Different or unusual hobbies you have

[Mantis]

I was happy with the 8am start so I could get up at 6am. Only thing I was concerned about was if it was a warm day with the later start but thankfully the weather gods were kind.

That was my concern too. We had pretty much perfect conditions in Canberra, but the sun came out just before 9am and it warmed up very quickly to a top of 26deg... there was so many distressed runners who required medical on the course after I finished, which was pretty frightening, but lucky I finished in reasonable shape, a bit with some cramping.

I also had a golf trip 3 weeks out from Ballarat (1 week out from Canberra) so it was much easier to fit an easy 1hr45min run as part of my taper, compared to having to do a 3hr+ run which would've smashed me.

I thought I would hate the 2 laps with the half runners finishing as we went around again but as it turned out I quite enjoyed it as I knew all the milestones to tick off the second time around. I guess it's easier logistically with less road closures, fewer aid stations, etc. My only suggested improvement would be not starting the half and full at the same time, it was very congested early on.

Have heard that's an issue.... not sure how you best manage it, but probably a 7-7.30am start for the full and an 8am start for the 1/2 would work best.