A river run through

The north island was blessed by a massive high pressure system that just stalled above it, granting blue skies that had long left our memories, frosts that were absent last year and for us in our home at least, a respite from the fear of wind and leaks. It was also perfect for a run.

But it wasn't just the weather. The last few days of running were good; after some hesitation, I chose what turned out to be the right pair of shoes to run in; my sleep before was smooth; the trip to the venue went without hitch. The only hitches were that it was rather cold, 5 degrees at best; and the Hamilton Gardens where Christy was going to wander, brunch and wait for my arrival wasn't going to open until an hour after the start of the race. 

And so I began my run across frosty grass until a beautiful blue sky along a route that had a scenic inland 14kms, which is seven kilometres to and back from the Hamilton Gardens, and then 28km along the river and back.  I knew a bit of the river section from runs - I knew that there were more slopes than you'd expect, although no "hills". But the fact is that it has more ascent than Auckland or Rotorua marathons. It was a beautiful route, though.

As we got going, I tried to lock into my target pace and get to know the people in the general pacing that I was in. The pace was the tricky thing - I felt like I was running easy but my watch indicated I was going too fast. One runner mentioned that we had gone into a low coverage area so the GPS distancing might be off. We had different paces on our watches. The one runner I knew well, who I will call Cherie, I expected to be faster than me, so intended to just keep her in sight, and during the inland phase slowly ground her way out of range. 

By the time we had looped back to the Gardens the pack had thinned so there were only pairs of runners, with solo runners in between. The river section near the city had its undulation and as it was now mid-race, the legs really started to feel it. I was aware now that I had probably gone too fast on the first part and I tried to rein it in. Worse, during this section Cherie reappeared in my sights, at first 200m away on some of the longer stretches, then 100m away, then 50m away and finally towards the turn back, I passed her. She, who I had thought of as a pace marker, had gone out too quick and had hit the wall, now 28km into it I was slowing and still passing her.

The burn in my calves felt evident around 32km and though I tried to maintain effort, my pace was dropping, later my right hip flexor started to feel creaky. And then the city section undulation hit. I did the largest bump with a very slow grind up the slope, but one slope, the second to last real slope during the 38km, my will broke as my calves screamed for relief. I walked, the first time I had stopped in this fashion in a marathon since 2018. Once I was to the top of it though I got going again and didn't stop till the finish line.

I crawled into the finishing area just after 3:34, about nine minutes slower than I had planned. If I had paced it better I still think a 3:25 time would have been possible but who knows. I was knackered, a bit speechless and a bit sore. I walked around in circles a bit before eventually having a lie on the ground. Fortunately despite a few niggly sensations on the course and a lot of fatigued muscles and tendons, there was no damage or injury.

Despite the mild disappointment, I'm happy to notch up my sixth official marathon. (My 2019 North Shore Marathon was cancelled due to weather but I still ran it.) North Shore will be my next one at the end of August.