15th August 2021
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7305811916
Race Day
Barnaby drove me and Brett out at 7:45am. That nearly constitutes a sleep-in!
Barnaby made his long-awaited Super Long return today with no issues.
Will was away, and Neville had managed to walk into a door and practically dislocate his neck. Pretty extreme measures to avoid Totara!
Michal came out early for the Super Long and then met up with Yii and Daniel to support Maria and Sophia who were also running. Nice!
Ed and Hamish were there in support of the RLC team.
The weather was nice. A bit cool and overcast and ideal for running.
The Race
We started fast and furious of course. I kept fairly close behind Michal and we powered up the initial hills.
After a few kilometers when the fields opened up, I kept glancing back to see where Barnaby was, but I couldn't see him anywhere. I was worried that he had twisted his dodgy ankle and pulled out. (yes, Barnaby, that is an option at Totara, believe me). I found out afterwards that he had been taking a gentle stroll through the forest at a leisurely pace and was over 2 minutes behind within 3km. Lazy but ultimately extremely sensible...!!
I was running fairly strongly, and the first lap went by without incident. (although one runner did do a complete face-plant while trying to overtake Michal. I had a fantastic view of him falling forwards and basically skating along on his face through the mud. He wasn't injured and eventually overtook us in a more conventional manner.)
The fast pace and over-confidence eventually got to me. By about the 14km mark I really blew up and from then onwards it was a fairly miserable and slow stumble through the last 7km. I lost 3 minutes to Michal over the last bit, including taking over 7 minutes to complete my 20th kilometer :( Ugh!
Luckily I stayed ahead of Barnaby and just ahead of Gary.
I finished in 1:48:25 for first in 50+. The course didn't ascend to the equestrian center this year, so not quite comparable to previous years. I had one (dry) gel during the run. Legs, ankles, back etc all felt fine (although exhaustion levels were high!).
Michal crushed it, Brett had another strong finish for 2nd in 60+, and Barnaby completed his power come-back!
The next generation of Sophia and Maria and Daniel Petrus (The Petri?) are coming along!
Wrap
Although I went too fast for the first half, it was a fun run. Possibly pausing for a quick drink (to wash the gel down) would have helped me keep going - but maybe not.
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