ALAN CARLTON
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Hobart Marathon Festival

Picture
​I wake up.
Beside my bed my running clothes and shoes wait.
I fumble in the dark. Now dressed for running.
“Can you drop me off as close as possible? A lot of the roads will be closed.”
Goodbye and good luck.
It’s cold. Below 10 degrees. I put on an old shirt. To wear for the last time. I walk behind a couple of young runners. Dressed like me.
“The marathon. Full or only half?”
“Half.”
“It’s not only a half. It’s a lot.”
“Yes.”
As we wander more and more people join our peloton. Which eventually becomes a crowd of people mingling on the docks. Runners wandering meet and greet. Volunteers stand in colorful jackets behind tables waiting. The start line is large and ignored.
Who can I talk to?
Talking happens when a man reads my bib and reads my name.
“Where you from?”
Most of the people are from Hobart or Queensland.
The banana benders are expecting a hard hilly course.
The announcer speaks and a crowd of jostling stretching anxious runners is formed and listens to the countdown. I head for the back. For me running to learn something. Not running to win. I can learn better if I am calm and relaxed. And completely aware of my surroundings and myself. Legs and chest feel good.
The front runners start running. Watch and wait for the millipede of running legs to flow back to me. I’m off.
Around Evans Street. Easy. Now up by the circus. Onto The Domain. Past my tennis club. Up a road. I know every bend. Every tree. Every bird. This is easy. I know where we are going. Around my deserted parkrun track. No flags or volunteers standing.
This is the highest part of the run. All downhill from here.
I seem to be running at the same speed as a guy in a wheelchair. I pass him uphill and he passes me downhill.
I say to him,” You’re going well. Keep it up.”
Perhaps they are right. There are a few hills.
Water cups and volunteers appear. I take two cups of water.
“Thank you.”
I pour one cup over my head and down my shirt.
Stay nice and calm and relaxed. I am not going to look at my watch until back at the docks. Until half way.
My race begins at the docks. I have maps in my pocket of everything from the docks past the casino to the turnaround point.
Run past the 10k runners limbering up. A push bike and the leading 10k runners race past me. They are on another planet.
Gradually the 10k runners don’t seem to be running past me as quickly. I try and keep with them. They cause me to run faster. I am reminded of yesterday’s match. Surrounded by team mates playing well gives you confidence. You them play better and you give them confidence.
I run faster because I am surrounded by slightly faster runners.
I run next to a guy I talked to at the start.
He says, “Hilly course.”
I say, “See that mountain. Heard of the Point to Pinnacle. Now that’s a hilly course. That’s the meaning of the word hilly.”
We get distracted by our talk and The Docks appear. My prize is my wife and some relatives are by the finish line. The biggest cheer comes from my grandson.
I wonder if the winners got a prize as big as mine.
I search for a clock which tells me my time. Better than I thought. I must have done something right. 

