On
the 3rd of December, I ran my hardest race ever. After over 20 years of
running, the Reggae marathon was the toughest. The race started at 5.15
am and even then the temperature was over 80 degrees! The humidity was
stifling, just breathing was an effort. The race set off in pitch darkness
but the sky was illuminated by approximately 20 reggae torch bearers either
side of the road. These were not battery operated torches but real flames.
The course was the most straightforward course I have ever run. 3 miles
down the next to the sea, round a roundabout, 13 miles back the other
side of the road, turn around a cone, then 10 miles back! (Easy to marshal
eh Mick!) The half marathon course made their turn for home approximately
9 miles. As daylight began to shine through, the temperature soared, now
in the 90s and no shade whatsoever, not a tree…nothing, just white dusty
roads and the sea only 50 yards away, (how appealing!) Things were going
great, past the turn off for the half marathoners, even after reaching
this point where the marathon kept going straight and not being able to
see another runner in sight over a mile ahead of me!...I was ok There
were steel and reggae bands every mile to keep our spirits up. The miles
ticked by and I became hotter and hotter! Oh how I wished I had run more
miles 3 times a week and only 2 ‘long’ runs now just didn’t seem adequate
training. What made it more arduous was that we left England on the Thursday
with a temperature of -2, now here we are on the Saturday and it is still
rising 91/92! I got to the turn at 16 miles not too bad, I started to
see people now just going the way I had just ran, they looked worse than
me I thought! By 20 miles I just couldn’t seem to keep hydrated and now
here I was walking! The first time in 5 marathons! My quads were just
so tight. I walked for 30 seconds to 1 minute every mile and managed to
crawl home in 3hrs.36mins for 18th place. There were over 100 behind me
(poor souls). Pictures taken, a fresh coconut, medal then the long 20
metre walk for a nice refreshing dip in the ocean. Veronica greeted me
with a worried frown but I started to show some life pretty quickly. She
had run a superb time of 1.47 in the half off very little training in
only her 4th ever race, never racing above 10km. There was a party at
night for the runners which was great. The organisation and local support
for the race was fantastic. I urge anyone who needs a challenging race,
go and do the reggae marathon. I shall put my feet up for a rest, well
I would do but Mr. Rob text me I had won one of the club ballot entries
for the London Marathon…(b**stard! Spoiled the rest of my holiday!) (Joke!)
If I learned one thing, it’s that there is no substitute for hard training!
On
the 3rd of December, I ran my hardest race ever. After over 20 years of
running, the Reggae marathon was the toughest. The race started at 5.15
am and even then the temperature was over 80 degrees! The humidity was
stifling, just breathing was an effort. The race set off in pitch darkness
but the sky was illuminated by approximately 20 reggae torch bearers either
side of the road. These were not battery operated torches but real flames.
The course was the most straightforward course I have ever run. 3 miles
down the next to the sea, round a roundabout, 13 miles back the other
side of the road, turn around a cone, then 10 miles back! (Easy to marshal
eh Mick!) The half marathon course made their turn for home approximately
9 miles. As daylight began to shine through, the temperature soared, now
in the 90s and no shade whatsoever, not a tree…nothing, just white dusty
roads and the sea only 50 yards away, (how appealing!) Things were going
great, past the turn off for the half marathoners, even after reaching
this point where the marathon kept going straight and not being able to
see another runner in sight over a mile ahead of me!...I was ok There
were steel and reggae bands every mile to keep our spirits up. The miles
ticked by and I became hotter and hotter! Oh how I wished I had run more
miles 3 times a week and only 2 ‘long’ runs now just didn’t seem adequate
training. What made it more arduous was that we left England on the Thursday
with a temperature of -2, now here we are on the Saturday and it is still
rising 91/92! I got to the turn at 16 miles not too bad, I started to
see people now just going the way I had just ran, they looked worse than
me I thought! By 20 miles I just couldn’t seem to keep hydrated and now
here I was walking! The first time in 5 marathons! My quads were just
so tight. I walked for 30 seconds to 1 minute every mile and managed to
crawl home in 3hrs.36mins for 18th place. There were over 100 behind me
(poor souls). Pictures taken, a fresh coconut, medal then the long 20
metre walk for a nice refreshing dip in the ocean. Veronica greeted me
with a worried frown but I started to show some life pretty quickly. She
had run a superb time of 1.47 in the half off very little training in
only her 4th ever race, never racing above 10km. There was a party at
night for the runners which was great. The organisation and local support
for the race was fantastic. I urge anyone who needs a challenging race,
go and do the reggae marathon. I shall put my feet up for a rest, well
I would do but Mr. Rob text me I had won one of the club ballot entries
for the London Marathon…(b**stard! Spoiled the rest of my holiday!) (Joke!)
If I learned one thing, it’s that there is no substitute for hard training!