Thursday Morning Run: 23 September, 06:00

Hi Hillbillies,

Please join me tomorrow morning at 6:00, in front of Great Westerford Building (240 Main Road, Newlands), for an easy 10km run to ease into the long weekend.
We'll head up towards Bishopscourt toward our usual water point (Stone Church), and continue on to the top of Glastonbury Road. There we'll stop to catch our breath and enjoy the awesome sunrise view, before turning around and heading back home.

Distance: +- 10km
Time: +- 65 minutes
Route: hilly but scenic
Pace: easy

 

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Dean Street Hillbillies

 

Stats: Crazy Store Table Mountain Challenge 2010

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/49778072

Yes, the Hillbillies were crazy enough to tackle the Crazy Store Table Mountain Challenge!
As a team of course - we're not entirely insane :P

Chris and I teamed up to conquer the Mountain, with me tackling legs 1 and 2, and Chris bravely facing off against leg 3!
We're both walking a little funny today still, but survived mostly intact.

The day started out cool but quickly warmed up. We even got a light sunburn (but nothing compared to the sunburns to come when summer really hits!)

All in all a successful day, but I can say with certainty that I will never be overcome with the need to run leg 3 of the Table Mountain Challenge, much less the whole thing! I have gained renewed respect for trail runners, and re-inforced my knowledge that I am very much a road runner!

Still, I had a fun and avoided landing face-first in the rocky patches of Leg 2 (though I came very close a couple of times!)

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Stats: Thursday, 9 September 2010, 06:00

Thank you Hillbillies for a fantastic run this morning!
The pace was relaxed, the weather perfect!

Stats have been uploaded here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/48220913

We set out up Dean Street (which this morning felt very long!) at an easy pace, picking up slightly along Newlands Avenue. It was a fairly quiet start, with everyone lost in their own thoughts (and possibly still feeling Tuesday's Rhodes Mem run in their legs - I know I was!!).
A lovely downhill along the M3 helped and soon we were cruising down Protea Road, stopping briefly for a water break at the Engen on Main Road (unfortunately there was a smoker next to the tap, not what our lungs needed at that point!).
We managed to cross Main Road in a well-timed traffic break, and headed over Campground. Sadly we experienced today how rude and inconsiderate (and down-right foolish) motorists can be - while running along Campground Road towards the cricket stadium, some guy decided to 'buzz' Josh, who was running in the cycling lane at the side of the road. Thankfully Josh was sharp enough to spot him and avoid injury, but it could so easily have turned out for the worse. The guy then proceeded to speed off down the road, not even slowing in the slightest for the red light next to the cricket grounds/station subway!!! Its a great pity that none of us got a look at his licence plate (it happened so fast!) to report him - people that should be severely punished, and have their driving privileges revoked!!! Hillbillies, please be extra-vigilant on your runs, especially early morning or late evening when the light isn't at its best, whether alone or in a group - motorists don't always see us on the roads (and sometimes they don't want to see us!) and in a fight between runner and car, the car will always come out on top.

Thankfully the rest of our run was uneventful and we all finished back at Great Westerford safe and sound.

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Next run is this coming Sunday, we're doing a 30km training run along the Tygerberg/Big Mama race route.
Then next week Tuesday we meet at Great Westerfrod at 5:45 for a flat 11-12km run through Rondebosch.

Safe running!!

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Dean Street Hillbillies

 

Stats: Tuesday, 7 September 2010, 06:00

What a way to start my day - running up Rhodes Memorial with great friends and stunning views of Cape Town!!! Amazing!

You can see our stats here:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/47963311

Well done to the Hillbillies tackling Rhodes Mem for the first time. Dy seems to like this route even more than Kirstenbosch!!
And welcome back Allen! We had a record turn-out this morning (of late) with 5 Hillbillies arriving, ready and [not so] eager to tackle Rhodes Mem. Some of us knew what we were in for, others were running this route for the first time. But in all, I think everyone enjoyed it (at least after we'd caught our breath again!), and we were treated to an awesome sunrise view of Cape Town from the top. And cleverly spotted by Linelle - no more Cooling Towers!

Thanks to the Hillbillies for the great company this morning. See you guys on Thursday, 6am, for a flat 8km recovery run.

Next week Tuesday sees the first of our earlier Tuesday starts - the mornings are getting light enough for us to start at 5:45am on a Tuesday now. Which means an extra 2km, give or take, that we can add into our morning routes. Thursdays remain at 6am year-round. In another 6 - 8 weeks we'll be able to nudge Tuesday morning times up to 5:30am, but you'll have plenty of advance notice of this time change.
 

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Dean Street Hillbillies

 

Tuesday Morning Run: 7th September

Hi Hillbillies,

I hope you're ready to earn our name during tomorrow's run - HILLy!! :)

We're heading up to Rhodes Memorial tomorrow again (the idea is to run Rhodes Mem once a month)
The pace will be very easy (and walking IS allowed up that little hill!), and we'll stop for a water break and to enjoy the view (and catch our breath) at the top before cruising back down for a flat finish.

Meet: 6am in front of Great Westerford.
Distance: +-10km
Run time: +-65 minutes

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Dean Street Hillbillies

 

Stats: Thursday 2 September 2010, 06:00

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/47216622

Thanks to Dy and Chris for your great company on the road this morning!
With the sky threatening to fall down on our heads once again, the 3 of us set out up Dean Street at a nice slow pace, aiming for a recovery run from Tuesday's speedy hill session.

Yeah right - before we realised what we were doing we were once again flying along at high speed. We managed to sprint up Boshoff Avenue and Kirstenbosch Drive somewhat faster than Tuesday even! But it felt great!!! Flying along in the fresh morning air, feet pounding the road, heart pumping, the best way to start the day!!!

Tuesday morning we're going to earn our name all over again, with some more hillwork - Rhodes Memorial!!!
We'll take it slow up the hill, regroup and have some water at the top. If you haven't joined the Hillbillies for a Rhodes Mem run yet, please come along tomorrow for a real treat of a run. The views from the top at Rhodes Mem are breath-taking!!!! Well worth the effort of running up there. Then the downhill cruise that follows is extra reward for the hard work behind us.

Meet 6am on Tuesday in front of Great Westerford. Run is around 10km, run time a little over an hour. Here are the stats of our last Rhodes Mem run - see, not so scary :)

 

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Dean Street Hillbillies