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!

Date: Saturday, 22 August 2015

From: Julie

Dunc Slams First Half

July 5th 2015     ASICS Gold Coast Half Marathon

Heya ferals!

Last month, my family and I were lucky enough to 'follow the sun', have a holiday and I was finally able to participate in my first ever half marathon. I say 'finally' as ITB issues and throat infection were a couple of blighters that initially stood in my way!

On the Saturday (4th) fellow feral Leslie Taylor completed the 10 kilometre run and later with children Cooper and Haidin; the 4 kilometre run. The event seemed Taylor made as there were plenty of smiles and discussion of a return to events and maybe even a marathon in 2016!

My event started at 'sparrow farts' on the Sunday. A toilet queue hold up saw my late arrival for the starting line and placed me behind the 2 hour pacer balloon (doh!). The gun went off; it then took a couple of kilometres to get a good pace and some personal space! We headed North for the first 10.5 km; as far as Paradise Point. I experienced beautiful views of parks, bridges, marinas and of course a spectacular sunrise. The roadside support from strangers was also amazing! Most runners were courteous and it took me half the race to realise that strangers on the side were yelling out "go Julie" to me and not someone sharing my name right behind me! (Yes, blonde moment! My bib had my name on it!).

The first 14 kilometres felt awesome but after that distance I tired quickly. A lack of distance training five weeks beforehand caught up with me! However with thoughts of seeing my boys??, catching Olympian Jess Trengrove ??(dreamin'!) and a cuppucino, I 'soldiered' on and was able to complete the run. I so could have kissed the blue carpet at the finish! (posh!)

This is an awesome event which I recommend you try at least once!

GC 5km/10km/Half or Full marathon 2 & 3rd July 2016; bring it on!

Cheers and see you on the hill and hopefully the Gold Coast, Julie Duncan

Date: Friday, 29 May 2015

From: Teresa

The Calm Face

Finished my 2nd North Face 100! I finally plucked up the courage to have another crack at it after 5 years.
In 2010 I said I would never do it again. I was saying that again this year, funny how you forget!
The course was a bit different especially from about 54km, seemed to be more stairs and technical narrow fire trails this time, lots of up up and down down.
The start and finish was located at Scenic World in Katoomba. With the final kilometre including 860 step climb up the Furber stairs to the finish line, the same stairs we had descended at 5km into the race. Very much on my mind as we were descending those steps was the thought of climbing them again at 99km. Anyway I did it, after 19hrs it was wonderful to cross that finish line.
Thanks to the wonderful support of my husband Kim and youngest daughter Amy for once again making up my support team and meeting me at checkpoints 3 - 5 plus waiting to cheer me on at the finish line.   Thanks Teresa.

Date: Friday, 27 March 2015

From: Carmel

Muddi @ Gundi

A few ferals members on the weekend travelled to Gundagai to take part in the annual mud run. We started the day at 6am and travelled by bus to Gundagai. Once we arrived we had to check in and receive our tag, t-shirts and get organised before our 10:20 wave. We also had a couple of newbies to the mud obstacle course with pre nerves but these were settled once we got going. Each obstacle was a challenge for all, some found it easy some found them difficult. Only requirement was to go out and have fun and fun we did. Many laughs occurred along the way. And heaps of mud and water. They say that mud is good for the complexion however Im still not sure about that theory.  At the end of the course we received a medal, a hot meat pie and a glass of beer or soft drink, But did it all go down well, After that we had to head to the showers, if you can call them showers, a hose with a spray at the end of it. Eventually we got cleaned up to the best that we could got dressed and back on the road trip to Wagga where some went shopping, some had food and some just went to the pub. Tea was at the William Farrar Hotel, Yum Yum, then back on the bus for the long trip home. Everyone were quite exhausted by the time we hit Griffith at 10:30pm.  It was a great day enjoyed by all. Members that took part are Mel, Julie, Carissa, Carmel, Linda, Louanne, Anna and Allan. We also had some juniors Melissa, Alsyn and Beatrice. Well done everyone.

