Date: Saturday, 26 March 2016

From: Neil

Postcard from Timing Central

What a day.  Thanks heaps to the St Pats helpers.  They were flawless, none of the day's chaos was their fault.  It helped this year that we had 400 online entries, and needed to cope with only 100 on the day.  (Last year 200 pre entry and 300 on the day)  This is a HUGE PLUS for accuracy and sanity.

So what went wrong?  The problem was down at the mats, which were not reading all the bibs.  Early in the race they were reading about 10% of the bibs, improving to about 95% later on.  We had trialled these tags at the Half on the Hill without trouble.  We are told they should read better than the shoe tags.  More investigation required.

It was difficult, but we did get the prizegiving correct in the end.  Apologies to Angharad who got her prize but missed her moment on the podium.  And thanks to David for putting us straight.

So although our certificate printing was working fine, we could not proceed as the certificates would have had missing times, and way wrong placings.

How did we get the times then?  The GoPro takes one photo per second, so we matched runners without times between those runners with times.  Your time is correct to the nearest second.

ps Yes, I did spill coffee all over the laptop and almost stuffed it, but it dried out and is still working fine ... surely that's covered by warranty?

Date: Tuesday, 1 March 2016

From: Brendon

Oh No, Wanged Again!

Wangaratta Marathon and Fun Runs 2016
We headed to Wangaratta on Saturday afternoon arriving at our accommodation at 5pm. We needed to be up at 4:45am so a good night’s sleep was in order.

Rodney         “Hi, we have a reservation in the name of Savage”
Reception Lady     “Mr Savage, we have you booked in for tomorrow night and we’re booked out tonight”
Rodney         “oh”
Derek         “oh F#%k”
Brendon      (Crying)

With every other room in Wangaratta booked out we considered our options.
1.     Buy a donkey and see if the local inn had a vacant stable
2.     Buy camping equipment
3.     Drive home
4.     Search for a room in a nearby town

We investigated option 4 and luckily Beechworth Lunatic Asylum had one last room available and we grabbed it. Well not quite, the former nurse’s quarters for the decommissioned asylum have been renovated making it very interesting accommodation.   It was lucky Rod got the date of our dinner reservation right so we enjoyed a meal and a bottle of red (to, ahem, assist our movements the next day) then headed 35kms down the road to Beechworth.

After a reasonable night’s sleep we awoke to find the windows open, curtains flapping in the breeze and the strong smell of chloroform but more importantly a day perfect for running. We eagerly readied ourselves, packed the car and headed back in to Wangaratta to join our starting groups.

Rodney completed the 10km journey in 38:04, an impressive 7th place in the 350 strong field, while Derek also impressed finishing 30th with his 44:56. Not Derek’s best time over that distance with blame attributed to the difficulties of removing the straight jacket pre-race.   After battling with his hamstring for more than a week Brendon managed to line up and complete the marathon in 3hrs 33mins, above his target time of 3hrs 30min but an eleven minute PB certainly made those post-race beers taste good. He placed 32nd of the 130 starters.

We also bumped into Keith & Val. Keith finished the 10km race in 88th and Val competed in the 5km event.

So that was Wang run and done for another year. Maybe you’ll join us next year – know how to book a motel?

P.S. The parmies at Yarrawonga were as good as ever although Derek was disappointed he wasn’t offered a lei with his Hawaiian variety.

Rodney, Derek, Brendon

Date: Tuesday, 15 December 2015

From: Carmel

Casino, Eats, Shops, Pubs ... oh yeh, and a Run

The Sussan Fun Run in support of Breast Cancer Network 6/12/15
What a great weekend was had by all. Leaving mid-afternoon on Friday for the road trip to Melbourne. Of course we had the mandatory stop at the Big Strawberry for scones, jam and a cuppa-  yum yum. We arrived at Albert Park at our accommodation, a quick change of clothes then we headed off into the city. However we encountered our first dilemma, we needed myki cards for the trip on the trams. Lucky we spotted a 7/11 on our way to the tram stop. With our cards in hand off we went into the city. Got off at Flinders Street, the whole CBD was abuzz with activity, walked along South Bank to the casino for some tea. Was a bit on the late side though. Tried our luck at the tables, no good, and bags in hand we headed back to the CBD. Found a great pub at Young n Jackson where we danced till the wee early hrs. On our way back to the tram stop we walked into Federation Square where we saw the amazing Lego sculptures. We were kids again. Caught the tram back to St Kilda for some well earnt sleep. We did have an early rise on the Saturday for some shopping and decided to hit the Bourke Street Mall and the DFOs. Wow great venues for Christmas shopping. Great bargains in hand we decided to leave the city at about 5:30, an early tea and a dip in the Resort pool. Very relaxing. Sunday morning all up early for our walk to Catani Gardens in St Kilda. The walk was a great warm up, the atmosphere was buzzing and a sea of pink was to be seen. What an amazing sight. We all achieved PBs and decided we will be back next year. On the road again for the trip home and the chatter kept us awake. Stopped in Shepparton for the compulsory toilet break and some lunch and coffee and fuel.  
We all had a great weekend away thanks Donna, Julie, Carissa, Linda and Louanne. Look forward to our next trip away.

