2025 Running Review

A very similar year to 2024 with no new records but not far off my best.

The annual total was down a little due to holidays:

• 2025 - 4931 kilometres and 376 hours
• 2024 - 5147 kilometres and 392 hours
• 2023 - 5050 kilometres and 381 hours
• 2022 - 5119 kilometres and 390 hours
• 2021 - 5128 kilometres and 392 hours

I had eleven races for the year which is a pretty good number. My 10km results were all very similar after a slow start to the year, while the 2XU course may have been a little short. On the other hand my half marathon times were a little bit disappointing, but I had some hamstring soreness going into Melbourne Marathon and various other left leg issues have been continuing ever since.

• January - Rosebud Australia Day Run 10km
• 37:08
• February - Carman's Fun Run 10km
• 37:06
• April - Run For The Kids 14.4km
• 54:02
• April - Ballarat Marathon 10km
• 36:29
• May - Sydney 10
• 36:31
• June - Brisbane Marathon 10km
• 36:26
• July - Gold Coast Marathon 21km
• 1:19:19
• September - Run Prix 10km
• 36:24
• October - Melbourne Marathon 21km
• 1:19:50
• November - Auckland Marathon 21km
• 1:22:09
• November - 2XU Wellness Run 10km
• 35:55

I went to 53 parkruns for the year which was an equal best, only missing one due to Gold Coast half marathon like usual.

• 53 events - 51 in 2024
• 6 new events - 6 in 2024
• April
• Aintree Reserve
• May
• Wentworth Common (Sydney)
• New Farm (Brisbane)
• July
• Meijo Koen (Nagoya)
• Shibamata Koen Kadan (Tokyo)
• November
• Orakei Bay (Auckland)

The goals will be very similar for a third year in a row, but I'm unsure about the interstate and international events so far.

• 2025
• 5km 17:00 - 17:32
• 10km 35:00 - 35:55
• 21km 1:17:00 - 1:19:19
• 4500 to 5000 kilometres - 4931
• Parkrun
• 10 new events - 6
• Races
• 3 new events - 3
• 3 interstate events - 3
• 1 international event - 1
• 2026
• 5km 17:00
• 10km 35:00
• 21km 1:17:00
• 4500 to 5000 kilometres
• Parkrun
• 10 new events
• Races
• 2 new events
• 3 interstate events
• 1 international event

Gold Coast 2025, July 05

I attempted to sleep early so it would be easier to get up at 4:30am but it didn't really work, plus there was a lot of noise from cars even on the 21st floor. Overall though I managed to sleep alright except for waking up every hour, and didn't feel too tired by the morning.

Before the race I only had a few sips of a sports drink and an energy gel, probably not the best idea for sustained energy. Something I could definitely improve on is my food and drink intake for the night and morning before the race.

After getting ready it was a quick walk down to the tram station, quite cold but not nearly as bad as last year. The next tram was just showing up as I got to the station so I managed to get a seat before the tram soon filled up like usual.

Arriving at Southport station and walking to the race start there was a little over 30 minutes remaining, and they were already announcing the start area were going to be opened. I just got in a quick one kilometre warm up and then made sure to get a good spot near the start of the zone.

The wait for the race start wasn't too painfully slow or cold and then we were off. In the first kilometre it was a little congested so I was slowed down a bit to 4:00/km and also again in the second kilometre  which was still over 3:50/km. The inside of my right shoe near the heel felt weird, like there was something loose with the material, but it soon went away.

By the third kilometre the road opened up a bit, and I tried to stay near the middle to avoid the slopes near the gutter. Finally I was getting my time down to 3:45/km or better as I hoped for, then got a nose bleed at about five kilometres, but it didn't seem to last for long.

At the small seven kilometre turnaround I was still feeling good and got through my first gel as we headed up to the halfway checkpoint and eleven kilometre turnaround point.

I was a little surprised to see my watch was a bit over 39:30 at the halfway, meaning I was a bit behind even the modest 79 minute target. After the turnaround my legs started to struggle a bit, probably from a bit of interrupted training.

As we got back on to the more open roads there was a little bit of wind to contend with, probably worth a few seconds, so that could have changed my times from 3:43/km to 3:46/km or so. I was in a bit of a battle again from fourteen kilometres to the end, and another gel and some drink stations didn't have much impact.

Despite the challenges I was still hanging on to about 3:45/km laps, but not quite the 3:43/km I was targeting, and my watch was nearly 200 metres behind the markers now. I thought I would still be quite close to 79 minutes but I didn't have much strength left to speed up at the end, only getting back to 3:40  for the last kilometre.

In the end that extra distance compared to my watch meant I ended up around 79:15 and just missed my second best time overall by a few seconds, although I wasn't aware of it at the time. I'm not sure what to make of these Puma race shoes yet, definitely more comfortable than Nike Vaporfly, but I'm not sure if they performed any better or worse. It's also possible I'm not running fast enough to get the full benefit of either of these shoes.

At the end I just grabbed a medal and a nice yellow and orange finisher shirt, then jumped back on the tram ahead of the crowds. Getting out at the hotel I was still able to walk well enough, but probably wouldn't be running for a while at least.

After getting changed I took a quick trip across to Pacific Fair to buy lunch then watched the half marathon stream on YouTube. The coverage across the men's and women's races was good, and the men's race in particular was close again this year. The 10km race afterwards wasn't very interesting, and they didn't even have any commentary for it.

After resting a little bit more I got back on to the tram to explore around Surfers Paradise for the remainder of my final afternoon already. Cavill Avenue had the usual overload of tourists, street performers and people walking near the beach. They were already setting up for tomorrow's marathon that passes through the area, and had a big screen replaying the half marathon race.

The first Wendy's store in Australia was in operation nearby so I stopped in for a frostee, but it was just like a cup of slightly melted ice cream with a spoon. After some more walking around and a stop at Coles I headed back to the hotel to watch the final Squid Game season 3, which was quite disappointing.

