Running late?

At this time of year the mornings are rather crisp - which means it is perfect running weather!
So this morning in a balmy 5.8°C I headed for the river, hoping the fog would clear and my fingers wouldn't turn blue. Well, the fog didn't lift, but nor did my fingers quite turn blue and after a leisurely 4km "warm up" I was at Balyang Sanctuary and ready to line up for my 5th Parkrun.
When I posted about the Geelong running scene last year in my post Running Riot! Balyang Parkrun was in its infancy. Now, it is approaching its first birthday and continues to grow.

Parkrun 29th June, 2013

PBs are still falling (27 runners ran their best time this morning), new runners are joining (there were 17 first-time runners today) and so far 933 different runners have participated (114 of us this time).
In recent weeks there was a visit from some of the Newy Parkrunners who enjoyed a weekend of running and dining around Geelong.
And then today, there was another treat in store for Balyang Sanctuary's Parkrunners. By Friday afternoon word was out that Geelong's own marathon man Lee Troop would be a special guest appearance at this morning's run, making his first Parkrun appearance.
As described on BS Parkrun's Facebook page, the start of the event quickly approached. The race got underway as usual, but there was no sign of a professional runner racing to the front of the pack on his way to setting a new course record...in fact, there was no sign of "Troopy" at all...

Ready! Set! Go! The 45th Balyang Sanctuary Parkrun is underway!

Was he running late, had he made a wrong turn or changed his mind and decided to run a lap of his "Troop Loop" at the other end of the track?
Then, as I was settling into some sort of a rhythm about a kilometre into the run, a familiar figure in a long jumper and grey beany eased past, offering words of encouragement left and right as he went. The master was among us!

Lee Troop meets some Geelong Runners

Without any appreciable exertion, he cruised through the field and hit the finish line where he chatted with the crowd and happily posed for photos. In true Parkrun style it was all about participation.


Lee and Jo after the run

So, in true Geelong Runners style, our little band of plodders (relatively speaking of course) leapt at the opportunity of a photo or two and I could see a blog post in the making...

Running riot!

I don't know whether it is the weather, the change of season or any number of other reasons, but there seems to be rather an upsurge in the amount of running happening around town and along the Barwon at the moment. This is a good thing - really!

I have also noticed an increase in the number of people saying that they want to run, but either can't find a suitable group to run with, don't know how to get started or - as in my case - were struggling to find the motivation to get back into some sort of running form. Hopefully this post, whilst not exhaustive will address a few of these issues.



Around the bend at Balyang Sanctuary

Of course there are the running groups which are well established and have been around for a long time, such as the Geelong Cross Country Club which hosts the annual Geelong Half Marathon around the river. The club makes regular use of the river - having its clubrooms just near the Moorabool Street Bridge - and many of the other trails around town, the Bellarine Peninsula and beyond. Their season starts with the half marathon which is held each year on the first Sunday after Easter and continues with a race each Sunday morning until about September.

Geelong Half Marathon 2012

Then there is the Geelong Run Club which meets each Tuesday evening at 5:45pm for a 6pm start at The Running Company, Shop 2/222 Pakington Street, Geelong West. They run from there up and over the Melbourne Road and railway line to Western Beach and then head round to Eastern Beach before returning along the same course, covering a distance of between 5-6km. They advertise a variable pace and an atmosphere of fun and participation and have been around for a few years now.
In addition, there are any number of individuals who find their own routes around town and a variety of private groups who do their own thing. Recently however, there have been some new additions to the running fraternity. First of all, back in July we saw the opening of the Troop Loop. Not a running group, but an improvement on the running facilities available for those wanting to run between Breakwater and Newtown.

Doing a reverse Troop Loop?

At about the same time, I was given a heads up by an old netballing foe about a new running group due to start on a Saturday morning by the river. And thus the Parkrun phenomenon came to Geelong. For the uninitiated, the Parkrun concept evolved from a single race established in England in 2004. Since then, it has grown into a series of timed, 5km runs held weekly in countries around the world. Each Parkrunner registers on-line and receives a unique barcode. At the end of each race, this is scanned and results are posted on individual Parkrun websites. There is no cost to participants as Parkrun is supported by sponsors and administered by volunteers. It is pitched to be accessible to everyone from kids and beginners to experienced athletes.
Geelong's first Parkrun was held on 26th August, 2012 around a course starting by the Barwon at Balyang Sanctuary, heading downriver to the Moorabool Street Bridge, crossing over and heading back upstream to cross again at Princes Bridge before a short dash to the finish line. I completed my first Parkrun yesterday morning (1st September, 2012), finishing 21st out of a mixed field of 69 runners.
For those with time to spare after the run (it is not a race), there is always an invitation to coffee at the nearby Barwon Edge Cafe.

