SMH Half - 12th in 72:21

Was pretty psyched for this one.  Prepared very well and no excuses this time around.  Up at 5am and into the City to meet the squad for a warm up at 6.25am.  Loads of the squad there.  I love this race.  We always get a big turnout, it's a true runners race (and always has been), minimal fuss and excellent organisation.  Did a few run throughs and lined up next to Chadi and behind a stellar field at the pointy end - Marty Dent, Ben Moreau, Michael Shelley, Liam Adams, Jeff Hunt, Tom do Canto among others.  

Off we went and for the first km I felt fantastic.  Coming down Macquarie St I was running with Dave Criniti and Sean Bowes just behind the leaders but barely breathing.  Told myself to ease off as I would undoubtedly pay for this and then settled into a nice group with CT and a few others - but couldn't make out who they were as CT and I were sharing all the pacing duties at the front.  Here we are under the Harbour Bridge and then this was the group at the end of Hickson Rd about to turn on to the Darling Harbout flyover:

 

Notice in the 2nd photo how Nikki Chapple hasn't joined our group yet?  When we hit Pyrmont CT put in a burst and gapped us a bit.  I figured though that, as none of the rest of the group had gone with him, it was him speeding up as opposed to me slowing down so didn't get too concerned about the form.  However, I was a bit worried that he'd be able to latch on to Sean Bowes and the chap he was running with in front, so on the new loop around Fairfax wharf I put in an effort to catch him.  Noticed Enda and Fats going in as we came out.  Suddenly, we were right on Sean Bowes and went straight past him on the little hills around Pyrmont - with his running partner (a bloke called Klarie McIntyre) latching on to us.  This is one of the best bits of the course.  You suddenly come back against the tide of runners going in the opposite direction and get huge numbers of shouts and encouragement from your fellow runners.  Mikey had a huge group around him and gave a big cheer, but Timmy, Muz and Dicky were also very vocal.  Coming back past Star City I start to hear a motorbike behind us and realise Nikki Chapple has caught us.  And then gone straight past us.  Klarie latches on to her, as do I and Matthew Fenech.  I ask the latter our split at 10km and he says 33:30.  We then go through the half way point in 35:28 and technically we're on for a 70:xx, but I knew there's a minute drift there at least so a sub72 is the aim, as it was from the beginning.

After the half way mark there's a sharp little hill and this is where Nikkie and Klarie gap me and Matthew.  However, we get back on the flyover and Matthew bridges the gap.  I try to but give up.  This was the big mistake I made in the race.  If I'd planned to be aggressive, this was the chance to be so.  I'd end up beating Klarie and Matthew, but by running conservatively and not aggressively.

We get back to the Slip Inn and I'm starting to struggle but if there's anything to jolt you back into action it's Barts and Sammy on the sidelines screaming at me.  "GET ON THE BACK OF THAT GROUP TOMMMMMYYYYY!!!".  Get back into a good rhythm along Hickson Road (which we know so well) and start to think about attacking the hills.  Turn at the squashed car, have a quick look around to see if I can see CT (thank God no) and immediately start to gain on Matthew Fenech.  Pick him up on the hill to the corkscrew and again gauge the distance to CT on the hairpin at the top.  It's about the same as the gap to me and Nikki - he hasn't fallen off by much, he never does.  Cahill Expressway is fine but I hit the bottom of Macquarie St and feel as though I'm jogging.  Klarie is about 50m in front but I'm not gaining much.  Then again at the top the booming voices of Barts and Sam come out and spirits lift again.  Back on home territory now.  And here's J-Fen with more encouragement in the park.  We do reps of MMC all the time so know the road like the back of my hand.  I start to catch him coming back past the ABC Pool, but hell, these final hills are starting to hurt now.  This is what it looks like:

But then we're back to St Mary's and Barts again screams "GET HIM TOMMMMYYYY!!!".  So I do what I'm told and put some real effort in going down the outside of the road so that he doesn't latch on.  Fortunately, he's more buggered than me and I can enjoy the run into the line:

And then to watch the others arrive to see how the English have done.  Fats runs a stormer and raises his game significantly from the past couple of races to run a low 74 - you can always count on him when it matters.  Enda is next with a mid 75 PB.  And he's farked.  Check out Fats and I peeling him off the pathway:

For how well Fats runs for the English, Macca matches for the Irish.  This guy struggles to an 18:00 for Parkrun last week, but pulls a 76 out of the bag, doing it tough the whole way.  I don't think anything can sum it up better than this photo:

Other great performances followed, Timmy on the comeback (and cleaning up bets) with an 82:xx, but none more so than Erikakakaka's 8min PB running 84:04 (ably paced by HuRTS CEO Mikey "Hold the line" Conway).

The Churchill/Sands Cup was officially won by England in a very close contest (36s in it).  But Timmy and I had had enough of Enda's whining so gave it to the Irish by way of a 2 minute start.  But at the end of the day, healthy competition was the winner: