I'd been a bit anxious about this race. I'd recently gone for a couple of big hill runs a week apart and the rough terrain had left my leg muscles in a bit of a sorry state.
It's also time to make an admission. After ten years of mountain biking and a year of running, this is the first actual race I'd ever be competing in. That honour was going to go to the St Clair Vineyard Half Marathon being held next week, but the Hanmer Half Marathon was appealing enough for me to sneak it in at the last minute.
Even on the morning of the race I didn't know how well my leg muscles would cope. I'd been for a short run last Tuesday just to see how they were going and it had been a bit of a struggle. All I could do was rest, stretch, eat, and try not to worry about it.
Race day came around and on the way up to Hanmer we were greeted by one of the best mornings I've ever seen. Nice and still, a clear blue sky and a light mist over the plains made it well worth the early start. In the distance I saw a hot air balloon and I'm sure they were having a great time watching the sun rise from above the misty plains.
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| Getting ready for the Hanmer Half Marathon (That guy on the left looks awfully familiar...) |
My legs weren't feeling too great while warming up but all I could do was wait and see. I didn't think they were too bad but couldn't really be sure. Did they just need a couple of km to warm up, was I about to embark on 21km of pain, or even worse, would I end up pulling out halfway through? There was only one way to find out.
We gathered at the start and waited for the signal. I was a fair way back in the bunch and couldn't see anything so I just started running when everyone else did. That was pretty much all I could do for the initial lap around the domain. Running in such a large bunch was a new experience.
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| Runners start the Hanmer Half Marathon |
Once we came out of the domain it was straight into the climb up Jacks Pass Road. I knew there'd be a little bit of climbing but hadn't really anticipated this much. Not that it mattered, I train on the hills quite a lot so I actually enjoyed it. It felt encouraging to pass so many people but I did wonder how many would catch up and pass me later on.
Bellbirds greeted us as we entered the forest, where the road started pointing downwards. Triple bonus. I began to wonder just how much that climb was going to affect me later. Too early to worry about that, just keep on going.
This was where I realised I was having trouble setting my pace. It's too easy to subconsciously match the pace of the people around you, and it's also easy to get sucked into trying to pass everyone. I had to just try and ignore the other runners and carry on at a "comfortable" pace.
The spectators on the course were a real highlight of the race. There weren't very many but they really did make it more enjoyable and I'm sure that anyone who was struggling would have had a real lift.
Another new experience greeted me at the first drinks station. For runs over about 10km I always carry my Ground Effect Spinal Tap (looks like they don't make it anymore... pity). So naturally I stuck with what I'm used to for the race. I figured I may as well use the drinks to supplement what I was carrying, but I found that drinking from an open cup is very difficult when running. Looks like I'll need more practice with those before I can leave the backpack behind.
Another climb presented itself at about 9km and this one felt harder than the first. Now that I have the benefit of an elevation chart I can say it wasn't quite as steep as the first climb, nor as high, but with that kind of distance on the legs already it certainly felt a bit more challenging.
After that little climb we had about 7km worth of downhill, most of which was very gentle. This was the best time to have it and I was able to run comfortably at a really good pace without very much effort. Still passing people which felt good, the training for both hills and distance was paying dividends here.
The last section of forest, after the last drink station, was the nicest part of the whole run. The forest is a bit more mixed here and there was plenty of colour to go with the nice pine-forest smell. I noticed some bike tracks that I'm going to have to check out sometime.
With about 4km to go we had a stream crossing. My legs did not need wet, heavy feet this late in the race! No way to avoid it so through I went, being careful to avoid slipping over.
My watch beeped to say I'd run the 21.1km I'd programmed into it. Great, wonderful, fantastic. Except I hadn't, there was still 1km to go so I'll need to check the calibration later.
A "School" sign in the distance indicated it was about time I picked up the pace a little for the finish. Once I turned into the finish chute, the past 21km was instantly painted over by a big old splash of adrenalin. I knew I'd be able to put on a bit of a sprint but nothing like that, I actually manged to impress myself.
In the end I finished in just under 1hr54m. I thought it was 1:49 but it looks like my watch adds an automatic "phase" marker when it thinks the race has finished, and it was that time it reported to me when I had a quick look. I'll have to wait and see what my official time was. Plus I need to find out how to add those phases manually as they could be useful.
Given the state of my legs beforehand I was happy to finish at all, and I was aiming for under 2 hours so I'm really pleased.
After a warm-down and stretch the Mrs found me and we wandered back to the car where I changed and had a bite to eat and some more Powerade.
The temperature dropped and the clouds were building as we were waiting for the prize-giving to start. This was delayed slightly as we waited for the last people to finish, who received a great deal of applause as they came down towards the finishing line.
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| Start of the prizegiving, lots of loot to be given away |
Seeing the amount of prizes on offer I was confident that I might win a spot prize. A couple of very close numbers were called but in the end I missed out. No big deal, but the Hanmer business community did well to donate so many prizes. With 1200 runners attending, mostly from out of town, along with their spouses & kids, I'm sure they would have benefitted well from the event.
I felt a bit guilty at dashing out as the 10km placegetter-prizes were starting to be called but the nearly 2 litres of Powerade I'd drunk since 10:30 was starting to filter its way through my system. We called into a nearby eatery where I took care of that and had a late lunch, then we left for home just as the rain was starting.
On the way home we turned on the 5pm news to hear about the big crash near Woodend. We thought that was curious since we were just in the Woodend area at the time. A couple of minutes later we hit the detour. There wasn't much to see by then as the road was close to being reopened.
All in all I'd had a real day to remember and I feel compelled to extend my gratitude to the organisers, the sponsors, the volunteers and the whole Hanmer community for coming together and making the event run so well. I think I'll be back next year.
Now I have a week to rest and recover for the race in Blenheim.
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