Run for the Kids 2006

I had the pleasure of running in the inaugural staging of this fun run.

14.7km, taking in several very unique running locations, including the iconic Bolte Bridge, the Westgate Freeway, the Domain Tunnel and several major CBD streets.

With the cap of 20,000 entrants reached well before the event, this was a much anticipated day. It did not disappoint.

Given this was the first attempt and the sheer size of the event – the biggest Melbourne has seen – the organisation on the whole was very good. We can always find things to pick on, but I will not do that here.

 

For me this race was a bit of an unknown, as I had not raced more than 8km in over 12 months with any training behind me, the last time was in May 2004. My race earlier this year and my training in general suggested that I would do OK. I went in with an optimistic goal of hitting 4.15 pace which would see me finishing in about 62m30s, but I would have been happy with anything under 4.30 pace.

 

The race was very packed at the start which I expected, so it fitted in with the plan to have a very gentle start. The thinking was to do the first 2km in 9min, but when the first km took 4m42s I figured that was well and truly slow enough and long enough to start to lift the pace. I quickly got into a 4.15 rhythm and that included going up and over the Bolte Bridge. At this stage I was feeling very comfortable, there were runners everywhere, I was passing a lot and not too many were going by me. On the Westgate Freeway there was a significant camber to one side which could not be avoided, so this section was a little disconcerting, but it quickly passed when you realised that we were running on a major road, that is normally closed to foot traffic. Up ahead there was a runner that seemed to be holding the same pace as me, for a good couple of km he neither went away or got closer. I figured at this point of the race a pacing buddy would be nice so I lifted to catch him, when there I discovered he was aiming for 62-63min. We ran together for a while, then we approached the Domain Tunnel entrance the downhill was nice and I was pleased that my buddy also liked to hit the downhill with pace.

 

The tunnel was a unique experience, the sounds were muffled but almost hollow too. The runners were a bit quiet so the paddle of rubber on road was the dominant sound until a jovial group decided a chant was in order – then there was a definite echo. The atmosphere was not as bad as I had thought it could be, I did not find it as uncomfortable as some others did, but the blast of fresh air when we exited was amazing. On the way out of the tunnel I used the uphill to attack the pace and I left my buddy and passed many others on the way up. By this point I had strung together several km at 4.0….something, a quicker pace than I had estimated. So I began to wonder when the wheels were going to fall off, but instead I felt strong and used the next rise up Batman Ave to attack again. This time I was coming up to a local running mate who usually starts fast, on Flinders I tried to encourage him to jump onto my heels but I was feeling strong still so kept the pace up while tackling the Swanston St hill.

 

The last couple of km was when the mental game was going to be won or lost, and I think the regular long runs of over an hour helped at this time, even though there was some small rises to finish I was able to either hold my pace or slightly increase it. With 700m to go a rough calculation suggested that I should go under 62min, but not wanting to take any chances I really dug deep here and went 100%, a small down hill to the finish allowed me to get a sprint in for the last 100m or so and I was able to pass people right to the line. Finishing in 60m40s on my watch, with 2m28s for the last 700m I was very happy. Unfortunately my watch was unable to store each km split as the memory was full so I am unsure what my splits were for the last 10km but each check saw me hitting low 4m pace right through so I was happy with the even pacing of the run.

 

Could I have gone any harder to lower my time?? That is only a question I can answer with more racing and by pushing the boundaries and allowing myself to fail in order to learn the thresholds, but today was not the day for that.

 

Checking the results in the paper I placed 545 out of 13300 runners in the 14.7k event. So a top 4% finish is very satisfying especially given the presence of the Melbourne Club Athletes which makes the number of fast runners much greater.  From a performance point of view this would probably be my most satisfying race to date. It would also be right up there with the most enjoyable runs that I have had.

 

Already looking forward to Run for the Kids 2007.