28 replies to this topic

[wombatoutofhell]

Put the Sunday of Queens Birthday weekend in your calendars-we're doing it again!

Last year a small group of runners set off to recreate the original Melbourne Marathon course-with a couple of slight changes.  It started with Soy Latte, Luckyguy, Staypuff and myself, with a huge cheer squad of ummm-well 2 cyclists (Greybeard-sporting a new clean shaven look so none of us recognised him and Wobblyman), Mrs Wombat and Mrs Luckyguy seeing us off.  PB joined us for a bit, Staypuff, in a major break from character, pulled out at 24km because her physio told her too!!, Maryclaire joined us for the second 1/2 and EatEm and Duckgirl joined us for 32km or so.  Mrs Wombat drove the support vehicle stocked with food and drinks and 3 of us ran the full distance. Afterwards had lunch and coffee at Southbank, topping off a perfect day.

Feeling bad that you missed such a great day?  Well don't be-cause we're doing it again!

Date/Time-Sunday 13th June, 9:00AM

Place-We'll start from One Mile Bridge, but if needed we can meet at Frankston Station earlier and ferry runners to the start.

Support-this is a Fat Ass run so support is limited.  Mrs Wombat will be following the main group with the car and food/drinks.  Anyone wanting to have a change of clothes at the finish can put them in the car as well.  For safety's sake, all runners need to exchange mobile numbers with Mrs Wombat so if we lose you we can find you again.  Runners are expected to advise Mrs Wombat if they pull out along the way.
Getting back to the start or where you left your car is for you to arrange.  Mrs Wombat and I can drive a couple back but that's it.  If you park at Frankston Station you can just catch a train back from town.

Route-Same as last year: Start at One Mile Bridge (Corner Overton Rd and Nepean Hwy), follow Nepean Hwy to Mordialloc, then head along Beach Rd and then The Esplanade to Brighton, then move onto the path along the beach to St Kilda, run up Fitzroy St and then St Kilda Rd to finish under the spire at the arts centre.  Last year this measured very slightly over marathon distance at 42.8km on my garmin.
 Long_Frankston_to_Melbourne_7_06_2009.jpg   214.41K   16 downloads

Pace-Last year we stayed as a group for most of the run but finished as 2 pair.  I was in the back pair and we were about 6:30 pace.  I'd suggest about 6:00 pace for most, but there could be some faster and some slower.  Everyone is welcome to run at whatever pace they want but bear in mind the support vehicle will be where the most runners are.

After party-Well maybe not a party-depending on how many of us there are I'd suggest going to the food court at Southbank for a meal and coffee and tall stories!

Distance-There is no need to do the whole run.  Anyone can feel free to join us at any time.  Last year some suggestions were (based on about 6 min pace):
9.00am Frankston - 42.2km -
10:10am Aspendale - 30.xkm (Mordialloc 28km)
11.00am Black Rock - 19.xkm (Haydens Road/Beach Road intersection ~21.1km)
11:35am Sandringham - 16.4km (Small St north of Hampton Street ~15km)
12:10pm Bay Street, North Brighton - 10km
12:40pm St Kilda Station - 5km
1:15pm Arts Centre finish

With drink stops and everything, last year we finished later than this-about 2 if I remember right.

As this is only 2 weeks after Williamstown Marathon, I'm not sure if I'll run it all myself.  I'll definitely be there though, either running or supporting.  If anyone else feels like supporting with a second car, that would be great.

That's all I can think of for now-looking forward to seeing you all there.  If anyone interested can post with their pace and distance, it would be appreciated.

Wombatoutofhell-6:00 pace - 42.? distance.

[supersam]

Registering interest... I would like to do this but I'll have to see where my body is closer to the date

Wombatoutofhell-6:00 pace - 42.? distance.
Supersam-5:x pace - 42.2

[rohan]

supersam, on Apr 27 2010, 10:46 PM, said:

Supersam-5:x pace - 42.2

is that about 5;00/km or 5;59/km?
just curious as i figure if i can work this into the training schedule...

[luckyguy]

Hi WOOH, like yourself I'm running the Willy marathon 2 weeks prior but I feel confident that I'll be able to back up for this one as well at 5.30/6.00 min. pace.

