2008 Myrtle Beach Marathon Race Report - TR*

My first marathon is done and dusted and I am pleased to report that it all went according to plan. Despite my apprehension that in training I had not done any runs longer than about 11.5 miles my fears were unfounded.

As soon as I can figure out how to publish documents to the domain that comes with my email account I will publish some much longer race reports and link them to this blog. In the meantime here is my Race Report for the Myrtle Beach Marathon:

We set out early on Friday morning to drive the 445 miles to Myrtle Beach and picked up 2 other TeamZ members, Kitty and Sebastian, who were also running the Marathon. The drive down was fairly uneventful and we arrived at MB at around 5pm. We checked into the hotel and went to the race expo to pick up the race packet and t-shirt. After grabbing dinner at a great grill joint and a couple of beers I was in bed for 9pm watching Heartbreak Ridge until I fell asleep at about 10pm.

Alarm went off at 4.15am, breakfast started at 4.30 and we were on a bus to the start line at 5.15am. The outside temperature was actually very mild and probably in the mid to high 40s. This was a huge relief as last year at the start the temp was down in the 20s and the runners were desperately huddled together for warmth waiting for the starting gun. I lined up with Chris, Sebastian, Annie and Stacey and we placed ourselves halfway between the 3.30 and 4.00 pace signs. We were all aiming to run 8.30 min/miles which would give us a finish of 3:45. Holden had advised me to stick to 8.30s until at least the 10 mile point and then pick up the pace slightly after that if I was feeling OK.

The gun went off at 6.30am but I didn't get across the start line for another minute or two (the time I am quoting is my chip time - time from crossing the start line until crossing the finishing line; rather than gun time which is time from starting gun until crossing the finishing line). We spent the next 3 miles weaving our way around the 100s and 100s of people who had clearly ignored the pace signs and lined up as close to the start as possible regardless of their actual ability.





I was feeling great and my heart rate was a steady 150 bpm, smack in the middle of zone 3 and about 89% of Lactate Threshold Heart Rate (LT HR). I heeded the warnings about going too fast and tried to keep my heart rate steady. For the first 10 miles I was pretty rubbish at keeping track of my pacing. I didn't see the first few mile markers and at about 6 or 7 miles I stopped my stop watch by mistake instead of hitting the lap button. Chris was running with a Garmin and we tried taking pace off that but I think it may of been reading a little fast. At about the 7 or 8 mile point I was still feeling strong and I started to pull away from the others.

The next 10 miles where pretty uneventful. The roads were very, very long and straight and the sea view was blocked most of the way by hotels. The weather was ideal with temps in the mid 50s but cloud cover keeping the sun off us most of the time. I was surrounded by other runners but most of them were wearing green numbers which marked them out as half marathon runners. When we came back to the start finish area we lost the half marathon runners and it seemed to get very quiet. There were far less people around me and those of us left knew we were only half way around. I passed the 13.1 mile point at about 1:50:00 which meant the first half had been an average of 8:23 min/miles. This was a little faster than planned but I still felt good. Wendy and the Team Z support tent was just past the half way point so I grabbed a couple more Gu's and bid them farewell.


The 8:23 pace is slightly inaccurate as I was probably running sub 8:20s but I went to the loo (No.1) 2 or 3 times which slowed me down a bit. As I still felt good I let my heart rate rise to about 155 bpm. When I got to mile 17 I was fully expecting to bonk and even started to wait for it. By mile 18 or 19 I realised that I was not going to hit the wall but it was still by far the lowest part of my marathon. I started to feel real tightness in my calfs and I had a sharp pain in my right hip flexor. For a few minutes I started to question my ability to maintain my pace and finish in a good time. Mile 19-20 was my slowest mile overall but after I passed the 20 mile timing mat I managed to get my head together.

I passed the 20 mile point at 2:49:00 and when I saw a middle aged bloke overtaking me I decided that I would stick with him otherwise I was going to throw away my good finish. Before I knew it the pain I was feeling disappeared, I picked up my cadence and got my groove back. I put my head down and didn't really look up again until the finish. As I picked up the pace the guy I was following started to drop off and I started to pass more and more people which really got me going. Brian, one of the assistant coaches with Team Z, was waiting at about mile 23 and we ran the last 3 miles together. I crossed the line at 3:38:07 which meant that the last 6.2 miles had taken me 49 mins which is a very satisfying pace of 7:54 min/miles (N.B. no toilet stops in the last 6 miles). That puts me in 296th place out of the 1686 who finished and 31st in my age group. For results click here.

I felt good after the run. I downed my recovery drink and hit the beer tent. Team Z had the grill going so I had a burger and watched the other runners come in. The sun was now out and it was a very pleasant morning. The race was very well organized and put together. The amount and quality of volunteers manning the aid stations was
really very impressive.


Overall I really enjoyed the run. The race went like clockwork. I knew that at some point I would have a low but luckily it only lasted 10-15 mins for me. Perhaps the most reassuring aspect is that although I am a little stiff in my thighs today I feel pretty good overall and I know that the first half of the marathon was run at a conservative pace and I do have more in the tank for Lake Placid.

Big thanks to my Cadence Coach, Holden, who told me how to run the race and has already done great work in preparing my CV system in preparation for IronMan. His confidence in my ability to complete the marathon as planned was very reassuring and I am really looking forward to the racing season ahead.

As a first timer if I had any advice to my fellow newbies they would be:

• Get everywhere early - do not be rushing.

• Have a plan - stick to it.

• If you know your heart rate zones - listen to them.

• Start conservative and go for the negative split - it is really motivating to start passing people and will help you finish strong.

• Ice bath and compression socks after race will probably help you recover - I am not as bad as those in the video.

• Enjoy it - you probably will hurt at some point (sorry Derek) - accept it - get over it and then keep going.

• Oh and the Jacuzzi was fantastic.

P.S. Completing a Marathon was very satisfying but not as much fun as a Triathlon.