Geelong Half Marathon and a Footy Game

April 22 and 23

Luke and I registered for the Geelong half marathon in November. It was a run that we found online and worked out that we would be in the neighborhood for the event.
Aside from looking forward to the run, we were excited that Karen and Ashlee were meeting us in Geelong for the weekend.

The half marathon course ran along the scenic Barwon River. These signs appeared periodically along the pathway. Maybe that helped with our pace! The wise words from Ashlee came to mind. "When in Australia, look down when you walk (or run)."

The course ran along the Barwon River.
A cool morning – perfect conditions. The race was quiet, no one talked, few people along the sidelines. Different from the marathons we have been in before. It was peaceful running the length of the river.

Pre-race. Ready to run.

Although our training has not been up to par we were both pleased with our times. Luke with 1:38:04 and me, 1:50:43.

Not only were we happy with our times, but we were thrilled with our cheering committee. Ashlee and Karen had balloons, streamers and together with Jack, Levi and Nate they were the most enthusiastic people at the race!

Best cheering committee!

After the race, Ashlee arranged tickets for an Australian Rules Football (Footy) game in Melbourne. We decided to take the train in to the city to avoid the parking and have time to visit on the way in.

Brushing up on Footy rules while waiting for the train in Geelong.

The game was in the Melbourne Cricket Grounds (MCG). Also know as the G. This stadium can hold 100,000 people. The game was between Hawthorn Hawks (Melbourne) and West Coast Eagles. Hawthorn won; home crowd was thrilled as it was the first win of the season. Ashlee and Karen, as does almost every Aussie, have their favourite teams. Neither of these were them.

We were in the Hawthorn cheer section.

This picture was taken by Steven Stamkos' first cousin. He found out that we were from Canada and asked if we had ever heard of him.

Karen bought the boys a footy ball after the game. This has been very popular and seen a lot of play!

A busy, fantastic day!