Greenbelt Half Marathon
21km Course: 
Start: Athelstone Primary School, Athelstone, SA
Finish: Pinky Flat, Adelaide, SA
Turnout:
Approximately 1,000 people entered across the different event categories (21km/10km walk/run).
My goal for the event:
Keep at regular training pace to avoid injury/undue fatigue as I haven't built tapering/recovery into my program around this event.
Estimated completion time: 2hrs
Course Profile:
The course was mainly downhill, with a few uphills in the first 6km (see Garmin Connect data below for elevation profile)
Weather:
19-24C and a light tailwind for most of the course. We were lucky that the forecast showers never occurred.
Pre-race: Had a very interrupted sleep last night. Woke up at about 4:30am this morning and got up at 5am. Lack of sleep reduced my appetite, so I had trouble stomaching breakfast (bircher muesli). Didn't eat as much as I usually would and didn't even feel like coffee! Was pretty jittery on the way to the start line, but once we got to Athelstone I was fine (silly really as I had no pressure on me for this event, but that's just me!)
I was lucky to find the toilets that no one else knew about so that meant no queues and clean facilities (that doesn't happen too often so I thought it worth noting).
Race:
Positioned myself about halfway back on the start line as I was happy to take it pretty easy. Spotted some CoolRunning.com.au gear so had a chat to a couple of fellow CoolRunners. Race started and I spent the first 3 km or so packed in amongst everyone else. There were a few short sharp hills in the first 6km so that sorted people out fairly quickly. After the first water station I knew it was all downhill from there, so turned up my favourite podcast (IM Talk) and settled in.
Took a gel at 9.5km knowing there was a water station coming up. Still feeling really comfortable. I decided I could probably do with picking up the pace a little as at that stage my perceived effort was less than that of a regular training run (being a bit lazy!).
15km mark came around really quickly and I was happy to note that I was still very comfortable (still smiling!). Upped the pace slightly. At this point I reflected on my last half marathon (Busselton, WA in February) and how I was feeling in that race at 15km (determined, but absolutely wrecked). I was hoping for a PB in Busselton, so the efforts that went in there were much more than today in Adelaide, but it was still worth gloating to myself that I must be getting fitter if I am now feeling great at 15km.
2km to go and it was time to step it up and try to pick off a few more people before the finish line. I came in just under 2hrs which is about what I planned to do.
Post race:
Drinks and food were provided afterwards (bread/fruit/muesli bars) and medals and spot prizes were handed out. (None for me..) Was back in the car and on the way home by 11am.
Summary:
Good event and I loved that it was point-to-point along the Torrens River path - nice scenery and a sense that you are covering a lot of ground.
I also got to meet a few people who commented on my Maiden Marathon singlet and asked how it was going – winner :)
Race Data:
Check out my Garmin data below. It must have lost satellite coverage under a few bridges etc as the speed data has a few low spikes (I didn't stop at all I promise!)
Check out more photos in the photo gallery or leave a comment below.
