Posts Tagged ‘northern’

Athlete: Carey Taylor

SUNDAY MAY 13TH 2012-05-18

Running for me is both enjoyable and therapeutic. My inspiration came from Northern Suburbs Running Group. I have to say my special thanks goes to Mick Hearn who told me about N.S.R.G and gently encouraged me over the last few years and believed I could do a marathon.

I always kept putting it off for another year. I really want to thank all N.S.R.G,and to mention a few Chris Kowalski, Ali and Julie, Bob and Shelia and Louise Moore and Louise Ryan who got me started by running with me on my initial training runs.(Incidentally about a month before the 3 waters marathon I got “marathon blues”and told Bob and Shelia I am doing the Bunbury half which relieved me for a while)-Then my husband Patrick inspired me again saying “you have done all this training get a grip you can do it”He also booked very nice accommodation in Bunbury so I had to give it a go!!

This Marathon was all about finishing with no times set. The weather was pleasant, no winds, and a bit of rain to cool the runners down. Before I got to the start line I was greeted by Mick and daughter Emma Hearn. It was so great to see them at the start. The course itself has only a few undulating parts to it and I had the pleasure of running next to three waters Big swamp wildlife park, the Indian ocean (lovely beaches) and the Leschenaultia inlet.

When I applied Bunbury Running Club thought my first name was “Taylor” not “Carey” and my race bib had Taylor on it. The marshals were fantastic and kept cheering me on. The most interesting runner was a French man who juggled balls for the entire marathon. A small group of children came from Japan to join us (who had survived the Tsunami).Charity money went to them but I gave my dollars to cancer research-close to my heart and David from our running group.

I made it to 35km and felt sluggish and who was there just at the right moment but Mick Hearn! He was such a terrific support, encouraging, praising and boosting my morale right to the end. I did a Marathon what a FANTASTIC FEELING.

Thanks to the entire group and especially thanks to my family for their strength and belief i could do it.

Finally my first marathon was on Mother’s day just another bonus for me to remember.

Carey Taylor.

Carey Taylor

Athlete: Nicola

If you add on another hour and a bit of pain and suffering that would just about be my story too. My Garmin was working and we were doing very well up until the 22 km mark and were on target for a 4 hr finish. I said goodbye to Angela at 24 km “save yourself, just leave me, I’ll be fine (besides I didn’t need any close witnesses to my slow decline) Then….. the long windy Kings Park hill. Halfway up I decided that if I ever said I was going to do another one of these marathon thingys that I should remember this pain. I told myself to get out of Kings park, find the crowd and let the excitement carry me the last 11 km. I found the crowd and was buoyed for a bit but then I turned left and the crowd kept going and I was alone again. I had a weird sense of achievement when I passed the man with the wheelbarrow. I can run faster than a man pushing a wheelbarrow! The next plan was to get to 35km where hubby and the kids would be watching. I decided to skip across to the other track only to find they had the same idea. I waved at the kids through the fence and when I found an opening I ran back to give them a hug. Some smartypants told me I was running the wrong way. A quick smile/imbecilic grin for Louis with the camera. My arms were working really really fast but my legs couldn’t match the pace. Then my mobile beeped (I use phone for music) and as I was walking at that stage I decided to see who the message was from. It was Alison sending congratulations and hoping it went well… hmmm, I decided it would be rude not to reply so at 39 km I was walking up a hill sending a text message. I managed to trot up the last bit of the hill past Fiona and my arms propelled me to the finish for 4 hrs and 15 minutes. I particularly enjoyed the 4km walk back to the car with a medal round my neck the size of a Jim’ll Fix It badge. I am in awe of anyone who can run a marathon in less than 4 hours let alone close to 3 hours, it is incredible to me. My theory now is that if I never run the
same marathon twice, I never have to beat my time.

x Nicola

p.s when I got home and the kids asked the usual question – did you win mummy? I said nope and my son said well it must have been Bob then.

