King of the Mountain 32ks

A run starting from the little village of Cambewarra just inland from Nowra. Quite close to the State Longcourse Cross Country Course at Nowra.
Drove down with Horrie getting a full run down of his epic race at Western States in the 4 hours. Showed how special it was to him to get through the race with the buckle. Good job!

Quite cold at the start but I didn't care and started in shorts and t shirt as per always. The first part is around the local streets and we run about 5ks on the tar before we turn back inland towards a mean looking escarpment. Had Blue Dog and the femal winner come up behind me at the 5k mark. That was the last I saw or heard of the Dog until the finish. I stayed with Vanessa for about the next three ks which were flat still. Upon the hills starting I lasted the third hill before I couldn't stay with her. I know I'm soft.
But hey she is in the Australian Mountain Running team for the Swiss world titles in Sept. Strong legs that woman!

I had a 10k split of 42:30 which I thought might have been correct as the 5k of 18:40 certainly wasn't. At about the 12k mark we finished with the bitumen and got onto the graded council dirt roads which still had some patches of hard stuff.
The 15k was reached in 1:07 and the half way 16k in 1:12. The hills kept coming through some spectacular country. Beautiful open bush and farmlands with peaks of the brutal escarpment getting ever closer. Ran through a couple of creeks during the race.
The bottom of Mt Scanzi was about the 23k mark and had an aid station. From here to the top was about 2ks and I had 10 people pass me while my legs decided running was too slow and I had to walk some patches. Didn't care actually about walking as I thought I was moving faster than my shuffle uphill.
The peak of Mt Scanzi gave itself away by a crest sign just near the top. Great aid station with fruit, jelly beans, gatorade and water bags. Also apparently rum but I missed that.

The downhill wasn't as long as I thought, only really 1k steep down and then 6ks of flat with a few more uphills thrown in. This included an uphill from the Kangaroo Valley shops to the finish at the showground. Evil! Plenty of CR's at the race and Striders as the race was part of our Super Series events this year. 160 finishers apparently.

Finished in 2:30.03. Average pace of 4:41 per klm. Very happy with that considering the hills. Came 31st overall.
Some splits: 10k-42:30, 15k-1:07, 16k-1:12, 25k-2:00.
Had the free coffee plus scones with jam and cream after the race. Excellent.
Chris Truscott and Vanessa Harverd won their events respectively.
Finished a 20 miler as the sign said. Now Ewen had a bet that his 1988 time was 2:30. He might have to check the seconds on that one to see who won.

Also Blue Dog was put to the sword today. Unsure of his time, but I did beat his 2:37 from last year. He was wearing arm warmers during the run. He must have gone soft up on the Western States trail.