Rotterdam 2009

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  • simoncjw wrote (see)

    I had to google image 'capri' to find out what you were talking about - they are 3/4 leggings, right? Either that or you've been given a very nice island!


    Just don't google image for Domina image. Think I'm in the Hilton near the start/finish - I say think as I can't remember and probably likely to have a last minute panic trying to find the booking confimation. 

    I seen plenty of blokes wearing 3/4 leggins. The salomon adverts make you want a pair but I don't think I'd have the nerve!

    and Heyup Sean, the crowd seems to be expanding at last. We'll soon be able to give that 2006 thread a run for their money!

  • LOL Steve, but very true - especially do not do the google image search for Domina while in the office!

    You definitely booked the Hilton - and at a very good price. Just print the part of this thread where you told us about it - and I'll vouch for you, I'm sure there won't be a problem then image

    Last things on my to do list - travel insurance and euros (and check I really can pack everything into hand luggage!). I have my confrmation letter, hotel booking and flight info with my Passport so I don't lose anything......

  • Hi Simon.

    Found the race portfoilio on Fetch. (Just added myself - I'm 'Anderson'). But have you actually been in contact with any of those 11 ? I couldn't find a Rotterdam Forum thread there......

  • Just been informed by info@fortismarathonrotterdam.nl that it's km markers only.

    So we're going to have to convert our target pace from time per mile to time per km.

    Of course, what they DON'T say is whether the km markers are actually accurate !

  • Good luck to everyone here. I ran this in 2007 and it was a great marathon. A few things I remember:

    - the last 10-12km is around a wooded area and it is a bit boring with few crowds so by that point try and run with someone else or in a group to keep you all going.
    - markers are good and the aid stations are easy to see
    - it's as flat as a pancake so PB's all round!
    - the expo is a litle small
    - enjoy the mixed showers at the end.....
  • thanks for the insider tips Bedders!

    Not sure I'll be in any condition to notice the surroundings for the last 10-12 km, but thanks for the advice, actually a wooded run sounds quite nice at that stage!

    Let's hope everyone practices their mental arithmetic... and no-one needs the aid stations!

  • Hi, Bedders !

    How did you get on in 2007 ? Those of us who did London that year were stuffed by the second hottest London on record - and those who had done Paris the previous week had it even worse : 28 degrees C !!!image. What was it like in Rotterdam ?

    Can you remember :

    - How constricted/ congested was it at the start - and did you have to fight your way through hordes of slower runners who had put down a faster bay than appropriate ?

    - km markers every km ? or just every 5km ?

    ..... and what does it mean when you appear on this forum as a 'pirate' ?

    Sean.

  • maw - I remember it well. It was 31 degrees in 2007 and uniquely it was stopped as a race after the third lady finished due to the heat and that Rotterdam city council had ran out of ambulances (true). I think it was a Dutch championship race so they had to have a first, second and third. I had reached the cut off point which was 10km to go so was allowed to finish. People were coming out of their houses with hoses and watering us down. It was so hot spectators were collapsing! I blogged it here so if you fancy reading all about it please do so - go to April 16th to get the whole story........

    Rotterdam has a lovely wide start so there is no congestion a la FLM. I am sure there are KM markers every 1km.

    Pirates? Well, I have move from marthoning for this year to training for an Ironman Tri in July in Zurich. Pirates is an unorganised, RW forum based group of likeminded individuals (all slightly mad I think) frankly who see no reason why they can't do an Ironman. If you go to the non running thread you will see more explained. Here is the "official" web site link.

    Feel free to join!

    Good luck in Rotterdam!

       

      

  • Yay I have a cold! So had a few beers in lieu of last nights tempo session. But will try getting it in this afternoon, plenty of tissues will be needed. Better now than in a couple of weeks time though.

     Thanks for the info Bedders. I didn't belive my mate when he first told me about the heat in 2007. Good news on the wide start as well image 

     Hope everybody else is well and on target.

  • great blog Bedders, let's hope there is nothing to match that this year! I would really rather have an unseasonal snow-fall than have to deal with heat.

    Good luck with the recovery Steve, hope the beers improved the cold!

  • Eeek Bedders, thanks for that!

    Hope you're feeling better Steve! Hot toddies, that's what you want!

    Last interval session done and it was okay - today was "only" 12 miles and it was a lovely day for it, if a bit windy again. Now just tempo and easy runs of up to 8 miles to do........and time to really believe in that schedule!

    Hope everyone's okay and starting to look forward to the day with no worries.

