Sunday 1st May, 2005 - Puffing Billy Fun Run (13.2km)

Short Details

7th overall (best ever result here) in 45:32mins (38secs outside best time).

Longer Details

Today was the annual Puffing Billy Fun Run up in the Dandenongs, from Belgrave to Emerald. For my money it's the best fun run around; a beautiful, hilly and picturesque 13.2 km course 'racing' the famous Puffing Billy. The finish is actually 15m higher than the start with 250m of ascent during the race...and you feel every bit of it.

It is a great course to just run and soak it all up, perhaps seeing the train at one of the three crossings and waving to family and friends on the train. But it is also a gut busting and leg breaking course to race over...so it's allways with a bit of nervous anxiety that you post off your entry to submit yourself to it. But training is for racing, and this is a fanstastic event. Hard course??...bring it on!!

I was really unsure how I'd go since there's no fast running amongst all this Ironman (IM) training - you just plod around...albeit a lot of plodding!! And being race sharp is really important for running fast. Suffice to say I'm not race sharp at the moment. I also had a few demons to overcome in this race....last year I badly sprained my ankle with about 2km to go. So here I was to face up to them on their turf!! But I was feeling pretty good...I think...

The Race

So we lined up, about 2500-3000 of us, heard the national anthem and were set. The only thing you can't control is who else is racing but the word on the start line was that the field was a bit weak...good news for my top-10 ambition...a career goal for this event. Then we were off!!

The usual hares did their sprint start, and it's easy to trip over at this time as you work your way around them as they slow down. The course goes into a good downhill after about 700m...only problem is that it takes you to the lowest point of the course...all uphill from here. The first uphill of about 1-and-a-bit kms tells you that you're alive as my HR maxed out here at 175. I was also counting the people ahead of me, 6, putting me in 7th.

3km in 10:09 and a lovely downhill for 2km or so...fast running. 4km in 13:20. 5km in 16:31. I also passed and got passed, leaving me in 7th but within reach of 5th and 6th running together.

What goes down goes up, and at 5km starts the most gut-busting hill of the race - about 2km of dirt road, pot-holes, corrugations and massive cambers around each corner. Not steep but keeps going and going...if you're going to see your breakfast again it will be up this hill...

I worked my up to within 10m of 5th/6th runners, and we were all struggling. 3:11 min/kms became 4:00min and then 4:19min, getting to a little bit of flat and 7km in 24:50min. Right here my legs were like tree stumps and my whole body was in big oxygen debt and swimming in lactic acid. But a bit of flat was nice but 5th/6th were getting away from me...dammit!!

Then a leg breaking, sharp downhill and mild undulations before the climb up to high point of the course. 5th/6th were out to about 30-40m ahead but I was outrunning them on the uphills and feeling quite strong. As we went on and up I closed the gap, pulling past 6th at 10km in 35:32min and on the last bit of uphill at about 10.2km caught and passed 5th.

From here it's all downhill to the finish for the last 3km or so, and I knew my leg speed wasn't up with these guys and they pulled away. This last part is a reward for the rest of the race - nice shady, soft, down hill dirt track. Just watch out for the tree roots just waiting to sprain your ankle on.

I ran past my demons at this point - slowing to poke them in the eyes - and running on my own again. 11km in 38:55min. 12km in 42:01min. A bit further, sharp down hill and sharp corner and then to the finish and a really great crowd.

Happy with 7th and 45:32min - sub-45 is a magical mark for me, but have done that once before. FYI - below is an HR and altitude trace of the race - see how hilly it is??!! (Avg HR 165)

It's just a fabulous fun run - the course, the concept, the race and the atmosphere. Give it a try. Next up the Great Ocean Road marathon - 45km from Lorne to Apollo Bay - in 2 weeks time. Oh, and a bit of training ahead between now and then.