Every year, all over Australia, thousands of men and women gather on Mother’s Day to raise funds for breast cancer and have fun while they’re at it. Any one can attend with a 4km walk along with the 4 & 8km fun runs.
It’s been four years since I did this and a few things have changed. Least of which is my ability. The route has changed slightly and in my opinion is much better. Or maybe I’m just better at what I do so found it easier.
The weather was perfect this morning. Cloudy but not wet, cool but not cold and with no sun visible there was no worry about getting too hot.
Bag drop facilities were easy and the oval edges were full of tents with promos for health, beauty and fitness. And the coffee and food vans.
I ran into another lady from last weeks race which was nice. While I am a solo runner generally, the waiting before the race starts can be nerve-wracking enough without having to deal on your own. And while we will both be at next week’s race, I’m almost positive I wont see her. That one brings a lot more attendees as it’s one of the biggest in the Hobart running calendar.
This was a great race and I really like the simplicity of the route. You do a round of the athletics track then out onto the main road. Just under a kilometre later you head along the ‘upper domain road’ which leads to looks outs and bbq areas doing a large loop before heading down the hill towards another highway. The uphill here and then back to the start of the loop is steep, but today I found I ran it almost with ease. If I felt tired I said to myself that I have done harder (half marathon anyone?) and kept moving.
I know someone has to come last but I really don’t want it to be me. At least not on a such a short race. It kinda funny really, the things that go through your head. There were times when, even though I knew there were people behind, I couldn’t hear them, And then thought, ‘am I last?’ Coming up the hill I passed all those that were behind me and felt better, then again on the flat loop…’where are they, have they gone past, have I missed the turn..?’
There were times when I felt like I was really slow, and I’m sure even the fastest runners feel that way, yet I kept up a pretty decent pace for the whole distance.
At under two kms to go I checked my fitbit for the time and on a quick calculation realised I was getting close to the 45 min mark. Oh wow! I picked up the pace a little with the thought to ‘just do it’.
I followed a lady down the drive to the athletic track and then let her have it. I always find a little steam left to sprint my way to the finish. I’m not sure if she sped up also I wasn’t going to look. Super happy with my time and will most definitely be back.
I love my running, and have a good time when I race. I also know I’m not the most photogenic so my running pics have me pulling oh my god 😦 faces.
Hunting out my bag I drank my chocolate milk and wandered the grounds for a bit before heading back down the hill to the car munching on my banana.
And then there was coffee!
update: My official time is 47.09 vs (my very first race) 2012 finishing in 58.47. That’s cutting a huge 11.38 mins off my previous time.
Read here and here about my that race.
Run. Ride. Eat. 