Last Sunday I took part in the Great Southern Runs McLaren Vale Marathon. I had previously participated in 2019 and found it to be a great event, but the course was totally different this year, so I didn’t really know what to expect! I had been told it was flatter than last time – my main memory of last time was that there were more hills than would seem necessary (plus the obligatory post-run wine of course!). Once again I was doing the half marathon (there was also a marathon on the same day, with the 5k and 10k having been run the day before). I was hoping to keep the momentum going from Clare and hopefully getting under 1:40 again!
I tried to replicate as much as possible, my preparation for Clare, which had gone so well! I did all my usual training up until Thursday (although Tuesday was not a normal Tuesday, being ANZAC Day so there was a lot more drinking than a normal Tuesday!). As I had done before Clare, Friday and Saturday were rest days, with no gym or even parkrun! Because I would have withdrawals if I missed parkrun altogether, I volunteered at Pakapakanthi parkrun on a very wet morning where there was a big event put on by the main sponsors Medibank, and the Sunrise TV crew were there – my fancy leggings made an appearance in the background! Watching the runners come in I wasn’t sure if I’d rather be running or standing around in the rain – it was VERY muddy out there but I think running would have been preferable and possibly even a bit fun!
Due to bad planning I had to pass up an opportunity for a pub crawl with a group of fellow runners (the last time they did said pub crawl I had COVID – I WILL get to one, one of these days!) and also I had a dinner with work people who enjoy a drink and hitting the D-floor but I had to be disciplined and just have a few drinks, my traditional pre-race pizza and an early exit!
It was an early start on Sunday, with the half marathon starting at 7:30. I was aiming to get there at 7, and Google told me it would be a 45 minute drive so I planned to leave by 6:15am, but as I was ready early I ended up leaving just after 6. Good thing I did because with the traffic heading into the carpark at Richard Hamilton Wines, it took nearly an hour!
With many runners delayed by the parking situation the race director announced that the start would be pushed back to 7:40 which gave me more time for a second portaloo stop (the queue for the portaloos was actually not too terrible for once at a race!)
As always at a running event there were a lot of familiar faces, and with so many people there, there were a bunch of people I knew that I later found out were there and I never saw! Among the crowd were my running buddies Sarah, and Paul (who almost certainly was the one who convinced me to enter this event). Hopefully this would be the first event where all 3 of us were happy with our runs!
It was raining while we were waiting for the start. Not ideal. It was forecast but we were hoping it might hold off until after the race was over! It had been a while since I’d run in the rain and I don’t recall it raining in any of my previous 30 half marathons! I was glad to have worn my favourite running outfit which is a fitted purple top and short tights – so it wouldn’t get so heavy and flappy if it was rainy (or indeed windy!). Other than at Victor Harbor, I had always run well in this kit! I also cracked out my marathon socks which I haven’t worn in a while because I’m trying to save them for special occasions to make them last as long as possible!
There were 550 finishers in the half (more than 550 starters!) so the start line was pretty congested, I probably would have preferred to be a bit closer to the front than I was, but after a similar experience at Clare I figured it wasn’t the end of the world! As usual it was a chip start so my time wouldn’t start until I crossed the start line. As I was not a contender for a podium position there was no need for me to be at the front!
Among the 550 was a regular participant at my home (Lochiel) parkrun, Emily, who was attempting to set a world record for the fastest half marathon in a non-sport wheelchair. If you know Lochiel parkrun, it’s not flat, so I’m sure that was great training for her!
I didn’t really have a pacing plan, because I didn’t really know what the course was like. Clare was easy to plan for as it’s out and back, net up on the way out and net down on the way back. So it’s a perfect course for a negative split, and an obvious halfway point. With the vague hope of getting 1:40 (which I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to do in the wet) I kept it simple, trying to sit on around 4:44-4:45 pace from the start, and hopefully be able to sustain it!
The first few kilometres were slightly up (only just slightly) and after a slow stop-starty first few hundred metres trying to find my place, I managed to run a 4:37 first kilometre which was exactly what I wanted. The next few kilometres were slightly faster, and then I had a change of tactic. I changed the screen on my watch to the one with lap pace and heart rate. I wanted to try to keep my heart rate from going too high too early. I only rely on wrist-based heart rate which I know is not the most accurate, but it gives a bit of an indication of how hard I’m working. Also, by using that screen, I could not see my elapsed time so I wouldn’t know if I was on track for a sub 1:40 or not – which I figured was a good thing, because if I wasn’t, it might ruin my day! And if I was, well it would be a nice surprise at the end!
I did take a sneaky look at my watch at the 10km mark – my 10k split was 46:16 – definitely the first time I’ve run my age for 10k! I did a quick mental calculation and figured if I could keep something close to that pace for the second half (and bear in mind I had NO idea what the second half was going to be like!) I should be able to crack 1:40!
