A week or so after the 12 hour event which, let’s not kid ourselves, did kick my arse (even though I kind of kicked its arse too), I decided, on advice from the coach, to take an unprecedented week off running.
Since I took up running not quite 5 years ago, there has only been one time when I have gone more than a week without running. That was after my first marathon, in 2014. After that, I didn’t run for 3 weeks. Not because I couldn’t, I just didn’t want to. I was having way too much fun eating and drinking my way around Ireland!
I have always been reluctant to take more than a few days’ break even after a marathon or ultra. I have had it in my head that if I don’t run for a week or two it will be really hard to get back to it.
From memory, after the 3 week break back in 2014, I didn’t find it too hard to get back to ‘normal programming’. I arrived back in Australia on a Friday and was out at parkrun the following day. Yes, it was slower than I was accustomed to, but that probably had more to do with the epically long journey home (4 flights and about 40 hours worth of travel) from Dublin to Adelaide via London, Dubai and Melbourne than with the extended break from running.
The only other time I have taken a break from running was late last year when my foot swelled up for some reason (I assume it was some kind of bite) that made it impossible for me to get a running shoe on. That wasn’t even a week’s break.
So, how did I cope?
On the whole, things didn’t change much. I did my usual gym routine on a Monday and Wednesday. Tuesday and Thursday, normally running days, I still got up early and went out with the running group, but instead of running I did a brisk walk. (Brisk being the operative word – some of those mornings were pretty chilly, and I didn’t warm up as I would have had I run!). Friday morning, as I had been doing for a few weeks in the lead-up to the 12 hour, I went to a cycle class at the gym. (The 4 degree minimum temperature made the gym a much more appealing option than a walk outside!)
Saturday, traditionally, is parkrun day. It’s been a while since I’ve actually run a parkrun, in between volunteering and doing my long run instead of parkrun, in fact the last parkrun I did was in Mount Gambier when I was there for the Tower Trail Run. This weekend was a very special one, it was the launch of Cleland parkrun, SA’s first trail parkrun. I wasn’t going to miss that, but it was a perfect opportunity for me to do my first ever ‘parkwalk’! It’s not as if I would have run it all that fast anyway – trust me it is an exceptionally challenging course! It was amazing how many people we saw walking up the hill!
Cleland is going to be a favourite among locals and tourists alike. Cleland Wildlife Park is a popular tourist destination as it is, made even more appealing by the prospect of a parkrun (or walk) and a nice hot coffee at the cafe in front of an open fire, before going to get up close and personal with the local wildlife!
Of course, we parkrunners didn’t have to wait for the park to open to see some wildlife! Karen, Janet and I spotted a few koalas along the way! You don’t get that in too many parkruns!
And then there was the OTHER wildlife…
And I’ve never been to a parkrun before, where almost everyone stops at the halfway mark to take a selfie – but when the view is like that, how could you not?
Massive congratulations to Jon and Sirelle for getting this off the ground – 220 people turned up for the launch, pretty much taking over the entire cafe afterwards – launch numbers are traditionally inflated, but if the launch was anything to go by, this parkrun is going to be hugely popular!
Sunday is traditionally long run day. Since the 12 hour has been and gone, I now don’t have a long distance event to train for, so I have the luxury of being able to pick and choose what run I do (or indeed, no run at all). This weekend happened to be a SARRC race day, so the obvious choice to me, on my rest week, was to volunteer.
This event has, up until a couple of years ago, been known as the ‘Hills to Henley’. Normally it starts at Athelstone (also the start point of the Greenbelt Half Marathon) and finishes at Henley Sailing Club, running the length of the River Torrens. It is a popular event, and the 30k distance is ideal for those training for the Adelaide Marathon. I have never run the Hills to Henley – I’ve run one of the shorter distances once, and volunteered twice. Last year I did the 30k for the first time but due to road works, it was not the traditional route. Instead it was an ‘out and back’ from Henley, in pretty appalling weather conditions!
This year the course was different again, but it was back to the ‘point to point’ format. The start for the 30k was at Somerton, and the finish for all 3 distances (30k, 15k and 7k) was at North Haven. The run was essentially along the coast, partly on pedestrian/bike paths and partly on closed roads. This year the 15k and 7k were also ‘point to point’, starting at different spots along the route. (Previously the shorter distances have always been ‘out and back’ routes).
I was rostered as a marshal right near the end – as it turned out, less than 1km from the finish. I was pleased to see my start time was 9am – hooray, a sleep in!