I had to do a bit of creative packing for the morning, in particular due to having an extra pair of shoes to fit in my luggage. With a very early start today and again tomorrow I needed another early night, with an optional quick run in the morning if I felt up to it.

27,841 steps with 22.2km

Brisbane 2025, June 01

The 10 kilometre race was scheduled quite a while after the longer distances, beginning at 9:00am. I left the hotel at 8:30am which was actually too early, after a quick ten minute warmup there was still a bit of time standing around. Meanwhile a lot of the marathon runners were coming past on their second lap. The sun was just starting to come out and there wasn't much shade in the starting area to avoid it. I was wearing my second pair of Nike Vaporfly 1 again since I hadn't picked a replacement for race day yet, it's now up to 200 kilometres so starting to get a bit worn out.

This time I got off to a better start, running a bit quicker to avoid getting overtaken and being stuck in traffic for the early kilometres. The first and second kilometre had most of the hills, so I was only going at a bit under 3:50/km. I counted that I was in about 35th place with people coming back the other way after the bridge turnaround point.

There was another short steep hill I hadn't planned for after coming off the bridge at about three kilometres. I almost missed the first drink station because two girls handing out water were too close together, but got a little bit of electrolyte instead.

By the middle of the race I was feeling a bit warm and thirsty but had some faster times due to a slight downhill. Reaching half way with my watch at 18:13 was a bit disappointing, since I was hoping for close to 36 minutes at the end. At about the 6 kilometre mark they had drinks being handed out before and after the turnaround so I was able to get two more cups, which helped a bit.

For a second time I saw the leaders coming back on the opposite side of the road but didn't count my position this time, although I had passed about five people since the bridge. Coming back towards the finish along the river walk I passed a few more people who were fading before the 8 kilometre final drink station.

There was one more big challenging uphill into a bit of wind before the 9 kilometre mark with took the last of my energy. It was a bit of a battle heading towards the finish line even though it was a slight downhill again. I crossed the finish line just after 36:20, and my watch only measured 50 metres over distance, very good considering all the buildings.

It wasn't quite 36 minutes, but given the heat and hills I was still fairly happy, at least I broke out of the 36:30 zone. Since I was tiring so much at the end I didn't have much of a sprint finish, but still ended with a 3:30/km final kilometre.

I got some drinks, a banana, and a medal and then headed back to the hotel to recover. Checking the live results I was about 25th and first in age group again, although last year I was just inside the top 20. I had just enough time for breakfast and packing up before 11:00am checkout and a 2:00pm flight, apparently delayed by just 5 minutes.

After a snack in the food court I went to the gate, but no sign of the plane yet at 1:00pm as I was writing up my report notes. The plane was a little late like usual, and also had to deal with the standard delay being able to land in Melbourne. For the first time we had this strange route where we went all the way past the airport and over the western suburbs until we were alongside the city centre, then had to turn around and go all the way back again.

Run = 11 km

Steps = 15,038

Sydney 2025, May 18

For the 10 kilometre morning race the elite and sub 40 group was scheduled to started at 7:20am. The start line was close to the hotel, just across the road and a few hundred metres towards Accor Stadium.

There was a bit of rain overnight again so the roads were wet, but only very light rain was still going. I was able to delay leaving the hotel until 6:50 and did a quick warm up for two kilometres. I was a long way from the front when the start line was opened, but I was only expecting to finish around 200th based on last years results.

From the beginning it was very busy, making it hard to even stay inside the cones on the outside line of the course. Due to this amount of people I was having to go much further than the ideal racing line, and there was a very slow point at the first turn when exiting the Accor Stadium loop, although I still recorded a good 3:35 first kilometre.

There was a few slopes heading out towards Wentworth Common, and my times dropped to about 3:39 and it was still very busy on the road. After the turn around was the two small uphill sections on the way back to Accor Stadium, which was the hardest part of each lap.

I managed to maintain consistent times into the second lap and got down to 3:34 per kilometre. The second time going uphill was a bit harder again, but didn't impact my time. I was finally hurting a little for the final section into the athletics stadium, it was a long way around the outside before finally getting to the track entrance.

Finally we got onto the track for a bit of a sprint finish, where I was only slightly faster. My average pace of 3:36 was good and would have been close to 36 minutes, but was actually about 36:30 due to the extra distance from not taking the optimal racing line. My finish position was a bit outside the top 250 due to the big increase in participants.

The race course was quite good overall, I didn't mind doing two laps, but having some many fast people to navigate was a small negative. I'd probably come back and do it again some time, but not desperate to come back next year specifically.

After walking back to the hotel I had to quickly get ready to leave at 9:00, on a bus and then two trains but still got the airport in almost an hour, with about an hour to wait for boarding. The short time between running and hours of sitting really had an impact on my legs, so I was thankful to finally get off the flight in Melbourne.

2024 Running Review

A consistent year of running but without any great achievements. It seemed like I was stuck at 18 minutes for every 5km parkrun after a promising start to the year, and other distances were always a bit behind my personal bests that each came a year ago in 2023.

The annual total was at least a small amount above the previous years:

• 2024 - 5147 kilometres and 392 hours
• 2023 - 5050 kilometres and 381 hours
• 2022 - 5119 kilometres and 390 hours
• 2021 - 5128 kilometres and 392 hours

These were my nine races for the year. The Gold Coast half marathon was my main goal, and I was happy with the result considering there was some challenging wind and rain. In general it wasn't a good year for weather conditions as the Australia Day and Sydney Harbour races both had extreme head winds.

