Hurstbridge Fun Run 12km
Back into racing. Picking a local event, the Hurstbridge Fun Run to get a low key, 12km hit out. The goal was as simple as race hard and see where my fitness is at. Not surprisingly it wasn't my best race. I definitely felt like an ultra marathoner trying to run a short race. What I liked about the event was that it had a country town, community feel to it. I almost felt like I was in some Australian television series. The wife put in an appearance in the 3km event and took second place for the open women's, plus my dad ran his first fun run. Not too bad in retirement age.
Perfect weather. A course that was a mixture of gravel trail, cross country grass and mud, plus a hilly road section meant times weren't going to be people's quickest. Not knowing the field, and not knowing if I was capable of pulling out any speed, I just settled into a fairly normal start for me. I went a little quick, but nothing extreme. This allowed to get a gauge of the front runners over the first 2km, by which point I myself in about 11th or 12th place.
Unlike most of my other race reports, there isn't too much to put down. I tried pushing the pace, but there was definitely a top end limit on my leg speed. I'd been happy with my improvements in the hills, but there is a big difference between hills in ultras and shorter races. My legs weren't used to sustaining the intensity, and the race was simply a time trial, where my pace eroded away as the kilometres ticked by. As an example, the first and final three kilometres are over the same course, and there is about 30 seconds per kilometres difference between start and finish.
My final result was 11th place with 50:54 on the clock. I am happy with that? Well, I enjoyed the run. Unfortunately I didn't get to have a tight race with anyone, but it was good to push it on the course, regardless. I was definitely slower than I hoped, but right where I thought I would be. Really it is information on where my race fitness is, and lays out where I need to get things back on track.
Perfect weather. A course that was a mixture of gravel trail, cross country grass and mud, plus a hilly road section meant times weren't going to be people's quickest. Not knowing the field, and not knowing if I was capable of pulling out any speed, I just settled into a fairly normal start for me. I went a little quick, but nothing extreme. This allowed to get a gauge of the front runners over the first 2km, by which point I myself in about 11th or 12th place.
Unlike most of my other race reports, there isn't too much to put down. I tried pushing the pace, but there was definitely a top end limit on my leg speed. I'd been happy with my improvements in the hills, but there is a big difference between hills in ultras and shorter races. My legs weren't used to sustaining the intensity, and the race was simply a time trial, where my pace eroded away as the kilometres ticked by. As an example, the first and final three kilometres are over the same course, and there is about 30 seconds per kilometres difference between start and finish.
My final result was 11th place with 50:54 on the clock. I am happy with that? Well, I enjoyed the run. Unfortunately I didn't get to have a tight race with anyone, but it was good to push it on the course, regardless. I was definitely slower than I hoped, but right where I thought I would be. Really it is information on where my race fitness is, and lays out where I need to get things back on track.
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