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I think it was 2005 when I last tried a marathon – an it was very ugly – 60+ minutes for the last 10km and 45 minutes to walk/stagger/sit my way the 1km back home from the finish! I run better now and am fitter but the scar remains!

I have woken at 2am to eat some rolled oats/non-fat milk – now 3am and might try 50min more sleep. Check in is at 4:15 and the race starts at 5am. It should be cool out there

I have the nipple plasters, the Tiger Balm for the quick warm up to get my sore ankle into gear and to help prevent any pulls. The GUs are a bit tricky to carry but will manage. I have 4 and am thinking I will use one each time I finish a lap (the course is 1 lap of the Uni plus 5 x 8km loops on the riverside cycle path – there are some tight turns onto bridges and a rise up to each one). I have set my Garmin at 3:45/Km and I THINK the plan is that will be the maximum speed – I will try to stay calm and slow at the start and stay behind the first runner with an M55 on his back (This race is all ages, male and female – I only have to beat the M55s). So must try to keep a cool head – nothing like the outrageous (but successful and highly satisfying) 1500m final

Goals: Number 1 = to win!, Number 2 = to medal

More later …

Wow! What a finish to the games – quickly updating this before going to the medal ceremony for the 5th time (XC, 5000m, 1500m, Marathon, team xc silver).

It was dark when we started – it was actually quite difficult to see the path in certain places. The course wasn’t a good one – but it was obviously a convenient and only meant closing the University loop road (Sunday so little happening here anyway). So the route was one around the university and then up onto the levee where we did 5 loops using 2 bridges. the course was tree-lined most of the way, undulating and with 2 steep descents. There were also many sharp bends and a 1800 degree turn too. So not a fast course; but the weather wasn’t a problem – very cool.

I set off with and quickly spotted the M55 runners but actually passed them as I was very comfortable – I remember running with various ages and particularly with a British runner for some time. I definitely started too fast but I felt so good.

Splits: 3:45,4:04,3:37,3:36,3:37,3​:50,3:44,3:46,3:36,3:39,3:​27,3:39,3:55,3:40,3:44,3:2​2,3:15,3:32,3:39,3:39,4:20​,3:43,3:58,3:54,4:09,4:05,​3:59,3:30,4:54,4:15,4:05,4​:51, – The Garmin stopped recording here but is was getting ugly some slow, some steady, none fast

So the first 20km were pretty hot and then I deliberately eased off – I was in about 7th place overall and I knew I was going too fast. I kept it under control for the 2nd lap and then I started to feel really bad. A few M50 and an M35 runner caught me and I stayed with them for a while but I was still getting very tired with 3 laps still to do (approx 7km laps). The GU consumption went well especially considering I hadn’t used them before. I had one before the start and one at the end of laps 2,3,4.

I really struggled to keep going on laps 3 and 4 and half of lap 5 but I knew I was slowing – Jaymee and Sara and George plus a host of other supporters kept me going and I finished off with a very respectable last 4km. I didn’t know until the results were posted that I was only a minute-something ahead.

At the end I couldn’t stand much and the legs were trying to cramp all over – a few people pulled me up – thanks Kevin and I staggered back to the dorms very very slowly with lots of stops. I immediately got the keys for the pool and soaked in the cool water (George found me staggering across the lawn on route and I am pleased he came with me in case I fell!). A hot shower, some Endura, 2 Danish Pastries (breakfast finished!) and then a walk to the stadium all helped the recovery.

Still not fully functional in the leg department but will be able to walk to the stadium and step up for the medal.

Time 2:43.07 – 11th place overall – 1st in age group

Home in 24 hours!

