Bowen's Back

Bowen's back and running again today. Now to see him getting back into training and building winter fitness, and getting his pc back working so he can resume blogging.

The green shoes go well.

Certain geese out-ran him today.

Quote of the week "Somewhere in the world someone is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win." - Tom Fleming

Good to see a few other people at today's 5k/10k handicap I haven't seen for a while.

funny cartoon eh?

footnote - just watched St Kilda v Fremantle, which the umpires contrived to make a draw. If the AFL don't award the match to Fremantle, the AFL will be judged incompetent as well. I hope we don't have those umpires at a Crows match!

End of Track

Stu Mac has a great photo of the start of the young guy's 1500m at Easter in Canberra.
Wasn't it a fantastic weekend?
I will advertise our end-of-track-season training group dinner on 15 May here soon.

What is a bilby anyway?

We trained at Dickson mostly "off track" last night. There were bilbies everywhere and soccer players galore but bilbies and soccer balls were no obstacle to us completing three intervals of about 1.2km each around the outside of the sports fields, with up to 800m recovery in between.

Running there instead of on the 400m track seems to make it easier to push the pace, so we might repeat that session a few times in the coming months.

The Bilbies are of course the triathlon training group which meets at the track 30 minutes after we do.

Winners are Grinners

The latest Vetrunner has a very nice photo of our victorious women's 40+ relay team after setting a new Australian record in the 4 x 1500m.

Helen, Katie, Charlie & Gabe.

The Life and Times of the Booths

Does running make you ten years older?
After Chris had all those articles in the Canberra Times, now it's her husband Tony's turn.

Can't believe Tony had his 50th birthday in 1998 though, given that he was born in 1938. Either all the running has aged him an extra ten years since then, or conversely has youthened his appearance so much that the journalist did not believe he would be over sixty now.

Hip Flexors

I do hip flexor exercises at the gym by bringing knees to chest on the apparatus shown above. Usually three sets of twenty to thirty repetitions, with visits to a couple of other stations in between each set. (That's not me in the picture). Bent legs. Some people do it with straight legs but not me. Or alternating straight, bent, straight, bent etc. But not me, because of my lower back. I find it a very easy exercise; being a runner my hip flexors are strong to begin with. Does work the lower abdomen a bit as well though and I feel it there afterwards.

Lake and Lawn

Vicki enjoying the long jump

Tour-de-lawn

We had a "lake and lawn" day on Monday at Parliament House. The 4:30 group ran down to Lake Burley Griffin and ran a lap, totalling 7.5km. Then the main group at 5:30pm trained around Parliament House by running one loop which included a sprint up each of the eight grassy slopes. Altogether I ran 16km.

Such a beautiful sunny day on Tuesday that in the afternoon a group of us ran the wetlands loop, starting from Black Mountain Peninsula. Total estimated at 19km.

Then today I ran around the Ginninderra Handicap 7km course, the first time for eight months. I ran 28:33, which is reasonably OK. And again, it was such a perfect day. Did 18km in total.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to a 4:30pm leafy 7km run prior to Dickson oval training. The weather at this time of year is the best!

So at least I am keeping the distance up so far this week, right on target in fact.

gogo the green tiger

..please play with me. I can purr, I enjoy a mouse, and I have developed a liking for t-bone steak.

Beautiful Swan

Engagement Notice!
Congratulations Scott & Ruth who became engaged yesterday at the top of Mount Kosciuszko!

My progress
last week’s target 90km achieved 70km
I also did two hard gym sessions, each including 45 minutes exertion on the stepper, plus chins, lat pulldowns, and 60 hip flexor exercises.

weight 65 kg weight loss -1 kg total weight loss 2 kg
My weight has swung into reversal after the marathon. A return to longer weeks should arrest that and bring my weight back down again fairly quickly.
this week’s target 100km plus 2 gym sessions

song of the week
You see the world in black and white
No colour or light
You think you'll never get it right
But-you're wrong you might

The sky could fall could fall on me
The parting of the seas
But-you mean more mean more to me
Than any colour I can see

All you ever wanted was love
But you never looked hard enough
It's never gonna give itself up
All you ever wanted to be
Living in perfect symmetry
Nothing is as down or as up as us

You see the world in black and white
No paint to write
You see no meaning to your life
You should try
You should try

And all you ever wanted was love
But you never looked hard enough
It's never gonna give itself up

All you ever wanted to be
Living in perfect symmetry
Nothing is as down or as up
Don't you want to see it come soon
Floating in a big white balloon
Oh, given your own silver spoon

Don't you want to see it come down
There for throwing your arms around
and saying "you're a moment too soon"

Cause I feel low
Cause i feel low
Oh oh oh oh oh
Yeah I feel low
Oh no

Ohh

Ohh
Cause I feel low
Cause i feel low
Oh oh oh oh oh
Yeah I feel low
Oh no

Ohh

Low- Coldplay – just another great track off X&Y

quote of the week (The ugly duckling principle). If you are afraid of looking bad, then you will never get to look good – speedygeoff , form principle #11. You too can become a beautiful swan, if you dare!

Ragged Rascals

From Ken Eynon

The Canberra Half Marathon will be held on Sunday 14th May with a 5k Fun Run and a 1k Mini Jog on the Saturday afternoon. Entry forms are available now with online entry/pdf file download on our website www.canberrarunner.com.au.

