In the weeks leading up to this event I poured over all the available data for this Race 2. Like some sort of Tom Clancy CIA analyst, my computer screen was filled with elevation charts, course maps, Vic Parks & Recreation directories and previous personal splits for similarly ran distances. I should have been running.

Even though my training had lapsed I had run this distance before, and longer, Plenty is only a few K’s longer than Studley and I managed to run the last 100 meters of that in 13 seconds with two bloody knees and a cut up hand. However that attitude has caught me out before (see: https://beardywriterblog.wordpress.com/2013/10/03/ealing-half-marathon-2013-race-report/ and: https://beardywriterblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/03/ealing-half-marathon-race-report/).

Preparation

A few days before I had a chance to check out the terrain. Plenty Gorge is stunning. All rocky valleys, rolling hills, gum tree forests and fields of Roo’s (still haven’t got a…