Sydney Marathon 2003 - Race Report

"Andrew Taylor" <[email hidden]> skrev i melding "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

. I'm very pleased with my finishing kms - they weren't easy, and I'm extremely happy with going
sub-3:00.

Andrew Taylor

A sub-3 marathon is a dream come true ! You say you're happy, and you should be. Awesome. Thanks for
the rapport. Conratulations !

Arne

25th overall and perhaps sneaking in for 3rd in my age group. Sydney is not the most
competitive marathon.
____________

So what. An M is an M and "placing" in an M is quite an accomplishment...as is a Sub 3.
Good for you.

Andrew....

A great race and a thrilling report. Jonathan "Andrew Taylor" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The story so far: I took up running mid-2001 to celebrate turning 40 by running the Sydney
marathon. A respectable 3:31 4 months later left me thinking a fast marathon was possible. A
3:00:25 in the heat and bushfire smoke of the 2002 Sydney marathon meant I had to come back in
2003 and go at least 25 seconds faster.

The forecast for today was worrying, 23C and strong w/nw winds - headwinds for most of the second
half of course, and tail winds for almost none of the course. My alarm went off at 4am and I could
already hear wind gusts which didn't bode well.

Sydney is a not a big marathon, 1600-1700 runners, no Australia marathon are. This has its pluses
- very short toilet queues and 5 minutes before the start I could still get a front spot just
behind the elite runners.

Its pretty much the 2000 Olympics course which has a spectacular first half, crossing the harbour
bridge from North Sydney through the heart of the city and then east for a lap of Centennial Park.
After the harbour bridge there are only gentle undulations in the first 25km.

My race plan was run 4:00-4:05 kms for the first 25km. The wind is already a problem and I
draft behind other runners when I can - although its doesn't seem to help much. Significant
errors in the placment of km markers makes pacing difficult to judge but I go through the first
half in about 85:30 which is pretty much to plan. The battle for first australian women plays
out around me. The eventual winner of the battle (and 2nd female overall) is relaxed enough to
chat to me a little.

The race gets serious at 25km with the biggest ascent of the course onto Anzac Bridge and from
there a series of hills to the finish. None are large but they certainly seem it and today we have
30+km/h headwinds. Its also now 20-21C. I've planned to not let my pace slip below
4:15/km, but the conditions make that impossible.

Anzac Bridge is very exposed and only drafting behind a Swede running strongly, gets me across it
at a decent pace. I feel guilty later when I discover he finished several minutes behind me.

Family and friends wait at 27km and I manage to put on a good stride for them. They have a a gel
for me - I thought the caffeine might help - but I've mild stomach cramps so I don't take it.

Last year the wheels fell off just after 30km, so this year I try to accelerate at 30km rather
than slip into a black hole. I push as hard as I can but my pace doesn't seem to go up much. The
kilometre markers still have obvious errors so I ignore my splits. On exposed stretches the wind
is a struggle, even on downhills. At 35km I calculate I only need 5:00/km to break 3 hours. By
now my quads are quite painful and I have a strong urge to slow down to the pace required for
just sub-3.

I motivate myself by trying to catch runners ahead. Runners are sparse now but there is always a
couple in sight to focus on. I ignore my watch and just try to run down the next person ahead.
This is a successful strategy and I chase and overtake successive runners all the way onto Olympic
Boulevard and the last kilometre. I've little left when the finish line comes into sight but I
dredge up something resembling a sprint and cross the line at 2:55:48.

A worried volunteer hovers nearby as find a patch of road to collapse onto but a couple of minutes
later most of me is feeling fine. My quads are destroyed and one foot is cramping badly - I laced
that shoe too tight, otherwise I'm OK. I struggle over to where my family are waiting - here's a
pic with my 4 year old daughter Zoe:
cse.unsw.edu.ausydney marathon 2003.jpgOpen ↗

I won't know where I've finished until Tuesday. I'm hopeful of about 25th overall and perhaps
sneaking in for 3rd in my age group. Sydney is not the most competitive marathon. It doesn't have
the prize money to attract many elite runners and I suspect sub-elite runners from elsewhere in
Australia tend to go to the Gold Coast marathon instead which has a fast flat course.

Although my splits 85:30 and 90:18 look like dismal pacing - I think they are, given the wind and
hills, not far from an even effort. Only one person passed me in the last 12k and I passed quite a
few. I'm very pleased with my finishing kms - they weren't easy, and I'm extremely happy with
going sub-3:00.

