Batten Bus recap... Wow what a hoot!!! Such a tremendous event & thoroughly enjoyed every moment pacing the sub 5 hour bus with Camo & Jase. The more relaxed pace enabled us to really appreciate what what going on around us & interact & converse all manner of peeps along the course.. The aim today was to run at a pace doable for some of the group that had either yet to run a marathon or had not gone under 5 hours before. The aim was a 6.00min pace in the flat 1st half & then assess at halfway to see who was still buckled up on the bus before taking on the hillier 2nd half.. We started well though had a couple fall off pace a little before the mid point. We decided to hang back a bit on pace and give them an opportunity to catch the bus. By approx 35km we came across Renee who was running the half, she mentioned that Pamela wasnt too far behind us, with Emma a little further back still.. Emma had mentioned that she was unsure shed be able to keep pace with the sub 5 hour bus ( prev best approx 5.30 marathon finish ) and we had no way of knowing just how far back she was.. Dan had reported feeling faint so had commenced walking the hills. Ashley ( also running his 1st marathon ) had been doing it tough with severe ankle pain which didnt seem to subside whether going faster or slower. Ash ( accompanied by Jase ) decided to get to the finish sooner rather than later in an effort to put an end to the pain as quickly as possible, whilst Camo & I maintained our pace in the hope the others behind us would catch up and rejoin the bus before the finish.. To our great delight Pam tapped us on the shoulder at about 37km and was looking strong. The 3 of us decided to push on as Pam reported the others were a good few kms back..the 3 of us crossed the line at approx 4:46 ( approx 9 min ahead of schedule, though buses are rarely on time right?).. Dan wasnt too far behind us in the end & Emma finished bravely in what was a great effort ( knocking approx 25 min off previous time and crossing at approx 5:05 or so ). The pacing I found incredibly challenging as it was difficult to pull back and felt anything but natural.. Having said that I had a blast with my fellow passengers & really love the Rogue culture ( or Kulture as Kev would say ) were developing.. Well done to all the Rogues today & remember the 24hour medal rule.. Shinno ;)
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 07:11:46 +0000