Townsville Fauna

Some of the birds and animals we saw on our Townsville trip

Allied Wallaby


Brush Turkeys


Peacocks


Goana


Ducks and Magpie Geese


Pelican and Egret


Turtles


Flying Foxes


Bees


and nothing but fine sunny weather.

speedygeese 2005

A speedygeese training group in 2005. Who is still here?

see it did hurt

Memories of a marathon run six years ago. It hurt some more than others!
The pain of the marathon



Thanks to Jim White for these two photos!

banana

Bananas - the best food there is - I have eaten a banana every morning with my breakfast for 50 years (except when they weren't available). Ripe bananas are a great source of energy for runners.



Let's all sing the banana song
from http://youtu.be/sFukyIIM1XI



"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." - Groucho Marx

run

Song of the week: "Run", by Snow Patrol
From http://youtu.be/AOBs8dU4Pb8



This has been one of my favourites for ten years.

Canberra 101 Trail Run in September

I am about to start a series of jogs around the Canberra Centenary Trail, but here is a serious race on the same trail which can be split into a four person relay.

From Prachar Stegemann
The Sri Chinmoy Canberra 101 Trail Run will be staged in and around Canberra on Sunday 28 September 2014. The Sri Chinmoy Canberra 101 Trail Run is born from the success of the Sri Chinmoy Canberra Centenary Trail Run held in 2013 to celebrate the Centenary of Canberra. Since Canberra has turned 101 in 2014, one kilometre will be added to the route from 2013...

When? – Sunday 28 September, 6 am start for solo runners, 6.30 am start for relay teams
Where? – all around Canberra
What? – a challenging, thrilling and utterly rewarding tour of the best of Canberra's hills, bush reserves and scenic delights
Why? – to celebrate the soul, scenery and life of our Capital city
How? – enter online now!
A golden opportunity to run Canberra's best tracks and trails – in a day

For lovers of trails there can be no better way to celebrate our unique capital, conceived as a "city in the bush". The course comprises mostly tracks and fire trails through Canberra's extensive tracts of native bushland, with some linking cycle paths through urban areas. Starting and finishing at Regatta Point on Lake Burley Griffin, the route describes a wide circle including:

* Parliament House, Red Hill, Isaacs Ridge, Farrer Ridge
* Mt Taylor, Cooleman Ridge
* Stromlo Forest Park, National Arboretum
* Aranda Bushland, Black Mountain Reserve, Bruce Ridge, O'Connor Ridge
* Mt Majura, Mt Ainslie and Anzac Parade

The race is open to solo runners as well as relay teams of 4, with relay legs of around 25 km each. The race will commence at 6:00am for solo runners and 6:30am for relay teams, with a midnight cut-off (18 hours for solo runners, 17.5 hours for relay teams).

View the full course map, including the relay changeover points (please note, the route through Stromlo Forest Park on leg 2 is currently being revised and may include the additional kilometre...), and read the event information.

Online entry is now open.

artistic geese

by Peter Scott

squirrel

wings

Phillip Island geese

Cape Barren goose and goslings

kid

who we are

Song of the week: "Who We Are", by Switchfoot.
From http://youtu.be/KV2q09FzBAc

a pitfall of running

A fall. I started in today's bush capital 21k, ran slowly, felt weak around 7k, fell at 15k, now typing with one finger. I have a hand somewhat mushed. The hand I use for everything (to paraphrase Lister of Red Dwarf)

Stromlo Running Festival in November 2014

16th November 2014
50km, 30km & 10km Trail Races
Limited Entries!
- Exciting New Courses
- $50 Mizuno Finishers Shirt
- Finishers Medal
- Free Post-Race Breakfast
- Free On-site Camping
- Electronic Timing

The STROMLO Running Festival is now entering its sixth year with some new and exciting changes. As you may be aware, the event has been moved from its traditional February time-slot to now be held in November.

In 2014, the STROMLO Running Festival will now concentrate on three trail running events: a 50km, a 30km, and a 10km.

The early bird entry fee ($80 for 50km, $60 for 30km and $40 for 10km) includes:
Mizuno finishers shirt (RRP $50)
A finishers medal
Post-race breakfast
Access to on-site camping
Electronic Timing

Entries for all events are limited, so enter early to make sure you don't miss out - ENTER NOW!

