Seattle Marathon – Marathon Five Complete

Certainly the coldest conditions I have been in so far but definitely not going to be the coldest overall, due to the location of Marathon 7! On the morning of the race I woke up at 6 in time to get a little breakfast and make my way to down town Seattle for the start of the race. It was pouring with sleet and rain and the temperature could have been no more than 1 or 2 degrees, consequently the time spent at the start area, preparing for the race was awful. Trying to take photos and video footage was very difficult as having forgotten to bring my gloves my hands would go numb after holding the camera for more than a couple of minutes! As I tried to warm up by lightly jogging around I was getting absolutely soaked so I decided that I would cut that part of the warm up short and go and find some shelter to do some stretching!

I stripped down to my race gear, gave my other clothes in and headed for the start line. At 8.15am, still pouring with rain and sleet the Seattle Marathon started. Surrounded by thousands of runners, I set off down 5th Avenue and out of down town Seattle. I had a plan to stick with nine minute miles and that’s exactly what I did. I ran through half way feeling great with 2 hours dead on the watch. I planned to run a four hour marathon and was bang on course. As I passed the 16th mile marker I was starting to feel it a little in my legs, which I expect in every race but not usually this early. The effects of jet lag and the fact that it was my fifth consecutive race were beginning to kick in I thought. Then my legs got heavier and as I went through 20 – 21 miles there was a steep hill. At this point I thought back to Patagonia and realized that compared to the Argentinean race this was nothing but a mole hill. At the top I felt rejuvenated after a surge up the incline and went on to keep my nine minute pace. Coming into the last few miles and there were the usual water stops and carbo gels available but only in America could you run past someone handing out donuts and a lady with free hugs available at the 24 mile stage. I didn’t take advantage of the latter two but made sure I continued to take on water.

The finishing line was in the Memorial Football Stadium, and the finish was lined by crowds creating an amazing atmosphere. I crossed the line in 3 hrs 57 mins a happy man as I had managed to break four hours again! The next few moments were perhaps the hardest of the day as once I had stopped my legs seized up and I now that I wasn’t running I began to feel the cold. With the rain still pouring down, I was getting soaked and had to make my way up the stadium steps (you can see in the photos) to get my warm clothes. This was certainly the worst part of the day but was worth it as I looked at my medal and thought just two to go!

I fly out to Singapore on Wednesday, from San Francisco, one of my longest flights. Temperatures in Singapore are likely to be about 30 degrees and the humidity will be insane, so I will not be trying to break 4 hrs again and will settle down to 5 hr pace and concentrate on keeping hydrated! I am looking forward to this one as I will have my brother, who is traveling around the world and has agreed to meet me in Singapore, to keep me company and hopefully scrape me off the finish line!

Speak to you soon, Tim