• January - Rosebud Australia Day Run 10km
• 39:01
• March - Bendigo Fun Run 10km
• 36:37
• April - Ballarat Marathon 10km
• 36:50
• June - Brisbane Marathon 10km
• 36:38
• July - Gold Coast Marathon 21km
• 1:19:33
• July - Sydney Harbour 10km
• 38:00
• September - Run Prix 10km
• 36:27
• October - Melbourne Marathon 10km
• 36:27
• December - Singapore Marathon 21km (plus extra 800 metres)
• 1:29:05

I went to 51 parkruns for the year, missing three due to Gold Coast, Hawaii, and Vietnam. I didn't get too many new events, but there are now a few under an hour away at least.

• 51 events - 53 in 2023
• 6 new events - 12 in 2023
• January
•  Willow
• March
• Bairnsdale
• June
• South Bank (Brisbane)
• July
• North Sydney
• November
• East Coast Park (Singapore)
• December
• Shepparton

Since the goals from 2024 were all missed I don't need to adjust much for 2025.

• 2024
• 5km 17:00 - 17:34
• 10km 35:00 - 36:27 (twice)
• 21.1km 1:17:00 - 1:19:33
• 4500 to 5000 kilometres - 5147
• Parkrun
• 10 new events - 6
• Races
• 3 new events - 4
• 3 interstate events - 3
• 1 international event - 1
• 2025
• 5km 17:00
• 10km 35:00
• 21.1km 1:17:00
• 4500 to 5000 kilometres
• Parkrun
• 10 new events
• 5 volunteer
• Races
• 2 new events
• 3 interstate events
• 1 international event

Singapore 2024, December 01

Got a good early sleep to be up at 3:30am with plenty of time to walk to the start. It took a bit longer than planned but I got to the entrance by 4:10am instead of my estimated 4:00pm, already sweating a lot. There was still a very slow, narrow security point that took nearly 10 minutes to get through because about fifty lines of people were merging into five from three different road entrances, so I only just got into Pen B before it closed.

The delay at least meant I only had to stand around on the spot for fifteen minutes or so before the race start. As our starting group got to move forward I wasn't too far from the front row, and once we took off it thinned out pretty soon.

Not having run in conditions like this I had set a rough target of about 4:00/km but was just behind that during the early kilometres. My race plan was also to get two drinks at every station and a gel at 7km and 14km, which all went perfectly. Even though I was always closer to 4:05/km I was regularly passing people and knew the bridge climb was still coming up at 10km.

I survived that bridge challenge really well and made more overtakes, then on the way down the other side the course split into two with the marathon runners going a different way. There was an extremely dark section that came next, heading back to the marina but without many cones, limited lightning, and no signs or course marshals. Then we reached this weird fork in the road at 14km with only one person just ahead of me.

I saw one orange cone straight ahead in the far distance, but also a whole line of cones to the right every ten metres or so, so I followed the guy who went that way. The cones continued along the middle of the path, which felt normal to be dividing traffic, but then incredibly we just reached a dead end of cones arranged in a "T" shape. The guy in front and a couple more behind were all really annoyed and confused once we realised we must have being going in the wrong direction for like two minutes.

I still have no idea after the race why there would possibly be all of these cones laid out in the wrong spot, while there was almost none on the actual course, and also how more people didn't go the wrong way. Having to loop back around to the start of the unexpected detour cost another two minutes and lost a heap of positions.

I was hoping everyone else had taken a shortcut instead perhaps, but soon found out I was over 15.8 kilometres on my watch when I hit the 15 kilometre marker. I lost attention and motivation in my race after this and really can't remember much of the rest of it. Later on I started looking for opportunities to take a shortcut to make up for lost time, but it was not possible anywhere with the way the course was arranged.

It was annoying afterwards to keep seeing so many volunteers at useless places on course where they already had a complete line of metal barriers in place, yet neither of those things were in place earlier where it was really needed.

What would have been an enjoyable race morning was pretty much ruined by that error. I didn't really enjoy the final stages of the race either, like crossing the bridge to the finish line. My overall position was something 48, 32, 57, 48, 45 at each split, and I would have been placed well under 30 before being sent the wrong way.

At the end everyone received a medal, bottle of water, refreshing wet towel, and a few other things I wasn't too interested in due to being annoyed still. There wasn't much activity at the recovery zone yet, it looked like they were still getting things setup so I just went straight to the exit.

The walk back to the hotel was shorter due to the finish being at a different location than the start. I got breakfast at the hotel before 7:00am but still there was quite a lot of people around, with the same stuff being served as yesterday. Back at the hotel room I didn't have a big plan for the day yet since I didn't know how tired I'd be after the race.

My legs didn't fell too bad since I'd run at a slower speed and intensity than usual, and had rehydrated well enough afterwards. Getting on a train on the Downtown Line I arrived at Botanic Gardens some time after 9:00am. Walking around the park I saw some good scenery but not heaps of unique plants or animals, although did see one big lizard on the footpath.

I paid for the entry to the Orchid Garden, which was a bit disappointing as most plants were just scattered around without too much special arrangement. Only a few special ones inside the cold room were more worthwhile.

Walking back to the train station I was feeling a bit tired now, with a couple of hours of extra walking added on to the morning race. I went a couple of stops back on the Downtown Line then switched over to the North East Line to Dhoby Ghaut, around where many shopping centres are.

The train station came out inside Plaza Singapura in particular so I looked around there, with a big variety of food and shops. Initially I was going to get Five Guys but it was like $12 each for chips, a basic toasted cheese sandwich, and a milkshake, which was crazy. After looking some more I found a CoCo Curry house instead, I got the vegetable curry again as they didn't have a tofu option here, and the prices were more reasonable. Afterwards I had a look in a variety of stores but didn't find anything, just some food from Bread Talk and Dunkin Donuts for later.

Getting back on the train it was just one more stop to Clarke Quay to head back to the hotel. Checking Google Maps I found there was actually another Cold Storage supermarket close by, so checked that out but was a bit of a smaller store and the range wasn't as good. They have a strange mixture of local products and imported stuff from Australian and elsewhere that is like 4-5 times more expensive as a comparable product. I just got some more drinks and lollies and finally made it back to the hotel.