All of the courses have been revised for 2014 and now start and finish from STROMLO Forest Park. The unique clover leaf designed courses will ensure plenty of opportunity for spectators to support their loved ones, while providing an event for runners of all levels - beginners through to the very experienced. Aid stations will be positioned at approximately every 5km on all of the courses.

Starting at 8am, the 10km course skirts around the lower slopes of Mt Stromlo, providing beautiful scenery with a few undulations suitable for runners of all levels. The field will be limited to a maximum of 400 participants and there is no cut-off time. The field will be limited to a maximum of 400 participants and the event will start at 8:00am.

Participants in the 30km event will initially complete the 10km course before passing through the event hub and completing a second loop of 20km. The 20km loop is a challenging run which travels around the western part of Stromlo Forest featuring amazing views of the Brindabella mountains before ascending the western side of Mt Stromlo to take in all of the glory of Canberra. The final few kilometres are a fast descent back down to the event hub and the finish line. There is a 4 hour cut-off to be considered an official finisher of the 30km event. The event will start at 7:30am and the field will be capped at 300 participants.

For those runners seeking a real challenge this could be exactly what you are looking for. The clover leaf course includes of the 10km and 20km loops featured in the 30km event, and follows with an additional 20km loop which travels east along the Molonglo River and climbs through the Arboretum to the top of Dairy Farmers hill, providing a stunning view of Lake Burley Griffin, before returning through pine forests to the event hub and the well-deserved finish line. This event will be a tough 50km race and is intended for accomplished runners who are capable of running a marathon in under 4 hours. Although there is no qualifying performance required to enter the 50km event, in order to receive what will be a highly sought after finishers medal and t-shirt, competitors must complete the course in under 5 hours. It is important that runners are aware that a strict cut-off time of 3 hours will be applied as competitors pass through the 30km point. Any runner outside this time will be considered to be a 30km event finisher. The event will be limited to 300 competitors and start at 7am.

Looking for a qualifier for the 6-Foot Track Marathon? The 30km and 50km events are now both listed as qualifying events

Early bird entries will be taken from the 1st of August through to the 31st of October. Entry fees will then increase to late entry prices from 1st November and online entries will be open until the 13th of November. Entries are limited for all events, so please enter early to ensure you don't miss out. If positions are still available late entries will be taken at the event hub on Saturday afternoon between 4pm and 6pm at late entry prices.

ENTRY COSTS
EARLY BIRD ENTRY (1ST AUGUST – 31ST OCTOBER)
Lighting Strike 50km: $80
Lightning Strike 30km: $60
Lightning Strike 10km: $40

LATE ENTRY (1ST NOVEMBER – 16TH NOVEMBER)
Lighting Strike 50km: $100
Lightning Strike 30km: $80
Lightning Strike 10km: $60

We are also excited to announce the Indigenous Marathon Project (IMP) as the event's 2014 charity partner. The IMP is a health promotion charity, established by Rob de Castella in 2009, that uses running to instil pride and demonstrate the incredible capacity Indigenous Australian men and women have to achieve. Click here to find out more about the IMP.

 More information about the events, courses, sponsors, fund raising ,accommodation and more, at the event website http://www.stromlorunningfestival.com.au/

I have to hand it to her...

This is a clever version of the course map for Sunday. Katie the Greatie did it.


This is based on my the mapping from my Garmin last time. The course has changed a bit this year, but not THAT much.
I am still planning to run the 21k - easy.

Australian foreign policy - so simple even Facebook users would understand it.

from http://youtu.be/drkrg6NtYwA

cheers

Training at Parliament House on Monday: Cathy, Miranda and I ran 8k early. The main session was a series of ~240m runs with ~160m recoveries in teams of 2 (I kept shifting the handover cone) on the 200m straight east of the house. This was followed by 4 laps around the rose garden loop. Participating were Abi, Christopher, Colin, Dan, Jen, Kym, Leonie & Ruth. Normal jellybeans followed.

