that's what I thought they said

Ewen running the Sri Chinmoy 5 mile

I was in the Half Marathon

Caroline too

Ewen at the Gold Coast after today's 10k

Ewen's time in the 10k - an excellent 45:11 for 7th fastest M55

Six monthly speedygeese cull: today's the day I drop a few off my contact list who haven't trained with us for a while. Fewer results to look up. That's just five names off this time. Numbers aren't actually dropping, given that I add people to the list when they do come along. Of course they can always rejoin us for a run any time.

Bush Capital Bush Marathon Festival 2012

 Newsletter 1.

The Bush Capital Bush Marathon Festival in Canberra is now a 2 day event on Saturday 28 July and Sunday 29 July. Online entry is now open at http://www.mountainrunning.coolrunning.com.au/  Please download and read all the event information before entering. There is a 10% discount if you enter by 1 July.

We have moved to a 2 day event as the best part of the marathon and ultra courses in the past has been in Goorooyarroo and Mulligans Flat reserves and we no longer can get approval  to cross busy Horse Park Drive from Majura to Goorooyarroo reserves. Last year's compromise courses in Mt Ainslie and Mt Majura reserves with dog leg additions in Majura Pines and out to Gungaghlin were not popular because of people going off course with multiple races happening and because of 5kms of rough grassy track.

The program this year is:

SATURDAY 28 July 2012

Mt Ainslie and Mt Majura Nature reserves

Campbell High School, Canberra

9.00am 16km bush run and 16km bush walk

11.00am 5km and 10km walks

12.00pm Under 13 years 2km children’s run

12.30pm 10km run

12.35pm 5km run

SUNDAY 29 July 2012

Goorooyarroo and Mulligans Flat Nature reserves

Horsepark Drive, Gungahlin

7.30am 63.3km ultra run and relay (triple half marathon)

8.30am 42.2km bush marathon run, walk and relay; half marathon walk

9.30am 21.1km bush half marathon run

I am looking for helpers for both days. Please register as a volunteer online on the event website
http://www.mountainrunning.coolrunning.com.au/events/bmarathon/2012/index.php

Helpers will receive a choice of Coolmax race T shirt, bottle of wine or chocolates.

John Harding
Race Director
Australian Mountain Running Association

road sense

"Going with the flow" on the road has never made sense to me. On the road there are mad drivers, bad drivers, impatient drivers, drunk drivers, speeding drivers, drugged drivers, feral drivers, unregistered drivers, stolen car drivers, P drivers, late drivers, angry drivers, tailgate drivers, cutting in drivers, taxi drivers, fat drivers, hat wearing drivers, and so on. In summary, all the dreaded "Canberra Drivers". Sensible drivers are usually in the minority. I prefer to coast along at a sensible speed, watch the road, and listen to my music. Speaking of which, the next big music concert I plan to attend if I can get tickets, is Mumford & Sons in Canberra in October.

"Going with the flow" is not usually my approach to racing either. Being a pacer rather than a racer, at least for the first half of a race, I tend to start off steadily regardless of the pace that others may be doing, and coast along at much the same speed all the way if I can. It pays off in the long run!

Result Customs 5k Friday 22 June: Andrew 19:46, Bill 26:19, Caroline 28:59.

Training at Dickson Tuesday 26 June: Ewen, Kym & I ran the early long run, then Colin, Susan, Caroline & I on the track after a warm-up ran a pyramid consisting of 100, 200, 300, 400, 300, 200, 100 with recoveries of the same distances.

Good luck to those competing at the Gold Coast this weekend. Many Canberra runners will be there, among them Ewen is running the 10k on Saturday, and Craig the marathon on Sunday.

Some Canberra Half Marathon photos
self

Craig

 Ewen

Lu

Yesterday's post had names of the Olympic team members as of mid June. Athletes still have about ten more days to qualify! I will leave the list there and update it when the final team is announced.

