As an addition to my previous article on low and no cost runs in South Australia, I thought I’d do a few reviews of these runs for you. This one’s of the Salisbury Half Marathon which also includes a 2km, 5km, and 10km distance.

Location

Salisbury is about 20kms north of Adelaide, and about a half hour drive, and the race itself starts and finishes at the same place as Carisbrooke parkrun.

 

Race choices

The race has a 2km (free), 5km ($10), 10km ($15) and 21km ($35) option (Prices go up by $5 for on the day entry), so while it sounds a bit cliched, there’s something for everyone. (I ran the 21km so my review is for that course.)

 

Elevation

There was never more than 10m of up or down per km so you’d have to describe this race as flat, but it sure as shit didn’t feel flat. It was also quite a windy – (that’s ‘windy’ as in lots of turns, not ‘windy’ as in lots of wind) – and had a few ‘gates’ to navigate which probably slowed things down a bit as well.

There was a small ‘bump’ at the 19km mark. Whoever though it was a good idea to go that way on the way back is a complete asshole.

If you’re a stickler for GPS data, (which I’ve posted below), it’s actually downhill on the way out and uphill on the way back.

 

The surface

It’s a bit of this, and a bit of that. The start and finish is on grass. Starting on grass is easy enough when you’re enthusiastic and full of beans – plus it’s only a few hundred metres. But finishing on soft, spongey grass when you’re buggered feels like a bit of a cruel joke. The rest of the course is made up of bitumen path and solid packed gravel path. Probably about 50/50 at a guess. There’s one small section of road to link the pathways, and this was traffic controlled.

 

Support

Support is good. A few drink stops along the way. Slightly weird intervals – apparently 2.5km, 6.5km, 10.5km, 14.5km and 18.5km which makes sense but some felt further apart than that, perhaps just because it was so bloody hot. Water only and no sport drink or lollies that I could see. Also no bins to put your cups in which was a bit of an oversight. Hate seeing plastic cups all over the ground even though I’m sure they were cleaned up afterwards. Actually, I hate plastic cups in general and hope more races can find more eco-friendly alternatives.

 

Start/Finish line

Starts and finishes in the same place – at Carisbrooke Park. Plenty of parking nearby. Good secure bag drop. Right near the toilet block – limited toilets though so expect a line up. Water and fruit at the finish line.

 

Notes

2018 was hot. Bloody hot. According to BoM mid to high 20s, and felt more like about 120c. There’s a lot of shade along the way so could have been a lot worse.

Good sized field and the out and back course means you’ll at least see some people at some stage regardless of how fast, or slow, you run.

BIG prize draw at the end. So many prizes it felt like literally everyone won something except for me. In fact, that may well be true.

I personally found the course marking a bit tricky in places. Some of the ‘stick in the ground flag markers’ had been flattened and were difficult to spot – especially when you’re running as fast as I do. Jokes. But seriously, there were a few turns where I literally had to stop and scratch my head and try and work out which way to go. I was also behind some people who ran across the road instead of taking the underpass on the way out due to a lack of clear marking. (I’m not at all familiar with the area so what may well be obvious to people who know the area, wasn’t so obvious to me.)

 

2018 Bling/Prices/Entrants

21km ($35 entry): 112 finishers

10km ($15 entry): 65 finishers

5km ($10 entry): 50 finishers

2km (free entry): 23 finishers

Race number. Bling. (5km and 10km also got bling and it may have been exactly the same as the half marathon bling which is a bit weird but whatever.)

 

My verdict

This is one of those runs that’s more like a mild, flat, trail run than a road run, with most of the course run through parklands – not unlike Linear Park/The Greenbelt Half. Probably not a PB course given the twists, turns, gates, and little ‘bumps’ along the way, but quite a nice place to run. Certainly better than running around roads. Well organised. Good vibe. And at $35 for a half marathon with bling, bloody good value.

 

GPS

My Strava GPS data is here.

 

Gallery (full gallery from the day available on Facebook here.)

 

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