Athlete: Big Kev in the City 2 Surf Marathon

Well, where do start..at the beginning.?..All preparation went well and got to the start line confident of another sub 3 time to go with my 2:58 at last years city-2-surf. Perfect conditions, felt great, good preparation..it was all looking rosy. Even the added benefit of some pretty nurses dressed in short skirts to look at (though the moustache was off putting!)…so turn on the Garmin..and ….nothing ! Bugger !  If you’re ever running for a set time you need a Garmin, the GPS tells you your current speed (which is always slower than you think it is..?), average speed, distance etc etc.. a wealth of useful information which can help while away the kilometres. I love my Garmin, when I run I check it continually and without it I am lost. I actually have a spare one just in case my main one breaks..I am that anal about the whole timing thing…so..as you can imagine..NOT HAPPY JAN !!

My mate Jon promised to pace me through the race and with his help I got to half way in 87mins which was right on time but it was around this time I felt the legs had lost some of their zip. Malcolm Street served to reinforce this and where as last year I powered up this hill, this year I struggled. I made up time running to the bottom of the Kings Pk loop (aided by gravity!) but again the hill out of Kings Park was painful and when I reached the top I was in a world of pain.

I did manage to find my second wind down into Subiaco but had given up all hope of a sub 3 by then and with no watch had no idea what speed I was running or how long.  I found myself chasing a   runner a few hundred metres ahead and I could feel one behind me so I had enough going on to keep me interested. The heat was starting to get noticeable by now and the hills were becoming steeper than I remembered them from previous years..!!

One of then benefits of being nearer the front of the pack is there is little or no congestion but this can backfire when you’re not having a good run as each water stop you are faced with about 10-15 people all looking at you , offering you water/powerade etc and cheering you on. You then feel you need to make an effort to run past them with some ‘gusto’ which then saps more energy…the worse ones were the Westpac stations on Oceanic Drive when they would start cheering you a good 500metres before you get to them and you have to step it up for this distance…sometimes it’d be nice to sneak past the odd aid station and suffer quietly…!!!!

Anyway…I digress..back to the race…when I turned onto Oceanic Drive I knew I was in for some serious pain and I was not disappointed..that last 6-8K is hard yakka and the heat and distance weren’t helping..I managed to catch the runner I was chasing at the bottom of the last hill (mountain!) and made my way  up the final hurdle before the run home. Fiona was cheering me up the hill and I’m sure she was then glad her Hami’ had gone at the half so she’d not have to go though what I, and probably a large proportion of the marathon runners, went though on the last hill.  I’d like to thank the city-2-surf organisers for adding this gem of a hill at the end of a marathon..priceless move !

So…to the top ..and the ocean…a welcome relief..gravity again was my friend and I even managed to catch someone on the line for a 30^th placing and a 3hrs 3min finish. This was the first sight of my time so I was disappointed that I hadn’t gone closer to the sub-3 barrier but with no watch it was always going to be a challenge….

..so next year..2 watches ..and game on….

Melbourne next and then Rottnest the following weekend…gotta love racing..

BK

Athlete: Fiona Longden

Hi All

Well Misson – To complete the Half Ironman in under 6 hours…..Misson complete time completed 5hrs and 57 mins!

It was a close thing. Extremely nervous Friday evening mainly due to some events happening at home, thats another story. Saturday morning not much better, but conditions were perfect. Start of the swim we were the 5th wave to go in, it was a very hectic start and really we only seem to have space around us when we were on the way back from the Jetty. Got out happy as I was 2mins faster than last attempt in 2008. Got on the bike, feeling really good all the way round and no punctures! Look at watch after transisition 3hrs 45, wow I think to myself I am going to smash my goal, but all that changed on the 2nd lap of the run, had absolutely no energy and had to walk, obviously had not taken on enough fuel during the cycle and my husband thinks I did not eat enough the day before either, so tough lesson learnt. On the 3rd lap looked at my watch and thought I better put on some speed to get to the end and was very relieved to make it in under the 6hrs. Great day again and would certainly recomend it to anyone, will certainly be going back next year, but still think I am few years away from doing the full Ironman.

See you all running again soon.

Fiona

Athlete: Bruce

hi all

myself, rob.d and nigel have just completed the six inch marathon, from north dandalup to dwellingup.

first of all iwant to say how proud iam of the boys efforts,it was a great day ,got a bit hot towards end.

i was happy with my time and im sure rob and nigel where to,on the day everything went well , maybe acouple of wrong turns but no one got lost.i think the best way of looking at a run like this is the friends you are running with and the ability and efforts of each runner.i enjoyed my second ultra , and would like to thank rob and nigel for being out there.

bruce.

