I left home at 5:30am so as to have plenty of time to drive carefully, put in a late entry form and do a 10 minute warm-up. I was about 2km onto the freeway heading towards Canberra when....... BANG! A tyre blew, split in half & lay shredded on the road! It also happened to be pitch dark and not a light in sight. In the breakdown lane I put the hazard lights on & waited for a dirty big truck to roar along, plough into the back of me and send me into oblivion! Such was the panic I was in and I really had my heart set on running this particular 5km race.
Several dirty big semi-trailers did pass but eventually one giantic one with a million lights shining trough the blackness, stopped and out hopped a small but chivalrous driver to come to my assistance! I had already phoned the NRMA person who, it turns out, was given the wrong directions & sent off to the Old Hume Highway instead of the Freeway! He phoned to see where I was & soon was on the spot to put some air into the tyre; the semi-trailer driver wasn't able to do this. God bless him for stopping though & saving me some time!
Meanwhile panic was rising fast; nearly 45 minutes had elapsed & I could see myself having to turn around & go back to bed. After the NRMA technician put air into the tyre; I looked at my watch & had an hour and a bit to get to Canberra before registrations closed at 8:30am. For a few seconds thoughts flashed through my mind : will I go home? will I make it in time? No use arriving after entries had closed. The freeway was empty at that hour even though the sun was now up and, without further thinking, I took off like Dr Who in his flying machine!
I made it to Canberra at 8:10am; Ewen queued up for me to register while I went off and tried to cool down & at the same time do a warm-up! No problem! I was in the first row at the start line of over 1000 women & girl runners!
A great day! I loved it! I didn't run a PB but I was happy with 31:25 in a crowd where it was impossible to get ahead on the way out & then a mighty wind coming across the lake on the return leg.
The results are already up on the website. I got 1st in my age category & had to go up onto the stage to receive my medal and shake hands with the attending dignitaries. Second place in my category was 42:18 and third 1:02:13. So, why wouldn't I be as pleased as Punch!
After sitting on the grass on a sunny, Sunday morning, Ewen, Strewth & I walked over to Regatta Place restaurant & partook of pancakes with caramelised bananas & cream!
The drive home was surprisingly uneventful but I was tensed up the whole time thinking a wheel might fly off any minute & send me into eternity....wherever that is! Anyhow, it wasn't meant to happen and it didn't!
All things dramatic considered, I had a really great day & thoroughly enjoyed the 5km race.
We thoroughly enjoyed your visit. After such a dramatic start you ran a fantastic race - huge congratulations on that lovely gold medal. It was really great to catch up and brunch was such fun! See you in 3 weeks for more fun! :)
ReplyDeleteI thought you might be a bit flat after all your recent hard training, but I didn't mean literally flat!
ReplyDeleteWell done! Many a 43-year-old would be overjoyed with a time like that.