On the Singapore Marathon website there was a stream of the race but it didn't have any half marathon coverage at all, since it started at the same time as the marathon. The commentary wasn't the best either and the race was dominated by some Africans I'd never heard of, but at least they didn't keep cutting away to commercials. The coverage confirmed what I had experienced, due to the race starting at 4:30am there was hardly any spectators along the whole course route.

Steps = 37,761 with 22km running

2023 Running Review

Another year of similar running activities, with some minor improvements.

The total was just a bit down, due to a month of holiday. I did still manage to run every day, except when travelling against time zones from London to Melbourne and getting delayed in Dubai for over twelve hours.

• 2023 - 5050 kilometres and 381 hours
• 2022 - 5119 kilometres and 390 hours
• 2021 - 5128 kilometres and 392 hours

Happy to record a new PB in each distance, but a little disappointing to only have six races for the year.

• May - XCR Albert Park 10km
• 36:34
• June - Launceston 10km new
• 35:39 PB
• July - Gold Coast Marathon 21km
• 1:18:02 PB
• August - XCR Ballarat 15km
• 54:17 PB
• September - Run Prix 10km new
• 36:21
• December - 2XU Wellness Run 21km new
• 1:20:01

I went to a record 52 parkruns for the year, only missing an event on the same Saturday as the Gold Coast half marathon. Another PB in the 5 kilometre distance as well with 17:24 at Dandenong and two more under 17:30.

The rest of the parkrun stats are.

• 52 events - 45 in 2022
• 12 new events - 12 in 2022
• January
• Kerang Regional
• Queens Domain
• March
• Eastern Gardens
• April
• Louis Hamon Park
• June
• Launceston
• July
• Kilmore Racecourse Walking Track
• August
• Old Deer Park
• Bushy
• Karpendonkse Plas
• September
• Upton Court
• Dixon Field
• December
• Tallangatta Station

The goals from 2023 and new goals (some unlikely) for 2024 are:

• 2023
• 5km 17:30 - 17:24
• 10km 36:00 - 35:39
• 21km 1:18:00 - 1:18:02
• 4500 to 5000 kilometres - 5050
• Parkrun
• 10 new events - 12
• Races
• 2 new events - 3
• 3 interstate events - 2
• 1 or 2 international events - 0
• 2024
• 5km 17:00
• 10km 35:00
• 21km 1:17:00
• 4500 to 5000 kilometres
• Parkrun
• 10 new events
• Races
• 3 new events
• 3 interstate events
• 1 international event

2022 Running Review

Getting in early with the first review, one thing that went well for the year.

Just missed beating the totals from 2021 with a minor injury in the last week of the year.

• 2022 - 5119 kilometres and 390 hours
• 2021 - 5128 kilometres and 392 hours

The running totals were not a major goal for the year and was impacted by running a few more races, although still would have liked to do more - only one in the first five months.

• March - River Run Geelong 10km
• 37:03
• June - Sri Chinmoy Albert Park 10km
• 37:23
• July - Gold Coast Marathon 21km
• 1:19:28 PB
• July - Run Melbourne 10km
• 36:30 PB
• August - XCR Albert Park 10km
• 36:23 PB
• August - XCR Ballarat 15km
• 55:07 PB
• October - Melbourne Marathon 21km
• 1:19:14 PB
• December - Lara Fun Run 10km
• 37:21

I was surprised to be able to set one or more personal bests in each of the 5, 10, 15, and 21 kilometre distances, and in particular finally getting under the 80 minute barrier. The only disappointment was the Melbourne Marathon course seemed longer than previous years adding at least 30 seconds to the result.

I reached the 250 parkrun milestone around the middle of the year, now it will be a very long time to reach 500 - a minimum of 5 years at current pace.

The PB streak from 2021 carried into 2022 and finished at 25 events in April, also the tourism streak ended at 52 in August. I also managed to break the 18 minute parkrun barrier a few times, although none were during that PB streak actually.

• Dandenong 17:58
• Dorset Recreation Reserve 17:59
• Lilydale Lake 17:49
• Warringal Parklands 17:48 and 17:49

The other parkrun stats are:

• 45 events - 24 in 2021
• 12 new events - 9 in 2021
• April
• Dorset Recreation Reserve
• Frankston Nature Conservation Reserve
• May
• Toolern Creak
• Cyril Curtain Reserve
• June
• Werribee Park Mansion
• Lewis Park Reserve
• July
• Kirkdale Reserve
• Peppertree
• August
• Warrandyte River Reserve
• Phillip Island
• December
• Bendigo Botanic Gardens
• Lake Boga Foreshore

The goals from 2022 and new goals for 2023 are:

• 2022
• 5km 18:00 - 17:48
• 10km 36:30 - 36:23
• 21km 1:20:30 - 1:19:14
• 4500 to 5000 kilometres - 5119
• Parkrun
• 10 new events - 12
• PB streak 25 - 25
• Tourist streak 50 - 52
• Races
• 2 new events - 0
• 2 interstate events - 1
• 0 international events - 0
• 2023
• 5km 17:30
• 10km 36:00
• 21km 1:18:00
• 4500 to 5000 kilometres
• Parkrun
• 10 new events
• Races
• 2 new events
• 3 interstate events
• 1 or 2 international events

Gold Coast 2022, July 04

The last day was just the trip home, so not much happening.

Had a longer 10km race this morning at 7:15am, again very uninspiring due to running on a footpath. Got back and ready to leave by 9:15am, this time the bus was much quicker so got to the airport by 10:00am.

While standing in a massive line for security saw the flight delay had increased from 20 to 40 minutes. At a normal airport this wouldn't be too bad, but there's literally nowhere to sit at the airport. It's more like a large food court with tables, that also happens to have planes departing.

Once the plane arrived had no other issues all the way home, just got extremely squashed from a passenger in the next seat.