I can see why a marshal was required here – this was the point where the 7km and 15km runners went straight to the finish while the 30km runners had to do a bit of a loop to make it up to 30km. I am certain that many of the runners would have been confused without some guidance – I was a bit confused myself when I got to the marshalling point and tried to make sense of the instructions I had been given! Thankfully Voula, having just finished her 15km and heading back to volunteer at the finish line, guided me through it by phone and it all made perfect sense!
We were very lucky with the weather this year. Evidently there was a head wind the whole way (a frequent issue with coastal runs, and being one way, it was likely to be a head wind the whole way. Unless it was a tail wind. That would have been nice!) Initially rain was forecast, then a few days out from the event the forecast looked ideal. I believe a lot of people, possibly scarred from last year’s experience, waited until the last minute to enter! Looking at the forecast on Sunday morning, it was back to rain, but possibly not until the afternoon. As it turned out, the rain was nice enough to hold off until we’d packed up and left!
Marshalling is an interesting, and at times stressful, gig! I have only marshalled once before (at this very event, 3 years ago) and that was at the 5k turnaround. My job was to tell the 5k runners to turn around and the 10k runners to keep going straight. Even then I remember having to tell a few people multiple times! It was mainly people with headphones in who couldn’t hear my (what I thought were pretty clear) instructions!
This marshalling role was slightly more complicated, but on the plus side I would get to see every single runner. I’d be there from the time the lead 30k runners came through, right up to the cutoff time. Mind you, looking at Facebook later I saw people posting about it that I hadn’t even realised were there! (And I’m sure a lot of them didn’t recognise me either, given that I was dressed in street clothes rather than bright running gear or some crazy costume!)
There were a few challenges, other than having to repeat myself for those who didn’t hear me due to the aforementioned headphones (personally I’d like to see them banned rather than just ‘discouraged’ in any event that requires listening to marshals’ instructions).
Firstly, often I’d have a group of runners come through, some of whom were 30k and some of whom were 7k or 15k runners. So rather than being able to point or direct one way, I’d have to tell one lot to go one way and another lot to go the other way. At first I was saying ‘yellow bibs straight ahead, pink/red bibs to the left’ but then people weren’t necessarily aware of what colour their bibs were, so I started saying ’30k straight ahead, 7k and 15k to the left’ – even then some people needed a bit of clarification. Sometimes bibs weren’t visible so I had to ask people what event they were in. Sometimes they weren’t even in the event at all – just out for their usual Sunday run – in which case I told them they could go whichever way they wanted!
Possibly a bigger challenge was when people (usually friends or family of runners) would ask me where the finish line was and how to get there. This happened A LOT. It usually happened just as a group of runners was approaching. So I’d have to tell them to wait while I directed the runners. Then I’d tell them where it was, and that they could just follow the runners to get there. When they’d ask me how to drive there, I’d tell them I didn’t know, as I hadn’t been there! (I have since been there and I still wouldn’t know how to drive there, but I am almost 100% certain it would be quicker to walk!)
A few people went astray but the vast majority were able to find their way to where they needed to be!
Not long before cutoff time a group of 3 runners approached, followed by Voula’s husband John who had the job of being the tail cyclist – he had to follow the last group of runners, so the marshals and drink station attendants would know that they could pack up. As super volunteer Ron was already there to pack away the signs and bollards, the only thing left for me to do was follow John and the other runners to the finish!
The runners on the whole were very courteous, as were the supporters and random passers-by. Chatting with the supporters and passers-by helped to break up the monotony in between groups of runners! I certainly wouldn’t have expected much chatter from the runners, but many of them did say thankyou which was much appreciated! (I always try to thank the marshals and drink station volunteers, it’s not that hard, and you definitely appreciate it more when you’ve been on the other side!) From those who can’t quite manage to get words out, even a grunt of acknowledgement is appreciated!
From the demeanour of the runners as they passed me, the chatter I heard at the finish, and the comments I saw afterwards on social media, it sounds like the event went very well and the feeling was generally overwhelmingly positive! (I’m sure the weather had a lot to do with the positive sentiment, but a lot of people also put many hours of work into making it happen!) The medals, given out at this particular event for the first time (and for all distances too) seemed to be a popular addition!
So if you’re running in an event, it will make the marshals’ jobs much easier if you have your bib clearly visible on the front, and listen out for their instructions (ideally not listening to music but if you need to have music, make sure it’s low enough to be able to hear the marshals!) And always try to acknowledge them if you can!
And if you haven’t volunteered at an event before (or recently), I encourage you to do so – it’s very rewarding and can be a lot of fun (sometimes more fun than actually running!)
So my rest week ended well – I’m pretty proud of these numbers:
Back to normal on Tuesday – can’t wait!