Gold Coast Half - 81:23

Gold Coast Half 81:23 (98th/6848)

* Photo taken at 20k by Mike R - "B" Pacer Brendan Whelan is gaining on me and I'm hurting!

I stood on the starting line in the pre-dawn darkness, remarkably calm and cracked a wry smile as I thought to myself "Too late to do anything more to prepare - this is it!"

Earlier, I had correctly decided not to risk catching a shuttle bus from Surfers to the race precinct and got a lift in with MJ. Hit the PCRG tent to fire up the team and do an easy 2k warm up run heading north along the Marine Pde finishing stretch. Left it till very late to head to the starting line as I didn't have and old jumper with me to sacrifice to the t-shirt Gods and didn't want to get cold at the starting line. Got there just in time and jumped over the barriers to line up five metres from the front of the line.

I have not been altogether happy with my training in the past two months with much of my best speedwork done at 3:14-3:17 pace compared with 3:11-3:14 pace before the Brisbane Half. A virus a month ago that lead to a poor performance in the Doomben 10,000 and a month of training on weakened legs didn't help my confidence either. Whilst I wasn't feeling very fast, I drew quite confidence from the fact that I hadn't shirked the task over the past two months and had trained tough over this period. The plan was to run with the 80 minute pack and be in a position to work home ahead of them the last 3-4k. Conditions were a cool 17 degrees with just the lightest sprinkle of rain falling for a few minutes.

I made a smooth getaway watching the rabbits bolt ahead of me as I nailed the required pace from the word go with a 3:44. The pacer was going a tad too fast and I let him take the group about 30 metres ahead of me as I settled into a comfortable rhythm. PCRG team mate David J soon joined me and we worked together to to join the pack just after we reached 5k in 18:56. Matt L was already with the pack and we were soon joined by Jason H. I was feeling great for the next few k's and was tempted to go with David and Jason when they worked ahead of the pack at about 7-8k's but stuck to my plan. I missed the 10k split as I continued to run steadily, albeit starting to feel a little strain.

As a headwind began to occasionally poke through the beach side residences to make the task at hand even tougher, I kept repeating my mantra for the race told to me by Glenda a month ago "The pain of hard work or the pain of regret - you choose." I also thought about the much anticipated PCRG Cocktail party in two weeks time - was I going to walk in with my head held high or slink through the back door in shame? Gees - the things a runners mind turns to during a race!!

A pack of about 10 sub 80 hopefuls were still with the pacer at 12k when the headwind became considerably stronger and most of my splits were in the 3:49-3:52 range. Subsequently, the pack thinned out a little and it was just me running at the head of the pack with the pace. Reaching the exposed section of the course, I was greeted by a blast of wind that noticeably reduced my pace. Sneaking a glance over my shoulder, I saw that the pack had been blown to bits and I was a good 20m clear but struggling to keep up with the pace who was steadily getting away from me. When a split of 4:00 followed by a 3:59 showed up on my Timex, I accepted the sub 80 wasn't going to happen and set myself to reel in as many stragglers as I could whilst not having anyone overtake me. The last few k's could not come quick enough as I ploughed through the wind in the vicinity of 4:00 pace picking up a few stragglers. Upped the pace in the finishing straight lined by cheering crowds and got home with B Pacer, Brendan Whelan going past - the only person to get past me in the second half of the race.

Given my poor prep and the wind which I later found out hit 46km/ph whilst the point end of the half marathon field was exposed, I'm very happy with the run. It was only after the race that I found out that the sub 80 pack was 45 seconds off the pace after 15k and coming home at around 4:00's into the wind added approximately an extra 50 seconds to my time. Of more relevance is the fact that I beat the runners who I should have and thrashed my season nemesis Jimmy Bayliss who finished two seconds in front of me in the Brisbane Half. My only regret is not pushing ahead of the sub 80 pack with David J at 7-8k's after we had worked well together. Possibly, I could have finished with David in the 80:15 he clocked.

Pulled up reasonably well and spent the next few hours taking in the inspiration of the finishers. Pete H - an awesome 2:56 marathon just weeks after turning 50 - I was at the end of the finishing straight courtesy of my R4YL Media Pass and it was inspirational to see Pete charging through the finish line. An awesome performance from my Wednesday training partner Beth debuting with a 2:49. A gutsy 2:58 from Glenda who was carted straight into the medical tent for an IV drip. A sensational 3:06 from Mike Hansen. I also saw great finishes from Dave P, Ange and Scotty W.

SPLITS
1-5 - 3:44, 3:43, 3:48, 3:50, 3:47 - 18:56
6-10 - 3:50, 3:49, 3:49, 3:49, 3:52 - 19:14 - 10k 38:08
11-15 - 3:52, 3:52, 3:49, 3:48, 3:49 - 19:10 - 15k 57:18
16-20 - 3:51, 4:00, 3:59, 3:59, 4:02 - 19:53 - 20k 77:11
21 - 3:49