And on to Melbourne

Ahhh, much nicer place. Better job, and not so bloody humid. I started running (again!) - just a few gentle kms around the block. I lived in Croydon, so would run along the railway line from Croydon to Mooroolbark, and back. Gently does it.... very gently. A few minor shin niggles, but nothing a new pair of shoes and gentle running didn't overcome.

After a few months, I came across Street Orienteering during an internet search. I turned up to my first event in October 2003, and was hooked. "Street-O" involves an A4 size map, approximately 1:10,000 scale (10cm = 1km), with no street names, and 20 controls marked on it. Your task... should you choose to accept it... is to run around finding these controls and punching them on your score card.

It's much more enjoyable than simply running around the same block every day, and while you tend to run on your own, there can be up to 150 people doing much the same thing in the same small area.

That very first run, at Abbey Walk, was 4.8km, and took me 40 minutes - 8.3 min/km. My average rate is now around 6 - 6.4 min/km, but that includes stopping to punch the score card, and slowing/walking to read the map. I run either a "B" course of ~8km, or a "C" course of ~6km twice a week.