Gold Coast 2022, July 03

Got up at 5am again to get the tram up to watch the start of the marathon and the 10km race. The conditions were definitely better than the events for the previous day.

I tried taking some photos from the start of the marathon, but from the side they usually were a bit blurry. Soon after the 10km race started, they went in one direction and then came back again after 3 kilometres, so had a good idea who was leading the men's and women's race by then.

The 10km race at 3km.

Once all the 10km leaders went past I walked over to the finish line to watch them come through, lots of people coming in under 35 minutes and with much better running action than I have, very depressing.

Next I went back again to the main street to wait a while for the marathon leaders coming through at the 31 kilometre mark, looking a bit worse off than when they started. Had two Japanese runners in the lead for the men's and a USA woman in the middle of a pace group.

The men's marathon winner

I went back to the hotel instead of waiting for the race to finish, and watched the live stream from the start. It was very disappointing to have no coverage of the 10km race, which has a lot more action than the marathon.

I got out for a short 6 kilometre run at Broadbeach before lunch, a poor route because after 1-2 kilometres in either direction the track ends and you have to run on a narrow footpath the rest of the way. It should be a path the whole way along the beach. My legs were feeling quite sore but nothing too serious.

There wasn't too much I was interested in doing around Surfers Paradise while still resting, I went back to Pacific Fair for lunch instead. I might have gone to Harbour Town but it's a long way to travel and the main attraction (Nike store) was temporarily closed.

Got back to the hotel later in the afternoon, watched some AFL (always on the 7mate secondary channel in low definition) before getting dinner and then packing up for the morning.

Gold Coast 2022, July 02

Probably woke up about once an hour so didn't need an alarm clock, but didn't feel too tired once 4:00am finally arrived.

Tried something a bit different and just had some Gatorade and lollies before the race, usually have some breakfast biscuits or muesli bars but found they don't always sit well afterwards.

It had been raining all night and conditions still didn't look good from the window. I walked down to the tram station in a singlet at around 4:45am, it was freezing cold so I was relieved the tram (or light rail) came along soon after. The tram took 30 minutes to get to Southport but was full after about three stops - the exact reason why I booked a hotel at Broadbeach this year. I'm still not sure how those people actually make it to the race on time.

Got to the event start at about 5:30am which was good timing, there was a bit of room for a warmup but I also didn't want to miss getting a spot near the start of the race, so only did 1.5 kilometres. I was lining up where the fence was supposed to be opened up for Group A to enter, then people just broke open the fence further ahead on their own.

I still got to about the third row behind the elites and preferred runners - need to be at least 1 hour 17 minutes to make the second of those groups, which is a bit exclusive. Soon we were off but I was stuck behind people all over the course running slower than four minutes per kilometres. Since it was so dark it was a bit more difficult to navigate through, so I just waited until the gaps appeared after a couple of minutes.

For the first few kilometres my hamstrings in particular were feeling a bit sore, possibly suggesting I hadn't had enough rest before the race, which was a worry with so far to go. That problem went away then I started to have my knee problem which had been happening for the last two months during any fast runs. Somehow that came and went quickly and I was able to run through the first half with most splits around 3:45 to 3:50 per kilometre.

The best part of the race is probably seeing all the elite men and women coming back the other way at the turn around point, by this stage they were at least one kilometre ahead, if not more.

I skipped the early drink stations but then decided to get some in the second half, around about the time I started to have my first challenges at the 13 kilometre mark. I was starting to find the same speed harder to maintain but was able to fight through it and stay under 3:50 per kilometre.

Only at about 18 kilometres I really started hurting again, and just had to try and make it through one kilometre at a time. Somehow again I managed to maintain the same speed, each kilometre trying to calculate if I was under 1 hour 20 minutes pace - which is my long term goal, but I didn't expect to reach it today. The Garmin watch was about 100 metres ahead of the course markers which also made things a bit uncertain.

After I got to 20 kilometres I was confident I could make the finish and also get under my target time - even the gun time. I crossed the finish line with 1:19:37 on the clock, but official time was 1:92:28.

Picked up the finished medal and a free Asics t-shirt at the finish line, and some brand of electrolyte drink. I didn't hang around too long and then got back on the tram to the hotel.

I was considering doing a short run when I got back but my left achilles was feeling a bit sore and tight so skipped that - apparently it can be a small side effect of these high stack 'super shoes' which I don't wear often.

Back to Pacific Fair before lunch to the Doughnut Boss shop for some great donuts, and got some different varieties of flavoured milk drinks - not that much different to Melbourne. Dropped that stuff off at the hotel and then back on the tram to Surfers Paradise to walk around for a bit and get some lunch. Bumped into Trent near the Cavill Avenue sign while he was preparing for the marathon the next day.

The usual Surfers Paradise sign.

Two remaining donuts - custard beats jam any day.

Picked up a gingerbread Mountain Dew on the way, which was really disappointing, far too much cinnamon taste. Finished the day a bit early since my legs were complaining from doing too much walking after the race - a good lesson for next time.

Staying hydrated.

Watched the live stream replay of the half marathon while eating dinner, the coverage was good, not sure if I was on the other side of the road when they were filming the leaders on the men's and women's race, but at the finish they were on a commercial break when I would have been crossing the line.

Gold Coast 2022, July 01

Started the trip to Gold Coast on Friday morning, travelling the day before the race.

• 7:15 train to city
• 7:50 bus to airport - hardly any traffic
• 8:20 airport

Decided to go with a carry-on backpack so I didn't have to deal with luggage. Just had enough room for clothes and a pair of shoes for the race, had to wear a pair of shoes to be used for walking and jogging.

Saw all the Collingwood AFL players going to Gold Coast as well, but departing an hour earlier.

Got to Gold Coast airport around 12:30pm but missed the first bus to Broadbeach South because there was too many people, got the second one but took forever, nearly 2:00pm before getting off the bus.