Hope I haven't missed anyone...

unexploded ordinances

But first, recent speedygeese race results
Tuesday 3 June Mt Ainslie Run-Up 2.2k
17. Leonie Doyle W40 17:24
25. Caroline Campbell W70 21:28
26 finishers

Tuesday 17 June AMRA Black Mountain Run-Up 2.6k
26 finishers

Friday 25 July Customs 5k
Jennifer Bright 22:56
Geoff Moore 23:01
Bronwyn Calver 24:24
Bron Sparkes 30:05
Dom Sparkes 30:05 (8 year old)
Caroline Campbell 30:12

Saturday 26 July Ginninderra #118 Parkrun 5k
69 Ruth Baussmann 29:08 W60
84 Dom Sparkes 30:58 M10 New PB!
85 Bron Sparkes 30:58 W35
118 finishers

Saturday 26 July Tuggeranong #75 Parkrun 5k
27 David Webster 21:56 M60
34 David Clarke 22:58 M55
46 Leonie Doyle 23:43 W40 5k PB by 47 seconds!
57 Ewen Thompson 24:47 M55
168 finishers

Saturday 26 July Gungahlin #41 Parkrun 5k
19 Craig Davis 22:03 M45 New PB!
65 Gwen Vines 30:17 W65 New PB!
107 finishers

Saturday 26 July YCRC Black Mountain Peninsula 8k
12 finishers

Saturday 26 July YCRC Black Mountain Peninsula 4k
5. Ewen Thompson M55 21:12
11 finishers

Sunday 27 July ACTVAC Little Black Mountain 9k
8 Gabrielle Brown W50 49:10 71.9
14 Roger Pilkington M55 45:44 70.4
20 Rod Lynch M50 36:45 87.1
24 Marilyn Banfield W65 60:39 69.3
39 Maria O'Reilly W55 45:49 85.1
55 Rae Palmer W65 57:59 75.9
56 Ruth Baussmann W60 60:31 68.6
57 Christopher Lang M60 57:19 60.7
62 Caroline Campbell W70 57:06 83.5
65 Mick Horan M55 48:43 66.1
70 finishers

Sunday 27 July ACTVAC Little Black Mountain 4.5k
2 Nadine Morrison W40 22:26 68.0%
4 Brett Morrison M45 26:34 52.3
37 finishers

Sunday 27 July Alice Springs half-marathon
Suzie Gye 1:43:20

Bush Capital Bush Marathon Festival newsletter
1. New registration centre, start/finish, and car parking for both days
Last year the YMCA of Canberra Runners Club tent was damaged by wind gusts on the Campbell High School oval. To avoid this, the start/finish and registration has been moved to the north side of Campbell High School, outside the gymnasium which has male and female toilets and change rooms. Only 100 metres away there is plenty of parking at the CSIRO Headquarters car park. To access this from Limestone Avenue turn on to Quick Street in Ainslie then turn right in to Hayley Street and follow it south for 300 metres to the CSIRO car park.

See the map and event program at http://www.mountainrunning.coolrunning.com.au/index.php?module=News&action=ShowNews&id=435
The first kilometre of the course has also changed to eliminate 2 road crossings from previous years. After 700 metres there is a narrow gate and there may be a short period of queuing to either get through it or climb over the fence.

2. Event program
SATURDAY 2 August 2014
9.00am 16km bush run and 16km bush walk;
9.10am 10km bush walk
11.00am Under 13 years 2km children’s run
11.30am 10km run
11.35am 5km run & walk

SUNDAY 3 August 2014
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

3. Arrival time for your event
It is recommended that you aim to arrive 45 minutes prior to your start time to allow sufficient time to find a parking sport, walk to the start/finish area, (collect a pre-ordered race T shirt or purchase one), warm up, visit the toiletsd, and attend the compulsory pre-start briefing 5 minutes before each start.

4. Weather update (see http://www.weatherzone.com.au/act/act/canberra)
The current weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday is as follows but may change. Check again later in the week.
Saturday: Frost then sunny. Temperature range -2 to 11 degrees.
Sunday: Frost then sunny. Temperature range -3 to 12 degrees.
There is a slight chance of rain. Please bring appropriate clothing both to run or walk in, and to change into afterwards. Such as beanie, gloves, and a windproof lightweight water proof jacket.