Athlete: Rob Donkersloot

Hi Chris

Here’s my race report for 6 Inch. Bruce is a man of few words, In his report I think he down played his effort and courage in Sunday’s race by more than just a little bit. Sorry about the length of this, but when it comes to writing stuff I’m a man of lots of words, and I’m on holidays with time on my hands.

The 6 Inch race is a 46km trail marathon from North Dandalup to Dwellingup. You can read more info about the race here: www.6inchtrailmarathon.com.

I think it was just after the Kep race in May that Nigel said to me he wanted to try and take part in the 6 Inch trail marathon this year. Most of us know Nigel had some health issues since then which seriously affected his running, and so I wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to make it to the start line. That given, we decided to start training for the race about 10 weeks ago, after I had recovered a bit from the 100 mile race. Bruce and Mick Hearn also put up their hand to give it a go, so we had a great little group going, training each weekend with a 30 to 40km trail run either on the 6 Inch course, or closer to home at Walyunga or on Eagle View. Bruce also joined me for 13km of hill training at Bold Park each Wednesday. Bruce and Mick had finished the City to Surf Marathon, so had a pretty good base, Nigel on the other hand hadn’t been able to do anything long for many months.

Training went well until our “double circumnavigation” attempt of Eagle View a month ago when Mick hurt his achilles. Unfortunately despite lots of physio, some rest, and a few attempts at long runs, the achilles just didn’t come good for Mick, so a week before the 6 Inch race he decided to pull out as a runner, but he offered his services as a volunteer instead.

We had all booked into the Dwellingup Caravan Park for Saturday night. I arrived about 2pm, but couldn’t find neither Bruce or Nigel. I finally ran into them at 6:30pm when they told me they had been doing some last minute carbo loading at the Dwellingup Hotel.

Sunday morning I was up at 2am for a pancake breakfast, and drove the 30km or so to the start line at North Dandalup, arriving there just before 4am, ready for the race briefing before a 4:30am race start. The start is at such an early hour because of the potential of hot weather at this time of the year, and with a forecast of 34 degrees, I was very glad this decision had been made. That given, Saturday had been hot also, and it hadn’t cooled down as much as I would have liked overnight.

I caught up with Bruce and Nigel as well as the other 17 competitors including Big Kev Matthews. I knew Nigel was planning to run with me during the race, however I didn’t know what Bruce’s plans were. I had asked him a couple of time in the preceding weeks, however he wasn’t sure what his tactics were going to be. I thought I would just leave it, and see what he chose to do on the day.

The race starts with an ascent of what is known as Gold Mine Hill. Think the hill on Sunday Kinross runs, where you leave the beach at Quinns Rocks to head up Quinns Road to Hester Avenue. Then make it a little steeper, and 3.5km long. Oh, and slippery gravel also. I had planned to run some of this, and walk some as it’s easy to burn yourself out here almost before the race has actually begun. Last year a lot of the competitors took this approach, but this year many had other thoughts, and it looked like they were racing for an imaginary prize to be the first to the top. Nigel plus another runner stayed with me has we got going, but Bruce was well ahead, and disappearing into the darkness of the very early morning.

At the top of Gold Mine Hill we joined the actual Munda Biddi trail, and saw Mick there directing us to turn left down a track, when I very well knew we had to turn right. My discussion with Mick the previous night about sending the other runners in the wrong direction had obviously been misinterpreted.

With the fast start up Gold Mine by so many, I knew Nigel, myself and another Rob who was running with us were close to the back of the field. There couldn’t be too many people behind us I thought. Once you have climbed to the top of the scarp, the trail flattens out quite a bit, allowing for some faster running at 5:20 to 6:00 pace. It was still relatively mild as the sun rose through the trees, and everything was going dandily until the other Rob who was running to my left said “did you see that snake I hadn’t spotted it but asked him what it was. He reckoned it was a 4 to 5 foot tiger snake lying on the trail itself. I was certainly a lot more careful about the twigs and branches I stepped on during the rest of the race.