Andrew Taylor

In article said:

Only one person passed me in the last 12k and I passed quite a few. I'm very pleased with my
finishing kms - they weren't easy, and I'm extremely happy with going sub-3:00.

Andrew Taylor

Andrew,

We salute you and your efforts. Nicely done.

Great picture of you and Zoe.

Was looking at your left knee. It is just the angle? Also is the arch of the left foot less than
that of the right:? Looks like in holding Zoe, your body weight is on your right leg.

I'd lightly roll the quads mindfulness.comof5.aspOpen ↗.

Stand on a tennis ball or have one under your desk or where you sit and lightly massage the arch of
your foot/feet.

Thanks for your report as it gave us a great perspective of both your outer and inner marathon.

In health and on the run, Ozzie Gontang Maintainer - rec.running FAQ Director, San Diego Marathon
Clinic, est. 1975

Mindful Running: mindfulness.commr.aspOpen ↗ faqs.orgrunning faqOpen ↗

hehe.. ventured into some typoditch there: The end should read:

Thanks for the report. Congratulations !

-Arne-

"Arne Todnem Vik-Mo" <[email hidden]> skrev i melding
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Andrew Taylor" <[email hidden]> skrev i melding "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

. I'm very pleased with my finishing kms - they weren't easy, and I'm extremely happy with going
sub-3:00.

Andrew Taylor

A sub-3 marathon is a dream come true ! You say you're happy, and you should be. Awesome. Thanks
for the rapport. Conratulations !

Arne

Andrew Taylor said:

finish line comes into sight but I dredge up something resembling a sprint and cross the line
at 2:55:48.

Congratulations - no need to be jealous anymore😉

hampi

[email hidden] (Andrew Taylor) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

(...) Significant errors in the placment of km markers makes pacing difficult to judge but I go
through the first half in about 85:30 which is pretty much to plan. The battle for first
australian women plays out around me. The eventual winner of the battle (and 2nd female overall)
is relaxed enough to chat to me a little.

What, didn´t you have enough oxygen to chat back to her or were you afraid what it might
lead up to?:-)

Were there some last-minute force-majeure adjustments to the course or any other excuse for such
abysmal km- marking?

(For some reason I find 1hr+ times expressed as "xx:xx" quite irritating - you had a split of
1:25:30! Try to get that right next time:-))

Quoted message said:

Anzac Bridge is very exposed and only drafting behind a Swede running strongly, gets me across it
at a decent pace. I feel guilty later when I discover he finished several minutes behind me.

A completely foolish and misplaced sentiment. He made his own choice and paid the consequences;
he could´ve slowed down to make you do your bit, but obviously he thought he didn´t need your
help there.

Actually, a race is one place where it´s not contemptible to draw a certain pleasure from the fact
that other people are doing worse than you are. It´s perfectly OK to feel stronger when other
runners begin to breathe laboriously and struggle with keeping up with your pace!

Should you wish to hum "Another one bites the dust" to yourself in such a situation, I wouldn´t hold
it against you:-)

Quoted message said:

I motivate myself by trying to catch runners ahead. Runners are sparse now but there is always a
couple in sight to focus on. I ignore my watch and just try to run down the next person ahead.
This is a successful strategy and I chase and overtake successive runners all the way onto Olympic
Boulevard and the last kilometre. I've little left when the finish line comes into sight but I
dredge up something resembling a sprint and cross the line at 2:55:48.

That strategy is great only when you are capable of pursuing it:-)

Congratulations! There is, of course, a variety of different goals for you to pursue next year, but
a leap into 2:4x-territory in a true "PB-quality" marathon shouldn´t be excluded, IMHO.

Two minor things nag me, though:

1. It would´ve greatly pleased me if you´d done 2:54 and kicked Steve one place down in the "Best of
rec.running"- list.

2. I cannot really shake off the feeling that this series of successes - first by Steve, then Hampi
and now ou - only accentuate my series of failures:-) OTOH my daughter will be four next year...

Anders

Andrew - Goodonya!

Congrats on a great race and a brilliant result. 22-23C makes it tough going, and the wind
accentuated the difficulties.

Thanks for the inspiring report. Especially given our similarities (Aussie (albeit not in Oz), 40+
AG, number of 'thons, and years running.

