Athletics East Trip To Stockton Beach - 20th, 21st, 22nd July 2007

For all those who have been brave enough to embark on a journey to the infamous sand hills of Cronulla, imagine the awe that you felt when you saw the dunes for the first time, let alone the feeling you felt when trying to tackle one of the monsters. Now multiple it exponentially an infinite number of time and that’s the sensation that 7 brave souls from Athletics East incurred on the 20th, 21st and 22nd of July 2007. Paul ‘Director Extraordinaire’ McGuire and partner ‘the Gourmet Queen’ Anne, Dave ‘the Clenching Mac Daddy’ McAnally, Peter ‘Yum Yum’ Trewin, Cindy ‘talk, talk, #*insert name here*# talk’ Duckworth, the great farting machine - Coach Pierre ‘Give me Rhubarb’ Good and myself, Matt ‘Run, eat and Sleep’ Hammond have been, and conquered, the mighty sand masses of Stockton Beach.

On Friday 20th July, Coach Good picked up myself, Peter T (PT) and Dave Mac at 11am and took the new X-trail out of Sydney and headed north. At 12.00 I got a message from Cindy saying they had just left. So when we got there at 2.30, we unpack the car and headed into the small town of Anna Bay where we stopped at the Pub for lunch. As it was absolutely pissing down outside, it was decided that we wouldn’t run on Friday, but make it up on Saturday. This deliberation was dashed when Cindy, Paul and Anne arrived, and Cindy insisted that we not miss our run no matter how torrential the weather was. Therefore, after getting back to the lodge, (with a couple of beers in the gullet) we headed out for what looked to be about 8km on the map. Little did we know that it was more like 13km, and took us an hour.

That night Anne stepped up to the plate and excelled with an awesome pasta dish and veggies, followed by a Rhubarb desert that was to die for, along with poached peaches. This gave us all the fuel we needed to confront the sand on the next morning.

After a small breakfast, we set out on our first sand session for the day at 8am. Mother Nature smiled at us that day as the rain had cleared up and the sun was out. As the lodge was located basically at the base of the hills, we jogged over onto the sand and once there we set off on a 20min warm up jog along the dunes. We went up and over 7 or 8 dunes on the way out and the same on the way back. From there we did 4 strides up a roughly 100m hill to warm up, then set out on 5 circuits that Pete had marked out. These circuits were a royal pain in the ass, hammy, quad and every other muscle from the waist down. From there, Cindy was getting blisters so ran back to the lodge (big girl), got her shoes on and finished the session with a 30min run on road. The rest of us ran to the beach, where Dave and I went for a run on the flat sand, and then all headed back to the lodge for breakfast.

After showers and breakfast, the boys took a drive to map out distances for our long Sunday run. We had a coffee in Shoal Bay (where we met some familiar faces), and headed back to the lodge. When we got back, the lodge was engulfed with the smell of the largest home-made apple pie I have seen. That was motivation in itself to get out and tackle the sand for the second time that day. At 2pm, Dave, PT, Cindy, Paul, the human trumpet (Pete) and I set out again. We did a 20min w/u (where we got lost because we were too busy chucking the footy at each other), followed by 4 sets of 3 continuous 10m acute hill (kind of like a longer faster technique hill for those in the know). This followed shortly after with 8 reps of a roughly 250-300m flat loop. Then we jogged to the beach and did a tempo run which consisted of us going flat out for 7 mins, then turning around and making it back in 6. That hurt! Luckily we had the wind in our favour. A jog back to the lodge finished our second session for the day, or so we thought. Pete had arranged for the pool to be filled up, but I think instead of filling it with water, they filled it with liquid nitrogen, it was FREEZING!!! But for recovery we had to get in, and big brave me decided to jump in – big mistake. I’m still waiting for them to post my testical’s back as soon as they find them (I think I spat them out my mouth) and after thawing them out.

