Safety Tips for Runners

After the confrontation last Monday, I thought I might raise the topic of safe running. What do you think of these points? Should we in Canberra be more safety conscious than we have been in the past?

You could be taking a risk if you:
Run by yourself
Repeatedly run the same course at the same time of day
Carry an ipod which drowns outside sounds
Run on deserted streets at night
Run with traffic, so that you don’t see cars are coming up behind you

Instead you should

Run in a group and stay together
Vary the route and the time of day that you run
Turn the ipod down if you have to have it, or better still, don’t wear one
Run in familiar areas with other people around
If the same car cruises past you more than once, take down the license number and make it obvious that you are aware of its presence (but keep your distance)

If Confronted

Keep moving, keep running
Run towards other people
Use discretion if someone in a car asks directions

If Attacked
Keep as calm as possible
Try to fix a description of the attacker in your mind
Do not show fear or plead
Try talking while looking for an escape opportunity
Do not fight or struggle unless there is no other option

Canberra is a lot less safe than it used to be, and it only seems to be getting worse. This could happen here -
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-missing-girl3-2010mar03,0,7095226.story

Here is a story which contains references to the same person who threatened on Monday to kill us "by sticking a knife in [our] head"; I have removed the expletives. Apparently he has been there for at least twelve months endangering anyone who goes near "his land"!
http://the-riotact.com/?p=11138

A rather bland version of the story is here:
http://abc-for-kids.com/news/stories/2009/03/07/2510111.htm
Note the year - 2009.

So there you go. We are not alone in being harassed and threatened by this half-wit. But take care wherever you run, there are plenty of dangerous people about.

Speedygeese at Tuesday's Summer Series Race 5: Acton Ferry Terminal 5k
24. Nadine Morrison 20:43
33. Brett Morrison 21:07
35. Michelle Wells 21:10
38. Geoff Moore 21:35
43. Jennifer Bright 22:12
47. Maria O'Reilly 22:30
52. Janene Kingston 23:16
67. Ewen Thompson 24:33
68. Cathy Newman 24:35
74. Graeme Patrick 25:25
81. Miranda Rawlinson 26:09
82. Neil Boden 26:17
86. Ruth Baussmann 26:52
88. Susan Sturgeon 27:29
94. Mick Charlton 28:00
96. Margaret McSpadden 28:24
105. Sharene Hurnen 32:00
108 finishers
+ Acton Ferry Terminal 2k 36 finishers

nice!

Melanie Tait invites us all to DALTONS at 6pm tonight for her book signing. Cnr of Rudd and Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra City. Please come along - there will be nibblies!

Nice new feature: Static Pages
"For many months, bloggers have been asking for the ability to add static pages - pages that do not contain dated posts, and that do not show up in the archive index, or in the main page display - to their blog. Before this year, only the latter possibility existed - posts that would not show up on the main page could be created by publishing posts back dated to appear before the earliest post on the main page. This created "static" pages that still appeared in the archives index - a messy workaround."

"[In January,] true static pages were added to the new post editor." --- continued at
http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2010/02/new-post-editor-with-static-pages.html

I have just changed a number of my back dated posts to static pages. A very handy new blogger feature, and it makes a blog behave more like a real website.

The tabs along the top all link to static pages now:
About Me
My Training Diary
Articles
About the speedygeese
VENUES: where we train
and these won't appear as posts in the January 2005 archives any more!

Nice run by Nadine last night in the Summer Series 5k at Acton Ferry terminal. She has the ability to throw in hard surges early and still finish in a fast time. I couldn't summon up the energy to run hard for four days in a row and faded badly. But it doesn't matter because today starts a taper leading up to Sunday's Half Marathon. I have decided to have in mind steady 4:30 minutes per km and see how I go. Yes the old stand-by; 4:30s. Should be second nature to ease along at that pace, and I might have something left to speed up towards the end.

Nice T-shirt

It's OK Richard, Ruth's 100 run T-shirt was designed to go below the knees.

Do runners get fewer colds?

Yes. In this post I will focus on what happens with the immune system. Running helps the immune system fight off bacterial and viral infections. And running very likely decreases the incidence of illnesses such as heart disease, osteoporosis, and cancer.

How does running help the immune system function better?
(a) a rise in body temperature helps the body fight infection more effectively - as happens with a fever!
(b) an increase in respiration clears rubbish out of the lungs, reducing the incidence of air-born illness. That "400m cough" could be good for you!
(c) waste products (urine, sweat) are flushed from the body more rapidly; better out than in, especially if carcinogens are amongst the waste being flushed.
(d) blood circulation is improved; antibodies circulate better and reach sites of potential illness earlier; and the increased circulation of blood has other benefits such as the triggering the release of hormones essential to the proper operation of the immune system.
(e) There are also stress-relate hormones whose release is suppressed by running.

So even if you have a lean and trim body; one without the excess fat stores seen in most members of our lazy society; your immune system will thank you if you continue to run and/or do other physical exercise daily.

