Sydney Striders 6ft Track Training Group

Run 8 Marsfield to Pennant Hills Park & beyond

What else would any runner do on Christmas day morning but take in a few early k's to make room for what was to come, well 13 of us did and i expect we all managed to make up for it during the day. The weather was spot on again and as usual for this run we managed to get rather orientationally disadvantaged at the top end. Having run this many times we still fail to find the right tracks so we back tracked to Pennant Hills Park. All up just over 14 k's that included some interesting side tracks.

Started at Marsfield and followed the track under the expressway through to Pennant Hills Park (and beyond).

Not too many hills and mostly good quality tracks

Another fine body of runners as usual

George took some convincing that we were on the right track, Dave gives advice, this was before we went into the nether regions of the track.

The correct question here was "R U SURE????

Does this look familiar to you??

If in doubt go UP!!!!!

On the way home after some rather out of the way sections.

Run 7 Otford to Bundeena

Christmas shopping obviously won the day as only 16 of us fronted up, this run can be a little difficult to get to but it is so worth the trouble, 29 k's all up including the beach loop at the finish although there were some who decided that 29 k's wasn't enough and added a few k's just for the hell of it. (And i get accused of having only a flirting relationship with maps).
The weather could not have been better, a cool offshore breeze all the way with light cloud cover makes a huge difference to the day.
The stats from Garmin are not what i expected, we ran a total ascent of 1,185 metres and descended 1,384 so a difference of 200 metres. Only 100 metres less than Quarry Rd last week.

Where this week was from Otford to Bundeena, 29 k's of hills and sand.

What turned out to be as tough a run as any we have done so far, great training for the last two k's into Jenolan Caves

Only a small group this week however Gill the World Rogaining Champ and Warwick's Bush group joined us for the morning.

Graham trying to climb out from under an unusual botanical structure. not only do we run we adventure race as well.

Having escaped the "unusual botanical structure" Graham powers up the hills as if they weren't there, our start was about three headlands back somewhere.

More sand to play in, how much fun was that.

Eagle Rock, what else can i say

Clare and Rob our saviors at Wotamolla, drinks, snacks and helpful support, thanks girls.

The scenery on this run is amazing all the way, the only problem is that you have to run up some huge clifftops to admire it and then run down to the beach to appreciate exactly how high they are. Once would have been enough though.

Brekky or Lunch at Bundeena, well earned no matted what.

Run 6 Quarry Rd 25 k

I would have thought there may have been a few more this morning after all it was close to the city but then again Christmas Shopping is on the cards.
For those who missed the run it was a great morning, the weather was cool for the first half but did warm up for the second lap although the humidity was well down which made it just that bit more comfortable.
The total ascent for the morning was 1,275 metres, seemed like an awful lot more.

Where we ran, the long strip beside the start is the Rifle Range

What we ran

Who ran although i cannot imagine why anybody does this to themselves

Early on the way down, everybody is still smiling

Dave leads the way with a long gap behind him

Running sooo fast they blur the picture

Iain enjoys the sunshine and builds his tan at the same time

Rachel singing along as she cruises past

Says it all really, Mike at the second turnaround and only 6.123716632 k's to go

Run 5 Ourimbah 20 k

I was wondering all the way to Ourimbah how many would front up this morning, it was raining with more predicted during the day and it is quite a way to go for the run. As it turned out 25 drove all the way for a great run, the cool weather was a bonus and while it was a little soggy underfoot it was nothing to concern us. For future info it took 55 minutes from Nth Ryde to get there.
There are a couple of stats you may be interested in;
We climbed a total of 1,084 metres during the run and descended 1,086 which i put down to me poor ol legs wearing out
We climbed 313 metres in the first 5 k and descended 104
We climbed 225 metres in the second 5 k and descended 143
We climbed 190 metres in the third 5 k and descended 281
We climbed 278 metres in the fourth 5 k and descended 478
(don't blame me if these don't add up)

Where we ran

What we ran

Who ran, as fine a body of daft buggers as you will ever see

Going UP

The turnaround, the old sign has been taken away

On the way home, downhill all the way

Richard on the last downhill

The finish, a quick coke and off for some Golf for Pete, what!!!!! in this weather

Never used a boot lid as an umbrella before??

Run 4 from Buffalo Creek Park

The weather Gods have again been kind to us, a cool start although the humidity started to climb towards the finish. 25 of us headed out for 20 k's in a figure 8 trail along sections of the Great North Walk then returning on the opposite sides of the Lane Cove River. An interesting morning with some of us losing some bark when we didn't keep focused although there was one rather spectacular misjudgement (see pic below). An unusual Orchid in flower along the way plus water hazards and general technical concerns that go with bush runs. All up another successful mornings outing.

Where we ran

What we ran

Who ran

If the tide is in this section can be a biathlon, a short water hazard just to make things interesting

Just checking to see how many Lemmings we had in the group this morning, a swim at that stage would almost have been worth it

There are some sections of this trail that are what attracts so many of us to running bush trails

Then there are those sections of the bush that for some inexplicable reason invite the Gods to toy with us, a sudden urge for a mud bath perhaps? falling asleep at the wheel or a short cut gone wrong. This was definitely a first.

One of the more spectacular displays at this time of the year, this Orchid (Dipodium Punctatum for any orchidophiles) is pretty well unseen for most of the year.

Run 3 The Equaliser

Another perfect day for a run. 14 k's of great trail running with a few hills thrown in just for good measure. We had 35 runners out on Saturday morning for the last of our "short runs", next week we up the distance to 20 k's with the bush run from Buffalo Creek Park though to Lane Cove N.P via the Great North Walk. We will cross the weir and run the bush trail in reverse then back along the opposite side of the river to Epping Hwy then retrace our steps to the start. There is plenty of water along the way so you won't need to carry any unless you want the try out your belt/back pack for the following week at OURIMBAH!!!!