In short, Tim finished his first ultra with a strong 8:44 (four weeks after running a 3:16 at the Victoria marathon). So did our Australian friend, Dessie, whose 8:27 earned him 3rd in the 50-59 age group. Now these two Ironmans and marathoners can add ultrarunner to their athletic resumes.
I was stoked to finish in 7:57, good enough for first in the women's 40-49 age group and 5th woman overall. While I have no regrets about doing the race, it proved to be a very tough day.
The first lap was 17km, followed by 3 laps of 21km. I passed the finish line for the third time a little after 5 hours (I think 5:07) for 59km. The final 21km loomed large.
It wasn't that I'd run out of energy. But I was sore, more sore than I ever recall feeling with the prospect of another two hours of running ahead. I can only explain it as the type of pain you feel when you do a 50-miler after having done two marathons as fast as you can in the previous six weeks--I wouldn't recommend it, and I certainly don't plan to repeat it.
The last lap was brutal. While I'd given myself permision to DNF, I knew that I couldn't, not at this stage after already having run 3/4 of the way. I spent much of the final lap walking, taking 2 hours 50 to complete those remaining 21km.
As mentioned, I certainly don't regret doing this race, superbly organized by Ron Adams and his crew who went out of their way to create a fantastic day for the more than 1,300 runners participating in the relay and ultra. I'd highly recommend sticking this one on your race calendar in 2012.
A special thanks to the amazing Lucy Ryan for her cheers on various laps and the lovely Gottfried Grosser for his chicken soup!
Check out the ultra results here: awesome in general, and in particular by the top 2 men, Chris GT Downie in 5:52 and Darin Bentley in 5:55, and the top 2 women, Jen Segger in 6:31 and Nicola Gildersleeve in 6:37.
As mentioned, I certainly don't regret doing this race, superbly organized by Ron Adams and his crew who went out of their way to create a fantastic day for the more than 1,300 runners participating in the relay and ultra. I'd highly recommend sticking this one on your race calendar in 2012.
A special thanks to the amazing Lucy Ryan for her cheers on various laps and the lovely Gottfried Grosser for his chicken soup!
Check out the ultra results here: awesome in general, and in particular by the top 2 men, Chris GT Downie in 5:52 and Darin Bentley in 5:55, and the top 2 women, Jen Segger in 6:31 and Nicola Gildersleeve in 6:37.
1 comment:
Thanks very much James.
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