Half-marathon run.
Brisbane this year suffered some of its worst flooding ever. And to repeat myself, the spirit and character of Queenslanders is typified by their resilience. They get knocked down but they get up again, and run around the river again.
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| The camera, like the runner, is still sleepy. |
On 7 August 2011, I arrived to an almost deserted Brisbane about 0515h. The city’s streets of course were well lit and also well occupied by cars. I have no idea whose cars are parked in the CBD at this early time, but I am certain many of these cars are driven by early-bird runners. After doing a couple of laps around I found a spot on Edward Street about 300m from the botanic gardens, venue for the start and finish line. The gardens was still dark at 0530h but already the place was milling with runners, volunteers, and a couple of mobile coffee stalls. There is a newly installed flood marker at the entrance to the gardens. This showed the flood levels of the 1974 and 2011 floods. The 2011 flood line was about waist height but not as high as the 1974 marker at about head height. I only saw this marker after the race. It quickly roused me from feeling totally buggered, to thinking of how truly frightening and devastating, are the forces wreaked by the fury of nature. The high and mighty floodwaters have swamped these gardens only seven months ago. One could not imagine that, on that morning of the 20th running of the Brisbane running festival.
The annual Brisbane running festival is a major running event. Many bemoan the fact that Brisbane does not have a proper marathon event but that may change. The run was staged around the botanical gardens and then along the southern banks of the beautiful Brisbane river.
The venue of the festival has shifted from southbank to the northbank at the Riverstage in the city botanical gardens.
The Brisbane river was at its roaring worst in January. I have mentioned the floods a few times now and will do so again, for the 1 in 100 year flood event, is just that – a 1:100 year occurrence. I may not see one again in my lifetime, but then again I may. The Brisbane river winds around about 50 kilometres of the City that bears its name. From Wivenhoe dam west of the D’Aguilar range to the sea on Moreton Bay, I have traversed much of the length of the river.
I ran the 10km run in this event last year. But this year I thought to have a go at the half-M. I got back from the gasfields 12 days before the runfest. In those 12 days I managed to sneak in a 10km run in the park2park, as well as a couple of 7km Wednesday runs with the bunyavilletrailrunners. I rounded off my 12-day preparation with a few short runs.
The start and finish lines were moved to the riverstage in the city botanical gardens. The route of the Brisbane running festival includes a loop though the botanic gardens and across the river on Goodwill bridge. It then follows a good stretch of the southern banks of the river from West End through South Brisbane to Kangaroo Point. Along the section of the run route, there are seven bridges across the river. Four of these are for vehicles (The Go-between bridge, Captain Cook bridge, Victoria Bridge and Grey Street bridge), two for pedestrians (Kurilpa bridge and Goodwill bridge), and one for trains only (Grey Street bridge). I think the organisers are considering calling the Brisbane marathon ‘the seven bridges’ run. We can include Story bridge in place of the railway bridge.
Along the run route are many of the iconic spots in Brisbane. The start line is right next to the City Gardens café. The loop around inside City Gardens is about 2.11 km.
The course heads south through the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Gardens Point campus courtyard before going towards Goodwill Bridge. These places seem vaguely familiar. And I have a feeling of deja vu, like I may have been here before, one cool night in the past.
Once across the 700m bridge it enters the South Bank Grand Arbour (3.8km) and then joins the Clem Jones Promenade in Southbank Parklands going upstream. At Victoria Bridge it gets onto River Boardwalk through Kurilpa Park and on towards Riverside Drive. It then goes under the Go-Between Bridge and continues along through suburban streets and Davies park (7km) in West End, to a turning point in Orleigh Park in Hill End (9.6km).
From this upstream most point of the run, the route turns and goes all the way back to and past the Goodwill Bridge to Lower River Terrace (15km), then continues downstream towards Kangaroo Point. It goes past and under Captain Cook Bridge to the Kangaroo Point cliffs (16km) and on to Captain Burke park (17.7) under the Story Bridge. Again it turns around and heads back towards the Goodwill Bridge (20.5km). It turns right for one final little incline at the Goodwill Bridge and then back towards the finish line at the lower section of Riverstage. The marathoners do two laps with a slight variation.
The race started at 0600h on the dot. Some 21.1km and 2:11 later I crossed the finish. I actually finished in a net time of 2h08m49s, exactly 2’11” under 2h11m. I was feeling okay up to about 15 or 16km, when the lack of training told and I faded away from a 2-hour finish time.