I am looking for helpers and volunteers for both events. I know a lot of you have been very busy volunteering your services with events in the ACT over the past months and must be wondering where does it all end? When do we get a rest? Unfortunately this is one more request for your help. If you can afford the time to help on this weekend please let me know.

Half Marathon Helpers - required on the Sunday. Will receive free entry to the Saturday 5k Fun Run, a long sleeve half marathon t-shirt and the chance to win one of two $50 Gift Vouchers from the Runners Shop.

5K Fun Run and 1k Mini Jog Helpers - required Saturday afternoon. Will be in the draw to win one of two $50 gift vouchers from the Runners Shop.

If you can help please contact me Ken Eynon on email kene@incanberra.com.au or phone 02 62546548 ASAP. I would like to finalise the helpers lists quickly.

Cheers and thank you all,
Ken Eynon
Race Director

Mill Creek results from yesterday
Hmmm. One more run to add to my ever growing list of courses to "never race". Not that I cannot do the water crossing, but the ground is too unpredictable to trust my vulnerable calves and ankles to. I jogged around the course beforehand and watched from the sidelines instead of running. Beatiful area for training though.

Mill Creek 6k
14. David Webster M50 26:23
27. John Alcock M60 30:25
29. Geoff Barker M60 31:28

Around and Around the Rugged Rocks...
We ran raggedly around the Majura 10k course this morning, on a beautiful crisp clear morning in Canberra. Jeni Greenland, Kent Williams, Lynn Williams, Barbara Williams (no relation), Barbara Tucker (still no relation), Ken White, Graeme Small and me. Too many New Zealand connections present to avoid mentioning Rugby, but not a word about any "reality" television show. Hurrah.

An hour of intense gym work afterwards, at UC and in the company of Craig Edwards, and my day was done.

"Fun Runner" Article from 1990

15th ANNUAL CANBERRA MARATHON
New sponsor, familiar faces

by BRIAN LENTON

PHIL GARVIN (2), PAUL ARTHUR (575) and GEOFF MOORE head the field on the climb up to the new Parliament House. (Lothar Riess)

THE 15TH CANBERRA MARATHON had a new sponsor-the ACT Academy of Sport-and a modified course. It incorporated, as usual, the Australian Veterans Championships, and in addition the 16th National Wheelchair Games Marathon.

Kiwi Derek Froude easily won his 27th marathon in 2:22.24, having previously won the event in 1982. In the early '80s Froude lived in the ACT and was the first member of the ACT Cross Country Club to become an Olympian, representing New Zealand in the Los Angeles marathon.

Mary Silver sliced 28 seconds off her best to take the women's event in 2:58. Surprisingly the local newspaper resisted the caption 'Gold to Silver'.

The marathon attracted 500 entries, but the warm, humid conditions made PB's hard to come by. In fact the only race records came from the wheelies, who were given a specially designed course within the boundaries of the existing marathon course.

Two creditable comebacks were Fiona Macleod's 3rd placing in only her second marathon and Geoff Moore's 5th (2nd over-40). In 1978 Fiona, at 17 years, was first ACT female finisher and 2nd overall in 3:03.41 in her debut. Geoff, who incidentally coaches Mary Silver, won in 1978 in his PB of2:26.58.

RESULTS
D. Froude (NZ) 2.22.24; R. Kent (Qld) 2.27.46; P. Garvin 2.29.27; G. Ryan 2.30.49; G. Moore 2.32.55; A. Towill 2.36.21; R. Burns (Vic) 2.37.31; G. Alexander (NZ) 2.38.57; T. Moore (Vic) 2.44.38; M. Thomas (NSW) 2.46.04. Female M. Silver 2.58.00; M. Griee (SA) 3:03.14; F. Macleod 3.09.11.

AMA Thanks

TO EACH AND EVERY VOLUNTEER AT THE AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS IN CANBERRA EASTER 2006

G'day, G'day

YOU helped the ACTVAC put on a great AMA National Championships competition in Canberra through your exceptional efforts over Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the Easter weekend 2006!!

Well done!!

The ACTVAC Committee discussed the National Championships at its meeting on Wednesday 19 April and congratulated the volunteers for their sterling efforts in making the Championships such a success.

Geoff Sims, ACTVAC President, said proudly that it is a real credit to everyone on the administrative side that so many people were able to do so many things they had never done before, and do them so well. He said that it showed the strength of ACTVAC and its supporters. They showed great team spirit in working so well with each other, and with members of other clubs from around Australia. Everyone made a significant contribution. Fellowship through fitness proved its worth once again!!

The feedback from visitors - competitors and their support teams, officials, and onlookers - and from local participants has been extremely positive. Their comments emphasised how well the 'red shirts' did their job.

Feel proud to have been a 'red shirt' at the AMA National Championships Easter 2006 in Canberra!!

All the best in your sporting endeavours!!


David Mackenzie, Manager - Volunteers
Neil Boden and Christopher Lang - Volunteer Coordinators

Sunburnt Apples & Quintessential Quinces

Two weeks ago the Canberra Times featured Chris Booth twice in the same issue - once as she discussed sunburnt apples and the second time as she promoted quinces.

Sunburnt apples because of climate change, meaning new varieties would have to be tried.

