It was another Portuguese city another half marathon for GRC's Nev Chamberlain. Three weeks after Porto, the capital city was the venue for the Luso Half Marathon. Run in conjunction with, although on a totally different course to the Lisbon Marathon. Entrants are bussed to the start line which is in the middle of the almost 8 mile long Vasco da Gama bridge which spans the Tagus river.
Thankfully after a week of clear blue skies the day was overcast although as it turned out still deceptively warm, especially as the start time wasn't until 10.30am.
Having done very little running since Porto although feeling better prepared, Nev set off at a conservative pace looking forward to a mainly flat riverside course. With plenty of water plus isotonic drinks and gel stations en-route the runners were well looked after. Unfortunately for Nev this was to no avail, whether it was because of the heat or for whatever other reason he seemed unable to improve much on the pace of early miles. With 3 miles left to go the race then turned uphill on an out and back run through the city centre finally sharing the finish line with the full marathon in the Praca do Comércio on the city's historic waterfront.
With a finish time of 2:08:37 Nev was disappointed as it was over 7 minutes slower than his Porto time, but afterwards reflected that "I gave it my best shot and could do no more".
The race was won by Ethiopian Gerba Batata Diababa in 1:01:21 with his compatriot Ethlemahu Sintayahu Desai first female in 1:10:48
No comments:
Post a Comment