Half a World Away

As part of my marathon training plan, I had included a few half marathon races to test my speed and endurance. Run Melbourne came up as a good race, but was only 7 days after a 30k trail race I intended to do. Decision time, which one do I race, which one do I just pace through? As I was mulling this over a comment by a runner in the Melbourne Marathon Facebook group alluded to her desire to run a new PB (her current one being 1:48) and thinking she could go 1:45. On a complete whim I offered to pace her. It was the perfect opportunity to race at You Yangs (my 30k trail race) and run evenly but slower than what I would normally the week after. The side benefit is I have gained a new and lovely friend! On such whims do our lives take the most unusual turns!

Federation Square at 6 in the morning. Our meeting point.
The Melbourne CBD providing a colourful backdrop.

The friend in question, Chrissy, was someone I had encountered in the FB group before. Always up for a yak and very friendly. For about 6 weeks we discussed, bantered, and planned the run. Another chance conversation with a fellow trail runner Chris, also revealed that he was looking for a PB at Run Melbourne. Chris was chasing a similar time as Chrissy, so I offered to pace him as well. We all follow each other on Strava, so I was able to assess both of them for training and pace, and they could see that I was putting the effort in to make sure I had enough pace and endurance to do the job. Nothing worse than the pacer falling to pieces under pressure on the day!

Leading up to the Day

The Sunday before I had a day out at You Yangs, literally. Ran a controlled and paced race and finished high up in a good solid time. Felt good Monday then went downhill on Tuesday as delayed calf muscle stiffness turned into a potential injury. Wednesday massage only served to flare it even further, I was more than a little worried. On Thursday it appeared to be much better, so in the afternoon I attempted a 10k run to assess exactly where I was at. Painful during the run, I was still able to do a good pace with a fast finish. I vowed no more running before Sunday. I lied, I'd forgotten about a reccy for the Inverloch parkrun I was helping to organise! So, another 5k on the Friday evening, pretty much run like the 10k the afternoon before and I knew I was ready.

Race Day

Myself, Chrissy and Chris, 20 minutes before the start.

Run Melbourne is probably only second to Melbourne Marathon festival in terms of participant numbers. With this in mind Chris, Chrissy, and another friend Michelle had agreed to meet near the stage/big screen in Federation Square. So did about 400 other people! Luckily we all bumped into one another, more by chance than good planning. Also bumped into Regan Welburn, fresh from a storming 50k race at You Yangs last week, and then a 5k PB the day before. He wasn't running, and offered to hang on to my sacrificial jumper which I had grown attached to! Top guy. A couple of photos then we headed off to the start line, several hundred metres down the road.

Looking towards the start line, 10 minutes to go!

 We lined up in the start shute and then spent the next 15 minutes wishing the race would just bloody well start. Got to be the worst part of any race, the waiting around. Thankfully everything went on time. It was quite beautiful watching the sky lighten (it was 7:00am in winter) against the backdrop of the Melbourne CBD, and it made for a fairly good vibe before we took off. Whilst we were hanging around in the start shute, a guy walks up to me a says, "You're Les Corson?". Didn't recognise him, said yes, and he introduced himself as Martin from the Two Bays Facebook group. He said, "You're on Facebook a lot! I recognised you!". Nah, not me, must be someone else...

Because of the sheer numbers of runners there were wave starts. First was the priority placing; elites, and faster than 1:30 runners. Next was 1:30 to 1:40, then 1:40 to 1:45 etc. Waves went off every minute or so. Last minute discussion about how we were going to run the race. The plan was to go out slow, 5:20min/k pace or slower if needed. The nature of the course meant many runners in a narrow avenue only 1 or 2k's after the start, potential for congestion/carnage was high and I wanted all of us to stay out of trouble.

The view behind us at the start line.

Our wave moved up to the start line. We had an official pacer ahead of us with a 1:45 balloon tied to her waist, and another behind us. I was confident we had stood in the correct spot. I was later to question that assertion!

The Start

The first couple of k's were your typical big city marathon start; crowded, lots of runners seeding themselves in the wrong positions, and plenty of runners bursting out of the blocks like Usain Bolt at the Olympics! Conscious of the early pace of others I held back, quite a lot as it seems. All 3 of us were chatting away, which was good, helps us to hold back, and quell any nerves present at the start. As we trooped down Flinders Street past the railway station and it's late Victorian façade, I suddenly became aware of music. Not blasting away from a shop, or a street side sound system, but that slightly tinny noise you associate with earphones and people on trains. Just about to launch into a tirade about runners and mp3 players, when I realised it was the phone strapped to my arm. Seemed Spotify had decided to fire up at random, and I was greeted with a classic 80's song by Squeeze; "Tempted" to be exact. What followed was me delicately extracting the phone from the holder, whilst dodging other runners, and trying to work out how to stop it! Eventually worked it out. By now we have turned back towards St. Kilda Road and running along the pavement at Southbank.

