|
|
Phar lap
Member
|
|
|
Joined: 20 Jun 2003
Posts: 1006
Location: A flawed Utopia
|
| Back to top
|
|
 Posted: 10/15/06 - 03:33 Post subject: Last Sundays Marathon, 3 Marathoners and a Plant Sale
Sunday morning dawned cool with a slight south westerly wind making conditions ideal for this years marathon. I had three runners entered this year.
Suzi a girl I coached in her school years some 5years ago, she was now making a return to running and had been training with my stable for the last 18 months.
Kevin is a keen footballer (Oz Football) and was eager to see just how far his football training would take him. Kev has a lot of family commitments and football is his priority however he did train with us at least twice a week and he ran five twenty milers with the group in the lead up to the race.
Mark is 32 and has been around club athletics for about 7 years and runs with an opposition club. Mark has a slight intellectual disability and tends to let running run him, he has 5 marathons under his belt, all around 3hr.10min. His club coach an old friend of mine asked if I could take over his training for a while , perhaps a different approach was needed to get him passed the sticking point.
I dropped them off at the starting line trying not to give them too many last minute instructions, it was too late anyway the dye was already set,
then made my way back to Ricketts Point to join my club mates with the task of operating the 21.5km aid station and helping with the start of the Half marathon.
The half had got underway and we were eagerly awaiting the arrival of our marathon runners
With the drink tables set up the clothing bags from the half packed on board the trucks and on their way, our marathoners soon made their arrival. Perhaps a little too soon, Mark was my first runner through in about 79min."TOO FAST MARK, SLOW DOWN SLOW DOWN" !!! he only half acknowledged me and I thought to myself he'll be struggling around the 32km. mark. Suzi and Kev came through in around the 97min., I thought a little slow for Suzi and possibily a little quick for Kev however they were in good humour and it was good to see them pacing each other.
By far the busiest time was the arrival of the 4 hour group. It was the largest group by a mile and they all wanted water at once! The next couple of hours were hetic, enjoyable and satisfying.
Cleaning all the cups off the road was our last duty and with that completed, I headed off for a short run down the road to Mordialloc where I was on the receiving end of a number of obligatory “you’re going the wrong way” calls from young motorists who seem to think their talents lie in the field of comedy.
It was early afternoon when I arrived back at Ricketts Point and all signs of the marathon had well and truly vanished. I had my car behind the ti- tree just near the Half Marathon start. This small area is accessible via a dirt track coming in off the road and the area also contains several private homes also hidden behind the scrub.
Climbing into my car, I notice an odd looking man looking my way from his front gate. Thinking that he was going to complain that I was parking on “his” property, I was flabbergasted when he asked if I was involved in the plant sale out on the road earlier this morning. Noticing my bemused expression, he continued.
“There was a plant sale going on out there this morning” he repeated in the most pompous of manners as he pointed directly to the area that hosted the start of the Half Marathon. “They even had signs on the road and a PA going”
How the Dickens anyone could mistake several thousand runners for a plant sale is beyond me but this bloke was quite serious.
“They can’t just set up and do things like that because this is a residential area” he stated arrogantly
Glancing at the houses nearby, I felt like congratulating him on his powers of observation but I maintained my composure. Rather than try to explain things to him, I decided that a bit of humouring was in order.
“Yes, I saw the plant sale and it was a disgrace…I think you should complain to the council” I blurted out emphatically and sarcastically, pretending to side with him. This was the tone of conversation over the next few minutes and by the time I left, I had him all revved up to the point that he was preparing for a Monday morning war with the Council, the road athourity, Federal Government, NASA, The Royal Family and the United Nations.
Plant sellers of the world, beware!!
To all runners who ran in the annual Melbourne “Plant Sale” Marathon, congratulations !!!
Oh, and the final wash up.
Mark wasn't going too fast at the half way he ran 2hrs.50min.15sec. a 9 minute improvement.
Kev's football/marathon training held him in good stead. 3hrs.37min.23sec. A good first time marathon run, however he's not too sure if he wants to saddle up again...... I'll give him time, he's got a grin from ear to ear He'll be back.
And Suzi, well she struggled from the 29km. and wound up with 3hrs 52min ??sec. Still not too bad a first up effort. She is going to have a 6 week easy running program and then we are going to concentrate on the track season and maybe have a go at the marathon next year.
|
Very nice showing for all three. Especially Mark, a 9 min. improvement! 
You must be doing something right. 
