1991 Gold Coast Marathon

From Hervey Bay, Tony Roberts, Richard Merrick and I competed, and from Maryborough, Alison Coleman, Joan Darlington and Bruce and Frances Bate. Ken Mewha and my Partner, Roz, ran the Half Marathon.

Robert De Castella fired the starting pistol at 6.49am. The weather was the warmest I'd experienced at any of the Gold Coast Marathons, it was about 15 degrees. I lined up about fifteen metres from the front of the line up. It was the cleanest of all the Marathons I'd competed in so far. Everyone seemed to get away without incident. A slight down hill for 300 metres then a medium climb before the course flattened out. Benny Pike was again the MC and I could hear him in the background as we ran North.

One kilometre had passed, everything is well and I put it down in 4 minutes 2 seconds. Already a wheelie was returning to the start, a problem with his chair. He'd probably trained all year for this event and has had a disastrous start. Alison Coleman was just up ahead of me, but I soon passed her. I thought about moving over to her to say hello and perhaps run with her, but I had a bit of a plan this year, so I decided against that. I was glad I did not run with her as he end result will show.

You will always have one mug in the group. This idiot was Tony the Pom. He was having lots of pleasure saying "Hi" to all and sundry and telling them that he had the flu bad. In between his utterings he was coughing up heaps of phlegm. He said he only decided at 6.30am to run the Marathon. He asked some runners what time they were aiming for. Some were going for 3 hours, others 2 hours 55 minutes. Tony the Pom wanted to run 3 hours, so he settled in with that group. I'm not sure that the group were all that pleased. He talked non stop. He wasn't a slim guy by any means. I noticed one runner move away from him, he obviously could not handle Tony the Pom's rambling on and spitting. I made sure I kept out of his way also and checked the breeze to see which way it was blowing to keep out of his draft and avoid his germs.

I've been passed by women before but this one really stunned me. This absolute skinny, mid 40's lady steamed past me at about 2.5 kilometres. She seemed to be gliding along doing it so easily. Her arm action was unusual however. One arm was straight up and down, the other swung out and back sideways across her body. I never saw her again, she sure could run.

We turned left up over a bridge and down to the first drink station at 5.3 kilometres. I grabbed a cup of water but only had a few sips. For some reason, a stitch kept plaguing me from here through to 20 kilometres. I kept pressing on the stitch area with my thumb and it worked to relieve it temporarily.

My pace was a little quicker than last year. During the lead up week to the Marathon, I didn't feel too great. But after thinking about it all, I think this feeling is part of the "Depletion and carbo loading" package and process. For during the first several kilometres, I felt easy with my pace, which, at the 5 kilometre mark, was 4 minutes 3 seconds per kilometre. The route was quite scenic so far and the half marathon runners were passing me going the other way. They were at the 9 kilometre mark. My time at 10 kilometres was 40 minutes 50 seconds and on target.

The sun was up and the temperature was rising quickly. The run up the hill to the start point again was quite stimulating. The crowd were lining both sides of the road and clapping and cheering everyone. I noticed Tony's wife, Glenda, and she offered encouragement as usual. We headed up over the Southport bridge and Ken Mewha and I saluted each other as we ran off in opposite directions. Turning left over the bridge and there is another water stop. I was still following Tony the Pom and his group. The spectators were everywhere and it was a pretty amazing feeling to be running. I turned right into Main Beach area and the long haul down to Burleigh was just beginning.

I was looking forward to 15 kilometres as this was my first of three "special" drink stops. I had prepared red sauce bottles with a product called "Exceed". This was a high energy level drink and also helped to replace lost electrolytes. I scanned the tables looking for my sauce bottle. You guessed it, mine was one of hundreds of red sauce bottles. I was about to give up looking for mine and go for plain old water when I spotted my bottle. That special drink was really crucial for my energy levels. I carried this bottle right up to Cavill Ave, Surfers Paradise.

The smell of food cooking at McDonalds was yuk to me at this point in the run. It was the last thing I wanted to smell. But I had to put up with it and also several other spots where residents and shops were cooking food and the odour wofted in front of us.

An incident at the Cavill Ave intersection nearly caused a bad situation. I was running on the left side of the road alongside the kerb. A Japanese spectator just in front of me was holding this enormous flag with Japanese writing on it. When I was only a few metres from him, he bent down to put something on the pavement and in doing so, the flag he was carrying, came down also so that it was only inches from the ground. I yelled to this idiot as did other spectators, and he suddenly realised what he had done. He lifted the flag up but by this time, I had to veer to my right to avoid the damn flag.

The stitch was still with me and I was still pressing on it from time to time. I heard one woman say, "He's got a stitch, that guy." I was fast approaching a rather plump fellow and once I got next to him, he looked over and tried to go with me. However, he only lasted ten or so metres before he dropped off.

