So how did we do in that Nike Race?

Melbourne was placed ninth overall, with an average running time (for 10km) of 58″58′. London, topped out at number two with 57″47′. Alright, alright. So they win this round.

Well, at least we don’t have a goofy portly mayor who’s the butt of many jokes. Oh, wait.

For all the results and more, click here.

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Our favourite 5000m Victorian track-star Craig “Buster” Mottram was there too! Probably out of contractual obligation because he likes running!

But since he was so good, he gave all the fast runners a 10-minute head start. Not that it mattered at all, since he finished in the top ten anyway.

buster

Craig reckons he runs an average of 190km per week. Per Week! That’s like 4 and a half marathons! One every other day! Just thinking about it makes me so tired!

I wonder how much he eats daily to power all that running…

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Speaking of eating, to all our Muslim readers (all three of you), we wish you happy fasting in the holy month of Ramadan.*

For everyone else, here’s a cheat sheet of what Ramadan’s all about.

*- According to the Islamic Council of Victoria, the month of Ramadan coincided with the 1st of Sept.

This Sunday is Nike’s 10k Human race event. The run pits Melbourne runners (serious and casual alike) against others the world over. Well, not really the world over, more like select cities the world over. 25 select cities to be exact, like Sao Paolo, Paris, Shanghai, Warsaw, Taipei, Munich and New York.

Sydney is somehow left out (pretend sad face. but they will be represented by Sydney based band faker, performing at the post-run event).
Click here to find out more!

If you’ve always wanted to run in a race, why not pick this one? Get off your bum and sign up. Prove to the world that we’re the ones who truly deserve the world sporting capital title ;)

You might even meet me there. (I’d be at the very back of the herd, the one that looks like he’s about to faint any minute now.)

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Two other fun things that are being run this Sunday :

1) Festival Indonesia at the Royal Exhibition Building.
2) Fiesta Malaysia at Federation Square.

They’re both cultural-ish events and since these neighbouring countries share a lot of similar culture, things could get a little awkward. I mean someone should’ve warned them about the clashing dates. It would be like running into an old friend in public who’s wearing the same dress!

Not that i would know very much about dresses. Or metaphors, for that matter. heh.

alextokai commented on my last post Melbourne, get to know your energy use:

“I have to point out that ‘Transport’ in the second graph would include shipping as well as private motorists so much of this may be commercial usage rather than residential. Then again, we can reduce that by change our consumer habits and buying locally.”

I was curious to learn more about energy use in transport - what types of transport use what, and how each contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

Read more

Melbourne’s ever growing bicycle culture means there are lots of people out there to help you get on a bike. What are some of the things you want to keep in mind before you find a bicycle just right for you?

The first thing to think about is what you plan to use the bike for? Commuting to work? Quick rides down to the shops, the movies, the pub or to your friends place? Weekend recreational rides? Off-road mountain assaults? Going everywhere and doing everything?

It’s fairly important to buy a bicycle that matches what the majority of your rides are likely to be, rather than what you think you want to use it for every now and again. If you’re heavy into off-road assaults, jumping things and muddy slippery rides, you will appreciate a mountain style bike with nobbly tires. But if you’re unlikely to need the fancy suspension and grippy tires in your urban travels, you’ll be glad to have a lighter bicycle with thinner, smoother tires, giving less rolling resistance.

Read more

I’m planning on making a series of posts about living in Melbourne without owning a car, and getting around mostly by bicycle (or a combination of train and bicycle).

Topics for these posts will include:

• Benefits of not owning a motor vehicle
• Getting some wheels… Bicycle wheels
• Bicycling Melbourne safely
• Keeping your bicycle yours (anti-theft)
• Shopping by bicycle
• Commuting by bicycle
• Maintaining your bicycle
• Exploring Melbourne by bicycle

This first post is about the benefits I’ve found in not owning a motor vehicle.

