Run for the Kids

The Run For the Kids Event has been running for many years now. I honestly could not tell you when it first started.  I’m assuming at least 10 years ago.

Run for the kids is a fundraiser for the Royal Children’s Hospital.  This Run for the Kids alone raised over $2 mil for the hospital.  And with 35,000 running this year, that’s an amazing effort.

2012 was the year of many 1sts, and the Run For the Kids event was the 1st fun run I ran.  It was also the 1st time I ran for a cause (The Children’s Hospital), and also with other people.  Last year I only did the 5.2km course, and I did it in 28m14s.  Not bad considering that I had only just picked up running. I gave the course everything I had, and by the end, boy was I pooped.  I thought (back then) that I would never be able to do the long course.

Fast forward a year, and I’ve registered for Run for The Kids Again.  This time around however I’m doing the 15km long course.

And wow, let me tell you there were definitely 35,000 people there.

See Lots of people, and this is the queue to get to the start line! I’m not even on the ‘official’ start line course!

35,000 People, why yes, I think there may just be that many.

I wasn’t looking at the clock to see what time the event actually went under-way.  It was scheduled to go off at 8.50, but by the time I got on the course and to the actual start line it was already 9.11 am.

The problem with an event like this is it’s really hard to go hard and get a personal best (PB).  There are just so many people, that it makes it really hard to overtake.  Most people ran in a team, and when they run side by side, well that takes up room, especially if you are running by yourself/alone. So I had to weave in and out a lot.  It got frustrating.

I ran the 1st half a lot slower than the 2nd half.  I wanted to keep an even pace throughout the race, but I knew as soon as I started that that was not going to be possible.  However that being said, I did run a negative split, which means I ran the 2nd half faster than the 1st half, which is what you want to do in a run.

As to be expected I lost my GPS signal while going through the tunnel.  I didn’t realise how hot the tunnel was until I got to the end of it.  The fresh air was the best feeling ever.

I overtook a lot of people on the hills.  I’m lucky that I live in an area that is deceptively hilly.  So the hills did not bother me.  I powered over the Bolte Bridge passing many on the way. The headwind on the bridge was challenging, and it caused a lot of people to slow down or even walk, not me.  I just picked on a person in front of me, ran behind them, and then overtook them when they went too slow.

Overall the event was fantastic.  To be given the opportunity to run on roads that you would never be able to run on otherwise was awesome.  And the proceeds go to a very good cause.  Even though I have never had to use the Children’s Hospital, there are many families that do and having children you would hate to go through what so many other families have to go through.

Things I learned from running this event

1. If you are running the long course, then I recommend taking the 2nd early train on your line.  You will still get there in plenty of time.
2. Go to the toilet at the train station, the queue for the toilets was seriously outrageously long!
3. Long course runners, don’t rely on the water stations (unless you are an elite runner and it’s not congested), seriously with the number of people there running, it gets really congested, messy, and wet. Bring your own water. (I’ll do this next time)
4. Bring a change of clothes. I did, and let me tell you it felt nice to be able to wear clean clothes, yes I smelled, hey I just ran 15km, but at least I wasn’t wearing clothes that were wet with sweat, and possibly a lot more smelly.
5. Bring something to eat afterward.
6. If you want an event t-shirt buy it when you buy your entry ticket.  I wanted one, but I didn’t have the funds at the time I bought my ticket to get one, so I was hoping to buy one on the day.  Alas no, there were none left in my style of size 🙁
7. Have Fun!

Oh and here are my official results

Ok, I have to brag a bit (cause I’m really happy with my results). I finished in the top 10% of female runners.  That’s impressive if I do say so myself.  I also ran a negative split (which I mentioned before), where I ran the 2nd half faster than the 1st.  But I passed over 300 runners in the last 5km, how awesome is that!