Majorca Marathon 14/12/08
The idea of a warm weather winter run originated with Tom Watson who had suggested the Benidorm marathon which was to be run in November 2008.
As I had agreed to stand down from my curmudgeonly stance of “non” to all things marathon the idea took seed. I had been persuaded to run “the long painful one” again by a former university colleague who reasoned that if he was making the trip from Auckland to do London in April 2009 the very least I could do was come down from Edinburgh to join him – so thank you to the club for giving me the chance to run London in April 2009.
But if Benidorm was a no – where could I pick up a warm weather run in its place? I contacted Malcolm Hargreaves of Running Crazy and he suggested the Calvia Majorca in December which seemed an excellent idea. So full of enthusiasm for this new venture I printed off posters and announced my intentions to the club – to a mixed and rather muted response. Lots of chat but no definite commitment.
So I resigned myself to a warm weather solo run – until the idea began to pick up some momentum amongst the women – I think Lynn was the initial instigator of this, so it was with some irony that Lynn had to pull out due to a better offer/work commitments/the idea of sharing a bed with Karen no longer appealing (answers on a postcard to BBC, PO box, Palmanova).
Then Eric decided that he could put together a better package than Running Crazy and we were off and running, (despite Globespan’s very best efforts to strand us in Palmanova) courtesy of Auto Amigos, Hotel Matias Beach, Easyjet and a dedicated band of elite runners – plus back up team. Eric, Margaret, Willie J and me for the marathon; Karen, Cath, Janis, Sandra for the half marathon.
Our back up team consisted of the highly experienced marathon team of Penny, Sandra and Elspeth – well they listened patiently to all our running talk and at least pretended they were interested and fed us drink at the appropriate moments.
The trip was a huge success and enjoyed immensely by all – we now know how to winter in Palmanova – we can line dance;slosh; sing country and western; do bingo; beach bowls; How to be a millionaire; I’m a celebrity get me out of Palmanova; scrum with the best of them in the buffet (and by the way the food was superb and lots of it even if dinner finished at 8.30) although I’m not sure of the point of diet porridge alongside huge portions of fried egg, fried bread and black pudding; Christmas carol concert – you’ve never been to a carol concert until you have heard “you’ll never walk alone” sung in a Dutch accent out of time and tune - an all time classic; plus a trip to Palma which is a genuinely stunning city – the cathedral absolutely magnificent. Having 2 hire cars gave us a good deal of flexibility.
Ah yes the run – well warm weather it was not – a damn good soaking at 9 miles followed at about 11 miles by hailstones of the ouch – no really ouch stop hurling these ice balls at me variety and a 2 lap course. Now I had never run a 2 lap course before and it does strange things to your mind. The easy pacing I had set in my mind to do was working – half marathon in 1.38 felt good and not my usual eyeballs out from the start and blow up at 22 miles – but then you start round again and you know those hills are waiting for you - again! And it was not the gentle sloping, most runners do a PB on this course as advertised by Running Crazy, it was a tough course and pretty cold most of the time. But I finished strongly and even overtook runners in the final run in to finish in a reasonable 3.35 against a hoped for <3.30. At one stage having overtaken one runner I heard his footsteps catching me so I took off like a turkey running from Christmas only to find it was the echo of my own footsteps I was running from!
Willie J ran a magnificent race of just over the 3 hours but incredibly was only 2nd in his category; Margaret in her 5th marathon this year ran very strongly but more importantly very photogenically and Eric in is his 3rd marathon this year again finished strongly and looking to do more next year.
In tribute to the course organisers it was one of the best marshalled and organised races I have been part of – if we put the chaotic registration to one side. Even the pasta party was excellent.
Report and photos Iain Duckworth
Willie's Report...
It was back in the summer when Iain suggested a club trip to Majorca taking in the Majorca marathon. So 8 runners and 3 non running supporters set off last weekend. Iain, Eric, Willie and Margaret were signed up for the marathon; Karen, Sandra, Cath and Janis took on the half marathon challenge and Elspeth, Penny and Sandra were the much appreciated support.
We set off from Edinburgh on Friday and checked in on the Friday night at the San Mattias Beach Hotel in Palma Nova, Majorca.
The hotel was perfect and we found out straight away how good the meals were - we were half board and all the meals were 4 course buffet style with a generous choice of everything.
Sat morning we registered for the races at the nearby marathon centre hotel. It was a bit warm as we strolled round looking for the sports centre where the races would start. I was glad to get back to the hotel for a rest! In the afternoon Eric bussed the girls into Palma City in the minibus we'd hired. After dropping them off Eric and I headed back to the pasta party where Iain and Penny were. I have been to a few pasta parties before marathons but I have to say this was the best. After 2 helpings of spaghetti Bolognese I considered another helping but as Iain and Penny had been there waiting an extra 1/2 hour for us I decided against forcing them to watch me scoff another plateful. (I was tempted though.)
