Melanie's First Marathon

by Melanie Jonker

Hi - my name is Melanie Jonker and on the 13 July 1997 I walked my first marathon in a time of 5:54:34 at the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. I can now proudly say, "I’m a marathoner". Walking a marathon was the biggest goal I had ever set myself and at times I still can’t believe I actually accomplished it. I am 39 years of age and two years ago regular power walking (or completing a marathon for that matter) were the last things on my mind.

I started power walking in February 1996. A couple of my friends had been doing lots of power walking for about a year - entering fun runs and even completing a half marathon. I was rather envious of their achievements and realized this was something I could certainly do. The only outlay was to purchase a good pair of shoes. My first 5 km fun run/walk took about an hour. I took my (then) 8 ½ year son (Richard) with me and we simply ambled along.

Well, to cut a long story short, I was hooked. During 1996, I walked over 25 fun runs (ranging from 4 kms - 10 kms) as well as 4 half marathons and a 30 km charity walk. I also completed a number of 5, 6.5 and 10.5 km walks near my home and when training for the half marathons, completed a number of 20 km walks. I invested in a sports watch, which enabled me to time each walk. It was very gratifying to see how my times improved.

Fitting this in with working full time, running a home and raising a child (single handedly) certainly took some juggling. On the weekends, Richard rode his bike beside me when I walked and the longer walks were usually done when I left work early. Luckily, I have flexible working hours and can accumulate time which enabled me to take half days off.

When I entered the fun runs, Richard always stayed near the registration area where there were plenty of people. I packed him a few snacks so he wouldn’t get too bored. I was amazed that he never complained about getting out of bed at 5 am some Sunday mornings to enable me to get to a fun run in time for the start.

On New Year’s Eve 1996, I made a resolution to walk my first marathon in 1997 and set my goal as the Gold Coast Marathon on 13 July. This is the largest marathon in Queensland and the only one which would accommodate my anticipated finishing time. My personal best for a half marathon was 2:41:56 so I set a realistic goal time for the marathon of between 6 - 6 ½ hours, which is around the 9 minute per km mark.

Now that’s the easy part—but how do I start training? What distances should I walk? How often should I train? What should I eat? What should I wear?

Through the Internet I located a number of homepages devoted to running, walking and marathon related issues as well as four lists which I subsequently subscribed to — walklist, racewalk list and two ultra running lists. I posted messages on these lists explaining my desire to walk a marathon and asking for any advice and assistance to enable me to fulfill my goal. As well, I E-Mailed many people on the Internet with the same questions. I was absolutely overwhelmed by the responses I received. There were so many messages full of encouragement, training strategies as well as some wonderful personal achievements by other walkers. I’ve kept all this information and it will eventually be placed in a huge scrapbook devoted to my first marathon walk.

I changed my routine and started walking early in the morning to make the most of the cooler weather. It also gave me a great mental boost for the day. During the long walks, I experimented with different things, e.g. socks, shorts, bike pants, bits of PowerBar wrapped in plastic, Powerade, etc. as well as leaving spare bottles of water in my letterbox so when completing a 20 km route I could quickly change bottles and continue on to do another 5 km route or more. Before each long walk I usually had a banana and half a PowerBar to get me going.

I was very pleased with my training times, in particular my 35 km walk which took 4:40 (8 minutes per km).

For six months my whole life focused around training for the marathon and there wasn’t a day that went past when I didn’t think about it! I tried to monitor my diet and started eating less fat and more carbohydrates and ensuring I always drank lots of water on a daily basis. Luckily, these healthy habits have stuck with me and are now a part of my everyday life.

I kept a log of all my walks noting such things as what shoes I wore, what the weather conditions were like, distance, time taken, any problems experienced, etc.

Six months seemed such a long time to wait and towards the last 2-3 months as the long walks intensified, I found there were times when I had to drag myself out of bed in the morning, especially in the cooler weather. Sunday had always been my sleeping in morning but that all vanished!

I was always very conscious of the commitment I had made to walk the marathon and had told a lot of my friends. Although at times it was difficult juggling everything to keep my training on track, I never regretted my decision or wavered from it.

My last long walk (25 km) was 16 days prior to the marathon. After that it was only 5 km walks. The week prior to the marathon, I concentrated on hydrating well with water and sports drink as well as eating more carbohydrates.

I traveled down to the Gold Coast (with 6 other friends who were walking the half marathon). It rained solidly all night and as a result, I lay there thinking about how my feet would fare in the wet. Whilst completing a 30 km training walk in the rain a few weeks earlier I developed some painful blisters and I didn’t want to go through that again, especially as I would be walking 42.2 km.

It was still raining when we packed the cars, drove to the venue and put our bags in the baggage tents. Luckily, I had brought a garbage bag with me and it helped to keep me dry. By a stroke of luck the rain eased to light showers and disappeared after a few minutes into the marathon. It turned out to be a perfect day for walking - cloudy and cool.

At the 23 km mark I was engulfed in a sea of 10 km runners. I had the words "WALKING 42.2 km 13.7.97" printed on the back of my T Shirt and so many passing runners gave me encouragement to keep going. At that stage my legs (thighs in particular) were in lots of pain and I was doubting my ability to do the complete 42.2 km. One fellow who passed me gently touched my shoulder and said to me "Absolutely superb. Keep it up". Those words became my mantra and kept me going to the end. Whoever you are - many, many thanks.

I couldn’t believe it—during all my long training walks my legs had experienced no major problems or pain at all but here I was only half way through the event and my legs were fast running out of energy.

I hit the wall at 30 km and pushed it for the next 12.2 km! I don't know where I found the energy or determination to keep going but it came from within me somewhere. Maybe it was the fact, I had trained so hard for 6 months and committed myself to completing the marathon. Besides, I had come so far I just couldn't give up otherwise I'd never have forgiven myself.

"Never again" were the words that went through my mind as I finished. However, maybe next year I may change my mind. They say once the marathon has you in its grips it never lets go! I could barely walk that night, however, the next day a lot of the stiffness had gone and you know what? I was already thinking of next year's event!

I posted a message about my successful (albeit painful) marathon walk on the walk and racewalk lists and received so many congratulatory E-Mails. The main thrust of each message was the fact it was quite normal to feel an aversion to another marathon initially, however, this would certainly change. One message in particular summed it all up—"You have achieved two goals that very few ever will: Crossing the starting line of a marathon and crossing the finish line of a marathon." To me, that statement says it all!

Training and completing the marathon has shown me that I am capable of achieving any goal I set myself. I have the discipline, commitment, mental strength and determination to accomplish anything if I really want it hard enough. I dreamt so often of that marathon walk and I did it!

Power walking will always be a part of my life. I need to feel myself pounding those pavements, breathing in that fresh morning air and to feel my heart pumping strongly.

My walk and this story are dedicated to my wonderful son Richard who is always there to cheer me over the finish line (even if I am sometimes last) and who is the greatest joy in my life.

Melanie Jonker

My Marathon Training Schedule - 1/1/97 - 13/7/97

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