Marathon veteran goes back in time
A PIECE of advice not to be ‘‘a slave to my watch’’ helped Geelong runner Brett Coleman smash a long-held personal goal.
Coleman, 38, finished tenth in Sunday’s Melbourne Marathon i n a time of 2hr26min38sec, well under his personal best time of 2:30.08.
‘‘ I was rapt beyond my wildest dreams,’’ he said yesterday. ‘‘I thought if things went well, I could run 2:27 or 2:28. I’ve been trying to break 2:30 for a few years.
‘‘I ran 2:30.50 in Paris and 2:30.08 at the Melbourne Marathon last year.
‘‘Scott Nicholas, from the Running Company, told me to run without the clock, don’t be a slave to my watch, so in the last half I chose not to look at it.
‘‘The first time I knew I was under 2:30 was 50m from the line.
‘‘I was tempted a few times to have a look at the time, at the splits, but that was the advice of a 2:18 marathoner, so I’ll stick to that.
‘‘If I had had a look with 4km or 5km to go and realised I was going to get under 2: 30, I might have rested on my laurels a bit.’’
Coleman said he felt good going into the race, won by Kenyan Jonathan Chesoo in a time of 2:12.35.
‘‘I’m 38 now and not getting any younger, so I thought I didn’t have that much time left to get under 2:30,’’ he said. ‘‘I thought if I ran well, I could get under that, but I certainly didn’t expect 2:26.’’
Coleman now will set his sights on the local fun run circuit during the summer, then perhaps compete in one of the famous international marathons.
‘‘I’ve been trying to run a fast time for a marathon for a number of years and I feel incredibly satisfied now that I’ve achieved it,’’ he said.
‘‘But there are a few different marathons where, rather than chase the time, I could do one of the spectacular ones, around Ayers Rock or New York or Boston.’’
Other local runners to do well on the weekend included Rowan Walker, who finished fourth in the men’s halfmarathon only three weeks after winning the epic 100km Surf Coast Century race.
Ellie O’Kane finished second in the women’s halfmarathon in a time of 1:19.22.