Firstly I’d like to say a huge thank you to all of our supporters that have donated to Ronald McDonald House NQ during the 2016 McDonalds Townsville Running Festival. Without the support of our local community, organisation such as this would not be able to function. When the final tally comes in, Bod Pod Townsville will have raised enough funds to provide six weeks accommodation for a family at RMH NQ. So again, thank you to all.
The Marathon wrap up.
So after running 42.2k yesterday, I wasn’t feeling much like sitting down a typing out my final blog last night. All I seemed to do after the race was sit, stand, lay, stretch, eat, drink, repeat and eat some more. Amazing how much food I put away after running that marathon.
The day started for me at 3am, I carried out my usual morning routine of rolling on my foam roller for 30min, followed by breakfast, shower, then into my racing gear to head off to the Strand. It was a beautiful Townsville winter morning, temperature was just right and at 5:30am we were off. My plan was to stick to 6min splits for the first half and depending how I felt, keep it up for the second half. I managed the first 28k at that pace, then stated to slow down a bit over the next few kms. At about the 31/32k mark I got my first cramp, no warning, out of the blue, my left hamstring went just off and it was time for my first walk. No problems I thought, only a little setback, I had planned on the last half at 7min splits, so this wasn’t much of a drama, it wouldn’t put my time out too much and when I was able to run again, off I went. All was good until another couple of kms down the road to Pallarenda and then my right hamstring went off. Ok I thought, not good, time for my second walk/stretch. Even with these couple of walks I still managed to keep around 7:00 to 7:30min splits and if that had of been the end of the cramping, I still would have come in around my planned time, but this was not to be the case. At about the 37k mark, it was the calves turn to bite me, funny how they can synchronize to hit you and cause the maximum amount of pain. So again, walking/stretching and that’s pretty much how the rest of the race went. I did figure out at about the 39k mark how to start running again, not that it was at any great pace, but it was faster than walking and I didn’t cramp up anymore. I managed to run the last 1k into the finish line and as I was passing the crew at the “Party House”, I had some unexpected company. I had two guys dressed in horse costumes, a Pikachu (I think) and my wife running with me up the Esplanade. What a support crew, that’s one thing I never forget, I wish someone had got a photo of that. It turns out that the “Party House” people adopted my wife Geraldine, (as this was the area where she was waiting with my drinks during the race). They couldn’t have her sitting by herself, so they dragged her along to join the party. What a top bunch of people, full of encouragement, lots of noise and a great party atmosphere, just what you need to keep you going when you’re running a marathon.
Anyway, around the corner, onto the home straight and as I turned the last corner and into the finish chute, I heard Minty call my name and with the biggest smile ever, I crossed the finish line. That was my goal, run the marathon, cross the finish line running and with a smile on my face, and I did it. What an awesome feeling, I’m still amazed I managed to do it.
The thing that kept me in a really good head space during the race were the “seasoned runners” out there having a great time and encouraging us newbies along the way. To the two gentlemen wearing the “aggressive salmon” (pink) tutus, you guys were amazing. Thanks for the support and making it fun for everyone in earshot of you two. Thank you also to the Running Festival committee and volunteers for organising such an excellent event, managing to get 3304 people across the finish line would have been no easy feat by any means, well done.
That just about wraps up my final blog for Bod Pod Townsville, a big shout out has to go to Paula Pool for her fundraising effort for RMH NQ. The 100s boards were the back bone for this cause, so thank you to Paula and everyone at Muscle and Fitness Domain (and those people outside the gym) for contributing. It’s been a pleasure working with Paula and Jude for this charity event, now it’s time to move onto my next challenge (yes dear I know, painting the house).
Cheers Paul.
