Sunday 01 April long run report [Thach]:
Concise Version
David Clarke did not run with us today. Things went smoothly, everyone had a great time.
Full Version
At 7 am this morning 20 intrepid Geese left the car park at the top of Waldock St on the weekly long run.
Despite the heavy fog spirits were high. This was due in part to the injection of four new runners, Scott, Jess, Kylie and Ricky, and the welcome return of Jeff Grey.
The first part of the course skirted the west and south sides of Mt Taylor on some undulating fire trails and single track. The first of the 4 climbs started after crossing Athlon Drive and finished at the Farrer Trig point. Kudos to Jen Bright for her ingenuity in building her own trig at the top. No doubt the ACT government will adopt this design for future Trig constructions.
After a few photos of the fog (and Pieta Smith’s tail) we all descended back down the hill. Unfortunately, Dave Baussmann had a tumble near the base and big thanks must go to Pieta for her nursing skills to allow Dave to continue. His reputation of being the “Hardman of Australian Triathlon” will only be bolstered by his ability to remain in good spirits despite being in obvious discomfort.
The break gave us an opportunity to freshen our legs for the main climb of today’s run; the dreaded Zig Zag up Mt Taylor. As Shiree Kofod knows, this climb means a lot to me and I encouraged everyone to give it a crack. I understand that William Barlow was the first to the top and hence was the first to be rewarded with the magnificent view of crystal clear skies and bits of Canberra punching through the cloud cover.
Reluctantly, we all descended the bitumen road (much to disgust of Tim Craig who wanted us to take other more life-threatening routes) back to the carpark where we bid some of the flock farewell. Those of us doing the long run then proceeded down the hill, via a little know single track, into Oakey Reserve and up to the final Trig point. As tradition dictates, some of us hung off the trig and this gave Jeff Grey and I an opportunity to address some of the shortfalls in William Barlow’s chin up technique 😊
Finally, we retraced our route and trudged our way back up Mt Taylor to the carpark finishing up with approx. 20kms of running and almost 600 metres of vert.
Post run coffee was held at A Bite to Eat where the most memorable thing was the black bread that was served with the breakfast burger.
Next week’s run will be organised by William Barlow. It looks like it will be a monster!
Monday 02 April at Parliament House: The first evening after daylight saving ended, and it did get a bit dark towards the end. I ran early, then supervised the speedygeese running circuits on 2 minutes uphill for 100 then circling back. Running 15 laps were Pieta, Isaac, Jacob M, Colin, Craig, David and Jen. 14 laps, Sandeep and Ruth. Alex ran 12 laps, Celina 11, Chloe 9, and Jacob G the first 5 laps.
Thursday 05 April: Back to Parliament House on Thursdays, though despite no daylight saving, ACTMA track was still on for one last time and took away a couple of potential participants. The session consisted of 4 intervals of ~960m with a break between each. Attending and running were Giles, Brownie, Jennie, Daniel, Isaac, Jen, Dave, David, Colin, Jacob G, and me. Richard and Laura didn’t stay, and Brendan was seen in the distance early on. Altogether I am claiming that’s 14 people.
Concise Version
David Clarke did not run with us today. Things went smoothly, everyone had a great time.
Full Version
At 7 am this morning 20 intrepid Geese left the car park at the top of Waldock St on the weekly long run.
Despite the heavy fog spirits were high. This was due in part to the injection of four new runners, Scott, Jess, Kylie and Ricky, and the welcome return of Jeff Grey.
The first part of the course skirted the west and south sides of Mt Taylor on some undulating fire trails and single track. The first of the 4 climbs started after crossing Athlon Drive and finished at the Farrer Trig point. Kudos to Jen Bright for her ingenuity in building her own trig at the top. No doubt the ACT government will adopt this design for future Trig constructions.
After a few photos of the fog (and Pieta Smith’s tail) we all descended back down the hill. Unfortunately, Dave Baussmann had a tumble near the base and big thanks must go to Pieta for her nursing skills to allow Dave to continue. His reputation of being the “Hardman of Australian Triathlon” will only be bolstered by his ability to remain in good spirits despite being in obvious discomfort.
The break gave us an opportunity to freshen our legs for the main climb of today’s run; the dreaded Zig Zag up Mt Taylor. As Shiree Kofod knows, this climb means a lot to me and I encouraged everyone to give it a crack. I understand that William Barlow was the first to the top and hence was the first to be rewarded with the magnificent view of crystal clear skies and bits of Canberra punching through the cloud cover.
Reluctantly, we all descended the bitumen road (much to disgust of Tim Craig who wanted us to take other more life-threatening routes) back to the carpark where we bid some of the flock farewell. Those of us doing the long run then proceeded down the hill, via a little know single track, into Oakey Reserve and up to the final Trig point. As tradition dictates, some of us hung off the trig and this gave Jeff Grey and I an opportunity to address some of the shortfalls in William Barlow’s chin up technique 😊
Finally, we retraced our route and trudged our way back up Mt Taylor to the carpark finishing up with approx. 20kms of running and almost 600 metres of vert.
Post run coffee was held at A Bite to Eat where the most memorable thing was the black bread that was served with the breakfast burger.
Next week’s run will be organised by William Barlow. It looks like it will be a monster!
Monday 02 April at Parliament House: The first evening after daylight saving ended, and it did get a bit dark towards the end. I ran early, then supervised the speedygeese running circuits on 2 minutes uphill for 100 then circling back. Running 15 laps were Pieta, Isaac, Jacob M, Colin, Craig, David and Jen. 14 laps, Sandeep and Ruth. Alex ran 12 laps, Celina 11, Chloe 9, and Jacob G the first 5 laps.
Thursday 05 April: Back to Parliament House on Thursdays, though despite no daylight saving, ACTMA track was still on for one last time and took away a couple of potential participants. The session consisted of 4 intervals of ~960m with a break between each. Attending and running were Giles, Brownie, Jennie, Daniel, Isaac, Jen, Dave, David, Colin, Jacob G, and me. Richard and Laura didn’t stay, and Brendan was seen in the distance early on. Altogether I am claiming that’s 14 people.
