It’s my second night in Albury, and I only thought of writing once I remembered I wanted to memorise my run in Albury.
Last Sunday, I went to Running Writing, a Melbourne Writing Festival event WF session, where Tony Birch, an Aboriginal Australian author, talked about running in places he travels to connect and pay respect to these new-to-him places. Of course, I am heavily paraphrasing here. Still, I liked the sentiment and was inspired to do so.
Coincidently, my first trip was here, to Albury, so I came with a carry-on half packed with my running gear.
On my first night here, in Albury, I struggled so much to sleep. I turned the heater on, then turned the aircon on before turning it off. I couldn’t find the right temperature and kept waking up every hour until 6 AM. That’s when I decided to go for a run because, well, what else ought I do?
Albury Morning Run
First, I did 3k in the hotel gym, waiting for 7 AM when the sun was supposed to rise in Albury, according to my weather app. Apparently, 7 AM sunrise means by 7 AM, the sun is already up in the sky! This means I could have stepped out earlier if I wanted to! But, alas, I hadn’t, and even though it wasn’t ideal, I ran the rest of the 2k outside. I ran through Albury Primary, the town center, and the rail station—the post office, church and autumn leaves. I also passed by many friendly townies who greeted me with smiles and good mornings.
Then I returned to the hotel at 7.30 AM and had breakfast downstairs by myself after no replies from other colleagues staying in the same hotel – it was too early for them.
I’d like to think that I have paid my respect to Albury by running on its’ ground, and I look forward to running further on the beautiful town the next time I am here.
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