Karen writes: Finish of Rotorua marathon 2012

Just watched the video of my finish at the Rotorua marathon.   I still run like a drunken sailor but I always feel better than I look.  My mother, very politely, said that I "ran like I was tired". Note to self, just DON’T look at video coverage of me running.  I came 831 out of 1299 overall, 248 out of 477 female finishers, and 33 from 64 in my age/gender group...slower than the Perth marathon last year, but did take 5 minutes off last years Rotorua effort.

Speaking of finishing…  I really enjoyed getting to the marathon, staying in Rotorua, eating for the marathon, starting the marathon, running the marathon, but the ending was the most disappointing finish to an event I have ever experienced.  I smiled as I ran over that finish line under the archway.  I looked around then I stopped smiling, I didn’t know what to do and that isn’t a good thing when you have been on the road for 4 hours 40.  I’m not a novice, I come prepared for most things, but I wasn’t prepared to run over the line and find myself standing thinking where is a drink, where is some food, where is anyone who is going to notice if I need help?  Because we had disposable transponders built into our race numbers there wasn't even someone collecting those.

Let me explain a bit more, the running of an event like a marathon isn’t the whole story, what happens at the finish line is important and most serious events recognise this.   I’m not just talking about there being any sort of “yes, you have finished” acknowledgement which some events provide with a running commentary or a medal (neither of which was at Rotorua this year), but facilitating what is in effect the transition from your body having run for hours, to nearer its normal state.  It isn’t a good idea to stop suddenly.  I’ve learned from experience I need to walk for a bit to let my blood pressure and heart rate drop more gradually or I feel faint and breathless and sometimes sick, I wondered how those crossing the line for the first time coped without there being any sort of official finishing support there.  It is also a good idea to have easy access to fluids immediately, even if you don’t feel like drinking, and something to eat as soon as possible.   At many events there is a sort of pathway which forces you to walk a short way to where there are drinks poured waiting, and a table of something like bananas or yogurt you can snatch up as you walk past.  At Rotorua marathon this year you crossed the line, there were some water tanks, you had to find a cup, stop in the queue to fill it, and then the only food was at a café, another queue.   I wandered a bit trying to figure this out, then decided the quickest option was to walk back to the hotel and by this time I was feeling miserable.  I stopped at a coffee cart and asked for a glass of milk which the wonderful lady gave me instantly and then refused my money. I told her she saved my life and at that point I felt like she had.   

I kept walking, feeling better after a couple of blocks, then stopped in at the dairy and got a flavoured milk and a banana which brought me close to being back to normal.  Back to the room, feet up, I thought about how that finish could have spoiled the whole thing for me.  

Kate got back, she had a good run too, and we dissected the finish and discussed the neat stories we had heard on our way round.   You follow someone, form an impression from the back (often wrong) and make an innocuous comment as you draw level.  Some respond, and a conversation ensues, it might be a few words which gives you a snapshot of a person in that particular moment, it might be a longer chat where you share parts of yourself, or it might be no response and you smile and form a picture of a person in a place where they don’t have words to share. Of course they could be deaf or plain rude but in something like a marathon choosing not to indulge in chit-chat cant be judged, it could be pure survival!  Then you pass and move onto another story.  That is a part I enjoy immensely.

There were good finishing touches to the experience.  In our hotel room we ate recovery food…cheese, nuts, juice, bananas, salt and vinegar chips and jaffas (yes, technically the latter items aren’t recommended for recovery but we felt we had earned them). Then we finished the day with a big hamburger.  Back home, the washing is on, I’m ready for university tomorrow so Rotorua marathon is really finished for another year.