Australian Running Festival: A weekend in review

While the majority of Canberrans were probably tucked up in bed, I, along with 1600 other brave, crazy souls, were being active and raising money by participating in the Australian Running Festival on the mornings of the 11th and 12th of April.

The lawns in front of old parliament house saw more Nike Free Runs and Adidas Skins than a Rebel Sport outlet as the ten-kilometer runners made their way to the starting line on the Saturday morning. I hustled my way somewhere in the middle of the 1,557 runners at the starting line, admittedly thinking, “why the hell am I doing this”. An MC took over a mega phone for the count down, pumping up the crowd and sending us off on our run.

If you are a keen runner, I suggest you start at the front of the pack, as the commotion of everyone finding his or her pace within the first kilometre would severely lag your time if you didn’t. This year is the first time one-lap tracks have been introduced with both start and finish lines out the front of Old Parliament House. Annual participant in the 10km race, Tara Boulding, said she was extremely happy with the new track.

“The run was much easier and faster this year with the single loop track,” she said.

By the time I hit the five-kilometre mark, I was holding my pace steadily and thought I was doing pretty well, that was until I saw the eventual winner charging toward the finish line after just 33 minutes 23 seconds. Multiple drink stations and cheer squads on the side of the course helped me get across the line in just over an hour, and also receive my first medal since high school.

Following the ten kilometre run was the five kilometre run, then the half marathon and full marathon on Sunday. With 6,562 entrants and 5,665 finishers across all the races and a total of $179,865.22 raised for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, the event was a great achievement.

Lauren Hollands