Melbourne Marathon 3:17:32

I had intended to do Melbourne after missing 3 weeks training in July had left me in my opinion short of some long runs to do Sydney. Hence the training in Sydney.
The sprained ankle at the start of October lead to no running at all with a weak muscle around my ankle not helping.
I arrived the day and saw Fats in the very long line for number pickup at the G. 50 mins later we both had our numbers. A word for all. Enter anything for Melbourne real early so you can get mail delivery.

Race started ok as I was able to start right behind the preferred(Fats) runners. The ankle was still hurting though which in hindsight I shouldn't have run, but hey I'm an idiot so continued on. Felt ok until the 15k mark when both calves cramped simultaneously. Never had calf cramps in a race before and don't want to have them again.

I figured keep running at a slower pace and try and get to the finish as best I could. Ugly splits after the first 10k but at least I finished so Blue Dogs Mum couldn't have a go at me. Good conditions with an 8 degrees start getting up to 22 by the finish and not much wind to speak of.

10k 42:41, 20k 44:14, 30k 46:11, 40k 52:24. A bit strange but they don't have a halfway split mat.
Finished in 3:17:32 for Marathon number 11.

I was 683 out of 6,232 which wasn't too bad with the cramp. Course is pretty flat save for a hill at 29ks and another about 35ks. I'll hopefully have another go next year.