Quinces - i just loooove quinces. I eat them raw, I eat them cooked, the recipe below is just yummilicious.

Save this article and zoom in to read it properly.

For those who do not know Chris, she is also (a) wife of the famous Tony Booth who is our brillliant M65 runner, and (b) the person who looks after the walking group which trains with us at Parliament House each Monday afternoon.

What I Said

At the coaches forum at the AMA Championships I spoke on "Coaching in the 21st Century".

"The 21st century athlete has little club loyalty, little training group loyalty, compared with the 20th century athlete.”......... read the full text here

No X Goose

Now that Easter is over, let's get into some training!

There is no x goose. Be there.

This Thursday remember track training starts at Dickson.
Next Monday remember interval training continues at Parliament House.
Both Days you have an option of arriving an hour early, 4:30 pm, for a longish jog before the bulk of the training group arrives at 5:30 pm.

Please be on time if at all possible.

My progress (cont)
I forgot to weigh myself Monday, as it felt like Sunday, so here is the weight update from today instead.
weight 64 kg weight loss zero total weight loss 3 kg.

DAY FOUR. Those Still Standing.

400m
W35 1 Karen Davis 65.67 gold
W55 3 Maureen Rossiter 70.78 bronze
M55 6 Geoff Sims 62.32

8km Cross Country
W30 1 Jeni Greenland 38.59 gold
W45 1 Kathy Southgate 32.00 gold
W50 2 Maria O'Reilly 35.55 silver
W55 3 Margaret McSpadden 44.47 bronze
M55 3 Geoff Moore 34.37 bronze

10km walk
W55 2 Barbara Tucker 1:05.57 silver

4x400m Relay
W200+ 1 ACT 'A' 4:51.07 gold
( Sue Bourke, Karen Davis, Constance Larmour, Maureen Rossiter )

Highlight - Maureen just missing the ACT 400m record. Bad luck, you will have to keep training for next season!

New Week already

My progress
last week’s target 60km achieved 71km

this week’s target 90km

song of the week

Coldplay - The Hardest Part

And the hardest part
Was letting go not taking part
Was the hardest part

And the strangest thing
was waiting for that bell to ring
It was the strangest start

I could feel it go down
It is sweet I could taste in my mouth
Silver lining the clouds
Oh and I
I wish that I could work it out

And the hardest part
Was letting go not taking part
You really broke my heart

And I tried to sing
But I couldn't think of anything
That was the hardest part

I could feel it go down
You left the sweetest taste in my mouth
Your silver lining the clouds
Oh and I
Oh and I
I wonder what it's all about

I wonder what it's all about

Everything I know is wrong
Everything I do just comes undone
And everything is torn apart

Oh and it's the hardest part
That's the hardest part
Yeah that's the hardest part
That's the hardest part

More results

100

W45 6 Vicki Matthews 14.59

W55 3 Maureen Rossiter 15.34 bronze

W70 1 Constance Larmour 17.07 gold

M40 4 Michael Rutter 12.44

200

W45 6 Vicki Matthews 30.10

W55 2 Maureen Rossiter 31.22 silver

M55 6 Geoff Sims 27.72

Still to come - 400m and 8km cross country

Unbelievable

I am amazed, in disbelief, running around like a child (yes Ewen even more excited than usual). I cannnot believe that I just ran a 19:26 5000m. I cannnot believe that I just ran a 19:26 5000m at my age. I cannnot believe that I just ran a 19:26 5000m at my age only seven days after the marathon. I cannnot believe that I just ran a 19:26 5000m at my age only seven days after the marathon, AND raced all the way outkicking another M55 to grab the bronze medal. It feels so good to actually race a 5000m instead of just running it! I did a Booth, finishing eight seconds ahead of 4th after (re-)passing him with 120 metres to go.

But wait there's more. Some great times by the others in the training group including Maria running a fantastic pb, around 20 seconds. And Katie too, a pb by around 7 seconds.

Some details

5000m AMA Championships Easter Sunday
W30 2 Jeni Greenland 21:13.21 silver
W40 2 Katy Forestier 20:45.46 silver
W45 1 Kathy Southgate 18:49.06 gold
W50 2 Maria O'Reilly 20:24.92 silver
W55 2 Barbara Tucker 24:23.08 silver
W55 4 Margaret McSpadden 25:19.69
M55 3 Geoff Moore 19:26.71 bronze

RESULTS 1500m

Maria

Today's highlight would have to be Maria's gutsy surging into the strong wind and aggressive finish to hold off her rivals and grab gold. Many other runners also showed strength and determination to run the times and place as they did. Kevin, Tony, Katie, Colin, also John Morton, Dale Moore, Mick Horan battled brilliantly.

1500m

W45 1 Kathy Southgate 5:14.18 gold
W40 2 Katie Forestier 5:41.43 silver
W50 1 Maria O'Reilly 5:35.18 gold
W50 3 Kathy Sims 6:09.18 bronze
W55 1 Barbara Tucker 6:52.05 gold

M40 4 Colin Farlow 4:34.82
M55 3 Kevin Chamberlain 5:18.50 bronze
M65 3 Tony Booth 5:58.84 bronze

5000m walk

W55 2 Barbara Tucker 32.54.59 silver

You can order photos from http://www.sportographs.com.au/gallery/.

