On Thursday 7 September Rose Garden 200s, 12 on 2:30, were run by Brendan, Isaac, Jen, Dave and Giles. Please correct me if my memory is wrong! I jogged around while they were training..
On Thursday 12 October we will relocate for summer to Woden Athletics track. That's next month.
Sunday 9 September, while I was at Stromlo running 11k and enjoying new shoes, the spring sun and the company of many others returning to the great outdoors after a freezing winter, the trail group reports [Dave]:
What a great morning for the Speedygeese long run, although a little cold at the start at about 2 degrees. No wind or rain though, and it’s nice to get those rays of sun at this time of year to thaw out the frozen hands. Today’s run, courtesy of Sandeep, was a practice of the Bush Capital Half Marathon (according to the plan). 17 starters all up, including newcomers Matt and Pete (welcome guys). 😀
Everything started smoothly, other than Kerron and I turning up late to run a quick 8k with Giles before the others arrived. Obviously Giles’ patience is not as enduring as my capacity for being late. Giles did his own thing then met us later to finish with 14k before heading off for some urgent appointment.
There was another minor problem when Sandeep, who designed the course, had not arrived. His eventual arrival offered little “value add”, as it turned out he didn’t know the course. Apparently he thought Hackett and Ainslie were the same thing. Sandeep cleverly delegated to Giles, which was a great idea until Giles went home early – couldn’t hack it (sorry!). 😳
The course included a 15k loop of Mt Ainslie, which Sarah, Bron and Warrick completed to end up with 14k and 16k respectively. Pete and Matt ran unknown distances (if it’s not on Strava it didn’t happen?). Thach, Craig, Jen, Sarah and I set off at 5 minute km pace for the first 4k, which proved to be a bit fast for some, including me (so much for Jen’s mantra that long runs are supposed to be slow). Most of us apparently stuck together and finished the run almost as planned, if not exactly on course. Adrian looped back to pick up the tail runners and disappeared shortly after, according to unconfirmed reports. I decided to be the sweeper, with lots of starts and stops and running backward and forward.
Mhairi completed 20k, to find that her car was still intact, despite leaving the door wide open for a couple of hours at the shops. Apparently a few bogans enjoyed some fun inside it but obviously decided it wasn’t worth stealing. If you’re just after the insurance payout Mhairi, I can probably arrange something. I hope you didn’t use all the Valium. 😂 😂 😂
Jen and Thommo also did 20k, while Graeme, Narelle and Shiree did 21k. Shiree then went on, after a coffee break, to do the first 20k of the Sri Chinmoy 104 Leg 3. Obviously feeling guilty, she snuck in the remaining 5k after another short break – 46k all up. 😮 Sandeep added a couple of km and knocked over 23. With a warmup before the start, Kerron finished with 26k and Thach and I ended up with 30k. Adrian did 28k including running home. Monika apparently arrived late and did 21k on her own.
The best part, of course, was coffee and raisin toast (or something more substantial), especially the coffee lucky dip. I'm not sure whether it was the staff or just the difficult people they were serving. 🤣
Thanks Everyone. Next week is Goorooyarroo half marathon on Saturday, so Sunday might be a short one for most. Don’t forget free speedygeese speedwork sessions on Mondays and Thursdays at 5.30pm at Parliament House with Speedy Geoff Moore (winner of the 1978 Canberra marathon). 😮
