Byron Bay put on perfect conditions for the inaugural First Sun Marathon which was the September event for this Challenge 7x7 series. Needing a marathon for September, I thought it was time we organized our own marathon and what better place to do it than Byron Bay. So with the help of my mate and Byron Bay local, JP, the First Sun Marathon was born and we hope it will become an annual event.
Once again Ben volunteered to run this one with me and he also suggested that we cycle to Byron the day before. We had a stiff southerly wind in our face for the 100km ride but this just added to the adventure and I think the ride worked well to loosen me up.
JP mapped out a spectacular course which kept us mostly on the beach and out of the way of traffic. We started just after sunrise at Byron's famous lighthouse and ran down onto Tallow Beach which provided beautiful scenery and a relaxed atmosphere, setting the scene for what has to be one of the most picturesque marathons around.
Ben and I were joined by Therese and our mate Rachael for the first half, while JP and another mate Jo drove ahead to set up our drink stations. Now any race organizers out there wanting some tips on setting up drink stations I suggest you give JP a call as his service was first class. His esky full of chilled goodies was just what we needed on this warm day.
Heading over Broken Head the trees brought some welcome shade from the sun however that hill seemed to be much longer than I remembered so we were pretty glad to get over the top of it. After this it was on to Seven Mile Beach and down to Lennox Surf Club, our turn around point. JP and Jo who planned to run the return leg with us decided to take off early to give us a target to chase down. Therese and Rachael took over the drinks job, while Ben and I set out to reel in the two red Noodle Box singlets up ahead in the distance.
We picked up our pace by a whole minute per kilometer as we aimed to negative split this one in a big way. This meant increased effort of course which was ok along the beach but once we hit Broken Head again the pain really started to kick in. Once again this hill turned out to be longer than I expected but I really wanted to push as hard as I could as I was determined that we would catch JP and Jo by the top. Finally just at the summit we got them but then they took off down the other side to maintain a little lead on us.
Back down to the beach for the final leg back to Byron, eventually we caught JP and Jo. Not for long though as Ben's stomach turned on him and he had to stop for a spew. Nowhere to hide on a sparse open beach, he just had to let it rip in full view of everybody. Trying to chase down those red singlets started to seem like the impossible dream but as we got back to Tallow Beach we had them and they weren't getting away this time.
Cruising towards the finish line in front of Byron Surf Club it became apparent that we were going to be just over a kilometre short of the marathon so we had to add in a second lap around the surf club, back up towards the lighthouse road and then back to the eventual finish line at the surf club. As we crossed the line together, Ben and I were both crowned Byron Bay marathon champions! We received our medals at an official ceremony held at the Beach Hotel where it was announced that we were also First Sun Marathon record holders with a time of 4:05:51.
As it turned out Therese and Rachael were crowned champions of the Byron to Lennox leg of the First Sun Marathon and JP and Jo were crowned champions of the Lennox to Byron leg. Every participant on the day is now the current champion and record holder of their particular event. How's that for customer satisfaction.
Thanks to Megaburn for supplying my Ammo which was the official drink of the First Sun Marathon. Corronas courtesy of Jo and Espresso Martinis courtesy of Rachael were the official post marathon drinks. Big thanks to official organisers JP, BC, Marley and Hayden. Thanks also to our supporters Moni, Marieke, Gareth Jan and Chris.
Next challenge is Gold Coast Half Ironman, a 1.9km swim, 90km cycle and 21.1km run. Bring it on. Don't forget to get to my Everyday Hero pages to donate money to SIDS and Kids and the Garvan Institute
Thanks for your support.
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