Jogging out of the sunset

In the meantime however, as I waited for Parkrun to arrive, I saw a small article in the newspaper about another running group which was just beginning. Calling themselves Geelong Runners (or more fully, the Geelong Social Running Club), they ran from the BBQ area in the Eastern Gardens at 5:30pm (soon to be 6pm as the days grow longer) on a Wednesday afternoon and 9am on a Saturday morning. They were happy to accept anyone from experienced runners to absolute beginners.

Less intimidating that an established group, covering a relatively short distance, accepting of all levels of ability, free of charge and starting at the reasonably respectable time of 9am on a Saturday. This sounded like just the thing to improve my failing motivation.
So, on a cool morning just over a month ago I joined Geelong Runners and now on most Saturday mornings I pull on my runners and head for the gardens. And yes, it worked! My motivation is back. They are indeed a varied group. Coming from across the globe and with ages spanning about four decades, they range from complete novices to runners with considerable experience and skill. For the quicker runners it is a leisurely workout, but from little things, larger things grow and those of us who are up for it have since been on some longer runs with more in the offing.
Alternatively, for those perhaps with limited time or "commitment issues", there are the one off fun runs which crop up each year. They are often sponsored charity events and open to all ages and fitness levels.
In February, Geelong hosts its own Multi Sport Festival, incorporating a variety of events including 5km and 10km fun runs along the Waterfront in aid of the Give Where You Live charity.

Not a bad place for a run! Looking across Corio Bay at  the Eastern Gardens.

During March, the Australian arm of the international Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team stage a run around a loop course on the Barwon between Princes and Queen's Park Bridges, over 6km, 12km or 18km distances. This can be a handy warm up for the Geelong Half Marathon which is usually only  a few weeks later.
On Mother's Day each year, Geelong stages its own version of the Mother's Day Classic, the largest community fundraiser for breast cancer research in Australia. The Geelong event is a 4km or 8km walk or run around the Eastern Gardens.
However, the biggest annual fun run  is the Cotton On Foundation's Run Geelong, held in November it offers a 6km or a 12km course taking in the sights of the bay, the river, Eastern Gardens and the hallowed turf of Simmonds Stadium - home of the Cats. Established by Lee Troop in 2009, it is a major fundraiser for the Geelong Hospital's Children's Ward.
Possibly one of the longest runs around would have to be the Bellarine Rail Trail Run. This is a return course along the Rail Trail from Queenscliff to Drysdale (17km event) and back (34km event). It is a free training run - not a race - which was originally held along the full length of the track from the Geelong Show Grounds to Queenscliff. It became an out and back event when safety concerns and the logistics of an increasing field size became a problem for the organisers. The total distance remains the same.
And then finally, if you haven't spent enough time running throughout the year, there is one last chance to get a run in before the start of each new year with the Dawnbusters Fun Run, which as the name suggests is run early on the morning (a 7 am start) of 31st December. It is a 5km course around the Waterfront hosted jointly by the Geelong Cross Country Club and Give Where You Live.
The links below will take you to the websites for the particular clubs or events:

 

The Running Company - Geelong

Geelong Runners Club

 

 

Mother's Day Classic

 

 

 

 

 

Many drops make a flood...

Once again the river is up and as usual the Google searches have begun. That being the case, I thought I'd better get some photos up of the latest flood event - such as it is. Over Friday night and into Saturday, in the vicinity of 70mm of rain fell in the upper reaches of the Barwon catchment. In other circumstances this may not have had much of an impact, but after a wet winter and with the ground already saturated, any rain was going to raise the river height.
And rise it did. Rickett's Marsh on the upper Barwon quickly reached moderate flood level, the Batesford gauge on the Moorabool peaked at the minor flood level and by Sunday night the usual sections of the path around Barwon through Geelong were going under.