WMA Marathon
Sacramento, Ca 07/17/2011

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MALE AGE GROUP: 35 – 39
1 2 Chad Worthen 37 United States 2:35:54
2 4 Ronny Kristoffersen 37 Norway 2:39:16
3 12 Jason Harne 36 Great Britain 2:43:49
4 32 Ignacio Alcover Lago 35 Spain 2:55:39
5 45 Ignacio Torne Gutierre 39 Spain 2:59:55
6 65 Michael Mendis 36 Canada 3:10:41
7 99 Alberto Saldana Ortiz 36 Puerto Rico 3:25:42
8 119 Gabriel Enache 36 United States 3:36:50
MALE AGE GROUP: 40 – 44
1 1 Tony Torres 41 United States 2:32:30
2 3 Alfredo Norvello 44 Italy 2:36:35
3 8 Efren Ramirez- Castr 43 Colombia 2:41:28
4 9 Edward Randolph 41 United States 2:42:00
5 15 Michael Fadling 43 United States 2:45:12
6 17 Eric Laughlin 41 United States 2:46:58
7 22 James Maynard 43 United States 2:49:43
8 23 Kurt Mellick 44 United States 2:49:45
9 26 Scott Dunlap 42 United States 2:52:11
10 30 Victor Rosas 40 Mexico 2:53:28
11 34 Walter Brown 40 United States 2:56:11
12 52 Miguel Magana 44 Mexico 3:01:49
13 56 Kevin Farr 41 Canada 3:05:20
14 68 Remus Medley 41 United States 3:12:04
15 113 Lee Freeman 43 Hong Kong, China 3:34:22
16 128 Rajinder Bhanot 43 United States 3:40:59
17 144 Guillaume Bonin 44 France 3:46:39
18 146 Stephane Guertin 44 Canada 3:48:39
19 184 Christian Storch 44 Germany 4:26:53
20 224 Leo Surprenant 43 United States 5:53:00
MALE AGE GROUP: 45 – 49
1 16 Daniel Fiorini 49 Canada 2:46:18
2 18 Luca Guise Foglia 49 Switzerland 2:47:15
3 20 Jean Pommier 47 United States 2:47:56
4 21 Markus Riefer 45 Germany 2:48:46
5 31 Don Young 47 United States 2:53:40
6 40 Javier Cruz 48 United States 2:58:35
7 42 Dmitry Mineev 45 Russia 2:58:54
8 60 Guillermo Ramirez 47 Panama 3:09:30
9 63 Purevjav Tserendorj 46 Mongolia 3:10:28
10 64 Martin Ferguson 46 Great Britain 3:10:32
11 66 William Newsham 46 United States 3:10:44
12 73 Eddie Schmidt 47 United States 3:15:40
13 79 Pedro Luis Falagan Lahera 46 Spain 3:17:47
14 82 Glenn Ohler 49 United States 3:19:06
15 87 Eduardo Gallegos Ortiz 48 Chile 3:21:11
16 110 Cesar Augu Roa Lemus. 46 Colombia 3:31:33
17 115 Paul Scire 49 United States 3:34:59
18 132 Ruben Henderson 49 United States 3:42:50
19 157 Daniel Dubec 47 France 3:56:37
20 163 Edgar Guevara Martin 47 Colombia 4:01:11
21 165 Alan Roberts 46 Great Britain 4:02:30
MALE AGE GROUP: 50 – 54
1 5 Gavin Jones 50 Great Britain 2:40:14
2 6 Martin Tighe 53 Great Britain 2:40:37
3 7 Uwe Bernd 51 Germany 2:40:44
4 10 Frank Loschner 51 Germany 2:42:36
5 14 Guy Dorval 50 Canada 2:45:02
6 19 William Enicks 51 United States 2:47:28
7 25 Hector Juarez 50 Mexico 2:51:58
8 27 Robert Julian 52 Canada 2:52:34
9 33 Josef Oefele 50 Germany 2:55:45
10 36 Jacek Konieczny 52 Poland 2:57:22
11 37 Manuel Delgado Criado 52 Spain 2:57:26
12 44 Robert Campbell 51 Canada 2:59:12
13 46 Daniel Zulaica 53 United States 2:59:59
14 49 Francisco Ardila Caldero 54 Colombia 3:01:03
15 50 Michael Cassella-Black 53 United States 3:01:26
16 54 Anthony Galka 53 United States 3:02:53
17 74 Valery Slastinin 53 Russia 3:16:13
18 75 Antonio Losada 50 United States 3:16:17
19 84 Michael Roberts 54 United States 3:19:19
20 86 Rob Banner 53 Great Britain 3:20:57
21 89 Luis Conceicao 51 Portugal 3:21:51
22 100 Lynn Walker 54 United States 3:25:44
23 103 Urpo Nikanne 50 Finland 3:27:40
24 105 Bayarsaikh Gunchin 50 Mongolia 3:29:16
25 107 Mikhail Pinegin 54 Russia 3:30:20
26 122 Raul Jara 53 Chile 3:38:09
27 137 David Overstreet 50 United States 3:43:46
28 140 Eulogio Luna 51 Mexico 3:45:21
29 154 Jose Luis Vazquez 54 Mexico 3:56:25
30 210 Karl Leal 53 United States 4:49:22
31 214 John McCusker 51 United States 5:01:20
MALE AGE GROUP: 55 – 59