Anthony (who's hoping at some stage to join the sub-3 ranks...)

"Andrew Taylor" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The story so far:

<snip>

Given the conditions, you should be very pleased with your time Andrew! A great report and a good
reminder of what we should all be capable of if we put in the training and effort like you've done.

Tim

In article said:

The story so far: I took up running mid-2001 to celebrate turning 40 by running the Sydney
marathon. A respectable 3:31 4 months later left me thinking a fast marathon was possible. A
3:00:25 in the heat and bushfire smoke of the 2002 Sydney marathon meant I had to come back in
2003 and go at least 25 seconds faster.

The forecast for today was worrying, 23C and strong w/nw winds - headwinds for most of the second
half of course, and tail winds for almost none of the course. My alarm went off at 4am and I could
already hear wind gusts which didn't bode well.

Sydney is a not a big marathon, 1600-1700 runners, no Australia marathon are. This has its pluses
- very short toilet queues and 5 minutes before the start I could still get a front spot just
behind the elite runners.

Its pretty much the 2000 Olympics course which has a spectacular first half, crossing the harbour
bridge from North Sydney through the heart of the city and then east for a lap of Centennial Park.
After the harbour bridge there are only gentle undulations in the first 25km.

My race plan was run 4:00-4:05 kms for the first 25km. The wind is already a problem and I
draft behind other runners when I can - although its doesn't seem to help much. Significant
errors in the placment of km markers makes pacing difficult to judge but I go through the first
half in about 85:30 which is pretty much to plan. The battle for first australian women plays
out around me. The eventual winner of the battle (and 2nd female overall) is relaxed enough to
chat to me a little.

The race gets serious at 25km with the biggest ascent of the course onto Anzac Bridge and from
there a series of hills to the finish. None are large but they certainly seem it and today we have
30+km/h headwinds. Its also now 20-21C. I've planned to not let my pace slip below
4:15/km, but the conditions make that impossible.

Anzac Bridge is very exposed and only drafting behind a Swede running strongly, gets me across it
at a decent pace. I feel guilty later when I discover he finished several minutes behind me.

Family and friends wait at 27km and I manage to put on a good stride for them. They have a a gel
for me - I thought the caffeine might help - but I've mild stomach cramps so I don't take it.

Last year the wheels fell off just after 30km, so this year I try to accelerate at 30km rather
than slip into a black hole. I push as hard as I can but my pace doesn't seem to go up much. The
kilometre markers still have obvious errors so I ignore my splits. On exposed stretches the wind
is a struggle, even on downhills. At 35km I calculate I only need 5:00/km to break 3 hours. By
now my quads are quite painful and I have a strong urge to slow down to the pace required for
just sub-3.

I motivate myself by trying to catch runners ahead. Runners are sparse now but there is always a
couple in sight to focus on. I ignore my watch and just try to run down the next person ahead.
This is a successful strategy and I chase and overtake successive runners all the way onto Olympic
Boulevard and the last kilometre. I've little left when the finish line comes into sight but I
dredge up something resembling a sprint and cross the line at 2:55:48.

A worried volunteer hovers nearby as find a patch of road to collapse onto but a couple of minutes
later most of me is feeling fine. My quads are destroyed and one foot is cramping badly - I laced
that shoe too tight, otherwise I'm OK. I struggle over to where my family are waiting - here's a
pic with my 4 year old daughter Zoe:
cse.unsw.edu.ausydney marathon 2003.jpgOpen ↗

I won't know where I've finished until Tuesday. I'm hopeful of about 25th overall and perhaps
sneaking in for 3rd in my age group. Sydney is not the most competitive marathon. It doesn't have
the prize money to attract many elite runners and I suspect sub-elite runners from elsewhere in
Australia tend to go to the Gold Coast marathon instead which has a fast flat course.

Although my splits 85:30 and 90:18 look like dismal pacing - I think they are, given the wind and
hills, not far from an even effort. Only one person passed me in the last 12k and I passed quite a
few. I'm very pleased with my finishing kms - they weren't easy, and I'm extremely happy with
going sub-3:00.

Congrats ! An inspiring story. Almost makes me want to snub New York next year and instead come back
to Australia to run the Sydney marathon.

Cheers, and congrats on a great run,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

Thanks for all the kind remarks. I and my aching quads are heading off for a 9 day field trip early
tomorrow, so I can't reply properly.

