Race Recap: Mosaic to Mountain, Dunkeld

Event: Mosaic to Mountain
Distance: 10km run, 5km run/walk
Type: Loop
Where: Dunkeld, Victoria
Start: Adam’s St, Dunkeld
Finish: Adam’s St Dunkeld
Event Sponsors / Partners: Dunkeld Kinder, Cafe 109, Only Ewe, Royal Mail Hotel

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I booked in for this event back in July. I really enjoyed it last year, and thought that I would commit to it again this year. It’s local(ish), and it supports a good cause – The Dunkeld Kindergarten.

The Mosaic to Mountain fun run, is the major fundraiser (or runraiser) for the Dunkeld Kindergarten. It offers a 10km run, a 5km run/walk.  It’s relatively flat (except for one hill at the start), and has beautiful views of Mount Sturgeon & Mount Abrupt. Iconic landmarks of the southern Grampians.

I felt like there weren’t as many runners this year as there was last year.  I don’t know if that’s because of other events going on, or the natural ebb and flow of running events.

While picking up my race kit, the woman who was getting my kit recognized me from not only last year’s event, but also from my article on The Glow that was published recently.  She told me she now felt inspired to give it a go.  That made me happy.  If I can help just one person then it’s worth it.

The other bonus while picking up my kit was that I bumped into Carol from Finding Carol. It was great to catch up with her again. She’s such a lovely lady and it was great to see her out on the course (yes I cheered her on).

The sun was out and it was a dazzling spring day.  It was the perfect spring running temperature.  Not too hot, not cold, but it was cool with a nice breeze.

Before I get onto the race recap I have to tell you of a running fail. Yep, another one.  Don’t know about my first one? You can read about that one here.

Friday night I packed my bag with the things I would need for the run. After dropping the kids off at their Nana’s, Tom and & continued to drive to Halls Gap to stay the night there.  It takes about 50mins from Halls Gap to get to Dunkeld, and about 1h20 from Stawell (allowing for kangaroos).

Saturday morning, I got dressed, put everything I needed in my basket, and off we went.  Tom asked me twice, have you got your watch, as I hadn’t put it on yet. I assured him yes, I have my watch (I had my shoes on at least, so there was no forgetting those).

When we got to Dunkeld, I go to my basket to put away the stuff I won’t need and to get my watch.  Lo and behold, it wasn’t there.  I had a charger, but no Garmin.  Where was my watch? Still in my backpack, back in Halls Gap (insert facepalm here).

Therefore this race would be my first event (in a very long time), where I have not tracked my run with my Garmin. I ran naked, and guess what?! Oh, you’ll just have to read on now won’t you (insert evil laugh here).

The 10km runners were off first.  Since I had no watch, I didn’t want to go out too fast, so I made sure that I held back.  There were runners behind me who zoomed off ahead of me, that was their mistake, as they ended up burning out later on the course.

Around the 3.5km mark, I asked a Volunteer who was on course what the time was.  She said it was 9:15 am.  I asked what the time was so I could gauge my pace. That helped me because I knew I could sustain the pace I was at and push it toward the end.

I made the decision before I even started that I would stop (and walk) at the drink station. Just pausing to take a sip of water helped me to refocus on my breathing.

There was only one drink station on the course this year.  But it was located in a position where the 10km could get another drink after doing a 2km there and back.  And yes I got another drink there too.

I remember last year, running the section of the there and back (Old Ararat Rd), that I nearly lost my hat. This year we still had a headwind but I had no need to hang on to the hat.

By the 8km mark, I was heading into the Dunkeld Arboretum, and hitting the tail end of the 5km runners/walkers. There was still plenty of room to overtake them, but it’s still annoying to yell out “on your left/right”.  Yes, it would be easy if every runner had it ingrained in them to just keep left (or right, depending on where you live).

Back around the 3km mark, a guy (let’s call him Rohan – Runner 107) past me.  I ended up passing Rohan around the 7km mark, this made me happy.  It told me that I didn’t go out too fast and that I still had plenty left in the tank, so I started to pick up the pace.

There was a woman in front of me (let’s call her Sally) wearing a pair of running duds, and all wanted to do was close the distance on her. I realised that I had gained on Sally by the time we were running the track around the Arboretum. Later on, I learned that she was trying to keep me behind her, as she knew I was gaining on her. If the track was a little bit longer, I would most likely have passed her. The time difference between her crossing the line and me was only 10 seconds.

I crossed the line having no idea what my time was.  All I knew it was 47m something.  If that was the case that would me I got a new personal best (PB).  I would have to wait until the results came out later that day.

Overall I was the 4th woman to cross the line, and 12th runner overall.  I’m very happy with that effort. Moreso because I got a new 10km PB, and without a watch.

So it pays to run naked every once in a while.

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Do you always run with your watch?
Have you ever run without your watch?
What’s your best time for the 10km distance?