Australian Athletes at the Olympics

For future reference to this post, there is a link at the top, above the blog title.
This is the official list and it will be updated, for example steeplechaser Genevieve LaCaze is yet to be added, there may be others.

Profiles of most of the Australian team members can be found at   http://london2012.olympics.com.au/sports/athletics/athlete. Click on any name there for a full profile of an athlete.

The full list of nominated  athletes:

MEN (34):
800m: Jeff Riseley (Vic)
1500m: Ryan Gregson (NSW), Jeff Riseley (Vic)
5000m: Collis Birmingham (Vic), David McNeill (Vic), Craig Mottram (Vic)
10,000m: Ben St Lawrence (NSW)
Marathon: Martin Dent (ACT), Jeff Hunt (NSW), Michael Shelley (Qld)
3000m steeplechase: Youcef Abdi (NSW)
400m hurdles: Brendan Cole (ACT), Tristan Thomas (Tas)
20km walk: Chris Erickson (Vic), Adam Rutter (NSW), Jared Tallent (Vic)
50km walk: Luke Adams (NSW), Nathan Deakes (Vic), Jared Tallent (Vic)
Long jump: Henry Frayne (Qld), Mitchell Watt (Qld)
Triple jump: Henry Frayne (Qld)
Pole vault: Steven Hooker (WA)
Shot put: Dale Stevenson (Vic)
Discus throw: Benn Harradine (Vic), Scott Martin (Vic), Julian Wruck (Qld)
Javelin: Jarrod Bannister (Vic)
4x100m relay: Anthony Alozie (Vic), Tim Leathart (NSW), Andrew McCabe (Qld), Isaac Ntiamoah (NSW), Josh Ross (Vic)
4x400m relay: Ben Offereins (WA), Joel Milburn (NSW), Steven Solomon (NSW), John Steffensen (NSW)

WOMEN (20):
100m: Melissa Breen (ACT)
1500m: Kaila McKnight (Vic), Zoe Buckman (ACT)
10,000m: Eloise Wellings (NSW)
Marathon: Jessica Trengove (SA), Lisa Weightman (Vic), Benita Willis (Vic)
100m hurdles: Sally Pearson (Qld)
400m hurdles: Lauren Boden (ACT)
20km walk: Regan Lamble (Vic), Beki Lee (NSW), Claire Tallent (SA)
Pole vault: Alana Boyd (WA), Liz Parnov (WA)
Discus throw: Dani Samuels (NSW)
Javelin: Kim Mickle (WA), Kathryn Mitchell (Vic)
4x100m relay: Melissa Breen (ACT), Hayley Butler (NSW), Jessica Knox (NSW), Sally Pearson (Qld), Charlotte Van Veenendaal (Vic)

literacy

We finally decided to cancel our Canberra Times subscription: everything is available on the internet including letters, crosswords and comics, despite the opinion of a writer in today's paper. There is no chance of me becoming illiterate from reading internet articles with their 21st century grammar and spelling; I am reading two or three chapters of a China Miéville novel every day, which more than compensates; one learns new words and encounters new ideas on every page. Currently, I am starting into his newest epic, "Railsea"

Today remains so, so cold.

Stockyard Spur, Brindabellas

Gungahlin this morning

We have now farewelled Suzie who has left for Alice Springs, via Darwin for a week.
Song of the Week, from http://youtu.be/InTuAeGjr4M Eddie Cantor's If You Knew Suzie,

London 2012 Athletics Schedule

Day 7, August 3 2012

Event		Time
Men's 400m Hurdles: round 1 Men's 3000m Steeplechase: round 1 Men's Hammer: qualifying Men's Shot Put: qualifying Women's 100m: classification heats Women's 400m: round 1 Women's Triple Jump: qualifying Women's Heptathlon: 100m hurdles, high jump		10:00 AM
Men's 1500m: round 1 Men's Long Jump: qualifying Men's Shot Put: final Women's 100m: round 1 Women's 10,000m: final Women's Discus: qualifying Women's Heptathlon: shot put, 200m		7:00 PM

