Fernleigh 15 Km run, I did it!

[tornado33]

Hi all
I had a go at the first organized distance run Ive ever entered today, the inaugural Fernleigh 15 a 15 km run along the Fernleigh Track, a disused railway converted into cycleway near Newcastle.

Ive never ever run continiously for 15 kms before, but after only deciding to enter less than 2 weeks ago, leaving not a lot of time for training I gave it my best shot and finished in 1 hour 19 mins 2 secs, absolutely stoked at that. I was hoping for 1 hour 30 mins. It was fantastic running with so many people in the event, watching the kilometre markers go past. My 48 yo legs were feeling the strain with sore lower calves but I pressed on.

When kilometre 14 marker passed I opened the throttle even more, and when the finish line appeared ahead I really went for it. The ol legs were sore and wobbly when I stopped but it was so satisfying to complete the run. It was well organized and starting proceedures ran like clockwork.

Oddly enough during discussion in letters to the editor of the Newcastle herald about pedestrians not keeping left for cyclists to go past safely, someone wrote in saying there should be a speed limit of 10 km/h on the Fernleigh Track, well my average speed of 11 km/h running its entire length means Id be guilty of speeding on foot, showing how unrealistic a 10 km/h speed limit is.

Hopefully the ol legs wont be too sore tomorrow morning.
Scott

[Hans Tucker (Hans)]

Originally Posted by tornado33

Hi all
I had a go at the first organized distance run Ive ever entered today, the inaugural Fernleigh 15 a 15 km run along the Fernleigh Track, a disused railway converted into cycleway near Newcastle.

Ive never ever run continiously for 15 kms before, but after only deciding to enter less than 2 weeks ago, leaving not a lot of time for training I gave it my best shot and finished in 1 hour 19 mins 2 secs, absolutely stoked at that. I was hoping for 1 hour 30 mins. It was fantastic running with so many people in the event, watching the kilometre markers go past. My 48 yo legs were feeling the strain with sore lower calves but I pressed on.

When kilometre 14 marker passed I opened the throttle even more, and when the finish line appeared ahead I really went for it. The ol legs were sore and wobbly when I stopped but it was so satisfying to complete the run. It was well organized and starting proceedures ran like clockwork.

Oddly enough during discussion in letters to the editor of the Newcastle herald about pedestrians not keeping left for cyclists to go past safely, someone wrote in saying there should be a speed limit of 10 km/h on the Fernleigh Track, well my average speed of 11 km/h running its entire length means Id be guilty of speeding on foot, showing how unrealistic a 10 km/h speed limit is.

Hopefully the ol legs wont be too sore tomorrow morning.
Scott

Well done Scott...11 km/h is an above average pace so you must of had a good fitness base to start with.

[alan meehan (Alan)]

weel done Scott hope the legs aint too sore
AL

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Well done Scott. Have you been a cyclist, because there's no way the "average" 48yo unfit Joe could run 15km at any speed, let alone 11 km/h. Both cycling and running are excellent for fitness.

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

Well done.
I dunno if I could walk 15kms! :O

[tornado33]

Thanks all
Yep I cycle regularily on my mountanbike, not huge distances I prefer to go for fairly short but very intense on-road rides, going most of the time at my maximum pace, but now i think the running bug has got me too, as there are some very nice trails through local bushland and cycleways to run on away from the roads. Im sure if I did the recommended 6 weeks of training runs instead of just a week and a half, I could have gotten that 11 km/h a few ks higher in the Fernleigh 15.
Scott