Walked over to Pacific Fair to find some lunch, massive lines everywhere, even at the supermarket.  Had to walk all the way to the other end and back, but finally got some food and then across the road to the hotel to check-in.

Had to go up to the expo in the convention centre at Broadbeach North to get the race number for tomorrow. Just got handed a race number and some strange clips I'd never used before, usually you get safety pins. Did a quick tour of the expo but didn't find anything to buy, no new flavours of Clif bars.

Stopped at another supermarket on the way back to the hotel, got some regular safety pins and more Gatorade.

I decided to got for a short run in the rain during the afternoon - mostly to keep the running streak going and to check for any minor injuries - only went 2.5 kilometres but my feet were already soaked from all the puddles.

Had an early dinner - bread rolls, energy bars and sports drink - and watched a bit of the AFL, but was pretty tired to set the alarm for 4:15am and missed out on seeing Carlton lose like usual.

2021 Running Review

Another year with not much going on in running. The working from home routine made training a little better, but also quite repetitive, particularly during the times of 5km and 10km travel limits.

A new record for total distance as well as running once every day of the year, I didn't expect to beat last year's totals and probably won't beat this year for sure now.

• 5128.36 kilometres
• 4366.96 kilometres in 2021
• 392 hours
• 333 hours in 2021

The major events only ran at the beginning and end of the year.

• Sandy Point 10km
• 37:05 PB
• Run The Rock 13.5km
• 53:06
• Sandy Point 10km again
• 36:45 PB
• Melbourne Marathon half
• 1:20:48 PB

The Melbourne Marathon was a good result - just missed a long term goal of 1 hour 20 minutes, but ahead of my 1:22:00 goal and previous best of 1:22:49 in 2019.

I didn't get close to 250 parkruns due to health restrictions for public events, only 24 for the year up to 226 in total. This was also the year when Christmas and New Year's Day were on Saturday, so no bonus events.

I started the year with a 'tourism streak' of going to a different event each week, beginning in South Australia, then combined that with a 'PB streak' for any local events without a low 18 minute time already recorded. By the end of the year this was becoming a bit more effort than reward - the PB part in particular - but should be wrapped up early in 2022 so I can go back to attending some events launched in the past year.

• 24 events
• 52 in 2019
• 9 new events
• 13 in 2019
• 18:01 Diamond Creek - short course
• 18:03 Dandenong
• 18:07 Aurora

The new parkrun events were:

• January
• Victor Harbor, SA
• Naracoorte Lake, SA
• Dandenong
• February
• Aurora
• March
• Altona Beach
• Point Cook
• Cascades On Clyde Wetlands
• April
• Campaspe
• Sunbury

The goals for 2021 and new goals for 2022 are:

• 2021
• 5km 18:00 - just missed
• 10km 37:00 to 37:30 - beat twice
• 21km PB - beat
• 4000+ kilometres - beat with 5000+ kilometres
• 2022
• 5km 18:00 - again
• 10km 36:30
• 21km 1:20:00
• 4500 to 5000 kilometres - not important
• Parkrun
• 10 new events
• Finish PB streak with 20 to 25
• Finish tourism streak with 40 to 50
• Races
• 2 new events - not many options
• 2 interstate events - Gold Coast half marathon
• 0 international events - probably

2020 Running Review

A unique year in running, 2021 is similar for now but with a bit more hope.

All events and parkruns were cancelled from March, and daily exercise was limited to one hour for some time also - not a problem except for the weekly long run. Being forced to work from home was much more convenient for daily running, definitely not looking forward to having to transition back to running from the office during lunch breaks.

The totals were well above previous years, and will be hard to match ever again.

• 4366.96 kilometres
• 3065.56 kilometres in 2018
• 333 hours
• ~230 hours in 2015, 2018, 2019

The few major events for the year were:

• January
• Rosebud Australia Day Run - 10km - 37:48 @ 3:49/km
• February
• Warburton - 10km - 37:46 @ 3:51/km
• March
• River Run Geelong - 10km - 37:40 @ 3:47/km

The Geelong race was roughly my best 10 kilometre result.

I just managed to reach 200 parkruns before that was suspended for the year - in Victoria.

• 13 events
• 52 in 2019
• 5 new events
• 13 in 2019
• 18:07 Birdsland Reserve
• 18:03 - Lilydale Lake
• 18:04 - Frog Hollow

The new parkrun events were:

• January
• Newborough
• Churchill
• February
• Berwick Waters
• Grand Ridge Rail Trail
• Warringal Parklands

The same goals from 2020 will roll over to 2021:

• 5km 18:00
• 10km 37:00 - 37:30
• 21km PB
• 4000+ kilometres
• Parkrun
• 10-15 new events
• 250 total
• Races
• 5 new events
• 2 interstate events
• 0 international events - probably

2019 Running Review

A reasonable year in running, no major injuries but a lot of annoying smaller ones.

• 2018
• 2017
• 2016
• 2015

The totals were almost the same as the previous year:

• 3031.52 kilometres
• 3065.56 kilometres in 2018
• 3120.94 kilometres in 2015
• 231 hours
• 232 hours in 2018
• 235 hours in 2015

The major events for the years were:

• January
• Rosebud Australia Day Run - 10 km - 38:55 @ 3:55/km
• February
• Warburton - 10km - 38:06 @ 3:54/km
• March
• Run The Rock - 13.5km - 54:57 @ 4:03/km
• April
• Sri Chinmoy Princes Park - 10 km - 38:41 @ 3:54/km
• May
• Puffing Billy Train Race - 13.5km - 55:40 @ 4:08/km
• June
• Sri Chinmoy Albert Park - 10km - 37:41 - 3:48/km
• July
• Run Melbourne - 10 km - 38:49 @ 3:53/km
• August
• de Castella - 15km - 59:16 @ 3:59/km
• September
• Sandy Point - 10km - 37:58 @ 3:47/km
• Harvest Run - 13.5 km - 53:53 @ 4:02/km (hills)
• October
• Melbourne Marathon - 21km - 1:22:53 @ 3:53/km
• November
• Ballarat Run For A Cause - 10km - 36:57 @ 3:45/km (short)

It was slow progress, but towards the middle and end of the year I made some minor improvements to record new best times for 5 kilometre parkrun, 10 kilometre and half marathon. Having an ongoing hamstring injury and dealing with the summer heat, I have to try and not lose all the fitness going into the new year like often happens.

