Venice Marathon by two marathon virgins (Martin Blazeby & Jenny Gilpin)
Two days prior to the marathon the weather in Venice was cool and drizzly perfect running conditions, however, the forecast for race day was a cloudless sky and warm. The day before the race the sun appeared by mid afternoon and became worryingly hot, perfect for sunbathing not so for running. The morning of the marathon we were bussed to start located 23miles into the mainland along with several thousand other runners. This actually went very smoothly and was well organised even to Italian standards! The temperature was very cold and cloudy; perhaps the weather forecasters had got it wrong!
So, at the start and with months of training behind us we were ready for the unknown. Neither Jenny nor I had gone beyond 18 miles in training and 13 miles in race conditions. With 6,500 participants we sprang into action at 9.30am and I weaved in and out of runners for 1 mile to find open space. After 5 miles I had run a comfortable constant pace and was on 3hrs 22 mins, not bad I thought but had no idea if this was too fast, too slow or whether I could keep this going. After 10 miles I was still running at the same pace and feeling extremely good and looking forward to the halfway mark. Having past the half marathon stage I was now running with the same group of runners and we were steadily chasing down the 3hrs 20mins pacers who were just ahead. By 16 miles I was feeling incredibly good; this was surprising the life out of me, and was knocking out an even faster pace, but by now my mind was playing tricks with me and I was worried about this problem I had heard so much about from fellow runners “hitting the wall”. Only 10 miles to go I kept telling myself, only 10 miles, but by now the sun was fully out… With 6 miles to go I had slowed down to 8 min mile pace and was feeling the force of the sun, I wasn’t sure if this was hitting the wall or just the heat, my fellow group of runners had now dispersed and I was soon overtaking runners who were now walking. With 5 miles to go we had to run over 2 mile stretch of bridge connecting the mainland with Venice, this was unbearable, no cover from the sun and no wind to help either. At the end of the bridge was a drink stop and everybody had stopped completely to drown themselves in fluids, this was much needed but extremely difficult to get the momentum going again, and by now the 3hrs 20 pacers had disappeared out of sight. With just a few miles left I had slowed down to 9 min pace and was struggling in the heat and the field had emptied completely, where was everyone? At the last drinks stop with one mile to go, runners were no longer running! Some were resting against a wall into the shade, this puzzled me, had they given up or had they already finished! I struggled on but had to face 14 canal bridges to the finish line, annoyingly they were numbered 13 to go, 10 to go and 5 to go etc… this seemed like a form of torture and to be surrounded by so much water when I was about to explode in the heat was just painful. Anyhow, I made it, my first marathon, yippee, 3hrs 32mins I had lost 10 mins in 6 miles, but who cares as I am already looking forward to the next one. Overall position 1291 and 264th in my age category. 900 participants had dropped out on route!
Jenny had a slightly different experience and was on route for completing in 4hrs 20mins but had to stop and walk for 2k near the end due to a painful hip but agonisingly hung in there to complete the course in just over 5hrs. Overall the Venice Marathon was very well organised, extremely flat, fast, and naturally scenic from start to finish.
Sensible Sunday August 1, 2010 (09:30) Choice of 10 or 16 miles with Richard. As usual, the pace will be sensible. This is LSD; Long SLOW Distance. Enjoy a weekend lie-in, our anti-hangover start time is 9.30am. See you all outside the Striders clubhouse this Sunday. Back Marker - Richard Ki...
Club Night August 2, 2010 (19:30) Monday night club 'muster' run from the club house. There will be groups going off at various paces, no-one left behind, but expect to run between 5 and 9 miles. Summer Route to be announced on the night.
Tempo Tuesday August 3, 2010 (18:45) Leave from the club 6.45pm. 3 mile warm-up to Lillington. 4 miles at Tempo (running hard between half-marathon and 10k race pace). 2 miles cool down. This gives you 9 miles with 4 of them hard. New runners always very welcome.
New Runners Night August 3, 2010 (19:00) 2/3 mile steady run. All abilities welcome. Each run is led by an experienced runner and no-one is left behind. A good way to get fitter and makes a great 'lead-up' to a Wednesday or Monday session if you have never run before.
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