Our marathon debutantes were Duncan Price , Michael Stark, Abi Griffin, Paul Dack and Emma Chandler. Also competing were Mary Jackson, Jenny Cawood and John Brown.

The debutantes had prepared since January and most had to negotiate the usual hurdles of injury, illness and the normal interruptions of life (life often gets in the way of running doesn’t it?). Paul Dack had a faultless preparation that included a sizzling 1:29 at Noosa Half. Paul ran perfect 5km’s splits at 22min until the 35min mark and then cramps hit him hard and he struggled home after an otherwise magnificent run. He crossed the line in 1:29 for an impressive (if not painful) debut.

Next across the line was Michael Stark who missed out on the run last year due to injury. A bike fall two weeks out caused some concern but he shook that off for an excellent debut at 3:35. Starkie is our tallest runner and the marathon is typically a huge ask for big guys but he’s pulled it off. Since the start of the season when Duncan Price crossed the finish line of the Twilight Half there’s been a lot of jabber heading Starkie’s way about being beaten by the light-footed copper who then reprised his act at Noosa. Duncan got the flu during his taper and his preparations were thrown into disarray before the race. He toughed it out and crossed in 3:53, giving the ascendancy back to Starkie who must be complimented on his lack of sledging.

Starkie said “I didn’t worry too much about the Half marathons because I’ve always thought the true test of a man is the marathon.” Jerrod made another excellent debut at 3:41 and has shown that apart from being a much fitter and better-prepared runner he has nailed the headspace dimension and was able to stay in the hurt locker for as long as he needed to.

Abi Griffin had numerous injuries during her marathon training and ran with Emma until the 35km and stormed home for a brilliant debut of 3:49. Jenny Cawood clocked up yet another marathon with an excellent time of 3:55. Emma Chandler had a tough day at the office feeling a bit sick but also toughed it out and made a great debut at 3:59. Emma combines being a working mother of four children along with lots of gym, cycling and run training. Mary Jackson yet again chaperoned another runner to their first ever marathon and finished in 4:26. John Brown ran what I think is his first marathon in 5:22.

Lessons Learned

I think all the debutantes learned that the marathon is a different beast from shorter races, especially the Half. Runners who posted very fast times at the Half were unable to match that equivalent time in the marathon due to the X-factors of cramp, dehydration and fatigue. The marathon is a respecter of nobody, and it must be approached with the knowledge that it can throw up some challenging physiological and mental challenges that you otherwise don’t experience in training or racing at shorter distances.

Mary suggested that runners do at least one of their long training runs at the same time as the marathon (instead of at 5am when it is cooler) and this proved to be very wise advice. Runners suffered from the higher temperatures.

The golden rule of nutrition is that you don’t consume anything on race morning that you haven’t done in training. This leads to unforeseen issues and this proved to be the case.

Coping with cramp is a complex issue, and there is no easy answer. The more marathons you do the better your legs cope, with smarter training and perhaps better pacing and also a more thorough hydration and nutrition plan for the run.

Having said the above, every marathon finish is a major success, and puts you in the top percentile of the population. The many months of training required lots of difficult balancing and juggling with time and other important commitments and the training sessions themselves required dedications. The runners can rightly feel immensely proud of their achievements.

I missed out on Gold Coast due to injuries but I am hoping to give the Brissy marathon a good shake on August 1.

I headed up under an injury cloud and under orders from the physio not to race at full pace so I decided to pace Jerrod (Dawg). Jacko was a late entrant, picking up a place from a guy who blew his calf getting out the water in the swim on Saturday.

Sunday morning came and the weather was awesome. Wayne ran with the 1:30 pace group although their pace leader was all over the shop. Paul Dack (Wayne)  showed that all his training has paid off and decided to run his own race with more disciplined pacing. Duncan Price (Sherlock) took an early lead and kept within striking distance of Wayne, whilst Michael Stark (Mancoach) donned the headphones and ran his own pace as well, showing good discipline not trying to chase Sherlock. Behind Mancoach I was pacing Dawg. and doing a bad job! Between his Garmin and my experience we still couldn’t slow down and ended up a minute too fast over the first 10km. Dawg had it in him to run the 1:40 group pace so the plan was to stick with them all the way until the final 3km and then get out in front of them and get Dawg a 1:30something after his name. Jacko was holding it nice and steady just behind Dawg, and around him was also Jenny Cawood and Tommy Donnet, who turned up flustered 5 min before the start having run 4km to get there and not having picked up his race pack! Despite that bad start to the day Tommy looked strong and put in a big effort on the road.

Wayne took Striders line honours with a sizzling 1:29:43, average pace 4:15, 127th our of 1,195, 23rd in age group, lap 1- 44:16 – lap 2- 45:26) – congratulations Wayne!

Sherlock, the sly copper that he is smoked in well ahead of Mancoach with a 1:32:48! 187th out of 1,195, average pace 4:23 per/km, 27th in age group, lap 1- 45:2, lap 2: 1 47:26 [laps 10.55km] Well run Sherlock, as usual pacing himself very well with an economical style.