The parkrun summary:

• 52 events
• 47 in 2018
• 48 in 2017
• 13 new events
• 10 in 2018
• 18 in 2017
• 18:03 - Lilydale Lake and 18:04 - Frog Hollow
• 18:16 - Lilydale Lake in 2018

The new parkrun events were:

• January
• Mernda
• February
• KM Reedy Reserve
• April
• Pakenham
• Euroa
• Mansfield Botanic
• July
• Surfers Paradise
• August
• Brimbank
• Birdsland Reserve
• September
• Lancefield
• October
• Wyndham Vale
• November
• Zillmere
• Rosebud
• December
• You Yangs

Melbourne Marathon October 2019

This is a quick report for the Melbourne Marathon half marathon race.

I've had some good results in various 10-15 kilometre races in the lead up, but hadn't run a half marathon for two years, and my personal best was still 1:23:21 from 2015.

Similar to the Gold Coast preparation I ran a 13.5 kilometre training session at half marathon pace two weeks out, but probably pushed a bit too hard so my legs were just really sore every day afterwards. I eventually had to stop running on Tuesday of race week to make sure I was recovered as much as possible. I only did a half walk and jog at parkrun the day before the race, but somehow that triggered some recurring back pain so I could not bend over at all afterwards.

On to race day, got up at about 6:10am, had some food, then drove in to the city arriving about 7:10am. My warm up just consisted of walking down to the start line for about 20 minutes, as the 10 kilometre race was starting. I managed to get into the front row on the outside half of the road after they had all gone through.

I didn't get swamped by people running too fast off the line, so was able to ease into the race after the first hill going up to Flinders Street station. Then it was all slightly downhill along St Kilda Road for about five kilometres. I was averaging low 3:50/km which was my goal, but felt slightly harder than I was hoping for. I skipped the first drinks station on the way down, but got water at the the rest.

Near the half way point around Albert Park I started to feel a bit sore around the right hip, followed by right thigh a bit later. Gradually I was having to work a bit harder each kilometre but still staying under 4:00/km after getting out of Albert Park and back to St Kilda Road.

This was the section I was a bit worried about as there was a bit of uphill, and going into a bit of wind as well. I tried to balance the effort with a bit of recovery on the flatter sections, which seemed to help. I got overtaken by a few of the elite marathon runners along the way.

I was feeling surprisingly well reaching the tunnel under the Arts Centre, but then suddenly felt really bad coming out at the other side, before even reaching the uphill next to The Tan. I'm not sure what it was, but I almost had to really back off the pace, before managing to work through the pain and I was feeling alright again. I did have a single outlier kilometre at 4:10 but that may have been due to the tunnel. I think almost every year previously I've hit the limit just a bit earlier at the National Gallery, so it's something to try and remember for next time.

I got over the final challenge of the bridge to the MCG, and thought I was on for a good time close to 1:22:00, but my Garmin had deceived me as it was 200 metres ahead of the actual race distance, so sadly I was closer to 1:23:00 in the end, but managed to beat my previous best by about 30 seconds still and just missed the top 100.

Overall a good result since I hadn't run the distance in so long, I probably ran with a bit too much focus on my goal time than running to a slightly more comfortable speed, which almost went bad in the end, but just managed to hang on. Since the race my legs have been quite sore for at least three days, so I won't be planning another half marathon for a while I think.

Run Melbourne July 2019

Just managed to keep the streak alive with one race every month, with a late entry to the Run Melbourne 10km.

The start time was later than usual for these races, so only had to get a train into Flinders Street by 8:30am. I was able to enter in the priority start so no problems having to get in line early, instead ran a couple of kilometres to warm up but was feeling quite tired like usual on race day.

I got to line up about third row from the front, I think there was some race ambassadors walking around, the only one I recognised was that Rob Mills guy. A few good athletes I noticed at the front too, but not a really deep field.

We started on time which was good, I was immediately overtaken by a crowd of people going way too hard up the first hill towards The Tan. As we started down to Domain Road all these people started to slow down already, not even one kilometre in, so I got a bit stuck without any space to overtake.

I ran a bit too fast up Domain Road and down the Anderson Street hill to make up a bit of time, so was hurting a bit after that, but made up a lot of places at least. Not much music on the course that I noticed, just one girl singing Gnarls Barkley Crazy was not bad.

Since I've run around this area a lot I knew what most of the course was like, so managed to take it a bit easier and recover going around The Tan, Swan Street Bridge and Batman Avenue. As we went around St Kilda at about 4.5 kilometres the last group were still walking towards the front, and hadn't even started yet!

I knew there was another hill section coming up after 6 kilometres which soon arrived as we had to cross over the train lines to get to the MCG. I mistakenly thought that bridge was the final hill, but actually a much tougher one was still ahead going up towards Jolimont Station where I almost went into meltdown. I lost about 20 seconds on my kilometre split but it seems like everyone else did about the same.

I was hurting a lot after this hill section and wasn't sure if I could keep going at the same speed, it probably took about a kilometre to finally feel good again. Going up Brunton Avenue and Wellington Parade was actually no problem at all afterwards, and managed to finish with a fast final kilometre.

The final time was 38:47 which was a bit slower than the same event in 2014 but I think this course was harder. At the finish line they usually hand out something useful like a protein bar or fruit, but this time it was kettle chips...

