The Age Run To The 'G' - RunHalf Marathon


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Melbourne, Victoria
Australia
Start to Finish Event Management
10C / 50F
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 12m 9s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 18-39
Age Group Rank = 366/462
Pre-race routine:

After a fitful sleep it was almost a relief when my alarm went off at 5:55am. Dressed, drank a glass of juice, ate my two pieces of honeyed toast and headed off to pick Kris up.
Event warmup:

We waited in line to drop our clothing off and found the 2:10 starting section.
Run
  • 2h 11m 30s
  • 21.1 kms
  • 06m 14s  min/km
Comments:

Woo hoo!! A PB, finally!!!

Ran with Kris for eight or so kms, until we caught up with the woman I ran the Williamstown half with. At that stage Kris felt strong enough to pull away so he did. We had run fairly conservatively up until then, so I understand why he wanted to push it. I still had Williamstown in the back of my mind (the devastating last 3km) and wanted to wait til at least 10km to push it.

Had a Gu between 10 & 11km (as the leader passed us on his second lap) after an inability to open my glucose dinosaurs (reminder to self: cut mini tear in lolly packet) and picked up the pace. Running back past Fed Square with the 5km race about to start was awesome. There were heaps of people cheering, lots of music going on, the vibe was just good, but it was time to repeat the hills in and around Richmond and the G. I thought perhaps I had gone too hard the first time around, so the aim was to get up the hills and recover on the down hills. At about the 15km mark there was a man with an unusual breathing style running behind us that was driving us nuts. Hence the faster 16km split! At 18km my running parter needed a pit stop, this was a perfect opportuinity to pick the pace up (tricky on a hill) but my aim was to make it to the finish line without being caught.

In the last two kms I passed a significant number of people (a first for me) and crossed the finish line in 2:12:09. A new PB by ~ 4 minutes. Very happy to finally show some slither of improvement!

What would you do differently?:

Some more consistent run training wouldn't go astray.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around to pick up our clothing bags and then our goodies bag. As per usual I felt a little ill. Scooted back to my car to do a quick change and met up with some of my workmates who had run their first 5km. They also loved the day and had a great time, which was exciting.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. Talent. And perhaps lack of fast twitch fibres??

Event comments:

Great vibe in terms of the number of people racing. The staggered start worked well (even if running a little late), there wasn't too much congestion on the course at all. I would have liked to have seen more aid stations, while I thank the volunteers for their time it would have been good to have had more of them holding water out. < Picky I know :o




Last updated: 2007-06-16 12:00 AM
Running
02:11:30 | 21.1 kms | 06m 14s  min/km
Age Group: 0/462
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
1km 6:16 150/160; 2km 6:38 160/168; 3km 6:04 164/170; 4km 6:16 163/167 5km 6:24 169/177; 6km 5:58 169/177 7km 6:12 167/171; 8km 6:20 168/178 9km 5:56 171/174; 10km 6:06 175/179 11km 6:02 175/179; 12km 6:12 178/184 13km 6:06 178/182; 14km 6:16 176/180 15km 6:26 180/186; 16km 5:58 177/181 17km 6:06 177/181; 18km 6:20 180/182 19km 6:06 179/183; 20km 5:58 182/187 21km 6:04 184/187
Course: Start Flinders St opposite St Paul’s Cathedral Travel west down Flinders St turn left across Queensbridge, turn left into Freshwater Pl. Travel across Sandridge rail bridge to north side of Yarra River and return to Fed Sqaure. Travel east up Flinders St, into Wellington Pde Sth, right into Jolimont Rd into Brunton Ave. Enter Yarra Park near Richmond Cricket Ground, complete loop on paths in park. Travel across footbridge from MCG to Melbourne Park, veer left onto footpath on Batman Ave and travel up to Flinders St. Do U turn at top of Batman Ave and come down onto footbridge in Birrarung Marr. Travel on footpath alongside Yarra River, under Swan St bridge to Morell Bridge. Travel across Morell Bridge north to south and pick up path adjacent to Alexandra Ave. Stay on path under Swan St bridge, come up from river level to cross Boathouse Dr, travel through Alexandra Gardens to path at St Kilda Rd. Turn right onto path on St Kilda Rd, run across Princes Bridge and complete Flinders St, Yarra Park, Batman Ave, Yarra River, Alexandra Gardens section of course again. Half marathon finish is on Princes Bridge.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4