Steven Moody ran the Amsterdam marathon on Sunday - this is his report....
To quote one of the great philosophers of our time…. Ron Burgurdy “When in Rome….”. Ironically enough I choose to ignore this advice and to avoid the extra curricular attractions that Amsterdam traditionally offers the tourist and to run 26.2 miles around the city instead….
To quote one of the great philosophers of our time…. Ron Burgurdy “When in Rome….”. Ironically enough I choose to ignore this advice and to avoid the extra curricular attractions that Amsterdam traditionally offers the tourist and to run 26.2 miles around the city instead…. The marathon itself had an extra poignancy in that it was the conclusion of the Kilbarrack Ave running challenge, which was born over pints between myself and my housemate Mark. This rivalry is comparable to Art McC and Brian C with the added spice of having the loser to live with the victor aswell!!
It was a fairly innocuous start to the marathon with limited fanfare and the thousands of runners started to head out of the stadium. It was a fairly packed start and for the first few miles, all of the runners were bunched together which made it difficult to hit my own stride. However, after a quick cheeky runs on the pavement to avoid the crowd, I was on my way. My main strategy was simple – get ahead at the start and just stick to 7.5 min miles and I reckoned it would be tight but just enough. So I went hard from the start to build myself a lead and I thought I just had to keep ahead of Mark.
I soon discovered that my secret weapon of the pace band printed off from runners world.com was a useful as a chocolate hot water bottle – as the course markers were all in Km whereas my race band imperialistically read in miles – B*****X!
Up to the half way mark I was continually trying to determine if I was on track and I found this very tiring mentally. At one point as I ran alongside the Amstel river – you could see the other lead runners on the other side. I considered briefly using some of Jack and Chantal’s swim training to do a “Roberto Madrazo” and creatively cutting short my race by a couple of miles. I just about resisted the urge…..
After the half way mark I decided to stop attempting to work out my km/hr and to just to concentrate on over taking people. Although this time, (Brian O’Sullivan please note) I did resist the urge to use my Kilkee catch phrase of “It is all about the run!” as I overtook my fellow runners … I thought it would be met with some quizzical looks … It was about this time – I experienced my first ever “Runners high” – or as Runners world describes it “a feeling of invincibility and superior performance”. It was that weird – it just felt effortless whilst I ran - it was great! It was also at this point that I spotted my first windmill, although I think the two events are unrelated!
So this continued for about 15 km and then as soon as my high started – it ended. Well that is a lie as I think some Dutch lad nicked it from me. As at the 36 km mark – I became conscious of an 11850 ad lookalike trying to catch up with me and I became completely paranoid he was trying to steal my “Runners high” ….. I tried to keep him at arms length but eventually he surged ahead and with him, went my aurora of invincibility and I was mortal once again DOUBLE B*****X!
The last part of the race for me was a fight to manage my ever growing fear that Mark was about to overtake me – this lead to a new running style of constantly looking over my shoulder whilst not running into any inanimate objects…. Where was he??? I am so close … I can’t lose it now …As the stadium loomed on the horizon, I decided to go for one of trademark spurts to finish. Picking up the pace, I rounded the track to be hit by a series of mixed emotions – as there in the not too far distance – there was Mark nonchantly bearing down on the finish line. My first emotion was one of immense disappointment as I had mentally being leading him for the last 26 miles. My disappointment was soon replaced with a wave of hope as he was not that far ahead and I had the element of surprise.
So, I had to time this perfectly as I knew Mark got any hint of me closing in on his lead, it would result in a desperate sprint for the line that would truly mark a fair and equitable end to what had been a tight race season.
Sod that I thought to myself, as Mark turned his head to make sure his lead was secure and I shamelessly ducked behind the nearest runner to conceal my presence…Then as a lion stalking his prey – I made my move at the very last minute and jumped out from behind my hiding place breaking into as much as a sprint as I could muster. The element of surprise worked completely in my favor as I burst past him on the outside – with only a couple of meters before the end – there was no time for Mark to catch me.
It was only when I looked up at the main screen that showed runners crossing the finish line and I saw Mark mouthing a word about me that I think must have been winner – but as my lip reading is not great it could have been another word beginning with W….So the season came to an end in appropriate fashion – a sprint finish with only a couple of seconds between the two of us …. And more aptly it ended as it began – in a bar with many beers ….. both of us happy with our new personal bests and then some of other extra curricular activities that Amsterdam had to offer – Anne Franks museum etc …..
PiranhaTri
http://www.piranhatri.com/article.php/20071023221650587