Perth Marathon Relay - a win for BT RunClub-Strands

Ran the second leg of the Perth Marathon Relay (simonelliott ran 1st leg and sugar42 ran legs 3 and 4).

We were 4th when Simon handed over to me (the first three teams led off with some very very strong runners and Simon did very well to keep us in touch with them.

I passed the third placed runner relatively quickly and was running just 3.40 pace for the first 3-4km. As usual though I could not maintain it and drifted to 3.47 – 3.50 for the remainder although I probably picked it up over the last 1km.

I saw the third leg runner from the first team about 2 mins ahead of me as he ran past (the change over was at the turn around point) and didn’t see the 2nd placed runner so he must have only just been in front of me.

Was supposed to be a light easterly bit was more of a south westerly but wasn’t too bad.

It was good to see plenty of friends out on the course. Was able to run briefly with clown as I did my warmup and he was running towards Como Beach. Also saw Epi and TB. Saw clown and Sandgroper while I was racing as they were heading back towards the city. Rob was looking very strong and comfortable.

35.23 for me so average pace of my standard 3.45/km. A little a bit outside of what I thought/hoped I would run but not overly disappointed as I felt strong and in control. It is a bit frustrating though that I can’t run any quicker but I am in marathon not 10k training.

Pretty full on day – rode my bike to the start (approx 4-5km) as Rox was taking Sammie to soccer. Regretted not wearing gloves as it was pretty cool on the bike but warmed up quickly once I got to Como Beach.

Ran back to Como Beach after my relay leg at a very comfortable pace (9.3km @ 4.30/km pace) and then rode my bike home. The hills on the way home were not much fun with tired legs. Grabbed a quick shower and then drove down to the Marathon Club to find out where we finished and how everyone got on.

Very excited to find out that sugar passed the leading runner about 2km from the finish but just as happy to find out that Rob ran 2.59.05 to go sub 3 for the the first time. Sammie came down to the club with me to help me look for a man “with a big smile on his face”.

Very strong event this year. We ran 2.35 flat which was 5 minutes quicker than the winning team last year and the team that ran third this year would have won last year’s event. So pretty pleasing and not bad for a bunch of old guys.  Great launch for Simon's running club which I think kicks off officially at the start of July.

Back home for lunch then back to the club for the presentations before heading home as we had Sammie’s 5th birthday party with her school friends this afternoon.

2 weeks until Gold Coast.