That night was a footy fans dream, with the Wallabies playing in the Rugby, Swannies in the AFL and the Socceroos in the Asian Cup. Anne again out-did herself with a delicious meal of something that I’ve forgotten the name of (tomato, onion, eggplant and more…) with baked potatoes and greens. That was just the warm-up though, the Apple Pie was on everyone’s mind and it lived up to all expectations. It was absolutely exquisite, topped with ice-cream and custard. I don’t think Anne expected us athlete types to eat as much as we did – I think we impressed. Anyway, with the Rugby on TV, a full stomach and a beer in each hand, we were set for a good night in front of the box. Cindy was so excited by the thought of 3 football games that it was hard to contain her. We watch the Wallabies cop a beating, then the start of the Swannies, whom we later found out lost, then went to the Pub to watch the Socceroos, who, that’s right, also lost. Luckily the beers were good!

Despite an official protest by myself and PT, our long run was scheduled for 8am on Sunday morning. We’d tried to move it 10am but Coach and Cind would have none of it, therefore we set out for our respective long runs at sparrows fart. On the bright side, by 10am we had all finished, and after packing, we were in the café next door munching away on a well deserved breakfast (bacon and eggs!!). Then we departed, and all bar Coach Good (who was driving) in our car fell asleep in the car for the majority of the trip home. I don’t know if it was a coincidence or fate, but when we drop Pete T home, a lovely pink skirt was on the ground right outside his house. Make of that as you will…

For everyone who thought about coming but decided not to, I hope that our experience for these 3 days is enough to inspire you to get along to the next trip. Hopefully, all going well, we’ll try to get away again (hopefully for a little longer) towards the end of August or at the start of September. So start thinking of excuses to get off work, because I guarantee you’ll have an awesome time, as we all did.

An extremely big thank you has to go out to Anne, who made an awesome weekend even better. It was absolutely unreal not having to worry about meals after session, and knowing that some of the best food we’d tasted was awaiting us at the end of each run. I’d also like to thank Mr. Good. Without your organization, this trip would still be an idea, rather than a memory, so thank you very much. To all the other guys that went though the pains and pleasure of Stockton Beach, Dave, PT, Cind and Paul, you all made it unforgettable and it was a pleasure to spend the weekend with you.

Cheers,
Matt Hammond

2007 NSW Cross County Championships – Nowra

2007 NSW Cross County Championships – Nowra
Saturday 23rd June 2007

On a beautiful sunny winter Saturday in June, a contingent from Athletics East made the trip down the south coast for the 2007 NSW Cross Country Championships held at the imfamous course at Nowra.

The club representation started off with Paul McGuire in the one lap, 4km fun run and an international guest appearance for the club from a family member, Morag Macniven. Both ran the challenging terrain steadily to come home strongly in times of 18.54 (Paul) and 17:56 (Morag, also placing as 1st female).

In the Female 8km Event, Gillian Sohun, Cindy Duckworth and Rona Macniven faced two laps of the course. Cindy, unfortunately, had to pull out due to injury but completed a threshhold level first lap nevertheless. Rona crossed the finishing line in a time of 34.36, to be placed 10th in the Open category, and Gillian came through in 5th position in 35-39yrs category in a time of 36.05, a substantial improvement from a previous year time.

In the Male 12k Event, David McNally, Matt Hammond and Peter Trewin rose to the call of the 3 lap race, in increasingly muddy conditions underfoot. Matt fought to the finish in a time of 44.41 to come 17th in the Open category, followed by David McAnally in 46.20 - 9th in the 35 - 39 yrs category - with Peter Trewin hot on his tail in a time of 46.25, placing 22nd in the Open category.

Overall, a great time was had by all, with performances to be proud of despite the tough course conditions.

Thanks are due to the following people:
- Jim for organising a comfortable log cabin as the team base, along with a seemingly neverending supply of 'cross country' cake and jelly beans.
- Morag and Paul Duckworth for the meticulous timing and recording of athletes' lap splits
- Paul McGuire for professional level photography services, following his 4km fun run stint
- and Peter Good for overall organisation, direction and support throughout the day.