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  • Home
  • Photos
    • photos >
      • All Saints Church
      • Anglesea Barracks
      • Art Mob
      • Boer War
      • Botanical Gardens
      • Brooke Street Pier
      • Brunswick Hotel
      • Campbell Street
      • Castray Esplanade
      • Cenotaph
      • Constitution Dock
      • St David's Cathedral
    • photos >
      • St David's Park
      • Elizabeth St Mall
      • Elizabeth St Pier
      • Franklin Square
      • Hadley's Hotel
      • Hobart GPO
      • Hobart Congregational Church
      • Hobart Rivulet
      • Hobart Town Hall
      • Holy Trinity Church
      • Heading South Sculpture
      • Hutchins Old School
    • photos >
      • Kunanyi / Mt Wellington
      • MacQuarie Street Primary School
      • Maritime Museum
      • MacQuarie Wharf
      • Parliament House
      • Penitentary
      • Railway Roundabout
      • Regatta
      • RHH
      • Royal Visits 1868 1901 1920 1927 1934
      • Royal visit 1954
      • Salamanca Place
    • photos >
      • Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
      • Theatre Royal
      • Victoria Dock
      • Saint David's Cathedral
      • Saint David's Park
      • St George Anglican Church
    • Street art: photos >
      • Bidencope Lane
      • Criterion Collins Liverpool Streets
      • Elizabeth Street North Hobart​
      • Kemp Despard Streets
    • Streets: photos >
      • Argyle Street
      • Barrack Street
      • Bathurst Street
      • Brisbane Street
      • Brooker Highway
      • Campbell Street
      • Collins Street
    • Streets: photos >
      • Davey Street
      • Elizabeth Street
      • Goulburn Street
      • Harrington Street
      • Hunter Street
      • Liverpool Street
      • Macquarie Street
      • Murray Street
  • Places
    • Places >
      • All Saint's Church
      • Anglesea Barracks
      • Atheneum Club
      • Baha’i Centre
      • Boer War Memorial
      • Brook Street Pier
      • Brunswick Hotel
      • Boats in the docks
      • Constitution Dock
      • The Drunken Admiral
      • Franklin Square
      • Gas Works
    • Places >
      • Hadley's Hotel
      • Heading South Sculpture
      • Hobart GPO
      • Hobart Synagogue
      • Hobart Town Hall
      • Holy Trinity Church
      • Hunter Street
      • Ingle Hall
      • Old Wool Factory
      • Ordnance Stores
      • Parliament House
      • Penitentiary
      • Princes Park
    • Places >
      • Princes Wharf 1
      • Scots Memorial Church
      • Saint David's Cathedral
      • Saint David's Park
      • Saint George Anglican Church
      • St Michaels Collegiate School
      • Supreme Court
  • History
    • History >
      • Tasmanian Timeline
      • Early Tasmania
      • Mid Nineteenth Century
      • Late Nineteenth Century
      • 20th Century
      • Tasmania’s aborigines
      • Convicts
    • People >
      • John Lee Archer
      • William Bedford
      • Andrew Bent
      • Louis Bernacchi
      • James Blackburn
      • William Bunster
      • William Buckley
      • Thomas Bromfield
      • Luke Castray
      • William Champion
      • David Collins
    • People >
      • John Colvin
      • Charles Darwin
      • Governor Eadley
      • TT Flynn
      • John Franklin
      • Lady Jane Franklin
      • Charles Gaylor
      • Haig: Elizabeth and Andrew
      • Henry Jones
    • People >
      • James Kelly
      • Robert Knopwood
      • Lachlan Macquarie
      • Douglas Mawson
      • Charles McLachlan.
      • George Mure
      • Pearce: Henry and John
      • Robert Pitcairn
      • Poulett-Harris
      • Reid: Arthur and Alison
      • James Clark Ross
      • Ikey Solomon
      • Phillip Smith
      • Abel Tasman
      • Mark Twain
      • AJ White
      • Andrew and Elizabeth Haig
  • Community
    • Hobart Marathon Festival
    • Hadley's Hotel
    • history is not set in bronze
    • Wooden Boat Festival 2019
    • What do you think of Hobart?
    • Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
    • The Mountain
  • Walking Tours
    • Dave's Walking Tour
    • The Tench Walking Tour
    • Botanical Gardens Circuit
    • ​Alfred’s feeling religious walk
    • Battery Point Sculpture Trail
    • Lachlan gets to the point
    • Street art: Luffy paints the town
  • Blog
    • healing through living
    • This website
    • about another website
    • Acknowledgement
    • Contact
  • The Full Complement
    • Alan Carlton
    • Daniel Frank
    • Paul Barrington
    • Jodi Sutton
    • Jodi Sutton talks about mistakes
    • Jodi Sutton: The phone
    • Ann Heath
    • Maddie Atkins
    • Karen Wong
    • Jo-Anne Cherry
    • Jo-Anne Cherry: Retirement
    • Errol Kilov
    • Garry Owen
    • Katherine Janney
    • Jacques Cawood
    • John Chung
  • Songs
    • Forty Years Ago
    • Tomorrow
    • Clouds in the River
    • I Woke Up
    • Hold My Hand
    • Cornelian Bay Boathouses
    • Dance on the Deck
    • Eucalyptus Globulus