A 21km on road (Johnson Crane)

So, yesterday (Sunday) morning I ran my first road 21km distance certainly since the 30km road race that I did in Buenos Aires back in July last year. Aside from waking up at 04h20, it was a thoroughly enjoyable outing.

I got through to the Johnson Crane road race a little after 5am and already there were traffic queues all over the place. I got a decent parking and mom and I headed through to the field with our AR Club gazebo. On the field there were club gazebos everywhere and crazy long queues for race number pick-up, on-the-day entries and the porta-loos. We entered last weekend and got our race numbers at the same time - that saved us a lot of hassle on race morning. I was in for the 21; mom was in to do the 5km walk.

On the field Wiehan and Lizelle (friends and fellow club members) found us and we headed off to the jam-packed-crazy-with-people start out on the road. There literally were thousands and thousands of runners out there for the 21km and 42km courses. Mom said that there was an equally loaded start for her 5km walk (the 10km run may have started at the same time). There hasn't been an entry limit to this event - but there should be.

It took us two minutes to walk under the start banner and the first kilometre certainly wasn't done any faster than eight or nine minutes. Wiehan left us not long after the start; Lizelle and I stuck together for the whole race.

We raced the last Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge together in Dec 2010 and we haven't seen much of each other for ages. She now has a one-year-old son.

We had a most superb run and much of it was spent chatting to each other and chatting to other people. I had my Forest Run 'advert' pinned to my back (a tag with name of event, distance, date, venue, website etc). Lots of people asked about the event - the terrain, distance, water points... Loads of discussion happening. We also spoke to some people about adventure racing and orienteering. Phew... almost more talking happening than running!

The kilometres clicked past and next thing we were at the finish - our cool medals in hand. I'm not one for medals... but I do like this design.

One of the ladies that we chatted to said that at her club they can all donate their medals from the year to a group collection, which goes to a children's unit at a hospital. The medals are 'awarded' to the children as needed.

I usually trash all but a few medals but I really liked this idea so I'll hang on to any that I get until year-end and then hand 'em over.

The early mornings kill me and inevitably I need a nap by early afternoon... But I'm enjoying the road vibe and hooking up with buddies on the road.

I've got orienteering this Sunday, the first of the new Urban Series events. Next road race is the 21km at the Pick 'n Pay event on 9 Feb.

Lots of runners at first AR Club Summer Series

What a great night last night! A superb turnout with over 80 runners at the first AR Club Summer Series event at Delta Park. These are navigation-based events where entrants have an hour to find as many controls as possible in the time. It is indeed wonderful to see people running all over the place, map in hand.

We've got another three of these events over the next few Wednesday evenings. There will be slight variations to each event.

Read about last night's event on the AR Club website and check out Fred's photos on the AR Club Facebook page.

Please remember to pre-register online so that we know how many maps to print - it really helps us a great deal. We don't print many extra maps (such a waste of money - and paper!).

What is 'expensive'?

I think it is expensive to pay R90 for a 21km road race at an event where there are 6,500 runners. While this often includes a t-shirt, I'm not there for the tee. I'm there to run. Race tees rarely a) fit, b) have a nice design or c) have a flattering cut (too long, too thick, no shaping). And it's around R130 to run a road marathon these days.

I also think it is expensive to pay R2,500 for a 40-odd kilometre trail run. But then the race has only got around 500 participants and it has tons of bells-and-whistles, if you like that kind of thing.

How about R4,250 for IronMan... a looped route... on tar?

And then there's the R23,000 per person for a staged mountain bike race...

As I've been promoting Forest Run to the road running community I've had a few people say, "That's expensive".

At R480pp, Forest Run is comparatively inexpensive - even compared to road running events with their thousands of runners.

At Forest Run runners receive a few goodies, like tea/coffee and muffing before the start, plus a sewn bag and a sustainable item at the finish (no medals, trophies or ugly tees on my watch).

There are only 150 runners (maximum!) so you really can run in peace and quiet, feeling like the forest is all yours.

It's a marked route... I spend three full days putting out route markers.

My marshals are treated like royalty because they're so crucial to the event - they're accommodated and (over)-fed for the weekend.

I have a medical crew on standby for the day.

And then there are all the other special bits that runners discover out on the course, which I don't advertise - because I love secrets and enjoy presenting the runners with lovely surprises. Lots of specialness at Forest Run.

Expensive is relative.

You can buy a cheap tee for R30 that doesn't quite fit right and where the fabric isn't that great and you trash it at the end of the season. Or you can buy a R180 tee that has quality fabric, a great design, good fit and will last you a few years.

That's the difference between Forest Run and any 'ol road race. The experience is remembered long after the race is done.

First road race in... ages

This morning I ran the Bobbies 11km -  a nice 'n local road race not far from home. They moved the event from the Oriental Plaza area in town to Modderfontein, which made it a quick 10-minute drive to the race venue. Even though I arrived just after 5am, there was already a queue of cars to contend with and then a very, very, very, VERY disorganised and chaotic registration.

As a result the race started 30 minutes late and I'd hazard a guess that runners still were not able to register in time. There was one table with a few helpers, no signs (no instructions either and everyone was clueless), in a small area (inside), three different courses to enter for and thousands of runners was a recipe for long queues and not a lot of early morning happiness.

Nonetheless, in the queue, I chatted to people I knew and made a new friend - a lass new to running but also into pole dance.

The route itself was pleasant - with a nasty uphill through to the finish - and I ran with Gavin, a chap I met in person for the first time this morning - he's running Forest Run. I also saw a number of fellow Adventure Racing Club mates on the road as well as other people that I know - and that's always super cool.

I had a very easy and chatty and casual run. Just right.

I haven't run road races very often for a few years and while I don't intend to make it a habit, I do enjoy the social vibe and the positive energy of running. Goodness, in the 90s I ran races most weekends! Although I do love trail, road is nice and chatty as you can run next to people. Loads of chirping and commenting happens too.

I've been hanging at the recent road races - Dischem last weekend and Menlyn yesterday - to hand out Forest Run flyers. I haven't really considered the road-running community much but in fact, if you're looking for people not too scared of distance and ultras, then these are indeed the people to target, especially those hitting the marathons. I have a number of entrants who are doing Forest Run as training for Comrades. The timing is good, the course has the distance, it is scenic and off-road is more gentle on the body than tar.

These events are a good way to spread the word - I'll do flyers again at Johnson Crane next weekend. I'm running the 21 and would like to catch the marathoners afterwards.

Handing out flyers is a funny thing. A good number of people take flyers; I tend to too because then when I get home I look through them to see what is on. Some people brush off the people handing out flyers. Others say they have entered already - without even looking to see what the flyer is for (Pinocchios! I know they haven't yet entered Forest Run - they don't even know what it is) and others walk through with eyes cast down, pretending you don't exist. What do you do?

What I have really enjoyed are the one-on-one interactions with runners; meetin' and greetin'. I've met many really nice and friendly people over the past week. On the whole, that's runners - it's a wonderful community of people.