RuthB2, Pestomum, Woodley and later Flip and I spent a quiet night in the flat chatting away before I had a relatively early night.
I woke a little early and started my pre-race faff. My ribs were still a little sore so besides pain killers I thought I would wear a sleeveless base layer under my fetch top for support. I thought I might get too hot but it turned out fine and my ribs were pain free for the entire race. I did take some more pain killers half way round just to be on the safe side.
The plan for Pestomum and me was 11 min/miles and for the first half we managed this fine and everything was going well (apart from there being no water at the 3m water station). Saw the winners coming back before we reached Fetchpoint, which it was lovely to see, and from then on we played spot the Fetchies on the other side of the road for a very long time. When we got to Fetchpoint there was no RuthB2 of Flip with Pesto's special drink - it turned out that their bus took 4 hours to do a thirty minute journey as it was following the runners. Flip ran five miles to try and catch us but we were long gone by the time he reached Fetchpoint
One thing I noticed was the number of people walking on both sides of the road - I have never seen so many, but it was very very hot.
After halfway we started to slow a bit and had some walking breaks. At one point Toolilac, who was doing the relay and going in the other direction, stopped and warned us there was no water ahead and handed us her water bottle as she hadn't got far to go. What a lovely, thoughtful thing to do ! That water was very useful. I started to search the side of road for bottles with any water in, but didn't have any luck.
Eventually we got to 20m and there was water. After that there was loads of water. At about 21m we found Flip who had run out from Fetchpoint with water for us having heard about the water shortage - considering he didn't run the race, he ran an awful lot yesterday, a real hero !
Got to Fetchpoint the second time, lovely to hear the cheers, and there was RuthB2 with Pesto's drink and then we were into the final miles. Our pacing had been pretty good and we ran/walked the last stretch coming home in 5hr 20m which in that heat was a good time for a first marathon. She did great !
We had a good a good chat on the way round too I felt my hamstrings a little on the way round, but no cramp so that was good as well.
In the evening we went to the party organised by Santa and I danced a bit. Well, a lot and loved it
A fantastic weekend and I think I will do this run again in spite of the water shortage. But this weekend will be remembered because of the kindness and thoughtfulness of Fetchies, the work by Fetchies organising Fetchpoint and the pre-race and post-race Fetch events. Thank you !
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