A-Z Run of Brisbane - Fairfield, Glasshouse Mountains, Hemmant to Hamilton and Indooropilly8/5/2017
The A-Z run of Brisbane continues....
And still I am amazed at how much enjoyment it is bringing. I've found myself in a conundrum - I set a goal of a half marathon in September - which I completed. But training for speed/distance is very different to a weekly run focusing on exploring, photgraphing and experiencing something new. So I parked my A-Z run temporarily. Now, I'm behind schedule. I have about 80 days to the end of the year, and 17 letters to complete. Eeeeekkkk. F = Fairfield - 18/6/17 First up, we have Fairfield at dawn, which was spectacular. I had never run in Fairfield before - had run through it to cross the green bridge, but never explored Fairfield. To finish my Fairfield day, I spent the day with fellow author Danielle Birch at South Brisbane Cemetery Open Day and it was great. Mental note - lots of subsided, unmarked graves in South Brisbane Cemetery - never run on the grass... G = Glasshouse Mountains - 2/7/17 Next, the Glasshouse Mountains - and the disused railway tunnel in the Dularcha National Park . I've lived in South East Queensland all my life and until I started doing this A-Z run I did not know about this rail trail. Now I want to hike the length of the Glasshouse Mountains. It was a great day. H = Hemmant to Hamilton - 23/7/17 Hemmant to Hamilton return was the run that set the half-marathon firmly in motion. With no training, and not much in the way of pre-thought I woke up one Sunday and decided to see if I could run from Hemmant (never been there before) to Hamilton (which I rediscovered thanks to regular catchups with my old work crew). Courtesy of a wrong turn (thanks Google maps) it became 21km, with two crossings of the Gateway Bridge and what started as a vague notion of a half marathon firmed up as the kilometres ticked over. If I could run 21km with no training, imagine what would happen if I trained. (Answer, ran it one hour faster...) I = Indooropilly - 21/10/17 Indooropilly - and the Walter Taylor Bridge - was the most recent installment. I lived in nearby Toowong for 4 years during Uni, and yet I never visited Indooropilly shopping centre or crossed the bridge. Until this run, I hadn't even driven on it. October means Jacarandas, so I was hoping to catch some jacaranda action as well. As all UQ graduates know, if you haven't started studying by the time the jacarandas come out, you are in huge trouble. I will never see a jacaranda without remembering the local legend. Indooropilly was a mix of urban development and untouched original houses and as I ran I wondered how many more units could be shoe-horned onto its narrow streets. I had trouble finding a park at 6am in the morning. Sadly, it was raining, so I didn't take my dripping self to the shopping centre. That will have to wait until another day. A friend and I decided our work staff room (servicing 100 people) would be a perfect place for a Tiny Free Library.
We started on 19/3/17 with 3 books and the first two weeks were a bit disappointing, in that nothing moved. Then, I swapped one book out, and another from home in. It was as if this one change had given people permission to use the library - we had a few donations and loans began in earnest. Six weeks after we opened, we now have books moving in and out every day, and I find myself fascinated with watching the library, and talking about books with the people I work with. I am loving the Tiny Free Library, and the only downside - I now have all these titles that friends have recommended and not much time to read them. |
Fiona Greene AuthorWhen you set out on a journey and night falls, that's when you will discover the stars." Archives
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