My Race Report:
Melbourne Marathon 2019
by Chris Jackson
I love Melbourne, which is strange for a Sydneysider. We’re meant to hate all things Victorian aren’t we? What I love most is how central everything is. If you’re near to the CBD it’s all happening. And the trams in the CBD are free!
I chose a hotel that was as close as possible to the start/finish lines. I highly recommend the Mantra on Jollimont not because it’s really special, it’s ok, but being 300 meters down hill from the finish line is gold!
My taper was pretty good. Plenty of rest, a massage and sauna. I didn’t over eat, apart from Friday night when I ordered two mains (oops) and ate them both, followed by ice cream. I went to see Joker at a cinema where they serve you food and drinks at your seat. I ordered water. No ice.
I had a really early night Saturday and set the alarm for 4:30am (I spent the afternoon watching Eliud Kichoge break the two hour marathon barrier and following Joe Ward running the Hume and Hovell One Hundred Miler. Those two events were great motivation for me). I woke up at 4am. MBRC team mate Jonathon Watkins arrived at 5am for brekky and we met Nicole Maron (a.k.a PB) as we were leaving the hotel. The Dream Team had assembled.
Bag drop was the only drama we had all day. We almost circumnavigated the MCG trying to find it but we had plenty of time up our sleeves and the walk served as a nice warm up. After sunrise we were greeted with a perfect day. No wind and a little cloud cover.
On the start line we said good luck to Jonathan, who was running with the 4 hour pacer in his first marathon (Jonathon beat the pacer by four minutes. Way to go champ!) I had chosen the 4:30 pacer on advice from Coach Joe Ward and PB decided that’d suit her as well. We started about 100 meters behind the pacer and I started my watch as the pacers crossed the start line. When we eventually caught the pacers we’d have a little extra time on our side. We never caught them. There were a lot of runners between us and the pacer and the extra energy spent dodging in and out jumping over gutters and down again would have been a waste so we contented ourselves with keeping them in sight and running around 6:10-6:20 pace.
After a short run along the Yarra on the CBD side we recrossed the Yarra at Flinders Street Station and headed South along St Kilda Road. There was some toing and froing around Albert Park Lake followed by two “out and back” sections that totalled about 15km. For anyone running their first marathon “out and back” can be very challenging mentally. Running over ground you’ve already covered you start to look for the turn around points and this can be a distraction. It was time to focus on running form and not wondering “how far to go”. We made it back to the beginning of that section but our pace had slowed by about 10 seconds per kilometre. I was starting to hurt at 30km’s. The wind was picking up and it was getting warm.
Around 30-32km’s I took some panadol extra and not long afterwards took a caffeinated gel. I felt much better. Working our way back along St Kilda Road towards the city we saw PB’s family for the second time (I think it was hard for PB to run past her hotel not once but twice). This time they had a sign saying “Go Manly Beach Running Club”. Beautiful.
I struck trouble at around 39km when my calves started cramping.(I was getting very thirsty during the second out and back section. Thinking about it later I believe a drink station that was marked on the course map at 30km wasn’t there. This may have contributed to the cramping) Basically from then on I walked/ran. I’d walk until the cramp subsided then run again. This meant my kilometre rating dropped to 7:14-7:20. This is slightly disappointing but I’m definitely not going to dwell on it. It’s something I’ll address and improve on. In case you’re wondering I did carry and use salt tablets but I only used about half of what I carried and clearly I should have taken more.
I struggled through the last three kilometres but the pay off was running through the tunnel into the MCG. I was hit by a wave of emotion. With tears in my eyes I ran the last 400 meters in this iconic stadium. My Father had performed here with the Royal Australian Airforce band during the Summer Olympics in 1956. So many great feats in Australia’s sporting history happened right here. It was a very special moment for me and it is something I will never forget.
My race time was 4:42:31. A little slower than I’d have liked but a PB of 19 minutes and 16 seconds is nothing to be sneezed at. Just quietly I’m pretty bloody proud of myself.
Finally a few thank you’s:
Tamara Madden (awww.madonnutrition.com.au) for helping me eat right.
Kieran Watson (www.ibphysio.com.au/staff/kieran-watson/) for making me feel right.
Brenden Cram (https://seaforthphysio.com) for massaging my tired legs right.
A special thank you to Joe Ward and the Manly Beach Running Club. The training Joe designed for me has made me a better runner. The help and inspiration I get from my team mates makes me a better runner. I’m indebted to Joe and the MBRC team for all they’ve given me.
Chris Jackson
(Sub 5 hour Marathoner at last)
Edited by Jonathon Watkins. Thanks Professor.
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