At last! Having spent the last 3 years wondering if I would ever crack another PB I finally managed to do it. And in a race that I hadn’t really trained specifically for. What a great feeling!
Anyway, back to the start, and on a wet and miserable morning, I picked up Roly, Tim and then Andrew on the way into town. I couldn’t believe just how many people were at the Manly ferry wharf at 6.30am! I guess that’s what happens when you let 85,000 enter a fun run.
We eventually made it into the city for about 7am, parked up at work and then headed up to the start line, leaving Roly to enter the green group (he had borrowed Catherine’s entry) with Andrew, Tim and myself making our way to the red bib start. The weather was still damp and overcast and it had been raining through the night which meant that whilst it wasn’t that cold, there was a good chance it would rain at some point before we got to Bondi. And about 30 mins before the start it did. It chucked it down. Luckily I had brought a space work shirt which took the brunt of most of the rain, but we were still wet with some 20 mins to go.
Due to previous race experiences of getting to the start early and then needing to pee early on in the race, I adopted a zero drink policy on the morning of the race and this worked perfectly, enabling me to get to the start line 45 mins before the gun and not need to go before the race started. Perfect! In fact, aside from the rain, the preparation was virtually spot on and, after having dispensed with the shirt (and gotten blindsided by a half full bottle of water thrown from another entrant), the gun went off.
It took about 30 seconds to cross the starting mat and then we were away down William Street. Immediately Andrew sprinted off never to be seen again, and then Tim was also away, finding a sneaky gap down the right of the road to quickly gap me, and before I knew it he was 50m ahead already whilst I was stuck in traffic. Great! Not to worry, plenty of time left. The first couple of km were spent weaving in amongst slower runners who had started to the front of the pack (why do they do this?!?!), and it wasn’t until I topped over the Edgecliff hill that I was able to run freely. My quickly revised plan was to keep Tim in range for the first few km, pace off him, and hopefully reel him in by the time we reached HBH.
I went through 2km in 8.10, which was pretty damn perfect for where I wanted to be. Start quick, hit the hills, hold on along Military Road and then push down into Bondi. That was the plan. 3km, came and went in 3.42 (Tim was getting quicker!) and before I knew it I had reached 5km in 20.18. Quick stuff, but just where I wanted to be. I slowed a little between 5 and 6km. Maybe because Tim did, but whatever, this was a 4.35/km. Strange as I hadn’t reached HBH yet and this was probably the flattest section of the whole course! Then again, the Garmin showed this split to be 1.1km so maybe it wasn’t that slow after all.
I caught Tim just before HBH, as he was taking a gel, and quickly went past, accelerating into the hill. From previous experiences I knew that this was where the race was to start. Not just this hill but the pull up from the top. 6-7km went though in 5.11 and 7-8km in 4.29. I had lost time, but not too much.
I eventually reached the top of HBH feeling tired but knowing that I now needed to push on if I was to achieve my aim of sub 60. From here, and between 8-10.5/11km, the course gets annoying as the route continues to rise and there are a number of gnarly little inclines and sharp bends as the route weaves along the cliff top following Military Road. It is this section of the race where your target time can be made or broken as finding a rhythm is virtually impossible. In particular, one incline, around the 11km mark that gets me every time. It seems to go on forever!
I passed through 10km in about 43 dead, just a little slower than I wanted to be (my target for 10km was 42.30) but still knowing that I had 4km to go and 17 minutes left and with at least 2km downhill. I reached 11km at 47.20. I had used 20 seconds of my ‘surplus’ 60 seconds. It was going to be close!
11km-12km was all downhill, and as a result I went through 12km in 51.24 with a 4.04 split. 2km to go and 8 and a half minutes left. It was at this point that I realised I might actually achieve my aim…now it was about going as far under 60 as I could. What was my PB anyway?!
I hit the bottom of the hill and went past the 13km banner in 54.24 with a km split of 2.56. With hindsight, this split was wrong and the km marker must have been in totally the wrong place, but at that time, I couldn’t believe it and just went with it, I may go under 59 I thought! However, looking a the Garmin afterwards, the 13km marker was about 1.2km from the finish line…damn that false hope!
From here, the last km loops along Campbell Parade and then back along the finishing shute. However, as with every year, this part seemed to take forever, and included the annoying incline over the bridge before continuing along for what seems like ages….not helped by the fact that that last km was ‘actually’ 1.2km!
I eventually rounded the final turn and into the last 300m as the watch ticked over onto 58.30. Sub 59 wasn’t going to happen, but I still pushed to the line, stopping my watch at 59.18. At the time I didn’t think I had actually achieved a PB as I thought I had gone 59.0x in 2008. But I was wrong, my previous PB was in fact 59.20 and so I had smashed a whole 2 seconds off this time!
After recovering and picking up my medal, Tim quickly followed me into the finish shute, with a final time around 60.3x. He was disappointed not to have broken 60 minutes. I reckon if he had run with a watch he would have smoked it. Unfortunately he got to Campbell Parade and thought he had already missed it and so didn’t push the last km as a result. Still, another PB so that’s not too bad!
Andrew smoked a 56.xx despite backing off from 9km and Roly managed a 65.xx from the green group, all great times.
We were all getting cold and so after a quick refuel and a walk up to the bus stop, we then started on the run back to the city, up Bondi Road and then all the way down Oxford Street. The legs were pretty sore by this point, but Roly was keen to keep the pace honest and so we made it back to the city in just over 45 mins for 22km all up.
Overall, a great race and a perfect race plan. Following Tim for the first 5km enabled me to pocket time in the bank before the hills. From there it was just a matter of pushing the hills and keeping the pace honest.
Next stop, the marathon and a sub 3.20!
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