The good news is I managed to finish, which meant that I raised the best part of $1000.00 which will go to buying sports equipment for people with a disability who attend day programmes in the Southern Highlands of NSW.
Thanks to all those who sponsored me, should you choose, you can still donate money to this worthy cause by either emailing me at scott@holzy.com or phone Joanne Ackerly at Disability Services Australia Ltd. on (02) 9743 4166. (For callers outside of Australia add 61 in front of the number)
The Bathurst Marathon was a wild and wooly event. The temperature at the start was around 9 degrees C. The wind was blowing, it was overcast and throughout the race there were squally rain showers. Only 22 happy punters gave it a whirl. Lisa Ondieki who flew up from Adelaide to run, took one look at the weather and said "nuh". Lisa was pretty cool though (no pun intended), she stuck around and gave us all a cheer at the 10km mark which was nice and then attended the BBQ afterwards.
In late February, I blew my calf muscle apart and also contracted cellulitis in the same leg. Despite my best efforts at rehab, I only managed to get running again about 4 weeks before the Bathurst Marathon. Then, in the final week I managed to catch a chest cold! From that point on it was always going to be a fun day. A finish was my only goal.
To my surprise, I absolutely cruised the first 17km or so.... sure the racing snakes had left me well behind, but I was humbling along at around a 5min30 pace. From 17km, I noticed a drop off in pace, going through the 21.1km mark in 2h03mins. Not world beating, but I felt pretty comfortable about a 4h15min finish...... wrong again! From 32km through to the 37km mark I absolutely "hit the wall". I never doubted my ability to finish.... I just never expected it to hurt this much! Trogging along in the cold with no other runners in sight, in dead set last posie (mind you 3 people had dropped out) was interesting to say the least. Funnily enough, in an abstract way, I was still enjoying myself. A visit from my 6 year old daughter, driven by her mum lifted my spirits even further.... but then they were gone!
As I approached the 35km mark, I could see an even sadder (so I thought) site in front of me, my mate Paul was hobbling along reduced to a walk, at one stage he had been running 2nd! His knee had blown up, and running was no longer an option. In what took an eternity, I finally reeled him in, asking if he wanted me to send a car back for him when I finished. In true Paul fashion he told me not to be so silly and that he would finish.
From 37km's on, I knew I had a finish "in the bag" and whilst none of the pain went away, I think I picked up the pace a little. I had one little flap around the 41km mark when I knew I was so close but..... well..... hey, lets not go there!
Nothing looked sweeter than two little bodies rugged up sitting in chairs at the finish line, the official timer and the race doctor greeted me with a smile and a "well done" as I crossed the line. Unable to stop immediately, I jogged on a little till I came to a halt some 10 meters over the line. The time, 4h39m38s, absolutely woeful, but a finish none the less!
After shoving some orange quarters into my face, it was time to look for my mate Paul, the only person still on the course and with less than 10 minutes left to finish before the official cutoff. I started to wander back down the road only to be greeted by the happy site of Paul jogging his way in!!!! With about 4 minutes to spare he toddled over the line. A remarkable effort considering the state of his knee.
Big thanks to Geoff Brown who organised the whole event without any sponsorship what so ever!!! Also, all the people who helped out on the course and the drink stations.... sorry we made you stay out so long in the rain and wind :-)
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