Barwon through Geelong, 5:30pm Sunday, 19th August, 2012

Barwon through Geelong, 9am Monday, 20th August, 2012

Matters continued to develop overnight. The Rickett's Marsh gauge fell but Geelong continued to rise and is currently (8:30pm Monday) at a peak around the minor flood level.
As usual when the river floods, I didn't have time today to do more than whip around the same old inner-suburban locations, so below are a few shots from various points:

Old Breakwater Bridge, 9am Monday

Hmmm...perhaps they'll wash away and solve the problem..., 1pm Monday

Looking at Queen's Park from Windmill Reserve, 1:30pm

Bunyip Pool or Whirlpool?

Rock detail at the Bunyip Pool

Next time I will hopefully make it further afield.

I did also attempt to upload a video or two of the water flow to give some idea of the volume and the noise, however Blogger didn't want to oblige. Another aspect it can't convey is the smell of a flood. At the Bunyip Pool where the water is aerated, the smell of muddy water is quite marked. When the water recedes, I know from experience that the paths will all smell of mud...but that is something for next week...



Up the garden path

 On 12th July I blogged about a section of the recently opened Troop Loop being closed for resurfacing. I am pleased to report that the works now appear to be finished and the path is once again open for business. Furthermore, the first signs of spring are starting to appear with the prunus trees bursting into bloom along the newly sealed section of the path, giving the impression of walking through a garden.



Prunus in bloom

This section of the track has always been one of my favourites at this time of year and in times past I have made a point of heading down with the camera. This year, due to the track resurfacing things look a little different. The character of this end of the trail has changed somewhat. I always liked the fact that this end of the river trail with its unsealed, gravel path and industrial backdrop felt less urban than other parts of the river through town, but with the opening of the new Breakwater Bridge (resulting in a significant increase in traffic noise) and the newly-laid bitumen, I suspect that this atmosphere has been somewhat diminished.

The track in September, 2010

The track in August, 2012

In addition to the changes to the track itself, it is interesting to note the difference a month can make to the plant life. In the 2010 photo, the pink flowering prunus in the foreground has already dropped its petals and leaves have appeared whilst the white flowering tree behind is in full bloom. In the 2012 photo I took last week, the pink prunus is in bloom with the white tree yet to flower so it looks like I will have to make a return trip in a month or so to take some progress shots. There also appears to have been some pruning of the native trees in the foreground in the intervening years.

A close up.

In the meantime, here is a detail shot of a nearby prunus I took during a quick return visit today during a rain shower.





What's news?

Over the last week or so for one reason or another the Barwon seems to have been in the news.
Recent articles reported first on the opening of the "new" Troop Loop running track at the beginning of July. At about the same time it was announced that the controversial "William Buckley" pedestrian bridge over the river at Barwon Heads had won an award at the Victorian Architecture Awards. A decision which still causes disagreement amongst the local community. And then there was a flurry of media interest in the proposed removal of elm and ash trees along the river at Fyans Park, which continues to the present with an article posted yesterday - 14th August,  2012 - describing the adverse effects of so called "woody weeds" on our river systems. Today the Geelong News featured a letter  titled "River is no place for ash trees" and the Geelong Times carried an article featuring Councillor Strech Kontelj and John Bampfield, a former parks officer involved with planting the trees in the late 1950s. Its headline  "Let the tees grow, says their grower" gives an indication of the article's leaning. Directly beneath it is a letter to the editor pleading the opposite viewpoint.
On 7th August a small article appeared in the Geelong Advertiser with the headline Trail tracks way to cycle safety. The article concerned the "opening" of a new section of track providing an off-road path for pedestrians and cyclists between Barrabool Road and the boat ramp opposite the rowing sheds. Prior to its construction this cyclists and pedestrians shared the roadway with motor vehicles, so it is definitely an improvement.

Partially completed track under the Moorabool St Bridge in April, 2012

I was however, a little surprised that this small section of track required an official "opening", especially considering it had been to all appearances completed and available for public use since some time in early May if my memory serves me correctly. The article also made the interesting claim that this new section of track takes pedestrians and cyclists off "the busy Moorabool Street Bridge". Given that the track and the roadway it removes traffic from run under the bridge in question, I fail to see how this provides an alternative to crossing the bridge itself. In fact, the new track also provides sealed access to the top of the bridge where pedestrians and cyclists can use the perfectly safe, purpose-designed path which was added to the bridge for exactly this purpose in time for the World Cycling Championships back in September 2010.

