Marathon Man!
I did it!
I finished the Melbourne Marathon!
I simply do not have the words to properly describe it, suffice to say it was the hardest, toughest, craziest, most intense, emotional, painful, fulfilling thing I have ever done.
Everything from 30km on has already become a blur of pain and determination in my memory.
I do remember going through the drink station at 35km and finding it incredibly hard to start running again, and so deciding that I would simply run the rest of the way to the finish without stopping. Amazingly, I actually did this. Now that I think of it, this entire section was uphill as well.
At about 39km the inside voice became an outside voice, as I started to believe that I was going to finish, and I began madly talking and yelling to myself. I remember getting a few strange looks from some other runners while I was doing this, but since I was passing them, I say bugger em!
Coming over the William Barack bridge, and onto the concourse around the outside of the MCG, the crowds were really great. Heaps of applause and support as I continued to power past the runners who had been reduced to walking. This is where the tears began to flow.
Coming through the tunnel and onto the MCG was just amazing. I was reduced to a shuffle by the magnitude of it.
As I came around the final bend, I heard my friends Simon (who had finished about 1/2 an hour before me) and Stacey and their family calling out and cheering me on, so I ran off the course and hugged and high fived them. By this stage I wasn't really able to see much, and managed to high five my girlfriend without even realizing it!
After that, I turned and sprinted - yes, sprinted - the final 100 meters to the finish line, passing about 20 people in the process and bellowing like some kind of primal beast as I crossed the finish line. I'm pleased to say that I got a decent roar from the crowd for my theatrics.
I'll tell you about it properly over a beer soon!
I finished the Melbourne Marathon!
I simply do not have the words to properly describe it, suffice to say it was the hardest, toughest, craziest, most intense, emotional, painful, fulfilling thing I have ever done.
Everything from 30km on has already become a blur of pain and determination in my memory.
I do remember going through the drink station at 35km and finding it incredibly hard to start running again, and so deciding that I would simply run the rest of the way to the finish without stopping. Amazingly, I actually did this. Now that I think of it, this entire section was uphill as well.
At about 39km the inside voice became an outside voice, as I started to believe that I was going to finish, and I began madly talking and yelling to myself. I remember getting a few strange looks from some other runners while I was doing this, but since I was passing them, I say bugger em!
Coming over the William Barack bridge, and onto the concourse around the outside of the MCG, the crowds were really great. Heaps of applause and support as I continued to power past the runners who had been reduced to walking. This is where the tears began to flow.
Coming through the tunnel and onto the MCG was just amazing. I was reduced to a shuffle by the magnitude of it.
As I came around the final bend, I heard my friends Simon (who had finished about 1/2 an hour before me) and Stacey and their family calling out and cheering me on, so I ran off the course and hugged and high fived them. By this stage I wasn't really able to see much, and managed to high five my girlfriend without even realizing it!
After that, I turned and sprinted - yes, sprinted - the final 100 meters to the finish line, passing about 20 people in the process and bellowing like some kind of primal beast as I crossed the finish line. I'm pleased to say that I got a decent roar from the crowd for my theatrics.
I'll tell you about it properly over a beer soon!