RESULTS Day 1

Tony

Friday April 14. A highlight was Tony Booth's bronze medal in the 800m. The guy who ran fourth passed Tony with 300m to go but Tony didn't let him get away. We who were watching knew what was going to happen, but the margin confounded all predictions. Tony passed him again with 100m to go and finished 11 seconds ahead! Talk about demoralising your opponents!

10000m
W30 1 Jeni Greenland 46:02.27 gold
W55 1 Margaret McSpadden 56:58.70 gold
M55 2 Geoff Moore 44:16.57 silver

800m
W40 4 Katie Forestier 2:45.89 pb
W45 1 Kathy Southgate 2:34.59 gold
W50 1 Maria O'Reilly 2:48.55 gold
W50 2 Kathy Sims 2:56.35 silver
W55 2 Maureen Rossiter 2:47.03 silver ACT record
M40 4 Colin Farlow 2:09.31
M55 6 Kevin Chamberlain 2:27.28
M65 3 Tony Booth 2:49.16 bronze

Long Jump
W45 4 Vicki Matthews 4.10m
M45 3 Kev Matthews 5.26m bronze

Fantastic Results. Well done everybody. Still three more days of competition to go!

I rounded off the day by giving a talk (which I will publish here later) at the coaches forum, and then attended the Easter Service which followed. All good! A special thanks to Kathy Southgate for being my support at the forum; one friendly face was better than none. Although of course Christopher was there but in an official capacity, and it was good to catch up with Dana whom we have known from when she was very little! Last night I didn't realise Dana was engaged; the notice is in today's Canberra Times newspaper. I will congratulate Dana's parents Kent and Lynn when I see them next.

You can order photos from http://www.sportographs.com.au/gallery/.

First 10000 of the year

I ran my first 10km race today for 2006; something I should find easy to better later on. After all it is only five days since the marathon!

It was 44:15 or so. No new injuries. I am hoping to improve on that in the Terry Fox; improve again in the Canberra Times Fun Run, and again around November on the track (see "my 2006 calendar" in the right hand column).

Hopefully one of these 10ks will be well under the 40 minute "barrier".

Shuffling along in 44.15 got me the silver medal! (Yah boo and sux to all those who didn't enter!) The 800s are later today, sometime down the track I will post official results for the group!

A national medal! A minor miracle.

There WERE balloons

Marathon Eve Fun Runs

10k results for Team Moore and friends

88 Charlie McCormack F NSW 41 45:39
95 Bronwyn Calver F ACT 36 46:07
117 Thea Zimpel F ACT 23 47:22
175 Mick Charlton M ACT 54 51:30

5k results

26 Gary Bowen M ACT 49 20:38
95 Roy Jones M ACT 63 27:09

I am still on the highest high after running the marathon. I had really forgotten the elation one feels having achieved that goal and fulfilled that dream. I resisted the temptation to tell jokes! I did not tell ANY jokes during the marathon. But it was a magnificent day with the Balloons Aloft high in the sky (see Speedy Goose, there were balloons! One even stopped down on the lake shore near the marathoners so the occupants could take photos!)

Re-screwed

I have been busy lately. We have just installed a new fireplace, the old one being a govie-original from 1972; and had the ceiling in the kitchen and lounge room rescrewed & sanded ready for a new kitchen installation. Before that happens, the next task will be to knock out part of a wall between the kitchen and lounge room. Actually the living areas have never looked so tidy!

The ceiling was up to 8cm out in a couple of places!

Re-run

Back to the long runs! yesterday’s music-on-the-run was

Twisted Logic, Coldplay - X&Y
Meant To Live, Switchfoot - The Beautiful Letdown
Sunday Bloody Sunday, Pillar - In The Name Of Love
The Setting Sun, Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound
Miracle Maker, Delirious - The Mission Bell
Low, Coldplay - X&Y
Lonely Nation, Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound
Landslide Of Love, Newsboys - Devotion
Ammunition, Switchfoot - The Beautiful Letdown
Here I Am Send Me, Delirious - The Mission Bell
Yellow, Coldplay - Parachutes
I Turn Everything Over, Switchfoot - New Way To Be Human
Amsterdam, Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Belter, Powderfinger - Fingerprints
Beautiful Day, Sanctus Real - In The Name Of Love
Running Out Of Days, 3 Doors Down - Away From The Sun
Now Is The Time, Delirious - The Mission Bell
A Message, Coldplay - X&Y

Easter Preview

All things about Nationals at Easter here.

Team Moore & Good Friends at the Nationals

M30 Brad Osborn High, Long, Discus, Javelin, Pentathlon
M40 Colin Farlow 800, 1500, 5000
M40 Michael Rutter 100, 200, Triple
M45 Amalendu Edelsten 800, 5000
M45 Kevin Matthews 100, 400, High, Long, Triple, Discus, Javelin, Pentathlon
M55 Geoff Moore 800, 1500, 5000, 10000, 8kCC
M55 Geoff Sims 200, 400, 800
M65 Tony Booth 800, 1500

