Marathon Reflections

Double fist pump at the finish line

In my more than 21 years as a physiotherapist, I’ve always thought that people who run marathons must be crazy. Who would put their bodies through the extreme torture of running 42.195km in one

day, let alone a few hours? How is it even humanly possible to do so? I thought I could never do that.

On Sunday 13th April, I became one of those crazy people, and ran my first ever marathon at the Canberra Times Marathon Festival. I did it. I crossed the finish line in 4 hours 37 minutes and 7 seconds and covered 42.79km according to my Strava file, so a little bit more than the official distance.

I could hardly believe it when it was all over. The emotions towards the end were incredibly hard to keep in check. There were tears of joy and elation mixed with tears of pain and discomfort. A triumphant celebration of months of hard work coming together on one magnificent autumn morning in Canberra.

I was lucky to share the experience with my good friend and former Naracoorte GP Dr Rachel Hawker, who I have known since I was 15. We talked about running 42km in our 42nd year a couple of years ago. I wasn’t really serious, and I don’t think she was either, but the idea niggled away until we both committed in the middle of last year.

Well, at least she booked and paid for her spot on the start line at the Canberra marathon. I was warming to the idea, but didn’t lock it in straight away. In fact, it very nearly didn’t happen at all when I seriously injured my left ankle while doing the Cave Run in early November. (No more trail runs for me!) With my left foot in a moonboot, I decided it was now or never to commit to the marathon. This gave me the goal and motivation I needed to get my ankle rehab done and get back on the roads running again.

As a sports physiotherapist, I’ve worked with many runners over the years. I’ve also done plenty of professional development around running and written training programs for my running patients, but sometimes you just need someone to tell you what to do. I do at least! Enter Fraser Darcy, a running coach with Run As One in Adelaide and a very good elite runner in his own right.

Fraser emailed me monthly training programs from December onwards and, being the goal-focused, hard working individual that I am, I hardly missed a single training session in four months! It paid off immensely, as I was able to progress my total mileage gradually and see my fitness improve week by week. Luckily, I didn’t have any niggles along the way to slow me down, but this is where my professional background helped. I worked hard to make sure my preparation and recovery for every training run, as well as my nutrition and hydration, were as spot on as I could manage, while juggling work and family life.

I peaked at just the right time, smashing my 5km PB at the Naracoorte Lake parkrun on the Saturday a week out from my race, running 25 minutes 25 seconds. At the start of this year (2025), I was running it in around 29 minutes. I was so surprised to see such improvement over a relatively short period of time, during a marathon training block. Obviously my speed/interval sessions were helping for shorter distances as well! The fact I have beaten my 5km PB four times this year alone certainly supports that.

I spend a lot of time listening to podcasts about running, reading academic journal articles about running and talking about running with friends and patients. This all helped me as I prepared for the longest run of my life. I picked up little tips and tricks from lots of sources - the best gels (Maurten), good options for electrolytes which include carbs (Tailwind), shoes (ASICS Metaspeed), socks (2XU), hydration vests (Salomon), head torches to train in the dark (on the wish list for winter training!), etc! It was no longer just about getting dressed and going out the door. I am fortunate that I can afford some of these extras and that is not lost on me either.

Women have not always been allowed to run the marathon distance. It was considered dangerous. The first woman to do so was Kathrine Switzer in 1967, only 58 years ago! She illegally entered the Boston marathon in USA using her first initials rather than her full name. A male runner collected her race bib. The male organisers of the event, including the run director, tried to prevent her from running and assaulted her during the race, trying to remove her race bib so she would be disqualified. She was defiant and finished the race in approximately 4 hours 20 minutes.

I feel so lucky to be able to even consider running a marathon, let alone finishing one. I work with many patients for whom this will never be a possibility. I thought of them when it got tough on the streets of Canberra. I thought of the friends who have supported me so well over the last few months, encouraging me and never once hinting that they thought I couldn’t do it. I thought of my Naracoorte Lake Parkrun family, many of whom cheer me on every week and help me to run at my best.

Most of all, I thought of my husband and my children. They were out on the course and popped up at just the right moments, to run alongside me, fill up my water bottles or feed me lolly snakes. The looks on their faces each time they saw me helped spur me on through the next block of the race until I would see them again. It was extra special to share this experience with them, and seeing them at the finish line brought lots of happy tears as they know exactly how much work went into this run and have patiently supported me throughout. I’m very grateful for them all.

For those who want to know more about what it’s like to run a marathon, here’s my race recap:

On the home straight

I got up on race morning at 4:30am, feeling strangely calm and collected given what was ahead. I had two pieces of bread with peanut butter, a banana and an electrolyte drink then woke up the children and my husband to drive to the race start. The kids were excited, my husband was nervous and I was still calm.