Having said that, after two half-marathons, this is my second best time ever J (and I did a PB on my first half-marathon).
Thanks to the army of volunteers, race marshalls, and the secondary school students who make it possible for those of us to serve our penance, but that’s just speaking for myself.
And the winners are: All the runners.
The place-getters:
Marathon
1 Justin Creek 2:44:31.7
2 Ralf Hamann 2:44:58.3
3 Chris Taylor 2:49:03.8
Half Marathon
1 Trent Harlow1:12:45.0
2 Geoffrey Berkeley 1:16:52.9
3 Craig Pascoe 1:19:05.6
10km
1 Peter Nowill 30:26.7
2 Matthew Hawke 32:04.2
3 Ben Shaw 35:12.9
2km Beginner
1 Caleb Ackland 8:06.6
2 Alexandra Clements 8:14.9
3 Liam Hampson 8:22.6
1 Justin Creek 2:44:31.7
2 Ralf Hamann 2:44:58.3
3 Chris Taylor 2:49:03.8
Half Marathon
1 Trent Harlow1:12:45.0
2 Geoffrey Berkeley 1:16:52.9
3 Craig Pascoe 1:19:05.6
10km
1 Peter Nowill 30:26.7
2 Matthew Hawke 32:04.2
3 Ben Shaw 35:12.9
2km Beginner
1 Caleb Ackland 8:06.6
2 Alexandra Clements 8:14.9
3 Liam Hampson 8:22.6
Place Name Bib No Overall Time
Overall Female Overall Winners
1 Clare Geraghty 1324 4 1:19:11.6
2 Tara Gorman 1342 22 1:25:01.5
3 Tammy Egstorf 1263 37 1:28:36.2
Female U18
1 Lauren Dixon 1239 756 2:00:08.3
2 Kayla Gilbert 1329 833 2:03:24.6
3 Lauren King 1486 996 2:09:58.3
Female 18 to 29
1 Charlotte Hockey 1411 64 1:31:37.2
2 Nathan Lindsay 2130 85 1:33:26.8
3 Nicola Potter 1735 106 1:34:57.7
Female 30 to 39
1 Pieta Hynes 2343 40 1:28:46.5
2 Andrea Appleton 2344 51 1:30:17.4
3 Liz Fancutt 2391 103 1:34:39.9
Female 40 to 49
1 Jo Sherman 2353 62 1:31:38.1
2 Clare Williams 2093 99 1:34:14.7
3 Carolyn Seipolt 1810 134 1:36:38.7
Female 50 to 59
1 Muriel McLean 1607 170 1:38:41.5
2 Betty Wedding 1977 285 1:43:48.9
3 Lesley Noreiks 1672 322 1:45:04.4
Female 60 to 69
1 carol coburn 1182 442 1:49:39.5
2 Sandra Brett 1107 698 1:58:30.5
3 Denise Drury 2135 961 2:07:40.0
Overall Male Overall Winners
1 Trent Harlow 2139 1 1:12:45.0
2 Geoffrey Berkeley 2484 2 1:16:52.4
3 craig pascoe 1713 3 1:19:04.5
Male U18
1 nicholas scarponi 2094 29 1:27:29.9
2 Louie Hadfield 1364 35 1:28:19.5
3 lachlan pascoe 1714 132 1:36:33.4
Male 18 to 29
1 Dan Nunan 2302 6 1:19:56.8
2 Daniel Wright 2335 7 1:19:59.1
3 steve whiteman 2415 17 1:23:33.4
Male 30 to 39
1 Stephen Gurr 2354 5 1:19:30.7
2 justin hunter 2164 8 1:20:03.1
3 Nic VAN DER MAAT 1935 9 1:20:03.2
Male 40 to 49
1 Andrew Douglas 1246 15 1:23:02.2
2 David Whiteman 1989 16 1:23:27.3
3 David Sharpe 1815 18 1:23:33.8
Male 50 to 59
1 Alan Peacock 1718 28 1:27:28.5
2 Tim Lanham 1506 31 1:28:04.1
3 Geoff Oliver 2105 41 1:29:00.2
Male 60 to 69
1 Michael Briggs 1110 141 1:37:14.4
2 Christopher Paul 1716 148 1:37:50.4
3 Peter James 1439 190 1:39:38.7
Male 70+
1 Colin Woods 2017 504 1:51:59.5
2 Reg Hogan 2092 707 1:58:51.2
3 Bob Williams 1996 847 2:04:01.9
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