At the 13km mark we came across Big Kev Matthews and his mate Brett, stopped at an intersection. Now Kev is a lot faster than I am so I knew something was up. Kev explained they had followed the trail, but ended up at the main road, so they had doubled back. I looked at my GPS and the map seemed to show the trail veering left, and instructed everyone to follow the track in that direction. After 50 metres or so the track became very overgrown, and it just didn’t look right, so I checked my GPS again, and discovered my screen had frozen. I refreshed it, and it quickly showed us that we were about 500 metres off track. We turned around to rejoin the right trail, cursing the bonus kilometre we had just added to our run…though nowhere near as loudly as Kev who wasn’t happy at all with the extra 4km he and Brett had run, turning their race from 46km to a round 50km event.

We arrived at the 23km half way mark aid station to be greeted by my wife Sue and my trail running buddy Bernadette. We tried to refill our water as quickly as possible, however Rob had a spare fuel belt here, so was out of there in seconds, while Nigel and I messed around with bottles and stuff. I found out Nigel and I were in 15th and 16th position, and I asked how far the next runner was ahead, expecting an answer of maybe a minute or two…the answer was a disappointing 9 minutes, well over a kilometre in front of us.

One thing that ultra running has taught me is you need to run at your own pace. Chasing others who are running faster is a quick recipe for disaster. That’s all well and good, but here was Nigel and I with just about all others (Bruce included) seemingly a long way ahead. I found out after the race that Bruce had gone through here 24 minutes ahead of us.

Not long after leaving the aid station Nigel turned to me and said he thought we weren’t going to be catching anyone ahead, as they were all fast runners. I replied I reckoned there was a big difference between the 23km mark and the 40km mark in a race, and that we would be sure to catch a number of guys who would have to start struggling sooner or later. As I said it, I wasn’t sure if I actually believed it. Nigel was right, the guys ahead were good runners, and 9 minutes was a lot to make up. Maybe they were just running a lot better than we were.

Within a couple of kilometres we caught the other Rob who had shot ahead at the aid station, and ran past him on a 3.5 kilometre dead straight, but up-hill section which runs parallel with the Alcoa conveyor belt. It was at this point I also noticed that the temperature was becoming very uncomfortable. The day was heating up, and it was only 7:30am.

Soon after the conveyor belt, you run towards Oakley Dam, and start a quite technical climb up some reasonably steep hills. It was at the end of this section that Nigel started to experience cramping in his legs. Nothing too serious at first, but it was a sign of things to come. Despite Nigel’s cramps we maintained a reasonable pace and I was surprised when at around the 32km mark we saw a runner ahead. He was walking, we were running and it didn’t take long for us to overtake him. A few hundred metres further there was another runner who we recognised as Aaron, another one of our training partners. As we ran past I asked Aaron how he was, and though he said he was fine, he certainly didn’t seem to say it with much conviction. My thoughts re some of the other runners having gone out too fast seemed to have been correct.

The next aid station was at 35km, and as we arrived there we saw Bruce sitting in a chair. My good friend Suzy who was running the aid station said Bruce had stated he couldn’t continue, though as an experienced ironman triathlete and ultra runner she didn’t take that as the end of the story, filling him up with Endura energy drink, water and electrolytes to see whether he would recover. Nigel and I refilled our hydration packs with water, and as I asked Nigel whether he was right to go, Bruce jumped up and said, I’m going too. And so the three of us set out for the last 11km section to Dwellingup, which included some of the very worst hills of the race in the next 4 kilometre section. By now it was getting seriously warm also.

After about a kilometre or so, Nigel and Bruce started to fall back a bit. I looked behind me and there was about a 50 metre gap. I was a little concerned for Bruce, and was starting to doubt the wisdom in his decision to continue. I kept running at my own pace, and was flabbergasted when all of a sudden I hear Bruce just behind me, with a full head of steam. Soon he was 100 metres ahead, and we kept this distance between us for some time. I slowly started making up the difference, with Bruce slowing slightly, but when I got to within 10 metres, he took off again. It was only with 1.5km to go to the finish line that I finally overtook Bruce for the final time. I finished in 5:13, with Bruce coming in just a couple of minutes later.

Nigel in the mean time had succumbed to his cramps, with them coming more often and becoming more serious, and this reducing him to a walk for a bit of the time. Nigel’s final time was 5:30.

