Township Marathon
The pressure was on to qualify for the Two Oceans Marathon, this was my last chance to do a qualifier in Gauteng. To be honest I didn’t really plan my Two Oceans build up very well.
The Gift of the Givers Township Marathon (24 Feb 2012) was my first 42.2km for 2013 and it went fairly well; I qualified but realized I need to run way more before Two Oceans because it was pretty tough for me.
It was a flat, well organized, cold, hot and really fun. The start was 6:00am, but delayed a bit to help some late runners get into the parking lot. The delay also helped the local biker gang wake us up with some loud revving! It was strangely cold and overcast in the beginning of the race. Too bad this weather didn’t last.
I started pretty well with 21km of good even pace but after this halfway mark the clouds moved out and the sun came out with a vengeance. From 25km to end I really struggled with walks at every water table. I ate a race fuel chocolate bar and grabbed whatever the water points had to eat. I think a GUI next time will help. It seemed very hot because there wasn’t very many trees in Eldorado park. So remember the suntan lotion if you do this one. I thought the race was well organized, apart from a little water shortage at one of the water points towards the end. The support was good too; I got some cookies from a bystander.
The finish was interesting as we had the local bikers surrounding the entrance to the finish. A R20 oh so sweet ice-cream helped me recover enough to get to my car and head home. It took me 4:41 which is not great but I qualified! This race tested me mentally as it has been a while since I actually completed a 42km.
After the race I figured out more Vaseline on my nipples next time, more suntan lotion next time and more training for next time. My phone just lasted to the end of the race, so I have the route but no victory pose photo.