Bay to Bay volunteering

Sunday, 16 June 2013

Today was the annual Bay to Bay Fun Run and Half Marathon organised by Terrigal Trotters, and I had agreed to supervise a drink station at the half-way point for both events.  I wanted to be there from 6am (many of my fellow Trotter volunteers started the day much earlier than that), so it wasn’t practical to fit in a run beforehand.  Normally, I would have gone for a long run on a Sunday, but knew from experience that I would not feel like doing so today after standing around cheering on runners for three hours, so scheduled myself an easy 10km with a long run to follow tomorrow morning.



Start of the Bay to Bay 12km         Source: News Limited

With over 3,000 entrants, the Bay to Bay is a well-patronised event, and I enjoyed encouraging the runners and giving a special cheer to those I knew as they passed through, including my daughter on her way to completing her debut half marathon.  It’s inspirational watching people, many of whom are clearly not regular runners, challenge themselves to complete this event each year.

We finished packing up the drink station soon after 9:30am and it was time to get my run out of the way.  I was very unmotivated, but knew if I left it until later in the day, I wouldn’t do it.  To make it more interesting and therefore less of a chore, I employed a trick I have used in the past by choosing a course that incorporated some exploring.  It did involve climbing steeply up on to the Somersby plateau, but I took it slow and ran through some bush and parkland I hadn’t previously visited, before linking up with a fire-trail I was familiar with and then finally descending steeply back to Brisbane Water and my car.

Although it was only a slow 10km, I was surprised how tired I felt and how stiff my leg joints were.  Presumably, this was a hangover from yesterday’s run.  It must have been harder on my body than I had thought.  Tomorrow’s long run promises to be hard work.