London Marathon Race report

London Marathon Debut 2010
Clint Perrett

After a little while to calm back down and enjoy putting the feet up after the London Marathon experience, I can finally put together a bit of a race report and de-brief of the event.
Leading into the race, I had done everything possible to prepare myself for the race. I was under no illusions what I had gotten myself into and I was determined to put in great showing on race day. The plan was to post a time that might put me into the mix for Commonwealth Games selection as well as experience for the first time an event in which I hope to have a long athletic relationship with.
The taper weeks leading into the race allowed my body to absorb all the solid training and the rest had freshened me up physically and most importantly mentally before the marathon. Waking up on race morning, I knew that all the boxes had been ticked and after 2 and-a- bit-hours of running I will cross that line having achieved my goals.
It all started well, feeling good during the warm up, despite the chill which is good for the start of the marathon. During this time though, the weather turned a bit nasty and the skies opened up a bit to dampen the roads, meaning we had to ensure we remained dry. However, by the time Richard Branson was ready to fire the starting gun, the rain had subsided and the elite field was ushered onto the startline.
The plan was to roll the first bit, easy enough, to get into a good rhythm and start ticking off the k’s (or miles as they were posted along the road). I had the company of Pete Nowill, another Aussie runner, debuting, and with similar goals as mine for the race. We ran side by side for the first mile and it remained that way until about 19 km. The only time we separated was to dodge a puddle or get in position to pick up our drinks. We kept working together and I managed to feel relaxed running at just under 3.10-km pace on the slightly downhill first section. The body was feeling good, and we used the crowds through the first few towns to really lift us and keep us on our game.
At about 19km, Pete dropped off the pace with a bit of a side stitch and I just continued to roll along. As this occurred I felt relaxed and was now focussing on my foot fall on the road and consolidating a good start. We had been pretty consistent and I wanted to ensure I got to the halfway on target time. Going over the London Bridge, the crowd was going crazy and I was feeling good, so had time to absorb it and have a little smile at the scene I was amongst. I got through halfway in about 67 minutes, just off the desired 66.30 I wanted for halfway, but confident that I could make up that time as I rolled home a bit harder. The next section was lined with people and it allowed me to get going well and focus on getting through the mile markers.
At this point, I was alone on the road, so relished the busy sections, where the crowd could fire me up and keep me honest. I was ensuring I was taking my drinks and gels as required, but couldn’t really get heaps of the water into me. I got through 25km feeling the best I had felt throughout the race so far and thought as long as I continue at this pace and feel this good, I will be able to really drive home for the line in the last 10km or so.
By 30km, I was starting to feel it a bit, knowing I had slowed a little compared to the last 5km, but put that down to the winding road and slightly windy section through the docklands area. I was close to reaching the turnaround point, where we would retrace our steps, on the other side of the road and then follow the River Thames back towards the finish line at Buckingham Palace. So the focus was on that as I felt this would give me a lift knowing it was homeward bound. I saw Renate and Roger at about 30 km and although still feeling reasonable, ensured that I stayed switched on.
As it turned out a local ran up to me during this time and I was able to respond and run alongside him for the next 4 or 5kms. This helped a lot as I could just concentrate on sticking with him, rather than how my body was feeling. A few times during this time I closed my eyes and tried to push all the fatigue out of my body so I could begin picking up in the last 8 or so kms.
Unfortunately the opposite happened. I picked up my drink at 35km and tried to put as much of it and the gel down as possible without losing my rhythm. I fell off the back of my running partner, but pushed to get back on and followed with him again for another kilometre or so. He must have been feeling good, because at this time he picked up the pace, a bit too drastically for my liking and managed to put a gap into me that I couldn’t bridge. Once he broke that elastic band holding us together, I dropped my bundle and was in a bit of trouble.
I went from feeling reasonable to feeling bad in a matter of a kilometre and the legs packed it in. This must have been the famous ‘Wall’ that marathoners talk about, and I had just met it... big time. I had a pained expression on my face and that matched what was going on inside me. My stomach was cramping and the legs were slowing down. I went from about 3:15-km to about 3:30-km in a matter of 2 k’s and was looking up the road for the next marker, and the countdown to the end.
There was not much I could do from here, but just to try to stay as positive as possible and keep moving. All I really wanted to do was have a lie down for a few hours on the side of the road!! Those last 4 k’s or so where tough, the hardest I have ever done in 16 years of running. By this time I had forgotten about the time I was aiming for, annoyed that it was slipping away from me, but just wanted to finish.
When we finally were getting close to the finish line the crowd was still yelling, and I was just counting the steps out. With about 500m to go, I tried to accelerate to the finish and attempted some kind of kick home, more so to reduce the time I had left to be out there.
Once I was over the line, the legs almost went from under me but I was so relieved that I was allowed to finally stop. An assistant helped me to the athlete’s tent and along the way asked what was sore....I replied ‘Everything!’

So after having time to think about it, I have mixed emotions. On one side I am pleased to now be able to say I am a marathon runner and am also proud that I battled on when all I wanted to do was stop, but obviously the goal was to run a few minutes faster.
I could say that it was a tough day in the office, made harder by the fact that I was mostly alone on the road, but really there is no excuse. Gorsk and I had prepared meticulously for this event since about November, with countless sacrifices along the way. However, the event; the marathon was the winner on the day. It beat me in the end, and I will learn from it for next time I take it on. There is a lot that can wrong in 2 hours of running, and unfortunately I had 25 minutes or so of bad running, that separated a great day from a reasonable day on the roads.
It has made me hungry to get out there again and I know that nothing will feel as tough as those last few k’s of running on the 25th of April. Once I have allowed the body to recover again, I have some goals that I have made progress towards setting already and I hope that these can bring about the continued success of what has been a strong year of running for me.

Thanks for taking the time to read, and I hope it insightful!