Sub 3h15

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  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2018
    Well done, Southwark runner. I can empathise with your position as when the blue merged with green it seemed like I was mixing with about 3 15 pace. More so it wasn't until 8 miles that the red 3 hour pacer passed me. 

    Further to your point re pacers I then passed the red 3 hour one at about 17 miles and the blue one at 25 so there's 2/3 3 hour pacers who missed target. 

    I'm so glad I booked leave today. Leisurely start, gym for a dip in the spa now home for some lunch and a sleep. 
  • G-DawgG-Dawg ✭✭✭
    What a shame. Some poor chap never made it home yesterday...  :'(

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-43864835
  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭
    just saw that, G Dawg on news. really sad to see. In 3 of my 4 London's someone hasn't survived. 
  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭
    An experienced runner as well. He ran Manchester 2 weeks ago in 2.56. 
  • nicko1981nicko1981 ✭✭✭
    That's so sad. A majorly talented chef and looks like he was a good runner too.
  • JoolskaJoolska ✭✭✭
    I just saw that news, too.  It puts everything into perspective.  Hats off to everyone who ran yesterday: not good racing conditions.
  • StevieWhStevieWh ✭✭✭
    Hello all! Great running from everyone yesterday and some good times, especially in that heat!

    I posted a 3.22.39 on marathon debut which I'm really happy about! 

    Starting from Blue Pen 4 was a big problem as there were just so many runners to get round, up to around mile 7 I was hitting pace on my Garmin but around 30s behind 3.15 pace .

    Miles 8-10 were a traffic nightmare and at one point I got stuck behind the 3.30 pacers and there group for a good minute or so. This was when I decided 3.15 was not on the cards as it was too much to catch up in the heat and with the traffic.

    Kept fairly consistent and ran to feel from around miles 15 to the finish, I was passing people the whole way as people were struggling/walking which was making it difficult to maintain a rythym .

    Overall massively enjoyed the day and my first marathon. I'll definitely be doing more!
  • G-DawgG-Dawg ✭✭✭
    At 22.5, just approaching Tower Hill,  I recall seeing a chap down on the floor. It seemed more serious as they were placing screens around him. Lorenzo, OO, did you guys see that too as we were in close proximity? Unfortunately I think it would have been the poor chap in the news.

    A cracking debut mara, Stevie, well done!
  • I should also say that as I turned right after Tower Bridge I was lucky enough to catch all of the leading men running back to the Mall on the other side of the fence. It really is a beautiful thing to watch elite athletes in full flow. Farah was working HARD when I saw him
  • PoacherPoacher ✭✭✭
    Gutsy running all round, it was top weather for TV and spectators but poor for actually, err, running.  Sorry for anyone (mainly fellas) who dug deep to grind out a GFA time and is some cases will find out that the relocated GFA goalposts will exclude them.

    So sad to see that another runner has died.  His charity (Brathay) is the org. behind the Windermere marathon so one imagines there will be a tribute to him next month. I was more than an hour slower than usual yesterday so was back among the 3.45-5hr crowds and was shocked to see how many people were suffering. Some were walking almost from the start; I saw quite a few on the ground, hopefully just with cramp, one being given oxygen and at one point the course was briefly closed to allow an ambulance to cross.  I spent a lot of time trying to deal with my own cramp and at every stop the marshals and medics were on the spot in seconds offering help. 
  • PoacherPoacher ✭✭✭
    edited April 2018
    Good things about yesterday (1) after 13 yrs this is still a great day out, mainly because the crowds are so enthusiastic and good humoured.  Although was there less live music than before? (2) good craic, met Lorenzo and other familiar faces before the start, then went round very slowly and had a laugh with lots of strangers. (3) I beat the bloke dressed as an 8ft tall tree. Just. (4) had a good natter in Chandos afterwards with Lorenzo, OO, OO's pals, and DT. Sorry to miss anyone else who was in the vicinity. (5) the fancy dress really works and the laughter distracts from the pain

    Bad things about yesterday:  my worst race ever. The heat, the costume and the lack of training I can cope with, but having had the virus/bug/manflu thing since running Manchester 2 weeks there was literally nothing in the legs. I've had some tough races but never actually had no fuel supply to call on, which made it impossible even to jog consistently. The aim was to run to Tower Bridge then mix in some walking. In fact I started to walk in mile 9; after half way both legs were plagued by cramp and the walk breaks become longer.  With a couple of miles to go I was waylaid to be voxpopped by Colin Jackson - no idea what I said, but it was probably gibberish. Praying it wasn't live on TV.  Final score was a truly woeful 4.19.57.
     