Date: Friday, 27 March 2015

From: Anthony

Precision Timing @ Yarra-wala

Is it the consistently good chicken parmies at the Terminus Hotel? Maybe the thought of a cold beer after the run? Or is it possibly just the great companionship of a bunch of Feral Joggers?

Whatever the reason, the success of our “team” this year was outstanding. Read on to find out how our hero’s fared.

Running the Yarrawonga Splash N Dash has become a staple on the running calendar, so much so that this year we had 10 Ferals crammed into 2 cars, all excited about the days forthcoming events. I can’t say we were looking forward to the trip home though – 10 sweaty & stinky Ferals crammed into 2 cars!

The day was planned with precision timing, but with Salmon driving it was debatable if the team could pull it off (he does enjoy the regular pit stop). The plan was as follows:

4:50am Rise and shine at the Salmon household
5:34am Pack daughter Isabella into the car (noting not to forget her shoes
this year as they do assist with running)
5:35am Pick up Rodney Savage
5:36am Pick up Brendon Sinclair
5:45am Pick up Jeremy Woodhouse
5:50am Meet Vince/Nicole/Breanna Restagno & Simon/Fiona Fattore
at Bunnings

We nailed it! All time targets were met to the second, the precision of the whole team simply outstanding. Surely this was a sign of our impending successes?

The regular Jerilderie pit stop came and went, when Salmon surprisingly passed on a visit. Isabella and Brendon (continuing his Wangaratta form) did elect to stop though, resulting in a collective sense of thankfulness spreading across the car once this had occurred.

Upon arriving in Mulwala, the traffic was incredible. We took the tram across the river to Yarrawonga, much to the delight of the younger ones in our midst, as this was clearly the best form of transport at such a popular event and the roads being so busy. Driving to the start line would have given us no chance of a good parking spot. However, Vince ignored the traffic and our warnings and tried his luck at driving, determined to get the closest possible position to the start/finish line. His long walk to the start line may explain why he finished so high in the race rankings – he was certainly warmed up before the race started!

The rest of us, upon exiting the tram, went for our warm up runs. Salmon was pleasantly surprised to find 4 public toilets along the 300m warm up track and declared to all present that he had at last found the ideal place to retire.

The races themselves were well organised and professionally run. The prize money on offer was clearly an attractive carrot and the strong field proved this. Whilst the weather was mild and ideally suited to running, the ferocious head winds affected everyone’s times. Here’s how we fared:

10km Run

5km Run

3km Run

Breanna Restagno was first female across the line in the 3km run but this was not a timed event. She ran a great race and the result was well deserved.

Whilst we were keen to get to The Terminus, we had to stick around and collect our winnings. Savage was impressed with his winnings (though he later went missing when it was his turn to shout) but Vince nearly missed out when the ground announcer could not pronounce his name. Rodney, who had just collected his prize, quickly whispered to the announcer the correct pronunciation of Restagno, and proceedings continued.

Vince was ecstatic when he opened his envelope and found a voucher at the local skate shop. So off he rushed, Nicole and Breanna in tow. Nicole then became more excited than Vince when she discovered said skate shop also sold men’s underwear! She picked her favourite pairs, keeping in mind the presentation when adorned by Vince. She left the store quite pleased.

The Terminus was, as usual, excellent. We wondered why Fiona Fattore had come for the road trip yet not competed. We were even more concerned for her welfare when she failed to order her own chicken parmie for lunch. As it later transpired, Fiona & Simon are expecting their first child later this year. A darn fine excuse. Congratulations to them both – wonderful news.

The trip home is Brendon’s favorite part of the day. He likes to enjoy a few (well, a lot) of roadies and this time had good company with Jeremy. We are not sure of the events in Vince’s car, although the fact we had 5 pit stops on the way home compared to their 1 tells the story.