I've spent today dashing about getting everything together for the trip and wincing with every step.
A smarter person might plan some rest days after a marathon.

I do look forward to reading sub-3 marathon reports from Anders, Anthony and others.

Andrew

In article said:

Last year the wheels fell off just after 30km, so this year I try to accelerate at 30km rather than
slip into a black hole. I push as hard as I can but my pace doesn't seem to go up much. The
kilometre markers still have obvious errors so I ignore my splits. On exposed stretches the wind is
a struggle, even on downhills. At 35km I calculate I only need 5:00/km to break 3 hours. By now my
quads are quite painful and I have a strong urge to slow down to the pace required for just sub-3.

I motivate myself by trying to catch runners ahead. Runners are sparse now but there is always a
couple in sight to focus on. I ignore my watch and just try to run down the next person ahead. This
is a successful strategy and I chase and overtake successive runners all the way onto Olympic
Boulevard and the last kilometre. I've little left when the finish line comes into sight but I
dredge up something resembling a sprint and cross the line at 2:55:48.

cse.unsw.edu.ausydney marathon 2003.jpgOpen ↗

Andrew Taylor

A BIG Congratulations, Andrew! You blew away your last time and during some really horrible
conditions. Very excellent concentration you have! And thanks for sending the pic URL, you don't
look all that tired and the daughter is cute! Hope the foot and quads are feeling better now.

Teresa in AZ

Andrew Taylor said:

The story so far: I took up running mid-2001 to celebrate turning 40 by running the Sydney
marathon. A respectable 3:31 4 months later left me thinking a fast marathon was possible. A
3:00:25 in the heat and bushfire smoke of the 2002 Sydney marathon meant I had to come back in 2003
and go at least 25 seconds faster.

[report snipped but appreciated]

Andrew, that's a great run. You've gotten speedy faster than anyone I've seen in my short
running experience. Although you started out speedy, you've really stuck with the training and
it shows. Last year's Sydney was pretty nice but this year, geez. Congratulations! It sounds
like your race strategy also paid off, big time. Great pic, too. :-) "Good thing she looks like
her Momma." Nice report.

Hope that things calm down and you get to enjoy life a bit, Layne

-------------------------------------------------------
The rec.running report archives may be found at kinder.cis.unf.edurec.runningOpen ↗

(Andrew Taylor) said:

and cross the line at 2:55:48.

feels good though doesn't it!? nice one, cyril ;-)

(Anders Lustig) said:

Two minor things nag me, though:

1. It would´ve greatly pleased me if you´d done 2:54 and kicked Steve one place down in the "Best
of rec.running"- list.

hahah :'-D If he hadn't had the Anzac bridge, it'd have been a doddle for him. Anyway I'm burned out
now, at least mentally, after the 240km binge. Hopefully not for long but I'm not so sure, maybe I
really nailed that target to my bed head so hard that, now, everything else seems pointless and I
can't get excited about training.

Quoted message said:

2. I cannot really shake off the feeling that this series of successes - first by Steve, then Hampi
and now ou - only accentuate my series of failures:-) OTOH my daughter will be four next year...

Everything else is just icing on the cake and you will have to go sub 3 so as to have the pleasure
of her finding excuses for you later ("hmmmm... you must have had hypoglycemia, or maybe the wind
was too strong"😉 when you subsequently don't do a PB in every race :-))

(Andrew Taylor) said:

- here's a pic with my 4 year old daughter Zoe:
cse.unsw.edu.ausydney marathon 2003.jpgOpen ↗

Now I understand. You've been training by getting tribesmen to throw boomerangs at you and then
running away, barefoot into the outback, trailing 6 full tubes of Teewey's behind you?

Next time you have to put some running shoes on and a bush hat with corks or it won't count;
national costume is required for recognition of sub-3's (Anders does his in skis made from
reindeer antlers).

PS Your daughter's a smasher, as well as being nearly as tall as you ;-)

Its taken over 4 weeks for me to get back to rec.running due to travel for work and then a holiday
with my somewhat neglected family but I thought I'd still post a followup about my experience in
this year's Sydney Marathon. I've discovered when friends and colleagues ask "how did the marathon
go", they really want only a one sentence answerwhich isn't much of an outlet so ...