And yes it was a perfect day (despite loosing a contact lens at the start - which made for an interesting experience). Mrs. WOOH provided fantastic support and the intermittent extra company along the way was just great. If I remember right, we were also met at Mordialloc by a male runner (if you're reading this, apologies for forgetting your name) who turned off near Sandringham. I also remember Soy latte torturing me from about 1/2 way with the thought of a hot coffee. Admittedly, the latte after was the best ever.

I'd certainly encourage others to get on board with this run and experience the old Melbourne marathon course, if not all then part of it. Once again I'll bring along some paraphernalia from the Big M/Budget Marathon days.

Cheers, Michael.

Edited by luckyguy, 28 April 2010 - 02:05 PM.

[supersam]

rohan, on Apr 28 2010, 09:48 AM, said:

is that about 5;00/km or 5;59/km?
just curious as i figure if i can work this into the training schedule...

Unsure at this stage... I'll let you know closer to the day, but somwhere inbetween is likely.  If luckyguy and a few more are on 5:30 then I'll stick to that.

[Tiger Boy]

Will give it some thought, but would prefer an earlier start so I can get back and watch my beloved tigers get belted again.     
Would be happy to run at 5.15(ish) pace, but probably not the full monty. Somewhere about 30ish kms would be sufficient I think.

[JC1]

Wombatoutofhell,
                          Was planning to do the willy 1/2 but something has come up so this would be a good alternative, could do about 30 -35 k at 5:30 pace.

JC

[M12]

I think I owe everyone Big M's from last year.

What flavours do we all want?

[essaytee]

Damn, I was seriously considering this and mentally figuring out the transport arrangements, leaving my car in the city, catching a train to Frankston.   All to no avail, this same day, at 4.30 am I'll be watching the World Cup, Eng v USA.   I've got all the Australia & England games listed in my diary and plan on watching everyone of them.   All I've got to do now is arrange afternoon shifts to suit.

[JC1]

Up date: WOOH planets have aligned  and can now make the willy 1/2, going for PB so will have to give this a miss.

Cheers JC

[Tiger Boy]

Looks like the run around Doongalla will clash with this, and as it's only a 10min drive for that one, I will likely do that instead.
As this run is only a week after the Mountain run, and a day after the Bluestone, my legs would have been pretty trashed anyway.
Good luck to you guys (and girls) that are doing it though. One day.....

[RunningM]

I might be up for this - will see how I pull up on Sunday after the Willy Half, have been fighting off a cold / sore throat etc, will probably meet you guys half way somewhere and run about 15 - 20km, will keep an eye on the thread and let you know for sure next week!

[luckyguy]

Hi David (aka grandpa WOOH), it seems there is a clash of training runs on this day, with another organised by Zandrsmum in the hills of Doongalla.

My preference is still F2M even though the numbers will most likely be small.

So I'll leave it in your court but I'm very happy to support this event.

Cheers, Michael.

[wombatoutofhell]

I notice everyone is stealing my date-there's a you yangs training run that day as well.  Bloody annoying since I was first,  but what do you do?  Most of those who expressed interest in this have now decided to go to Doongalla instead-it may yet be just you and me!

[luckyguy]

Then I'll be in very good company, won't I? I'll meet you at 'one mile bridge' David, for a 9.00 am start.

Just another thought regarding Grizzly Bears effort of 3 marathons in 4 weeks. With GC, we'll be looking at 3 in 5. That'll be good effort for a couple of 'older blokes'.

M.

[wombatoutofhell]

luckyguy, on Jun 2 2010, 06:08 PM, said:

Then I'll be in very good company, won't I? I'll meet you at 'one mile bridge' David, for a 9.00 am start.

Just another thought regarding Grizzly Bears effort of 3 marathons in 4 weeks. With GC, we'll be looking at 3 in 5. That'll be good effort for a couple of 'older blokes'.

M.

true, but can we count a fat ass? it will be a fairly easy run-i dont want to break myself!

[RunningM]

Sorry guys, I'm out - husband's work is sending him to Paris (very short notice he leaves tomorrow for 10 days) so I will be with the kids.
Have fun!