Mancoach continued the theme of the day: massive improvements, with a creditable 1:35:58, average pace 4:32, 39th in age group, lap 1 – 46:58, lap 2 – 48:59.

Dawg toughed it out home after passing the 1:40 marker with 3km to go. When we crossed the 21km mark I said “Dawg, 100m to go, you’re a hurdler, and the mongrel took off and left me for dead, streaking through. 1:38:51!!! average pace 4:41, 58th in age group, lap 1 – 49:58, lap 2- 48:53 NEGATIVE SPLIT!!!

Jenny Cawood was a 1:43:00 on the dot, and was smiling from ear to ear at the finish as she has been fighting an injury niggle.

Average pace 4:52, First lap 52:17, 2nd lap 50:42 ANOTHER GREAT NEGATIVE SPLIT!

Tommy Donnet ran an excellent 1:51:28,  Average pace 5:17, 1st lap 52:19, 2nd lap 50:09, 17th in age group.

More news to come of more Striders, stay tuned.

The big grudge match in this years race was between Stan Fetting (representing the old guys) and Greg Hall (aka Greg Dog), after the young upstart stole the mountain goat crown from Stan last year in a desperate dash to the finish. The little schemer missed out on the Twilight Half Marathon as well leaving Stan broken and behind in training (arguably). The battle was finely set with Stan time trialing earlier during the week but Greg having superior conditioning and rest.

Interviewed after the race Stan with his typical graciousness said “I needn’t have worried as I lost the little runt in the first km and my tactic of walking as late as possible ensured a growing gap. I kept running until we got to the first ‘unmentionable climb’ and simply had to walk up that one. The rest of the ‘unmentionables’ required walking as well as the ‘Double Whammy’ but after that the topography went from insane to only slightly insane and I ran from that point on, making sure the young upstart didn’t replicate his cowardly stalking tactics from last year.”

Stan came in 5th in a time of 1:36:24 whilst Greg came 8th in 1:42:52. Michael Stark debuted strongly in 20th position with a 1:54:35, as did Emma Chandler was 8th female in 2:06:59. Ernie Patterson debuted in 2:25:40 and Mary Jackson notched up yet another Pinnacles and as usual was chaperoning a group of runners from Redcliffe Tri Club with customary humour and encouragement. Jerrod was a star as chief cheerer at halfway, despite being distracted with taking lots of photos of himself, nearly filling a 2GIG SD card with pics of his ugly mug (as shown below)

So the battle between the old guys and the young guys moves on to Noosa Half Marathon and eventually the Gold Coast Marathon.  Many thanks to the organisers for another excellent event, which we’ll continue to support.

Starkie, Stan & Greg Dog get ready

Final adjustments before the gun - Starkie, Stan & Emma

Ernie Patterson drinks up at halfway

Greg Dog slakes his thirst ready for more hills!

Mary still smiling (centre)

Starkie coasts through halfway

Jerrod close up

Tired but happy Striders celebrate the finish

Results:
Brett Jackson: 5th place (category 36 +) Time : 31:00:76 (3min off 1st place and 5 mins off 1st place cat 19yrs – 35yrs)
Abi Griffin: 7th place (category 19-35yrs) Time : 37:03:44 (1min behind Emma Thomson and Less than 5mins off 1st place)

This was a fantastic event; I would love to see a big group go over for this next year. Asides from an enjoyable and challenging swim, there was plenty of time in the afternoon to explore the wrecks; which are teaming with ocean and reef fish and covered in coral; have lunch, and relax in a beautiful part of the world. Tips for anyone interested in next year; I will be bringing an esky, with a picnic lunch and beverages… otherwise, perfection. I have attached some photo’s as well. In the race start photo’s you can pick out Brett and I as we are both wearing Blue Seventy wetsuits which have the blue rings at the top of the arms. See photo’s me fitting my wetsuit, the mass start, me finishing, Brett finish and Brett again at the finish. See the results at the website . Article contributed by Abi Griffin.

It wasn’t a pretty run and not much fun either, but it certainly had novelty value.  The pre-race Striders banter centred on the ongoing rivalry between Stan Fetting (representing the old guys) and Greg Hall (representing the young punks).  Greg gained the ascendency in spectacular fashion at last years Pinnacles Classic and this was the first clash between the two since then.  A new ‘old guy’ on the scene was Paul Dack who proved to be a bit of a dark horse.  Stan was first Strider home in 43rd position (7th in age group) followed by Paul Dack in 100th position (21st in age group). Greg Hall came in third, and will training hard for the Pinnacles Classic to regain the ascendency and keep the young guys on top.

Kisty Jackson, after starring in the post race interviews,  came over the line first (10th women home overall) in front of Abi Griffin and Karen Brown. Mary did her usual routine of being the Mother Theresa of running by making sure that all runners came home, turning back into the tunnel to fetch more runners over the line. There were plenty of tired and rancid looking Striders gathered together at the end to swap war stories, followed by a visit to Maccas on the way home as a reward/punishment (take your pick!).  It was great to see Antony out for the first time in a while (after injury) accompanied by wife Gayle.

Check out the results here, and read discussion on the race here.