Can over-training cancel out these benefits?
Yes. Heavier training loads do not result in extra benefits, as far as the immune system is concerned. There is a point beyond which fewer white blood cells circulate in the body, and the number of stress related hormones increases.
(a) I always came down with a cold after racing a marathon. Even for a highly conditioned athlete, the stress of a marathon run flat out is too much.
(b) But I never came down with a cold because of my fairly intense marathon training. That is because the training was carefully planned with a sufficient number of easy days after the longest runs and after races.
(c) New starters need to understand that it takes time for the body to adapt to running programs, and should never attempt to copy the programs of seasoned runners, particularly in the early days of their training. Build up gradually conservatively doing less than you think is possible, and allow the body to adapt over time. Patience is a virtue when it comes to health and fitness. And a good base is essential if permanent improvement down the track is to occur.

We know exercise is good for us because we feel better during and after exercise. And it is good for us. Go on, run with it! You will never look back.

Monday training
Canberra Day: The early starters for an 8k run were Andrew, Craig, Ewen, me, Jennifer, Ruth, Yelena, and new starters David and Liz. Then we were joined at 5:30pm by Bronwyn, Caroline, Garry, Joel, Katherine, Neil, Noeline, Penny, and more new starters Geoff 2, John, and Karen. Twenty participants on a public holiday is pretty good. We ran 12 intervals of 40 seconds each (two sets of "6 on 2 minutes"), a good session on a day when it had been raining quite heavily earlier on.

Melanie Tait book signing
BE THERE and support her! Wednesday, 6pm at Daltons in Civic. We will be running then and we might just drop in in our running gear! The first speedygoose to have written a book!

Thanks Craig

Craig did both sessions at training yesterday. His presence and that of three others may have saved my life too but that is another story.

heidi ho

Heidi: Orange Half Marathon 102 minutes. Woo-Hoo! Congratulations on completing your first Half Marathon! And 102 minutes on a tough course is very good. You could expect to be at least 5 minutes quicker on Canberra courses. The half marathon was part of  the "Orange Colour City Running Festival". So make sure you wear the orange souvenir T-shirt at your next run with us; I hope the T-shirt will be orange coloured.

Some Orange Results
Scott McTaggart first 1:10.08
Heidi Johnston 1:42.38 fourth W30-39. Heidi you are so young! I thought you'd be 40 by now!
Jim White 1:45.29 won the M60s. Well done Heidi, ahead of Jim is many people's primary goal.

What's on this week: (updated Mondays)
There's always something on.
RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN. perhaps. Our rain gauge read 81mm this morning.

Monday 8 March Parliament House 4:30pm jog, 5:30pm speedygeese interval training - speed endurance #5 of 6. If it is wet we will still be there, with adjusted training as appropriate to the conditions.
Tuesday 9 March 6:15pm Summer Series race #6 Regatta Point Acton Ferry Terminal 5k
Wednesday 10 March 12:15pm BBQ Stakes 6k handicap
Wednesday 10 March 5:45pm Parliament House, easy run.
Thursday 11 March Vets Track
6:00pm 2000m steeple/3000m steeple
6:15pm 4 x 200m
6:20pm 200m
6:40pm 1500m walk
7:00pm 100m
7:15pm 1500m age handicapped ("Pennington")
7:40pm short hurdles
8:00m 7 lap spiral
Friday 12 March 12:15pm Customs weekly 5k handicap, Commonwealth Park
Saturday 13 March 7:00am Pack Runs at Molonglo Reach
Sunday 14 March 7:30am Weston Creek Half Marathon, Black Mountain Peninsula
I will be tapering for the half marathon and hope to run sub 95.

Heidi at North Curtin. She will be pleased with her time at Orange. I hope she hasn't over-celebrated with too much red wine and pizza! [When Heidi comments, it will be "there can never be too much red wine and pizza!"]

old stock

Uniform Specials: There is a sale of old stock taking place, various items of club uniform clothing, various prices. See Sue Archer at one of our Vets events, or email her at this email address

Windows 7. 

I upgraded from Vista yesterday. It will be good to have a stable computer. It "only" took me 9 hours including three lots of my own backup just in case the upgrade went pear-shaped and I needed a clean install. Can't be too careful. All OK though. But as a result I didn't get much sleep before this morning's 6:30am long run!

Nice rain

Keep it coming. Cooler weather would be nice too but that's on its way.

Time Team pacers needed

Time Team

Pacers Needed for the National Capital Marathon.

The National Capital Marathon is seeking experienced distance runners who want to give back to the sport by serving as pacers in the “Time Team” pacing group for the Marathon on 2 May 2010.

Time Team pace goals will be 3:00, 3:15, 3:30, 3:45, 4:00 and 4:30.

Some of the Time Team pacers will have paced a marathon before, and some will have not.

Qualifications:

(a) Can run the marathon at 15 to 30 minutes better than the time that you plan to pace.

(b) Able to maintain a steady pace with respect to the terrain for the entire distance.