W30 Jeni Greenland 5000, 10000, 8kCC
W35 Karen Davis 100, 200, 400
W40 Katie Forestier 800, 1500, 5000, 8kCC
W45 Vicki Matthews 100, 200, 400, Long, Shot, Discus, Javelin, Pentathlon
W45 Kathy Southgate 800, 1500, 5000, 8kCC
W50 Maria O’Reilly 800, 1500, 5000, 8kCC
W50 Kathy Sims 800, 1500, 5000
W55 Carol Baird 5000, 10000, 2kSteeple, 8kCC
W55 Rosemary Longstaff 800, 1500, 5000, 10000, 2kSteeple, 8kCC
W55 Maureen Rossiter 100, 200, 400, 800
W55 Barbara Tucker 1500, 5000, 5000W, 10kRoadW
W55 Margaret McSpadden 5000, 10000, 8kCC
W70 Consie Larmour 100, 200, 400, Long

Some of the timetable highlights

Friday
9:00 am women, men 60+ 10000m
10:15 am men 30-59 10000m

4:00 pm to 5:00 pm 800m races

Saturday
11:15 am to 12:45 pm 1500m races

Sunday
8:45 am women 5000m
9:20 am men 60+ 5000m
9:55 am men 50-59 5000m
10:25 am men 30-49 5000m

Monday
8:30 am women, men 70+ 8kCC Weston Park
9:30 am men 30-69 8kCC Weston Park
3:00 pm to 4:30 pm 400m races

Please come along and support us!

Coaching in the 21st Century

I will be speaking at the coaches forum at 5:20 pm in the Silver Room at the AIS on Friday. Please come along and support me! Some friendly faces would be very welcome.

Fly like an eagle, honk like a goose

Canberra 50km result

54 Ruth Baussman 4:56.11
56 John Stoney 4:56.26
Brilliant!

Souvenir Race Program Excerpt

I must acknowledge the compliment Mary Silver gave me in page 12 in the 30th Canberra Marathon Souvenir Race Program. Mary trained very hard, ran longer training weeks than anyone else in the group at the time, raced brilliantly over half marathons and marathons, and was an inspiration to us all with her kindness and friendliness. Here is her entry in full.

Mary Silver 1990
Home: Canberra, ACT
Current work status: In 1990 I was employed as a graphic designer with the ACT Parks and Conservation Service. I then worked within the private sector before returning to study and completing a Bachelor of Design (Fashion) in 2004. I commenced my independent fashion label last year and love my new life as a self employed fashion designer. Distance training offered lots of creative thinking time and I always seemed to come up with my most successful ideas whilst running!
Current running status: I retired from running following my run at the Australian Marathon Championships in 1993. To keep fit I am currently involved in cycling, swimming, yoga and walking my beloved dachshund.
Commentary: In winning the 1990 Canberra Marathon came the realisation that anything is possible and to be prepared. Believe in one self and all the people that have supported you to reach that point in time. Visualise all the possibilities of the race and plan well in terms of pace. Good luck to all those involved with this year's race. I loved long distance training, the thrill of wearing new 'race' shoes, being super fit, the feeling of running on air and the elation of running through a ribbon! But what really kept me running was the sheer exhilaration of the marathon experience. Despite it being a considerable time since the race, special thanks to Geoff Moore, my coach for his unending inspiration, enthusiasm and support. His visualisation mantra to me before a marathon was always - "Fly like an Eagle." It ensured I travelled through the notorious 35km mark (where undoubtedly the marathon of the mind and body really begins) and on to the finish. It's something I will always remember. Many thanks also to Dave Cundy and co. for his superb organisation skills and a brilliant marathon course.

32 down, one to go

My Marathon Results over the years:
01 NSW Titles - Richmond NSW 13th 2:43.45 30.06.73
02 NSW Titles - Richmond NSW 26th 2:50.35 28.06.75
03 Vic Country - Benalla VIC 14th 2:44.25 15.08.76
04 Canberra Marathon - East Basin 9th 2:50.54 20.11.76
05 NSW Titles - Richmond NSW 8th 2:35.01 25.06.77

06 Australian - Cressy TAS 39th 2:41.06 06.08.77
07 ACT Championships - Telopea Park 1st 2:30.24 15.04.78
08 Com Games Trial - Point Cook VIC 9th 2:29.03 13.05.78
09 Australian - Caboolture QLD 7th 2:30.05 06.08.78
10 Canberra Marathon - Telopea Park 1st 2:26.58 05.11.78

11 Canberra Marathon - Telopea Park 6th 2:29.50 01.04.79
12 Griffith - Hanwood NSW 1st 2:47.25 29.07.79
13 Australian - Perth WA 22nd 2:30.26 12.08.79
14 Hamilton NZ 17th 2:27.42 20.10.79
15 Canberra Marathon - Telopea Park 7th 2:28.00 13.04.80

16 Australian - West Lakes SA 27th 2:34.12 27.07.80
17 Vic Country - Benalla VIC 4th 2:36.47 10.08.80
18 Traralgon VIC 2nd 2:35.44 13.09.80
19 Canberra Marathon - Telopea Park 18th 2:28.30 12.04.81
20 Australian - Werriby South VIC 30th 2:39.42 25.07.81

21 Festival City - Adelaide SA 18th 2:46.38 29.08.82
22 Canberra Marathon - Telopea Park 36th 2:36.25 10.04.83
23 Festival City - Adelaide SA 29th 2:38.08 26.08.84
24 Canberra Marathon - Telopea Park 17th 2:35.53 13.04.85
25 Canberra Marathon - Telopea Park 25th 2:41.30 13.04.86

26 Festival City - Adelaide SA 16th 2:38.42 31.08.86
27 Australian - Gold Coast QLD 29th 2:33.41 23.07.89
28 Canberra Marathon - Telopea Park 5th 2:32.50 08.04.90
29 Australian - Gold Coast QLD 42nd 2:36.29 22.07.90
30 Melbourne - Olympic Park VIC 2:59.05 06.06.93

31 Canberra Marathon - Telopea Park 111th 3:05.44 09.04.95
32 Canberra Marathon - Telopea Park 544th 3:58.38 09.04.06

ewen's shots

the awesome CJ

charlie

anyone still following me?

