Sydney Half Marathon

I was feeling very relaxed about today's run and my plan was to just enjoy it and improve on last year’s time. I was not aiming for a PB which I set at the Gold Coast half this year. I arrived nice and early and spotted a few of the regular faces, I was really pleased to see Katie and Helen so I could wish them well. I only found Deanne when I entered the start area which was really good. We had a really good start and I was conscious not to stick with Deanne based on her goal time, as I knew it would be way too quick. Half way across the bridge I heard the familiar voice of Redback saying hello as he went past; I am beginning to think he's getting a kick out of passing me ;-). It took me a while to settle into a good pace, as I was little too quick initially and I was aware the back half of the run had a few hills. I really enjoyed the section out towards Lilyfield getting to see all the familiar faces. At the 19km point I started to feel a stitch in my lower stomach so I backed off for about 300m to recovery. It was great running down the Cahill Express Way seeing the Cheer squad in full swing and to then turn the corner to find Bec and Jackson cheering. I finished in 1:47:52 which is only 5 seconds off my PB, I was stoked.

After catching up with a few people in the recovery village Deanne, Ali and I then jogged back to meet Katie and Helen. We were lucky enough to see the winner's taking on the hill towards the end. They were pretty graceful. We stood and cheered the runners for a while and I was worried that I would be stiff and slow to run the last 5ks with Katie. I saw Blue Dog flying past and I was amazed by his strength yet again, he looked great. We then spotted Helen so Ali left, leaving Deanne and I anxiously waiting for Katie. When we saw her turn the corner we gave her a big cheer. It was a great experience running with Katie and watching her achieve her goal, we just tried to keep her cheerful and focused and I had to remind her that a marathon is 42.2km.

Overall it was another perfect day and I was lucky enough to share the experience with some many great people.