The "7 km Mistake"

Well - whilst in Adelaide last week - took the opportunity to do some running along the beach front, and on Saturday - a "long run" partly in training for the City Bay on 16th (12 kms)

Adelaide has a "linear park" - it is a path/trail that follows the River Torrens from the hills, through Adelaide and on to the ocean inlet at West Beach. I've run a fair bit of it from Athelstone in the foot hills to Adelaide (about 20kms for the 1/2 marathon) but never the stretch from Adelaide to the sea.

So this was the plan for Saturday. According to Mapmyrun, its about a 10 km stretch, and I was keen to see it all. Set out at 6.15 am - drove into the city and parked the car - and headed off for the run, a little unsure of exactly how far I would go and how much I could fit into the morning, as I had promised my parents I would be back by 10 am. Headed off with thoughts of running 5 or 6 kms, then turning around and heading back, but as I went along - I realised that I really would be quite disappointed if I didn't get to follow the path all the way to beach, and "see it all".

So decided I would run the full 10kms, and then catch a taxi back. Didn't have any money on me, but I had money in the car, and could pay the taxi driver when I got there.

The running was fine, and just when I was wondering how much further it would be, I turned the corner and saw a magnificent site of river disappearing into the sea, in the distance. Ahh - nearly there. Spurred on by this, ran for another km or so and reached the ocean. Checked my Garmin - only 10kms as predicted - well 12 will be a much nicer number - after all, the C2B is 12kms - perhaps I'll head north along the beach down to Henley Beach square - lots of taxis there in this eatery/restaurant hub. So I did. Reached HB Square - a little more running required to bring up the 12 kms - so ran along the jetty and back. Perfect. 12 kms. Hit the stop button on the Garmin - very proud of myself - and headed off to the taxi stand.

Well - this is where things went a little pear shaped.

What taxi.

Yes, there have always been plenty of taxis when I've been there before IN THE EVENING. Not 8.00 in the morning!

There was no taxi to be found. I would have been quite happy to walk the 12 kms back to my car, but based on my promised 10 am return, the clock was now ticking.

I really had no choice now but to head back, and start running again, whilst looking for a taxi.

2kms back along the esplanade - and still no taxi. I was now at the point where I had to make a decision about heading back via the linear park, or head towards Glenelg where the big hotels would guarantee a taxi. But how far away was Glenelg I wondered? 6, 7 kms maybe? It was only 10 kms back along linear park, and if I ran the 7 kms to Glenelg, I still had to find a taxi, and pay for the trip - to save me maybe 3 kms of running????

So I decided that I could probably run the linear park in an hour, and meet my 10 am deadline so I headed off. It was hard going though, and I was tired. Although I have run further than this before, I have run this sort of distance in a quite a few months and it really showed. A few kms later, I crossed a major road, and had a thought. If this was the road I thought it was - then if I headed right - I would reach the airport - and there is no shortage of taxis there. So made the decision, headed off, and a few more kms later, managed to flag down a taxi on the airport road.

I'm not sure what the taxi driver thought. I wasn't really your typical frequent flyer in business suit with luggage, instead a sweaty, red faced girl in exercise gear. I briefly explained my situation as he listened in amazement as to where I had been, and when he returned me to my car he said - So you started your run from here???? and shook his head.

Well I returned to parents right on 10 am, but the search for the taxi had taken an extra 7kms and brought my long run distance up to 19kms - A little further than planned for the day!