Clock - 3:29:52.........

.........Chip - no bloody chip. Left it at home this morning in my eagerness to remember to bring everything else. Chip about 3:29:25 as there were 2 runners between me and Frank, the other 3:30 pacer. A good day for running a marathon, generally overcast and relatively cool - the best since Cork restarted in 2007 - although it was a bit warm for the first hour or so.

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To be quite honest I didn't feel great, with slightly tight calves from pushing the pace a bit on yesterdays 34 mile bike ride and a reasonably full bladder from the start. I contemplated stopping for a whiz, but with a baloon strapped to my singlet and "Sub 3hrs 30" emblazoned on my back, I thought it might be a bit unprofessional - pacers are not supposed to be human ;).

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Despite the 7:54 average pace on the Garmin we passed the 8 mile mark, 7 seconds in deficit (1:04:07) - we changed this to a 10 second surplus by the half way stage and over the next 4 miles we extended that to about 40 seconds. There was a sizeable group with us but it was difficult to know who exactly was "with us" as the field was still reasonably congested. I began to feel good after about 15 miles, with the urge to pee gone and bio feedback indicating everything in good working order. My HR fluctuated between 125 and 140 - rising above the 140 on some of the "hilly sections".

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Crowd support was very good particularly as we passed through relay changeover areas. The group remained reasonably intact, as we crested the last rise on the Model Farm Road at mile 21.5 and dropped down to Inchagaggin Lane and the Straight Road. I could see clubmate, Paul Cotter, ahead who had paced me on some of my looooong training runs over the last few weeks. Following his strong 3:34 finish in his debut Marathon in Dublin last year, Paul was targeting something in the low 3:20's. With about 3 miles to go I pull alongside him, but can only keep him on my shoulder for about 3/4 of a mile - complaining about going too fast after the tunnel f#ck*ed with his Garmin (my words not his) - the mind does funny things when faced with data that conflicts with it's own reasoning. He didn't fall too far behind as I could still see him 100 yards back as we ran along the Mardyke towards the 25 mile mark. Over the bridge along the UCC river walk and into the last mile with about 9 minutes to spare, still a good crew with us. Out onto the north quays, scooping up a few stragglers on the way with those with a bit of spare energy pushing ahead, right turn onto Patricks Bridge and the last 400m to the finish...stopping briefly before the finish to scoop up 2 more sub-3:30's - job done and legs feeling great, the best they've ever felt after pacing 3:30 (3 to-date).

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A half mile jog to the Lee Hotel with previous pacing partner, Tony (now promoted to the 3:15 slot with Thomas), a quick shower, share some ultra nutrition tips with Tony (who's coaching the Irish team for the Trail World Championships) and off to the Long valley for a well earned pint of plain - carbs never tasted so refreshing.

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Well done to all those who raced today, plenty of PB's out there.

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I'm a bit pissed off that I won't have an official result, but then again I'm not looking for membership of the 100 marathon club (The annual sub is hardly worth another medal, no matter what it's made of - I can always fabricate my own) and will just add today to the 7 other "unofficial" 26.2+ mile runs this year - only 2 "official" ones.

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Mile 3.5 - Early Days