My First Race

The alarm rang and got me out of bed at 6:30 am this morning and it didn't take too much to launch me up to get ready for my very first race. As I put my race gear on and ventured outside to the balcony I did have a minutes hesitation as the chilly wind went right through me. This feeling soon disappeared as I started to think about getting out there for the very first time!

On the drive to the race I noticed a building sign indicating 19 degrees C, and the rain that had been coming down on Saturday luckily had subsided.

Upon arriving at Challenge Stadium there was a buzz of activity with the main car park already full so I ventured to the adjacent fields. I strolled over to the main starting area (via a quick loo break) and was impressed by what I saw in front of me. Several people running around an oval warming up, the mc keeping us all up to date on the starting time announcing sponsors etc, and a throng of runners and their devoted families and supporters.

We got the call that the race was due to start within a few minutes and I promptly made my way in the middle of fellow runners. I think that I heard there were 500+ runners that had signed up... it didn't look quite as large but certainly there were a lot of people there. Three minutes prior to the race we stood as the aussie anthem played... people beside me were wondering why they play it apparently all the time at the races, was this the olympic tryouts? One thing it sure did achieve was keep the boisterous noise down a bit, plus give me a chill up my spine... this was it!

The countdown to our race which included both the 3km'ers, and 10km'ers began and then... Bang!

Off I went in a stampede of runners... initially it seemed like I was surrounded by people with no free space ahead of me. The pace was reasonably quick and I noticed quite a few people weaving their way between the gaps... being full of energy and excitement at this stage I followed suit and by the time the first corner hit on a major road the racing pack had gotten to roughly three people wide.

Being caught up in the excitement I went out a lot harder than the pace I had been used to. After passing the main turn off for the 3km runners I was wondering what I had gotten myself into being a bit more short of breathe than I would have like. I was so tempted to hang a quick left and just finish there and then.

Just afterwards was the first drink area at the peak of a hill that I thought I may as well indulge in. During training I never found a need to drink over 10km's but thought that I may as well. Reaching out to the kind volunteer I got my plastic cup of water and within two strides had spilled half of it on the ground. Slowing down a notch I did manage one mouthful before the rest of it went splashing to the ground. Hmm I think I need a bit more practice in this department!

We finally had a few downhill stretches midway through the race as I started to slow down somewhat but maintain a bit more of a constant pace. Around the six to eight km mark there were several runners overtaking me as stayed in my slower groove that I started off with, ie smart runners that didn't go out on all cylinders.

Over the 7th & 8th km I had a welcome little chat with two runners. So a big shoutout to the guy asking about the time, and who was telling me how his ipod got him into the zone over runs like this and half marathons. Another shoutout to the nice lady that had just come back onto the course after attending to 'i think' one of her friends that was hobbling her way back. She assured me that there were only two slight hills to go and I was there.

The hills.. yep they were slight but boy did they start to hurt in those last two km's. Finally the turn off to the stadium approached as people starting to pick up the pace left right and centre. It was a fantastic feeling having people cheering on the runners in the last few stages of the race and gave me that extra boost. I saw the clock ahead of me ticking over 53 minutes and made my final dash to the line. Phew... I did it!

I was subsequently approached by two people carrying oversized table tennis racquets winding up to hit my stomach, before I realised that it must have been the electronic timing mechanism behind my race number they were after. I then got given my finishers certificate and somewhat hobbled over to the table with cups of water as I cooled down.

All in all I far surpassed my initial goal of achieving a sub hr race, finishing 'unofficially' in 53:18 according to my watch...I'll have to wait for the official results to come through to see what I really got as I started timing a little early & finished it after the table tennis holders zapped me.

So...What did I learn from my first race? That it's the best thing since sliced bread, I can't wait to get a chance to do it again. The people associated with running, not only the runners themselves and the camaraderie that I saw, but also the fantastic level of support from the organisers & volunteers was a real eye opener. My next challenge is to get a half marathon under the belt, and who knows from there?

Special Thanks to the volunteers of the day and those two runners I had a bit of idle chat with.