Thursday 2 February 2012

Super Sunset Series Race 1 - Melbourne Zoo

Yesterday I took part in my first official 'race', the Super Sunset Series. It's a series of three races, either 4 or 8km. I participated in the 8km.

Look, an actual photo of me at a run!
I say it was my first official race because I've only done fun runs before, and each time was the first time I'd gone that distance so my main aim was to finish! This time I knew I could do 8kms, so I wanted to actually race and see how I went. 

I decided that my aims for the 8km were: 
45 mins - would be happy with that
40 mins - would be at 5:00km pace, which would be awesome
-40 mins - f@#king awesome! (but unlikely).

When I got there it was great - good weather, fantastic atmosphere. I was grinning like an idiot on the way there, which only increased when I arrived!

Starting line. With added lens flare. 
After what seemed like ages, we were off! I started off well, which was good. Due to my CardioTrainer playing up I thought I went faster than I did, but I definitely started off better than usual - normally my first couple of minutes is a littler slower. We went around the zoo, and then INTO the zoo! Running through the zoo on a sunny day is definitely something I'd recommend. It's not every day that you get to run past zebras and macaws. The highlight though was definitely running through the monkey enclosures. It's a gorgeous jungle area and you get to go up a wooden walkway through several enclosures. I didn't see the lemurs (boo), but some gorgeous little monkeys. It's not too conducive to running fast though ;)

We then went around again, which was a little harder since I started out fast. It felt longer than a normal 8kms, but the monkeys were a good incentive. I tried to race home at the end but there was a guy who kept on cock-block me (aka running in front of me) and I just couldn't get through...boo. 

I also realised two things I hadn't noticed before: I started and finished on two running songs! When the siren went I was listening to 'Everybody Runs' by the Butterfly Effect (best band EVER!) and finished on 'Dog Days are Over' by Florence and the Machine. I'd never really noticed the lines "Run fast for your mother and fast for your father, Run for your children for your sisters and brothers", but it ended it quite nicely  :)

I was very lucky to be met at the end by Dan and my friend Anna. And of course, my usual running partner extraordinaire Cookie. 
Pink face, pink top. Coordination yo!

Cookie. She's not an attention whore. Promise
So all in all it was a good first run. Start to Finish put on a well organised event, with people directing us to the best toilets (you can only understand if you're there). I can't wait for the next one in two weeks!

OH! I almost posted it without saying my time! It was: 

42 mins 13.5 seconds. 

I scored 61 in my age and 470 overall out of 1,275, so feeling pretty good about it all.

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