The CrossingInto Queensland
The Final Border
A sunny 32.1 km along the Tweed Coast crossed HAA's final state border, with company from Ryan Stoddart, homemade lemonade in Coolangatta and dinner with Markus.
It was a lovely spring Sunday morning when I left Pottsville Beach North Holiday Park just before 6:30 am. The final state border was ahead, and by the end of the day we would be sleeping in Queensland.
The shorter days were very welcome physically. I was enjoying having less strain on the body. Mentally, though, this was the most difficult taper I had ever done.
After four months in the same routine, four months putting in the effort and four months focused on one task, the idea of it ending was scary and unsettling. I was excited about getting to Brisbane, but my mind was already trying to process what would happen when HAA stopped being the thing I did every day.
For the moment, I still had New South Wales to finish.
The morning took me along the Tweed Coast through Hastings Point and Cabarita Beach, with blue water, spring sunshine and a considerably more relaxed distance than the long days further south.
Ryan Stoddart, known through his Facebook page as Running Guy, joined me around Kingscliff. After so much time walking with the traffic for company, it was good to have someone alongside me for part of the approach to Tweed Heads. He also became my official running-community escort out of New South Wales.
At Tweed Heads, a shared-path sign gave me the number I had been waiting for: Queensland border, 3.0 km.
That moment when you are three kilometres from the final border…
Then it was there. I stopped at the state-line monument and took the obligatory photo with one foot in New South Wales and one in Queensland. Clearly, I had become the first person ever to think of such an original photo concept 😆
If you had not worked it out by then:
WE WERE IN QUEENSLAND!!!
Shortly after crossing the border, I reached the main path up the coast and stumbled into a Sunday market at Coolangatta.
Ged was selling bottles of lemonade from Ged’s Homemade. A chance remark about me looking as though I needed one became a conversation about where I had started and where I was going, followed by the donation of another lemonade.
Photographer and competitive swimmer Peter joined the conversation too. It was another random but wonderful chat with friendly strangers, and I should point out that Peter was standing on tiptoes in our photo.
From Coolangatta I could see the Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise skyline for the first time on this trip. After four months of unfamiliar roads and places I had never visited before, the Gold Coast felt a little like coming home. I had been there for the marathon the year before and it already held some great memories.
I finished just after 3 pm at Kirra Beach Tourist Park with 32.1 kilometres completed for the day.
That evening we had dinner with Markus from Run Forest Run. His advice and encouragement had played a big part in my preparations for HAA. We had bounced training ideas around, and during the previous year’s Gold Coast Marathon he had cycled around the course while I ran it.
There was another bit of welcome support that night. Twilight Bay Run generously gave me a discounted entry to the half marathon at Wynnum on the Sunday after our Brisbane arrival. I was excited about finishing a huge weekend with another 21.1 kilometres.
Ben had hoped to run it with me, but a possible ITB problem meant he took the tough decision not to enter.
Four states done. Queensland reached. Brisbane was now only a handful of days away.
Exciting, definitely. Still a little unsettling too.
Images From The Day
