Monday 6 September 2010

Jog on!

As an incentive to keep fit, when we arrived in Brisbane I signed up for the Bridge to Brisbane fun run. This charity event takes place every August and attracts over 45,000 participants. There are two races - 10k and 5k (I chose the latter) - which follow the river through Hamilton, finishing at the Ekka showground in Bowen Hills.
On the day of the race we walked from our house to the Citycat at Hawthorne, to catch the ferry up to the start of the race. Dan came along for moral support and to hold my water bottle, towel etc!
I couldn't believe how crowded the Citycat was with runners, at one point I was worried we wouldn't even get on. The number of participants just from the Morningside area was alarming. As we docked at Hamilton we could see floods of people heading for the start line - this was going to be a bit different to Rock Park's Race for Life, I thought!

At the start line there was a big stage with live music, plus lots of other entertainment and food stalls.
I made my way to the Orange Zone, for runners aiming to complete the course in less than 30 minutes. In front of us were the elite runners (under 20 minutes!!) and behind were the joggers and then the walkers. The sea of people lining up seemed to stretch for miles.
When the gun went off it was a bit of a slow start to get everyone through the narrow start line, and round the first bend. However, the microchips we had been given beforehand ensured we would all get an accurate recorded time. I still started my watch just in case though!
It took until about 1k into the race to actually be able to run properly, without the risk of tripping someone up or vice versa. It was a great atmosphere though, with many people in fancy dress and spectators hanging over their balconies to cheer us on.
Although I'd done a fair bit of training for the race I didn't push myself too hard, as I didn't want to burn out in the extreme heat. Even though the race started at 9.40am, the sun was still very strong and the fact that the whole race was on the road made it pretty warm to say the least.
As soon as Dan had watched the race he made his way to the Ekka showground to collect me. Despite getting on the bus straight away, he wasn't able to get there in time to see me finish.
As soon as I crossed the finish line I headed straight for the 'cool down' tent - a shady area, with pipes spraying out a fine mist. I then collected my well-deserved finishers' t-shirt and tucked into the free watermelon!
The time on my watch said I finished in 25 minutes 55 seconds, which I was very pleased with. I was worried that my official time would be over 25, as I'd fiddled with my watch during the race. However, my official time was 25.57 and my position was 519 which, considering the heat and how many people entered, was not bad at all.

1 comments:

Tryna and John Feesey said...

Well done Jo, you must be pleased with yourself.

Are you in countdown mode yet?

I bet you're glad you didn't make it to N.Z. Couldn't believe it when we put the TV on.

Take care and we hope you'll have a great few weeks before you return to Blighty for the winter!!

Love to you both
Tryna, John, Steph and Danni xx