  • I think the cold is clearing, still full of snot though. Sorry, no other way to put that image Hot toddies, beer & wine. I'm trying all the remedies image

    Last long run today, 20 miler at easy pace and quicker than planned. Just very snotty! So all looks well at the mo. Taper time now, nothing longer than 5 milers during the week and only 8 miler at the weekend.

    The only worries now should come after I've packed my bag and start to panic about forgetting something!

  • HELP!!!!

    Hi there, doing Rotterdam marathon (i think!!!!!) in 2 weeks (yikes).

    Entered in Dec, got e mail to say I have entered, my name appears to be on the list opof entries, but I haven't had any official confirmation sionce. I ahve e mailed about 5x , with no reply.

    I can omnly assume if I pitch up with a print of my Dec e mail, I'll be OK, but getting a little anxious.

    Anyone got an comments to help here, ie " don't worry, the Dec e mail will do " etc... .

    Or, anyone got a reliable tel number (any tel number), web page only has  afax number.

    GC

  • Well, that's all I've had. Nothing in writing was coming out this year, just email confimation I believe.

    Did you get the email with the link to the magazine in pdf format?

  • Hi Grant, did you get this email dated 23/01 (we all seemed to get it on the same day anyway):

    Dear participant,

    The 29th Fortis Marathon Rotterdam is coming closer. You are a participant, and will therefore experience the unique ambiance along the course and especially at the Coolsingel on 5 April 2009.

    Hereby you receive your confirmation of entry. Be sure to print this confirmation of entry and keep it safe and don’t forget to bring it to the Marathon SportExpo! Your confirmation of entry is strictly personal and not transmittable. You can only get your bib number and your ChampionChip, if rented, at the race secretariat. Click here to access the 'Looking ahead to...'-Magazine for more information on opening hours of the race secretariat and everything else you need to know.

    This year, for the first time you only receive your confirmation of entry by e-mail. If you have any questions, please contact us by mail: info@fortismarathonrotterdam.nl.

    For the latest information check our website regularly: www.fortismarathonrotterdam.co.uk.

    We wish you a good preparation and a successful day.

    Kind regards,

    The organization of the
    Fortis Marathon Rotterdam

     

    The confirmation of your number that you need pick up your bib and everything was attached to this along with the magazine.

    If your name is found when you do the search on the site, you must be registered....but the only contact I can see is the email and fax. Not sure that's too helpful, but try to stay calm - I'd email again, or even send a fax of my email just for belt and buckle effect!

  • Steve/Rebekah

    thanks for repsonse.

    Steve, the confirmation e mail on 23rd Jan is what I'm missing. All I can hope for is that I have a copy of my original "acceptance" when I entered in December , I've printed out the part on the websiter that has me as "entered", and I've just phoned the bank who confirma that may payment was made and accepted. I am sure that I can reason with officialdom that I don't need the actual confirmation itself (after all, I could have changed my e amil address etc...), I am just worried that I am someone "not entered", and there is no number waiting for me!!!!

    Anyhow, fax number conatantly engaged today, and my 5 panis e mails in the last week have received no response.

    What a lot of nonsense.

    Oh, good luck with the race,

    I hear its a good one.

    I'm flying into Amsterdam from LHR on the Friday.

    Will run the damn thing anyway, with, or without official number.

    GC.

  • Hi Grant -

    sounds like you will be ok. At the Amsterdam marathon you just had to give your name to get your bib, I don't remember them bothering with the bit of paper, they had the participants arranged in alphabetical order and were processing them at a rapid rate with no bureaucracy. If your name is on the list, then there should be no problem. Especially since you have an Anglophone name - might have been different if you were Jan De Vries or somesuch - probably 10 of them registered!

    By the way, is the stress of registration stopping you worrying about the race, or distracting you from your focus?!  could go either way, the rest of us just seem to be worrying about getting through the 26 miles!

  • Blimey,

    forgot about that bit.

    Better start training soon

    g

  • no worries, still 12 days to go, lots of time, you just need to compress the schedule slightly.

    Only problem is I don't think you can start to taper until around 1059 on 5 April.image

  • Oooh Ooooohhhhhh oooohhhhh! I've just found the map of the expo and the (rather short) list of those present.......if anyone is interested, go to the Dutch site - Select Deelnemers -> Marathon SportExpo, scroll to:

    Plattegrond
    Klik hier voor een plattegrond van de Marathon SportExpo en een lijst van de standhouders.

    and select the link (hier). Sportweddingshop sounds a bit Las Vegas......I'm going to have to google some of the names!

  • Found a phone number, I'm in....bugger.....I mean.....GREAT!!!!!

    Had a corteson injection in my knee today, just for the hell of it, so only need worry now is my achhilles, and lack of bleeding training!!!!!