    Perhaps that was the final appearance at VLM - there's a 3.13.58 in the can from last year so that might be good enough for GFA against the 3.20 target. If not, nothing to cry about; there are plenty of other races for middle of the pack blokes whom the VLM organisers have decided to cull, without really admitting it.

    Next job:  get back on the bike and into sportive mode.  Good luck to all recovering and waiting to race - who's up next?
  • nicko1981nicko1981 ✭✭✭
    Always good to catch the frontrunners doing their thing - Kipchoge is just a different class - looked like a breeze for him.

    Starting to feel a bit more normal now, though not sure when my toes will return to their normal colour and the achilles issue has reared its head today in a big way! Reading everyone's reports on here and other threads has made me feel a little less disappointed in myself - and after hearing about Matt; and remembering the others I saw in distress, it reminds me how fortunate I am to have gotten through it healthy. I'll try to be brief in my recap here.

    Had made the decision the night before that I would give sub 3 a go, as you never know unless you try; however this was based on the forecast of max 20 degrees & cloud cover. Woke up to a beautiful day, with the Green start preparations happening literally outside the door where I was staying; I just didn't rethink my plan. Crossed the start line just behind the 3 hour pacer, and then proceeded to stupidly overtake him and unconsciously pull ahead. First mile pace of around 6:15 set the alarm bells off and I tried to cool it off a little.

    At 5k I was on a pace for a 2:53, an obvious big error that sabotaged the race. Between 15 and 20k, the 3 hour pacer caught up and with the feeling in my legs I knew I couldn't hold any sort of decent pace. Half way in 1:31:30 and the rest of the race was just a fight against everything in my head and body telling me to start run/walk. I just started setting small targets - get past the point you stopped running in 2017, get through the Wharf, get to the Highway etc.

    Pace dropping hugely, the micro targets just helped me keep putting one foot in front of the other through to the 23 mile marker where I got a boost that I could make it to the end, and had a small chance of a PB if I picked the legs up a bit. Chased a bee costume down birdcage walk as I'm not going to get bee-ten (ha!); checking my watch with 400m to go; I was going to miss my Paris PB, so managed a hard sprint to go through the finish in 3:12:26 for the 5 second PB.

    With a more measured first half, I think I would have done better, but happy to get through in one piece.  Seeing other much better runners from the club I do track with also struggled hugely and came in at a similar time - showed me it was a day to survive rather than thrive.

    Some great comaraderie out there with water sharing etc. Not sure right now when I'll have the desire to try again, but still determined to give that sub-3 a proper crack.

  • GerardMGerardM ✭✭✭
    edited April 2018
    Seriously well done to you all yesterday. It looked and sounded like a brutal day to run a marathon. About 14 of my pals from here did it and the general consensus was that from early on it was going to be hell. Such sad news about that young chap. One friend did Boston on Monday and then London yesterday. He PB'd with 2:58 at Boston and he said that for those who went for it yesterday suffered in a different way and that it was definitely worse running in the hot temps. Thankfully you all seem to be relatively unscathed and it won't be long before we all start thinking about the next one to do. Congrats to Badbark on what sounded like a very casual effort which yielded yet another win and a very decent time. And for those that did manage to pb in London yesterday, I'm in awe. You all are very brave and crazy too. A reminder that, this is what we do and if there was ever a time so utter the word kudos, yesterday was the day. Huge respect.  
  • Gul DarrGul Darr ✭✭✭
    Really tough conditions in London yesterday. Well done to all. Terribly sad news about Matt Campbell.
    Badbark - congrats on the win - another one chalked up.
    DT19 - very impressive - another year you would have smashed that PB.
    Lorenzo - good effort - I would seriously wilt in that kind of heat.
    Poacher - great photo.
    Nicko  - well done on sneaking a PB - great performance.
    Paul - wow, congrats on the PB - easily deserved a GFA - very cruel.
    OO - well done.
    GD - very good for a really hot day.
    Andy - good philosophical outlook.
    southwark runner - great report. 
    Stevie - well done - that's a great debut.

  • BirchBirch ✭✭✭
    ps   Poacher - my casual congrats earlier at another ticked off, don't do any justice at all to what was a great effort in all the circs you describe - top marks  . . .     but the cap is still well dodgy (as my younger friends might say )  :)    
     
    Stevie - many congrats on completing your debut marathon -  its a great feeling crossing that finish line  . . .    nice one !!   
  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭
    Nicko, that sounds like a crazy start, which will have undoubedly led to your issues second half. You hung in well. I went through half way in 1.31.28,vthough with the way the starts work we could have been half a mile apart.