5. Race numbers and T shirt orders
Race numbers have been posted to all people entered to date but make take a few days to arrive in the mail. If your chest number does not turn up in the post, a replacement can be provided at the registration tent. T shirts ordered can only be collected from the registration tent on race day. A limited number of high quality Coolmax T shirts will be on sale for $30 (please assist by having correct money).
Race numbers for all runners and walkers must be worn on the front of the chest clothing and clearly visible as you approach the finish line, to assist the finish line recorder and to assist finalise results if a time is missed or there is some other recording mishap.

6. Pre event injuries and ill health
Each year some runners start the events with pre-existing injuries which they managed by taking pain killers pre-start and while out on the course. The Sports Medicine Australia attendants have said that this is extremely dangerous, both to health and to masking pain from an impending stress fracture or muscle or ligament failure. Please DO NOT START in these circumstances.
You can also swap to a shorter distance or do one of the bush walks if those are manageable within the constraints of the injury.

7. Having a bad day on the day
If you are doing one of the longer events on Sunday, you can cut short and just complete a shorter event and go in the results for that event. However, you must advise the finish recorder you have done this. You will not be eligible for a place getter trophy if you swap to a shorter distance.

8. Toilets and change rooms
There are male and female toilets at ground floor level in the Campbell high gymnasium, just near the start/finish. See the map at http://www.mountainrunning.coolrunning.com.au/index.php?module=News&action=ShowNews&id=435

9. Campbell High School security system
Please do not walk close to any parts of the school building apart from the gymnasium, as this will set off the security alarm.

10. Start arrangements
All competitors in each event must be at the start line 5 minutes before the start for a compulsory pre-race briefing. This is a compulsory requirement in respect of the event risk management procedures agreed by the ACT government approval agencies.

11. Finish arrangements
STEP 1: There will be a finish shute funnelling you to a finish recording tent. In that tent you must go to the finish recorder for your event and have your chest number recorded. If you have timed yourself with a GPS or stopwatch device, please advise your time to the recorder if there is not a significant queue. This helps double check times.
STEP 2: Take off your chest number and go to the Registration tent, hand in your chest number and collect your race mug .
STEP 3: You can get a muesli bar or chocolate bar and a cup of soft drink or sports drink from a table near the finish area. If you are on a gluten-free diet, there will be a box of gluten free muesli bars available.
Water: Providing sufficient water for hundreds of runners at the finish in addition to soft drink and sports drink is a major logistical problem. If you are a Canberra local, can you please assist by bringing your own water bottle. Thank you.

12. Results processing
The Bush Capital Bush Marathon Festival is wholly organised by volunteers who have real jobs and are doing this in their spare time. We try to keep entry fees low and do not hire an electronic chip company for timing. However, this means it can take a couple of days to process and double check the results before publishing the results as a news announcement on the website www.mountainrunning.coolrunning.com.au Please be patient.

13. Out on the courses
Nearly all of each of the courses is within Canberra Nature Park. As a condition of access, Park Management has requested that runners and walkers do not drop empty cups or empty gels or other rubbish along the way, and that all such material is left in the garbage bags at each drink station.
We are also required to advise you that Mt Ainslie many years ago was an army firing range and a few unexploded ordinances have been found in recent years. You will not encounter any such things on the Bush Capital Bush Marathon Festival trails. However, if you venture off the trail for any reason (such as answering a call of nature) and encounter any metal objects on the ground, stay right away from them and do not pick them up. If they look at all like an unexploded military device, please report the location to police.

14. Marathon and ultra marathon drink stations
The marathon does 2 laps of the half marathon course, and the ultra marathon 3 laps. There will be a drink station at the start/finish turnaround where you may put your own special drinks and food. There will also be drink stations at the 5km, 11 km, 16km points on each lap, with water, Gatorade, jubes and other lollies,

15. Photography
Photographers will be taking photos of as many participants as possible. These will be published afterwards in online photo albums and some will be published in Run For Your Life magazine and similar magazines. If you do not want your photo published, please let me know your name and chest number to ensure it is deleted.

16. Do you have friends who would like to participate?
Please encourage them to register online as soon as possible at https://www.registernow.com.au/secure/Register.aspx?E=12906
You can also log in there and see who has entered.

