Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Pain in the Domain

Ok, been a few weeks since I told some running lies, so back to it!

There is a group run Tuesday in the Park right up the street from my office called "Pain in the Domain" . It starts at 12:50 and is a 6K run over a variety of terrain focused on 13 "sprints" of different distances mixed with recovery. The sprints range from 50 meters up a steep hill to 700M all out on flat paths. It is not actually an "organized" event, but even on a very rainy day yesterday about 150 people front up. Some weeks there are 250+.

The run has been occurring for 12+ years, so a veteran runner will step forward and take the lead for group one. Normally there are 5 groups and the only difference is the pace. Group one targets finishing in about 27 minutes and the other groups depart one minute after the previous with a pace maybe 30-45 seconds slower for the entire 6K.

So, 6K, 27 minutes, what's the big deal? Man, is it tough! The sprints are 80-100% depending on the segment. Here is what makes me laugh....the leader gets everyone ready for a sprint....here is the general communication "Ah rig, gather up. From the new henry, down the gullia, to the second gum full out". So the interpetation is "Ok, get ready. We'll go 100% starting at the Statue of Henry, down the hill, then up the hill to the second gum tree." Too funny. The running language is probably more different than anything else!

The Pain in the Domain run is famous enough to have it's own Wikipedia entry. Check it out:
http://www.coolrunning.com.au/runningguide/wiki/index.php/Pain_In_The_Domain

1 comment:

Unknown said...

That's awesome, sounds a lot like these people eat too much emu! Cant you find a normal running group that simply meets at the river, runs trails, and heads to the "Shroom" for beer and pizza (and possibly an ice wrap for their ankle)?

This may be training for the local J-walkers in the area to bypass the crazy little man that yelled at you? Train up and run hard!