    The full statistical results breakdown is now available for us. My personal favourite stat is that in the second  half I passed 1320 runners and only 9 passed me. Given I finished 1382 I basically overtook half the runners that were ahead of me at half way. So I at least got it bang on and at worst got it wrong in that I could have gone faster. 
  • nicko1981nicko1981 ✭✭✭
    Just a disclaimer that in no way am I attacking or casting doubt on the effort of the RW pacers team - but to illustrate to all of us what a tough day it was, none of the 3 hour pacers were able to hit 3 hrs if the results are correct.

    Again, I fully respect those guys, and running in all black with flag backpacks etc must have been absolute hell, so fair play to all of them. 

    And Stevie - congrats from me on your debut also - I think the phrase is "baptism of fire"
  • Great stuff on your debut Stevie - fantastic performance. I'm sure that the next one will feel easier!

    Nicko - sounds like you went off a tad too quickly(!) but well done for hanging on in there.

    DT19 - super stats for the last half of the race. I was pretty pleased with mine as well: despite the positive split I managed to pass 1,177 runners and only get passed by 79 so basically made up 1,100 positions.

    Like Poacher, I'll be on my bike for my next escapade - cycling from London to York over the Bank Holiday weekend in the second of my Summer of Madness challenges: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lawrence-summerofmadness. With hindsight I shouldn't have tempted fate by saying that I'd be "warming up with the London Marathon!)
  • G-DawgG-Dawg ✭✭✭
    Seems I overtook 1339 in the second half with just 51 picking me off. My 4th quarter was quicker than the third which I'm pleased with as I was trying to control things until the final 10k.
  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭
    median finish time this year was 4.47. Last year 4.26!
  • StevieWhStevieWh ✭✭✭

    Thank you everyone - It was definitely hot out there! Water over my forearms seemed to help immensely though. My stats I think show the task I had from Pen 4!

    First Half - Passed 9098 runners - 5 Passed Me

    Second Half - Passed 3897 runners 4 Passed me

    1.38.59 First Half, 1.43.40 Second Half so slight positive split but really happy with that as I was decided not to force the pace and enjoy it for the last few miles.

  • @StevieWh I feel your pain from pen 3.

    First Half Passed 6,323 runners - 8 passed me

    Second Half Passed 2,970 - 5 passed me (you may have been one?!)

    1:39:01 First Half, 1:45:32 Second Half
  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭

    You guys definitely started too far back!!

    Just looking at the 3 hour pacers, they came in 3.52, 3.15 and 3.39, assuming the names on here tally up with those that ended up doing it.

  • StevieWhStevieWh ✭✭✭
    Yep lesson learned for next time, be more ambitious with predicted time!

    I definitely passed a pacer who had blown up, was carrying his flag. May have been the red 3 hour pacer
  • PoacherPoacher ✭✭✭
    Good efforts, but put yourselves down for a better pen next time.

    My 2nd half: overtook 95, was overtaken by 4,740.  Must have been cos I was walking. But still finished ahead of 26,482 so there were plenty of people having a worse day.  One dreads to think what it must be like right at the back, esp. since there are tales of water stations running dry.

    BTW what's with the hat hatred? We don't all have luxuriant tresses of Birch-style hair.  Baldies really suffer in the sun and wear a lid all year round. If anyone wants to dispute this, come outside.
  • StevieWhStevieWh ✭✭✭

    Yep lesson learned for next time, be more ambitious with predicted time!

    I definitely passed a pacer who had blown up, was carrying his flag. May have been the red 3 hour pacer.

    I've heard some horrendous tales from the back, some people went 7 miles without a water station apparently. Spectators were buying water to hand out

  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭
    A teaching assistant at my childrens school did it in 5.47. She said they had run out of water for her at miles 6-10 completely and bearing in mind there were none at 0-3 as well I think she found it tough. I think she also said they had run out later on as well.
  • Gul DarrGul Darr ✭✭✭

    Some very impressive stats all round there. Great respect to you all. Hope everyone's recovering well.
    Had a bit of a change of routine to my schedule here. My early morning runs have been shortened and I've added some commuting runs (not that I need to commute as it's only 0.75 miles to work on foot!) So 6 and 3 yesterday, followed by 6 and 5 today plus a sneaky 3 miles at lunchtime. All easy miles for now.


  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2018

    This seems like a nice gesture to 'finish for Matt'. Will probably have a recovery run tomorrow-

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-43876698

  • BirchBirch ✭✭✭
    Poacher - point taken, but I still think the basket of fruit suits you better . . . .   
     
    thought I'd better banish lethargy, so 12 rainy miles bagged today 
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