The finished product, looking upstream under the Moorabool St, James
Harrison and McIntyre Bridges

The next mention of the Barwon in the news was this Monday 13th August, 2012 when the Advertiser declared: Man rescued from Barwon when it appears that a man in his 60s slipped after crossing the weir at Buckley Falls - despite signage indicating that the weir should not be used for crossing the river - whilst attempting to retrieve a remote-controlled boat. The man was carried downstream and become stranded on a rock. All ended well however, with his rescue about two hours later by the SES.



I feel the need...

Like most bloggers, I tend to keep an eye on my blog stats - which posts are most popular, how many hits I get in a day, week, month, that sort of thing. I am also able to get some idea of the type of search terms which lead people to my blog.
Some subjects arise fairly commonly - the presence of ghosts in historic buildings along the Barwon for example is often queried (strangely enough as I type this, the term "Buckley Falls haunted" has appeared - but as far as I'm aware, no it's not) whilst bunyips and murder also attract attention. Other topics are of interest at or for a particular time period - the recent furor over the impending axing of the ash trees along the river at Fyans Park is currently popular whilst there is always a rush of searches for pictures of the Barwon during the 1995 flood* whenever the river rises.
Another search which has cropped up a bit of late includes the term "the distance between" followed by the names of various bridges along the Barwon. That being the case, I thought it was time to answer the question for those of us who walk, run and ride along the Barwon River paths and want to know how far we've travelled.

Looking upstream at the Moorabool St, James Harrison and McIntyre Bridges

I have decided to take two approaches to the topic which may provide an interesting comparison. Firstly, today with a few spare hours I headed down to the river to walk the full circuit from Breakwater to Fyansford and back. In order to keep track of the kilometres I cover either whilst out running or on the netball court (hopefully somewhere over 50km/week), I use a Nike+ Sportband. This clever little device measures distance via a piezoelectric sensor in my shoe which transmits to a USB device on my wrist. Once finished, the data from the run/game is uploaded to the Nike website which keeps a record of my distance, pace and various other statistics. For a piece of equipment which costs around $90 and does not rely on GPS technology, it is remarkably accurate.
Today, for the sake of convenience, I started my walk at the end of Swanston Street which is roughly the closest point to my house. From there I headed towards Fyansford, crossed both rivers, made my way back down to Breakwater and from there back to Landy Field. Each time I passed under or crossed over a bridge, I noted the distance I had travelled. All up, a distance of about 18.5km.
Below is a table showing the distance between each of the bridges along the river trail as measured by my Sportband:

Bridge	Total distance (km) from Landy Field	Distance (km) from previous bridge
Landy Field	-	-
Moorabool St Bridge	0.71	0.71
James Harrison Bridge	0.96	0.25
McIntyre Bridge	1.24	0.28
Princes Bridge (Shannon Ave)	2.92	1.68
Queen’s Park Bridge	5.28	2.36
(Intersection with track to “Cementies hill”)	6.90	1.62
Foot bridge across Moorabool River	7.49	0.59
Foot bridge across anabranch	7.68	0.19
Foot bridge across Barwon River	8.10	0.42
Queen’s Park Bridge	9.42	1.32
Princes Bridge (Shannon Ave)	11.98	2.56
McIntyre Bridge	13.58	1.60
James Harrison Bridge	13.86	0.28
Moorabool Street Bridge	14.08	0.22
New Breakwater Bridge	16.21	2.13
Old Breakwater Bridge	16.60	0.39
New Breakwater Bridge	17.03	0.43
Landy Field	18.45	1.42

In each case, the measurement was taken from the middle of whichever bridge I was passing under or crossing over. So now everyone can work out the distance of their chosen route give or take a few metres. Remember also to allow a couple of hundred metres when crossing Moorabool Street, Princes, Queen's Park or McIntyre Bridges as I didn't cross these on my walk today so their distances are not included in the charts.
Also, for quick reference, here are the approximate distances for a few of the commonly used loops not including the bridge crossings mentioned above:

