Depends what time the sub 3 pacer set off for his chip time, given dt set off fair way back from sound of things. I’d think 2:57.xx is just about acceptable too from a sub 3 pacer so long as even paced. Can’t be that many people available to run sub 3 consistently willing to pace.
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This thread has got my juices flowing a little. Only ever had one crack at a marathon a few years ago when I held 3 hour pace for 23 miles, but then faded to 3h05. Not getting any younger, but haven’t yet slowed down too much either. So maybe a goal for 2020. Hmm
NIce one d.t. proper swing of the bat that. Well done for hanging on after that first 30k !!
Brilliant effort all of you 
and some good reports, nice when you can hang on for those last moments.
I’m increasingly not a big fan of long tapers myself, maybe if you’ve been doing loads of volume for an IM etc. to get some fatigue out of the system but I generally find 2-3 days can get me into a fairly fresh state without the mental torture of an impending big race that you’ve targeted.
Jeff
I have toyed with the idea of being a pacer, my last 3 mara’s I have had very even splits and would probably back myself to run it ok, I am not sure I would be fast enough for 3 hours. I am not sure what the requirement is to be a pacer (does anyone?).
At Sydney/Gold Coast they had 2:50 pacers, I would assume you would need to be near to a 2:30 runner to be one of those.
At San Sebastian (which is the only time I have seen a 2:45 pacer), the guy was on a bike which makes it a lot easier.
Been avoiding this thread as I can’t fathom it but there is some amazing running going on here. 
Depending on what happens with UTMB next year, I may target a late season sub 4 attempt at Abingdon, so I’ll skulk off to t’other thread. 
If I did not decide to take a rest day today, and had cycled home from office, I would not have ended up at the bar after work, consuming 4 pints (bought by saboteurs) and betting $20 with the COO that I would run Lucerne Marathon faster than his nephew… who works for ON Sports.
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3:07 today. Was doing well until 35km in, then fell apart in a way i have not experienced before. Normally i have a gradual reduction. However today my pace suddenly dropped by over a minute per km. Hillier course than I expected, with 3 decent climbs in first 10k of each lap
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great work mate, those hills are going to definitely take its toll in the latter part of the marathon. but 3:07 is still a cracking time.
Nice work Matthew!
7th in Age group, a sub 3hr would have put me in top 3. Official time 03:07:09
Just had a look at London Marathon GFA, for 2020 it is 3:07:20, if this is the same for 2021, Hopefully I can get a GFA place
Well done Matt, not sure your unusual taper 50 mile bike ride the day before would be in many coaching handbooks though!
Jeff
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There was a rational, It is not a great idea to fit a Marathon into Tri training, so I decided to treat this as an experiment. I didn’t go into it with a full taper, after all in an IM, you are not on fresh legs before the run. I then ran pretty quick from the start, the first 10k was actually my 3rd fastest ever 10k, the Half Marathon was my second fastest ever. I actually thought that I would explode around 30k, so the fact that I got to 36k is pretty good, but in the back of my mind, it would have been nice to last another 6km
After the race, for around 30mins I had to sit down repeatedly as I thought that I was about to black out. I almost went over to the med tent
It was 3:10 but too many got the time so it dropped to 3:07:20.
Next year it could be faster but also could be slower.
Cracking effort @Matthew_Spooner. Have been there before with a big blow up latter in the race and it isnt pretty.
6 days until a PB attempt and im off from work coughing up my bodyweight in mucus! 
Can’t imagine there’s going to be much activity in my last week of taper
@goldenboots good luck at the weekend, still got a few days for cold to clear up
Great run, many many blow in that last 10k or so, imho that is where the marathon training kicks in. Just the long pounding on the legs reduces the blow in the last 10 or so.
Also I can find it isnt the up’s that get you with the hills, you can control that effort and loose a bit of time, but it is the downs, the hammering on the legs (whether attacking or holding back) can sting later on if you are not conditioned.
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When are @stenard and @chickenboy doing their marathons?
Been seeing some mammoth winter runs this weekend 