running long (Onkaparinga Gorge trail r) 2:26:30 [3] 23.2 km (6:19 / km)
shoes: Asics Gel 2130
With Zara, Lauren & John, plus other running types. Sarah Murphy set an interesting loop for the trail runners, from Chapel Hill winery on the southeast side of the gorge, northeast at first and into the scrub at Blewitt Springs where the lead group (which may have included us orienteers) took the singletrack rather than the fire trail by accident, but it turned out more scenic. Then the steep descent into the Onkaparinga Gorge, a river crossing (so I got 2 different pairs of shoes wet within 13 hours) followed by the steep ascent which I had to walk, and a detour to the lookout over the gorge which I never knew was there. The lookout, that is. I knew all about the gorge, having swum it on the twilight rogaine about 3 years ago!
Some more singletrack till we got to the water/lolly drop - I was the only one with hands small enough to fit inside the jar :) then the long south-westerly stretch along Piggott Range Rd which was a gradual decline, another steep descent into the river gorge where the gum trees were beautiful, another climb up the other side which I just managed to run (I saw John walking), a cross-country bash down and up a slippery gully among the wild olives which necessitated walking by everyone, and then we were back at Chapel Hill.
Really nice scenery and perfect cool conditions. I was rather stiff for the first 20 min till I warmed up, then felt a bit dead through 60-90 min as usual, but after that pretty good and could have kept going. There were a couple of other girls I hadn't seen before and they started out strongly but faded because they weren't used to the rough stuff. Going for coffee at Market 190 in McLaren Vale afterwards was nice because I got to talk to some of the runners who I hadn't seen since July, and also to eat significant quantities of bacon & eggs!