Sri Chinmoy Yarra Trail Half Marathon – 2021

Sri Chinmoy: Yarra Trail, Burnley 2021 Half Marathon (3 laps), 14km & 7km Run 

Date: February 21^st 2021

Start/Finish: Loys Paddock Reserve, Yarra Trail, BURNLEY

Terrain: well-established, easy paths with a few small undulations (130 metres elevation in total) but overall this is a relatively fast, flat course.

Pre-race – 

My third event post-lockdown 2020! This year I’ve run Two Bays 28km (Jan), Kilcunda HM (Feb) and now… Yarra Trail 21km (Feb). 2021 is a year of no expectations… due to lack of trust in the world courtesy of COVID-19. I want to enter events but I don’t want to risk loss of money, and hope. I ran Two Bays with Brad but we took it easy. Kilcunda wasn’t on the list but I’m so glad I did it. It’s a great course and I’d love to go back and actually give it a proper red-hot go! Sri Chinmoy was suggested by a friend and I figured, “Why not?” There isn’t much else to say about the pre-race. I want to take part in events again, have some fun, set some goals and spend time with friends. 

 

Race day –

I arrived in plenty of time and quickly found my friends. We collected our bibs and organised ourselves. The weather was perfect for running, about 18 degrees with a slight breeze. The course was easy to follow, and I wasn’t nervous about anything. After being in lockdown for so long, I had no idea where my fitness levels could take me. I’d become a ‘relaxed’ runner and hadn’t tested myself in a long time. I planned on running to the best of my abilities and seeing what time I could achieve for a half marathon (post-lockdown). 

The group went out fast and I knew there were some good runners in the mix. My first 5-kilometres were steady, and I clocked under 25min. I was happy with that and confident I could maintain the pace. My heart rate hovered around 170 from the beginning. I was pushing but I turned on my music and tried to tune out mentally, while keeping pace physically.

At 10km (50min), I had a gel and drank my 32Gi electrolyte mix. It’s interesting to see how this kilometre was 5:30min, about 20 seconds slower than previous splits. Fishing around in my Flipbelt and trying to open a gel packet takes effort when running. Although from 10-15km my pace started to drop anyway, so maybe I was just getting tired. At 16km, Strava clocked a 6min-kilometre but it also shows I ran across the river! In other words, I’m putting that down to a glitch. I’m writing this report weeks after the event, but I can recall I kept a steady pace and I didn't jump in the river! 

The track/trail has a city feel with the Freeway, traffic and bridges in plain sight. However, there is also plenty of nature including tall, old trees (leaves rustling in the wind) and birdlife to see and hear. The Yarra River is next to the track and it is common to see rowers on the water. There were plenty of people walking their dogs and I could smell someone cooking a BBQ breakfast. (Or was it lunch? How long had I been running for exactly?) I enjoyed the distraction of onlookers and people enjoying their Sunday downtime. Apparently, Loys were the family who started Loy's soft drinks and their horses lived on the paddocks next to the Yarra River. Which is the reason it is called Loys Paddock.

I reached 18km in 1hr 33min (5:10 pace) and I held on for the last 3km. I crossed the line in 1hr 46min. I was glad to be done and dusted for the day.

 

Post race –

Sri Chinmoy Yarra Trail Half Marathon, gave me a chance to assess my running fitness, and all things considered, I’m happy to be able to maintain 5:10min/km pace. My focus for 2021 is probably more about distance (Kangaroo Island Marathon on May 1^st), followed by hill work (hopefully Point to Pinnacle in November). As a side effect, my speed should improve and my HM time will decrease. It’s good to have goals again, feel the fire in my legs and lungs and desire in my heart. I’ve missed running events. Thank you to Sri Chinmoy and volunteers for a satisfying morning out!