Australian Outback Marathon -3.17:11 3rd Overall.

A nice little 6 day break took me to the Red Centre of Australia that then gave me the opportunity to line up for the ‘Australian Outback Marathon’(AOM), and boy what an experience it turned out to be. Flew in on the Wednesday and it was anything but the usual race preparation before lining up on the Saturday with another 250 excited runners.

What a sight it was as we watched sunrise before the local Aboriginal signalled race start with the traditional didgeridoo blast to get us going.  Settled pretty early and a set time was never the go for this race so was happy (and surprised) as I got talking to another ex-pat named Oliver running along side by side in 2^nd and 3^rd place with Mr Japan guy about 10m behind. The scenery was stunning as we went  through the 10k mark in about 43 minutes averaging 4.17 per/k.

First and only drama was to come at the 13k marker when the U.S Marines on a visit via Darwin who were on road crossing duty and didn’t mention to take the next left 300m up the road that saw us continue straight for an extra 900m before they had to drive to turn us back (thus adding 1.8ks that wasn’t in the script). It was at this stage that Oliver decided he wanted to push on to try to gain some time back but I was happy enough to be holding the 4.17s and that was the last I saw of him till about 2 hrs later in the day. Spent the next 8ks or so going past people (who didn’t go the wrong way) that took my mind off things and then the back markers after you pretty much double back at 26k. Plenty of High 5s to go with it and before long I was at the 30k mark of the race.

With no specific marathon training leading into this race I really started to struggle from about 33ks and when a basic rookie error meant my GPS packed up with no battery life it then meant I was seeing the race out without no idea of time. What I did know though was my pace had dropped considerably and when Mr Japan came up and went past at the 38k marker there was nothing I could do about it despite me trying to stay with him at least till the 40k point. The ‘Field of Lights’ sight that I knew was near the end was a welcome relief and when I could hear the music blasting out I somehow managed to lift the pace (albeit slightly) as I crossed out in 3.17:11

Mighty happy then to find out I had snagged 3^rd position and even more pleased to see Oliver take 1^st with Mr Japan 2^nd despite all 3 of us include the extra distance and didn’t affect the end result.

As a race it was one of the best events I’ve had the privilege to run in, with drinks stations every 3k on the course, personal drinks put out and most importantly EVERY kilometre sign was out and spot ON. Course was tough, plenty of compact soft stuff to run on but the little sand dunes were a killer that almost brought me to a standstill.  The organisation was top notch with FREE supply of  food and drinks all the way through the afternoon as the runners were coming in right  up to the generous 8hr cut –off time.  Even then with still 12 runners left on the course they kept the clock going and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house when the final lady crossed the line in 8hr:43 dragging her sorry body as if she’d been to war to rapturous applause as she was presented with her finishes medal.

 

The night time after party was as good as I’ve been as well, with everyone coming together in the ‘Pioneer Outback Pub to tell all the success stories from the day as many a beer was consumed.  A couple of easy days followed sat around the pool and some sightseeing around the Rock on some bikes completed a very memorable trip.

Will I be back? – you bet. Get it locked in.

 

A few pics from the tour and actual race.

 

Cheers