Finishing time: 1h55

25 Feb 2008

Well, I am very pleased to say that I finished the race in less than my original target time or 2 hours! Given that it was a really tough course, I am extremely pleased with the result – this has been my first half marathon!

It all started with my alarm going off a 6am. I wanted to be out of the house by 8:30 to be there for 9 so that I had a dogs chance in hell of parking. But I must have been bitten by the snooze monster during the night which would explain why I kept automatically hitting the snooze button until 7:00, at which point I hesitantly fell out of bed.

Breakfast was 2 squeezed oranges, a bowl of Kellogs Fitness (probably too late for that to actually make me any more fit) and a banana. By the time I got my act together and was ready to leave it was 9:00. I got there at 9:30, and parking was impossible. I began to have visions of missing the race because I couldn't park anywhere! I was starting to get stressed... cruising around the 'hood' I found some wasteland where I decided to abandon my car. 5 people behind me all copied immediately, so at least my car didn't look too abandoned. Even better, the other cars were all Audis, BMWs, and Mercedes, so if any car was to get stolen it certainly wouldn't have been my little buggy!

I met up with Agent Smith at 9:45, registered to get my chip. The chip goes on your training shoes to register crossing the start and finish lines.

At 10:00 we were off!! It was easy to fall into a rhythm. The pack of runners started to spread out about 5 mins later. It all seemed fairly easy, but bear in mind that the first half was all downhill. Extremely downhill, and we all know that what goes down eventually has to come up. I had to keep pushing that thought away! There were water & Aquarius stops every 5 km. I didn't actually take advantage of any of these stops as I had 2 small water pouches with me and I knew pretty well how much I needed to drink and when. Did I mention that it was raining? It was just a nice temperature for running – too cold for standing still though.

At km 12, the fun started – the easy ride came to an end and the wonderful, fabulous hills in the park Casa de Campo began their subtle attack. The course wound up through the hills, and I swear that I actually saw someone cheat, cutting out a huge bend, working away all on his own! Anyhow, it was a hard slog, and people were flinging empty water bottles and plastic cups all over the place. The course path was confettied with little blue screw off water bottle tops. Around then I considered digging out my MP3 player for a dose of the theme to “The A Team” to spur me on. Looking around me and listening to everyones struggling groans seemed to reinforce the fairly good atmosphere in which we were all united, so I didn't bother. Instead, it was head down and work away. At km 15 I looked at my watch – 1h25. I think I must have been delirious then because I suddenly thought to myself, “OMG, I can finish this by a quarter to”. By km 17 on the longest and toughest hill I came to my senses and the hill was eating my legs alive. Near the top there was a marshal with a megaphone assuring people that that was the toughest section of the course and to please persevere and continue on. Then it started to level out a little, and there was even a downhill stretch – breathe - trot - recuperate. But not for long, oh no, of course not! Shoulder to the grind and back uphill again. The general public were great, all shouting encouragement.

By around km 19, even though I was hot, my spine and scalp started to feel very cold and shivery. This didn't get any better at all, and it was all still uphill until the end. The fact that only 2km remained kept me going - I would have liked to have walked a little by then to give my legs a break, but instead just kept on working my way up the hill. I was even starting to feel a little dizzy as Aluche sport stadium came into view – almost home.

Then I saw some colleagues from work, which brought on a big smile as they took a picture. The dawning that I was actually going to finish in under 2 hours felt great and helped me to push just that little bit harder. I crossed the line at 1h55, still in full uphill rhythm, and tried to stop. As soon as I did I felt so light I was sure I'd fall over, so I carried on running for a bit more, gradually slowing down.

I met up with Agent Smith again, and the only thing left was to pick up a booty bag and head for the exit. I checked the winning time on the way out – it was 1h20. Whoever that was, they can't have been human!!

So I have to say that the whole experience has been an incredible success!

I exceeded my own physical expectations, the training program has been tremendous fun. Furthermore, the sponsorship has left me flabbergasted - I never ever expected the generosity that people have shown.

I have already broken through my fund raising target of 500 sterling! So heres a big thanks to you all for the support that you have given!

From the link: http://www.adcorebo.org/corebo/Latina/Clasificaciones/VETERANOS_A_MASCULINO.asp

You can search for my number 756 ("DORSAL") and see my official results:

Position 1635

Final time 01:55:36

Average time 00:05::29

Category VETERANO AM

Position in category: 325

It is never too late to make a contribution to this cause. If in any doubt, please contact me at damiandonnelly@hotmail.com

All the best,

Damian

ps, you can also watch me crossing the finishing line here:

http://corriendovoy.com/videos/ver_video.php?sec=3&carrera=latina&video=Latina010.flv