A Bump in the Road

There was little we could do as the wind and waves battered the city, but shelter inside and hope and pray for the best. Brisbane felt the brunt of ex-tropical cyclone Oswald over the Australia Day weekend, with days of heavy rain and strong winds, followed by flooding of the major rivers.

My local area, Brighton/Sandgate, were pretty badly hit. Thankfully our home is in a high part of the suburb so we had no flooding, nor did we lose power. But it was crazy to walk down the path we walk/run just about every day and see it completely under water. When the sun finally came out, we could see the damage to our beautiful foreshore.

Debris made up of sticks and leaves, was scattered everywhere. Huge chunks of concrete wall, built just after World War 2, were swept onto the path. Full concrete slabs of footpath were ripped up. Beautiful, big trees - where we'd had family picnics not so long ago - were brought down. A thick layer of sand covered a section of path. It was really heartbreaking to see.

But full credit to the council workers and volunteers who have worked hard already to restore our waterfront. Much of the rubbish and debris has been cleared and there are far fewer obstacles in the path. We will be able to go ahead with parkrun on Saturday. So we really are grateful.

Needless to say, running has taken a backseat this week. There was no way I could take the kids out in the heavy rain, and it was too dangerous to hit the path in the couple of days after the flooding. Dean & I ventured out yesterday to check out the parkrun track and got about 5km under our belts. Conditions were close to perfect this evening, so I took the kids out for 8km and it felt great to get back into the swing of things.

I did have an unexpected highlight on Saturday! We decided to go ahead with our Australia Day parkrun, despite the forecast rain and wind. My parents were looking after the kids, and I was excited to be able to run child-free! We had 87 runners, which totally exceeded our expectstions! As we set off, the rain held off and it was actually fairly pleasant at first. Then the waves started crashing over the concrete wall, and despite there being no rain, I was getting pretty drenched by the waves! It was a super strong cross-wind, which didn't make it easy. I was pretty happy with my pace though, and tried to give it my best, despite the rain starting up in the last 1.5kms.

Imagine my surprise at the end when I realized I was the first female finisher! It was certainly no record - I ran 24:19, which was about 1 minute quicker than my pram PB, and I was happy with that considering the wild weather! It was a bit of a proud moment - I have never really been a sporty person, and have never finished first in anything related to sport or athletics - so it was great to feel that sense of achievement (although it's probably the slowest time for the first female finisher in the history of Sandgate parkrun!)

Now that the city's returning to normality, I'm looking forward to getting back into my regular runs. Hopefully the foreshore will be back to its glorious self soon, and this week will be nothing but a slight bump in the road.