Warwick Report

                                                              

   

Photos: Courtesy of the Elf Man and Kerri.

This is usually one of the great running weekends of the year – good courses, great company, good food, perfect weather. Hmmm. Things were a lot different this year. The first three were still the same but the last one literally blew us away.  Now I know I give Alan Barber a hard time regarding his fashion phobias etc but his weather reporting has always been 100% correct, which is why we headed off to Warwick with some trepidation on Friday.  Alan predicted wind, rain, cold, more wind, rain, cold etc and he wasn’t wrong.  You know you are in for a tough day out when cups full of water are being blown off the drink tables and your visor wants to part company with your head despite the four hair clips holding it on. You also know things are tough when John Pearson has long tights and long sleeves on during a run.

Luckily the Half Marathon was the first event on Saturday morning as conditions worsened throughout the day.  The Cross Country course had to be changed three times to find a safer option.  The wheelies headed out for the 5k travelling at 39ks per hour to the turnaround but could only manage 8k into the wind on the way back. Just imagine what this was like for the runners.

Saturday was a great day out for Redman Runners in the Half Marathon.  John Drysdale was the first Redman home followed by Ross, Michael, Judy, Kerry Preston, Mary, Lew and Elfman.  John and Judy won 2nd place and Lew 3rd place in their categories. This was Michael’s first Half Marathon in three years and he had a great run. Michael is in one of the toughest, fastest age categories so he needs a special mention for his effort. Special mention also to Kerry for staying out on the course during the rain, wind and cold to cheer on all the Redman Runners.  She stopped at various places out on the course and gave words of encouragement.  Thanks to Peter Ashton for being bag boy for the morning.

The Cross Country saw a few of us opt out – can’t have wet, muddy shoes.  John picked up a first place and Lew a 3rd place. Ross was starting to plan his training program that would include more running.  Michael wasn’t keen to get the new shoes wet and Judy fell asleep and only woke up when Lew went to check on the start time for the 5k. Kerry Preston decided that after sleeping all night in a wet tent, he needed some rest.
The Wild and Windy 5k saw John pick up a 1st place, Judy a 2nd place and Lew a 3rd place. Redman finishing order:  John, Ross, Kerry, Michael, Judy, Lew, Elfman. Kerry Preston decided not to run, the pub at the start line was more appealing than running in the wind and rain.  Mary was too busy preparing a delicious afternoon tea for all of us. Special mention here of a few fashion items:  Ross and Kerry turned up for this race in matching outfits. Michael, John and Judy had all the Redman gear on but they also went for Adidas Footwear in matching colours – yellow, white and black while Elfman was decked out in Redman gear head to toe.

Sunday dawned dark, miserable and WINDY. We huddled under one of the school verandahs wondering what the hell we were doing here in these conditions and having to face the MOUNTAIN. Heading off into the wind was one of the toughest few ks I have ever run.  You know it is bad when the spectators on the side of the road stay huddled in their cars except for the Redman supporters: Elf, Mary and Kerry braved the conditions to cheer us on.  There is a turn at the 4k mark that starts the adventure up the mountain.  I had myself and Glenda Banaghan convinced that once we hit the turn, we could tackle the 6k uphill sheltered from the wind. WRONG. It was a case of head down, don’t look up or else you ended up with wind blowing straight into your face.  The mountain is tough enough without the wind trying to blow you back down the hill or over the side. Kerry Preston wanted weight handicaps for this run.  He didn’t consider that lighter bodies were being blown around much more that heavier ones.   2k from the top I had another girl of similar size to me running behind me ( I thought drafting was illegal) she was convinced that both of us were going to end up over the side of the mountain. It is funny how tough weather conditions brings out the weird behaviour in some runners.  I had a male (note) run behind me for a few ks and all he could manage was to yell out “ only 12 minutes to go”, “only 11 minutes to go”, etc then wanted to know why I had Redman Runners on the back of my singlet and not Redgirl Runners? I had to put on some pace and get rid of him before I disgraced the good name of Redman Runners. I guess anyone who wears a bright yellow visor and clashing orange running singlet has a few issues of their own to deal with.

John managed another first place in his category, Judy picked up a 2nd place and Lew 3rd. Redman placings were John, Ross, Judy, Kerry Preston, Michael, Lew.  Elfman pulled up a bit sick after a top effort in three events on Saturday so wisely decided to take photos and cheer instead of running. Mary reckons she is way too smart to even contemplate running the mountain.

Back in town for the 1500m saw a minor improvement in conditions ie the rain had stopped but the wind was still howling.  This didn’t stop John Drysdale from finishing in 6th place overall and picking up a 1st place in his category.  Ross, Kerry, Kerry Preston also put in good performances in this run.

Overall category placings for the weekend: John Drysdale 2nd, Judy 2nd and Lew 3rd.

For a first timer, John put in an awesome performance.  In every race he was way up the pointy end, looking very good in his Redman Adidas gear.  He had a great tussle all weekend with Glenda Banaghan fresh from her 79 minute effort in the Sydney Half Marathon last weekend.
Ross, Kerry, Michael, Kerry Preston, Elfman, Mary and Lew (who defected from Galeforce for the weekend and ran as a Redman Runner) all put in a great effort in really tough conditions. 
For those of you wondering about diminishing performance with age, there was a seventy year old male who ran 1hr 45mintues for the Half Marathon.  Those of you who have been to Warwick know that the course is hilly, 238m ascent with only a 98m descent (don’t you just love those Garmins?).
Thanks to all the Redman Runners for another great weekend away.  No matter how bad the conditions, we always seem to enjoy ourselves. Thanks to Mary for another great afternoon tea. It always makes us run better on Sunday.

Happy Running
Judy

 

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