Later we took the van back into Palma to be told that the shops we'd found for the girls weren't the right shops. (You'll get it right one of these days Eric, or then again, probably not.) After dinner we relaxed and considered tomorrow's challenges. Had a stroll up the marathon route discussing race tactics and wishing for rain the following day. (Sorry Karen, it was our fault.)
I only managed to get 2 1/2 hours sleep but eventually morning came and we had breakfast and headed up to the start. Our hotel was only about 10 mins walk away so that was perfect. Not too warm as we got changed and handed in our baggage.
There were about 600 runners in total between a 10k, half marathon and marathon.We all started together at 9am so we wished each other luck and we were off and running. I was determined not to go too fast at the start and tried to enjoy the atmosphere. 5k came and went and then at 10k I was a bit behind my predicted pace (even for a slow start) and it wasn't feeling easy at all. A nice couple of downhill kilometres after that and I was starting to feel a bit better. The circular course is 1 lap for the half marathon and 2 laps for the full marathon and is marked in kilometres not miles.They come up quicker but there is more of them - 42.195 to be exact. Anyway at this stage you still don't know who is running the half and who is doing the full marathon so it is important to run at your own pace. The 2nd half of the first lap was quite a lot of downhill so I realised why the first 10k had felt harder. It was a gradual climb all the way!
About 3/4 of the way round the first lap the rain started and by the time I reached 18k the hailstones were bouncing off the ground. Not what you would expect in Majorca but I think my spanish running partners found it more uncomfortable than I did. They probably wondered why I was laughing. Puddles were forming now and my shoes were getting wet and the laces too tight so eventually I had to stop and loosen them before getting going again.
Karen was the first of our runners to turn into the finishing straight for the half marathon finish. I bet she felt good as she waved goodbye to Margaret who was having to go round the whole route again. I found the first half of the second lap OK as I knew it was uphill this time. 28k passed and I remembered Bert's advice - 20 miles (32k) is only half way so I dug in till 30k, then the welcome downhill section. 32k passed (10k to go). The sun was starting to come out again and I felt quite strong so pushed on and passed a few runners each mile.
The last 4k (through Palma Nova and past our hotel) were tough, (nobody said a marathon was easy) but the finish was good.There isn't the support out on the couse that you get at big city marathons like London but the last half mile is a straight road and near the finish the crowds are on either side and they made some noise. I was on my own at this stage so I knew the cheers were for me and I managed a decent sprint finish and crossed the line feeling OK.
I slowly walked back some of the course after getting changed to cheer on Iain, Margaret and Eric. Iain had been hoping to break the 3.30 barrier but the hills and the wind put paid to that; although his 3.35 was a fantastic run on that course. (3.25 Iain on an "easy, flat" course like London or Edinburgh).
I think we were all relieved to finish and after a few photos we trudged (slowly) back to the hotel. Felt better after a shower and a couple of hours later we headed back to the Marathon Central Hotel for the prizegiving and presentation. A Lavish affair. A large stage with 4 distinguished celebrities giving out the prizes and compered by a women who translated into 3 different languages. The various main prizes were given out to the race winners and then amidst some foreign words it was announced that I had managed to win 2nd place in my age category and I dragged my weary legs up to receive a handsome trophy for my efforts. I'm sure that even the winner of the race didn't get as loud a cheer as I did. Moments like these aren't easily forgotten, THANKS girls. Although I did feel a bit guilty as Margaret had also been 2nd in her category but didn't get a prize. So much for equality.
Later that night we celebrated our efforts with a party back at the hotel and after dinner joined the other hotel guests to enjoy the first class entertainment which was provided every night. Tonight was a singer who had just released a debut single which he claimed was getting played on Terry Wogan's radio show. One of these unforgettable names we'll remember when he's famous. Liam something or other, I think. But seriously the guy was good (and he knew it). Nobody was dancing though until the Porty girls took to the floor and that started things going. After that the dance floor was full. I deserted before the end (had a bit of sleep to catch up on) but I heard Sandra, Cath & co were jiving into the small hours. (Where do they get their energy?)
Monday Morning - a few sore heads to go with the sore legs - most of the team went to the market in the morning before catching the flight home via Stanstead, London. Myself and Iain had returned via Luton to avoid the waiting media / it was the cheaper option (delete as appropriate) but we all arrived back in Edinburgh about the same time.
All in all a great weekend with a great crowd and I hope we don't have to wait another 10 years for the next PRC trip. Any suggestions for next year?MARATHON
WILLIE JARVIE 3.04.36 2ND CLASIFICADO 50#
IAIN DUCKWORTH 3.35.03
MARGARET SANDEMAN 4.04.39 2ND CLASIFICADO 45#
ERIC FOSTER 4.24.55
HALF MARATHON
KAREN MUNRO 1.52.24
SANDRA MURRAY 1.58.48
CATH WEBSTER 2.04.46
JANIS STIRTON 2.13.32 3RD CLASIFICADO 55#
