SCMS Journey – by Stuart Mcintosh 
I had a fairly busy (running) start to the year so had a solid base before beginning my marathon training. I also joined a swim team in January which I think has helped me stay injury free all year.
I started to ramp up my training from October 1st, starting weekly long runs from 25k, and adding a few k every week up ‘till 35k on Nov 12th. After that started tapering. Had also been doing shorter but hilly runs a few times a week to support the long runs. No interval training though.
On Race Day I was expecting to run a 3hr 45min marathon, with a slight hope of managing 3hr 30min, so my target pace was 4:58.
From the start I kept running at a sustainable pace which turned out to be more like 4:45…and I just kept going At the finish my Garmin showed 3:21:04.
Thanks to Mel and Vivian for supporting along the course, and everyone waiting near the finish 