Date: Wednesday, 4 November 2015

From: Wendy

How Many Legs Does Jelly Have?

Some of us had a recent weekend in Melbourne. 12 ferals in fact that were variously signed up for the 10km run, the half marathon and the marathon. For all four of us that completed the 21km half marathon distance Melbourne was a first. Di Keenan's only comparable experience of an out of town event is the City2Surf and she says she found the Melbourne Half had more of a relaxed feel and that it was awesome running into the MCG.  Lyn, Nicole and I all felt the same. Running through the tunnel and then out into that great open space (not to a roaring crowd but oh well) was a memorable finale especially when the legs had turned to jelly coming off the bridge leading into the MCG. Nicole said she liked running past Melbourne's historical buildings which made me wonder what I was looking at as I didn't even notice. The run course is a bit similar to that of the 15k City2Sea run which I have completed 4 years running now. Not overly scenic but the finish made it memorable. Any excuse for a weekend in Melbourne. Sandra Altin completed the 10km run which was an achievement but so far as I know she has no time to show for it as she seemed to have dropped out of the system. Well done anyway. We know you were there. My daughter also ran the 10km with a friend, her first attempt at that distance. She never was a feral but now she's a runner.

Date: Monday, 2 November 2015

From: Janet

Two Legs the Norm in Melb

On 18 October 2015, five Griffith Ferals made their way to the start line of the 37^th Melbourne Marathon. The temperature, about 12°C and overcast, outstanding conditions for the race. The skies looked threatening, but it stayed cool, with no rain. We found our pace groups and waited anxiously for the starter’s gun to sound. No matter how much training you’ve done, there’s always a nagging doubt that it hasn’t been enough and you’re going to hit the wall well before the finish! Nearly 7,000 were participating this year, among them Adam Johnson attempting his first Melbourne Marathon, Lena Sergi and Richard West taking part for the second time, Janet Mazzarolo running my third Melbourne and Feral legend Teresa Burgess was lining up for the 13^th time.

The starting gun went off at 7am and we headed out along Brunton Avenue and onto St Kilda Road, reaching the 5km and 10km marks in a lap around Albert Park. We then turned onto Fitzroy Street towards the long , long scenic route on Beaconsfield Parade in St Kilda, along the bay for about 12kms. We had a nice tail wind down to the first turnaround on Bay Street and were then greeted by a bit of a fresh sea breeze down along to the next turnaround near the 25km mark before heading back into the city. There was a slight incline past around 30kms, then back along Fitzroy Street and the hard slog back along St Kilda road. The sun managed to break through the clouds around 10am, but it wasn’t too warm, yet. At 35kms, under a bridge, there were few runners in rough shape, being treated by paramedics, but the only thing worrying me was my screaming quads. By this time, most of us were just hanging on to finish, when a mere 7kms to go seems like 20! At about kilometres 37 to 40, we ran through the botanical gardens where cheering spectators tried to spur us on and a darling child handing out much appreciated icy poles, which just got me through the last 2 kilometres. Turning right out of the gardens, we finally ran back onto Brunton Avenue, along the train tracks, to head into the tunnel leading into the MCG. I could hear the crowd cheering inside from about 800 meters away, and suddenly you feel no pain or exhaustion as you emerge onto the grounds of the MCG to run a little over half a lap, the sun shining and spectators cheering – it’s such an awesome feeling, almost worth the pain.

All five Ferals finished on their two, but aching legs: Adam Johnson with an amazing time of 2.55, finished 125^th overall, 19^th in his age group and 115 out of males. He kept his pace under 4mins/km for an incredible 20km. Lena Sergi was the next fastest with a time of 3.48. I stayed with Lena for all of 2 kilometres, at the start, but she was feeling much fitter and ran on to find the 4 hour pace group and she kicked their butts! Teresa Burgess was close behind Lena and wasn’t feeling the magic on the day but despite this, finished in a very respectable 3.50. Next out of the Feral contingent was Richard (Charlie) West who got to train with “Angels”. I ran with Richard for about 10km, but I couldn’t keep pace with him and had a rest at a water stop around the 30km mark, and he went on ahead to finish in 4.24, a terrific effort. I was just happy to finish after doing most of my training with one niggling ache or another, in 4.31. Not my fastest, but not my slowest, so all good! A fabulous weekend was had, along with the Half Marathon girls, Di Keenan, Lyn Evans, Wendy Minato, Nicole Dehnert, lone 10km racer, Sandra Altin and Rita McIver-Fascianelli, who was out of the running with an injury but was a super cheer squad. Thanks to Lena for the incredibly delicious pasta dinner the night before and to Teresa who knows the best pubs in Melbourne!