    Anyhow, I love this marathon madness bit, all the hard work done. Will do 6 miles tomorrow, a lap of Richmond Park ( 7 miles), and thats it. Everyone says uyou should do a few little runs in the run up to a marathon, and "everyone" will be right, but I just feel rest is good.

    Apologises for asking qu's which probably appeared in earlier pages, but anyone know of a cracking pub to celebrate afterwards????

    Reb, after London, expos are usually so small in comparison. I have done Hamburg and Paris, and always surprised as how small they are compared to London.

    Love the way I'm bluffing experience. Got to convince yourself that you're good haven't you.

    Anyhow, happy tapering.

    Hope no-one minds me gatecrshing your gang late on.

    Cheers, GC.

  • gatecrash away Grant - I don't think we have enough in our party to justify employing bouncers at the door!!

    If you've done FLM, Hamburg and Paris, then that's at least 3 more than RebekahJane & me put together!

  • Well now I can really bluff experience.

    All I can say, is that I have yet to run (this will be my 7th) a marathon that everything has clicked, either not fit, or carrying an injury, and twice being ill on the day. If all goes to plan, you will be very lucky.

     The key thing if this is your first, is to love the experience sufficiently well to want to do it all over again, and I guess that means not being too ambitious at the start. The last few miles WILL be tough physically, but mentality wonderful. The best advice I can give is to have enough energy to enjoy and run the last mile. If you have enjoyed it, you'll do it all over agin, and then crave for a time.

    Run the risk of patronising. If so, sorry..but motivations are sound.

    Anyhow, now I've gatecrashed the party, I think we should now emloy a bring a bottle policy. Keep the riff raff out and all that.

    GC.

  • I think we need to state that the bottle must be full, or you'll get clever clogs arriving having already drunk the suntan lotion.......

    All are welcome in the big panic, er I mean taper. Am I alone in feeling slightly more lightheaded with each passing day. I'm starting to obsess about pacing - what is too fast, what is too slow - if I am comfortable am I really comfortable or am I just laying up trouble for later!?!?!  I've learnt to pace myself quite well in races up to half marathon, but this is a whole different ball game. <mutter on>I believe in the schedule<mutter off>

    Injections are bad enough (slight phobia over here), but in the knee image. Hope everything is holding up for you and everyone else!

  • Oooooo, you can smell the nerves!! image

    Still can't shake this flipping cold, overdosing on everything at the mo. That along with nervously poking/icing/strapping anything that starts to display the slightest of twinges!

    Injections for the hell of it. Now that's dedication... Bring a bottle policy.. how about several image

    Everyone get the email yesterday? Tis getting exciting!
  • thanks for the tip about the email Steve - I found it in my inbox eventually. Sender's address is the unhelpful 'info' which had led me to consign it to spam!

    Yes, I'm getting nervous too! Pretty sure that I can make the distance in a reasonable time, but like RebekahJane I'm starting to obsess about pacing... the better I feel, the more worried I am that I'll set off like superman for the first few kms and pay the price later. Think I'm going to deliberately set off 15-20 seconds per km slower than my 'target' pace, and see how I feel after 8-10 km or so. Really don't want to mess up by starting too fast, would rather have a target to chase in the second half if  I feel up to it.

  • Pays to be sensible! I, on the other hand am likely to be far from! Well not too far from.... Rotterdam is all about achieving a goal for me. So I'll set off with that in mind and see how it goes. I'll be gutted if I just miss out on my goal by being a bit conservative early on, so fingers crossed. If it all goes wrong you should all shout at me afterwards!
  • Sorry Steve, didn't think the nerves were smelling that strongly imageimage

    That's it exactly Simon, I feel that training went well and I'm horribly confident - and the road will be flat and it can't possibly be as windy and what with the atmosphere and the keeness to get it all over with! I'm determined to keep it slow for the first few miles just to be on the safe side. If I can remember that on the day anyway..... Just as well I'm only trying to get round, eh image

  • don't want to be overconfident. but I reckon that the atmosphere should make me about 30 seconds per km quicker, the flat roads another 30 seconds, the adrenaline around 60 seconds, and my lucky socks another 60 seconds per km. Plus if I cut my fingernails that should gain me 30 seconds per km (weight plus less wind-drag).... so I reckon that I should be on for around 1 hours 30 mins or so image
  • That's your place booked in 2012 then Simon image Are you still planning on driving in and out on the day?

    This time next week I'll be making sure everything is ready to pick up on the way out the door early Friday morning to catch the plane to go to the expo to pick up the number to run the marathon that Rotterdam hosts.....imageimageimage

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