Australia Day Fun Run
After getting about 2hrs sleep I left Toowoomba at 4-30am and tried to give myself plenty of time to get Brissy as I hadn't yet registered for the run. I left my car at Indooroopily and caught the train into the city and walked to Southbank. I arrived at Southbank at about 7-20am and there was already quite a crowd there and heaps of people trying to register like me. I don't have any Fun Run experience so I don't have anything to compare this run with (except City 2 Surf) but there were quite a few things that could have been improved on in my opinion. Firstly, they ran out of Race Bibs so I got given a bit of A4 paper with my race number written on it. I didn't think anything of this at the time but at about the 6km mark of the run the A4 paper was that soaked with sweat it was just a mushy bit of pulp that could no longer be held onto my shirt with the safety pins - thus it fell off and I had to turn around and go back and pick it up. No big deal I only would have lost maybe 20seconds but it annoyed me a little at the time. Secondly, it was a hot and humid day and when I got to the first drink station ( just after the 2K mark) there was only 2 people giving out water and by the time I had got to them the people in front of me had got all the water. I didn't panic I just thought there would be more drink stations ahead - there wasn't! Still no big deal - I could get water at the 6K mark. No I couldn't! By the time I came back for the second leg the 2 people that had been handing out water had garbage bags and were walking around picking up the discarded cups from the track. So I ended up running the 8km's without a drink - no wonder when I was finished I polished off 8 cups of water.
I don't want to be too critical of the planning and organising of the run. Maybe most Fun Runs are the same - to me I just got the impression that they ended up having a heap more people running then what they anticipated. I still had an enjoyable time and am glad I made the effort and did it. Surprisingly I only saw ONE Cool Running cap for the entire run - I am not sure who it was (unidentified male runner). I did however see heaps of R4YL caps and plenty of what I suspect to have been crew of the USS Ronald Reagan. There was a little short dude who was dressed like a Drill Seargent who was about 20metres ahead of me for the last 3/4kms. I was determined to beat him but with about 500metres to go he got away from me.
So, how did I go? I am still not sure what to make of my run - I finished with a time of 37.47. When I finished and looked at the time I was pretty happy but the more I thought about it the more I was disappointed. I went out really hard and by about the 5km point I knew I was struggling. From then on it was just a case of trying to maintain a speed that I knew I could hold for the last 3km - there was no fast finish and there was definitely no negative splitting the run. I am really going to have to learn how to pace my runs better.
Not sure if they give a race time or even how they would do it - all they did was take my bib and put it on a desk spike when I finished. How on earth do they know what time everyone did? Hope everyone else who ran today had a great day and posted some good times.
Today:
Australia Day Fun Run - Brisbane SouthBank 8km: 37.47
Week: 50.8kms
Month: 208.1kms
I don't want to be too critical of the planning and organising of the run. Maybe most Fun Runs are the same - to me I just got the impression that they ended up having a heap more people running then what they anticipated. I still had an enjoyable time and am glad I made the effort and did it. Surprisingly I only saw ONE Cool Running cap for the entire run - I am not sure who it was (unidentified male runner). I did however see heaps of R4YL caps and plenty of what I suspect to have been crew of the USS Ronald Reagan. There was a little short dude who was dressed like a Drill Seargent who was about 20metres ahead of me for the last 3/4kms. I was determined to beat him but with about 500metres to go he got away from me.
So, how did I go? I am still not sure what to make of my run - I finished with a time of 37.47. When I finished and looked at the time I was pretty happy but the more I thought about it the more I was disappointed. I went out really hard and by about the 5km point I knew I was struggling. From then on it was just a case of trying to maintain a speed that I knew I could hold for the last 3km - there was no fast finish and there was definitely no negative splitting the run. I am really going to have to learn how to pace my runs better.
Not sure if they give a race time or even how they would do it - all they did was take my bib and put it on a desk spike when I finished. How on earth do they know what time everyone did? Hope everyone else who ran today had a great day and posted some good times.
Today:
Australia Day Fun Run - Brisbane SouthBank 8km: 37.47
Week: 50.8kms
Month: 208.1kms
posted by the_en4cer at 1:28 PM
3 Comments:
I have heard from a few people today that the run was pretty disorganised. Considering the entry fee you would expect alot better organisation than what it was.
You achieved under 5min/k pace for the run which is pretty good for a fun run, they tend to be slower due to numbers. Very suprising about the lack of coolrunning attire, I see more at a club meet.
No, be critical. I wouldn't apologise for the organisation of the event. You paid $30 dollars and travelled a considerable distance only to be given a paper number and no water out on the course. That's pretty lousy. You ran a pretty good time, and for there to be no water available for you is unacceptable. I'd imagine there were many others behind you who missed out too. Well done on your run, but I would give the organisers some feedback about this, otherwise they won't improve next year. BTW, the organisation was OK in Adelaide, but the field was considerably smaller.
Wow, the Brissie run sounded like a shambles! Running out of water has to be the worst thing.
Just take into cosideration the crowds, the twists and turns of the course and no water (yikes!), not to mention running back to get your number, you've run a fantastic time! Truly, especially the water bit, don't underestimate how much dehyration zaps you.
So, well done!!!
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