Peter and Mick at the Finish

There were six runners in the traveling party from Athenry AC for this years running of the Edinburgh Marathon. In 2004 there had been one-and-a-half. Twelve months ago Ray and I had entered this race before I was sidelined with injury. In the end Ray ran and I carried the bags. We both ended up having a great time and we promised ourselves that we'd be back with reinforcements. So it was that Ray, myself, Eileen, Bridget-Anne, Peter and Mark took planes trains and busses and taxis to arrive in Scotland for this years edition of the Edinburgh Marathon. Mark’s wife Sinead and my wife Margaret had also traveled to take in the race and engage in a little retail therapy. It was the first time for a long time that I’ve had Margaret there to support me at a big race and it was fantastic for me to have her there although I suspect that I may have been hard to live with, particularly as the race drew near. As runners, our personal goals for the race varied considerably in all but one respect, we wanted to enjoy ourselves and this seemed just the place to do it.

I normally wouldn't try to give a blow-by-blow account of anyone else’s race but my own, but as I ran in lockstep with Peter for nearly twenty miles this time our two races had a lot in common. I'll have to leave it to Ray, Eileen, Bridget-Anne and Mark to enlighten us in more detail about their experiences and I’m sure Peter may want to add his own few words to this account. On race morning we all had to trudge towards the start in Hollyrood Park. Despite my nervousness before the race about being able to make a quick start, Peter and myself were able to claim a place right in the front rank just behind the small group of elite runners that the race organisers had recruited. Peter was wearing a 2:50 pace band and I was hoping to run a very similar pace, although I had less clearly defined goals. It was only six weeks since I had set a personal best for the marathon in London with 2:50:03 and I wasn’t completely sure how that race would affect my run in Scotland.

At precisely 9:00am all the speculation became academic as a canon boomed and sent the thousands of runners on their way around a rainy Edinburgh. It was a clean, quick start and unlike London six weeks previously we were immediately into our running. Although Peter and I struck out at what seemed like a sensible pace at somewhere around 6:30 per mile, runners of all shapes, makes and sizes streamed by on either side. We tried to relax and I said to Peter, “Let them go, let them go. They’re coming back”. I needn’t have worried. Peter knows the score by now. The first couple of miles were tricky enough incorporating some hills, slick corners and wet cobblestones as they did. We both concentrated hard on staying vertical, keeping an even pace not blowing it. The first two miles were 6:36 and 6:35. As has sometimes happened to me before I had an early bad patch and I even tried to encourage Peter to run ahead saying that I’d catch him later. Luckily the slightly panicky feeling that had crept up on me during the third mile passed within ten minutes or so and we stuck together.

We tried to pass the early miles with bad jokes and stories of other races and managed to chip away at the miles with reasonable regularity. Splits of 6:18, 6:19, 6:26, 6:27 and 6:27 brought us to the seven-mile point. The going was reasonably easy although we kept up to the work and worked well as a team. We passed through a long section of cycle path, wide enough only for three or four runners abreast. We both shook our heads and wondered at what mayhem would ensue when the main body of the race passed this section later on. There were several long uphill sections and a few more sharp turns that meant you really had to concentrate. Although I never struggled in these early miles I certainly never had the feeling that we should push ahead. This was as fast as I could go without risking imminent disaster. We kept this balancing act going from mile to mile, checking each split and encouraging each other. Both of us seemed to have ‘sticky’ sections as the course undulated and twisted around suburban Edinburgh. Spectators were thin on the ground through these miles.

Ray Working Hard

Miles eight to thirteen are a bit of a blur to me now as I look back on the race. There were more sections of cobbles, roundabouts, small city streets and roads divided by traffic cones. We plodded on towards halfway ducking under railway bridges and weaving around the streets. The second half of the course, which hugged the coastline, promised to be both flatter and easier as we expected a slight following breeze. Mile splits of 6:40, 6:31, 6:21, 6:17, 6:37 and 6:26 brought us almost to the halfway mark. The mile markers were attached to the nearest lamppost or piece of street furniture and didn’t always seem to be accurate - although you could sometimes spot the painted mark on the road indicating the correctly measured mark. Mile twelve saw runners emerge from darkest suburban Edinburgh onto the coastline. At this point we could see the course double back on itself towards the city-centre and the finish line. Peter and I were lucky enough to see the race leaders running in the opposite direction. They seemed to be moving incredibly fast. From what I know four men dipped under 2:15 on the day. The halfway mark passed for us with 1:24:41 on the clock. I couldn't’t say that I was still running comfortably at this point but I was still managing to keep the pace going and negative thoughts at bay.

When we turned back towards the city, just before the thirteen-mile marker, we had both expected a slight wind at our backs. I was a little disconcerted to realise that the opposite was true; we had a wind in our faces. At this point we took some sound advice that Paul McNamara had kindly offered before the race. Peter and I had discussed Paul’s suggestion that we both lead each other for alternating sections of the race beforehand but had come to no clear conclusion. Feeling a wind in our faces I decided to force the issue and said to Peter, “I’ll take a mile, drop in behind”, and moved slightly ahead of him. I wasn’t sure that he’d agree but I knew that if he didn’t that I’d find out quickly enough. There were no immediate objections and I tried to make a steady pace. After what only seemed like half a mile Peter assumed the lead and took us both forward steadily. Conversation had dwindled a little before our new strategy was adopted and was reduced further now that we were running in single file. It was time to go to work.