2k's in, and we are all together, even in step (if you look closely). Yarra River on photo right, this is beside Alexandria Gardens. (Photo by www.supersportimages.com)

The Crowd Thins Out

Beyond here it gets narrow, lots of jostling and dodging and weaving to get past slower runners. We ran under the road, into Alexandria Gardens, then turned to get back on to St. Kilda Rd. to head towards the Domain. Along here the crowds were lined on either side of the road, lots of support and encouragement. I was wearing a Two Bays race tee, and it attracted a fair amount of comment. Started to up the pace along here, as it was much easier to run, and we needed to start getting nearer to race pace. We entered The Tan (The Botanic gardens in Melbourne, affectionately know as The Tan), and in here my Two Bays shirt attracted some more attention. Rohan Day, Race Director extraordinaire of the Two Bays Race, was marshalling at an intersection, spotted me and gave me a rev and a half! "Come on Les, get a move on, don't slacken off....". I tried to high five him; he would have nothing of it! Just tried to push me along even faster! Professional to the core!

Out of The Tan and then some back streets to finally turn back to Domain and climb back up again. The course had more twists and turns than a John Le Carre novel, but it was interesting all the same. There was plenty of support on the course; at various points bands or DJ's were playing music, there was a definite carnival atmosphere in places. The steepest climb was on Anderson Street at the back of The Tan. Once over there (and negotiating the drinks station) it was nicely downhill to Alexandria Parade and the kilometre out and back leg. By now we have got the pace back to under 5min/k and on track for sub 1:45. It was along here that I was trying to assess how far apart the official pacers were, and found out they seemed to be all over the place.

Approaching Halfway

Over the Morell Bridge, and they had bubble machines going. As we ran through a field of bubbles, I relived with Chris the glory days at Upton Park (it was an exceedingly short conversation!), sang a line or two of 'Bubbles' (West Ham theme song), then turned onto Bunton Avenue. Another out and back leg, with the turn around point being where Nova FM had a marquee set up. The bloke on the PA was screaming his tits off like it was a 100 metre sprint, not the halfway mark of a 21k race! Trust he didn't keep that up all race! At this point I noticed that Chrissy was lagging behind a little bit. I wasn't concerned as every time I turned round to spot her, she gave me a thumbs and a smile to let me know all was okay.

Climbing up Wellington Parade South. There is a pacer (orange balloons)
behind us, and Chrissy can be seen in the distance directly under the balloon.
Chris would have been on my right hand side along here.
(Photo www.supersportimages.com)

We crossed the footbridge to the MCG, through the park ending up on Jolimont Street and the climb back onto Wellington Parade South. By now we are on 1:43 pace and I am holding back to make sure we don't overcook with 9k's to go! It was along this section that Chris and I caught up with one of the official pacers. Trying not to get carried away thinking that we had caught the 1:40 pacer, I noted that absolutely no-one was running with him, not a soul. As we got close enough I read 1:50 on the balloon; what on earth was going on here? Everybody was passing him, he was definitely running at slower than 5min/k pace and drifting back through the pack of runners. It momentarily put me off. A quick check of my watch, showing overall pace, proved that we were on target. Put it out of my mind and pushed on up the hill. Chrissy continued to drift back and I was conscious of us just getting back onto Flinders Street with the crowds on the footpath giving us all a lift.

Coming back along Flinders Street, Chris on my right, Chrissy
behind us (obscured by other runners)
(Photo credit: Regan Welburn)

Second Loop, and we split up

Back down St. Kilda Road (another guy on a PA calling out runners names) and then for the second time climb back into the Tan. I have at this point told Chris to push on. He was running strongly and not even looking like falling behind! As we climbed up Birdwood Avenue I started to fall back to run with Chrissy, who by this time was looking like she was digging deep. We had caught up with a 1:45 pacer (I was utterly confused by now with the pacing), and I wanted to get her on the back of the pack to give her some encouragement and reassurance that she was still on track.

Concentrating on a keeping a steady pace for
Chrissy. Outbound on Alexandria Ave.,
18k mark.
(Photo www.supersportimages.com)

No Soldier is Left behind!

