Australian Capital Territory

Friday 11th April - Tracy has to get up very early in the morning for the drive to Sydney to meet her brother Treavor and sister Trena who were flying in this morning, while Tim can enjoy a more relaxing start. He spends the day walking on the shores of the artificial Lake Burley-Griffin and taking in the sights of the city while scoping some of the marathon route. In the afternoon the National Museum provides an entertaining way to find out a diverse range of information about the country's history, culture, natural history and sport. The evening involves eating a lot of pasta!

Tracy manages a pretty smooth ride to Sydney and picks up the siblings. They are all staying downtown overnight so they enjoy the fine afternoon and evening weather to have a look at the city and sample a little nightlife.

Saturday 12th April – Tim has a lazy morning as the weather is dull but stirs at lunchtime to stop in at the run HQ to pick up his entry pack before heading back into town to have a look at the nation's war memorials en route back to the National Museum. Tracy meanwhile packs the sibs into the truck and makes the return drive to Canberra, luckily finding a convenient and friendly winery for lunch. In the evening Tim has an early night while Tracy joins Trena and Treavor at the campground's bar. She returns home at a reasonable hour while they meet a local by name of “Chief” who shows them some of the local party spots before they manage to find their way home in the small hours.

Sunday 13th April – Tim is up before dawn to get prepared for the run and Tracy surfaces early enough to drive him to the start. The morning is cool, still and overcast but shortly before the start the rain begins. The course runs around the Australian parliament, across the lake and out west to a turnaround and this section is pretty miserable with heavy rain and some slippery road surfaces. Back near the start things begin to improve weather wise for the second shorter loop running out to the turnaround without passing parliament and the body holds up well for the whole race. The time is better than Tim's first marathon but still a little outside the magic 3 hours at 3.02.16, good for 77th out of about 1000. The Erney family have made it out to the finish but we are all pretty tired and return to the campground: Tim to relax with a beer while everyone else sleeps.

In the later afternoon, with the weather once again clear and bright, we all summon the effort to drive up to the Black Mountain Tower, a telecom tower with great views over the Capital Territory. By this time Tim's ileo-tibial band in his right knee has seized up (Tracy can put long names to aches and pains) and everyone has a laugh at his efforts to get up and down stairs.