Pain and the glory
RUNNER Doug Weatherill held back tears as he crossed the finish line yesterday.
After almost a decade he finished a marathon under the elite three-hour mark.
Pain and triumph were written across his face.
He was one of thousands to stream over the finish line at the Broadwater Parklands yesterday.
Many savoured their own moment of personal victory.
“That mattered – that run really mattered,” Mr Weatherill said in between breaths.
His time of 2hr 56min took him 35,175 steps.
“It’s taken me nine years. I used to run as a teen but in 2013 my brother got me back into it.
“He can’t run anymore.” The 37-year-old said his thoughts were with his brother and former running partner in Adelaide, who can no longer run after shattering a knee cap.
“I thought of him every single step of it, I was just thinking of my family the whole way,” he said.
“At 30km in I knew that I had done it. I’ve been trying for years.”
For Cairns personal trainer Clare Zeppala, having her mum burst out of the crowd during the last few metres of her first marathon sent her over the edge. She cried tears of joy.
“My mum surprised me, I couldn’t believe it,” the 20year-old said. “I was injured last year so I couldn’t do it. But she’s come down from Cairns, it’s such a surprise.”
In the half marathon Mauritian Olympian David Carver was preparing for the London world championships in August.
That didn’t stop him from pausing to help New Zealand marathon runner Mary Davies get over the line.
The 29-year-old said you didn’t have to be a health professional to know she was doing it tough.
“When I was coming down the home straight I realised she didn’t look very good,” he said. “I work in a hospital so I see these things a lot. She was shaking and things like that.”
He was careful not to help her too much.
“I wanted to help her but at the same time I didn’t want to help her too much because I didn’t want her to get disqualified,” he said.
“I didn’t know who she was until we talked after crossing the line.”
And the race also brought two friends together.
“We were together the whole way,” said Kiwi nurse Michelle Willis, 44, who embraced friend Jodine Ball, 43, from Port Macquarie as they crossed the line.
“It was great, it was our first run,” Ms Willis said.
“We thought it would be a good idea over a glass of wine a few months ago. We don’t really have a sports background. Training started at the beginning of the year. It was brilliant, such a great idea.”