Just an amazing effort by Bruce to recover and finish the way he did. Incredible. And for Nigel to have to fight leg cramps for the last 10km, but still to battle on and finish, outstanding.

Given the extra bonus kilometre and the hot conditions I was reasonably happy with 10th position out of 19 runners and with my race time of 5:13, which was 4 minutes slower than last year.

Our training partner Aaron also managed to finish, though he said he had suffered from some serious hallucinations, where he reckoned the leaves on the trail had turned into fish, and a Subaru Outback kept appearing about 200 metres ahead of him, and then disappearing again as he approached. It was a tough day at the office for everyone who ran this race.

A huge thanks to Nigel, Bruce and Mick, the last couple of months of trail runs have been great, really enjoyed your company.

5 months to Kep, where we can do it all again.

Rob

Athlete: Bob Edwards

Hi all

Thought I would try and put together a report for all to read about Ironman WA that I went to last Saturday. It was about 20 weeks ago that I signed up to participate in this year’s ironman WA held in Busselton. First thing that struck me was the $600.00 it was to enter, I thought this must be a combination of a rip off and to put people off who were only a bit interested. However I paid up and I was in.

Next, I found myself a 20 week programme, weighed myself at 89kg and then started swimming at obscene hours in the morning before work, sitting on an even more ridiculous uncomfortable bike seat for hours and running with what always seemed to be aching quads. The programme was based on 3 training sessions for each discipline a week, so 9 sessions a week. When I first read the programme I thought it must be wrong because 9 into 7 doesn’t work but you soon realise that with one rest day you have to train twice a day on 3 days of the week. The basis of the training was every week the hours would increase slightly to a maximum of 18 hours 4 weeks before the race, with every 4th week an easier rest week. In total over the 20 weeks I clocked up 115kms in the pool, 105 hours in the saddle and 72 hours on running.

I was happy that I stuck to the programme (give or take the odd beer and a missed early morning swim session) and headed down to Busselton last Thursday weighing 84kg. Registration was on the Thursday. Then on the Friday you had to rack your bike and take your 2 kit bags, one for the swim/bike transition and one for the bike/run. Then back to our unit for more pasta and an early night.

Race morning I got up at 4.00am, had my brekkie and headed down to the start with Deb at 5.00. Here I pumped my bike tyres put my drinks in the cages and did one final check of the bike. Then it was on with the wetsuit and down to the jetty for the start. At this point with 1250 competitors waiting for the start you can feel the anticipation in the air. It was a perfect morning and ocean was like glass. I positioned myself at the back and when the siren went I slowly walked out until the majority had gone and the started swimming. I am not a swimmer and I just wanted clear water all the way. I have recently learnt to swim bi lateral and started like this but after about 500m went into breathing on the one side as I found it more relaxing and comfortable. It didn’t seem to take too long to get to the end of the jetty (half way) and make the turnaround then I realised there was a current as it was definitely slower go back into shore. It is an amazing swim and you can see the bottom the entire way. I finally made it onto the beach and clocked a swim time of 1:27:28 which put me 998th overall but I was rapped.

Then it was into transition, drink, eat, change, toilet, rest, more drink, more rest and onto the bike. My transition time was 10:15 which I thought was not too bad but obviously not as I was now down to 1,059th position. The bike was flat but it didn’t take long for the winds to start pushing into your face. My first 60km lap on the bike was just over the 2 hours which was what I planned but then it started to warm up and I thought that would slow me down, however I seemed to keep a reasonable even pace and clocked a riding time of 6 hours and 15 minutes. This had pushed me back up the field a few places only to be thrown back towards the end of the field again following the next transition. If you thought the first transition was slow this one was 13:41. 8 hours had passed since the start and I was just having a bit of chill out time thinking about the marathon to follow when I heard the announcer calling the first pro over the finish line. Apparently he had run a 2:45 marathon. Obscene!