17. Helpers
More helpers are needed on both days. If you can help, click on the Volunteer form on www.mountainrunning.coolrunning.com.au Helpers receive a reward: choice of a T shirt, bottle of wine or chocolate.

Finally, enjoy yourself and have a good time.

first

turn another page

Song of week: The Ghost Inside, by Broken Bells
From http://youtu.be/rVxTsXRjNTw



"Was it all for show?
"Don't turn into one of them,
"Turn another page."

"Suzie G"

Hot on the heels of her Gold Coast Half Marathon PB of 1:43.58, Suzie has run today's Alice Springs Half Marathon in 1:43.20. Moving to Darwin soon? Suzie is running hot!

Oh, Suzie G, Oh, Suzie G
Oh, Suzie G, Darwin will love thee, Susie G
I like the way you run
Having fun in the sun
I like the way you run having fun in the sun, Suzie G

duelling cameras

Haha love these two photos taken by David and Janene of Janene and David watching a certain cycling race this week. Taken near Turckheim.

royal photo bomb

Everyone else is sharing this so why not?



And Paul Kennedy posted this as sun set over Glasgow last night



And my women's triathlon post, "tale of three Emmas" is still the second most viewed post on this blog, beaten only by "Tidal Breathing" for some reason, possibly because of the latter's title, "διάφραγμα"!

Glasgow memories from 4 June this year

See where we went! With the Commonwealth Games starting today, and the women's and men's triathlons kicking off the viewing (or failing that, the listening) to which I am looking forward, my thoughts go back to the wonderful day we had in Glasgow on 4 June. We were staying in Larbert right next to the railway station and we took a train to Glasgow where we walked around for much of the day. There was quite a lot of work being done to prepare for the Games, particularly along the river. This is a SMALL selection of the photos I took that day.




Construction for the Games in progress




















A well dressed personal trainer (forergound) and her group at lunch time








This tunnel is actually quite a long over-pass crossing the main highway near the stadium. Note the separate paths for pedestrians and cyclists.

Monday's training

Training on Monday 21 July: running early were Bron, Cathy, Christopher, Jen and me. Then running 10 x 330m including a 100m hill, on 2 minutes, were Andy, Bron, Caroline, Colin, Daniel, Ewen, Jen, Kym, Leonie, Lorena, Marilyn, Richard, Ruth, Vanessa & Warrick. We followed this up with some short attrition hill sprints with a very close finish between the final four. Finally, we had a pleasant dinner at the Yacht Club, where Jenny and I were joined by Rae, Caroline, Andy, Leonie, Vanessa, Kym, Marilyn, Ruth, Warrick, Ewen & Bron. An enjoyable long day!


Caroline and Andy at the Yacht Club after training

race results

Friday 18 July Customs 5k
Geoff Moore 23:10
Bronwyn Calver 24:09
Caroline Campbell 29:49

Saturday 19 July Ginninderra #117 Parkrun 5k
45 Bron Sparkes 24:57 W35 New PB!
72 Ruth Baussmann 28:55 W60
124 finishers

Saturday 19 July Tuggeranong #74 Parkrun 5k
18 David Clarke 21:05 M55
33 David Webster 22:56 M60
76 Ewen Thompson 26:51 M55
158 finishers

Saturday 19 July Gungahlin #40 Parkrun 5k
19 Nadine Morrison 22:53 W40 New PB!
24 Roger Pilkington 23:23 M55
86 finishers

Saturday 19 July AACT 8k Cross Country Championships
Katie Forestier W45 33:23
Kym Chisholm W30 33:41
Ken White M60 37:46
Kathy Sims W60 38:22
Gabrielle Brown W50 40:01
Caroline Campbell W70 47:03

Commonwealth Games athletics timetable

A good website for following the Glasgow Commonwealth Games Athletics -
http://results.glasgow2014.com/sports/at/athletics.html
…contains the full program
…click on the clock icon to change to our time zone
…the first athletics event is the men’s marathon 6pm Sunday our time, with the women’s marathon at 6:30pm our time on the same course.

these wasp nests

Song of the week: "Red Socks Pugie", by Foals.
From http://youtu.be/m0IKAQVVksQ