"Run Y'Ass Off" was organised by Elite Energy, better known for organising triathlons and while for the most part it was well organised, there were a few glitches. For example, there were only 4 port-a-loos at the start/finish; there was a very tight hairpin turn coming down a steep hill into the last kilometre (which a few runners overshot and which caused others grief when trying to brake at speed); and the course was almost 22kms. However, none of those imperfections affected me too much. Being an old timer I got in the queue for the loo early, the hairpin turn was in the process of having additional red cones put around it as I came hurtling down the final hill, and over 21-22km of a VERY hilly course, what's another 700-800 metres? :)
While Elite Energy had posted a map of the course on the website, the site continued to say "elevation profile coming" but it never seemed to be posted. Given how hilly the course was many of us wondered if that was a deliberate tactic as I'm sure many runners would have been put off by the frequency and steepness of both the inclines and declines.
The race started on the road at the bottom of a hill and the first 2km was up and then up some more. After that we took a hard left hand turn, hit the dirt trail and continued to go more up than down for the next ~20+km. It certainly was challenging. But, I loved it. The trail was in pretty good condition, although there were patches of loose surface gravel and in some places the camber was cruel, but it was mostly wide enough to be able to choose where you ran. The views of the rolling hills and green farmland were lovely, almost relaxing. And the country sounds of cows moo-ing and birds singing added to the freedom of it all and made the tough uphills more tolerable.
I ended up finishing in 1.49 and placed 7th female outright; and 1st in my "little old lady" age group of 50-59yrs.
I would do this event again and I'd recommend it to others.
7 comments:
Am looking for an event to run mid-late November now .....
Maybe this one: http://runwiththewind.com.au/ ??
Sounds great! I'll enter early and run next year. You did well - that's a great time for a LONG hilly HM. My friend Rachel http://runnerrachel.blogspot.com.au/ was complaining about the hills but she hasn't posted a race report yet.
You could run Deep Space half marathon, it's exactly 21.1 kms. A couple of hills.
Well done at Yass, good running.
I'll be in VIC again on the w'end of the Deep Space 1/2 Marathon Two Fruits. But maybe the Tour De Ridges in Dec?????
Congrats on the 1st place on the podium and the finishing time.
About the longer distance... often it happens. I remember in 1987 the Vivicittà World in Rome (an event for the World Cup of Athletics) 12 km. became almost 15 and in 1999 the Half Marathon of Civitavecchia was 23,9 km long.
Thanks Black Knight, and you are right, it's common for some courses to be inaccurately measured. It seems more common in trail running events. I suppose straight sealed road is easier to measure more accurately. I'd love to run the Rome Marathon one day. It's on my list :)
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