The race started almost 15 minutes late in Frankston. Sunny weather gave way to rain which made runners rather impatient at with the late start. Eventually some 2000+ runners finally got moving. The slow start was not a problem as the start time was taken from transponders affixed to the race numbers. Most of the race was in sunny or overcast but cool conditions.

I met up with the 3hr "Pacing Bus" which was basically a couple of runners carrying marked flags whose job was to meet all the pace times for a 3hr finish. There were also pacing busses for other times after this at 15 minute intervals. After a while I was running quite strong and decided to sit just a head of this group to give myself about 1 minute buffer.

At around the 15km mark I became aware of what appeared to be a blister towards the front of my left foot. Surely not! With all the training I have been doing in these shoes this has to be just a passing thing? Despite this I kept to my pace and was still comfortably hitting all my targets. The run up to the halfway point in Beaumaris was a little difficult. Apart from a gentle climb there was a fairly strong headwind for a few k's that made the going tough. Despite this I still hit the half marathon point right on target at 1:28.

Then things took a turn for the worst. At about 24km the blister suddenly burst. This slowed things a bit. The 3hr pacers passed me at 25km and I tried my best to keep up. It was obvious that this was the end of my sub-3hr goal. Time for plan "B".

I ran for some time at a reduced pace. When I got to 30km one of the volunteers yelled out: "Not far to go, all the hard work is behind you!". Obviously he's never done a Marathon! The runner next to me said quietly "No mate - this is where it all starts!" And indeed it was the case for me too. Finishing a marathon seems to be more about pain management than running!

Despite being only 12km from the finish problem #2 had started to set in. Because I knew that I would most likely hit the wall near the end at my goal pace I had been making use of my own supply of Staminade from early in the race. A previous disaster on the 6ft track marathon had taught me not to trust what they provide. Despite my attempts to keep it well diluted I was still having problems with stomach gas.

By the time I reached Elwood things were starting to get progressively worse. Now it was plan "C" - survival mode. I was still managing to run at 4:30 pace but the gurgling in my stomach from the sports drink was starting to make me feel very sick. It got so bad that I had to stop completely at one point and at least half a dozen times had to resort to walking down St Kilda Rd. Here I was proudly wearing my BK top and "Walking" the marathon! Not a good look.... At one stage, 1km from the finish a guy came up behind me and pushed me from behind. "You've less than a km to go, now get moving!" It was the motivation I needed. I could see the finish and despite all the pain I kept running.

I managed just over a 3:13 finish. While it is a PB for me I am still rather disappointed with it as practice runs had indicated that I should have done much better.

When I removed my shoes to take the stress off the blister I noticed the top of my sock was covered in blood. I took off the right shoe and it was the same. Rubbing from the top inner of the tounge in the shoe had worn the top layer of skin away. Ouch! I had done the shoes up fairly tight to stop the foot slipping and causing arch blisters. It seems I just can't win here either! No wonder my feet were sore!

So it looks like I will be taking a few days off from running to let the blisters heal and the hunt is on yet again to find a decent pair of shoes. Oh well, back to the drawing board!

Bryan Ackerly