“Nothing happens unless first a dream…”  – Carl Sandburg

The Dream…

The unlikely runner in me has always been grateful for the fact that my very first marathon attempt was 4:51. Heck! I didn’t even  know about the 5 hours cap when I signed up for that bit of adventure; I just wanted to challenge the distance. Before then, the furthest I had gone was 21.1km. For the few years that followed that lucky break, I cocooned myself in the comfort zone of sub-5 finishes.

Fast forward to 2017, two Comrades editions later, and suddenly I found myself itching for more out of running. Indeed, the successful attempt to pursue an F seeding for 2017 showed me that it is not impossible to dream about more. “I can try to #break4“, even if it’s just once. And so, a new madness had started.

The Effort… 

Having recently recovered from an annoying knee injury, I had to ease myself back into pace. The true test of my goal came on 30 September 2017 at the Clover Irene Spring Race where I managed to clock a time of 1:59:03 over 21.1km. I barely made it, but damn – it’s a sub-2 right! From here onward I tried to keep my training pace below 5’40” /km, including a successful solo sub-2 a week before the major event. The stage was set, there was no turning back.

The Stage…

The stage for my sub-4 attempt was the 32nd edition of the Huawei Venice Marathon. All references pointed to a 100% flat course, so I never bothered myself with any hill training. I just wanted speed. While I would have preferred my first international race to be a world major, entries for those are hard to get hold of; after all, everyone wants to do a major. Anyway, Venice is just too cute a city – damnit!

The Expo…

Any decent race holds an expo a few days before the actual event. This is where we collect our race packs, and get exposed to massive advertising campaigns by the race sponsors. Of course, the goodie bag is the highlight. Once you’ve collected your race pack –  the next stop is the goodie bag station. There, awaiting all runners was a cool technical t-shirt, other goodies and most importantly, a cold Bavaria beer. That went down very well…

The Big Day…
By the morning of race day we were still not certain how we were gonna get to the shuttle to the start, Stra – on the other side of town. We woke up very early and navigated the complex maze that is Venice by dark. At the Rialto water bus station we met a fellow runner on his way to the race, so we joined him for the +- 3km walk to the Tronchetto. Once there, we boarded a bus to the  start; what a long ride it was.

The Runners’ Tent…

Upon arrival at the start venue, there were a few interesting surprises. First there was the unisex changing tent where all runners gathered and changed into their running gear.

Then there was the sweet hot tea, served outside next to the start line. Very refreshing that tea was. Last, but not least, was the big South African representation – 24 in total.

South Africans in Venice…

For once, we were not separated by our artificial differences –  we were all South African runners.

Naviglio del Brenta

I got into my seeding pan on time and for the first time the race was very lonely. I couldn’t understand the announcements made in the local language. I laughed when they laughed and clapped when they clapped. 🙂 It was bloomin’ scenic though; the historic Villa Pisani on the left and a tranquil river on the right.

Beautiful!

The Race…

The gun went off, and as usual, we back runners just stood there waiting for something to happen. 🙂 Nothing happened. Once we finally got moving, I got into gear and found my pace – despite needing to speed up to make up for the lost minutes. My rhythm was disturbed by one instance where I needed to stop on the side and tie a loosened shoe lace. The route was as flat as a pancake, so I generally cruised at sub-4 pace. We started in a semi-rural part of the Venice Metropolitan. The people were very friendly, cheering throughout. The words that stuck out for the entire 42kms were “Ciao!”,  “Bravo!”, “Bellissimo!”, and “Bravissimo” – the latter being a special blend of bravo and bellissimo… 🙂

I had watched previous editions of the race on YouTube, so I pretty much knew what to expect. It was still surprising though that the water points were at 5km intervals and the water was served in 500ml bottles. OK – this is new! 

I have seen races in my life and this was a bargain. With each kilometre, sub-4 seemed real. Past a few mainland suburbs, into Parco San Giuliano and eventually across the big bridge which connects the mainland to ancient Venice. Oh, what an experience! 🙂 Once on the island, I could no longer tolerate the heat of the arm sleeves. I ripped them off and shoved them in my pockets. Time was no longer my friend, I had to run. I raced my heart out chasing my target. Passing San Marco with the sub-4 bus well out of my reach, I hoped they may be ahead of target, which would give me a shot at survival. It was not to be. As I turned out of St Marks Square, my watch indicated 42.2km and the end was nowhere near. I killed the watch and stepped on the throttle. I sadly remember hearing a voice over the PA system that the race had passed 4 hours. My heart sank, I barely dragged myself across the finish line at 04:00:45. I was basically 46 seconds late for my target.

For a little while I was pleased to see that the official race certificate registered my  actual (mat-to-mat) time as 03:57:52. A short-lived pleasure until I realised that Comrades only recognises gun-to-mat (04:00:45).

In the end…

In the end, I didn’t get my sub-4; at least not one recognised by Comrades. What I got out this experience though, is that I am capable of much more than I had settled for over the last few years.

And so, life goes on…