The solos and the composite (run/walk) teams started together at 8:30am. The hares from the composite teams shot off down the road. I was running a more sedate 4:45/km, keeping just at the back of the teams but leading the solos. We were running into a head wind, but I was feeling good. Realising early on that I had the possibility of winning the race, I skipped my first planned walk break and kept on running. By the end of the first leg the solo race was down to a two-man contest, with me in the lead and Albie Jane a mere 50m behind.
The start of the first leg also marks the first of the hills. Having not taken a walk break, it was time to walk the hill and take on some sustenance. Albie quickly caught and passed me, and the disappeared around the corner. Not to worry - that climb was followed by a long downhill into the Turakina Valley, and it wasn't long before I caught and passed Albie again.
I retained the lead through to around 20km, where a succession of hills on the (now) gravel road saw Albie pull ahead. Not to worry - I had a good training base, was running well, and I kept telling myself positive things about potentially winning the race. Landmarks arrived and went sooner that I was expecting - a pleasing side effect of my faster pace this year. My tummy wasn't feeling the best, so it was a quick jump of the fence and dash across the sheep yard to the only long drop on course at the 32k relay changeover.
I went through the marathon mark in 3:35:06 - almost exactly on 5:00/km. Albie remained tantalisingly close at this point - being only about 4 minutes ahead. Not long after the marathon mark is the 45km relay changeover, followed by the dreaded 2.5km long slog up Reid's Hill to climb out of the Whangaehu Valley. I like to think that I was duelling with some walkers from Lower Hutt Walk For Health as I climbed Reid's Hill, but in reality I my legs were too tired to keep pace with them. After the hill it was time to start running again. It was harder to keep running now, although in retrospect there were a mixture of good and bad patches, with the transitions between each being quite rapid.
The ninth leg was changed this year - instead of running along the sealed road from Fordell towards Wanganui, we diverted to a gravel road in the Matarawa Valley. The best bit about this stretch was a nice long downhill. Running was much easier when gravity assisted!
One final leg to go, and the going was getting tough. Walking breaks were longer, and the running harder. With about 2km to go I settled into a nice steady running rhythm, breaking only for a slight rise as I entered Wanganui! The end was in sight and I ran the last 500 or so metres hard. I finished in a time of 6:02:18 - 25 minutes faster than last year, faster than six of the seven composite teams, faster than three of the six two-person teams, and in the third fastest time in the three years that the solo event has been held. Albie finished in 5:48:38, but then did his usual trick of heading straight back home to Stratford to milk the cows.
As a side note, my preparation for the race this year involved no speed training at all, and fewer but longer training runs to achieve the same total training volume. The result was a PB at the club's Mangaroa handicap road race, and slicing 25 minutes off last year's time for Marton - Wanganui. Innovations introduced into my race diet this year were Le Snax crackers with cheese dip, and mandarins. The Le Snax are a perfect combination of carbs, fat, salt, and good taste! The mandarins were only discovered at around the marathon mark when other foods were starting to loose their appeal - the juice, sugar, and slightly acid taste of the mandarins was perfect.
Solo Finishers
| Name | Time |
| Albie Jane | 5:48:38 |
| Andrew Shelley | 6:02:18 |
| Kym Black | 6:09:18 |
| Ashley Smith | 6:39:09 |
| Maura Skilton | 7:34:59 |
0 comments:
Post a Comment