It's a week later and I've only just got around to writing up my account of the marathon relay that we entered last Sunday with Nico, his brother Benjamin and an old friend of theirs, Greg. I'd been scrutanising the weather forecast for a few days as the mild weather was due to end to be replaced by a very hot, sunny spell with the peak temperatures to be recorded on the Sunday. The weathermen weren't wrong.
I picked Nico up and we left in the car at just after 7:00 am. The thermometer was already hovering around 20°C and a clear blue sky and hot sun promised worse to come. By the time we arrived and the race was due to begin the temperature was in the low 20°C and heating up rapidly. Nico lined up to run the first leg involving 3 laps of the circuit around the lake, with each lap a little over 4km, this gave a first leg of 12.5km in total. Nico set off prudently, in the first 30 runners in a field of just over 300. By the end of the first lap, he was in 27th place and I calculated an average speed of around 3:45 per km for him. He looked easy and in control of the situation.
A lap later and it was a different story entirely. He'd moved up the field and was now around 20th in a small pack, but was clearly suffering from the heat, looking less controlled and not so easy in his stride. His average lap time had slowed too with a 7 - 8 second per km drop over the first lap. Despite the sunshine, he managed to maintain his speed well, finishing his relay in 15th place before handing over to Greg.
The next 2 legs were run by Greg then Benjamin and both had 2 laps to do before passing the relay. The story was the same each time with them looking fresh on the first lap and then fading in the second. I ran a warm-up lap just to see what the course was like and realised that after an easy start which was mostly in the shade, you rounded the end of the lake and then had to run over 1.5km beside the lake in full sunshine. The far end was slightly shaded but this didn't last long before the path wound its way through a little park and back to the start.
I wented in the sun for Benjamin to come in and watched the other relay teams hand over just ahead of me. Most were on the 2nd to 3rd man changeover with only a few teams on the last leg. Benj came in and handed over to me and I set off prudently too, not wanting to burn myself out after a couple of kilometres. It was 11:00 am now and the temperature was in the high 20°C and probably a full 10°C higher in the sun. I focused on a runner who set off 15 seconds before me and watched as I closed in on him, finally catching him after 2.5km into my leg. I voertook him and then heard him running just behind me as I finished the first leg. I ran the first km in 3:43 and then 3:51 before running the next two in 3:54 and 3:55. I could feel my energy ebbing and the sun sapping all the motivation from me. When he came back past me, I was unable to respond.
The second lap was a nightmare and I just wanted to finish to run the last lap with the others at a more comfortable pace. The back straight with no shade was a killer and my splits dropped below 4:00 per km without me being able to do anything about it. I'd lost interest in the fight and just wanted to get the ordeal over with. I fought to run reasonably to the end of the second lap and into the finishing chute for the last relay.
We then set off as a team of 4 and the pace slowed again. I thought that I would be able to relax and that the pace of the weaker runner in our team would be a relief. I was too tired though for this to be the case and even running a couple of kilometres at 4:30 pace was an ordeal. I even wanted to stop and drink at the feeding station, I was so uncomfortable with the heat. We managed to finish at a slightly faster pace, especially when we realised that we'd been overtaken by another team who was running just slightly faster than us. Despite our efforts, we were unable to catch them and ended the race in 15th place in a total time of 2:49.
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