John S & strewth

Hello Ewen. Tag?

You Go Girl!

Marathon Report

Team Moore results

161 Roger Pilkington 3:18:08
177 David Webster 3:19:15
238 Cathy Newman 3:26:40
360 Gary Bowen 3:39:27
544 Geoff Moore 3:58:38
597 Ruth Baussman 4:05:17
598 John Stoney 4:05:17
722 Peter Hogan 4:27:15

I have never seen anyone as comfortable and happy as Cathy looked with about 7km to go.

Post Marathon Thoughts

I don’t know what happened with some of the other pacers and pacing groups, but I was fortunate to feel pretty good all the way (and when I felt bad I recovered fairly quickly) and managed to maintain the pace and finish very comfortably. What was good was that the four hour group started nice and slowly, worked up to being slightly ahead of schedule, and could afford to ease back slightly up the hills, so they were never extended beyond their capabilities and also felt good at the end.

Another interesting thing was that, although I was an official “Pat Carroll Pacer”, there were no detailed instructions about how I should do the job in hand; perhaps he simply trusted me to do it right, but that would explain why a couple of the other groups self-destructed if he also gave them minimal or no instructions. On the other hand, Pat kindly organised a racing singlet and a belt for me on top of the free entry, so there is no way I can fault his generosity. And I don’t know what happened to the other groups, there may be explanations, lots can go wrong in a marathon!

My pacing experience - perfect pace judgement?

The run was not dead even – as those who followed me closely all the way will know - I did stop a few times, once I disappeared into the bushes for a longish pit stop, once at a drink station when I let the pack go through first so I wouldn’t slow them down, and twice when different niggles caused pain!

And as far as comparisons with other paced groups are concerned, to be fair, pacing a four hour group might have been easier than pacing faster groups; more margin for error at the slower pace.

Lots of thought and planning went into it; I worked out well in advance the pace I wanted to run for each km and also I practised running at that pace a couple of times ahead of the day. Then there was the challenge of keeping to that pace on the day, but it wasn’t so hard.

I deliberately eased back with 7.5km to go – the plan had been to slow down at 33km – few in the group were keen to slow down then so they moved ahead and left me with a few who were happy to slow down with me. I wanted to finish just a little under four hours, in particular I wanted to be able to be seen by other runners coming up behind me, so they would know that they too were on target for fours hours. Quite a few runners caught and passed me over the last few kilometres as I jogged home.

I was very comfortable and could have gone much faster at the finish, it was fun. The belt I was wearing and the flag behind me were no problem whatsoever, I hardly noticed them after all. My only “injury” is a raspy throat from four hours of talking and shouting! And a bit of sunburn. The quads will feel tired later today or tomorrow I expect. No blisters, no new injuries!

I actually went for a warm down jog afterwards! Another big surprise is that I didn’t lose any weight during the marathon. I didn’t eat anything; gel or anything else. I hardly sweated. There was no dehydration.

I will still probably come down with a cold as usual; and as I end this report, I can feel my quads starting to tighten up.

Coolrunners

After the marathon was well and truly over I ran a few kms with Horrie and Lucky Legs as they completed the 50km event together (I’ve never done a cool-down jog after a marathon before!), also great to meet Lulu and Steve, and many others for the first time.

My progress

last week’s target not advertised!
achieved 100km
this week’s target 60km
weight 64 kg, weight loss -1 kg, total weight loss 3 kg
song of the week “Sunday Bloody Sunday” – U2

How long...

How long must we sing this song?

How long?

how long...

- just one of the songs we sang on the run.

Some of the four hour group at the 30km mark

Brief Marathon Report

More tomorrow but..
We enjoyed perfect race conditions. Cool early, no wind or just a little to cool us down later in the run. I paced the 4 hour group and ran around 3:58:30 or so. Almost every runner in the four hour group - and the group was as expected quite large - took advantage of the perfect pacing to about the 34km mark then drew ahead of me and finished faster. So it was a great success for the runners who were trying to break 4 hours. (But I cannot say the same for some of the other paced groups).

Of the Team Moore runners elsewhere in the race, it was a most brilliant effort by Roger Pilkington who ran a big pb, Cathy Newman who ran an enormous pb, Ruth Baussmann who finished strongly and well under five hours for the 50km.

There were many more success stories. In fact well done to every finisher.

For me this was a test to see if it was worth training hard to try and break 3 hours in 2 or 3 years time. My immediate verdict: yes!

Thank you to all the organisers, officials, and supporters. Thanks too to the cheer squads. Every bit of support was appreciated by all.

The results will be posted shortly & I will make a further report after that.

What! No balloon!

Late Marathon News - I won't be carrying a balloon!