My right hip was sore now, that's all I needed at this relatively early stage of my journey. The pain did go some kilometres down the road, but then I had pain running down the back of my leg, possibly Sciatica. It too, went in time and apart from fatigue, nothing else really bothered me. I ran past the accommodation units we were staying at -"The Biarritz". The take away shop 200 metres on, sent out a very strong onion smell -Yuk!! Normally I love the smell of onions cooking, but not today when I want to breathe in plain fresh odourless air. Only a couple of kilometres further on, I passed the start/finish line of last year. Today, this is the 20 kilometre mark and my time thus far is 1 hour 21 minutes 50 seconds. I was very happy with this time. My 21.1 kilometre time was 1 hour 26 minutes 10 seconds which was 1 minute 17 seconds quicker than last year. I could not afford to be more than 7 minutes 39 seconds slower for the second 21.1 kilometres if I wanted to better 3 hours for the Marathon.

As I ran down the Old Burleigh Road with the road much narrower now, lots of spectators lined the footpaths. The first of the Marathoners would soon be sighted heading back to the finish line. The Corner Store at Nobby's provided loud music and with hundreds of spectators there as well, it really gave me a buzz. As I turned right on to the road that led on to the Gold Coast Highway, Paul Ashford was heading back the other way and appeared to be running very well. The hill on the Gold Coast Highway was not on the itinerary this year. Instead, one lane of the highway was blocked off for the runners. On to the Esplanade road and the turn around point at Burleigh was only a few kilometres away. A special drink at 25 kilometres was most gratifying and I carried it for some time before finally drinking it all and tossing it on to the side of the road. My Uncles and Aunties, Fred and Mary, and Paddy and Esme, were on the roadside looking out for me. Mary was so excited on seeing me, she put her camera down and lunged out at me. God, what was she doing to me? She wanted to kiss and hug me but it was probably not the right circumstances in which to do this today. So it was a quick hello only and off I went again. I hoped she realised I couldn't stop for a casual chat just now.

I turned around the 44 gallon drum and began the 16 kilometre run back to the finish line. Bruce Bate was about 700 metres behind me. I thought he would catch me before the end. I never saw Alison again. I didn't see Joan Darlington at all during the run. At the 25.3 kilometre drink stop I saw Tony having a drink and he didn't look all that terrific. We acknowledged each other and I continued North as he headed South. I was starting to feel the strain myself now. There was only one way home and the sooner I got there the sooner I would be put out of my misery.

I was grabbing sponges at every sponge station and drinks at every drink station. I pushed my way back along the narrow section of Old Burleigh Road. I had 12 kilometres to go and 56 minutes to run it in. I was feeling quietly confident of breaking the 3 hour mark. At 32 kilometres I grabbed 3 sponges and wet my head and face. There was now 10 kilometres to go and 47 minutes in which to finish it. I ran past "The Biarritz" again and couldn't wait to at least get into Surfers Paradise. The crowd hadn't dropped off any and they were still urging the runners on. Where was that Japanese lunatic? If the same situation occurred again, I wouldn't be able to dodge him as easy this time as I wasn't as light on my feet. I could feel my leg speed dropping off, would I get there in time to break 3 hours? I was really wanting my next special drink now. When that time came, at the 35.4 kilometre mark, I grabbed my sauce bottle of Exceed and walked 50 metres ensuring I had a good few mouthfuls of it. I then kept running with it and eventually disposed of it when it was empty, which was at about the 40 kilometres mark.

I attempted to run in the middle of the road as much as possible, but when I am very tired, I have a tendency to veer to the left of the roadway. I had 38 minutes to do 8 kilometres. The return path at Main Beach deviated left instead of following the Esplanade road. It was not long before I could see the finish area and all the tents across the river. There was now 2 kilometres to go and 9 minutes to do it in. I didn't think I could do it. Nothing like being positive! I made a concerted effort to increase my speed and I believe I did go a little faster. Boy, was I looking forward to seeing the crowd and that finish line.

I rounded the last corner on to the Gold Coast Highway and started the run up over the Southport Bridge for the last time. I tried to pick up my speed again. Ken Mewha had run up to meet me and ran with me for half a kilometre or so. I recall he said to me, " Don't talk, I'll do all the talking." I managed a quiet grunt and said, "That suits me." He kept saying to me -"keep your stride, you've got it in the bag, you don't have to do any more now, you've done all the hard work." Ken thought I was well under 3 hours, I knew otherwise but didn't have the energy to say anything. My speed was very good, I was experiencing a burst of energy now and I'm sure I was actually getting quicker the closer I got to the finish line. Funny as it may seem, I certainly felt better in the stomach than 10 kilometres ago. I was pretty amazed that Bruce and Alison had not passed me. The sun was blaring down but was not worrying me greatly. Perhaps if it was 5 degrees cooler, my time would have been quicker by a few minutes.