Running gear was on, one quick look at the watch which told me that if I could run close to a 5 hour marathon I would have a chance of getting under 13 hours which I have always said would be a bonus on top of finishing in one piece. As soon as I came out of the transition tent the first thing to hit you was the heat again. It seemed to bore straight into you. I was able to get into a bit of a rhythm and went through the first 14km loop in about 1 hour 25 mins. Then I hit a really bad patch feeling sick and like I was overheating. At this point I was seeing the casualties throwing up at the sides of the road and ambulances becoming more active. In a strange way It picked me up a bit knowing it was not just me suffering. I looked at my watch and at 18km I had been walking far too long and had just done a 9 minute km. I knew that I had to move faster or I would be there all night. Then I saw my two sons Bob and Harry who were cheering me and giving me as much encouragement possible. It was here I started running again somehow the sickness went and I was only left with the pain of running. From here I ran/jogged/shuffled to the end, walking through aid stations every 2km to fuel. I finally turned into the finish chute and clocked a 4:50:18 marathon and an overall time of 12 hours:57 minutes:46 seconds. I was so pleased to finish and to get under the 13 hours was even better.

This was an extremely tough event but an amazing experience that I would recommend if you want to try something different. If you do decide to give it a go a couple of tips are, make sure you have heaps of time. It may be 18 hours of training at the peak week but that doesn’t include the extra recovery time and the time you can’t socialise because you have to train next morning etc. Also you need a cash surplus as you will not get away with just the $600.00 entry fee, there is accommodation, possible new bike, new tyres, new tubes, new training clothes, nutrition etc. As for the $600.00 entry fee I have a complete different attitude to that now. Unless you do it you cannot see the organisation that goes into this event and the enormity of it and I have no problem with this fee now.

Finally the thankyou’s. The 1500 volunteers and the people of Busselton were amazing for the entire 4 days we were there. The support on the course from the North Coast Tri Club who I trained many hours with. Fiona, Julie, Ali and Simon who were popping up everywhere. Northern suburbs running group who are inspirational and are the reason why I still run after all these years (big thanks to Chris and Ali for all the years of dedication to the group.) My kids Bob, Rhiannon and Harry who came down and made it very special for me. And the biggest thanks to Deb who has helped me through the entire 20 weeks with nutrition advice, supplying me with the food and meals I need, encouraging me to train when you have the off day, putting up with me falling asleep on the sofa at 8.00pm on a Saturday night and for being at the finish chute on Saturday evening for me to hug and x before crossing the finish line.

Will I do another? I have too because I have to improve on the 24 minutes I spent in transition!

Regards,
Bob

Athlete: Rob Donkersloot

Well I thought I had let you all know how I went in my 100 mile race at Dwellingup this weekend.

The first 80km were pretty uneventful, it was a beautiful day, running along a superb trail. Life was great. All was going pretty well to plan, though the pace was slightly off on what I had hoped for.

At the 80k aid station I gave my little pouch of Succeed electrolyte capsules to my wife Sue to refill. About a minute after leaving the aid station I went to grab a capsule, as I was due to take one, and couldn’t find the pouch. I looked back at the aid station, but Sue had gone. The next time I was due to see her was 20km further on, and it would take me about three hours to get there. I take a Succeed cap every hour, so I knew there was likely to be some negative effects from missing taking three of them. Two hours later as the sun was setting I started to feel nauseous, which would ease if I walked rather than ran.

Got into the 100km aid station and saw Sue there, as well as Bernadette who was going to run as my pacer for the last 60km. Bernadette is far more experienced at trail running then I am, and when I told her of what had happened with the electrolytes she quickly gave me a couple of caps to take, I just hoped they would put things back in balance for me.

The next stage was 10km, and I felt a bit better just because I was running with someone to talk to. The nausea side of things wasn’t improving much though.

At the 110km aid station I refilled my back pack with food and water to tackle the next 15k stage. Half an hour later things were still manageable when Bernadette suggested I have another Gu gel…the effect of taking this was to make the nausea a lot worse, with now no let off during the walking breaks.

I was also getting quite woozy, and had a fall as I tripped on a rock. Things degenerated quite quickly from here, with me having difficulty walking in a straight line, let alone run in a straight line.

We walked in the last 12km or so to the 125km aid station, getting extremely cold in the process. Luckily we carried space blankets, and these definitely helped a lot.

At 2am, 21 hours and 125km into my 100 mile run I knew that was as far as I was going to go, and I decided to call it a day.

