving. Good news was the rain had paused.

One of the idiosyncrasies of Canberra is that the half marathon starts quite a bit later and the quick half runners come past my part of the field when they have run four km and I have run 26. Some times this can be inspiring, on a cold, wet day not so much.

Lots of runners coming past and getting fatigued. Fortunately the half runners turn before we do so there is a bit of quiet time before we rejoin them for the last part of the run. Unfortunately this also means that runners we rejoin are several minutes slower than the first group and we have to work our way back through them. I’d just about had enough when we hit the last bridge with four km to go. A squall came through with a cold wind and the rain started up again. Sore and cold I buckled down for the second lap of Telopea park. Around the hill and back down, one last hill and finish, again in steady rain. Finished in 3.30.09 in what is my second slowest Canberra. The only slower was when I paced someone else.
Interesting event. I learned again several lessons. 1. The importance of positive thinking. Some others had reasonably good runs and didn’t notice the conditions anywhere as much as I did.
2. The importance of being satisfied with what I can achieve, not what I hope to achieve. I was still third in my age group and only seven seconds behind the second placed runner. My time still qualifies me for Boston by a very comfortable twenty-five minutes. It was a good solid run.

Move on. McLarenvale in two weeks.

McLarenvale marathon.

One of the nicest things about visiting new events is we get to see diverse parts of the country and some of the amazing works. In the case of Canberra we have been going for several years and the biggest feature is the camaraderie that is built up. For McLarenvale we decided to spend some time on the way looking at the silo art in parts of the state that we hadn’t been to. Silo art is exactly as it says on the label. Huge wheat silos have been built around Victoria to hold grain. With modern techniques to store wheat they have become outdated and in most cases have shut down. They are still a feature of many small towns and localities and to encourage tourism many have been used as a blank canvas for amazing murals that reflect the local community.

We started at the silo in Rapunyap and did a loop up to Hopetoun and then back around through Rainbow and Jeparit and stayed the night at the Victoria hotel in Dimboola. Saturday morning we continued on to McLarenvale via Kaniva and Murray Bridge.

McLarenvale marathon

Arriving Saturday afternoon there was not too much time to get nervous. Most of the initial time was spent finding the start at Richard Hamilton wines and then our accommodation which was an Airbnb organised by George. After a carbo load dinner it was a suitably restless night before we lined up in the field of around 140 starters. I started out comfortably with a bunch just in front that I resisted the urge to chase. First km was 4.25 so any quicker I knew could be disastrous later. A young woman came past who I found out later was the first woman overall. Again, do not chase. The course passes lots of vineyards and has a couple of long but not severe hills. I was pretty happy with how the kms were ticking over and when we hit the shared path at 15km I could feel that this was a completely different day to that of a fortnight earlier. Curiously the conditions were not that different. Less rain and wind but still some rain but a touch warmer.
Around to the winery and back out for the second lap. It was good to see the leaders heading out as I headed in and then to see George as I headed out again. A nice young man from Kangaroo island joined me and we ran together for a km or two but he broke away up the long incline as I tried to maintain a steady tempo.
At about35 km and back onto the shared path. This is the time to start talking to the legs about whether we can manage to keep pace for the remainder “it means less running time if you keep going” . A bit of an uphill out the back and a km to go. Time was looking really good so try and keep going. Up the driveway and into the finish chute.
Finished in 3.13.26. Fourteenth overall and first in my age group. Sixteen minutes quicker than Canberra. This was my 50th marathon and I worked out later it was my twelfth quickest. I felt stronger and recovered better than in Canberra. Who knows?
We set off for the return journey early on Monday and traveled through Kooinda in South Australia which has another silo mural and spent the night in Mildura before the final leg and the final silo in Sea Lake and thence home.

Images by marathon photos. Free with McLarenvale registration

Three marathons in four weeks. Lat year we did three in three in Berlin,London and Chicago. The last one was difficult with a bronchial illness. This time the middle one was difficult with inclement weather conditions. Obviously it’s doable but is there an advantage to doing so many close together? In both cases the first event was intended as a warmup, pacing down in Hobart was effectively a long training run. Berlin was quicker but again was to set up for the Age Group Championship in London.

Second events were completely different. London was good conditions and a huge field and crowds. As it was the Championship it was the focus where Canberra was not. The results in London were good as I ran as hard as I could for as long as I could. Hurt at the end. I think this led to the illness that marred the third event in Chicago. Canberra was slower than I expected and left me with doubts about where I was at. Sure, it was cold and wet but I am mindful that, at sixty four, there may come a time when I have to accept slower times are just where I’m at. Wee niggly, naggly doubts.

