Ok, so i might have got a bit lazy and just copied and pasted what i wrote on the forum, but what i wrote was more like a blog anyway, so enjoy.
Felt fully prepared for this one, and all ready to go. Bumped into my arch rival
from Western Aths Luke Searle at the start line and we both decided it best to not only work together through the race but to also sneak into the elite zone when no one was looking. Got a brilliant start as we both weaved through the field, and thanks to the 1st km marker being short, we ran through in 2:28, and preceded to follow that up with a 5:37 through 2km, and 9:00 through 3km. Yep, thats right, at this point we realised not only had we gone a little fast to clear the congestion, there was now no one left to pass. (slight exaggeration
) From then on, we settled into a nice even rythmn, but managed to continue to break through the pb’s km after km, with a 19:34 through 6km, and feeling a little stronger heading up the bolte bridge, i was trying to get Luke to just tuck in behind for a bit, but it doesnt help when he falls after putting his foot into a roadside grate. Hit the top of the bolte at the 8km in 27:06, and was happy not to lose to much time as the runners around us, firstly went ahead, then dropped back. This was repeated the whole way up the bridge. Tried not to go too fast on the way down the bridge, but rather ttry to save some energy for the remainder of the race, and by the time i ran through 9km in 30:34, Luke was again at my side. We had slowed a little going up bolte bridge, and now back down, the legs were starting to come back and this was shown further by 10km, running 34:07, a pb for both of us. We knew collins st hill was coming up, so eased our pace back slighty just to save the energy needed to not burn out apon reaching the top. Hitting 11km at the bottom of bourke st in 37:40, taking a deep breath, we ran into collins st and attacked the hill head on, and won. That momentium carried us through 12km in 41:24, and even though along southbank we started to feel the strain and slow a little bit more, running under 50:00 was still a big possiblity. Over queen st bridge and into flinders st we hit 13km in 45:06, and began to step it up. Rounding flinders st station, knowing we were closing on 2 runners ahead, we dug deep and started to inch closer. In the end, i just couldnt hang on, finishing about 20m behind Luke and the other 2 runners. One of them being the 3rd woman overall. I ran til i had nothing left, and crossed the line in a jog in a time of 49:20, beating my 52:46 from last years event. As i finshed i could hear the anouncer call out that the elite runners were still coming through. Now, that made me smile. As per usual, i have to be disappointed with something, and that have to be not beating 49:00 because my last 400m was ordinary. Oh well, maybe next year.