Bernadette agreed, and I knew if there was any chance of my going any further she would have squeezed it out of me. Not this time, race over.

I’m happy achieving the 125k, 22km further than ever before, however I know I will be back to have another shot at 100 miles some time next year.

The frustrating thing is not being 100% sure of what caused the problems. The electrolytes are a likely suspect, but it could be one of many more things, like not fuelling properly, my preparation not being 100% etc.

I don’t think it was the training though as now a day and a half later the legs feel pretty ok, and I could run if I had to.

Next time.

Athlete: Melissa Tyler

Hi all

I competed in the half marathon C2S yesterday. My 2nd half. (my first was the Perth Half 1hr 42mins) Having that in mind and knowing the C2S route my goal was to crack 1hr 45mins.
Too my disbelief I did a PB of 1hr & 38mins. I was stoked! I ran hard and was very focused, so very happy with my result!

Thank goodness the weather held out for us as I dont think I have run a city to surf that hasnt poured down with rain.

The only hiccup that I incurred was my timing chip came off my shoelace as I entered Kings Park, so I stopped, picked it up and didnt bother tying it back on, just ran with it in my hand. The rest of the way I was wondering if it would pick it up at the finish line. So I just held it close to the ground in my hand as I crossed. Checking the results on the website today, I realised it has not picked up my time, I can not even find my name on the website. :-( Ohh well…that will teach me to tie it on better next time. Just annoyed though as I have missed out on finding out what place I came etc.

All in all, I had a great run and felt good. I have pulled up very well today too! I think the organisation of the finish line and oval was a lot better this year, more people at the drink stations and it was a nice treat to get ushered into the skins tent to get a FREE masage!
I would like to see toilet paper in the toilets at Esplanade Oval next year and more KM signs. I think I saw one at 4km and then the next one was at 20km!!!!

Love to hear all your stories as the only person I bumped into was Bob.

Mel

Athlete: Andy Lane

What a fantastic inspiring group we are in. I loved reading all of your reports. I’ll try to keep mine quick.

Being my 1st ‘Big City’ Marathon this was my 3rd after Bunbury last & this year but I knew it would be slower than my 3.15PB. I planned to have fun and enjoy it and be quicker than 3.30.

– 0kms – Planned to run with Coops and Rob. Lost them at the start line. Doh.

– 9kms- Caught up with Mark. Chatted away. It was great to see everyone when we looped back on ourselves. Heaps of cheers and encouragement from NSRGroupies. Those singlets are a great promo tool.

– 19km – Needed to have a wee! So ran hard for a km or so to make up the lost time. (Oops, Didn’t wash my hands!)

– 21.1km- Running past all the 12k’ers was good, getting cheered. Nice scenery but bit hard to keep my mind on the job! 1.39.19 split

– 29km – Caught up with Rob. Said a quick G’day and told him of my plan to catch Coops.

-36km- Thought I must have been in Post Xmas Shop Sale as suddenly I was amongst thousands of people. “Get out of my way”

-38km- Finally saw Coops a few hundred metres up ahead when the ‘Shoppers’ turned right.

-39km- Phil on his bike pulled up next to me. Had a quick yarn while I was waiting for my legs to start to cramp – not yet.

-40km- Ran hard. My watch says I was running at 4min 17 pace. Still waiting for my legs to cramp.

-41km- Coops only a couple of hundred metres in front. Where is the finish?????

-42km- Wow, what a reception. Thousands of people cheering for me to catch Coops! Go Andy! (Well I needed something extra). It was fantastic to see so many friends, NSRGroupies and families of Groupies. That was the highlight of my City to Surf Marathon. Thanks to you all.

-42.2km- Finished 3.18.58. Wow. I must have run those hills quick. (Nearly the same split). 17 secs behind Coops and about that much in front of Mark. (I only wanted to catch Coops to run with him)

-42.2+-Recovery time, got a massage and caught up with many of you. Great to hear of your tales and times.

Well done to all especially the 1st timers and PB’ers.

What’s Next? Freo Half and then I’m on 3.5 months Long Service Leave travelling Australia, leaving October 1.

I’ll be running where I can and be wearing my NSRG singlet because I love to Run and I love our group.

Cheers
Andy