So… I wasn’t really planning to do another running event this year!
I was just planning to work towards running longer distances and to increase my running stamina.
But the team at HBF asked me if I’d like to join in the fun at the HBF Run for a Reason and to do a bit of social media for them.
I accepted eagerly and committed myself to both the 12km distance and er… learning how to run and take photos at the same time??
Surely there’s an app for that.
So this was me, the day before the event, picking up my participant running pack at the HBF Event Centre at the Perth Arena.
I asked a HBF Volunteer (a girl on her morning tea break) to take my photo… and I was trying to think of some clever way I could change the word REASON with my silhouette.
But all I could think of was TREASON and RANSOM… and decided they weren’t very appropriate haha. So I was just went with a kind of generic “Y”.
On the morning of the run, I drove to my local train station and caught the train into the city. Participants were allowed free public transport all day. It was fast and easy.
There were thousands of other participants using public transport too, so the atmosphere of the city was buzzing with excitement.
The only downside of the early morning start was that it was so freaking cold!
I think it was 7-8C?? Thankfully the event had a special service where you can wear a jacket or jumper to the event, wear it for the 30-45 minutes while standing around soaking up the pre-event entertainment, and then leave it hanging on the railings at the start line, where it will be donated to charity!
For me, I clung onto every last bit of warmth from my jacket and waited till the *very last minute* to donate it.
And we were off!
Unfortunately when I tried to run and take photos, they turned out terribly blurry.
So this is my “stand still and get into people’s way” photo.
One of the things I looked forward to during this event… was to run through the Northbridge Tunnel (1.6km).
I have never done it before and it was just one of my little running aspirations for my own city. Yay!
Again, I had to stop and take this photo, because I definitely couldn’t run backwards and take snaps.
The whole event was dotted with photographers, TV cameras, cameras on cranes, camera drones… it was all quite exciting!
I spotted two of Perth’s coolest photographers (David Chong and David Broadway) camped by the side of the road. Ok yes, they were my mates, so I slowed down to take a photo of THEM at work.
In fact, I doubled back so I could do a silly slow-motion run for them to photograph.
I pretty much knew then, with all my stopping to take photos antics and uploading to socal media… that my running time for this event was going to be very average! Oh well!
The day cleared up and the sun came out.
It was such a beautiful day for a run next to the river!
I sprinted towards the finish line, but 10 metres before I crossed it… I stopped to take a photo haha!
Aaah in the end, it was so much fun. I really wasn’t concerned about my running time at all.
I was surrounded by so many people who laughed, cheered, skipped, sang. There were people in all shapes and sizes, young and old, all going different speeds, all getting out there, being active, raising money for a good cause – it was a really enjoyable day and a fantastic event to be a part of.
After the event, I was invited over to the corporate sponsor’s area for a VIP breakfast and massage.
That was veeeeery nice indeed! Thank you HBF!
For those interested in my running details…
I did a 12km running event in September last year (after I had a flu) and my running time was 1 hr 30 mins.
For this 12km run, including all my stops, my time was 1 hr 31 mins (which is a pace 7:35 min/km) – how funny!
Usually I run at a pace of 6:00 min/km, so it should have taken me 1 hr 12mins. So I have a small part of runner’s pride in me that is annoyed that these times are set in stone on the internet as my “official times” but as I said, I’m not too fussed about it.
In fact, I’m keen to do it again next year with my kids! And maybe we’ll dress up!
See you there next year :)
xxx