There wasn't too much to look at near the finish line so I went for a cool down 3.5 kilometres around The Tan and over to Richmond Station.

Run The Rock March 2019

This is a short recap of my latest race, the 13.5 kilometre event at Run The Rock.

I had this race marked on my schedule for the year, since I missed out in 2017 due to some ankle problems. Having recurring blister issues meant a lot of time off during the two weeks before it, but with four days of rest I thought I was just ready to go, and drove up to Hanging Rock on the morning to register on the day.

• Location: Hanging Rock, Woodend - 90 minutes
• Distance - 13.5 kilometres
• Result: 54:56 @ 4:04/km - 6th of 548

It's a bit of a long drive, but the later start at about 9:30am was reasonable. Even so, it was still freezing cold while waiting for the race to begin at that time.

I had a large blister band-aid on the side of my foot which didn't feel uncomfortable during a quick warm up. Early in the race everything was going well too, I had a rough idea of the many hills on the course so purposely went out a bit slow, probably too slow and a bit outside the top ten.

Once reaching the off road section there was a couple of uphill sections, then one really steep downhill section which I was quite careful with. The scenery seemed good from what I caught of it during the off-road section, but I was too focused on the race most of the time. Having a lot of half marathon runners doing a second lap made the race a bit less lonely too.

At about the six kilometre mark there was the long uphill section which I was well aware of, but just misjudged when it was going to end, however I still managed to move up a couple of positions.

By about ten kilometres I started to feel a bit of soreness on the outside of my foot, but it got even worse soon after and I was lucky to just make it through to the finish without having to slow down.

After the finish I thought I might stay around a check out the place, but my foot was too sore so I just went straight back to the car. Taking off the band-aid also removed the top two layers of skin, which made the pain much worse immediately - I'm not sure if the skin got ripped off due to the band-aid or it was already that damaged.

Besides the injury problems it was a fun race and worth coming back again for a better result.

2018 Running Review

Not a bad year in running. Didn't get to do a lot of new events or break many records, but was able to run consistently for most of the year.

• 2017
• 2016
• 2015

The totals:

• 3065.56 kilometres
• best 3120.94 kilometres
• last 2192.18 kilometres
• 232 hours
• best 235 hours
• last 168 hours

The major events for the year were:

• January
• Rosebud Australia Day Run - 10 km - 39:45 @ 4:00/km
• April
• Sri Chinmoy Williamstown - 10 km - 38:47 @ 3:54/km
• Werribee Mansion - 10 km - 39:07 @ 3:55/km
• May
• Star Wars Run Singapore - 10 km - 42:22 @ 4:21/km (heat)
• July
• Sri Chinmoy Princes Park - 10 km - 38:50 @ 3:54/km
• August
• Townsville Running Festival - 10 km - 39:57 @ 3:56/km
• Shepparton Running Festival - 10 km - 38:32 @ 3:53/km
• September
• Harvest Run - 13.5 km - 53:53 @ 4:02/km (hills)
• October
• Lara Fun Run - 10 km - 38:30 @ 3:49/km
• November
• Bendigo Bank Fun Run - 10 km - 39:06 @ 3:55/km
• December
• Sri Chinmoy Cherry Lake - 10.5 km - 41:20 @ 3:52/km

The events were generally a bit better then last year when I was stuck above 4:00/km. Did not progress much during the year though except for Lara Fun Run, otherwise always about 3:55/km.

The other category of events are the parkruns:

• 47 events
• best 48 events
• 18:16 at Lilydale Lake
• best 18:15 at Jells (hills but possibly less than 5 kilometres)

The new parkrun events for the year were:

• January
• Gungahlin
• Tuggeranong
• February
• Gardiners Creek
• March
• Ballarat
• April
• Lalor
• May
• Taman Pudu Ulu (Malaysia)
• August
• Aplins Weir (Townsville)
• Warragul
• December
• Cobram
• Newport Lakes

I unofficially got a new parkrun PB but just missed 50 events, and went to exactly 10 new events.

These are the yearly and all time records:

• 2018
• 5 km - Lillydale Lake parkrun - 18:15 @ 3:40/km
• 10 km - Lara Fun Run - 38:30 @ 3:49/km
• 21.1 km - none
• All Time
• 10 km - Sri Chinmoy Albert Park 2014 - 38:00 @ 3:48/km (no watch)
• 21.1 km - Melbourne Marathon 2015 - 1:23:23 @ 3:56/km

Sri Chinmoy Cherry Lake December 2018

I haven't done a running specific post in a long time, some have been combined into short holiday reports though.
I think the last specific one was Run For The Kids 2015.

This months race wasn't anything major, but I'll have a go at writing a short review on any new races.

• Location: Cherry Lake, Altona - 40 minutes
• Distance: 10.5 kilometres - actually 10.7 kilometres
• Result: 41:20 @ 3:51/km - 8th of 128

An easy location to drive to, except I parked in the first available car park which was about 500 metres walk each way to sign up, so most of my warm up time was used for that.

I decided to wear Nike Lunarglide instead of the lighter Nike Lunar Flyknit since those are a smaller size 12.5 and I wasn't sure how they'd go over the distance. So instead the Lunarglide are a medium weight but a bit worn with about 600 kilometres already run.

Just had time for a two kilometre warm up then straight into the race. All three race distances started at the same time and without a turnaround point so you don't know your position for sure.

I took a safe approach to the start like usual, just went out around 3:50/km to avoid a blow up later. Like usual though I struggled through the middle of the race even without running to the limit. Got a quick drink at 7 kilometres only because it was a warm day, and had a better third lap to finish with an alright time, but hardly better than midweek training sessions.

The course was pretty standard, three laps around a big lake but all on a concrete footpath surface unfortunately. The only other issue was lots of swarms of small bugs on one part of the course.

Ran another lap and a half for a cool down, since I didn't finish high enough for any medals.