Thursday, September 04, 2014

Tan Marathon : 4.18.37

With a 9.00 am start it was warm at the start and got warmer although not unpleasantly hot. 

11 laps of the Tan that means 11 times up Anderson Hill. Not a overly long or steep but it gets that way by the 11th time up it. The Tan is an iconic place to run in Melbourne in the city so it is busy as on a Sunday morning. But that was fine this was never intended to be quick and was just a steady run enjoying the atmosphere of running with and past others who are not in the event.

This is what is said about the Tan and Percy Cerutty:

He inaugurated the run around ‘the tan’, the track around the perimeter of the Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, still used for training and races to this day. Percy’s house was nearby. One of his former top athletes, John Landy, Governor of Victoria at the time of writing (May 2005), has his house (Government House) within it. He used to scream at Landy to run faster and faster up Anderson Street Hill (part of the Tan circuit) as he thought him too lazy and lacking the killer instinct.

There was always something to see or to run around and pass and the laps just cruised by. I was not watching the pace or the lap times and just kept in cruise mode with my thoughts sometimes on the race and running and sometimes pleasantly drifting off to other places and times. 

My 22 year daughter lives in Melbourne and is on radio. I had the weird experience of being on the shuttle bus from the airport to the city in the afternoon and hearing her on air. As I often remind her I was there for her first sounds and words.

She joined me for the last two laps and we talked the whole time about running together for the first time for along time and compared our experiences at the Queen concerts. I saw them on Wednesday in Sydney ans she saw them on Saturday night in Melbourne. Before we knew it we were approaching halfway around the last lap saw the time and put on a slight sprint to get under 4.20 for whatever significance that is. It felt important at the time. 

This weekend the last of my 10 marathons in 10 weeks with a new marathon at Dubbo. I know nothing about the course and therefore have no idea about a time. It is exciting to go to a new event and new course. 

Driving up Friday for a visit to the zoo in Saturday. 

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