Rasita My Family, My Animals, My Food

What a day! It was a fun day though.

The atmosphere was great, there were no real crowds, there was lots of lycra, and it was a safe environment for the kids to hang out with minimal supervision. The main rule of the day was to stay out of the riders way.

First up was the kids 400m race. This was full of little kids anxious to get their chocolate fredo prize at the end. Erin was a little tentative at the beginning of the race, thinking she had to do the 2km run around the lake but once she found out the track was considerably smaller, she was happy to join in, and made a quick run around the track (she came in the first group of kids).  Mercedes was a little slower around the track, but she made it in, stopping just before the finishing line, not realising what she had to do. All this was rectified when they received chocolate and a couple of stickers.

Next up was the 8km trail run. The group was small sized, with maybe about 50-60 competitors running in it. I knew I was going to be slow so I settled myself in towards the back of the group. The only thing which did not make it a great start was two skirt wearing runners looking at me and saying something. No idea what they said, but the fact I was trying to rev myself up to mentally complete this trail, it did not help (wild imagination). Maybe they thought my dress was cute. Maybe they didn’t understand the dress (running dresses aren’t really in Australia yet, and skirts are just new here). But never mind them, the race soon started, with an easy jog around the end of the lake, which soon headed up into the hills. It was a grassy hill, on an angle, so you weren’t just running up, you were running on an angle also. There was another hill like that also! After the first km, I found my pace, and my legs warmed up  enough to not scream at me about the uneven surfaces.At one stage my foot did a 90 degree sideways bend, but fortunately nothing was hurt and I could keep on going. In the end, I finished in 1hr 10min. The best bit was that I was cheered on by both volunteers and onlookers.

The trails were great and would make a wonderful training circuit.

5 minutes after my group started, the 2km group started. In this group was Miranda and Jade. The group was small, probably about 20 people in it. Miranda enjoyed the cheering she received, and Jade just enjoyed the run. I wasn’t there to see it, but Tim was, both girls making a strong finish (a running finish). And Jade came 3rd in her age category (though she wasn’t around to collect her medal on the stand).

20 minutes after I came in, it was time for Tim to take off on his 20km mountain bike trail ride. They started this group off in various stages as there was so many of them. I had control of the camera so I started taking snap shots of the other riders, while I waited for him to finish his first lap (10km laps). Tim finished the race strong (and skidding) with   others coming in after him (and before).

We all achieved what we set out to do, and had good fun also. I think we will do it again next year.