I came up with the title of this race report while standing on

the start line of the Vienna marathon, as apprehensive as always.

Granted it was only a week since London but I still got a chuckle

out of it.

So here I was, number 30, the big threeeee zerooooo. I should

have been excited, but really it was just another marathon. You

would assume with such experience I'd be very well prepared in

advance of this race, but I have found that experience brings

complacency, and complacency spells trouble. I couldn't believe

it, I was actually shaking my head in disbelief, that I was

standing at our hotel reception with just 12 hours to race start,

asking for safety pins, plasters and Vaseline.

Try to picture yourself explaining to a young girl with very

little English why you wanted two plasters...no, not one,

two...what for? Despite the fact that I tried to explain that

they were nipple protectors she happily provided all three

essential items. Unprepared? This was just ridiculous. I

remember laying out my entire running gear 12 days in advance of

my 3rd marathon, making sure everything fitted, was washed at

least twice, and was fully equipped with all the little

forgettables. Whereas in Vienna, I was lucky that I packed

runners.

Vienna was proving to be an absolutely beautiful city,

architecture, shopping, restaurants, hotels, it really has it all

and I was loving this trip with my 13 year old son Aaron. He

accompanied me to registration the day before and all we talked

about was how hot it was and how important my hydration strategy

was. He was a big part of my plans as I had decided to bring two

High5 bottles of energy gel, one for each half. Aaron was to

meet me at mile 13 which we visited the evening before. It was

very hot though, so I was nervous about that, but once again I

had no time goal in mind.

There was an amazing buzz at the start area, with fantastic music

blaring out, big welcomes being announced, introduction of elites

and the usual housekeeping being taken care of. I was smiling to

myself as once again I was counting how many bags each truck was

transporting back to the finish area and how the sorting process

was being managed - the Connemarathon will never leave me.

The hooter sounded at 10:00 and we were off. I spent the first

two miles working out a strategy and decided to try to do 27:30

per 5K and assess my situation at each 10K - but this

well-planned and long-thought-out strategy was quickly aborted

when there was no clock to be seen at the first 5K. Another

blind one then. I really enjoyed the course, through parks,

streets, city and suburbs and there were several parts to be run

two and even three times so it was actually nice to see the 28K

mark early on and dream of cruising past it at the same speed as

I was doing just then.

I felt the usual stiffness until I loosened up at mile 10 - yes

people, I have been known to take up to 10 miles to completely

relax and get into proper comfortable running. I was actually

feeling really good up to half way. But disaster was about to

strike, or so it seemed when there was no sign of Aaron at 13. I

panicked for a little bit and then copped myself on. Who cares

if it takes 5 hours, it's number 30. Enjoy. So that is what I

did: relaxed and enjoyed.

Cut to the exciting bit, which happened at 32K as I was still

cruising along, I saw the 35K on the opposite side of the road

and the aid station was giving out COCA COLA(TM)!!!!!! Oh my

god, I was exhilarated, excited... I just wanted to jump up and

down and shout YES. I absolutely crave Coke after a marathon and

this was the first time I had ever seen it given out at an aid

station. Fair play Vienna I thought - bloody marvellous. I ran

as fast as I could to my oasis at 35K and downed two full cups of

coke, filled up my water bottle, and walked on like the cat that

got the cream. I was totally fizzed up.

My race was over - I was in a zone, I was tired, I didn't know

what time it was, I didn't care, my head was wrecked, I just

wanted to finish. The sugar rush was better than getting that

coveted medal. I decided to walk 100 metres at every K marker

and assumed a 4:15 finish. Curiosity got the better of me at 39K

so I asked a girl what time it was... 13:30 - crap! Had I not

given up I would have been close to a PB. This picked me up and

I ran to the finish, which I have to say is up there with the

best of them for atmosphere and scale. 3:47 was my finish time -

I really don't know where that came from.

Spent the usual 10 minutes trying to get sick and gradually got

myself together and slowly drifted away from the finish area -

again shaking my head in disbelief - asking where the hell that

time came from. Big smiles. Thanks Vienna. Roll on Belfast.

Ray

30 down 70 to go.

PS Aaron got blocked into an area that he couldn't cross to our

pre-arranged meeting point.