Canberra Marathon 2006 - my report

Absolutely sensational day and I really loved it out there. I came in with a 3.16.30, which is a couple of minutes outside of my debut PB three years ago but I couldn't be happier (today is only my second Marathon).

I had had a disrupted preparation with injuries over Christimas. Things started to come together a few weeks ago and today at the start I felt mentally and physically great. The cold start helped too, as did, as always, the wonderful volunteers and supporters. For a middle of the pack runner your cheers meant so much to me.

I continued to feel great throughout the run and had to continually hold myself back. I was aiming for 4.45 km splits for a 3.20 finish but found I kept running about 4.35-4.40 splits. The carbo loading worked a treat and I didn't deplete until I hit the 38km mark. The last 10k was the fastest part of the run for me and I still couldn't believe how great I felt and how quickly the kms passed by. If only I could repeat this feeling all the time. The best thing for me personally was to run an age group (45) qualifying time for the Boston Marathon, which I hope to run next year. I had clearly learnt the lessons from the mistakes I made in my one and only previous marathon in 2003. Yet I have still got so much to learn about this marathon stuff.

Congratulations to so many others who were there today. I loved catching up with everyone, from those in my ACT Vets club, my Saturday running group, to those from Sydney, and those from the Brisbane contingent that I met. You are all very special to me. The fraternity of runners is a wonderful thing!