Responsibilities:

(a) Commit to maintain your pace and complete the full marathon with a time between your goal time and 2 minutes ahead of your goal time.

(b) Carry a helium balloon displaying your goal time during the entire race.

(c) Wear a Time Team singlet during the race.

(d) Act as a "moving coach" by creating a team atmosphere and offering encouragement and advice throughout the race.

Rewards:

(a) The entry fee for the 2010 National Capital Marathon will be waived.

(b) Time Team Mizuno singlet will be provided.

(c) Lots of fun, memories, and a great way to make a new friend or two.

How to Apply:

If you are interested in serving in the Time Team, please email Geoff Moore or call on (02) 6254 4753 and provide the following information:

• Pace time you wish to apply for
• Name, email address, phone number
• Personal best marathon time, where run, what year
• Recent best marathon time, where run, what year
• Pacing experience, where run, what year(s), what pace group(s)
• Other comments in support of your application.

All applicants will be advised of the outcome on or before 12 April.

Further information and instructions will be provided to all Time Team pacers once the names are finalised.

Geoff Moore

Time Team coordinator.Bottom of Form

news, views, shoes, goos, blues, zoos, snooze

The Scott Brown story: http://petemagill.blogspot.com/2010/03/guest-blogger-scott-brown.html
Be amazed at how Scott improved his times so rapidly.
And read his plug for the two best running groups in Australia; PCRG, and the speedygeese.
Thanks Scott! Or, should I say, Scott!

Weston Creek Half marathon entry clarification. It is the on-line entry that closes on the 10th. Mail entry closes on Monday 8th. I am now entered.

Training at Dickson oval
We will resume training there at the beginning of April, because Vets track finishes at the end of March. The first training day will be Thursday 1 April, even though some will be away because of the Easter break.
Start time is 5:30pm as usual. Anyone for an early start for a long run first?

Parliament House training will continue as usual this Monday even though it is "Canberra Day"

End of season speedygeese dinner, when and where would you like to have it?

Vets Track and Field results from last night
400m
M60 Garry Maher 65.0 82.9%
M50 Gary Bowen 66.0 76.0
M50 Rod Lynch 68.9 71.9
W55 Noeline Burden 79.0 77.9

800m
M55 Ken White 2:22.1 86.0 season's best by 2 seconds
M50 Rod Lynch 2:36.4 74.4 season's best by 2 seconds
M40 Brett Morrison 2:38.1 67.9 personal best by 2 seconds
W40 Amanda Walker 2:44.8 71.9
W40 Nadine Morrison 2:49.5 68.7 personal best by 2.5 seconds
W55 Kathy Sims 2:57.0 80.0
W40 Bronwyn Calver 2:58.1 65.4
W50 Helen Larmour 3:06.8 68.0

1 Mile; some of these would be personal best times as the mile is not run that often.
M50 Rod Lynch 5:30.5 77.0
M50 Gary Bowen 5:37.6 76.6
W40 Katie Forestier 5:43.4 80.9
W40 Emma Adams 5:48.9 76.9
M40 Brett Morrison 5:55.7 66.7
W40 Nadine Morrison 6:02.4 73.3
W45 Janene Kingston 6:20.4 73.9
W50 Helen Larmour 6:32.2 76.2
W40 Bronwyn Calver 6:32.7 67.7

5000m Parlouf Relay
1. M55 George Kubitzky, W40 Bronwyn Calver , M50 Gary Bowen, W55 Kathy Sims , M60 Garry Maher 15:20.4
2. M40 Brett Morrison, W50 Helen Larmour , M50 Angel Marina , M55 Ken White 15:49.0
3. W40 Nadine Morrison , W40 Katie Forestier , W40 Amanda Walker , M45 Peter Cullen , M70 Roger Abbott 16:10.6

Tuesday's Summer Series race #5 at Weston Park
5k
36. Geoff Moore 21:07
41. Janene Kingston 21:59
47. Ewen Thompson 22:56
64. Cathy Newman 24:35
69. Neil Boden 25:05
80. Richard Frost 26:13
82. Ruth Baussmann 26:14
83. Susan Sturgeon 26:41
96. Mick Charlton 28:53
102. Sharene Hurnen 30:49
110 finishers, and in the 2k there were 35 finishers

That's enough fun for now, more tomorrow!

Rod Lynch runs towards the finish line at North Curtin. Rod and his son Brett plan to be training with us when we resume at Dickson in April.

individualism

North Curtin Vets Handicap races. click to enlarge.

Leanne and Margaret

Gary

Katie

Jill and Catherine. Methinks Catherine should and will be be starting many groups further back!

Because running is, or can be, a completely individual sport, and because I have seen athletes turn up for a race, run, and disappear without interacting with anyone else, I am always interested in the subject areas of groups, teams, clubs, families, and other organisations where people obviously are meant to interact for mutual benefit and when they don’t, they suffer as a result.