Turned out I was 2nd in the over 40s and 26th overall. I even got a prize in the mail last week: a
pair of decent sunglasses. Unfortunately no use to me because I'm short-sighted, but I'm reluctant
to give them away, because its the only prize I've ever won for anything sporty.

The pics from the official photographers were a little disappointing:
cse.unsw.edu.ausydney marathon 03 40k.jpgOpen ↗
cse.unsw.edu.ausydney marathon 03 finish.jpgOpen ↗ Must remember to smile next
time. Not an advertisement for good running style either. I may have been grimacing like that for
all of the last 12k - does makes you wonder why you run a marathon. Although there is some
satisfaction seeing the two very fit young triathletes behind me in the finish photo.

Since the marathon I've thought about my performance. Mentally I did much better than previous
efforts. The chapter in Noakes was very helpful. I focused on getting to the next kilometre marker
at the right pace. I tried not to think about past kilometres or the kilometres ahead. Definitely
tried not to think of anything but the race - just concentrated on the running of the current
kilometre. Sounds trivial but it made a difference.

I also reminded myself in the weeks beforehand not to expect perfect conditions and that there would
be problems beyond my control. So the headwinds and the inaccurate kilometre markers (don't know why
but some were out by 100+m) didn't phase me (much).

It was harder not to worry about my own mistakes. Aid stations had sports drink and water. I wanted
to grab a cup of each - the water to pour over my head. At full pace it was a challenge to sort out
which was which. Twice I got confused and finished up drinking nothing at an aid stations. This
shouldn't have been a concern - I expect I could have skipped 5-10 aid stations without any impact
but it was still hard not to panic. Maybe its just me, but cognitive performance seems much reduced
during a marathon.

Previously I've done a pre-race checklist. I didn't this time and it was a mistake. At about 10k I
realized I had forgot to apply vaseline. A choice between some delay or considerable pain from
chafing was avoided by an aid station volunteer helpfully holding out a large vaseline jar. Didn't
even have to slow down. Applying it to the groin while running past spectators was a little
embarrassing though.

I trained in ASICS 2070s but ran in ASICS DS Racers, but I've became very doubtful about switching
to light-weight shoes for a marathon. I don't doubt the benefit of reducing shoe weight but it could
easily be more than offset by a slight decrease in running efficiency and/or a slight increase in
muscle damage. There was nothing good or bad that I could definitely attribute to the lighter shoes
and I can't see how to work out if they are faster or slower for a marathon. I might still run in DS
Racers next time but if so I'll do much more training in them.

While I was happy with my performance on the day I'm doubtful about my training. A PB by 5 minutes,
even if you add several minutes for the headwinds, doesn't seem a great result given the amount of
training i did.
If/when I make another serious attempt at a marathon I'm going to have to rethink how I train.

I did no running for 2 weeks after the marathon and not much since then but my legs are far from
recovered - I have a puzzling assortment of aches and pains which seem like they'll take weeks more
to clear. The damage I've done to myself in each marathon so far has been proportional to how
well-prepared I've been. Its amazing how much more damage you can do at race pace.

I passed on the compliments to Zoe (my 4 year old pictured with me at the finish in my first post).
She enjoys running and will happily run up to 1km along the beach with me, she even tries to surge
but she's not quite fast enough to drop me (yet). I did get a promise the day of the marathon that
that she'll run the marathon with me when "she is bigger". We could be a killer team in races with a
father-daughter category in a few years time. Anyway a little running now should make it easier for
her to pick up some sports she likes when she is older.

I will run the Sydney Marathon again next year but train much less seriously - although good friends
laughed at me when I said this - they thought I couldn't stop myself training seriously. I am
thinking of a serious go at the Six Foot Track in March.

Andrew

(Andrew Taylor) said:

The pics from the official photographers were a little disappointing:
cse.unsw.edu.ausydney marathon 03 40k.jpgOpen ↗
cse.unsw.edu.ausydney marathon 03 finish.jpgOpen ↗

Oh man! The last time I made a face like that, was after a all-nighter of Guiness and deep fried
haggis, and the next morning while I was laying a loaf it hurt so bad I made a face like that.
Please tell me you don't always look that way.

Awesome effort Andrew, I ran Sydney off very little training this year in 3:45, was quite pleased.
Headwinds did make it interesting over the last few kms. I believe in your case your recovery should
be proportional to the amount of training you did prior to racing. That said you should be
recovering quicker than last year.?? Correct me if I am wrong but you did put in more time on the
road this year??