The remainder of the course was essentially a repeat of the first loop. Which meant that once again I passed Rohan Day in the Tan (and once again got a rev up, even greater this time as I was still slowing to allow Chrissy to catch me!). She caught up as we turned down Domain Rd. and immediately told me to push on up ahead! My turn to tell her that I was not having a bar of it. I was pacing her, and if that meant sacrificing a time, well so be it! We pushed on, retracing our steps back to Domain Rd., and Anderson Street. The pacer was about 50 metres ahead, and I tried to slowly increase the pace, but the climb up Anderson was proving hard for her. A quick stop at the drink station there (only my second for the day), and then back onto Alexandria Avenue for the last time.

Along here we passed Chris going the other way, already 1 and half to 2 minutes ahead of us and looking strong. I stuck right by Chrissy's shoulder and kept an eye on her. She was going fine but was really now having to focus on pushing forward. What was heartening though, was that we were steadily picking up and passing runners; starting slow and finishing strong has many benefits! Turned around and headed back, only to see another 1:45 pacer behind us... Hmmm. By now I have calculated that we have run about 16/17k's (was actually 18!). I don't have the distance run display on my watch as it distracts me; I mean, you just start and run till you finish, right? Crossed over Morell Bridge again and then the final section along Bunton Avenue.

Going for Broke

Running to the finish line. I am shouting out
to Chrissy, who is on my left (out of shot).
(Photo www.supersportimages.com)

Running along here we both started to pick up the pace. I suspect Chrissy had worked out that we had only about a kilometre to go, and lots of people around us we struggling, or working really hard. Passed under the 20k marker and I made sure that she saw it. With less than a kilometre to go we came off the path next to Bunton Avenue, and ran on the road itself. Back past the Nova FM site (still going off his head!) and then turn left, the final 100 metres to the finish line. We were both pushing around 4:45min/k approaching here, now we just pushed it to 4:30 pace. I kept looking around to make sure she was okay, she was, and I kept up a bit of a commentary of encouragement, motivation etc. as we headed for the finish shute. Managed to get across to be beside her and we crossed the line together. Quick peak at the watch revealed 1:44:30, sub 1:45 nailed! Happy days!

Post Finish

First person we saw was Chris. He had run himself to 1:42, and a massive 10 minute PB! And he was bloody happy. Chrissy was hunched over sucking in lungfuls of air, and collecting herself after the fast finish. I was very happy, and doubly so thinking that the run had been deceptively easy and that I had heaps of energy left at the end. Felt like I could have pushed on for a number of k's. Met a friend Josie who was waiting for her daughter, Chelsea, to finish her first half marathon. Ironically Josie had told me she'd be there and look out for me (after having smashed out a 1:32 herself!), and sure enough, she was there and easy to spot.

Selfie at the finish line. All of us very happy with the days
 racing.

Stood around having a quick chat, and just as we were about to head off, Chelsea arrived, and we were treated to a wonderful scene of mother embracing daughter as she crossed the line. A terrific moment. It was then that Chrissy, Chris and I decided that breakfast was urgently required, and a suitable cafe was found, serving lashings of hot coffee, and bacon and eggs. Debrief, Facebook catch up, and generally take in the good vibes a good race will give you.

Postscript: Nicky was competing in the 10k event, which didn't start until half an hour after I finished! Consequently I had a leisurely breakfast/brunch before heading back to Federation Square to meet up with her. She had run well, but not got the PB she was looking for. All the same, very happy with her day, we went off in search of more coffee (can never have enough), and breaky for Nic.

Nicky showing off her finishers medal. Southbank, coffee time!

Further postscript: Later on, once I had uploaded the GPS plot of the run, I discovered that we had all run a negative split. For the non-runner, a negative split means that you have run the second half of a race faster than the first. In our case, Chrissy and I were about 30 seconds faster, Chris 2:30. It is the runners Holy Grail, if you like. And a pause for thought, the pace we ran was almost the identical pace I need for Melbourne Marathon; just need to run double the distance, no sweat!

Further, further postscript: Call it insane, call it brave, but I went downhill skiing the day after Run Melbourne. 15 minute into the day, with son and heir giving me grief about wanting all of us to ski as a family, we decided to hop straight on a blue run. Big mistake. Trying to avoid another skier, I stacked, and very badly, twisting my right knee, and tearing a muscle on the bottom of my rib cage! On a positive note, I was able to walk away from the crash. On a negative note, 5 days later, and I am still battling to overcome the injuries sustained that day. Note to self: No more skiing during marathon training programmes, or keep it real, and do not succumb to pressure from others. We live and learn.

Until next time...