Here is a good article about our culture of Individualism by Rowan Williams the Archbishop of Canterbury. Williams writes:
If you live in a world where everything encourages you to struggle for your own individual interest and success, you are encouraged to ignore the reality of other points of view – ultimately, to ignore the cost, or the pain of others. The result may be a world where people are articulate about their own feelings and pretty illiterate about those of others. An economic climate based on nothing but calculations of self-interest, fed by a distorted version of Darwinism, doesn’t build a habitat for human beings; at best it builds a sort of fortified box room for paranoiacs.
What is encouraging is how few people seem to want a society composed of people like this. We have, to some extent, looked into the abyss where individualism is concerned and we know that it won’t do. This is a moment when every possible agency in civil society needs to reinforce its commitment to a world where thoughtful empathy is a normal aspect of the mature man or woman. And of course without that, there will be no imaginative life, no thinking what might be different.
For myself, the roots of this view are deep in religious vision and commitment. From this viewpoint, the importance of the family isn’t a sentimental idealising of domestic life; it is about understanding that you grow in emotional intelligence and maturity because of a reality that is unconditionally faithful. In religious terms the unconditionality of family love is a faint mirror of God’s unconditional commitment to be there for us. Similarly, the importance of imaginative life is not a vague belief that we should all have our creative side encouraged but comes out of the notion that the world we live in is rooted in an infinite life, whose dimensions we shall never get hold of. As for the essential character of human mutuality, this connects for me with the Christian belief that if someone else is damaged, frustrated, offended or oppressed, everyone’s humanity is diminished.
Full article here.

When I run the Weston Creek Half Marathon this year, I am going to be competing with and challenging and encouraging the relay teams which participate in the event, as well as competing against the other runners and competing against myself. Relay teams add an exciting dimension to this race. Go the Geese!
Entries for the Weston Creek Half Marathon on 14 March close next Wednesday 10 March.
See http://westoncreekathletics.org.au/modules/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=half_marathon:half_marathon

distance makes the heart grow stronger

A feature of distance running I particularly enjoy is that it gives me the chance to let off steam, to let emotions out, to laugh and cry, to express myself. That's right, running is therapeutic. Not only does running strengthen the physical heart, it also strengthens the metaphoric heart, the centre of the emotions. "I always feel better after running".

Laugh and Cry
The first of the photos from Sunday.

Click to enlarge. There might be a clue here as to why I headed Ken for the first 50 metres. Also, what is Ken holding? You can clearly see the two sticks in his hands. Changing your running style, Ken, because the alternative is a poke in the eye with a pointed stick?

I think the healthiest and happiest people are those who laugh at themselves the most. And we are in an era when the we have the most opportunities to laugh at ourselves, what with websites and blogs and Facebook pages showing us off at our best and our worst in photos and videos.

Smile for the camera!

encouragement

One of the good things I see in the blogger running community is mutual encouragement. Most of our best friends are those who encourage us. We don't have many strong relationships with those who pull us down. We avoid such people and seek out those who believe in us and lift us up. Everyone needs and responds to encouragement. People do better and try harder when there is a spirit of approval rather than a spirit of criticism. Encouragement brings out the best in people. The way to truly motivate and develop people is through encouragement and through believing in them. People tend to become what the most important people in their lives think they will become. Who can you encourage today?

Cooler weather is here at last AND we still have four more weeks of sunshine, thanks to daylight saving being extended! Last night at Monday training Jennifer, Ewen, Ruth, Miranda & I ran up Mugga Way at 4:30pm. Jennifer had to go after that, but the others stayed and were joined by Andrew, Bronwyn, Colleen (new), Christopher, Craig, Garry, Helen, Joel, Leanne, Maria, Neil, Noeline, Penny, Rachelle, Sindia, Tim, Warrick & Yelena for the main training session.
We formed balanced teams of three, for a continuous 30 minute relay in the rectangle of grass immediately north of Parliament House, where each runner alternated running down a diagonal or up a flagpole straight before jogging straight across to the other side of the rectangle and running fast again. Phew! Simple to do but hard to devise or describe. I was “reserve” and had a few runs while two or three took a break. We managed to bemuse some tourists but not the guards, who are used to us by now.

Some speedygeese birthdays that I know of this week include Emma, CJ, Suzie, Yili. Two of the significant birthdays coming up this month, are Melanie (30), and Warrick (40)

Melanie’s book is being released very soon if not already available. See http://newholland.com.au/product.php?isbn=9781741109658.

speedygeese results for Stromlo Forest Park 5k Tuesday, 23rd February
36. Nadine Morrison W40 21:07
47. Brett Morrison M40 21:39
55. Michelle Wells W35 22:09
60. Maria O'Reilly W55 22:44
71. Janene Kingston W45 23:41
74. Geoff Moore M60 23:55
75. Mick Horan M50 23:56
86. Cathy Newman W45 25:25
94. Miranda Rawlinson W55 26:25
99. Ruth Baussmann W55 27:23
100. Susan Sturgeon W35 27:27
105. Caroline Campbell W65 28:17
112. Mick Charlton M55 29:29
126. Sharene Hurnen W40 33:37
128 finishers
Plus Stromlo Forest Park 2k, 50 finishers.

