Well that was brutal. A night of no sleep followed by a 3.15 interview slot, a 3.30 warm-up and 4am start. My rain dance didn’t work either, as it was predictably dry and humid. I’ve never seen so much sweat before the start of a marathon — everyone dripping, except the Kenyans and Ethiopians. I hadn’t done my research either and discovered that the course was in fact rather undulating too.

The plan was to make sure I got a finish so I started off with the 5:30 pacer (thanks Kin K Yum for the rehydration tablets!) but after 5km I felt ok, so decided to push on a bit. I caught the 5hr pacers at around 10km, still felt ok so thought I’d have a crack at chasing down the 4:30 pacers. I finally caught up with them at 25km by which time my legs were shot, so I was swallowing painkillers, gels, salts, Isotonic drinks and whatever else I could get down. The water I just poured over my head to try and control the body temperature.

The last hour was really tough and I was wishing that I had respected the distance more but was happy to get over the line sub 4:30. According to my watch for some reason I’ve run an extra 400 metres, but it must have been all the wobbling about through the crowds (full to capacity at 36,000). Happy to get a podium shot with the oldest participant in the race, at 69. Looking forward to a good sleep this afternoon, couple of beers tonight and then a flight home tomorrow to see my brood. Whoop, whoop!