The third marathons were again complete opposites. Chicago fell apart at 23 km and was a struggle from there on. At least the weather was nice. A complete lack of energy. McLarenvale on the other hand was comfortable for nearly all 42 km. It is a beautiful feeling to reel off km after km almost without effort and to see km markers count down and know there is a good result just around the corner.

What have we learned?

1. Don’t be too hard on yourself for one run. There’s another on the way and things will get better

2. Back to back marathon races are not only possible but doable.

3. Some times it is desirable to have a backup. Not every plan goes accordingly.

Where to from here?

Next events are winter cross country and then pacing 3.45 in Brisbane with a friend, Adam. A break of a month (still running but) and then pacing four hours in Cairns. Build up to my tenth Melbourne marathon in October becoming a Spartan. Then off to Auckland and Queenstown to round out the year. Longer term 2024 is a return to Boston. I now have three qualifying times with forty minutes buffer. I’m thinking Boston-Big Sur double and then maybe Rotorua on the way home seeing as we’ll be using flight credits with Air NZ.

How do I feel about all that?

Excited, maybe. I think I’m going ok. I can see the difference between my good and not so good events. I’m still finishing and that’s important. I think if I wasn’t completing events or everything was hurting too much then much of the satisfaction would wane and I would have to rethink. I’m competitive still and that helps. I’m enjoying running most of the time and the really good times outweigh the not so good. I still don’t like running in the rain. We keep running.

This is where we are and here are our aims.

Hobart Airport Marathon Sunday week. We fly down to Hobart Friday morning and home Monday afternoon. Should be a nice long weekend in Australia’s southernmost capital. I just wish the organisers would stop referring to the event as “challenging”.

I’m pacing four hours as a lead up to Canberra and McLarenvale marathons.

How does this fit in with years goals you ask? For those who read the last blog you’d know we were looking at Melbourne, Marine Corp and New York as the big events for the year. This was soured when I missed entry to the New York event after getting up at 4.00 am on the morning entries opened. Those with time qualification could get a spot on a first come first served basis and so I was in the queue within four minutes (should not have read the instructions, that took three minutes), waited for an hour and fifty minutes and then registered. Job done or so I thought. Received the email and I quote “we are excited to have you run with us in 2023.” Imagine my disappointment a couple of weeks later to receive an email saying “all spots are full we’re putting you in the general ballot”. The general ballot works out as a 5 or 6 to 1 chance to get in and so it proved. We missed out.

This led to a lot of reshuffling. Having thought we were in for New York, we entered the Marine Corp marathon in Washington and had worked out flights and itineraries. Fortunately there is scope to defer the Marine Corp marathon and switch the flights to another destination. We’ll use the New Zealand part of the trip in October-November to run in Auckland and Queenstown and spend the balance of time touring New Zealand.

Long range plan now moves to Boston 2024 and the Big Sur marathon but that is for future blogs.

New York. No

Washington. No

New Zealand. Yes!

Back to Hobart. This gets a bit labyrinthine so pay attention. I have run Canberra marathon eight years now, not in succession and so am getting close to being a Griffin. It is one event that we as a group tend to travel for. We’ve put in a pretty good block of training including a couple of 100 km weeks and Sri Chinmoy half marathon. Long runs have increased in distance and duration but as with all programs there is always the wish to get a warm up run under the belt.

Early this year I went into Melbourne to support a friend, Adam who was competing in the half iron man triathlon. He told me he was pacing the marathon in Brisbane and that I should come and do that with him. I contacted the organisers and got the job and they mentioned that they also had spaces for pacers in Cairns and Hobart. (Still with me?). I volunteered for Cairns as there were some cheap airfares going. I mean who couldn’t find time to be in Cairns in the middle of a Melbourne winter but at the time I couldn’t find any fares that made it worthwhile going to Hobart.
During training it became clear that I was going to need a long run a couple of weeks before Canberra and the thought of Hobart kept percolating. In the end I booked a couple of flights and volunteered for a four hour run. In theory it should be reasonably easy although the hills may be a test.
Two weeks later is Canberra and as a backup we’ll run McLarenvale two weeks after that. Bit of travelling to be done but no time zones to cross. I’m hoping that I can run a qualifying time for Boston 2024. I already have a couple in the bag from runs at the end of 2022 but would like to start the new year on a positive note. We do change out of daylight savings the weekend of Hobart but it will still be an early morning. Hopefully we can have a quiet run for a couple of kms and zone out.

I’m Good, and you?

