Run For The Kids - 14.7k

Yesterday was the inaugural Run For The Kids (Royal Childrens Hospital) from Melbourne Docklands over the Bolte Bridge, through the Domain Tunnel and finish up beside the RCH. Entries were closed at 20,000 so it was a huge event. My time was 1:15.

Sri Chinmoy 5k - Yarra Boulevard

Yesterday I ran the Sri Chinmoy 5k Yarra Boulevard along the banks of the Yarra River in Burnley. There were three race distances available; 5, 10 and 15k. I chose the 5k option as I already have 6.75k and 10k times. My mate Steve and I had set a goal of under 25 minutes; I ran 22:44 and Steve finished about 10 seconds after me. One of the highlights of these runs is the free pancake breakfast but even better was the free massage. Luxury! The photo on the right was taken at the 1km turnaround point and although it looks like I have a highly idiosyncratic running style it's really just because it caught me just after giving the camera a big wave. And here I am heading away from the turnaround a couple of seconds later.



Yesterday was also the last day of the Commonwealth Games which saw Australia take gold in the Womens (Natalie Bates) and Mens (Matthew Hayman, where did he come from!!) cycling road races. We went up to watch the start of the mens race in the gardens but as with any road race it's almost impossible to get an idea of how the entire game is being played out from trackside. After a couple of hours we headed home to catch the end of the race on TV between gaps in the Netball coverage (NZ won). We watched most of the closing ceremony on TV and then Domi and I went up to Green Point in Brighton to watch the fireworks exploding off the tops of the city skyscrapers and at the MCG. We obviously weren't the only ones with that idea as the car park was half full when we got there.

Commonwealth Games Cycling Time Trials

Today beach road was barricaded off to through traffic from St Kilda to Mentone for the womens (turn around at Black Rock clock) and mens (Naples St, Mentone) time trials. This was a very rare opportunity to get out and ride a race circuit so I headed out at 6:30am, squeezed through a gap in the barriers, headed towards the Black Rock turn around point but spotted the North Rd bunch passing in the opposite direction and attempted to catch up with them. After chasing for a couple of kilometres at 45kmh I had to ease off as I came into Hampton and just enjoy the ride at my own pace.

Later in the morning we went to watch the Womens Time trials in which Gold, Silver & Bronze all went to Australia (Wood, Watt & Carrigan). That's Kathy Watt in the picture above. In the afternoon I went down to Black Rock to watch the Mens race from out the front of Kennedy's shop - right next door to Kathy Watt's shop - and the atmosphere was marvellous. It was a beautiful day for it and there was a surprisingly large crowd. Kennedy had an unofficial time keeping operation going.

Sri Chinmoy Princes Park 10k run

On Sunday I ran in the Sri Chinmoy 10k at Princes Park in Carlton. I was pleased to find I had run it in 48 minutes 54 Seconds. A Personal Best for sure!

Portsea Twilight Classic 2006 6.75k Run

On the 7th January I ran in the 6.75km Portsea Twilight Classic in the Pt Nepean National Park. This was my first official run and I was pretty unsure what to expect of both the event and myself. My friend Steve came along for the run as well. I ran a time of 37:20.