1 11 Keith Bateman 56 Australia 2:43:07
2 13 Marcelo Artero 55 Argentina 2:44:21
3 24 Gavin Stevens 55 New Zealand 2:50:41
4 38 Tapio Tikkanen 56 Finland 2:58:20
5 39 Jim Howard 56 United States 2:58:28
6 43 David Ruvalcaba 56 United States 2:59:09
7 58 Vasile Harjoc 58 Romania 3:06:49
8 61 Hans Heidelberger 57 Germany 3:09:39
9 69 Vladimir Shagaev 56 Russia 3:13:22
10 91 Pip Smith 55 United States 3:22:53
11 98 Luis Menendez 58 Guatemala 3:25:39
12 112 Rob Sargent 57 Great Britain 3:33:59
13 116 Bruce Aldrich 55 United States 3:35:46
14 124 Wilber Sequeira 56 Costa Rica 3:38:52
15 126 William Hambrick 57 United States 3:40:15
16 129 Angel Gonzalez Rul 58 Mexico 3:41:24
17 138 Michael Hernandez 58 United States 3:44:20
18 156 Tsuneo Kuroda 57 Japan 3:56:34
19 160 Jose Manue Ojeda Garcia 59 Spain 3:58:13
20 162 Francisco Dominguez Reye 56 Mexico 4:00:59
21 187 John Magnussen 58 United States 4:28:33
22 190 Denis Zilaff 58 United States 4:30:32
23 205 Juan Maria Aldanondo 58 Spain 4:44:39
MALE AGE GROUP: 60 – 64
1 28 Terry McCluskey 62 United States 2:52:43
2 35 Antoni Cichonczuk 61 Poland 2:56:50
3 53 Mario Vargas 60 Chile 3:01:50
4 71 Alan Appleby 64 Great Britain 3:14:02
5 90 Joseph Schieffer 60 United States 3:22:49
6 97 Vladimir Sporykhin 62 Russia 3:25:04
7 104 Ramon Gonzalez 60 Spain 3:27:45
8 106 Gonzalo Mejia Terron 63 Mexico 3:30:13
9 109 Christophe Nemeth 62 United States 3:31:32
10 120 Luis Gerar Ramirez 64 Costa Rica 3:37:05
11 123 Jay Satenstein 64 United States 3:38:12
12 130 Fernado Olezzi 64 Italy 3:42:24
13 134 Brian Peterson 61 United States 3:43:33
14 150 Guy Ramond 64 French Polynesia 3:53:52
15 152 David Kupper 64 United States 3:54:12
16 153 Sergio chaparro Sanch 60 Mexico 3:54:49
17 168 Kenny Warde 61 United States 4:05:51
18 173 Claudio Bertucci 62 Italy 4:09:34
19 185 Antonio Gonzalez 64 Spain 4:27:46
20 188 Renzo Deodari 64 Italy 4:29:06
21 189 Matti Silber 62 Estonia 4:29:22
22 192 Leonard Hallett 61 Australia 4:32:12
23 202 Catalin Do Braila 60 Romania 4:43:25
MALE AGE GROUP: 65 – 69
1 41 Gabriel Garcia 65 Brazil 2:58:44
2 57 Meliton Bautista Carba 65 Mexico 3:05:52
3 78 Jose Anton Arias 67 Spain 3:17:22
4 94 Vladimir Malykh 67 Russia 3:23:52
5 114 Ernest Takahashi 66 United States 3:34:36
6 127 Ken Richardson 67 Canada 3:40:51
7 131 Georgii Mitiev 65 Ukraine 3:42:41
8 148 Craig Newport 65 United States 3:52:56
9 164 Alfredo Stella 67 Italy 4:01:48
10 170 Salvador Guzman Macias 65 Spain 4:07:36
11 180 Miguel Cortes Mendez 65 Mexico 4:23:12
12 182 Gilberto Soto 69 Colombia 4:23:43
13 193 Angelo Balassini 65 Italy 4:32:34
14 199 Steven Polansky 65 United States 4:37:19
15 200 Gilberto Bueno 69 Mexico 4:37:41
16 201 Holger Finkernagel 67 Germany 4:38:34
17 226 Andre Sautiere 68 France 6:07:06
MALE AGE GROUP: 70 – 74
1 77 Hernan Barreneche Rio 71 Colombia 3:17:17
2 125 Hans Schmid 71 United States 3:39:03
3 139 Werner Stocker 71 Germany 3:44:29
4 141 Royce Sayer 70 United States 3:45:54
5 166 Edward Rousseau 71 United States 4:04:06
6 204 Jim Miller 70 United States 4:44:39
7 211 Abe Underwood 73 United States 4:54:38
8 218 Pavel Sirotin 74 Russia 5:20:10
9 219 Herbert Gottschlich 73 Germany 5:21:00
MALE AGE GROUP: 75 – 79
1 147 Manuel Rosales 75 Spain 3:50:38
2 169 Bill Dodson 76 United States 4:07:09
3 197 Manuel Loverde 76 United States 4:35:01
4 206 Oliviero Montanari 75 Italy 4:44:51
5 216 Gordon Hall 79 United States 5:04:11
6 225 Mogens Dam 77 Denmark 5:54:12
MALE AGE GROUP: 80 – 99
1 151 Michio Kumamoto 80 Japan 3:54:00
2 209 Keith Wood 82 United States 4:46:53
3 213 Leon D’Erbee 80 Germany 4:58:50
4 220 Eddie Reyna 80 United States 5:24:10