As many of you will know Anne and I have retired from paid employment but a former colleague texted me today and reminded me of one of our fellow workers who suffered with depression and twelve months ago took his own life. I don’t often run for a cause but Hobart I will dedicate to him. We all miss him and wonder what we could have done to help but unfortunately we also didn’t want to continually harass him about how he was all the time. Please, please if anyone ever needs a chat do not hesitate to call. RUOK?

So here we are. A week to go. Nerves starting to kick in and logistics hopefully settled. There’s a couple of early mornings in the offing and some stitches to come out on Thursday before flying on Friday. (Infiltrating keratosis removed, if you were wondering, on the right ear. Darn nuisance). I’m feeling ok. We had a pleasant 16 km run out the back of Ferny creek this morning including a couple of hills. It was just a great morning to be out. No soreness, so all good. Tapering means only a couple of runs this week and nothing so hard that it might cause injury. We’re nearly off and running. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Christmas. Whoosh !

New Year. Gone!

January. Wait! Hang on.

February. Well under way. Time to crystallise some of the vague thoughts that have been bouncing around the brain since we returned from overseas and took a little break from marathons. I didn’t stop completely but cut back on mileage and increased social contact.

Having completed three of the marathon majors there are still the other three, Tokyo, Boston and New York on the radar as well as a host of other fascinating events around the world. My tenth Melbourne Marathon is still a high priority and giving back to the marathon community by pacing some events is something I would like to do.

Planning Starts
We start to put together the year with a couple of definites. Canberra in April will be my eighth time and leaves only two more until I make “Griffin” status, those who have run the event 10+ times. The other definite is Melbourne in October which will be my tenth time going around and so I will finally become a “Spartan”

Then there a couple of “ I’d like to do that ones” and some where I’d like the run but I really don’t know if I want to race. I met up with friend who was competing in the half iron man in Melbourne. Adam and I had paced the Melbourne marathon a couple of years ago and he is planning to pace the Brisbane marathon this year. He suggested we could run it together and I should contact the organisers.

So I did and we’re in. Anyone who wants to run around 3:45 in Brisbane in June is welcome to join us. It will also be a great opportunity to catch up with my younger son Luke who lives in Brisbane as well as with Adam and some other friends. Susan from Atlas events was also looking for pacers for Cairns in July so that seemed a good chance to get out of Melbourne in winter for a week and there was a good airfare going so I signed up for that as well.
Susan was also looking for pacers in Hobart two weeks before Canberra. Initially I thought it was too expensive with flights and accommodation but eventually decided to have a run. I would run a long run at that stage anyway so at least this gives me new friends to run with. I’m running four hours there.

Next Major?

One of the interesting things about the marathon majors is the differing formats for entry. Some have time qualifier positions, most have charity fund raising positions and all have some sort of general ballot. The catch with the ballots are the number of people who want to run divided by the number of places available. Many runners try for years and never seem to get a spot. I had a couple of good marathons in 2022 and they have given me time qualifiers for New York and Boston. Also Chicago and Berlin but I ran those in 2022.

This year we have applied for New York and have built a trip around that. The (very cunning) plan is to run the Melbourne marathon and fly out a week later. Then run the Marine Corp marathon in Washington at the end of October into New York at the start of November and then to have a bit of time in New Zealand on the way home and run Queenstown marathon. Simples. The first challenge is the entry window. For entrants not part of the New York Road Runners, entry is on a first come, first served basis from Noon on the 8th February, New York time. Turns out that’s 4 am, 9th February Melbourne time. I sat and watched the queue on the computer for just under two hours before my turn came. I duly filled out the form and dispatched it into the aether. Now we wait for confirmation.
Quick update. Email came through this morning with acceptance into New York Marathon.

Next challenge will be the Marine Corp marathon which accepts entries from March 1st Washington time at Noon so at 4 am on the 2nd Melbourne time. Another early morning.

Long term planning

With 2023 plans underway we also look long term. How to get into Tokyo and/or Boston in 2024. Boston is more straightforward. Run a qualifying time, for me, a bit under 3.50 and you’ll get a spot. The way it works is that the quickest runners up to the field limit and under the qualifying time get a place. Generally it requires a couple of minutes under the time. If the period follows on from the 2023 event I should be able to use my London time which is a long way within the requirements.

Tokyo is another matter. There is only one time qualifying and it isn’t age based. 2.45 for semi-elite. Not even close. General ballot has about a 10-1 chance of success. 320,000 apply for 37000 places. Unlikely. There are a series of virtual events that are ongoing that offer smaller ballots that I will continue to do. Fingers crossed.

