#torontomarathon

In comparative terms, my best results during my long running career have come in the marathon. The longer it gets, the better I seem to go. But every marathon extracts a heavy toll on the body. The required training is long and hard, and the race itself is long and even harder.

During my 30+ years of competing, I have started in 17 marathons and finished 15 of them. My last completed marathon was in Berlin in 2015. This year has seen my highest mileage for 20 years and best race results since 2013, and so thoughts of putting myself to the ultimate distance running test have again come to the fore. 

My trip to Malaga prevented me from implementing a proper marathon build up, but I decided upon my return that with the miles in my legs plus some serious cramming in the last three weeks, it would be possible to tackle the Melbourne Marathon. I last ran the Melbourne Marathon in 1992 aged 34, finishing 16th in 2:25.20. The age grading for this performance was 84.83%. 

The Melbourne event was an attractive proposition because it is on home turf and the race support from my Melbourne Midday Milers team mates is legendary. If conditions are good, fast times are possible on the course, despite the hills late in the race. And I wanted a fast time, at least sub 3 @ 61, but more ambitiously, the Victorian M60 marathon record, which currently sits at 2:57.25.

But after my unpleasant experience in the World Masters half marathon in Malaga, I had made a promise to myself never again to run a long distance race in temperatures above 16deg C. Time and again, my performances in hot weather have been very poor. Quite simply, I hate running in the heat. So from the start of the month, I began to follow the local weather forecasting websites. From the outset, it didn’t look good. Once we were within reasonable forecasting range, a prediction of 25deg C with strong 35-40 kph winds promptly scuttled my plan and I pulled the pin on the Melbourne Marathon. 

But I had a plan B. Earlier this year, World Masters Athletics announced that, for the first time, there would be a World Marathon Championship separate from the World Track & Field Championships. Previously, there was always a marathon on the last day of the T & F Champs, which almost always meant a race in late summer heat, resulting in low entry numbers and slow times. The first nominated World Masters Marathon Championship race is the Toronto Waterfront Marathon on 21 October, just a week after the Melbourne marathon.

The Toronto course is reputed to be fast. The men’s and women’s course records are 2:06.52 and 2:22.42 respectively. The late Ed Whitlock set his incredible overage marathon records here (see my earlier blog about how much I hate Ed). This year, its reputation as a fast course has been enough to lure Aussie stars Jess Trengove and Shaun Creighton to run. Shaun is aiming to run under 2:30 and set a new Australian M50 record.

Most importantly, the weather will be cool. It is still too far out to have any confidence in the forecasts. One website says the temperature range will be 5-16deg C, another says 4-7deg C! I hope the latter prediction comes true. One thing is for sure, it will be much cooler than Melbourne. So I have entered the race and booked and paid for my air tickets. Toronto here I come!

As for my target time, the current Victorian record comes in at 85.5% age graded. So I will have to run comparatively faster than I did in Melbourne all those years ago. But my PB of 2:24.23 run earlier in 1992 converts to 85.39%, which is incredibly close to the grading that I need to achieve in twelve days’ time. But it does mean that I will need to run an age graded PB to get the record. Clearly this will not be easy, but I believe that Toronto’s cool conditions will give me my best possible shot. Wish me luck!