Dooen Engineering Sealed Handicap

The Stawell Running Club season opens with the Dooen Engineering Sealed Handicap.

I missed this race in 2013 as I was in Geelong to run the Geelong Half Marathon.

I’m glad the running season is open for the year, it keeps me motivated and pushes me to get faster.

The first race for the year is always a sealed handicap.  This means we all start at once and no one knows what their handicap is, or who is the actual winner.

We started off with running the sub-juniors on the new Olympic grade track.

This track is fantastic, if you saw the track we had previously this is like pure gold.

I use to hate speedwork, but with the new track in place, I plan on doing all my speedwork here.

The Sub-Juniors ran 1km (2.5 laps or track).  Kayla ran her 1km in 5:31, which is excellent.  We have a future long-distance runner in her for sure.

Miles ran his 1km in 8:19.  He ran/walked it.  He is not so much a long-distance runner.  I see him as a future sprinter. He just gets so tired and puffed.  Which doesn’t help his asthma.  He does well, and he still had a wonderful time, as you can tell.

I run with him because he is always last.  I can’t hold his hand, but I can run alongside him.  He hasn’t won a placing yet, but give it time and the handicapper will give him a generous handicap for him to win one day.

Based on handicap, Kayla came in 2nd place and Miles 5th.

So proud of my kids.  They give their best and have fun at the same time.

Once the kids were run, we headed out to the Ironbarks.  I and Nat were the only 2 crazies who decided to run out to the start line (only 1.3km away), and everyone else drove out.

To be honest I wasn’t sure how I was going to perform in this run. The last run I went on was an easy 3km run on the Tuesday prior.  Due to having tonsillitis I had no other runs prior to that run. That was nearly 2 weeks of no running or any other form of exercise.

I decided to just go in and do my best and see how I would go.

When the gun went off we all ran downhill.  That means an uphill finish, yeah I wasn’t looking forward to that, but that’s part of the fun of the course.

I knew I was going too fast after the 1st km, that downhill didn’t help.  But I was surprising myself.  I kept going and finished at 23:35, which was surprising considering I’ve had time off running, but pleasing all the same.

Next week we have the Barham Insurance handicap, which will be out in the Ironbarks again.  Hopefully, we have another great turnout.  Should be interesting to see what I can get for time. I’m hoping I can get a sub 22min 5km this year.  It’s a goal I’m working towards.  I might not get it next week, but I would love it to happen sometime during this SAAC running Season.


What’s your longest running streak?
What’s the longest you have gone without running?
What was the last race you ran?

5 thoughts on “Dooen Engineering Sealed Handicap”

  1. Love that you have your kids into racing:) The picture of your son is adorable, that is the great face of a future runner:) We don’t have these handicap races here in the states, at least none I am aware of around me, but I love the idea. I’ve heard you talk about them before, and I think they would be fun!

    1. Kayla enjoys it more than Miles, but I think that’s just an age maturity thing.
      What I love about handicap races, is that you are always trying to better yourself. Because if you win your handicap increases so you have to push yourself more. And it’s a lot more fairer for the slower runners.
      And yes it’s great fun, esp afternoon tea 🙂

  2. I am two weeks into no running and I am OK with that. I do not plan on doing any long distance running until early July. I will begin some speed work and intervals next week, but until then I will enjoy the time off from running. I am working out in the gym and lifting heavy weights but no running. My next race isn’t until September, which will be a Ragnar race and I have a total of 16 miles to do over the course of two days.

    1. Enjoy the shorter distances, it will def help with the longer distances later in the season.
      The weights will help with the running too, well I find so for me at least.

  3. Pingback: April Running Stats / Run Mum

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