Others

Before I found I could use my London time for a Boston qualifier I targeted Canberra as the event to run a time. I’ve run a couple of good races there. The undulations seem to suit my running rather than the slog of a flat course. As a backup we found a new event in McLarenvale in South Australia, one of our wine regions. Having entered, I will still go around and see how we go but the pressure of having to run a time is off. Could possibly be a cheeky little Shiraz waiting afterwards.

Summary

2023 will certainly be busy but I think I am in reasonable condition at the moment. My left heel is an ongoing issue that needs to be managed and I am starting to feel the effects of 50+ years of running. I can’t recover like I did even ten years ago. I seem to have a continual low ferritin that I take an iron supplement for. All in all, pretty good.

So there’s the plan. Wish us luck.

Sitting in Los Angeles LAX. We fly out back to Melbourne at 9.30 pm tonight Tuesday and will be home at 7.00 am Thursday. We cross the dateline somewhere in the middle of the flight.

I’ve had a couple of runs since Chicago including 21km this morning, an intended easy lap around the airport. I thought it would be about 10 km. Whoops! All of those roads and hotels look alike. Still a bit slow but I think that is a result of the respiratory infection I picked up. Interestingly several people on the London Marathon Facebook site also mentioned picking up respiratory complaints. 50,000 runners and several hundred thousand spectators in close proximity. Who would have thought? We left Chicago the Monday after the marathon and flew to Portland in Oregon.

Portland

Portland is an interesting city. It has a fair bit of urban decay just off its centre on the light rail path from the airport into town. There is also a large homeless population. It gives a first impression of a city in decline but speaking to locals reveals that there is a strong alternative ethos in Portland with many craft breweries and a strong foodie culture. There is also an interest in environment and much of surrounding Oregon state has great outdoors culture with many hiking and running trails, fishing and mountain biking.

San Jose

From Portland we flew into San Jose. During planning for this trip we were bound by a couple of points. The three marathons and the flight out of Los Angeles we are currently waiting on. With a bit of wriggle room we looked at a couple of meet ups and events that we wouldn’t be able to achieve in Australia. One of these is Ice Hockey. Ice hockey is a very minor sport in Australia. Not so in San Jose the home of the Sharks. Fortuitously we could be in town on the opening weekend of the NHL season and see the sharks play the Carolina Hurricanes. It was a big event with live music beforehand and during one of the breaks. The game itself was exciting but even to a couple of newbie’s such as ourselves it seemed that the Hurricanes were better organised and it was no surprise that they beat the Sharks 2-1.

San Jose itself is a smallish city just south of San Francisco and acts as a satellite for silicon valley and SanFran. The locals have a strong self identity and are very proud of their local teams. We also took the opportunity to catch up with some relations while in the area. I’ll come back to that below.

Los Angeles

No great trip comes without its challenges. We decided that to avoid flying over all of the countryside and not seeing anything we’d take train from San Jose to Los Angeles. This is scheduled as an 11 hour trip along the coast through Paso Robles and Santa Barbara. All went swimmingly for about 9 hours. A couple of volunteers gave talks about the history of the area and pointed out interesting landmarks. The sun sank into the Pacific ocean just north of SantaBarbara.

About an hour from disembarking the train stopped. There had been a trespasser strike. The upshot was that the train had hit someone on the tracks who shouldn’t have been there and the driver had to be replaced to be counselled after the trauma. There also needed to be an investigation before the train could move. Eventually we were offloaded onto a local service that stopped at every station across Los Angeles. We disembarked at Union station at 12.30 am to find that the shuttle to the airport where the hotel was didn’t run between 11.30 pm and 3.00 am. We took a taxi.

Only a day and a half in Los Angeles and we spent the first bit catching up on some sleep. Then we caught the bus to Santa Monica to indulge our inner Forrest Gump. In the footsteps of Forrest and Rob Pope we strode past the Bubba Gump shrimp restaurant and out to the end of the pier. We turned around and resisted the pull of running back across the country.

We did however get on the hop on, hop off bus and see the sights. We saw the Hollywood sign (could be bigger) and marvelled at the stars on the walk of fame. We seemed to do laps through Beverley Hills and saw the Viper room where River Phoenix died, the Whisky au go go and many expensive houses.

I went for a final run this morning and now we wait for the plane. We have achieved what we wanted to achieve and met many old and new friends along the way.

With Thanks

George Dyer.

This wouldn’t have happened without the urging of George. While we’ve been seeing more of the U.S George has run several more marathons. It was George’s suggestion that three marathons in three weeks is doable. I am happy with that but George has continued on and who knows how many he will have eventually done by the time he gets home.