Our newly adopted plan seemed to work well. Miles came and went in general accordance with the required pace. Miles of 6:29, 6:22, 6:27 and 6:33 brought us to the seventeen-mile point. I was more than happy with the splits we were making. It was a little difficult at first to get used to letting someone else worry about the pacing for each alternate mile but there was a definite advantage to tucking in behind the other runner, both physically and psychologically. Mile eighteen was a little quick as we passed by an aid station and a small pocket of spectators. The figure for this mile was 6:17. There is always a temptation to unconsciously speed up when passing an area with so much activity. Mile nineteen had us back on track with a 6:29 but mile twenty rang some alarm bells for me when I pressed my watch and saw 6:41. This had been our slowest mile of the race so far and it hadn’t felt that slow at all. I decided it was time to start making an extra effort. I didn’t want to fall off the pace we had worked so hard to keep for twenty miles without at least a token struggle.

My reasoning at this point was that I should press on and hope that Peter could also pick it up. I was unsure - I didn’t know how long I’d be able to keep the renewed effort going for. Perhaps I was making a move too soon but I took a gamble and pressed on. For a long time Peter remained just a few feet in arrears but slowly his steps fell further back. Not knowing what to say, or if indeed there was anything to say, I said nothing and concentrated on my running rhythm. We were now into the final crucial six miles and I was running on instinct. The field was very strung out. Peter and I had been passing runners regularly since halfway and were moving steadily through the field. By the time we approached the final six miles there were only one or two runners to be seen both in front and behind. As we ran past spectators and passers-by, some of whom seemed to be quite surprised to see runners at all. Although I didn’t look back to Peter the gap seemed to grow along this section. I knew he’d see the race out, I had no worries on that front, but there was a small sense of regret on my part that we weren't’t seeing the whole course out together as we have done before. Miles twenty-one and twenty two were 6:24 and 6:29.

Eileen and Bridget Ann

After mile twenty-two my splits are hard to reconstruct. Some of the mile markers were inaccurately placed, my head was mostly mush and I’m also not sure I hit the right watch buttons at the right times. All I can do to tell you what the last four miles were like is to split the time taken evenly and calculate that I ran the last four miles at an average 6:13 pace. I was hurting and sore but not any more that you’d expect for the end of a marathon. I was able to enjoy the slightly weird experience of finishing a big race towards the front of the field. As I approached the final stretch there were larger groups of spectators than I had seen for the whole race. The announcer called my name and I ran the last fifty yards with fists in the air. My wife Margaret spotted me from the roadside and cheered me past. It was a lovely touch at the end of a long race. I ducked under the banner and promptly forgot to click my watch, had my picture taken and it was all over for me for that day. Roughly three minutes later Peter came through the finish after winning a titanic sprint battle up the last stretch with another runner. After the line they both embraced as TV cameras looked on. It was all so weird from that point of view, we’re not used to this sort of attention.

As I write, three days after the race, the results are still not available on-line. The race organisers provided the results to a local newspaper for exclusive publication yesterday but have yet to provide athletes with their own result, something of which they should be completely ashamed. Leaving that complaint aside, someone who has access to the results tells me that I went past the post in 2:48:12 (pb by 1:51) which was good for 27th place overall. I’d estimate that Peter was three or four places behind me at most. Given that there were about twenty ‘hired-guns’ in the race I think we both have to be very pleased with that result. Personally I’m going to sit back and enjoy this one for a little while.

Mark was next home in three hours and thirty-two minutes. Mark had kept a low profile for the weekend but certainly produced the goods in the race. Congratulations Mr. Flannery! Shortly afterwards Ray came home, just ducking under the four-hour mark, which had been his sole objective for the day. He’s quickly gaining on Liam’s total of 18 marathon finishes and Edinburgh was his third this year after London and Belfast. He tells me that Longford, Dublin and New York await later this year and I wouldn’t doubt him. Our ‘sheep ladies’ produced another fine race on what they tell us was less than dedicated training. Eileen ran a fine 4:30 and Bridget Anne followed closely in 4:38. Their chip times may be faster but as mentioned above the official results are unfortunately not available to us yet.

To sum up so, a great race, a great weekend and great shopping. I’d have some small gripes about the course and organisation and they’ll certainly have to improve in some areas to realise their stated ambition to expand this race into a much larger running festival catering for 30 - 40,000 runners, but on balance it’s certainly a race I’d recommend.

Mick Rice

GE Commercial Finance - Aviation Services (GECAS)

Oracle DBA, Information Technology

Splits Time

mile1 06:36 00:06:36

mile2 06:35 00:13:11

mile3 06:18 00:19:29

mile4 06:19 00:25:48

mile5 06:26 00:32:14

mile6 06:27 00:38:41

mile7 06:27 00:45:08

mile8 06:41 00:51:49

mile9 06:31 00:58:20

mile10 06:21 01:04:41

mile11 06:17 01:10:58

mile12 06:37 01:17:35

mile13 06:26 01:24:01

mile14 06:29 01:30:30

mile15 06:22 01:36:52

mile16 06:27 01:43:19

mile17 06:33 01:49:52

mile18 06:14 01:56:06

mile19 06:30 02:02:36

mile20 06:41 02:09:17

mile21 06:24 02:15:41

mile22 06:29 02:22:10

mile23 06:13 02:28:23

mile24 06:13 02:34:36

mile25 06:13 02:40:49

mile26 06:13 02:47:02

mile26.2 01:10 02:48:12