Runnin to the 'G

(race report by Josh)

As everyone knows (or I think everyone knows) Kristi and I have turned into what some folks would call 'runners' over the years. I blame the Bolder Boulder for getting us started back in 2001, but what really gave us the running bug was TUC in Minneapolis. Our time with them led us to two marathons and numerous shorter events. In Denver the credit lies with Runners Edge of the Rockies for getting us to our current marathon best at the 2006 Twin Cities. Since we moved Down Under, we've already started planning our next big event (probably the Melbourne Marathon). Along the way we know to incorporate some lead-up events, which finally brings me to the point of this post - Australian lead-up event #1, The Age Run to the 'G. This race runs a loopy route around downtown Melbourne, incorporating a piece around the Melbourne Cricket Grounds/MCG/'G. With some of our recent travels taking us away from runs, and my work still keeping me borderline too busy (and generally tired), our training hasn't been great. We were able to get out for a couple good long runs, one not very good one, and then barely regular short runs during the week. Our expectations were rightfully low, but we knew we could finish - just didn't know what kind of shape we'd be in at the end.

We had to be at the start before 7am Sunday morning and, since public transport doesn't start on Sundays until 8am around Port Melbourne, we were lucky to have rented a car for the weekend. We got downtown and parked, scoped out all the tents and layout (bathrooms being the key point) and then tried to relax and stay warm until race time. It didn't seem as cold as Saturday so we quickly got comfortable in long sleeves and knickers. I ran into Pras from the Triathlon relay in February and said a quick 'good luck' - it was the last time I saw him as he really had a good day. The first k's were pretty crazy with lots of twists, turns, curbs and posts to avoid. After we got to the 5k without major difficulties it was off to the big loop around the MCG. Surprisingly there were some good hills there and both times around we really found some muscles we hadn't seen in a while! I had paid some attention to time and at 10k we were almost done with the first (of two) laps and were right on 6min/k pace - exactly on schedule for a good race result. We also knew that the leaders were already on lap two and we were pushing the pace a bit to try and not get lapped; sadly, the first two men did get past us but at least it was only the first two! We kept up the momentum from the surge of the finish into the start of lap 2, all the way up to the hills around the 'G - oof they were harder the second time! By this point though, our steady pace was starting to pay off and when others were walking and slowing down, we just motored past them.

Finally we rounded the last bridge and headed into the last couple of k's to the finish. We tried to just keep picking it up bit by bit all the way to the end and crossed the line in just over 2:06 - YAY! A great time given the shoddy preparation that we'd had in the previous weeks. We made our way through the finishing chute and down to track down our show bags and free stuff. Turns out the 5k-ers and half-marathoners shared the same line and wow was it really long. We snaked around, got our free stuff and then headed back to the finish line to pick up the finisher medals that we had somehow missed (oops!).

We had to wait until noon to get our car out of the carpark so we relaxed with a coffee in the sun and listened to the band play for a while. Our friend Max ran the 10k with good results and by hanging around we got to chat with him for a bit before heading off to have more adventures with the rest of our day. Lots of fun for our first international half marathon, but probably not a race we'll do again since the loops were just really hard to deal with mentally - though if the weather is the same next year it would be very tempting to run!