William Chong

Survived my first full marathon on Sunday at a time of 5:04:35. It was a pretty intense day, and with Kat’s 21st birthday party going on the night before I didn’t really get a lot of rest, wondering how things were going.

Cheryl and Kim tagged along for the 4 am start, and I managed to get across to Devonport with an hour to spare. Got some time to sit and watch the running shoes and yellow bags pass by in the ferry building.

I decided not to go with a pace group this year – partly because last year I chose the wrong one and went too fast, and also partly because I was fairly sure of my own running pace, at about 6.5 minutes/km.

The first half of the course was pretty familiar to me, having done it last year. I was much more aware of how hilly the route between Takapuna, Northcote and the Harbour Bridge would be, so I kept my pace steady even on uphill sections and was rewarded with a 21.1km split time of 2 hr 16 min – an improvement over last year’s time.

This year’s marathon brought out some excellent running weather. There was a light breeze and plenty of cloud cover which meant less dehydrating. Generally it was pretty easy weather to run in.

(Team Deathstar)

(Crossing the Auckland Harbour Bridge on a beautiful morning.)

(Passing under the Harbour Bridge while running along Westhaven Marina.)

The second half of the marathon for me was significantly harder. My furthest training run went up to 30 km so once I got past that (at about Mission Bay), it was almost as if my body didn’t recognise what I was meant to be doing. My right calf muscles began to cramp up and I found myself repeating in my head the words to Isaiah 40:31, and hoping it would hold true for me for the rest of the race!

What I found difficult was that a lot of the other folks running at my section were almost powerwalking, yet were still able to keep pace with me. This even though I was faithfully keeping my running cadence (I timed my steps to Mark and Stephen Altrogge’s “I Will Cast My Cares“). Perhaps there’s something to be said for having longer legs when doing long-distance running!

The last seven km’s were wretched. My running had come to the point where my legs were pumping, but it felt like I wasn’t going anywhere fast! Also the cramps that were creeping in at 32 km flared up a couple of times on the way back from St Heliers and Mission Bay to the city again. Going through my mind was: “How embarrassing would it be to get a crazy cramp at the finish and fall over on video!” Fortunately there were plenty of drinks stations along the way back and I was able to keep going, though at a noticeably slower pace than my first 21 km.

Up to the last five k’s I had hoped that I could do a sub-5 hour time, considering that I felt pretty good at the halfway point and was ahead of time. That hope dissolved away when I reached the ferry building (about 2 km from the end) 5 minutes shy of the 5 hour mark. I quickly put the disappointment behind me though, after reflecting on how amazing it was to even have the opportunity to run myself ragged like this. I definitely prayed for a lot of people during my 5 hours of running, and thought particularly of the families in Samoa that Habitat for Humanity will be able to help with the $500 we fundraised for them.

I ended up with a second-half split time of 2:48:34 – and as expected, a much slower pace of 8 mins/km (largely from the last seven k’s). Nevertheless, I crossed that finish line with thoughts of elation and joy, for completing something I’d set my mind to since last year. A nice touch at the end was having the announcer call out each runner’s name as they approached the finish line. They also handed out medals for people who completed the marathon – this would probably be my one and only sports-related medal!

Henry, Cheryl, Arron and Kim all came down to Vic Park to offer their congrats, and we went out for lunch afterwards.

All in all it was a great day – I’m glad I did it!

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