Memorable fun runs

Sophie

Mumbai Marathon January ’12.

This run exhibited the contrasts of Mumbai, a city whose energy and pulse captures the world’s imagination. A dawn start had runners dodging slum dwellers asleep on the track, unperturbed by 20,000 participants striding by. A few kilometres on, Bollywood beats blasted below a billion dollar home, the music providing great motivation up the hill and through the heat. But most memorable of all, crossing the line to be begged for your post-race Gatorade, a moral dilemma!

Karen

Gold Coast half marathon

My most memorable fun run would have to be the Gold Coast half marathon. All of the training and excitement building up to the event was so challenging and the expo and carb lunch the day before where Steve Moneghetti spoke was fantastic. The atmosphere at an event of this size was overwhelming and I think being away for your normal running courses also added to the excitement.

When the day arrived the weather was absolutely perfect, the nerves were pumping and off we went. It was by far the most exciting run I have ever done. The scenery was superb and the spectators were great cheering everyone on. Once I crossed that finish line the sense of pride and achievement was overwhelming - a few happy tears were shed. While this was the most memorable, all of the fun runs I do hold a special place in my heart.

Claire

Run Melbourne half marathon

The half marathon in the Run Melbourne event was my first fun run and I was really nervous in the lead up. After doing cross-country running at school, my running dropped off a lot during uni and I had only just started again when I signed up. With the event in June, I trained hard in the lead up but was still worried about making the 21km distance. One weekend before the event I decided to run the course just to make sure I wasn’t going to conk out on race day! I don’t think it really made a difference because on race day, the energy, excitement and atmosphere of running alongside so many people made it an entirely different experience. The time went by much faster and with the live entertainment throughout, it was probably one of my most enjoyable and entertaining running experiences!

Steve Moneghetti

Three favourite running memories

1. Running for Australia at Olympics and Commonwealth Games (especially my final marathon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics).
2. Running a world best in the half marathon for the first time in 1990.
3. Winning the Berlin Marathon as a part of the reunification celebrations in Germany.

Lisa Weightman

Most challenging competitive run

The Commonwealth Games marathon in Delhi, India was the hardest. There were very few spectators on the course, we could actually hear our feet tapping as we hit the ground, it was that quiet. There was even a monkey and a dog on the course at one stage. It was extremely hot, extremely high humidity and very polluted. To run 42km in that kind of climate was pretty challenging. The bronze medal I got in that race is definitely a career highlight. I figured if I got through that I could get through anything in life.