There were a couple of U-turns in the course where we saw the other half marathon runners. We also got to see a lot of the marathon runners, and the tail cyclist who I reckon had the hardest job – I definitely would have fallen off the bike! I decided to set a couple of goals, to finish before the first marathoner, and to keep all my splits under 5 minutes. (In hindsight, finishing before the first marathoner wasn’t much of a challenge, he finished just over 2 hours after the half marathon start.)
I wasn’t sure whether I liked the signs on the side of the road or not. Instead of the kilometre markers indicating how far we had come, they instead told us how far we had to go. I didn’t think seeing “41km to go” in a marathon would be very motivating! However it would make it easier to calculate required pace if you were going for a particular time!
One of the most frustrating things about recent events I’ve run is, the better my running is getting, the worse my photos seem to be! Maybe because I’m concentrating so hard on running well that I totally forget there are cameras there? I got a semi-decent one at Clare but this time around, the photos were included in our race entry (a great inclusion) and it was Marathon Photos doing the photography which meant there were likely to be quite a lot of photos! Good chance of getting at least one good one! The overcast conditions naturally made for good photos!
With 6km to go I saw my kilometre split and it looked like I was on track for a sub-1:40, if I could run the last 6km under 30 minutes which on paper should be doable (again, depending on how much elevation was in the last 6km). At that point all my splits were under 5 minutes, and although you’d expect to slow a little in the last 5km, I was pretty confident I would not slow down THAT much!
And as much as I said I wasn’t going to be ‘that’ person who says ‘only a parkrun to go’ when we reached the 5km to go marker (aptly right near the Shiraz Trail parkrun course!), I WAS that person. (They should be grateful I didn’t sing ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ at the halfway mark or ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’ every time we turned around!)
Annoyingly I did have one split of 5:00 exactly, I was watching the pace and it was initially much slower than that and I think it was all uphill. It was the second steepest kilometre in the course, the steepest being kilometre 4 where I just managed to sneak in under 5 minutes and I was also a whole lot fresher! But it seems like a silly thing to be annoyed about!
After that little discrepancy, the rest of the course was mostly slightly downhill so I was able to pick up the pace a bit. I still didn’t look at my overall time! I wasn’t really watching my HR anymore, as you can see from the above screenshot it had climbed into the 190s but I would expect it to get higher closer to the end when it becomes harder work. And it was almost over! I definitely would have had to make some changes if I was hitting 190 in the early stages!
We turned left off the main road and back into the winery, the finish line was in sight! I tried to remember to do something for the finish line photographer but I think I went too early and by the time I got to the actual finish line I had totally forgotten about the photographer!
I crossed the line, stopped my watch, grabbed a cup of water and an apple and went for a little walk to catch my breath. While walking I saved my run and waited for the time to come up. 1:37:23! Definitely a sub 1:40! And 2 minutes quicker than Clare which was a surprise! As I didn’t have a PB on the radar, I thought it MIGHT have been a PB but I wasn’t sure. I can never remember if it was 1:36:50-something or 1:37:50-something – it was nearly 8 years ago!
(It wasn’t till I got back to my bag and got my phone out that I checked and found out that it WAS a new PB! So unexpected! So happy!)
I knew that I’d beaten my Clare time by about 2 minutes, and that Paul had been about a minute ahead of me at Clare (an all-time PB), and he was ahead of me here so I knew he must have also done a PB here! Every time I get faster he just steps it up a notch too so I never quite seem to be able to catch him! I like to think we have a friendly rivalry and I also like to think that one day in the not-too-distant future I will catch him just before the finish line (and because he runs with headphones in, he will never hear me coming!) One day!
At the finish line, along with a bunch of food outlets and shops (umm including an all vegan food truck where I had a delicious cookie – just what I needed!), there was a medal engraver which I thought was an awesome idea and should be at more events! It was only $5 to get your name and time engraved and for an extra $2 you could get an extra message on there. So I decided it was only appropriate to get “New PB!” engraved at the bottom!
(While waiting to get my medal engraved I was just behind Emily in the queue, she had indeed broken the non-sport wheelchair world record! Well done Emily!)
Given that the conditions were not ideal and it was one of the hilliest of my 31 half marathons, theoretically I should be able to improve on that time, however looking at that pace I just can’t see that I could run any faster! (Then again, I thought that after Clare and somehow managed to take 2 minutes off that time, so I guess anything is possible!)
From the finish line, I went to Paxton Wines to rehydrate appropriately with Paul, Sarah and her husband Dave (come on, it’s McLaren Vale, it would be rude not to!). With 2 seating options, Sarah sensibly opted for the high table with bar stools rather than the low chairs – might have been a struggle getting out of those!
I’d like to say a massive thank you to Matt and the team at Great Southern Runs for putting on one of the most enjoyable events I’ve done in recent memory (even though he said it was flatter and I’m pretty sure that was a lie along with the alleged elevation at Myponga). And also to the many volunteers who really added to the awesomeness of the event (I tried to thank as many of them as possible as I ran past!). I would highly recommend this event and I definitely think the new course is an improvement on the old one!
Next event is Barossa (Clare, then McLaren Vale, then Barossa – I’m sensing a theme here!) and the road to the Adelaide Marathon begins!