The Dubbo Stampede is growing into one of Dubbo's premier events, according to the city's mayor, Mathew Dickerson.
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The Mayor was among more than 3000 people who took advantage of great weather to pound the pavement. While the bulk of the competitors preferred the shorter events, Mr Dickerson tested himself over the new marathon distance.
He covered the 42.2 kilometres in fraction over three hours and 45 minutes, good enough for 18th overall and second in the 40-45 men's age group.
A keen cyclist, Mr Dickerson said that fitness had helped him in his preparation but he also spent plenty of time on the Tracker Riley Cycleway, getting miles in the legs.
It wasn't trouble free but he was still happy with his time.
"It started to hurt in the first 500m, I have a bit of trouble with my calf muscles when I run. I can ride the bike all day but when I run, the pounding on the ground gets me after 500m and the calves hurt, then the hamstrings, then the feet. Apart from that it was all good," he said.
Despite his good performance, the Mayor said he has run his first and last marathon.
"Going into the event I thought I was safe for two things, to do a PB and come top 100 and I also won the self-created mayor's category," he joked.
"I'm retired from running now. I'm not really a runner, will stick with mountain biking and cycling but I wanted to run the inaugural marathon."
His retirement doesn't have any effect on his love of the event.
"To see this is the third year of the event is unbelievable, to have more than 3000 participants is fantastic," Mr Dickerson said.
"The marathon makes it a complete running carnival. Right approach first two years to establish it and get logistics right before they introduced the marathon to the program.
"I don't know any other event that has the mix of scenery. You don't get to see much of it because you're focused on all the parts of the body that are hurting, but the attraction before the event is to see the zoo and what Dubbo has to offer."
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