My journey to Oslo
I had mixed emotions after completing 5 marathons in the spring. I was glad to be back running, but my times, ranging from 4:02 to 4:10, had left me feeling a little disappointed:
- Manchester 4:03:21
- London 4:09:38
- Milton Keynes 4:02:19
- Copenhagen 4:10:37
- Cork 4:08:57
Looking back. I had been completing an average of around 200km a month training leading up the first marathon and hadn’t done any speed work, so the spring results were hardly surprising. Another factor was my weight. I was 69-70kg which was heavier than I would have liked.
Looking back to when I was running faster times (3:16 – 3:25 up to 2018), I would run 300km every month back then with a lot more intensity in some of my weekly sessions. Granted, I am older now, but still felt I had plenty of room for improvement, so I set about increasing my monthly volume and intensity, with plenty of easy days.
Prior to Oslo I had been running around 300km a month (361km in August) and had been doing weekly hill running in the Trough of Bowland (photo below)(May-July) and intervals from mid-July. I had also dropped some kg over the summer and weighed-in at 65kg prior to the Oslo Marathon on 12th September.
I had problems with fuelling during the spring races and experienced some unpleasant stomach cramps and nausea in all five spring marathons. I was using SiS Beta Fuel Gels during the spring races, so had paid attention to fuelling alternatives during long runs pre-marathon and had been fine using SiS Beta Energy Chews
Autumn targets
Simply put, I had worked hard through a very hot summer, not shirking sessions was happy with my weight and body composition (12% body fat). My first autumn target was get back under 4 hours and subsequently make further improvements.
Oslo Marathon
I flew to Oslo from Manchester early morning the day before the marathon, went to collect my bib and checked into my apartment which was about 1.5km from the start area at Rådhusplassen.
It was a very comfortable 12c and overcast on race morning. I walked to the start area, dropped my bag and made my way to the start area. As well as a marathon, there are half marathon and 10k races, each starting at different times. The marathon starts first at 09:00 and this year there were around 3500 marathon starters.
The course is 2 laps of the half marathon course with a couple of elevated sections to be aware of: 2-5km and 15-17.5km during the first half of the race and 23-26km and 37-39.5km during the second half. The rest of the course is fairly flat with the exception of a few minor or short undulations.
Wanting to record a sub-4 hour marathon, I set off at around 5:35km pace and once the initial congestion had subsided I settled into a comfortable 5:28-5:35 pace as we covered the western part of the course . The first hilly 2-5km section was ok and I was holding 5:35km pace throughout this section.
The next 11km mostly stay close to the harbour are largely flat so I got back into a comfortable pace until reaching 15km (5:32km split) where the course heads north and starts to climb again. I was mindful not to burn too much here so held back the place a little until we turned and headed back towards the Bislett Stadium, where we would do lap on both legs of the course, and towards the city centre. I felt ok during the first half but was mindful of the elevated sections that we would have to renegotiate during the second half.
Halfway split 1:56:59 (5:33km pace).
I ate a Maurten 160 energy bar about 30 mins before the start and was consumed a full SiS Beta Fuel Energy Chew every 30 mins from 15km (45g carbs). As we arrived at the next elevated section (23-26km) I was beginning to feel the first signs of fatigue but was holding a 5:33km pace up to 25km. It was the same during the next 5km segment where I was still maintaining a steady 5:34km pace.
Once we were back by the harbour, the demons appeared for the first time (around 30km) and the next 5km I had to work hard maintaining a 5:48km pace up to the 35km split. By the time we reached the second elevated section I was starting to feel ok again. Unfortunately, my quads did not like the climb and the pace slowed significantly on the uphills. Luckily, what goes up most come down, and I was able to pick up the pace once we had made the turn just ahead of reaching the Bislett Stadium. This 5km section cost me, though, I had slowed to 6:05km pace but still on target for a sub-4.
During the last 2.2km, I was hanging on, though thankfully we were largely downhill from this point and I got over the line in under 4 hours. I had thought I was heading for a 3:58 finish but I made the schoolboy error of not noticing the km markers and following my device which was showing about 400m longer than the actual course. I had a shock when I reached the final 100-120m and only had 30 seconds to get over the line. Happily I did this but only just.
Official time: 3:59:47 (5:41km av pace)
Post-race thoughts
So, I am back under 4 hours which is great, especially as I achieved this in Oslo with 350m total elevation. My next marathon is Warsaw on 27th September which has 90m elevation gain so I am looking for more improvement in Poland.
- Race organisation – 9/10 excellent. Plenty of water and aid stations, lots of toilets in the start area and on the course. Plenty of volunteers (thanks as always to them).
- Course – 7/10 the route is great, smooth and well laid out. I don’t mind two laps but I underestimated the hills. Plan and train for these if you’re thinking of running the marathon and you’ll be fine.
- Local Support – 6/10 (not that it bothers me, but some people like crowds so I should tell you that the support was quite sparse outside the city centre area, good in the city though and at certain points cheering points around the course).
- Oslo – 9/10 is great, really nice waterfront, city centre and districts. Not surprisingly it’s a little pricey, but don’t let that put you off. I got a great deal on my AirBnB accommodation and found places to eat relatively inexpensively. I enjoyed walking around the city the day after the race prior to heading home.
- Should you run Oslo – yes. Really well organised early September marathon through a beautiful city. Nice medal and T-shirt.
- Overall 8/10
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