Stronger than a locomotive

Well, stronger than the ladies locomotive that set off after the mens locomotive and ran about 16 minutes slower than then mens locomotive

Maybe one day I will be fit enough to beat the mens train.

After wanting to do this one for a while I finally was able to take part in the Great Train Race and we were blessed with a perfect mountain morning, clear blue skies and cool but not cold, ideal race conditions. A quick word by way of explanation from anyone not familiar with this event, 2 steam trains set off, one mens train (generally takes 53 to 55 minutes to reach the end) and a ladies train (about 71 to 75 minutes) and we race a hilly 13.2 Km through streets and trails from Belgrave to Emerald, an exceptionally beautiful part of Victoria.

My Mum gave me a lift up the mountain along with my Aunt and her partner who was running the race too, my Aunt rode Puffing Billy to the finish line, they were down from Sydney so I was glad we had some nice weather to show off. At the start line I caught up with all the usual suspects, Andrew, Mark, Jed, Rupert, Tony, Sam and Michael (I was the token Girl, none of my mates of the fairer sex were running this year). The boys of course were pretty gung ho and were mostly up for going hard and beating the mens train, I on the other hand declared resoundly that I was buggered from yesterday and was simply out for a nice scenic Sunday run, beating the ladies train could wait until next year.

The CFA were trying to keep us off the road until right before the start but pretty soon we reached critical mass and flooded the start area, just try keeping a wave of keen runners back! After the national anthem and count down from 10 were were off! SLOWLY! It was a down hill start and I took the opportunity to work my way though the slower runners. It didn’t take long for the first hill to arrive and I put my head down and worked my way up slowly then passed through 2km in about 9 and a half minutes, so much for going easy

I can’t really remember the whole course, however there was a good 1.5km worth of climbing up the next hill, not massively steep but the damn thing went on for bloody ever! Confession Time! I walked part of this section, only allowing myself 30 seconds worth before picking up again, my worst Km was between (I think) 6 and 7 where I clocked a 7 minute km It was at this moment that a guy from my club who was running with his wife chose to run past me, great I was only walking for a little bit, honest! Happy to say that this was the only hilly bit I walked though, after the 8km mark I managed to run reasonably strongly up every other hill.

I managed to run strong downhill and on the flats to make up for the slow uphills, when I got to the 2nd rail crossing at Menzies Creek and was told that we were ahead of the ladies train I am afraid all notion of an easy run went out the window. Curse my competitive nature, can’t let the train catch me now! I stayed strong and reached the 10km mark feeling reasonably well and surprised that there was only 3km left, about 2km from the finish we turned onto a lovely trail that followed the train line. In the distance I could hear the whistle and the race was on, I had come too far to let the train beat me now. Everyone was very well behaved here, considering it was a narrow trail, the slower runners mostly kept left and I was able to gain quite a few places over the closing 2km, this was also mostly flat and down hill. The kind souls had even erected a sign to let us know when there was only 500 metres to go.

There was a tiny little incline just before the finish line, I gritted my teeth and powered up and YAY, there was the finish line and the train was well and truly behind me. Then there was a bit of an anti-climatic finish, I am used to running right under the finish barrier, even in big events. However today I had to abruptly pull up before running into the back of the runner in front and then had to stand in a queue to have my race number scanned. DAMN, I stopped my watch in 1:06:27 but it took over 2 minutes to get to the guy scanning the numbers so they are probably going to clock me as closer to 1:08:00 or higher But hey I BEAT THE TRAIN, well the ladies train anyway, not sure when it rolled in but I did beat it.

Honestly for a $40 entry free you reckon there would be chip timing, hell I would happily pay an extra couple of bucks if they could chuck in the chip timing, makes it easier to administer for the organisers.

Anyway, that was my only complaint, I thought it was a wonderful event, a stunning course that was a heap of fun to run, even with those hills and I will definitely be back next year, I have unfinished business with that second hill.

Phew, big weekend of running, shall sleep like a log tonight.

Puffing Billy in action