I'm writing this on the morning before driving away from this golden place. Yesterday was a near perfect day for running - nice and cool at 5.30am when we walked over to the start followed by a pleasant southerly breeze for the last 10km of the half marathon on a sunny perfect Queensland day.
Saturday after breakfast... we met Luckylegs for lunch at a cafe on Tedder Ave. A phone call and we were joined by Plu resplendant in CR gear. Johny Dark and Tesso (half of Clairie and Tesso's blog) also dropped in for a coffee and sandwich. Afterwards I walked over to race HQ with LL. Met a couple of CR bloggers for the first time in the flesh - MPHaz, minersrun and the wordy, wise Owl.
Sunday, the perfect day... Met LL and other runners staying at 'Oscars' to walk to race HQ at 5.30am. I lined up at the start near Cato and a lady, both were waiting for Puntermatt who was to run 5:00/km pace. I decided to run at the start near Pat Carroll's 1hr 40min pacer who was tied to green helium baloons (very easy to spot).
This turned out to be a good decision as I was not finding it easy sitting on 4:40-45 min kms. My race went okay with 47:52 at 10k. After the turn I gradually lost touch with 'green balloon man' and ran 49:00 for the next 10k. The Forerunner was almost spot-on with the 1km splits. With 500m to the finish the 'CR Cheer Squad' was in full voice led by Jen_runs. The "go wombat!" calls were much appreciated. I finished in 1:41:57 after a bit of a battle with sore legs and achilles over the last 3 or 4 kilometres. Had a brief chat with MPHaz (82min PB), Miss Skarmel (PB) , Johnny Dark (96 mins) and Chris from Calwell (77mins PB).
After a shower at home I walked back along the marathon course looking for Jennifer and Luckylegs. At the bridge I watched the 10km runners start and spotted Mr G doing his second 10k race for the weekend. Slow Sue was also there and ran a PB of a touch over an hour. I didn't spot LL so walked up to the 40km mark. I saw Cathy Montalto running well in her ACT team gear. Jim Moody then Kevin Chapman came past followed a little later by Jennifer. She was doing okay if looking a little hot and bothered and ran 4:40.
Then, a long wait for Chickybabe. Where was she?! After 5hrs 30mins had elapsed I walked back to race HQ as Jennifer was waiting. I must have just missed LL as she finally finished in 5:57 after having a real strugle with leg soreness and feeling unwell and wobbly in the latter stages of the marathon. The 'CR Cheer Squad' had run with her to the finish. In the afternoon I made a brief appearance at the Clairie/Tesso drinks at the Surf Club and was pleased to have a chat with Courtley Love and Fast Sue. That evening I joined Luckylegs for a gourmet meal. Thankfully she was feeling much better - almost back to her (some would say) 50-year-old self.
Shortly I will be leaving paradise but I think I'll be back next year - it's a great place for a run!
Saturday after breakfast... we met Luckylegs for lunch at a cafe on Tedder Ave. A phone call and we were joined by Plu resplendant in CR gear. Johny Dark and Tesso (half of Clairie and Tesso's blog) also dropped in for a coffee and sandwich. Afterwards I walked over to race HQ with LL. Met a couple of CR bloggers for the first time in the flesh - MPHaz, minersrun and the wordy, wise Owl.
Sunday, the perfect day... Met LL and other runners staying at 'Oscars' to walk to race HQ at 5.30am. I lined up at the start near Cato and a lady, both were waiting for Puntermatt who was to run 5:00/km pace. I decided to run at the start near Pat Carroll's 1hr 40min pacer who was tied to green helium baloons (very easy to spot).
This turned out to be a good decision as I was not finding it easy sitting on 4:40-45 min kms. My race went okay with 47:52 at 10k. After the turn I gradually lost touch with 'green balloon man' and ran 49:00 for the next 10k. The Forerunner was almost spot-on with the 1km splits. With 500m to the finish the 'CR Cheer Squad' was in full voice led by Jen_runs. The "go wombat!" calls were much appreciated. I finished in 1:41:57 after a bit of a battle with sore legs and achilles over the last 3 or 4 kilometres. Had a brief chat with MPHaz (82min PB), Miss Skarmel (PB) , Johnny Dark (96 mins) and Chris from Calwell (77mins PB).
After a shower at home I walked back along the marathon course looking for Jennifer and Luckylegs. At the bridge I watched the 10km runners start and spotted Mr G doing his second 10k race for the weekend. Slow Sue was also there and ran a PB of a touch over an hour. I didn't spot LL so walked up to the 40km mark. I saw Cathy Montalto running well in her ACT team gear. Jim Moody then Kevin Chapman came past followed a little later by Jennifer. She was doing okay if looking a little hot and bothered and ran 4:40.
Then, a long wait for Chickybabe. Where was she?! After 5hrs 30mins had elapsed I walked back to race HQ as Jennifer was waiting. I must have just missed LL as she finally finished in 5:57 after having a real strugle with leg soreness and feeling unwell and wobbly in the latter stages of the marathon. The 'CR Cheer Squad' had run with her to the finish. In the afternoon I made a brief appearance at the Clairie/Tesso drinks at the Surf Club and was pleased to have a chat with Courtley Love and Fast Sue. That evening I joined Luckylegs for a gourmet meal. Thankfully she was feeling much better - almost back to her (some would say) 50-year-old self.
Shortly I will be leaving paradise but I think I'll be back next year - it's a great place for a run!
1 comment:
I've edited this page to show my website finishing time. Funnily, the web times are about 3 seconds faster than the times published in the paper.
This would make a difference if you ran a 2:59:59 marathon like Pat Carroll which was 3:00:02 in the paper! My chip time was 1:41:14, so it took about 40 seconds to cross the start line.
Post a Comment