We didn’t even get out of Bristol Airport before we bumped into 40 Teignbridge Trotters on their way to sample an Italian marathon and shortly after them we came across Heather Hawker from Honiton RC, who was going just for the weekend since an ankle injury was preventing her from running.
Despite firm intentions not to spend too much time on our feet the day before the race, we found ourselves spending a lot of time on our feet – firstly at the Expo where we picked up some pretty impressive goody bags and freebies, then in the quest for public transport and then wandering around Venice for the rest of the day.
It was a beautiful sunny day and Venice was everything we had expected it to be. The only sensible thing we did was to imbibe huge quantities of carbohydrates – just as well we did that during the day because we managed to pick the only bad restaurant in the whole of Italy for our evening meal.
The defective preparations continued – a largely sleepless night due to the Italian couple in the room next to ours who conversed at the tops of their very considerable voices way into the early hours, no proper breakfast as we had to leave at 7.10am for the bus and breakfast didn’t start until 7.30am (I still can’t believe that I ran 26 miles without any caffeine given that most days I can’t get out the front door and into the car without a gallon or so in my system) and then a lot of time spent on our feet in the longest, slowest queue for the loo which I have ever been in (and I’ve been in a few in my time!) for the most disgusting, revolting, stomach turning porta loos in the history of the world. It was not an auspicious start!
The defective preparations continued – a largely sleepless night due to the Italian couple in the room next to ours who conversed at the tops of their very considerable voices way into the early hours, no proper breakfast as we had to leave at 7.10am for the bus and breakfast didn’t start until 7.30am (I still can’t believe that I ran 26 miles without any caffeine given that most days I can’t get out the front door and into the car without a gallon or so in my system) and then a lot of time spent on our feet in the longest, slowest queue for the loo which I have ever been in (and I’ve been in a few in my time!) for the most disgusting, revolting, stomach turning porta loos in the history of the world. It was not an auspicious start!
The marathon started at Stra, a small town just east of Padova and followed the river Brenta back towards the coast. The river was quite pretty in parts and the trees, but basically it was a long, straight road which went on for what seemed like ever, punctuated by passing through a few small villages en route for the coast. We ran through the Marghara industrial area (which was as scenic as it sounds) and Mestre, which involved boring streets and a weird plunge into a tunnel which took us to the other side of the railway. Eventually we reached Park San Guiliano – where the Expo was based – which was more pleasant and the loud speaker and bands gave us a boost.
The race was strangely quiet – there were spectators, but for a nation which is normally so noisy, they just stood watching the runners passing by. No cheering or clapping. Put an Italian in a bar or restaurant (or in the room next to yours when you’re trying to get some sleep) and they’ll make an incredible amount of noise. Stand them on a marathon route and they have nothing to say for themselves. The runners didn’t talk either. In England you’d be able to eavesdrop on (or join in) a dozen conversations going on around you. Maybe Italians take their running a bit more seriously. Mind you Martin and I didn’t exactly engage in any earnest conversation or sparkling repartee. Typical conversation was “I can’t go on” (me) “Stop whining” (Martin).
After leaving Park San Guiliano we finally reached the Ponte della Liberta – the 4km bridge leading onto Venice. At least it says it’s 4km – longest 4km I’ve ever run, it just went on for ever. At this point we had a bit of a surge, thinking we may just dip under 3.30. However, sadly, it didn’t last for long and we soon slowed down again.
At last we reached Venice and the home stretch – the pretty bit which we had been looking forward to. First we had to run through an industrial area, where I managed to fall over a road stud, landing right on my left hip and breaking my GPS. It was one of those surreal moments – I saw the road stud coming, I knew I was going to fall over it, but I was so tired I just couldn’t do anything about it. Fortunately we were running so slowly it didn’t hurt much!
We reached the Guidecca Canal and began crossing the 14 bridges that now stood between us and the finish – including a 170 foot pontoon bridge across the Grand Canal built especially for the marathon. This was the part of the course we had really been looking forward to – absolutely stunning and even some shouts of encouragement from spectators here – but we were way too tired to enjoy it now.
Eventually we crossed the last bridge and a final push to the finish at the centre of the Riva dei Sette Martiri, crossing the line in 3 hours 35 minutes and 25 seconds, a huge personal worst for both of us on a road marathon, especially one which is essentially a flat, fast course. If we had done our London 2007 times I would have been easily 1st in my age category, but the lack of training really showed and we both struggled for most of the route. However after the disappointment of my recent French DNF it was a relief to reach the finish line at all, and fortunately my Achilles held out despite protesting the whole way.
No more races now (no honestly) – cross training is our fate. But we’ll be back!
The race was strangely quiet – there were spectators, but for a nation which is normally so noisy, they just stood watching the runners passing by. No cheering or clapping. Put an Italian in a bar or restaurant (or in the room next to yours when you’re trying to get some sleep) and they’ll make an incredible amount of noise. Stand them on a marathon route and they have nothing to say for themselves. The runners didn’t talk either. In England you’d be able to eavesdrop on (or join in) a dozen conversations going on around you. Maybe Italians take their running a bit more seriously. Mind you Martin and I didn’t exactly engage in any earnest conversation or sparkling repartee. Typical conversation was “I can’t go on” (me) “Stop whining” (Martin).
