With two marathons do in quick succession the question was, would it be a bridge too far for Barry Dolman?
First demonstrating his marvellous marathon potential at Boston in the Spring of 2023 when he posted a 2:54:26, Barry Dolman then went on to better that at London this year, just dipping under 2:54.
Loving the marathon training routine; the long runs, the big sessions and the high mileage, it was in evitable Barry would be back for more this Autumn. This time he decided to up the ante though by signing up for two big city marathons.
The first of these would be the Sydney Marathon on 15th September and the second of them was the Berlin Marathon two weeks later. It was a big ask to do both but Barry had the courage to attempt it and he wanted to push himself to see if he could handle it.
The course for the Sydney Marathon is quite hilly so its not one of those where you can pick your mile split pace and then expect to hit that for every mile. You have to gage it more on effort level or heart rate and trust that the ups and downs will even themselves out.
Barry started off quite steady and eased himself into it
Usually quite good with pacing, Barry isn’t one to go tearing off too quickly at the start and ruin his race. He takes more of a measured approach.
Most of the first mile was downhill but then a hill came into play on the second mile. Barry went through his first 5k in 20:55 which put him in 440th place overall. That made him 37th in the 55 to 59 category at that stage.
Reaching the 10k checkpoint in 41:42, Barry then went even faster for his next 5k, clocking a 20:37 which was 401st best and 28th in his category.
The palm trees made the backdrop look that much more exotic
There was quite a big climb to contend with on the 9th to the 11th mile but Barry dealt with it very well, keeping his pace high for the most part. He then went through the next 5k in 20:50 before reaching the half way stage in 1:27:34.
That meant he was on course for a finish of around 2:55. He was into a good rhythm now though and going through each mile split in around 6:30. Even when going up the hill he was still able to maintain pace which was really impressive.
His 5k times were getting quicker as well, with a 20:31 posted for 25 to 30k taking him up to 20 miles. That was 358th best for that section and 18th best in the 55 to 59 category. What did he have left though for the last 10k? The answer was – a lot!
Barry crosses the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge
Throwing in a 6:11 for his 21st mile, he was now really beginning to motor. There were still some mild inclines to overcome but Barry didn’t care. He was on a roll. Still getting faster with each 5k, his next one was a 20:26 which was 342nd best and 15th best in his category.
From the 23rd mile there was a nice downhill stretch and Barry was able to crank the pace up to a 6:19 and then a 6:13. That put his next 5k at 20:22 which was 324th best overall and 14th in his category for that sector.
Barry kept speeding up with every 5k as the race progressed
There was a last sneaky hill in the last couple of kilometres but Barry took it in his stride, powering up and down it before reaching the finish line. It was a grandstand finish in front of the Sydney Opera House but that was nothing short of what Barry deserved after the way he kept increasing the pace throughout. That is not easy to do in any marathon, especially a hilly one.
With a very strong negative split, Barry had reached the finish in 2 hours 53 minutes and 16 seconds. That put him in 405th place overall out of 20,284. In the 55 to 59 category he came 12th out of 747 and his average pace for the run was a superb 6:33. The elevation gain for the run came out at over 1,000ft emphasizing how well Barry did.
That was a 42 second PB for Barry so all things considered, a very satisfying performance and probably better than he realistically expected to do. Most importantly of all though, he really enjoyed the race and that’s what marathons should be about. It’s as much about the experience as it is the time. Of course, if you get a cracking PB that does tend to help you enjoy the experience more though.
Once he’d enjoyed some refreshments and had a bit of time to reflect on his achievement, his thoughts then had to inevitably turn to the Berlin which he would be on the start line for in two weeks time. A lot of rest and recuperation was needed in that space of time to ensure he would be fresh again for his next adventure. Could he recover in time though and would he be ready to go again two weeks later? It was a big ask but if anyone could do it, Barry could.