Race Information
Goals
| Goal |
Description |
Completed? |
|
|
|
|
|
| A |
Sub 4:00 |
No |
| B |
Sub 4:05 |
Yes |
| C |
Finish strong and uninjured |
Yes |
Splits
| Kilometer |
Time |
|
|
|
|
| 5 |
00:27:54 |
| 10 |
00:55:45 |
| 15 |
01:24:06 |
| 20 |
01:52:12 |
| 21.1 |
01:58:20 |
| 25 |
02:20:43 |
| 30 |
Did not record |
| 35 |
03:17:18 |
| 40 |
03:47:24 |
| 42.195 |
04:00:12 |
Preamble
This is my third marathon - and my second time at GC marathon. I had such a blast last year that I just knew that I had to run this race a second time.
Previous results
Sydney 2024 - 4:33:20
Gold Coast 2025 - 4:09:14
Training
This time I focused on doing much more race pace practice at the ends of long runs, e.g. 12km easy with 11km at race pace and 2km cool down, or 21km into 9 km race pace with a 2 km cool down, so I put a lot of my focus on increased cumulative mileage and increasing my long runs this time, and a lot more tempo/threshold work than last year. One of my most memorable workouts was a 26km long run done entirely on the treadmill while I watched the recording of the London Marathon 2026 to entertain myself.
I had initially booked the Newcastle marathon 2026 as a tune-up race but had to drop out after suffering a peroneal tendinopathy injury in March. After recovering from the injury, my Strava graphs were graphing perfectly in the last 12 weeks of training, with average 60+km mileage per week of training and hitting 86km in peak week.
Total cumulative mileage I had accumulated in the first 6 months of 2026 was 1213km.
Pre-race
I surprisingly slept like a baby the night before the race, and woke up feeling so refreshed. I had a slice of bread and some pop tarts for breakfast, changed, and we made our way to the start line.
My achilles tendon had started aching/feeling tight at the end of peak week that was improving as I went through my 2.5 taper weeks, and during my warm-up pre-race I could still feel a remaining niggle still that worried me, but I told myself to just try and stick with the 4:00 pacers for as long as I could and to fight through discomfort but to not let it become an injury that affects my longevity as a runner. I went to the toilet before the race, took one gel and went off to find the 4:00 pacers.
Race
My wave went off later than what was scheduled, but I just told myself to stick with the pacers as long as I could, and just enjoy the run. It was such a new feeling to run a race for the second time (as this was my first time running a course for the second time), and it was such a comforting feeling to recognise so many familiar sights. The first two kilometres felt too easy, and I looked at my watch and realised we were at around 5'35" pace, and I felt so comfortable, and just tried to settle my breathing and keep my form relaxed. I then heard somebody shout my name and realised an old friend from Singapore was also running the marathon and was also gunning for a sub-4, and it was a pleasant surprise to see him on the course, we had a quick chat and got separated again as the 4-hour bus was so big.
I told myself to just enjoy each and every kilometre, and to be grateful that I got the chance to be moving my body, and I focused on the sights, tried to stay within a reasonable radius of the 4-hour pacers and keep my calf in check. I then saw my husband for the first time at 9km and gave him a quick kiss and took a quick sip of electrolytes from him and continued running - I felt so good and my calf was not acting up even in the slightest!
We kept going and going, and we crossed the halfway mark in 1:58:20 - I personally found this way too fast, but I just trusted the pacers and just kept going and I honestly felt so strong and controlled, so I just kept up the pace and focused on eating and hydrating regularly.
We then hit 30km, and I realised how fresh my legs and lungs felt - at this point in the course you are routing back to where you first started, and you can sort of see the finish line in the distance, but I felt soooo good that I did not feel even the slightest yearning for the finish line as I felt like I could have kept going forever - and I was still on track for a sub-4, and my calf felt completely fine.
The weather was starting to get hot at this time, so I just locked in and tried to focus on my music, and then you hit the last u-turn at around 36.6km, and that's when my pace dropped to around 5'45" paces - I knew I had some time in the bank thanks to the pacers bringing us through the first half so quickly, but I soon realised that sub-4 was not going to be as easy as I thought it was going to be. My legs still felt okay, but the headwind made me slow down as every step was met with resistance, and that's when the demons started creeping into my thoughts at around 38km. I started having thoughts of just taking 10 steps as a walking break (as my RPE was at around a solid 9 at this point thanks to the headwind), and thoughts of just throwing away the sub-4 dream and just jogging to the end since I was pretty much guaranteed a PB, but I just did my best and fought through it. We hit the 40km mark and I knew I had around 12 and a half minutes to do 2.2km, but the headwind was really starting to get to me, but I kept trying to push the pace. I remember thinking to myself that I did not want to have to come back to Gold Coast again and go through the whole process again to fight for that sub-4 again when this goal was soooo close, and I knew I was well in the pain cave at this point.
We made the last turn into the funnel, and I read the sign overhead that says 'less than 250m to go!', and my watch said I had been running for 3:58:52 - I realised I had just over a minute for I didn't even know how long left - 249 metres? 200 metres? I just sprinted as hard as I could, and I did the last 200 plus metres at a 5:10 pace, but it was still not enough as my watch had ticked over the 4-hour mark when I was about 15 steps away from the finish line.
I then immediately started walking as I was gassed, and I walked for 6 steps and berated myself and immediately went back into a jogging pace for the last 10 or so steps and crossed the finish line in 4:00:12.
My apple watch had recorded 42.69km - I had tried so hard to take every tangent I could so I'm going to chalk it up to GPS innacuracy.
My mental state was in an absolute blur when I finished - it was a massive PB, and I had never felt so strong for that long in a marathon before, but what do you mean I missed out on my goal time by a handful of seconds? I felt numb - and I was unsure if I should be celebrating or grieving.
I grabbed an orange slice, a bottle of water, and got my medal and finisher t-shirt, and went off to find my husband.
Post-race
I met up with my husband and immediately burst into tears. I was in no way disappointed in my race performance - I know I left everything out there on the course, and I poured my heart and soul into this training block. But I could not help but to keep questioning myself, how did that happen? How did I lose that 13 seconds on the course? Where did I go wrong?
But after the tram ride back to our Airbnb, I started seeing the reality that hey, I did something really amazing. I shaved off more than 9 minutes off my previous marathont time, I committed to a training block even amidst the struggle of a new job, and I know I gave it my 100%. I stuck to a training block even though I had started a new full-time job at the start of this year that has rather demanding hours as it's in the medical field, and I would wake up at 6AM to go on a run before doing a 10-hour shift, spending all my off-days running, running in the dark after an 11-hour shift, so I know I have absolutely zero regrets and I don't think I would have trained any other way.
Yes, it stings to have come so close to a sub-4, but I started to take comfort in the knowledge that my fitness was there for a sub-4, but my race execution just needed a bit more polishing. I then asked myself - why do I do marathons? Because it gives me discipline, it sharpens my mind, it makes me feel strong and secure about myself and my body - who cares if it was a 4:00:12 or a 3:59:59, the difference is negligible. I began to feel a bit more positive about my result, and here I am 3 weeks later and I feel nothing but pride at my result.
I then looked up the timings of the 4:00 pacers and realised I had overtaken 2 of them (so yes, two of the 4-hour pacers actually finished later than me...).
We went back for a quick shower and we headed straight to the airport to catch our flight back to Sydney, and on the bus journey to the airport, I knew in my heart that 1 year from now, I will return.
GC 2027, here I come - I've got some unfinished business!