Race Report: RunWalk Series Race 3 - Devonport

Race Website: Run Walk Website

The third race in the RunWalk series which was held on Sunday was the 6k event.  This was at Ngataringa Sports Park and naval sports facilities.

Official Stats:

Distance: 6 km
Time: 0:43:57
Pace: 07:19 min/km

Pre-Race

Dinner the night before was spaghetti with quorn Swedish meatballs in an arrabiata sauce (which is my favourite sauce!)  And we watched national lampoons Vacation. 

Kane and I had both seen movie posters for Vacation but we didn't get that it was anything to do with the old Chevy Chase movie until we were looking through the cinema website and saw a different poster with the main character wearing a Wally World t-shirt.  At first we were dismissive of it as we thought it was a remake but after watching the trailer we realised that the main character is Rusty, the son from the original movie.  Anyway, this prompted us to watch the original movie again.

After the movie it was off to bed but even though it was a good sleep, it was a hard to get up in the morning.  I had to step over the cat who was sleeping on the floor and he buried his face further into his paws when I opened the curtains.  I was pretty envious of him right then.


Azzy sleeping on my books

I had already laid out my stuff the night before so it was easy getting ready and then I made breakfast, but by the time it was ready we really should have been leaving the house.  We ate quickly and grabbed our bags and headed out.

I was feeling rushed now and for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to listen to Eastbound & Down from the movie Smokey and the Bandit.  (If I get a speeding ticket then my defence will be the song made me do it!)

We got to the race start with about 15 minutes to spare and I then spent that time in the queue for the toilets.  I got back to the start line seconds before the gun went off.

 

Auckland Harbour Bridge
 

On The Course

0-1km

I had been running for aaaages and my app hadn't told me I had passed the 1km mark yet so I had to look to see if it was set properly.  I was both horrified and disappointed that I had only been running for less than 5 minutes and had gone 0.65km!! 

However, it was a beautiful day and I enjoyed the way the light came through the trees and I saw a pukeko doing his thing amongst some marshlands.  Too much rushing meant that I just couldn't settle myself though.

1-2km

Once out of the park there's a left turn and a very steep and narrow uphill in a residential area.  I walked this as did mostly everyone else around me.  There was only room for 2 abreast on the path anyway but then it turns again and we could run on the road and into another park.

2-3km

I quite liked running through this park but then on the downhill out of the park was a lot of loose gravel and I was a little nervous running through it, but it was ok, I just look a bit crazy running over dodgy ground.  Once out onto Lake Road, this was a long incline but there was a water station just before the 3k mark.

3-4km

I still couldn't quite settle my mind and as a result I just couldn't get into a good rhythm.  I really struggled to keep running for any length of time however it was a little before the 4k mark that I spied my friend Jude who was running the 12k distance (2 laps of the same course).

4-5km

At 4k I passed Jude and then it was nice downhill section back into the park.  I wasn't sure how I was going compared to last year and I wanted to beat last years time so I tried to concentrate a little better.

5-6km

My app told me my time and pace at 5k and I realised that I could beat last years time with a little more effort.  There were cones placed along the last 1km so I used them to run fast, jog, walk the last section to the finish.

At the end I saw Kane pointing and directing me but it was confusing.  Me and the lady behind me tried to follow his directions and we slowed down and went the wrong way then had to correct ourselves.  I was pretty mad at the lost time.  Kane has now been instructed that if he wants to do something, he stands at the finish and cheers like everyone else.

In the end I was 14 seconds faster than last year.


Me, Jude and Carmy post race

Comparison with Last Year

2015	2014
0:43:57	0:44:11

Post Race

We waited for the others to finish and for our friend Kelly to come to the park.  Kelly had a sinus infection so Jude had taken her place in the race.  We had a bit of a catch-up and headed back to our cars.  The rest of the afternoon was uneventful with me making lunches for the week and having a nap and Kane mowing the lawn and having a nap.

It was far from a perfect race and I can see that I've got a lot of work to do.  The weather has got to the point where I can ditch the long sleeved top and wear t shirts now.  However the weather for each race has been exactly the same as last year so if it continues the next race is going to be extremely wet and windy!

Also in this series:

Race Report: RunWalk Series Race 2 - Alexandra Park

Race Report: RunWalk Series Race 1 - Unitec Mt Albert