Michael Brosilow

Michael was in my age group but has recently moved up to the 65+ category. He is a bit quicker than me and so I have been following his progress over a couple of years. We finally met in person in Berlin for a run and then in Chicago . It was great to finally meet in person and hopefully we can do so again in the future.

Roger Baumgartner

When we planned to be in Portland Roger offered to come down from Seattle. Again Roger is someone we’d never met in person having been in contact through a Mapmyrun training group that also includes Donna Moosh Caroll, Chris Pavey and Stephen France. Roger not only came down he took us for a drive out into the country for a hike to a couple of waterfalls and then treated us to a picnic of local fare. It was extremely generous and much appreciated. We hope we can reciprocate some time in the future

Huong Tong Khwaja

I hope I spelt that right Huong. Huong is family. Living out of San Francisco means we don’t get to see her and the rest of the family that often but is a delight to do so and catch up with their busy lives.

And finally Anne.

Can’t do what I do without her. Nuff said. There are some more images to go in here to flesh out the story but the iPad isn’t playing fair.

Where to from here?

Home. From the sound of it to a pretty sloshy, wet Melbourne. We’ll regroup, look at some options. I have a qualifier for the World Age Group again in Chicago next year but it would be expensive and probably mean missing Melbourne and my tenth running again. Boston 2024 ? Tokyo 2024. I have a qualifier for Boston but it would take some luck in the ballot for Tokyo. Kangaroo Island marathon, off the coast of South Australia? All options.

London to Chicago

After a recovery day in London it was back on the big bird to Helsinki. Flying with Finnair all flights transit through Helsinki. We thought we’d have an overnight there to see a new country. Helsinki is the furthest north we have been and is now into autumn. The leaves are turning colour and the temperature dropping. Three degrees and rainy. Not necessarily the chance to see a city at it’s best. Helsinki is built around a port and has several islands containing beautiful old buildings only accessible by boat. It also has an interesting Botanical gardens.

Chicago

We were staying out at Oak Park, one of the original Chicago suburbs. The suburb has some remarkable architecture and was home the celebrated architect Frank Lloyd Wright (no relation) and Ernest Hemingway the Nobel winning author. The Wright buildings are quite distinctive being solid structures with large overhangs. It’s hard to believe that they were built over 100 years ago they blend into the neighbourhood so well.

Chicago marathon

So to the third of three marathons. You might think that would be challenge enough. Just to make it more interesting I left London with a burning throat that then developed into a respiratory infection. Probably a bit run down after two marathons and associated travel. Anne has had a cough for most our time away but I think mine was just an opportunistic bacterial infection. I felt I was getting better but was still a bit apprehensive as to what the race would bring.

I’ll skip the first bit but my intent was to run easily as I did in Berlin and see what transpired. Went through the half in 95 minutes so within a minute of the Berlin time. Things started to go awry shortly after. First hints started at 23 km. For those who have not run marathons this is much, much earlier than is comfortable. 19 km to go and legs starting to hurt. We negotiated a truce for a couple of kms but there was no doubt this was going to be a difficult run. Surprise!

By 30km I was on the edge of all sorts of trouble, cramp? maybe, heel pain? sure. but mainly just no energy. Hit the bottom of the well and it was dry. Then the 3.20 pacers came past and I started to realise that even struggling as I was, I was still capable of a reasonable time. I had to take short walks at times but kept hanging in until finally the last couple of kms came into sight. The 3.25 pacer came past and 38 and then 39 km went by. A sign said 1 mile to go. Checking the watch 3.30 ish seemed the most likely finish. Then an 800m to go sign. Yes, there were miles and kilometer signs all along the course. It is one of the nice things about the major marathons.
A 400m to go sign was very welcome. The equation was 100m per minute to get in under 3.30. Across the line in 3.27. Whew.

So in summary, the three marathons were completed in 3.18 (Berlin), 3.12 (London) and 3.28 (Chicago). All under 3.30. That was my first aim (tick). The London marathon was also the World Age Group Championship so I wanted to perform well there. 3.12 is my sixth fastest ever marathon and my fifth is only one second quicker, so I think I did as well as I could have hoped. (tick) I ended up 33rd in the world in my age group. I’m sore and boy was it tough but I reckon I have given it as good a shake as I can so quietly satisfied.

From Here

Running is done. Now the recovery and getting home. Tomorrow we head to Portland in Oregon to look at craft beer and pinot. We hope to catch up with friends and wind down. Thursday is to San Jose to see the Sharks ice hockey team play the Carolina hurricanes. Again hoping to catch up with some family. Finally, on to L.A. for the flight home. The adventure will be over. I’ll do one more blog from L.A about the week.

Thanks for reading so far.