I got my PatCarrolPacersRunningSinglet and my PatCarrolPacers4:00RunningBib but no balloon! Apparently there's some device to be attached to my back instead which "I will hardly notice". Well I've never run with a belt around my waist before, so we will see how long it lasts, probably to the first drink station if that.

I met up with a number of coolrunners for the first time including Kit, The Owl, Tiger Angel, the Gnome, Spud, GoGirl, in fact so many I cannot remember all the names. A great gang of guys 'n gals.

Can't wait for 11:00am to arrive!

Thursday Track Times

The final track and field night on Thursday was cold windy and poorly attended. Methinks the season was a tad long.

Why have the 5000m championships three days before the marathon? ... and there are many more questions one could ask about the program.

Overall our training group did very well again this season.
Here are Thursday's Team Moore times.

3000m
M45 Roger Pilkington 14:41
W55 Barbara Tucker 14:39

1000m
M45 Gary Bowen 3:16.61
M45 Roger Pilkington 4:00.01
M65 Tony Booth 3:56.30
W55 Maureen Rossiter 4:02.05
W55 Barbara Tucker 4:49.01

200m
W35 Karen Davis 29.46
W55 Maureen Rossiter 32.56

5000m championships
M45 Amalendu Edelsten 17:22.33 gold
M45 Roger Pilkington 20:30.19 bronze
M55 Neil Boden 22:56.65 bronze
M65 Tony Booth 23:36.16 gold
W40 Katie Forestier 20:53.52 gold
W45 Helen Larmour 20:30.27 gold
W50 Maria O'Reilly 20:44.92 gold

...well you had to be in it to win it!

The balloons are because it is Jenny's (my wife's) 58th birthday today. Why, did you think there was another reason?

Pilkington Pacing Perfection

Roger paced a group of runners at the track last night in the 5km ACT titles. His job was to run at 98 seconds per lap and bring the group through in 20:30. The group consisted of Helen, Maria and Katie and it turned out that two "ring-ins" tagged along, Kerrie Tanner and Brian Wenn (Brian was probably intending to pace Kerrie).

A group of six mixing it up was fun to watch. Roger was awesome, his precision pacing was like a machine, and despite the windy and wintry conditions, Helen hung on for a huge pb of 20:29, with Maria in 20:44 and Katie in 20:52 also running track pbs and getting under the 21 minute mark. Not only did Helen reverse the finish order of last Sunday's 5k fun run (where Katie just pipped Maria and Helen), but she finished ahead of Kerrie for the first time ever and so took out the W45 championship. Well done Helen, your first even pace run and a great victory. Well done Roger Pilkington for making it possible with perfect pace.

Marathon outlook - cold cold cold. Forecast - "Sunday Local frosts. Fine. Min 3 Max 19". Don't worry, Canberra forecasts are never correct, and they change every day.

Music List

Chris Martin of Coldplay

There is no way I will be listening to music while running the marathon; although I do have 4 hours of music on my MP3 player. But if I were to, I might get the pacing very wrong. And how could I hear the jokes the four hour runners are bringing to tell? (hint hint!)

Here is what I listened to on my final long run yesterday.

Fix You - Coldplay - X&Y
Stars - Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound
Take Off My Shoes - Delirious - The Mission Bell
Dare You To Move - Switchfoot - The Beautiful Letdown
Talk - Coldplay - X&Y
The Shadow Proves The Sunshine - Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound
Pride (In The Name Of Love) - Delirious - In The Name Of Love
White Shadows - Coldplay - X&Y
Politicians - Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound
Stronger - Delirious - The Mission Bell
This Is Your Life - Switchfoot - The Beautiful Letdown
Square One - Coldplay - X&Y
Daisy - Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound
Solid Rock - Delirious with Tobymac - The Mission Bell
Easier Than Love - Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound
Kingdom Come - Coldplay - X&Y
Happy Is A Yuppie Word - Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound
Our God Reigns - Delirious - The Mission Bell

So you see it wasn't a very long run - just a gentle 15k - and still plenty of niggles, darn darn darn. The niggles may not stop me completing the marathon, but they make it potentially more painful than it ought to be.

Bodens (senior) at the Fun Run

A handful of photos are at the bicaprolab website. Visit that website to order photos.
None are of other runners. Maybe more photos will appear soon.

Cocky

Drink Station Innovation

Canberra Marathon News

In a press release dated 1 April, Dave Cundy announced that new cups are to be used this Sunday in the marathon.

Thanks to 26miles for alerting me to this news item.

WGFR Official Results

Some of the results of interest to us in the official results of the Women's and Girls' 5km Fun Run (and I have corrected the numerous typos):

7 Kathy Southgate 18:34
13 Anne Southgate 19:26
14 Susan Hobson 19:44
25 Katie Forestier 20:44
27 Maria O'Reilly 20:47
28 Helen Larmour 20:48
53 Gabrielle Brown 22:53
67 Kathy Sims 23:21
76 Caroline Campbell 23:50
81 Sarah Pau 24:00
79 Charmaine Knobel 23:55
90 Diana Schneider 24:26
102 Mary Ann Busteed 24:51
110 Barbara Tucker 25:10
119 Jodie Sims 25:23
121 Michelle Wells 25:25
129 Jill Brown 25:32
144 Marion Blake 25:56
151 Vanessa Palmer 26:05
172 Rae Palmer 26:43
186 Julie Tzvetcoff 27:07
261 Consie Larmour 29:10
316 Kerry Boden 30:53
378 Erin Dockery 34:02
400 Jennifer Gilchrist 35:59