AMRA events from John Harding.
The following is an update on events coming up being organised by the Australian Mountain Running Association and some others of interest. For more details, see www.mountainrunning.coolrunning.com.au Some entry forms are not available yet.
First Tuesday each month: Mt Ainslie Run Up and Power Walk, 2.3km, 12.45pm, Remembrance Park, Treloar Crs, Campbell. Free.
Third Tuesday each month: Black Mountain Run Up and Power Walk, 2.6km, 12.45pm, Clunies Ross St, Acton (100m east of Botanic Gardens entrance).
Saturday 6 March: Mt Tennent Challenge, 3pm, Apollo Road. 6 km open power walk and run to summit + ACT 6km, 8km and 11km mountain running championships.
Friday 19 March: Kosciuszko Run, 11am, 11kms from Charlotte Pass Village to summit of Mt Kosciuszko. Run with 4-time Olympic race walking gold medallist Robert Korzeniowski to celebrate the 170th anniversary of the discovery of Mt Kosciuszko. Restricted to 50 participants who must cover 22kms return carrying compulsory safety gear.
Sunday 28 March: Great Volcanic Challenge, 9am, 11kms, Orange NSW. Organised by Goldseekers Orienteering Club.
Sunday 11 April: Kedumba Challenge, 9am Wentworth Falls, Blue Mountains NSW, incorporating the NSW Mountain Running Championships. 4kms, 8kms, 10kms.
Saturday 22 May: Australian Mountain Running Championships for open age groups, juniors, and veterans from M40 to M70+ and W35 to W70+, 12 noon, Mt Tennent.
Sunday 4 July: Shoalhaven King of the Mountain, Cambewarra to Kangaroo Valley 32 kms. Australia's longest running long distance trail run.
Saturday 31 July: Bush Capital Bush Marathon Festival, Campbell High School, ACT. 2km, 5km, 10km, 16km, 25km, marathon, marathon relay and 60km ultra off road trail runs and 5km, 10km, 16km and 25km bush walks. Entry form available soon.
HELPERS
Helpers are needed for events, especially the Bush Capital Bush Marathon Festival, which needs many helpers. Contact John Harding ph 02 6248 6905 or 0427 107 033 Email: hackettrunner@hotmail.com
International:
Sat. 21 Aug World Long Distance Challenge Pikes Peak ascent USA
Sat. 28 Aug Masters World Championships Korbielow POLAND
Sun 5 Sept World Championships Kamnik SLOVENIA

Lauren's A-qualifier

What's on this week: (updated Mondays)
Monday 1 March Parliament House 4:30pm jog, 5:30pm speedygeese interval training
Tuesday 2 March 6:15pm Summer Series race #5 Weston Park 5k cross country
Wednesday 3 March 12:15pm BBQ Stakes 6k handicap
Wednesday 3 March 5:45pm Parliament House, easy run.
Thursday 4 March Vets Track
6:00pm mile
6:20pm 100m (Daniels)
6:40pm 400m
7:00pm 800m
7:15pm Parlauf Relay (teams of 5 runners totalling 5000m)
7:40pm 5000m walk
Sunday 7 March 6:30am Long run from the Zoo
Sunday 7 March 9:00am Women's & Girls' 6k Jogalong handicap, Weston Park

Note: Monday 8th is a public holiday but we will still be meeting at the normal time and place.

Lauren's A-Qualifier
A time of 55.75 in Sydney on the weekend for the 400m hurdles has put Lauren Boden in line for selection for the 2010 Commonwealth Games team. This is her pb by 0.4 seconds, the first time under 56 seconds. Well done Lauren!

Rex Foulkes Half Marathon in conjunction with the marathon on 2 May - course map. Click to enlarge.

halfway gone

Song of the Week – Lifehouse – "Halfway Gone"


North Curtin 3.0k
6 Amanda Walker W40 12:41 74.1%
10 Graeme Patrick M55 12:40 73.8
12 Ken White M55 11:47 78.3
14 Leanne Steinman W35 15:21 59.1
21 Geoff Moore M60 12:00 81.2
22 Noeline Burden W55 15:17 72.5
25 Gary Bowen M50 11:54 75.9
28 Katie Forestier W40 11:38 81.2
36 Cathy Montalto W55 15:03 75.0
40 Garry Maher M60 13:57 70.7
47 finishers

