Feral Postcards
Date: Sunday, 9 September 2012
From: Kellie
Postcard from Dubbo!
It was Father’s Day with a difference for a group of Griffith Feral Joggers today!
The Dubbo Stampede took place at Taronga Western Plains Zoo from 7.30am!
The Kelly, Wood, Andreazza, Piccoli, Salvestro and Maloney families all participated in the Stampede. The 5.5km “Dingo Dash” was run entirely within the zoo and the 10km “Cheetah Chase” down the road to the historic woolshed and back into the zoo.
At 7.30am all 1800 participants (except for Robert Kelly who was running in the 10 km Cheetah Chase) lined up for the 5.5km “Dingo Dash”. We were asked to self seed behind signs of “Sub 20 minutes”, “Sub 30 minutes” and “Sub 45 minutes”.
From my own knowledge, Ava and Cheryl started up the front and the rest of us behind!
It was a “verbal count down” start, so as not to scare the animals! We all “filed slowly over” the Start/Finish line and then it was on!
There was no sign of Ava and Cheryl for the entire race, but I did come across Marg, Elizabeth and Nicholas Andreazza going past the Rhino exhibit! The kids joined me and Marg took the opportunity to “dash” off!
We had a great run, chatting, looking at the animals and encouraging each other along. Running past the animals was an awesome experience! Although the “agitated” Water Buffalo and Mongolian Horses did have Elizabeth and I worried as they ran towards the fenceline!!
Rob Kelly ran the 10km “Cheetah Chase” in 45 minutes and was pleased with his time. He said he enjoyed the run and running past the elephants on the fence was “pretty cool”.
We all received a medal for participating.
Participants had to “check” if they had placed in their age group. Lucky we did because Ava came 2nd in the Female U9 category and Cheryl came 3rd in her age group. Each were proudly awarded a trophy for their efforts!
This was only the second year the Stampede has been run. It was extremely well organised with entries taken prior to the race and with a cut off number of participants. It ran smoothly and professionally. It was a fun, enjoyable and unique experience.
I highly recommend it to all Feral Joggers next year. We will be putting it in our diaries for 2014. Come and join us!
Date: Sunday, 9 September 2012
From: Anthony
Our Feral Boys found some other feral boys at the Wagga Lake to Lagoon
Hello again! Here's another postcard - I think you should rename the Postcard page to the Savage/Salmon/Johnson page!
Hello again fellow Ferals
Back to Wagga for another run, this time the shorter 9.5km Lake to Lagoon "fun" run. Heff couldn't make the trip this time - the old man couldn't back up from the Griffith races. He is just not the Heff of old anymore. That's a pity because it was a great road trip and full of surprises.
As we lined up at the starting line Adam screamed out with joy - "That's Tony Abbot!". Photo moment. Yep, Tony Abbot & Michael McCormack were even more excited than Adam to get a photo with the Ferals.
On to running. A field of over 2000 competed in fantastic weather. Savage and Johnson finished 12th & 13th (34:46 and 34:52 respectively) and Salmon was a little further back running 42:04 (19th in his age group).
It felt good to finish, well until Savage tells us his lost the car key! After debating whether the key simply fell out of his pocket or Michael McCormack nicked during the photo shoot, we desperately starting calling family members and mechanics to see if we could snare a lift home or hot wire the Hilux. Savage to the rescue - "let's put a call over the PA system and hope like hell someone finds the key". Good idea but what are the chances of finding a key on the levee banks of the Murrumbidgee River? Anyway, miracles do happen - Adam asks the announcer if she could put a call out for the missing key and she simply smiles and presents the key! Relief all round. Apparently a young fella found the key and handed it in. Not sure if we were happier about the fact we had a car to drive home in or that we now had access to our wallets to buy a beer!
Date: Sunday, 2 September 2012
From: Brian
From Brian about his recent bit of work experience in Albury
Hi all
Had the privilege of working down in Albury last week and went on a casual run after work. It seemed like a good idea at the time and one of the locals said it was a nice course. That is running up to the war memorial that is on a hill over looking the main street of Albury. Took 15 min to get to the base of the hill then started the most intense uphill run that I have done in a long time. It just goes straight up. At about half way there is a little park and the gradient drops off for 40 meters then it's up again to road crossing so the legs get 5 meters rest before the final push to the top. Good lord it was obscene. Made it to the top, no stopping, then it's hard work coming down because it is so steep. Anyway did it again the next night just to make sure that I was not hallucinating the first night. Photo is the view from the top.
Date: Sunday, 19 August 2012
From: Anthony
Dateline: Wagga Wagga - August
Another road trip, another run. Wagga was the destination this time around and the Trail Marathon our target. OK, none of us were game to tackle the full 42k marathon but we were determined to do the Ferals proud.
Savage, Trefilo and Gullo lined up for the 10km "sprint" and showed the Wagga folk how it is done. Savage came in 3rd with a blistering time of 38:55min, beaten to the line by a couple of whipper snippers whose combined ages were still less than his! Interesting to note that one of those young guns is the younger brother of Australian Olympic triathlete Brad Kahlefeldt, showing just how good this field of runners was. Not to be outdone, Trefilo was not far behind in 4th with a time of 39:55min, pushing Savage most of the way. Gullo put in a brilliant time of 43:42 mins, one of his fastest 10km runs on record, and nailed 10th place as a result. Getting all 3 Feral runners into the top 10 (from 93 runners competing) was fantastic. Great work team!
The half marathon saw Restagno lining up for his 2nd attempt at the title after coming so close last year (2nd place, but only after some dodgy course markings - no where near the quality of courses Adam produces on Scenic Hill)! One thinks that Vince's viewing of the movie Magic Mike the night before the run may have been an omen - he lined up at the starting line and pointed out the guy with shaved legs standing next to him. "Check out his legs - any bloke who shaves his legs can run. He will win for sure." And so it was. Whoever this guy was, he blitzed the field but Restagno still managed a very respectable 4th place in 1hr 32:34min, a great effort on one of the toughest 1/2 marathon courses we have tackled. The 1st 9km's was all up hill and the last 7km was a mixture of mud and sand as we followed the river bank back the Wagga beach.
I was happy just to finish. I managed to get over the line in 1hr 52:50min and 30th position (from a field of over 100) but my inability to walk as I write this postcard tells the full story! I've never tackled a run so darn tough. Lucky Restagno brought some Coronas for us to enjoy after the race.
The drive home was very tiring for everyone. Everyone that is except Vince. The last time we saw him was in Galore, overtaking our car, chauffeured by Nicole, stretched out in the passengers seat reading the Sunday paper!
Another great day and another town graced by the presence of the Griffith Ferals. Next run is the Wagga (again) Lake to Lagoon next month - anyone keen to join us for a little more fun?
Date: Sunday, 24 June 2012
From: Johanna
Dateline: Tibooburra - June
Charles Sturt Uni School of Environmental Studies Field Trip
Working hard, real hard. Wish you were here (not!)