After leaving Park San Guiliano we finally reached the Ponte della Liberta – the 4km bridge leading onto Venice. At least it says it’s 4km – longest 4km I’ve ever run, it just went on for ever. At this point we had a bit of a surge, thinking we may just dip under 3.30. However, sadly, it didn’t last for long and we soon slowed down again.
At last we reached Venice and the home stretch – the pretty bit which we had been looking forward to. First we had to run through an industrial area, where I managed to fall over a road stud, landing right on my left hip and breaking my GPS. It was one of those surreal moments – I saw the road stud coming, I knew I was going to fall over it, but I was so tired I just couldn’t do anything about it. Fortunately we were running so slowly it didn’t hurt much!
We reached the Guidecca Canal and began crossing the 14 bridges that now stood between us and the finish – including a 170 foot pontoon bridge across the Grand Canal built especially for the marathon. This was the part of the course we had really been looking forward to – absolutely stunning and even some shouts of encouragement from spectators here – but we were way too tired to enjoy it now.
Eventually we crossed the last bridge and a final push to the finish at the centre of the Riva dei Sette Martiri, crossing the line in 3 hours 35 minutes and 25 seconds, a huge personal worst for both of us on a road marathon, especially one which is essentially a flat, fast course. If we had done our London 2007 times I would have been easily 1st in my age category, but the lack of training really showed and we both struggled for most of the route. However after the disappointment of my recent French DNF it was a relief to reach the finish line at all, and fortunately my Achilles held out despite protesting the whole way.
No more races now (no honestly) – cross training is our fate. But we’ll be back!
Posts
3 comments:
I am glad you aren’t doing any more races until your fit again, if the reports are going to be this depressing. Perhaps you should get Eric to do your next report; we know it won’t be long before you are racing again. Or is this report an attempt to get one of the new awards at the AGM?, those that didn’t run an Thursday will have to wait for the next meeting to find out more.
Race report wasn't meant to be depressing, it was supposed to be funny! Perhaps I can win the Xmas Award for Most Gloomy Blog Submission?
Just to correct the record we had a great time in Venice (apart from the odd three and a half hours or so)- wouldn't have missed it for anything!
Richard said:
Although we had three weeks holiday and about one month without any training the last three weekends saw the Westgates racing as usual. This was really a remarkable feat considering the unpleasant remnants of campylobacter and prolonged deranged periods spent chanting “Om Mani Padme Hom”.
First off was the Drogo. The famous Pam Gurney – Race Director was on top form. Her talk went something like this:
“Be quiet, welcome to the Drogo, shuddup you will listen; look, I’m the race director and you will hear this safety talk, shuddup at the back, the race will not start ‘till you’ve heard this; look, I’m not known for being polite or politically correct and I’m not going to start now, Shuddup!!! It’s a bit slippy out there!”
I know “slippy” is in the Oxford English Dictionary, but why do I feel like turning into a homicidal axe-wielding maniac every time someone uses that word??? Anyway the illustrious Pam said she would walk us forward to the start and then count us down. The people at the back didn’t hear as they were still talking and thought the race had started!!
Being unfit I decided to relax and run at fast conversation pace. My finish time of 1:20:19 was only about 5% or 4 mins slower than my best at Drogo. This time however I enjoyed the scenery, it really is quite a “pretty” race. Makes me wonder if trying that extra bit is really worth it. What else can I say: perfect weather, excellent views, friendly marshals, good facilities, well organised by a great running club!!! This race can get a bit crowded on some of the narrow bits but as only 314 took part it was really good this year.
Next was the Cheddar Half, which I need to book a day’s holiday for as I normally work Saturdays. Once again we had near perfect weather with a bit of a head wind near the end. Target time was 1:35, but could only manage 1:36:06, couldn’t really push myself and walked over the finish line. I do like this race and have done all seven: bit of a shock at the finish – they have changed the shape of the souvenir mug. It’s tall and slimmer, but holds less. In a way this breaks the sequence for a boring old completist like me and things will never be the same again. Great to see about 27 SWRRs at Cheddar – have they nothing better to do??!!
Next up was the Templer Ten, which is approx 9.7 miles. Once again we were incredibly lucky with the weather. Torrential rain and high winds had threatened to force our old car to retire on the way down, but as soon as we parked the rain stopped and the wind died. I was going to take it really steady round the course but suddenly noticed a work colleague, who has never beaten me, some way ahead. I had to resort to vaulting manky old gates and diving under barbed wire to get ahead and fortunately finished about 45 secs ahead of him. Not our favourite race – bit too much road, but we’ve done all four and I like sequences.
Lesley said:
I fell twice in the Drogo, on the stony track both times and still have the scars, so not such happy memories for me. Cheddar was OK, but my legs reverted to trekking mode around nine miles and I was glad to get my only Cheddar mug. I managed to improve my time at Templer Ten yet again; shall I try for a fifth time???
Post a Comment