Day 8, August 4 2012

Event		Time
Men's 100m: classification heats, round 1 Men's 400m: round 1 Women's 3000m Steeplechase: round 1 Women's Pole Vault: qualifying Women's Heptathlon: long jump, javelin		10:00 AM
Women's Heptathlon: long jump, javelin Men's 400m Hurdles: semi-finals Men's 10,000m: final Men's Long Jump: final Men's Shot Put: victory ceremony Men's 20km Race Walk: victory ceremony Women's 100m: semi-finals, final Women's 400m: semi-finals Women's 10,000m: victory ceremony Women's Discus: final, victory ceremony Women's Heptathlon: 800m, victory ceremony		6:50 PM
Men's 20km Race Walk		5:00 PM

Day 9, August 5 2012

Event		Time
Men's 100m: semi-finals, final Men's 400m: semi-finals Men's 1500m: semi-finals Men's 3000m Steeplechase: final Men's 10,000m: victory ceremony Men's High Jump: qualifying Men's Long Jump: victory ceremony Men's Hammer: final Women's 100m: victory ceremony Women's 400m: final, victory ceremony Women's 400m Hurdles: round 1 Women's Triple Jump: final, victory ceremony Women's Marathon: victory ceremony		6:50 PM
Women's Marathon		11:00 AM

Day 10, August 6 2012

Event		Time
Men's 800m: round 1 Men's Discus: qualifying Women's 100m Hurdles: round 1 Women's 1500m: round 1 Women's Shot Put: qualifying		10:00 AM
Men's 100m: victory ceremony Men's 400m: final Men's 400m Hurdles: final, victory ceremony Men's Hammer: victory ceremony Women's 200m: round 1 Women's 400m Hurdles: semi-finals Women's 3000m Steeplechase: final Women's Pole Vault: final Women's Shot Put: final, victory ceremony		6:50 PM

Day 11, August 7 2012

Event		Time
Men's 110m Hurdles: round 1 Men's 200m: round 1 Men's Triple Jump: qualifying Women's 5000m: round 1 Women's Javelin: qualifying		10:00 AM
Men's 400m: victory ceremony Men's 800m: semi-finals Men's 1500m: final Men's High Jump: final Men's Discus: final Women's 100m Hurdles: semi-finals, final Women's 200m: semi-finals Women's 3000m Steeplechase: victory ceremony Women's Long Jump: qualifying Women's Pole Vault: victory ceremony		6:50 PM

Day 12, August 8 2012

Event		Time
Men's 5000m: round 1 Men's Pole Vault: qualifying Men's Decathlon: 100m, long jump, shot put Women's 800m: round 1 Women's Hammer: qualifying		10:00 AM
Men's 110m Hurdles: semi-finals, final Men's 200m: semi-finals Men's 1500m: victory ceremony Men's High Jump: victory ceremony Men's Discus: victory ceremony Men's Javelin: qualifying Men's Decathlon: high jump, 400m Women's 100m Hurdles: victory ceremony Women's 200m: final Women's 400m Hurdles: final, victory ceremony Women's 1500m: semi-finals Women's Long Jump: final		6:00 PM

Day 13, August 9 2012

Event		Time
Men's 4 x 400m Relay: round 1 Men's Decathlon: 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault Women's High Jump: qualifying		9:00 AM
Men's 110m Hurdles: victory ceremony Men's 200m: final, victory ceremony Men's 800m: final, victory ceremony Men's Triple Jump: final, victory ceremony Men's Decathlon: javelin, 1500m Women's 200m: victory ceremony Women's 800m: semi-finals Women's 4 x 100m Relay: round 1 Women's Long Jump: victory ceremony Women's Javelin: final		6:30 PM

