City to Surf 51.35

After a pretty good build up leading into Australia's biggest fun run over the 14ks i rocked up with a spring in my step to meet the masses and the normal pre race greetings and banter. Even getting my 5 seconds of fame with my ugly bonce on the telly when they interviewed Lara.
After the usual frantic start i settled early and run side by side with Enda before he pushed slightly ahead going into Double Bay.
Stayed to my race plan and got to O'Sullivan Road (5ks) exactly where i wanted to be in 17.30 and prepared for the next 5ks block as i went past a badly fading Charlie Low (yet another victory over old Champagne),  Saw T.B and then Richie Palmer go past me on Heartbreak but got to the top without to much damage done and still on target time. The next challenge was to come about 9ks where you turn at the Roundabout on New & Old South Head Roads  when i thought i had run into a force 10 gale as the wind was pretty bad at this stage of the run. Got to the final bend before the 10k mark and my race was about to come to an end unfortunately when my right hamstring went out in sympathy of Mikey Conway - pulled back a little to go through 10ks in 36.40 still with that sub 50 minutes in the back of my mind but knew it was going to be close. I can normally finish the last 3-4 ks of this race well but as soon as i tried to put the foot down i had this shooting pain which was disappointing as i had reeled in a faster fading Enda (who was gone for all money). Got to 12ks and knew i was fighting a losing battle as i could only come down at 3.40 pace and Adam was the next to fly by along with about 100 others, The only one who hadn't was Pete Walker but i knew he must have been close by.
For the first time in years the last k didn't hurt as i was forced to just cruise it home as i stopped the watch in 51.35 - Disappointed but at least it was an injury that stopped me achieving the goal time opposed to just running badly so hopefully i can kick on again towards the next race which will be the Sydney Festival Half in September.
It was a fairly quick recovery due to the cold before we got the invite back to Enda's for morning breakfast and fry up on the BBQ, not to mention the 9 cups of tea ( What is it with the Irish and the lack of Sugar though ) before getting on the sauce (beer ) for the afternoon.
It wasn't long before the Irish were up to there fun and games, claiming Victory over team England  even going to the trouble of having a Medal Ceremony Olympic style with the Gold, Silver and Bronze handed out. Then to really rub salt into the wound we were forced to drink some Irish Pish that they made up specially for the victory.
Congrats to the Boys though , Even without the hammy issue i wouldn't have taken PLOD today with his 49.18 - fantastic run.
Look forward to the NEXT challenge now, i have sorted a 3 Way tier comp, England vs Australia vs 'The Mixed Bags' (Ireland/Kiwi/American/Lebs whoever) - After the last whipping care of the English we have amended the rules as well - all will be revelled but basically it will be done on a points system and you go head to head with the equivalent ranked number in the opposing  team.

Some of the HuRTS times that i gathered from yesterdays race:
First home was Tucks, after a pretty ordinary year to date and with Tom away he was keen to get back and get a decent run under his belt. Tough day for many with times down in general.
Timmy's run of the Day though goes to Sultry Sonya who PBed with a fast 58.3x? - great effort

Andrew Tuckey    47.24
Terence Bell          49.08
Richie High            49.10
Jason Ibrahim         50.14
Richie Palmer         50.35
Enda Stankard       50.50
Adam Conquest     51.20
James Everitt          51.27
Timmy Lindop        51.35
Dom Jackson         51.35
Michael Killicoat    51.50
Mike Race             51.53
Pete Walker          51.59
Paul Lynch             52.30
Angus Boyd          52.31
Anthony Briggs     52.50
Hamish Mountford 53.40
Anna Fitzgerald     54.33
Jono Woodhouse  54.49
Indrajeet Aich      55.26
Elvis Costello       55.51
Max Dahl            57.05
Craig Wiseman    58.00
Sonya V Beek     58.33
Christian Ellis      59.10
Greg Cassis       66.01
Mark Causer     86.00 (run with son)
There were many more but i do not have the offical list at the moment


DNF
John Bartles ( somewhere on Heartbreak Hill)

DNS
David Kane ( little bit of Jetlag - bless him)
Mikey Conway (Sneezed once and doesn't like the cold weather - who can forget the North Head Episode:)

Oh for the record - i WON TEN English Pound care of Tommy Highnam after he backed his boy Mikey to roll me .............when will he ever learn :)
And had a collect from Kanser after we agreed to race of scratch for a tidy $20  :)

No training for me this week - will give myself some time off and let the Hammy repair itself , tune in though tomorrow when i will show you my new SPECIAL friend i have ( settle down Kanser, no i am not going to show you Saucy Sue again, its not her this time)

Photos from yesterday
cheers

Team Ireland's winning Beer with own label - it tasted shocking :)

Team Ireland the Winners - very gracious in victory .............Yeah Right .

Lindop (Bronze) , PLOD (Gold ) and Enda (Silver) ,

... and One Enda didn't want published, on the couch with his shrink Sparksy for yet another session on what went wrong AGAIN. Even Sparksy looks bemused :)

Thanks to Enda and Angel Angela for hosting yesterdays activities - great day out, although could have done without the clog dancer in my head today :)

Cheers