I've been running since 2005. I have to credit my company, Orion Health, for getting me running in the first place. My company has a lot of enthusiastic sports people of varying abilities, including a world class adventure racer, an ironman, runners, cyclists, triathletes and participants from other codes, so it was no surprise that this sporting culture rubbed off on me.
I've always liked participating in sports, and considered myself to be reasonably active, but never really had any constant outlet to put my focus on. So I basically sailed through high school and my early twenties not really committing myself to any sport.
It was only when I started with Orion Health that I did my first running event, the annual Round the Bays event in Auckland. Not knowing a thing about running, I laced up a pair of walking shoes(!) and started training for it. At the end of it all I managed to finish in a reasonable time.
In 2006, I decided to run the Auckland Marathon. From running 8.4 km in the Round the Bays to attempting 42.195 km, I didn't really know what I was getting myself into; I just knew it would involve some pretty long runs in training. With a new pair of running shoes, I managed to survive the training and managed to finish my first marathon. It was a lot tougher than I expected, but I finished with a time of 4:17:04. Finishing a marathon for the first time is something I cannot describe in words.
I finally caught the marathon bug and in 2007 I managed to do two marathons. I'm not sure about you but there's always something about the second time not being as good as the first. My second marathon, Rotorua, was a lot tougher and I managed to get home in 5:00:20. In my third marathon, the Auckland Marathon, I resolved to break the 4-hour mark. With 12 weeks of training and armed with a little more experience, I managed to finish in 3:51:29.
2008 was a very quiet year in terms of running as I tried to organise my O.E. (overseas experience - the kiwi term to go abroad, work in a different environment and see more of the world). Organising my O.E. was like preparing for a marathon, only not as fun ;-)
Having made it to the UK in late 2008, I wanted to get back into my running. Being in Europe, I was lucky to have some of the big marathons of the world at my doorstep, e.g. London, Paris, Berlin. In 2009, I chose Berlin as it's the fastest course in the world, and world record holder, Haile Gebrselassie, was going to make another world record attempt. I also had a goal to run sub 3:30:00, but as my training progressed I had harboured dreams to qualify for Boston 2010.
Berlin was such a great marathon event, with an elite field, a great atmosphere, and a fast flat course. Running through the Brandenburg Gate, 400 metres from the finish, was such a thrill, probably even bigger than finishing the marathon itself. The hard work I put in in 2009 paid off greatly, and I finished in 3:22:45.
2010 was the year when I wanted to break 3 hours in a marathon. 3 hours is like the Holy Grail for amateur runners, and a qualification time for prestigious events like Boston. Having reviewed my past training programmes, and my performances in previous marathons I admit that it is a significant and ambitious undertaking to cut 22 minutes and 45 seconds off my personal best. In the end, I was only able to drop 80 seconds in 2010, setting a new best of 3:21:25. This year was probably the busiest running-wise; I've run Rotterdam, Copenhagen and Berlin.
What will 2011 bring? Hopefully a faster marathon time as I chase the breaking 3 hours goal.
