Helena on Mass.....

This Sunday, as I said earlier, I had to get a very early start and was running along the pipeline well before the usual start. Over the last few weeks there has been a small group of 3 or 4 and we would pass a couple of others a long the way.

During my solo run out along the lower pipe and to the base of Kelly's climb and a return along the upper pipe there are many opportunities to see the lower pipe trail. On this occasion I could hear what appeared to be a large group progressing along the lower pipe. As the group came into view I was amazed to see a solid group of at least 15 runners. The pack was moving well and there were some distinct voices amongst the group.

What impressed me is that I have not seen a group of this size running through the trails for many years. In actual fact I would say not since the late 90s when Sullivan, Hambleton, Clews, Delbridge, Eltringham and the likes used this area as their training ground. Many of the groups tend to run along the flats and inner city regions maybe due to their reluctance to travel but possibly also justifying that they were doing the same work as they would be doing along the flats. In a pack like this if you are feeling ordinary you can just sit in the group and get pulled along. There will always be someone who is willing to lead and lead at different stages.

A few weeks ago a runner joined us for the first time along the pipeline and made the comment that no wonder your guys are strong. While he made the distance we have not seem him since. A similar comment was made at a training seminar last year when I guy I used to race against made the comment that he did not realise how hard we worked. This surprised me as I assumed most runners got up to the hills for obvious reasons.

Maybe in hind sight it was not that we were doing anything differently its just where we were doing it. To me a run along the pipeline at Helena valley is going to make me a lot stronger than a similar run along the river.

A long run over undulating terrain has the benefits of teaching you to sustain a pace over a long period of time over undulating terrain. After a while you don't even think about it, you hit a hill and work harder to maintain the rating. you run the flat sections and maintain a steady state.

As a young wombat Helena was not my original haunt. It was actually Jacoby Park. On most Sunday mornings I would make the trip from Morley up to Mundaring Weir and run an extremely testing (I thought so at the time) 9 mile loop. Brad Delbridge and myself latter added a few turns onto this and brought it up to 10 then 12 miles before getting to the point of running two 9 mile loops. Runners like Sullivan, Hambleton, Hicks, Shatford, Thurlow,Asmussen, Clews and DeCastella (when he came over) often opted for the out and back run.The girls also got up there to0. Freestone/Sullivan, clews and Hoskins (out for 9 back for 9)This run had two significant climbs. One out the back of the weir and the other as you got close to home which ran up past the bush airstrip. On the 9 mile loop while there were smaller climbs along the route we still took i the climb up past the airstrip. These long steady climbs taught us how to maintain rhythm on a climb , something we could not find in Perth otherwise. It was also bloody cold up there in winter. We eventually shifted from Jacoby when the began to clear the pines and it got a bit barren in sections. Felt a bit like running on a moonscape.

Anyway my point was /is its great to see runners up in the hills again building strength and sharing jokes on a long run regardless of club and alliances. This is what makes falls creek such a great training venue, everyone comes together for 2-5 weeks of intense training.

As an aside this is not a special club , its just a group of runners. If you feel the urge to run meet at the bottom of the road that runs past the Helena Valley PS. At the end of the bitumen it goes to gravel . The majority of the group kick off from here. Some start from the primary school and run down and some kick off from the Helana valley IGA. The course is run along an out and back for anyone who does not want to go up Kelly's climb ( about and hour 30 loop from the bottom car park if you do go up the hill) and can be as long as you want it. you can run to the weir if you have the urge. From the school this takes about 80 minutes so a round trip would be 2hr 40min.

Up too you...

The wombat has actually been parking at Victor rd gate and running around to the car park to meet up with Courts, Tamblin and See.....

Barrel on wombats...