Countdown

My progress

last week’s target not advertised!

achieved much less! (about 42k)

this week’s target whatever, there’s a marathon at the end of it!
weight 63 kg, weight loss 1 kg, total weight loss 4 kg

quote of the week Vision Without Execution is Hallucination

I was ill for some of the week and did much less running than planned. My weight has gone down and that would be due to the illness, it normally rises when I cut back on training. It will need to rise by next Sunday for the marathon. For now, off to the masseur today, and another easy week planned.

song of the week Roger Ramjet (to the tune of Yankee Doodle)

Will you the reader please submit a verse and we will publish them all at the end of the week!

Verse 1
Speedygeoff and all his friends

Are running sub 4 hours

Don't run off course and lead your runners
Up to Telstra Tower.

Chorus 1
Speedygeoff he's our man

Speedygeoff's our hero

If he can't do it no one can

He'll run that sub 4 zero!

Chorus 2
Speedygeoff he's our man, he'll

Keep this group together

He'll get us through in sub 4 hours

No matter what the weather!

Chorus 3
Speedygeoffrey runs straight past the

Icons of our nation

And only stops to draw a breath

At every third drink sta-tion

Other Verses or Choruses tba. I am only responsible for Chorus 3!

Best wishes to all those preparing for the marathon. See you there at seven am!

Birth of Speedylegs

Today's Women's and Girls 5km Fun Run

Approximate results

25 Katie 20:42 big pb
27 Maria 20:45 W50 winner
28 Helen 20:47 big pb

Gabe 22:53
Kathy 23:20
Caroline 23:50 W60 winner
Charmaine 23:55
Sarah 23:56
Barbara 25:05
Michelle 25:20
Jill B 25:31
Jodi 26:36
Rae 26:43
Consie 29:10 W70 winner

Great effort from the speedy threesome; showing how, when you train together, you can spur one another on and improve together.

The mother-and-daughter-under-20 category was won by "Speedylegs" with a combined time of 38 minutes. Mother Speedylegs, known in Cool Running circles as "Southy", reads this blog. Congratulations and we are flattered that you borrowed our nomenclature.

At the Fun Run I met up with Michelle (pregnant), Erin (pregnant) and Cecilia (pregnant). More speedylegs on the way to be sure.

Yesterday's Regatta Point 4k

Official results.

Women
5. Thea Zimpel 17:34
12. Lisa Wilson W35 20:45
13. Barbara Tucker W55 21:02
14. Jill Pearson W45 21:33

Men
18. David Webster M50 15:45
35. John Alcock M60 18:37
37. Geoff Barker M60 19:09
47. Geoff Moore M55 22:03

Note that I was practicing running at 5:35 pace, in preparation for the marathon. The first km was 15 seconds too fast (not bad!) and the other three spot on.

Lessons From Geese #5

Fact #5: When a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.

Lesson #5: If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.

Thus endeth the goose lessons.

Fly Goose Fly!

"Lessons From Geese" is excerpted from a speech by Angeles Arrien at the 1991 Organizational Development Network and is based on the work of Milton Olson.

The humiliation of running a marathon

I have to wonder what was going through Speedygeoff's mind when he volunteered to pace the sub 4 hour group. Perhaps a side effect of runner's high? Perhaps too much red cordial? However since he has entered, and will be enduring the embarrassment of floating along with helium balloons, I believe he should be subjected to further humiliation, so out on a run yesterday I got thinking of a tune he could sing as he runs along with the insane group he is pacing.

Sung to the tune of Roger Ramjet

Speedygeoff and all his friends
are running sub 4 hours,
Don't run of course and lead your runners up to Telstra Tower.

Speedygeoff he's our man,
Speedygeoff's our hero,
If he can't do it no one can,
He'll run that sub 4 zero!

Thursday Part Three

Team Moore results from Thursday night track:

3000m
M45 Amalendu Edelsten 10:22.0
M45 Roger Pilkington 11:27.2
M55 Mick Saunders 11:55.6
M65 Tony Booth 14:58.1
W35 Amanda Walker 14:56.2

200m
W45 Vicki Matthews 30.78
W55 Jill Brown 36.29

1500m
M45 Amalendu Edelsten 4:42.24
M40 Colin Farlow 4:44.49
M55 Kevin Chamberlain 5:29.37
W50 Maria O'Reilly 5:49.16
M65 Tony Booth 5:57.84
M45 Roger Pilkington 5:36.94
W40 Katie Forestier 5:44.96

Spiral 8
2 Katie Forestier W40 14:18
7 Maria O'Reilly W50 14:45
8 Roger Pilkington M45 13:56
9 Gary Bowen M45 13:26
12 Neil Boden M55 15:22
13 Kevin Chamberlain M55 14:20
15 Tony Booth M65 18:02 (extral lap)

One more Thursday night and then the Nationals!

Lessons From Geese #4

Fact #4: The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep their speed.

Lesson #4 : We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one's heart or core of values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking we need.

Application #4: If you hear me honking should I pass you in a handicap race, it may not be an instruction to "move aside", it may well be encouragement to "move on ahead"!