The coldest morning of the year yet was greeted by perfectly clear blue skies for the 2009 Brisbane Road Runners Club King & queen of the Mountain race at Mt Cootha. The full moon was setting over the range in the west and the sun rising in the east as 68 competitors set off on the 9.5km course which ascending nearly 600 feet past the TV stations and back down again. I eased into the first 1km before commencing the steep climb, thankful that I wore summer gear. Even though it was only 8 degrees, I started to warm up quite quickly. As the gradient increase my "Flying Orangutan" running style came into it's own. It's rare for me to pass anyone in a race but on these steep sections I was able to reel in about a dozen runners before I reached summit. Of course on the descent my "Flying Orangutan" legs weren't able to move fast enough and I was passed by 4 runners before finishing where we started at the JC Slaughter Falls car park. My finish time was 48.55 which I was satisfied with considering it was my first hit out since the Scottish Ultra. The graph above is an elevation profile of the course.
