Mt Majura One Peak Challenge...

early start to the morning for this event - up @ 5.30am! i'm glad it was only just down the road...

checked in just before 6am to pick up my number (113)...bumped into Tuggeranong Don who upgraded from the One Peak to the Two Peak...returned to the car for 15mins or so before heading over to the start...the conditions were almost perfect with hardly a breath of wind...

we got underway only a couple of minutes late...my aim for the run was 90mins given i'm not the best on the up hills...

surprised myself by managing to run (i use this word loosely!) to the first drinks station which was where the Two Peakers turned left for Mt Ainslie while we One Peakers got to head down hill for a bit...probably got overtaken by 4-5 runners going up to this station although i suspect most were Two Peakers...

after taking a drink at the 1st station (manned by Carol Harding) i elected to not stop at the 2nd one at the Mackenzie St/Grayson St point (did get a "Go CoolRunner" call from the attendant though)...by this stage there was about a 200m gap either side of me...

maintained a pretty steady pace to the 3rd drinks station manned by Emma Murray...along the way got to say hello to quite a few walkers (some with dogs) who were probably wondering what was going on...

after the 3rd drink station i started to make steady ground on a runner in front of me who seemed to be taking quite a few walking breaks...i eventually passed her on the walking trail about 10mins after climbing over the stile - it was hard to maintain a rhythm here due to the steps...the fire trail up to the top of Mt Majura was a challenge (definite understatement here! )and more walking breaks occurred here...

once through the fence at the top i started to catch another runner on the road....about halfway down i passed her and got maybe 20-30m ahead and then she started to gain again on me...we probably run the last third of the road within a metre or so of each other and came through the gate at the bottom into the paddock almost side by side...an excellent tussle...

fortunately i was able to hit my "flat running" stride fairly quickly and steadily pulled away over the last k to finish about 300-400m in front of her...my time showed 1:29:46 so i was pretty pleased with that...

the stats:
start temp/humidity: 5.9/91%
start time: 6:34am
total distance: 15.06
total time: 1:29:46
avg pace: 5:57
total calories: 1133
avg HR: 160
finish temp/humidity: 11.1/70%

[i'll post some pictures once i've downloaded the info]

got my finisher's bottle of wine & then had a drink or two (not alcoholic!) and a good chat with Gary (who claims i'm stalking him because we keep ending up at the same events!)...Gary had finished not long after the female winner (Jane Zeller) in around 1:12:00-1:13:00...

birthday boy Stuart Doyle won the Two Peaks in around 1:45 with a gap back to Trevor Jacobs and then Andy Hogg...

also caught up briefly with Nick and Doug from Customs...Doug was especially pleased to finish just outside 2:00:00 for the One Peak after not doing any long runs for about 3 months...

headed back towards home, getting petrol & breakfast before showering and getting ready for golf...

today was also excellent weather for golf although the wind had kicked up a little...after not playing for two weeks i had a very poor front 9 (+12) which could have been worse except for a birdie on the 9th...somehow i managed to finish well with +3 on the back to shoot 88 off the stick (my first score in the 80s since January!)...managed to finish 2nd on a count back...

in a day for wine, i picked up 4 bottles for the Nearest The Pin effort from a fortnight ago...

then it was over to mum & dad's for a massage (and to drop off some of the wine!)...

i'm actually quite surprised by how well i've pulled up after the run although tomorrow may be another story!!