5th World Record (unratified as yet) – 3rd Gold! The perfect mile (metric) – In front from the gun – 4:12.35 – thanks for all the support – more later plus a video – feeling great! Now for some slower running

Finals
1 Bateman, Keith M56 Australia 4:12.35
2 Van der Hoorn, Martinus M58 Netherlands 4:24.57
3 Dunlop, Alastair M57 Great Britain 4:25.81
4 McPhail, Elmer M55 United States 4:26.27
5 Chantry, Stephen M56 United States 4:27.16
6 Duncanson, Rob M56 United States 4:35.23
7 Bernhard, Tom M59 United States 4:35.48
8 Sono, Masao M57 Japan 4:39.90
9 Steedman, Doug M56 United States 4:43.11
10 Hartshorne, Thomas M57 United States 4:45.10
11 Albo, David M55 United States 4:48.69
12 Sangronis, Manuel M58 Venezuela 4:50.38
13 Stonkus, Arny M56 United States 4:53.92
14 Munro, Ross M58 Canada 4:55.03
15 Fairley, Gerard M57 Great Britain 4:57.21
16 Russell, Clifford M57 Canada 5:01.65

Sore throat this morning! Okay at the moment and hoping it doesn’t develop over next few days. 4 hours to the race (heat) …

Okay so that was an easy qualification! The Frenchman I thought might be quick wasn’t there and the 4:31 was easy even with a very very slow first 150m and a big deceleration in the home straight – and I cruised the rest.

I now feel very relaxed about the final and will definitely race it for a record. I just need to make sure the first 100 is in 16 or 17 and I keep at 67/lap for the first couple – then the real hard work begins. But with lots of friends at the track and a good crowd there’s a real chance of the World Record.

Met lots more really friendly people today Spanish, Canadian, Columbian, American … and even had a long talk to a lady from the Western Isle of Scotland in Gaelic!

Now for 2 days relaxing

The race is at 11:43, check in 10:48. Richard Burns is coming to watch and I will meet him for the first time. He broke the 33-year-old 55+ 1mile record about this time last year, the one I broke a few months later, in October – we have been emailing ever since his record-braking run.

There were the usual early-morning pre-race heart-racing nerves and thinking through various race tactics and scenarios I don’t feel as much pressure now I have had one very good result but being the WR holder for this distance brings a certain amount of pressure. The temperature is due to peak at 33C today so perhaps about 30C for the race, and there seems to be a slight breeze.

What a nightmare getting to the track but a very very successful day – the type of race you always want to run. I was feeling a little tired after the 8km cross-country a few days ago so was rather pleased when the pace was very slow at the start. Because the pace was so slow I ended up in front but this was no a day for speed; it was cooler (about 30C) but a fair breeze was blowing down the back straight. So I moved into lane 2 slowed up and let the next 2 runners pass – and then I tucked in behind. The laps were painfully slow. At some point the leader opened a small gap so I hopped into second place and followed.

Michael Deagan was on the track side (a former British International and CEO for my sponsors Ron Hill) and he did a great job in telling me who was where. Lap 8 was another slow one and someone in the first race had run 17.06 and we seemed to be heading for that time so there was a real danger of winning the race and coming 2nd! The Dutch runner I thought might be fast dropped off fairly early leaving just me and Jose the Columbian; and he was looking tired.

So at the end of the back straight where it was no longer windy I took the lead and finished off with an average of 73 per lap, held my form well and simply demolished the field! Sweet! A very slow time of 16:35 but overall I think one of my better performances when the tactics are taken into consideration. The crowd really appreciated the race and I felt a little embarrassed shaking hands with people all along the length of the stand But that said it was a classic race to watch and must have been very entertaining.
Lap splits
39
86
83
83
82
82
81
82
79
76
76
75
71

I had my Vibrams ready to wear but we had to wear timing chips and I decided not to experiment with attaching it to the Vibrams (The MOCs have no strap like the ones I used for cross-country).

My thanks to them for helping out with the cheering and especially to Richard Burns, George Haywood who I only met yesterday, and Jim from our rooms who made special trips to come along; and to Michael Deagan for the great track-side help – really appreciated. I will go to watch Richard in his 400 hurdles final on Monday.

After the race we made the journey back to the main stadium, ate on the way and the waited for the presentation. The Columbian runner and his friend who was 3rd in our race were surprised that the American from race 1 was 2nd – I think they misunderstood the time as 17.59 instead of 17.059 – after a considerable time and translation service it was sorted. It’s been a long day and I have also acquired some red skin which needs some care. However, legs all good and am thinking of not withdrawing from the 10,000m and asking the officials if I can check-in late for the 1500m which start at another stadium soon after the 10,000m finishes. Four days now until the 10,000m/1500m races