[wombatoutofhell]

So far we have:
Luckyguy
Wombatoutofhell.

Possibly Frankie.

Small field!  At least it's easy for Mrs Wombat to support!

[Timbo76]

wombatoutofhell, on Jun 6 2010, 09:17 PM, said:

So far we have:
Luckyguy
Wombatoutofhell.

Possibly Frankie.

Small field!  At least it's easy for Mrs Wombat to support!

Count me in, a move of childrens sporting commitments has freed up this Sunday. I'll be there at the start and go as far as the legs feel up to on the day (I haven't done a lot of running since coburg 24 hr).

Luckyguy
Wombatoutofhell
Timbo76

Possibly Frankie.

[luckyguy]

Weather forecast looking absolutely superb for this run tomorrow - mostly sunny 7/15 with a gentle tail wind.

For those of you not interested in running the whole distance your company will always be welcomed for sections. At the start of this thread you'll see Wooh has listed approx. deadlines intersecting this course - so look out for the CR caps.

See you out their, Michael.

[maryclaire]

Good luck for tomorrow.  I was hoping to join in for a section as I did last year but circumstances have conspired against me.  Have fun - which knowing the people taking part, I feel is a certainty.

BTW - I thought Doongalla was the 20th?

[wombatoutofhell]

maryclaire, on Jun 12 2010, 11:44 AM, said:

Good luck for tomorrow.  I was hoping to join in for a section as I did last year but circumstances have conspired against me.  Have fun - which knowing the people taking part, I feel is a certainty.

BTW - I thought Doongalla was the 20th?

It is now but was originally on the 13th.  Doesn't seem to have made an impact on numbers for this though!

[rohan]

so how did you guys go?
and if numbers were small, take some heart from the fact that F2P some years had 'fields' of 1 or 2 runners, but seems pretty solid now.

[wombatoutofhell]

Field of 3-Luckyguy, Timbo76 and myself.

Bloody good run actually!  The 3 of us set out pretty much on time, much conversation along the way.  Mrs Wombat kept us supplied with drinks and snacks every 5km or so-the little yellow Skoda became a welcome sight!  All of us had little niggles here and there and I got the mother of blisters on the instep of my right foot, but otherwise we all finished, unscathed in 4:38 thereabouts.   From about 30km or so the pace lifted a bit-I thought LG was doing it but Tim assures me it was my fault.  No matter-we got through it!
We bumped into Go4it, Whitelion and Kevin Cassidy along the way.
My Garmin put the distance at 42.9km, Tims was a couple of hundred metres longer.  Once our drink breaks and socialising breaks are removed, that makes around 4:17 @5:59 running pace.  Perfect!

We finished at the food court in Southbank for some food and coffee along with Mrs Wombat and Mrs Timbo and the Timbo Tribe.  All in all a good finish for the day!

I was really pleased with how this went.  LG and I were both backing up from Williamstown Marathon 2 weeks ago and I still felt pretty good at the end of it, blister notwithstanding.  Really looking forward to Gold Coast in 3 weeks now!

See you next year-Sunday 12th of June.

[luckyguy]

I agree Wooh, it was a bloody good run and good fun.

The weather was an absolute treat given our last 3 longish outings of Maroondah 50, F to P and Willy were all pretty tough going weather wise. Still, what made this run for me was the great company of yourself and Timbo and of course the little yellow wagon with your lovely wife at the helm handing out treats and cheerful encouragement every 5km. And a pleasure to meet Timbo's family - Kate, (cheeky) Luke and Zoe.

I liked your comment as we finished outside the Arts Centre, how we have all just come 1st in our age group categories of 30+, 40+ and 50+.

Thankyou once again for putting this together. For me, it is a not to be missed event and all going well I will back up again next year.

Cheers, M.

[Timbo76]

Very well summed up WOOH. Thank you gentleman for the company on an enjoyable days running, (although the real fun is often in the stopping and relaxing afterwards).
A huge thanks to Mrs Wombat for the support along the way.
I hope the blister doesn't trouble you (Wombat) too much, and best of luck everyone for Gold Coast.

Edited by Timbo76, 14 June 2010 - 03:04 PM.