South Morang Line. (Part 1) Rushall to Regent.

RUSHALL. 18/12/2017. 109th Run. 15.2 km.

Nice early start catching the 5:37 am to Richmond then to Parliament so I could then catch a train to Westgarth. Couldn’t catch the train I originally planned but finally got one to Rushall. Rushall is only 700 m from Westgarth so basically the same run home so no big deal. Still plenty of flexibility in the challenge as only half way through. Beautiful morning and nice distance with easy navigation down Hoddle St and onto Chapel St. Ideal run in the lead up to Christmas. Home by 7:30 am so quick turn around for work. Will try again on Thursday to do the run from Westgarth.

MERRI. 9/1/2018. 114th Run. 14.5 km.

Easy decision to run from a station just north of the city as it was a great opportunity to run down the middle of Hoddle St with no traffic due to roadworks over the Christmas / New Year break. Headed to Merri after work after getting ride to Elsternwick and headed off in the middle of what is usually peak hour. As expected. Hoddle St very quiet and I was able to take some video on my phone as I ran down the middle of the road. That was until I got tooted by a bus - road was still open to buses, my bad. Got onto Chapel St and experienced the opposite with lots of traffic and bars and restaurants full. Great summer atmosphere, but slow through all the pedestrian traffic. One of my favorite runs to date.

NORTHCOTE. 19/3/2018. 131st Run. 14.4 km.

Another relatively straight forward run starting from work and linking the 109 tram to the South Morang line at Southern Cross. Definately the most packed train I have been on since starting this challenge with a number of people failing to squeeze on. Probably also the straightest course I have run - almost a perfect north south line down High St then Hoddle St then Punt Rd then Barkley St. Some monor delays due to the road works at the Eastern Fwy crossing which included jumping a dog asleep on the footpath, but other than that, pretty non-eventful. Stopped to take a picture of Richmond training on Punt Rd oval to send to a work mate who is still celebrating the 2017 Premiership. Had the run up Punt Rd hill as a bike behind me was catching up - too competitive. Nice to run with the temperature dropping.

CROXTON. 14/2/2018. 122nd Run. 16.5 km.

Starting to enjoy the Wednesday night runs that leave from work. Catching the 606 bus to work in the mornings leaves limited other option to get home. Seamless transition through tram and train legs meant all three modes of public transport for the day. At Croxton just after 6 pm and from this area the navigation is simple. Still lots of road works at Eastern Fwy so had to wait multiple times to cross over and back. Very windy and lost my cap whilst standing at the lights. Landed on the off ramp to Alexander Pde and just before I was able to retrieve it a truck run over it. Thought it would be OK but the plastic clip at the back was smashed so had to carry it home. Diverted down Chapel St and then realized it was Valentines Day - every table on the street was booked. Lots of dodging diners but nice vibe. Hot night so kept in the shade where possible due to no hat and home by around 7:20 pm.

THORNBURY. 3/12/2017. 106th Run. 17.1 km.

Saturday 2nd was the worst weather day of the year so I shifted my run to the Sunday to avoid the rain. Didn’t work as I still got wet. Got a ride to Elsternwick station and met an old boxing commentator who was up for a chat. He lost interest when he realized I wasn’t really a serious runner. At least I must have looked the part. Onto Parliament and this time an older lady approached me for assistance to find her replacement bus. I’m clearly very approachable looking. Got rained on early and then tried to dodge around a bus stop and clipped the perplex barrier. Small cut but annoying in the rain. Cut across to Church St and got stopped again by a guy who wanted me to fill out a questionnaire. Felt like I must have had a “Talk to me” sign on my back today. Finally onto Chapel St but that wasn’t such a good idea heading into the Christmas shopping period. Finally got home on a pretty eventful day.

BELL. 22/4/2017. 42nd Run. 17.5 km.

I labelled this a longer run as I was only early on in the challenge. Pakenham will be 3 times this length - still it’s all relative at this stage. Bell is the shortest named station but apart from that - not much interesting happening for this run. Missed the connecting train at Parliament so had 18 minutes to wander around the underground station, but really only need 6 minutes. Warm day and quite humid but simple directions. Seemed more like a warm up run for some of the further stations out in the north.

PRESTON. 15/8/2018. 169th Run. 18.2 km.

The last of the short runs under 20 kilometres, except for Showgrounds which isn’t open often. Efficient mid week transfer through Southern Cross and got to Preston before 6 pm. Another straight run down High St, Hoddle St and Punt Rd so no need to concentrate on directions. Only disruption was on corner of Hoddle St and Swan St. Whilst waiting for the lights a lady in a Metro jacket felt it necessary to tell me about a bus strike that was planned for tomorrow, and she went into some detail. I thanked her but then she said not to worry, “the bus strike has already been called off”. I left the intersection a bit confused by the message - but I guess she was just doing her job. Copped a bit of lip from a few teenagers at the same intersection when I ticked them off for running across the road at a red light. Pedestrian road rage - who would of thought. Bit of rain towards the end but the best run for a while.

REGENT. 1/10/2017. 89th Run. 20 km.

A stand out run. This is the only station run that I will do that starts at my house and ends up at the station. It was grand final weekend and I watched the game at the house of our friends Simon and Helen. I have done this most years for 30 years now. So a Saturday run was out, as was driving home that night. So this run involved getting up early the next morning and taking my headache on a run to Regent station, getting my selfie and then running 1 kilometre more to pick up the car. The course took me past the MCG where a large number of Richmond supporters were looking a lot worse than me. The party was still going and looked likely to be about to restart. As I live near the beach, this was also the only run that was predominately uphill. So this became the only run to a station, uphill and with a hangover - special day.