El Sindicato Completes Marathon!!

(Please note this is an unedited version. Written in a rush)

The following is a brief chronicle, which represents a view of Sunday’s experience.

Melbourne, October 9, 2006. Three members Australia’s private syndicate club, Gabriel Mena, Alexis Esposto and Angel Calderon made history yesterday by completing the Melbourne Marathon on a typical spring day when the runners faced four seasons in a few hours (indeed typical Melbourne’s weather) – there was rain at the start, strong coastal wind (at certain points of the course) and oppressing sunny conditions, which made reaching the finish point a rather harder experience for the three brave ‘Sindicalistas’. This was the first ever marathon attempt for those three runners (just don’t say the three amigos!).

The Start – Feeling Nervous

The race, which kicked off from Frankston, commenced fifteen minutes past the scheduled time and this created angst amongst all the runners. El Sindicato runners were not deprived from such angst and this was manifested by their frequent visits to the toilets (mercifully we were not far away from them). The delay was caused by a volunteer so we hear.

Running as a Team

We started the race together and we stuck as one for the first two kilometres when a toilet visit (yes, another one) forced Alexis and Angel off the course and strait into the beach toilets, but Gabriel kept going on. This was clearly an illustration of our state of nervousness. Alexis and Angel ran together for the first five kilometres (at this point in time we were behind the 4hour pacer), but then Angel caught up with Gabriel at around kilometre 6. Gabriel and Angel worked together until kilometre 15 (well past the Mordialloc roundabout), and then Angel, feeling warmer, picked pace. At around Rickets Point, Angel caught up with the 3h.45m. At the same location Gabriel stopped to do some stretching and then he continued.

Progressing through the Flat Territory

The first 14 kilometres of the race were flat, runners travelling smoothly. Our approach was to tackle the first five kilometres really slowly, which paid off. We sustained similar pace until Mordialloc, when there was a slight ascent as we headed towards Warrigal Road. The atmosphere for the first hour was surreal, warming up and staying focused that we had a plan and had to stick to it. There were so many people that went past us but managed to stay on our schedule.

Water stops

We normally stopped at water stations and charged energies. There were no water stations past Fitzroy St, in St Kilda, which was a pity, because at that point in time the sun was very strong and having water would have greatly helped us in the final four kilometres. (Hope the organisors put a water station in St Kilda Road next year).

Stops, encounters and fun

Contrary to what Angel and Gabriel thought the race was far more enjoyable than what they expected. We are making this comparison based on our previous experience when we completed the half marathon at ‘The Run to the G’ event, back in June 2006. Alexis also enjoyed the event although he was forced to run at a slower pace due to soreness in his legs, having to stop a few times for stretching and he walked for more than five minutes.

The runners progressed feeling relatively optimistic from Rickets Point to Sandringham where they knew their friends and supporters were waiting to see them going past. Their first group of supporters were Jane and Marcel who were opposite the Sandringham railway station. They were cheering the runners were optimistically. Just before Dendy St, Brighton, Grace and Casey were waiting to greet us. They enthusiastically were waiving Guatemalan flags! Immediately past Dendy Street, Em and Dom were waiting for us; Em joined Angel and ran with him to just before North Road, giving him a huge morale boost to continue. Just before Martin Street, Brighton, the Calderons (Izzy, Seb and Felix) were waiting for the Latin boys, accompanied of other family members (Carolyn, David, Mim, Charlie and Sam) and friends (Michael, Irene and their two children Joel and Ruben). When Angel spotted them, he immediately moved to the left and stopped to greet them, receiving hugs. A well deserved two-minute stop. Joel and Ruben made the poster which is displayed below.

The boost Angel received around Brighton pushed him to continue with the run and enabled him to main the pace as drawn in the race strategy earlier in the week, which facilitated him to complete the run.

