After last week's anarchy on the hill it was back to normality for the last run of the Griffith Joggers BeSocial series on Saturday.
Entry numbers were down, due in part to the heat, but as it turned out the run was more pleasant than expected as the humidity was down and a bit of a breeze cooled the runners.
No one appeared to suffer any more than usual, but let’s face it, a little suffering is what the Feral Joggers are there for – if running was easy everyone would do it.
Gold medal performance again to the 11-strong, 12-minute group who were cohesive to the finish apart from John Farronato and Mark Hancock who are still paying for their unauthorised excursion two weeks ago and Anthony Salmon who’s still in dozy holiday mode.
Toward the rear, Julie Duncan was struggling with navigation, Rita Faschianelli was simply struggling and Harriet Brickhill went AWOL but finally showed up at the finish.
This was Brickhill’s return to the hill after a decade away and it is certain she will quickly readjust to the maze of tracks.
The series gold medal in the short goes to the nine-minute group. It’s the first time ever in the short that we have seen decent formation running, although they fell apart a little in this last run when first Angus Gunn and later Lachlan West dropped well off the pace.
Racing is back on the menu this week with the Bacchus competition getting runners into tip-top condition for to the Flexible Solutions Bacchus on the Lake at Easter.
The long run starts at six kilometres and and will later jump to 10 kilometres.
Easter Friday at Lake Wyangan is again the date and location for the second oldest fun run in Australia where a mix of local and imported runners will take on the Enduro, Sprint or Walk.
Most will simply aim to finish with a respectable time while the elite few will be aiming to have their name on the same honour roll as some of the biggest names in Australian running over the decades – Steve Austin, Chris Wardlaw, Krishna Wood, Jackie Hallam, Rob DeCastella.
There is plenty of hot weather ahead right through February and beyond. The Ferals ask all runners to take a copy of the hot weather guidelines from the hill, or from the FAQs on the website. You may think you know it all but you probably don't. Parents especially, please read the guidelines relating to children.
The joggers run each Saturday at 5:30pm from the water tower opposite Pioneer Park with a choice of long or short courses.
