COMMUNITY BLOG.
At 6am on the 12th of December 2021, the sound of 7000 foot steps echoed throughout the streets of Melbourne on their way to the start line of the Melbourne Marathon! After nearly 2 years of cancellations and postponements, there was a unique mixture of both relief and excitement among the thousands of runners and supporters assembled just outside the MCG. However, there was little time for complacency, and the usual rush of adrenaline made an oddly welcome return as the starter began to count down from ten, and the sound of beeping wrist watches silenced the nervous small talk. Among the masses on the start line that day, Jen Robertson stood poised as a picture of health and fitness.
“…a running camp with a side of mindset and mindfulness,” is how WhatASesh founder, mindset guru, and established ultra trail runner Josh Lynott explains last weekend for a group of almost twenty RunAsOne runners. Located on the beach front at Carrickalinga, the weekend provided the perfect opportunity for a group of runners to reflect on the year just gone, but to also plan for the year to come. With Josh’s guidance for mindset and mindfulness, paired with Izzi and Riley’s coaching expertise, I think everyone involved has returned home better for the experience, and perhaps refreshed and ready to take on what is a traditionally “full” time of year!
On an unseasonably cold and wet November morning, South Australian Road Runners Club volunteers lined the River Torrens from Athelstone to West Beach in preparation for the 2021 Greenbelt Challenge. At three separate starting points, some of Adelaide’s more resilient runners gathered around the start lines for the 5km, 10km, 21.1km or 30km distances on offer, shedding their final layers of clothing just seconds before the starting gun. Elsewhere, our team mates from the state’s South East faced even worse conditions at the start line of the Naracoorte World Heritage Trail run contested over 23km and 15km. Overall, 64 RunAsOne athletes toed a start line this weekend, and enjoyed the opportunity to pull on their racing shoes and test their recent training progress!
Spring time in Adelaide has always been a special time to get out and run. The weather is warming up and the days are lasting longer, while the trails have dried up, and the grass tracks are in peak condition! Aside from the magpies trying to take your head off, you won’t hear many complaints from us South Aussie runners this time of year. Unfortunately, the cancellation of the City to Bay did dampen a few spirits, but there were still plenty of events to keep the RunAsOne team busy, and it was great to see so many taking advantage of the opportunities. In summary, these are just a few of the many moments that put a smile on my face last month!
As the sun rose over Adelaide City on the last Sunday in August, it lit up the Morphett Street Bridge like a stage, as two of Australia’s premier middle distance runners Isaac Heyne and Daniel Canala glided over the River Torrens on their way to a 1-2 finish in the Adelaide Marathon Festival 10km. While onlookers are now accustomed to seeing this type of performance from these two stars, the next figure on the bridge may have raised a few more eyebrows. As Luke Mitchell kicked off that downhill section of the course and returned to the Bonython Park finish line in 31 minutes and 59 seconds for the 10km journey, he placed himself alongside two elite performers on a very high-quality podium. At the finish line, Luke received a wealth of well-deserved praise for his efforts that morning, but it was apparent to those who know him well that he wasn’t satisfied to be next best on the result sheet, and that his thoughts in the moments after finishing were occupied by a desire to be far more competitive next time.
On the last weekend in August, I was finally presented with the opportunity to become a marathon runner at the Adelaide Marathon Festival. This blog is a reflection on the race, the preparation, and what I now know about this beast!
Amidst a string of border closures and race cancellations, Adelaide was finally able to break the trend and fire the starting gun on their marathon festival weekend! At Bonython Park, the South Australian Road Runners Club had paired up with a range of local businesses to create a fantastic event village on the banks of the river torrens. At the RunAsOne tent, over 70 runners made up the 1500 runners in total who were ready to put their recent training to the test across the full quota of events on offer. In addition to this, the team had a number of supporters on site taking happy snaps, and just generally ensuring all of their training partners got across that finish line!