I awoke to drizzle and obvious overnight rain ~ it looked set in and not overly auspicious for a fun run. I expected a small field.

Aki and I arrived early to register, and then I disappeared to find a coffee and somewhere to warm up. This seemed like a good idea at the time, but I found the cafe too cold, and the coffee too hot to drink. On our return we had to park a fair distance away and were rather overwhelmed by the huge numbers of people who had turned up (for a good cause). There were most of the usual suspects as well as a collection of footballers, gym junkies and a surprising number of twice a year runners.

Cool Runner Phibes and I warmed up together for a short distance which provided excellent company, a chance to chat, and an unfamiliar warm-up for me. With the large field, I thought that I had seeded myself about right, not too far from the front, but on the gun fire walkers with large hiking packs and flashing lights were still strolling three abreast in front of me.

I felt good, very good, and thought that there must be a lot to the adage that a cold lasts 7 days with medical treatment, and about a week without. I didn't stroll, but my breathing was easy, and I didn't push myself hard either. Surprisingly, I just scraped in to the first 25 women, for some unknown reason, the times of only the first 25 men and women were to be recorded. Tragically, Aki came 26^th, so missed out on an officially recorded time, although she smashed her PB, not only breaking 50 minutes, but crashing through for around 48:40. Her exact time will never be known . . . . There were quite a few Cool Runners around; Phibes was well placed when I saw him at the turnaround, Wombatface fronted up after another big week, and new blogger CJ put in a great performance and strong finish in the 10k. A CR singlet was in second place when I saw the turnaround of the 5k, and the "don't call me elite" CR Southy wiped the field clean in winning the 5k event easily.

The second best news is that just as suddenly as this debilitating cold descended on me last Saturday, it has flown out the window. I feel excellent and am confident that I can compete in the Blue Mountains next weekend and resume training and life. Yay! The rain has now cleared and I feel good.