Unknown territory

As Angel progressed away from Brighton and entering into the unknown and untested territory (past the 32km mark), he made his way through Elwood feeling upbeat and somewhat weary that the biggest challenge was about to start – tackling St Kilda’s Esplanade and travelling through Fitzroy Street then making it to the finish lane. The presence of many spectators was a very welcome boost much needed at time the energy levels were beginning to drop. “The time went so quickly, too fast in any case, hard to absorb any enjoyment at that stage of the race” Angel described later on. As he approached St Kilda he knew other non-running members of El Sindicato would be waiting to cheer them. Just before Donovan’s Angel spotted Guillermo, Gonzalo and Victor and that cheered him up so much that he enthusiastically waved his arms attracting their attention. Victor and Guillermo joined Angel for a quick run for about two hundred meters. They talked to Angel enabling him to make his way past St Kilda Pier and progressively made inroads into Fitzroy St, which is known to be a huge test to the stamina of any runner. As Angel made his way to the top of the hill he wished a water station would appear but there was no one in sight – in fact there was no water station until the finish lane.

Once Angel was on St Kilda Road he wished there would be shade - the sun was bright. The boulevard was buzzing with lots of noise from the traffic and spectators cheering up the runners. It was a strange feeling when one enters St Kilda Road because the end is coming, one is close to the end but yet anything could happen, so the excitement of the finish cannot be manifest, conserve energies to push to the end. When one sees the 38kms mark one knows that the hard work has paid that far and the extra energy is needed to make it to the final (no more energy gels far too late). The last four kilometres required extra concentration and forced us to stay upbeat and think not of injuries but the joy of finishing. These four kilometres felt like an eternity, but for Angel, who maintained his relative pace for the past six kilometres but weakening at times, finally made it to the 41km mark when the cheer of the crowd become more intense and the finish lane appeared closer and yet so distant and had to stay working to avoid dropping pace. Angel felt like walking the last four kilometres but his determination to finish running made him to push right to the end.

Finish

As Angel went past The National Gallery the desire for the finish lane to appear was so strong, the legs were beginning to start feeling completely bugged but the crowd and the pain made him get to the finish lane. There was a sound in the crowd that cheered “Go Angel” but it lost amidst the business of the euphoria - Angel completed the marathon in 3h39 minutes…! Later on Jane commented that Angel went quickly in the last hundred metres, but Angel does not have a clear recollection how fast or slow he was going at that moment.

Impresions after the run

Angel
Upon completion of the marathon, Angel commented that he did not feel the pain of the race as much as he was dreading, in any case his positive mental attitude that he wanted to enjoy the day contributed to him finishing well. Angel commented “the fact that I ran the first five kilometres at a slower pace greatly assisted me and, then I managed to stay on course for the first fifteen kilometres – in all of this time I let many runners go past me. Then Angel added, “Progressively I started to build up from Rickets Point as the race moved and progressed through Sandringham and Brighton.”

Angel managed to run at the pace and scheduled as drawn earlier in the week – he expected to complete in 3h45 as ‘best case’ scenario and at the end he did it in 3h39mins.

Gabriel
Gabriel commented that he enjoyed the event immnesively but “I struggled for the past four kilometres”. He said, “I have mixed feeling about today’s event, but I am filled with excitement, very happy about the outcome and the race was a huge mental struggle, but absolutely thrilled I finished”. Gabriel completed the marathon in 4h01m. “It is a great achievement considering we have to build up from a very low base”, he concluded.

Alexis
Alexis commented that it was a very enjoyable experience. However it was the hardest physically taxing event undertaking, he added. “It was a great feeling to finish and I had a great sense of accomplishment, even though I was feeling a lot of pain for the fist 15 kms and despite the wind and the rain the run was terribly enjoying. It was a thoroughly enjoying challenge to have completed. At no time I considered quitting”.
Alexis further commented, “It was great to know that my colleagues and friends also finished the race. It would have been great for all of us to finish all together but this was not possible it would have meant slowing my colleagues and for them not fulfilling their goals.”

Alexis noted that he met a lot of very nice who he helped and helped him to accomplish this marathon. “When I thin I run form Frankston to the city, I think it was a kind of fable, but having finished it made me realised it was real. Perhaps next year I would do it all over again”, he concluded.

The Morning After

Gabriel reports that he feels a bit of pain the in the upper legs. Angel reports pain in the lower legs – shin splints, forced to walk in a funny way. Alexis also reports walking like injured.

We are off to lunch to celebrate and we shall be opening a bottle of the Wynns Centenary Cabernet shiraz 1991 and a 1998 Gaetzer shiraz.

Salud!

Gracias to all of those who supported us in this journey for the past few montsh... more of that later.