Day 14, August 10 2012

Event		Time
Men's 4 x 100m Relay: round 1 Men's 4 x 400m Relay: final Men's Pole Vault: final Men's Decathlon: victory ceremony Women's 1500m: final Women's 5000m: final, victory ceremony Women's 4 x 100m Relay: final, victory ceremony Women's 4 x 400m Relay: round 1 Women's Hammer: final, victory ceremony Women's Javelin: victory ceremony		7:00 PM

Day 15, August 11 2012

Event		Time
Men's 5000m: final, victory ceremony Men's 4 x 100m Relay: final, victory ceremony Men's 4 x 400m Relay: victory ceremony Men's Pole Vault: victory ceremony Men's Javelin: final, victory ceremony Men's 50km Race Walk: victory ceremony Women's 800m: final, victory ceremony Women's 4 x 400m Relay: final, victory ceremony Women's High Jump: final, victory ceremony Women's Hammer: victory ceremony Women's 20km Race Walk: victory ceremony		6:45 PM
Men's 50km Race Walk		9:00 AM
Women's 20km Race Walk		5:00 PM

Day 16, August 12 2012

Event		Time
Men's Marathon		11:00 AM

I wanted to store the London Olympic Athletics program somewhere for future reference, this is as good a place as any!

cat traps

Speedygeese 24/06/12 - Mount Ainslie 9.3k
9 Roger Pilkington M50 45:27 70.5% silver
11 Rod Lynch M50 38:53 81.9
17 Andrew Matthews M50 45:22 70.7
18 Helen Larmour W50 42:05 86.7
23 Janene Kingston W45 48:09 72.0
26 Ewen Thompson M55 55:01 59.0
45 Maria O'Reilly W55 43:52 87.9
49 Christopher Lang M60 54:20 64.2
55 Nadine Morrison W40 45:34 71.5
59 Charles Freer M50 47:13 67.1
60 Cathy Newman W50 49:00 73.6
72 Geoff Moore M60 46:27 75.8
86 Mick Charlton M60 61:27 56.7
91 finishers

Cathy Newman earned her 100 tee today.

24/06/12 - Mt Ainslie 4.5k
2 Jill Pearson W50 22:52 71.6% gold
4 Brett Morrison M40 23:02 57.0 silver
17 Graeme Patrick M55 22:08 67.5
22 Cathy Montalto W55 24:59 69.4
35 finishers

Speedygeese in the Goorooyaroo/Mulligans Flat Half Marathon
19. Geoff Moore M60 1:41:46
26. Graeme Patrick M55 1:46:33
41. Katherine Sheppard W40 2:01:30
42. Cathy Montalto W55 2:02:31
50 finishers (48 individuals + 2 relay teams which placed 3 and 13)

Katherine Sheppard in the pack soon after the start.

No cats are allowed inside the fence at Mulligans Flat

Goorooyaroo

Today I ran in the Mulligans Flat/Goorooyaroo Half Marathon as a training run - and managed the same time as I ran in the Sri Chinmoy Half Marathon two weeks ago, 1:41-ish. The course was very enjoyable - an off road, undulating, what I would describe as a runnable course.

Soon after the start -photos by John Harding,

There were two packs as you can see. Martin Dent, warming up for his Olympic Marathon, and everybody else.

A little later

I used the initial climb as a warm-up. Here I am passing Nick Blackaby well after the start. The beanie and long sleeved top I discarded at the half way mark, once the frost started to melt. I still had a tee and singlet underneath.

The course -via my Garmin

A note on the course - the turn was at the end of the clockwise loop. i.e. we ran out, did the clockwise loop, then turned and ran it anticlockwise, then ran back to the start.

Course elevation

Meanwhile at Ginninderra Parkrun #9, another big PB for Jill, her first sub 25 parkrun.
15 Jill PEARSON 24:40
31 finishers
Jill is well ahead on the points table, having completed 8 of the 9 parkruns and having officiated at one.