Fireworks for Fred

Some great news: The Fred Hollows Foundation was announced today as the charity partner for the Sydney New Year's Eve celebrations.

According to the City of Sydney, the Sydney New Year’s Eve is the biggest event in Australia and is watched by 1.5 million people at the Harbour Foreshore, 2.6 million people across the country and 1.1 billion people worldwide.

This is a wonderful opportunity to tell the people of Sydney, Australia and the world about the work and life of Fred Hollows.

You can read more about it here on The Foundation's website

Park Life vs Park Run

Sadly for Ben and me, the 30 September 12 hours race in Centennial Park has been cancelled due to an open air concert. Race  has been re-scheduled for 23 September which is a weekend I will not be able to guide Ben. At this stage we are sourcing some other guides and Ben will decide this week what he wants to do. In the meantime we are training hard in the cold weather for the City to Surf in 4 weeks time. 
Happy Feet

Back on the road

1st July meant for Ben and myself the time has come to get back on the road for our next challenge and that's what we just did today. Our first couple of rounds in Centennial Park in the freezing cold was not the ideal start but we are ready for what's to come. In August we need to better our City 2 Surf time from last year, Ben also wants to run the Half-marathon over the Harbour Bridge and than end of September we have a new challenge to tackle - 12 hours non-stop running during the CPultra in Sydney. 12 hours running for Fred and raising money for The Fred Hollows Foundation and Sydney Achilles Club. Watch this space for more details.
Happy Feet

Not guiding

Last Sunday I took a friends big scooter and zoomed up to the Blue Mountain for a race without Ben. The Woodford to Glenbrook Classic is a 25km trail race. Considering that the start is at 600+m above sea level and the finish around 200m above sea level I should not have been wrong of expecting a nice down hill run. Well it would have helped to study the race map - the first 15 km seems to go more up hill then down hill. I tried to keep up with Denis and Sam but after a few uphills I had to give in and started to power walk the hills to keep some energy in the tank for the second half - which, thanks God was down hill. I enjoyed the cool air and shady parts in the forest and considering that I more enjoyed good wine and cheeses the last couple of weeks then muesli bars and power gels, my finish of 2.18 for the 25 km seems respectable. At least I was happy with that Sunday morning exercise. I also felt that comes July my approach has to change and since Ben and I have just signed up for the CPultra (www.cpultra.com) in September - the training regime will start in serious comes Monday, 2nd July
Happy Feet

Sydney Half Marathon

When I heard the rain at 4am in the morning I though - oh bugger! But lucky for all of us it stopped in time and only started raining again after the last walker crossed the finish line. I picked-up Ben on the scooter and we were lucky enough to get a parking almost next to the starting line near St. Mary's Cathedral. The cool temperature and no sun was good for us to run and Ben could keep his smile almost all the way to the finishing line. We both liked the new course better and having started on the back of the pack gave us needed space at the begin of the race and allowed us to slowly overtake slower runners along the way - always a good feeling and helping Ben to keep going when it got though. Ben did very well in this race and we never stopped running (apart from one forced pit stop - we both must have drank a bit too much prior the start). A strong finish the last couple of km on our home run along Macquarie's Chair, the Domain and pass the NSW Art Gallery allowed Ben to almost reach his last year time of 2hrs08min. So, now it is back to a rest and then start to train and shed a few more kilos to get ready for the City to Surf.
Happy Feet

Ben and running on hot sand

Only 7 weeks after the 50km Coastrek, Ben and team Tigers finished the 100km Melbourne Trailwalker an incredible 8 hours faster then last year in 28:59! Great effort Ben and team, well done! Here some info about Ben and the Tigers http://trailwalker.oxfam.org.au/2012/04/21/bens-trailwalker-story/

I, in the meantime, enjoyed some nice runa along the beach near Byron Bay. A 6km stretch of sand next to your bungalow at the beach was too inviting not be run on. However found out that running barefoot is tricky on warm sand even with cooling the feet by running through the water from time to time. I ended up with a nasty blister on the sole of my toes…lesson learned - tomorrow it will be with shoes again.

Ben and I have another 4 weeks to prepare for the Sydney Half Marathon. I am sure this year’s new route will please Ben, as there is no two loops anymore to run but a single A – B race, which is nicer for both of us.

I hope to have another few days of warm weather in Byron Bay before heading back to Sydney and start training with Ben again. He can take the next few days off and recover from his Trailwalker adventure.

Happy Feet (and Toes)

Back on the road

After a nice relaxing month and a bit more off I am looking forward to get back on the road and start training with my blind friend Ben for the Sydney 1/2 marathon in May. Ben is flying to Melbourne today to start the Oxfam 100 km Trailwalker tomorrow. Go Ben!
Our dream for this year is still to get into New York Marathon, but that depends the draw next week for my entry and Achilles Running Club to put up Ben for the race. Fingers crossed we can make it to the big apple in November.
Happy Feet and dry weather for the weekend
Markus