EUROPEAN MASTERS MARATHON CHAMPIONSHIPS IN POLAND

WROCLOW MARATHON 2017

During my well earned Christmas break from work, I tend to not only review how my running year has went, but also try to devise a plan for the following 12 months and at the end of 2016, once more, I did just that. My self-assessed report card read “must do better”, as although there had been a few highlights (including a win at the Arran Half Marathon), I did feel as if I was playing catch up all year having really struggled to come back from injury.

One thing I felt I could have “done better” at was October’s Marathon in Frankfurt where, although I’d never suggest 2.46.05 was by any stretch of the imagination a bad Marathon, it was a few minutes down on my pb of 2.39.09 from 2014 and it did nag at me a bit. Thus I decided I wanted another crack over 26.2 miles.

Initially, I had managed to sneak an Elite Entry at Brighton. The criteria was to have ran a sub 2.45 Marathon over the past 2 years and, although my Chester 2014 time had elapsed, the organisers felt that 2.46 as a 48 year old warranted an invite and I was extremely grateful for this.

Over Christmas however, I discovered that the Polish  City of Wroclow (which I STILL haven’t mastered the pronunciation of despite working with a Polish girl) was to play host to the European Masters Marathon Championships in September. Along with club-mate Connell Drummond I had previously ran the Warsaw Marathon (2.44.01 in 2013) and loved the country, and with flights below £100 and at a good time of the year for a Marathon it ticked a lot of boxes. I entered the race and booked flights in December 2016, and thinking that this would be my main target for the year, I then reluctantly decided it best to skip Brighton and concentrate on Poland instead. My loyal coach Jim Young, who has got me from a debut 3.54 Marathon down to my pb where it is now, agreed, thus the plan was set in stone. Thanks Jim.

Plan in place, in January I then spoke to Stephen Allan about the race, and with very little persuasion needed, he too quickly signed up. All good so far, now the plan was to get in shape for it.

February saw a boost and welcome break from the Winter as I was grateful to join Stephen and a number of his club-mates, and guys I would class as friends, in Portugal for a few days training in Monte Gordo. Training hard for 4 days would put it mildly and it would be amiss not to thank Alistair, Howard, Stephen et al for the training and company in the Algarve. On my return I had already entered the Kinloss to Lossiemouth Half Marathon 3 days later and although I suspected it may backfire I was pleasantly surprised to finish 3^rd overall in a better than expected 77.35 on extremely tired legs.

Two other Half Marathon’s followed in the coming months – the recommended Rock ‘n’ Roll Liverpool Half (1^st M45 in 78.54), and a really satisfying run at hilly Arran where I was 3^rd in 78.18 having trained pretty hard the day before doing an 11 mile Fartlek.

The long runs were going well. The pace was picking up for the same effort each week and some all important Marathon paced miles were thrown in for good measure. Around this time, Connell Drummond had decided he was going to do the Marathon as well to get his Boston Qualifying time so this meant 3 of us would be going. This soon became 5 as I then found out that fellow Scot Grant Ramsay, and Paul Cheetham (whom I had previously met in Lyon at the World Masters Champs in 2015) had also entered the race and as the England based duo were in the same age category as myself, I started to think that a medal for GB was possible as both these guys had pb’s in the mid 2.30’s, were extremely good athletes, and I could hopefully back them up as our 3^rd counter. I also guessed that Connell with a pb of 2.41, and Stephen whose lifetime best was 2.38, should be in the hunt for a Team Prize in the M40 category as both were in highly decent shape so there were hopes all round that we could all do well.

In the last few weeks before the Marathon I did a couple of Parkruns in a vain attempt to sharpen up a bit, while bizarrely one of the biggest boosts I got was in a 4.5 mile Club Race over a hilly route 10 days prior to Wroclow, where I got a course pb by 43 seconds.

Although the build up was going to plan, the week prior to the race saw my wee Mum admitted to Hospital and this saw a hectic week where running basically took a back seat, and instead saw me rightly focus on her. I was visiting straight from work, leaving the Hospital at 9, before going home to tend to the chores, eat late, up early for work, and generally feel shattered all week and this really put things into perspective.

I did know that my Mum wanted me to go to Poland though so, after assurances she would be fine for a couple of days, and the knowledge that she was having numerous visitors, I boarded the plane with Stephen and headed to Poland.

On arrival, we met Connell who had spent some days in nearby Kracow and we soon bumped into Grant and Paul, and were in contact with other British athletes. The usual pre race jog took place on the Saturday, and that, coupled with traditional carbo loading in the centre of town, saw us see a good part of the City before the race.

Having slept fairly well on the Saturday night, race day appeared and, despite temperatures in the mid 30’s leading up to the event, conditions looked perfect for endurance running. The 20 minute tram journey to the race was without incident and, with the field having a start list numbering 6,423, we arrived in plenty of time and good to go.