There were lots of road closures so it took us a bit longer to get to the drop off point at 5:35am. I then had to walk about 800m to the start line. I still felt super calm. I had a caffeine gel on my walk then braved the portaloos before meeting up with Rachel.

I was keen to do a short warm-up and jogged about 800m before walking to the start line. I felt good - ready. I had visualised the end of the race many times in my mind over the last week and that was my first goal - to finish the race. My second goal was to run it in five hours. This felt realistic and achievable.

We went in Wave B which started at 6:25am after a pep up talk from Robert de Castella, one of Australia’s greatest ever marathon runners. I wasn’t really sure what my race pace was going to be. I wanted to see how I felt, and keep things steady. Around 6 minutes per kilometre felt about right. Rachel and I ran together for the first 6km or so which was great - lots of chats about all sorts of random things which helped pass the time. Rachel wanted to run a bit faster and I was happy to slow down a bit so we split up. I put my running playlist on and enjoyed a beautiful morning jog around Canberra as the sun slowly came up and the clouds lifted.

I had been for a drive around the course with my family the day before, which was a huge help as it gave me insights into what was coming up, where the hills were, when it would be shady etc. I felt relaxed and comfortable.

I was ticking over the kilometres relatively easily for the first 30km which sounds crazy given I have never run that far before. My longest run in training was only 27km! My pace was super consistent and around 6 minutes per kilometre. My body felt great.

My playlist finished and I put my trusty Inside Running Podcast on. I often listen to their weekly show on my long runs so this felt familiar. This got me through another hour and a half of the race. Much of this period was running on big three lane open highways. It was getting reasonably warm by this stage and we were in full sun on the bitumen for a good 10km.

We also ran into the half marathoners around this time, which was good to have more people to share the roads with but did make it a bit harder to get drinks. I was very glad I was wearing my hydration vest and brought my own gels as it took the stress out of when and where to drink and fuel. I could do it whenever it suited me and maintain steady intake throughout the race. That’s key - drinking and eating before you feel like you need to to avoid dehydration and calorie deficit.

Thumbs up at 35km mark, trying to channel some positive self talk when things got hard.

This all went well until 35km when I could no longer keep my gels down and gagged trying to swallow them. I had some lollies from the kids so relied on them in the latter stages but this certainly impacted my time. I also started getting some right quad and glut pain/cramping/tightness from about 37km which made the last 5km feel like forever.

I pushed on, enjoying all the signs people had made and the music around the course from DJs and bands set up on the street corners. The further I ran, the more casualties there were on the side of the road - people who were not going to make it to the finish line today. In my mind, I kept telling myself that wasn’t going to be me.

Once I got to 15km to go, I knew I could do it and as each kilometre passed, I got more and more confident. Still, I had never run that far before and there was an inkling of doubt that lingered right up until 40km. After that, I knew I was home and just had to keep pushing to the finish line.

Those last couple of kilometres were some of the most emotional I’ve ever experienced. Throughout the race I had received many messages which came through on my watch as I was running along. Every time I got one, I felt on the verge of tears thinking about the people cheering for me from afar. I was running for all of them, but most of all I was running for myself and my family - to prove that I was capable of really hard things; that I could work hard and achieve a goal that I never thought possible; that anyone can run a marathon if they really want to; and that being physically active is one of the greatest joys in life, especially when you do it with other like-minded people.

When I reached the finish line, I did a double fist pump and started looking around for my family. I eventually found them and broke down in tears. The kids couldn’t work out why I was crying, but I explained they were happy tears.

Shortly afterwards, I found Rachel who had crossed the line about 15 minutes ahead of me. We had a big hug. I was a bit lost for words, such was the enormity of the occasion for me. We got our finishers t-shirt then walked back to the car, trying to avoid all steps and hills to save our quads any more torture!

We did it. We finished our first marathon. I had achieved both my goals and honestly I found the whole race a really enjoyable experience, even when it got tough. My body was strong, my mind was strong and my emotions held together just long enough. I was a marathoner, and just as crazy as all the others, because now I knew exactly why they do it. I enjoyed it so much I might just do it again - Sydney Marathon in August here I come!!

This whole experience has really confirmed for me just what we are capable of. It is an absolute privilege to move our bodies. No human is limited. So, what are you waiting for?

Angela Willsmore

APA Musculoskeletal, Sport and Exercise Physiotherapist

PINC & STEEL Cancer Rehab Physiotherapist 

Good Country Physiotherapy

Ph: 8762 1515