Date 11 August 2013
Event: McKenna Scott Pinelands 10 km Road Race
Venue: Lower Oval Pinelands.
The month of Ramadan was complete and what better way to work off the extra sugary unhealthy foods I might have consumed on Eid by doing a road running event. Just to put you in the know how Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim year, during which strict fasting is observed from sunrise to sunset by Muslims. Eid is celebrated at the end of Ramadan which is on the 1st of Shawaal which is the next month on the Muslim calendar. People usually end up partaking in an eating feast on the day. So in preparation for the race I partook in no running or training for the past month, not even gym (Note this is usually a bad thing to do), unfortunately or fortunately (depending on my point of view) I was keen on running once again and decided to do this race as I need to urgently get running fit for a 16km race I'm attempting at the end of the month. The weather on the day was cool, bit of chilly wind which never affected running at all. Left house at around 6:45, got to the venue around 7:00, there was ample free parking in the vicinity and it was a 5 minute walk to the start point. Registration took about 1 minute and the cost was R50 for a temp runner like me.Race started at 7:30 and consisted of 2 X 5km laps around the "garden city" suburb of Pinelands which is located on the edge of the southern suburbs of Cape Town. There is also a fun run option available of which it is a 5km run. The race was flat with no particular uphills or downhill’s and it is actually an ideal race to set your personal best. Johannesburg Guy who I entered the race with completed his 10km in a personal best of +- 54min while I completed in the not so bad +- 63min. I was happy with my time as 1. I never walked 2. It was under 70minutes which I was aiming for. So all in all it was a decent race and was good fun so let’s give out some stars (5 being excellent, 4 very good, 3 average 2.poor 1.weak)
• Organization (from Marshall's to volunteers to traffic officials to registration) = 5
• Scenery (nice leafy suburb , lots of trees) = 4
• Ease of Race (Flat Race - not strenuous) = 5
• Effect on Legs next day (I was hardly stiff) = 2
• Refreshments (just water along the route and coke at finish) = 1
(p.s. this was disastrous as the water table at the 8km mark ran out of water and the coke given at the end was just enough for 1 sip , c'mon was there a shortage of coke or what ?) p.s. I love my coke at the end of the race)
• Crowd to Support = 1
(absolutely nobody,couple of guys shouted encouragement from the train station we ran past but where was the people of Pinelands? Sleeping??)
• Quality of Medal at Finish (only 1st 800 got) = 2
• Fellow Runners (832 in total as per athletics club) = 4
(not much talking from strangers;people were too busy setting personal bests)
• Overall Rating = 3
Nothing memorable of this race stands out that will want me to rush to do it again, however I think it has the potential to do better next year as it should not clash with Ramadan / Eid Period which should encourage a bigger crowd.
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