2014 IAU 100km World Championships Doha Qatar

It was 6pm in Doha which meant we were finally on the start line and ready to rock the 2014 edition of the 100km World Champs. My buildup had gone reasonably well and I was feeling positive about a decent result. I was a little nervous but I was looking forward to the next 7 or so hours of running, after all, why wouldn't I when I was decked out in my GB kit and armed with my weapon of choice, #mardersBanana.

#mardersBanana

On your marks!

The race got underway and within 400m a couple of guys had shot off the front. My first mile was a tad quick but after that I tried to settle in to the pace I was wanting to run which was around 6:15-6:20 per mile. In the 2 evenings leading up to the race, Steve and I had been out for a couple of test runs to try to get a feel for the pace we thought we could run (based on HR). It turned out we were looking at very similar paces and I was looking to cap my HR at around 150bpm early on which had been giving me around 6:15 pace the last 2 nights. Tonight, however, things were quite different as 6:20 pace was giving me 160bpm which was well above what I wanted! I figured this was due to a bit of excitement and the slightly quicker first mile but I wanted to be careful so I eased up slightly to try to get it under control. By 2km I was already off the back of the main lead group and totally on my own. This was good as it at least meant I was totally running how I wanted.

I came through the first 5km a bit quicker than I wanted (pretty sure everyone did!) but even though I was around 6:20 pace my HR was still well up around 160bpm. 100km is a long way so on my 2nd of 20 laps I knocked the pace back a little more to see if that helped but by the end of the lap the lowest reading I had seen was around 157. Time to make a decision. After 10km of worrying about my HR and getting nowhere I decided that it was high for whatever reason so I needed to ignore it and get on with the running. It was quite a relief once I decided this and I felt way more relaxed. Even though the lead group was pulling away from me I wasn’t too worried as a few always start a bit quicker than perhaps they should so it would make for an interesting last few laps if I could run strongly (little did I know now that my last 3 laps would be quite interesting due to the suffering I would go through!).

The laps were ticking off slowly and I was getting all my drink bottles and nutrition so that was one less thing to worry about. Just before the end of lap 5 I came around the corner after the feed stations and saw Steve just ahead of me which was a surprise as he had been in the lead group. This would be a theme for the night with Steve yo-yoing back and forth due to unwanted pit stops. By 40km I could feel my legs weren't really in the best shape already so I knew it was going to get tougher. I went through 50km in 3:17:54 which was almost spot on split I had thought about pre race though I was already losing a chunk of time each lap. Within the next 2 laps I had gone from having a 2 minute buffer on a 6:40 finish time to a 1 minute deficit as I went through 60km in 4:01.

The next few laps laps my mental focus was lagging a bit which was not helped by my quads which were really starting to cease up now.  My HR had dropped into the mid 140s which meant I was being a bit lazy on the effort and a couple of 23 min laps confirmed this. It was good timing then that one of Steve's many pit stops meant we ended up running together.  I had to up my effort but it was time to man up and get on with it, or at least die trying! We were ticking along at around 7 min pace which was a vast improvement and with 5 laps to go we needed to average 7 min miles to secure a sub 7 hour finish time.

@marigold_bac and @marders rocking the #TeamGB kit! Happy face, very unhappy legs.

Even though I couldn't hang on to Steve for the whole lap, I managed to split it in under 22 mins which was great.  Coming up to the end of the 16th lap I clocked my 79km split and worked out I simply needed to run a 1:31 half marathon to get under 7 hours, easier said than done. Normally this would be an easy 90 min run for me and I wouldn't even have to think about it but with nearly 80km behind me I was really struggling. My legs were giving up rapidly but with only 4 laps to run the end was within sight.  I lost 30s on the next lap and with 3 laps to go I needed to average 22 minutes per 5km to get under 7 hours.  Sadly my 7 min miles turned into 730s and these then turned into 8s. Coming into the last lap I thought I may be able to salvage some time with an all out effort to the end but as soon as I tried to pick up the pace slightly my left calf was on the verge of cramping. I had to very gingerly navigate my way around the corners so I didn't cramp up and as much as I tried to speed up there was nothing there as my legs were completely gone.

Finally, last lap!

One of the most special moments of the whole race for me was right before the finish line. I was in a world of pain and couldn't wait to be finished but I made sure I enjoyed those final few moments with a tug of the vest and a big smile, all before collapsing onto the ground and being wheeled off in a wheelchair.


I was sweet as, I just had nothing left in my legs to allow me to stand up which was perfect for what was to come next, a nice chilly ice bath.


My end result was 19th in 7:09:39 and whilst disappointed I didn't perform as I’d expected it was a great experience and something I’ll remember for a long time for reasons at the extreme ends of the emotional spectrum! As an added bonus the other 3 GB men had run awesome enough races which meant we won Bronze in the team event so we didn't go home empty handed at least.

Team Bronze!
Back left to right: Craig Holgate, Paul Giblin, Steve Way, Paul Martelletti.

Special thanks to Sim and Enrique who came all the way over to Doha to support me, it made me feel like I was in a home race around Viccy Park! Also a huge thanks to Karen whom I owe a massive amount of brownie points to for putting up with in the weeks leading up to the race and especially when I was in #racemode!

Splits for the record...

5km splits:
19:33 20:11 19:29 19:30
19:43 19:29 19:44 20:05
19:43 20:23 21:09 21:56
23:04 23:03 22:28 21:49
22:21 23:55 24:30 27:27

50km splits
3:17:54
3:51:45 (oops!)