North Curtin 6.2k
5 Emma Adams W40 27:20 74.2%
11 Margaret McSpadden W60 37:15 69.9
15 Janene Kingston W45 28:57 71.6
23 Katherine Sheppard W35 34:41 57.7
24 Caroline Campbell W65 33:36 83.3
25 Miranda Rawlinson W55 33:07 72.0
29 Michelle Wells W35 27:48 71.3
41 Debbie Cowell W50 28:40 78.7
47 Christopher Lang M55 32:37 64.6
49 Alan Duus M60 32:05 68.0
59 Rae Palmer W60 33:58 75.7
64 Warrick Howieson M35 29:54 59.7
66 Troy Steinman M35 24:26 71.8
90 Sharene Hurnen W40 42:28 47.5
92 Rod Lynch M50 26:27 73.9
93 Heidi Johnston W35 30:24 65.8
100 Ruth Baussmann 34:57 70.8
101 Craig Davis M40 29:34 61.6
104 Cathy Newman W45 31:52 68.5
113 Ewen Thompson M50 36:58 53.9
116 Andrew Matthews M50 29:49 65.6
118 finishers

I managed 4 minute kms for today's 3k Vets Handicap run. This is satisfactory. And the same age percentage as Katie. I must be happy with that.

Time Team

I will be be inviting experienced marathon runners to apply to join the "Time Team", the official pacing group for the National Capital Marathon in Canberra on 2 May. Men and women can apply; we will have both Time Ladies and Time Lords. Afterwards we can share Time Team Tim Tams.

There will be a Time Team pacer for 3:00, 3:15, 3:30, 3:45, 4:00, and 4:30. Each Time Team pacer will be supplied with a modern Mizuno racing singlet and carry a balloon with the target time written on it. Time Team will be running their target times at a steady pace so as to achieve even splits. An application form will be available shortly, successful applicants will get free marathon entry, and be in charge of a pace group running 15 to 30 minutes slower than their Time Team pacer would achieve flat out.

Meanwhile, recent speedygeese times
Track 25 February
3000m
M50 Rod Lynch 11:02.07 76.0%
M50 Gary Bowen 11:37.23 73.3 **pb by 3 seconds
M60 Geoff Moore 11:53.04 77.4
W40 Nadine Morrison 11:55.09 73.4 **pb by 11 seconds
M40 Brett Morrison 11:55.55 65.6 **pb by 20 seconds
W45 Janene Kingston 12:26.10 74.1 **pb by 3 seconds
W40 Bronwyn Calver 13:18.91 65.7
M50 Ewen Thompson 13:58.01 61.0
W65 Caroline Campbell 14:40.85 85.2
W55 Ruth Baussmann 15:00.77 73.7
W60 Margaret McSpadden 16:16.51 72.2
My splits were approximately 3:52, 4:04, 3:57 to run a season's best by 13 seconds and there is no way I could have held off the fast finishing Morrisons had they caught me.

200m
M50 Gary Bowen 29.52 77.0%

100m Pentathlon
W40 Emma Adams 15.15 72.5 533 points
W55 Noeline Burden 16.15 80.7 747 points
200m Pentathlon
M60 Garry Maher 28.95 84.5 756 points
800m Pentathlon
W40 Emma Adams 2:36.77 74.3 663 points
W55 Noeline Burden 3:18.47 69.3 508 points
1500m Pentathlon
M60 Garry Maher 6:10.04 72.7 617 points
Shot Put Pentathlon
W40 Emma Adams 5.78 29.9 320 Points
W55 Noeline Burden 7.26 49.7 596 points
Long Jump Pentathlon
M60 Garry Maher 4.17 70.3 589 points
W40 Emma Adams 3.20 46.9 204 points
W55 Noeline Burden 3.15 57.4 367 points
Javelin Pentathlon
M60 Garry Maher 23.60 37.8 369 points
W40 Emma Adams 12.21 18.3 167 points
W55 Noeline Burden 13.90 30.2 316 points
Discus Pentathlon
M60 Garry Maher 24.52 39.6 416 points
Total Points Pentathlon
M60 Garry Maher 2747 **gold
W40 Emma Adams 1887 **gold
W55 Noeline Burden 2534 **gold

Jogalong 7 February
18. Katherine Sheppard 33:15
61. Sharene Hurnen 48:54
83. Michelle Wells 26:26
146. Caroline Campbell 34:26
167. Cathy Montalto 34:15
181 finishers

BBQ Stakes 24 February
Katie 25.18
Gary 26:19 **pb by 28 seconds
Helen 28.06
Caroline 41.42 **pb first run
Sharene 43.07 **pb by 61 seconds second run

Meanwhile, I owe Ewen a Caramello Koala

or something.

Ruth On Top in novelty event

Last night's track: spiral 6 (2.514k)
4 Helen Larmour W50 10:33
8 Gary Bowen M50 9:36
11 Ruth Baussmann W55 12:31
12 Ewen Thompson M50 15:04 (Ewen race-walks these)
18 Bronwyn Calver W40 10:43

Ruth put in a 100% effort, in the seventh race in the eight event "Adler" series, to make her a favourite to take out the series this year.
Just how well did Ruth run?
Ruth’s time projects to a 3k in 14.56
That would be a 2 second pb, and 4 seconds faster than she’s run twice this season.
However the spiral 6 is shorter than 3k by 486m, and the extra distance would probably slow her down enough to finish a 3k in about 15:01
So she’s still to break 15 this season. If she had started on the front line in the 3k she would have done so twice!
I am told there are no more 3000s this season. we will have to wait until next season, unless everything goes pear shaped and the 3ks are scrapped. It could happen!
Ruth’s time of 12:31 was only 3 seconds outside her spiral 6 pb of 12:28.
Great effort Ruth. That pb breakthrough is just around the corner!