With this being a Championship race where we realistically had chances of team medals, for the first Marathon in my life I was unconcerned about times. A fortnight previously I guessed I was in around 2.41-2.42 shape, and thought that would be competitive, however the week leading up to the event meant I had no idea how things would go. My plan was purely to settle into it at a pace I believed I could maintain, first and foremost finish and keep our medal hopes alive, and hopefully dip under 2.50 as I knew Grant and Paul were in good enough shape that if I could back them up with a solid run then that may be enough for Silver or Bronze (being hosts I strongly suspected Poland would take gold).

At the gun, I found myself a bit away from the start line, and as a result it took 14 seconds to cross the line. Not panicking, I stuck to my plan, took 6.07 for the first mile, settled in around the 6.10-6.12 mark till half way and employed the tactics that I would stick to that and gradually peg back anyone who had a number on their back (signifying athletes in the Masters Championships) if I could. If it turned out that it was someone in our own age category then more the better, as that would obviously help our team.

Halfway came and went in what must be said was a comfortable 82 minutes and I was gradually picking up places (including some M45’s), so at this stage the plan was holding up okay.  As the Kilometres got ticked off and 20 miles were passed in around 2.04, I started thinking that a team prize was probably certain as long as I didn’t completely blow up. I could see no sign of Grant and Paul up ahead and knew they were doing great so “all” that was left was to keep doing as I was doing. At 35k, for the first time, I did some quick calculations and worked out that a sub 2.45 was also on the cards. This gets an athlete a Championship Start for London for a couple of years, and although I’ve been lucky enough to have broken that barrier a few times, my times had expired. I figured that would be a final target for the rest of the race as it gives me the option to enter London up until January. I THEN worked out that there was no timing mat at the start and, as it was borderline, the 14 seconds to cross the line at the beginning of the race may well haunt me!

Picking off another couple of places in the last mile (including a Spanish athlete in my age group) I entered the stadium and onto the speedway track seeing the clock at just under 2.44. Figuring I could probably walk the last 100 metres in a minute (maybe not), and knowing I wasn’t going to be caught (or catch anyone) I felt great at the end as I clocked an official time of 2.44.38.

Right on the finishing line was Paul and Grant who told me “that’s it”. Taking that to mean we had medalled, I was then told that with Paul taking an outstanding individual Gold in 2.40, Grant individual Bronze in 2.44.10, and myself actually finishing 4^th M45 with my 2.44.38, we had took the Team Prize for GB in the European Masters Championships. For the record, Poland took silver (one of the few age categories that the hosts didn’t take the honours), with the Czech Republic completing the podium.

Normally 4^th individually would be a bit frustrating but to be honest I had no idea I was as high up, and was never going to catch Grant, so my immediate reaction, and still is, was that I was delighted with the whole race as it was much, much better than I could have hoped for a few days ago. Taking some kind of trophy back to Kilmarnock Harriers, and especially my Mum, was all I’d targeted. The way I ran the Marathon on the day is something I am proud of and don’t regret a bit, and it’s a massive thanks to Grant and Paul for leading the way for us.

I’m also proud of the fact that of my 13 Marathons, my 5 fastest have been my latest 5 with my “slowest” in that spell being the aforementioned 2.46 in Frankfurt. As I’m now at the “no spring chicken” time of life, there’s hopefully a lesson in there somewhere.

Leading the way for the GB M40 Team was Stephen Allan and Connell Drummond who, combining with Matt Munro, finished behind an extremely strong Polish trio to claim an excellent Silver Medal position ahead of Germany who took 3^rd. Both Stephen and Connell have an eye on the prestigious Boston Marathon in April and both secured their qualifying times (Boston is a race where an athlete must run a high standard of Marathon to be allocated a place) by virtue of their runs in Poland so when all was said and done the day was successful on all fronts.

A number of other medals were secured amongst the British contingent, including individual Gold for Nigel Rackham and Team Manager Dave Beattie, as well as a superb Bronze from Catherine Charlton.

In the Team Categories, Nigel was joined by Andrew Noble and Steven Kovats for Bronze, with Rose Baker and Carol Marsh helping Catherine scoop the same colour of Team Medal.

With an early flight back to Glasgow the following morning, it was only a few refreshments that were divulged after the race. They were, however, very enjoyable indeed and certainly washed down the post marathon burger and chips. The company was also excellent with the 3 of us being joined by a number of the aforementioned British athletes and certainly rounded off a great weekend. Although I did spend a lot of the time phoning the Hospital and thinking of my wee Mum, I was assured by a number of people who had been popping into see her that she was fine, and personally speaking the Marathon did take my mind off of things ever so slightly after a very stressful time.

Next up for most of us will be the dark nights and very important Winter Training, and while I’ll probably take up my Championship place at London in April, there has always been an annoyance that I have never broken 75 minutes for a Half so that could well be a target to keep me focussed during the dark midweek runs in the rain. Wroclow also has convinced me that there is another sub 2.40 Marathon in me, and potentially even a pb somewhere down the line.

Finally, the camaraderie at these events is fantastic, and if anyone over the age of 35 is looking for a goal, they could certainly do a lot worse than look at some of the Masters events.

Scott Martin – September 2017