Loop	Distance (km)
Moorabool St Bridge - Old Breakwater Bridge	5.08
Princes Bridge - Old Breakwater Bridge (covers most of the 10km Troop Loop)	9.39
Queen's Park Bridge-Old Breakwater Bridge	14.31
McIntyre Bridge-Old Breakwater Bridge (slightly further than the 6km Troop Loop)	6.11
Moorabool Street Bridge-Princes Bridge	4.31
Moorabool Street Bridge-Queen’s Park Bridge	9.23
Moorabool Street Bridge-Fyansford	13.37
Princes Bridge-Queen’s Park Bridge	4.92
Princes Bridge-Fyansford	9.06
Queen’s Park Bridge-Fyansford	4.14

Secondly, having done it the hard way, when I got home I cranked up Google Earth and made a few virtual measurements. Allowing for the fact that the Google Earth images were taken in 2008, well before the new Breakwater Bridge was built - resulting in a few changes to the walking track at that end - and also accounting for the fact that the exact route of the path is a little unclear in places due to tree cover, a measured distance of 18.57km is remarkably similar to that measured by the Sportband.
So, now we have a reasonable idea of the distances involved, however if you are out on the path without a handy blog post to help and want a rough idea of the distances involved, remember, the Geelong Half Marathon run by the Geelong Cross Country Association have kilometre markers most of the way round the track - they are the yellow numbers painted on the path.

Half marathon marker

You will not find markers for 1, 2 and 14km as the route for the half deviates off the track at these points, the marker for 5km has not yet been added to the newly sealed section of track and 7km is hiding behind the shed belonging to the Barwon Rowing Club, but does exist. The 21km marker whilst present for the event tends to disappear due to wear and tear throughout the year. In any case, these km markers can be used for a rough estimate of distance. And finally, the newly installed posts for the Troop Loop can also be used to calculate distance if you are running that section of the track.

*For the record, I happened to be in Geelong at the time, but being young and foolish, I didn't take any photos of the event. If anyone has any pictures of the '95 flood which they would like me to include in this blog please feel free to contact me and I will put them up. I'm sure there will be many who are interested!

A golden opportunity

With all the current hype over the London Olympics, naturally I went looking to see if the Barwon had any Olympic credentials. It didn't take long before I was onto something.
Most obvious were the sporting facilities named for our Olympic champions - the Landy Field Recreation Reserve in South Geelong named for Olympic track champion Peter Landy:

John Landy Athletics Field, with the Barwon in the middle distance

and the newly installed Troop Loop, opened by its namesake Lee Troop - the 3 time Olympic marathon runner - earlier last month.

Newly installed Troop Loop Signage

But Geelong has never hosted the Olympic Games and therefore the Barwon would not have seen any Olympic action - right? Well, no it hasn't. However, it very nearly did. In the lead up to the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, there was no doubt a considerable amount of to-ing and fro-ing about where various Olympic events were to be held and one of the sports whose location was up for grabs was rowing.
History tells us of course, that the rowing events of the 1956 Olympic Games were held on Lake Wendouree in Ballarat, however in 1951 when planning for the games was underway, this was by no means a foregone conclusion. On 29th March, the Argus carried an article titled "Rowing Row Likely" in which it stated:

Geelong Authorities will protest strongly to the Australian Olympic Federation if Lake Wendouree, Ballarat, is chosen as the Olympic rowing course instead of the Barwon River, Geelong.

A Geelong-based committee, set up to further the Barwon's claim as an Olympic venue, pushed the point that the Barwon Trust had plans to upgrade the rowing section of the river to create an Olympic-standard 2000m course which they felt would be far superior to Lake Wendouree.
In the event, Lake Wendouree was chosen and no doubt the Geelong committee were left wondering what might have been.

Crews on the Barwon, January, 2012

Fast-forward once again to the present day and whilst any dreams of the Barwon becoming an Olympic venue are well in the past, our river has not been without its fair share of Olympic rowers. Of the present crop, women's eight rower Phoebe Stanley is a local girl who has no doubt spent many hours pulling her way through the waters of the Barwon. A former Geelong College student, Phoebe won two Head of the River titles with fellow crew members during her time at the school and it was in part due to the continued support of her old school that she and her crew had the opportunity to row in London where they finished sixth in the final.

The easily recognised orange caps of the Corio Bay Rowing Club's
quad sculls

Another local competitor who incidentally is also an Old Collegian, is men's coxless four rower Josh Dunkley-Smith. Dunkley-Smith and his crew - the current "Oarsome Foursome" - rowed their way to a silver medal on the eighth day of the London games. And like Stanley he has also spent a significant amount of time training and competing along the rowing mile of the Barwon.