Toowoomba marathon

Notes from the Toowoomba marathon 6 October 2013.

travel out from Brisbane at 3am
still dark at registration
hundreds of runners, usq grounds
35 marathon, 16 3/4 marathon, 99 half-marathon, 125 10km
shivering cold but forecast temps to nudge 30degrees

at 3km in, runner says 'this is better than mowing'. 'I concur' said I.
but in the middle of third lap, I was conquered and thinking 'I'd rather be mowing'.
many first-time marathoners
one runner ran the Penrith marathon in nsw the day before. amazingly awesome!
consumed 32 cups of water and fluids all up from the four water stops
towards end of race- heat shimmer looking like pools of water
runner in distress from heat(?) at finish

No run is perfect, but everybody won.

the top females

many older runners doing great times
top 50 finish

other events in toowoomba that same day
cycling and vintage car show
runners win, feet down

after race, to picnic point for 20min nap under spreading gum trees
scenery and landscape looking brown
glamorgan vale
old fernvale bakery
mt glorious
home.

When in Roma

The Roma area is the birth place of Australia’s Oil and Gas industry.

With a diverse economy and excellent infrastructure Roma is the top regional centre for much of Queensland’s South West.

The largest cattle-selling centre in the southern hemisphere is in Roma.

But even with its booming agriculture, gas and oil industry, modern infrastructure and cosmopolitan feel, Roma has retained much of its country charm and hospitality.

On his fourth expedition in 1846, from nearby Mount Abundance where he was exploring, Surveyor-General Sir Thomas Mitchell reportedly wrote, “I … beheld the finest country I had ever seen in a primeval state – a champaign (meaning ‘undulating country’ in archaic French dialect) region, spotted with wood, stretching as far as human vision or even the telescope would reach.”

Roma was originally home to the Mandandanji Aboriginal people.