Gold Coast Half Race Report: Eleven Minute PB

Run: 21.1K in 1:56

As I stated in an earlier post, I was aiming for 1:50 today. It wasn't in me. I had nothing left in the tank today,so I am happy and proud, but not satisfied.

The trip started exceptionally well. On Saturday afternoon I was queueing for my flight when I looked across to see my cousin Herbie queueing for the same flight. So after we caught up, got our boarding passes and a bite, Herbie offered to share his comfortable motel room with me in preference to the dodgy backpacker dorm I had booked. He even offered to drop me at the start before the race!

So I had a great night with Herbie and his lovely girlfriend Anna, and got dropped at the race with a comfortable hour to spare.

I started the race with the 1:50 pacer, but I suspected the pace was too much pretty quickly. I hung with them for 8K, but at that point my HR was 180 (my max is 188) and I new if I didn't slow down I would blow up soon, so I slowed.

Still, I knew I wasn't in the shape I should be, and I'd have to tough it out. I passed 10K in 52:00, but I was slowing.

I was trying to encourage most Coolrunners I passed in the opposite direction, but even this was getting difficult by about 13K. Each marker was eagerly sought and seemed to take an eternity. Towards the end thoughts of walking were rife, and I actually vomited a little bit in the closing stages of the race.

I passed Plu with his camera with a mile to go, and then the inspirational CR cheers squad, getting a massive reception from Jen_runs. After I passed them I heard "Was that Binny? Go Binny!". I yelled back "Thanks Lorna!". The Owl had filled my heart with Kiwi cheer.

I finished without walking, and as always, forgot to stop the watch. It was about 1:56, an 11 minute PB. I knew I had nothing left, so I wasproud of the effort.

I doubled back to join the cheer squad. Loud clapping for evry Coolrunner, and any other people we knew. I spotted a former work colleague, John (well, he spotted me), but I missedmy neighbours, Craig and Juliana. I hope they went well.

But really, the biggest cheer and the highlight of the weekend was reserved for one incredibly gutsy effort by a 75 year old lady. There was a lot of "where's Norma" going around before we saw Luckylegs go past us the first time (26K into the marathon) at about 3.5 hours. The cheer was enormous.

The same phrase started going around again, and after a while a police motorcyclist came up to the cheer squad and told us that a lady in her 50s with our uniform was really struggling about a kilometre back. We knew the lady in her 50s was in her 70s, and the whole lot of us set off immediately to bring Lucky Legs home.

We caught her after about five minutes, and it was just a beautiful experience to be involved with. Lucky Legs was struggling, but she was giving it everything. She travelled with a 15 strong Coolrunning escort that was loudly chanting, cheering and basically giving whatever encouragement we could. The announcer gave Coolrunning a big plug as Norma finished just under six hours.

We all waited for her to come out of the finishing area, but as quickly as she emerged it was obvious she needed medical attention - she had really given it everything. A plan was arranged to get her back to her hotel when she was ready and we retired to the surf club.

Several hours were then spent meeting, socialising and, in my case, consuming about a cubic metre of junk food and a keg of flat white.

After a few hours Lucky Legs made a fleeting appearance at the drinks, and it was a great pleasure to finally meet this inspirational athlete. Hers was a highlight, but there were a host of inspirational performances, and it was a buzz to share the event with so many great people.

Not even the stupidity of leaving my wallet at Gold Coast airport could dim what was a truly awesome weekend. Anyway, I'll get the wallet back tomorrow.