I can only dream of making sub 3 so once again good on'ya. Looking forward to 6 foot next year too,
hoping for sub 5hrs.

Cheers

Phil "Andrew Taylor" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Its taken over 4 weeks for me to get back to rec.running due to travel for work and then a holiday
with my somewhat neglected family but I thought I'd still post a followup about my experience in
this year's Sydney Marathon. I've discovered when friends and colleagues ask "how did the marathon
go", they really want only a one sentence answerwhich isn't much of an outlet so ...

Turned out I was 2nd in the over 40s and 26th overall. I even got a prize in the mail last week: a
pair of decent sunglasses. Unfortunately no use to me because I'm short-sighted, but I'm reluctant
to give them away, because its the only prize I've ever won for anything sporty.

The pics from the official photographers were a little disappointing:
cse.unsw.edu.ausydney marathon 03 40k.jpgOpen ↗
cse.unsw.edu.ausydney marathon 03 finish.jpgOpen ↗ Must remember to smile
next time. Not an advertisement for good running style either. I may have been grimacing like that
for all of the last 12k - does makes you wonder why you run a marathon. Although there is some
satisfaction seeing the two very fit young triathletes behind me in the finish photo.

Since the marathon I've thought about my performance. Mentally I did much better than previous
efforts. The chapter in Noakes was very helpful. I focused on getting to the next kilometre marker
at the right pace. I tried not to think about past kilometres or the kilometres ahead. Definitely
tried not to think of anything but the race - just concentrated on the running of the current
kilometre. Sounds trivial but it made a difference.

I also reminded myself in the weeks beforehand not to expect perfect conditions and that there
would be problems beyond my control. So the headwinds and the inaccurate kilometre markers (don't
know why but some were out by 100+m) didn't phase me (much).

It was harder not to worry about my own mistakes. Aid stations had sports drink and water. I
wanted to grab a cup of each - the water to pour over my head. At full pace it was a challenge to
sort out which was which. Twice I got confused and finished up drinking nothing at an aid
stations. This shouldn't have been a concern - I expect I could have skipped 5-10 aid stations
without any impact but it was still hard not to panic. Maybe its just me, but cognitive
performance seems much reduced during a marathon.

Previously I've done a pre-race checklist. I didn't this time and it was a mistake. At about 10k I
realized I had forgot to apply vaseline. A choice between some delay or considerable pain from
chafing was avoided by an aid station volunteer helpfully holding out a large vaseline jar. Didn't
even have to slow down. Applying it to the groin while running past spectators was a little
embarrassing though.

I trained in ASICS 2070s but ran in ASICS DS Racers, but I've became very doubtful about switching
to light-weight shoes for a marathon. I don't doubt the benefit of reducing shoe weight but it
could easily be more than offset by a slight decrease in running efficiency and/or a slight
increase in muscle damage. There was nothing good or bad that I could definitely attribute to the
lighter shoes and I can't see how to work out if they are faster or slower for a marathon. I might
still run in DS Racers next time but if so I'll do much more training in them.

While I was happy with my performance on the day I'm doubtful about my training. A PB by 5
minutes, even if you add several minutes for the headwinds, doesn't seem a great result given the
amount of training i did.
If/when I make another serious attempt at a marathon I'm going to have to rethink how I train.

I did no running for 2 weeks after the marathon and not much since then but my legs are far from
recovered - I have a puzzling assortment of aches and pains which seem like they'll take weeks
more to clear. The damage I've done to myself in each marathon so far has been proportional to how
well-prepared I've been. Its amazing how much more damage you can do at race pace.

I passed on the compliments to Zoe (my 4 year old pictured with me at the finish in my first
post). She enjoys running and will happily run up to 1km along the beach with me, she even tries
to surge but she's not quite fast enough to drop me (yet). I did get a promise the day of the
marathon that that she'll run the marathon with me when "she is bigger". We could be a killer team
in races with a father-daughter category in a few years time. Anyway a little running now should
make it easier for her to pick up some sports she likes when she is older.

I will run the Sydney Marathon again next year but train much less seriously - although good
friends laughed at me when I said this - they thought I couldn't stop myself training seriously. I
am thinking of a serious go at the Six Foot Track in March.

Andrew