Go Ruth!

Ewen did the right thing by Ruth's point score margin in finishing just behind her last night in the spiral 6.

Time Team
It looks as if Ewen might also win the Caramello Koala pacers prize. Stay tuned!

your pace or mine

I will leave the question of a name for our pacing group open for another day wile I draft some pacers' documents. There have been lots of good ideas, I quite like the outside-the-box one of "Go for Goal". This should open up peoples' thinking a bit, we don't have to use a traditional style name. My "pacer bunnies" is OK; real bunnies often appear on parts of the course in the early mornings especially alongside Kings Avenue; and a bunny is a mid-field pacer as distinct from a rabbit who is a lead pack pacer. But bunny also has a playgirl/playboy connotation and I might not want to go there. I could just type away here and list whatever pops into my head:
Go For Goal
We Pace You
Bunny Bus
Come Together
Pack Power
Leaders of the Pack
Follow that Bus
Running for the Bus
Easy Riders
Tag-on Team
The list could be endless. I will decide tomorrow what the name is. Meanwhile keep the suggestions pouring in, it all helps the thinking process. I am listening.

blessed are the pacemakers

Breaking news! I am going to be in charge of the marathon pacers for the National Capital Marathon to be held at Manuka Oval, Canberra on 2nd May.

Pacers will receive free entry to the marathon, a free racing singlet, and will be identified by variously coloured helium balloons with the goal times on the balloons.

Pacesetters are required for: 3:00, 3:15, 3:30, 3:45, 4:00 & 4:30. If you want to be a pacer you must firstly apply to me. Details of what is required and what to say when you apply are being prepared and will become available as soon as I can write it all up.

Before I do, there is one thing to be determined: what should I call the pacing group? I think "marathon pacers" is a bit bland; "Geoff Moore Pacers" is a bit egotistical, "speedygeese pacers" is not really true, what to call us? And instead of "pacers" I might prefer some other word; "pacemakers" has a nice ring to it, "pacesetters" even better perhaps. Suggestions anyone? I do realise that out of my 100 daily readers only one would normally respond, but on this occasion I encourage everyone to have a go and make a suggestion however silly. A caramel koala prize goes to the winner if I use their suggestion!

Meanwhile the fourth Summer Series race in Canberra was something of a disappointment: what have they done to our beautiful running surface at Stromlo? All through summer the venue has been closed for repair, which has meant we haven't been able to train there just when we wanted to. Said repairs have turned the surface from perfect smooth billiard-table luxury to a rough rutted bumpy lumpy nightmare. Bah humbug!

Returning to our marathon; suggestions for a pacing group name can be made now!

Track runners wondering if they will win the Caramello Koala.

Be ORGANised; be ACTive; don't just read or write about it, be in the arena; do it!

At Parliament House training yesterday: Andrew, Bronia, Bronwyn, Caroline, Ewen, Garry, Gary, me, Heidi, Helen, Jennifer, Joel, Katherine, Leanne, Neil, Penny, Ruth, Sindia, Tim, Victoria, Warrick, Yelena. 22, not quite the record of 30 I was hoping for, but there are other events on like the Sprint-Marathon relay on Sunday and the Stromlo Summer Series race today, we all need to pick and choose what we can do from week to week. But this week the weather was perfect for our Monday session. We ran on the same loop as last week - somewhere around 370m depending on who you ask - but in the reverse direction. And we had teams of four as well as three, giving some runners a longer break enabling them to focus more on speed than on endurance. Like last week, we had random teams, which is fun, with runners not knowing who they were to be teamed with. This session is hard however, and like last week there were a couple of "casualties" who didn't survive the thirty minutes of hard running. Typically a runner in the 3 person teams got in about 7 or 8 intervals in the 30 minutes. And finally, Yelena did a brilliant job managing to remember everyone's names when we had our introductions; next week, it's Warrick's turn!

On the subject of long walks: early tomorrow there's the "Terry Connolly ORGANised Walk"
"Join more than 1,000 Canberrans and residents of the region in a morning run, jog or walk around Lake Burley Griffin. The walk will kick off at Regatta Point and circle around the lake via the Kings Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue bridges. There’ll be a free barbeque breakfast on the grass at Regatta Point afterwards, and families, friends and pets are very welcome.
Terry Connolly ORGANised Walk
Wednesday 24 February 2010
6.45am for a 7.00am start
Register your participation now at www.giftoflife.asn.au – it’s free!

The four hour pacer finishes the marathon

Canberra 2006. 3:58.38. For me there was a feeling of elation to have achieved the goal of a steady four-hour pace run. There was a large pack early - see my current blogger profile photo! Here at the finish line most of the pack had well and truly cleared out ahead of me! It was a great feeling to have helped so many other runners achieve their goals.

"...the [one] who really counts in the world is the doer, not the mere critic-the [one] who actually does the work, even if roughly and imperfectly, not the [one] who only talks or writes about how it ought to be done." - Theodore Roosevelt, 1891

who's up for a long walk?

What's on this week: (updated Mondays)
I have added a speedygeese Wednesday group run to the runs listed here and listed on Facebook.

Monday 22 Feb Parliament House 4:30pm jog, 5:30pm speedygeese interval training
Tuesday 23 Feb 6:15pm Summer Series race #4 Stromlo Forest Park 5k cross country
Wednesday 24 Feb 12:15pm BBQ Stakes 6k handicap
Wednesday 24 Feb 5:45pm Parliament House, easy run.

Thursday 25 Feb Vets Track: Pentathlon, plus

...6:00pm 3000m
...6:15pm 10k walk
...7:15pm sprints
...8:15pm spiral 6 laps
Sunday 28 Feb 8:30am Vets Handicap, North Curtin, please note the start time.

I am also thinking of going over to Stromlo on Fridays around lunchtime and doing a drills session there, it's the only window of opportunity I have. Also I had made tentative arrangements to run at Stromlo every couple of weeks on Saturday mornings but this won't happen now.

Last week I was unwell Thursday and Friday, which made for serious disruptions to my training! I bounced back OK and ran (or plodded) 29.5k on Sunday. The run was solo but I did manage to find some company to relieve the boredom, both early in the run and late. Hopefully this week I will feel better.

The postponed Sprint-Marathon relay yesterday was well attended given the circumstances, six teams of six runners each enjoyed the day. Nadine has put photos on her Facebook page.

And my tentative racing plans at the moment have been extended to include
Weston Creek Half Marathon 14 March
Rex Foulkes Half Marathon 2 May
Queensland Half Marathon (at Doomben, Brisbane) 6 June

Canberra Road Running Festival & Manuka Oval
The ACT Cross Country Club announced [during the week] that the race headquarters for the inaugural Canberra Road Running Festival will be Manuka Oval. Club President, Doug Limbrick, said: “A unique feature of this Running Festival will be a stadium like finish in Canberra’s iconic Manuka Oval for the half marathon, marathon and ultra marathon competitors”. Manuka Oval offers excellent facilities for the runners and the spectators and will be a wonderful venue for the Runners Expo which is an important part of the Festival.

The Canberra Road Running Festival will be conducted on Saturday and Sunday 1st and 2nd May 2010
and will incorporate:
• a 2km Mini Jog for children under 10 years of age
• a 5km Fun Run
• a Half Marathon (41st Rex Foulkes Half Marathon)
• a Marathon (to be known as the National Capital Marathon)
• an Ultra 50km event
• a Runners Expo

The Mini Jog and Fun run will be conducted on Saturday 1st May with the other events taking place on Sunday 2nd May. The marathon and half marathon will respectively incorporate the ACT marathon and half marathon championships.

The Patron for the Festival is marathon champion Robert de Castella and the Festival is endorsed
by Athletics Australia.

Further details are available on www.canberrarunner.com.au/festival
- Doug Limbrick, President ACTCCC

Ruth wishing Margaret a happy birthday last Thursday!

Wearing their walk numbers. Will they go in the 10k walk this week, I wonder?

geese. just geese.

Victoria, Nadine, Brett

More geese

get up and move it while you can

Thursday results

100m

W55 Noeline Burden 16.0 81.4%   

1000m

M50 Gary Bowen 3:11.9 80.2%     

M50 Rod Lynch 3:12.0 78.8                   

W40 Nadine Morrison 3:37.8  69.7 

M50 Roger Pilkington 3:39.7 69.4        

W55 Kathy Sims 3:51.1 80.5     

3000m

M50 Rod Lynch 11:43.3 71.5%     

W40 Nadine Morrison  12:06.7 72.2 **PB by 6 seconds      

M40 Brett Morrison 12:15.1 63.8 **PB by 10 seconds        

M60 Geoff Moore 12:39.1 72.7     

M50 Ewen Thompson 12:47.4 66.6       

W40 Bronwyn Calver 12:55.0 67.7       

M55 Graeme Patrick 13:04.4 68.0 **PB by 7 seconds       

W50 Helen Larmour 13:06.0 74.8       

W55 Ruth Baussmann 15:00.2 73.8       

W60 Margaret McSpadden 16:36.6 70.7       

5000m

M50 Roger Pilkington 22:25.6 64.8%     

M40 Craig Davis 22:43.4 59.2 **PB by 1 second

Gary running a big PB in the 1000m

Tomorrow (Sunday) morning is the rescheduled Sprint-Marathon relay, there are also the Stromlo events, but I am running from the zoo at 6:30am, a few others are joining me there.