Melbourne, for the most part, is a city where it is resonably easy to manage without owning a car, and there are so many positive benefits that I highly recommend trying it if you aren’t already living the good life sans motor vehicle.

Owning a car is pretty expensive. Firstly there is saving up for one or making repayments on one. Then there is the fuel, the registration, maintenance, insurance, and all the things people feel compelled to buy for their car like seat covers and new stereos and the list goes on. Not to mention the worry of it being broken into, hit, stolen… or the risk of you hitting something or someone.

Personally, I don’t see how the benefits outweight the costs.

Even if you feel you need a private car for some times of the year, there is the option of car sharing so you don’t have to pay the costs of owning your own vehicle. Perhaps you have a friend or family member who is willing to lend their car on the odd occassion you need to use it. There are at least three car sharing companies in Melbourne. You can also hire all types of vehicles if you require, for your holiday adventures, for picking up the occassional large item or for moving house.

Some benefits that can be had by ditching the car:

• Save money
• Less stress by losing the baggage a car brings, including traffic jams
• Lose weight and get fitter by more strolling to the shop or bus/train/tram stop or riding your bicycle
• Experiencing more of this great city by slowing down and looking at your surroundings (instead of zipping past in a car)
• More time to read, listen to music or podcasts, talk to friends

Your options for getting around are of course walking, cycling or catching public transport. Taxis and car sharing are also good for those small number of times when none of these options suit. Obviously, what option or combination you pick depends on where you are off to, the distance, the time of day, among other things. My personal preference is to get around on a bicycle for most journeys, and occassionally hop on a train with my bicycle for part of a journey when I’m heading a fair way out.

The next in this series will talk about how to go about getting a bicycle just right for you in Melbourne.

Feel free to share your experiences of living without a car, or reducing your car use, in the comments…

Writing for Metblogs has the potential to be the most rewarding experience in your entire life. It’ll make you rich, famous, good looking, will help you lose weight, make your clothes fit better, and get you a super good deal on a new car. It will make you the most well known person on the entire planet. Yes, each and every one of you. Really.

OK maybe not. Actually those are all lies, but it’s fun at least. The truth is Metblogs is the largest network of locally focused blogs on the web, covering almost 60 cities around the world and we’re looking to add a few new bloggers/writters/authors to this fine site. If you wanna know more about us check out this wikipedia entry but it’s kinda boring so I won’t waste time repeating it all here again. If you wanna write for us, here’s the scoop:

• All author positions are volunteer. That means you don’t get paid.
• You must live in (or very near) the city you plan to write about.
• Anything you post must relate to the city somehow. That means you shouldn’t post a movie review, but talking about going to see a movie at a local theater is fine.
• There’s no requirement for how much you can or should write, but we ask that if we set you up as an author you make about 3 posts a week.
• You can post about things you love, you can post about things you hate. It’s entirely up to you

Additionally, because of our global network, there’s plenty of options for things you write to be read by people all over the world. Interested? Want more details? Post a comment and we’ll be in touch!

If Metblogs is a city, hub.metblogs is the playground. We kept hearing from people that one of their favorite parts of Metblogs was meeting and interacting with readers and writers from other parts of the world, as well as getting requests for more ways that readers could be involved besides just posting comments. We thought about this for a while and decided that with a network like this, a giant community area where folks from all over the world could hang out, post photos and videos, talk with each other, form groups, play games, send messages, and do about a million other things was probably a pretty fun idea. The Hub is that.

If you have any tech ideas or suggestions join this group and speak up. See you on hub.metblogs!

Brett scored top points for correctly guessing (and really quickly too) this week’s locale. I took this picture on this Tuesday morning after a quick stop at Bunnings. Was bored waiting for the train, so I thought why not rekindle my Where Art Thou post.

An iconic building for the best part of a century, John Darling & Son Flour Mill is located along the Sunshine end of Ballarat Road, right next to Albion station. Listed on the Victorian Heritage Council’s Heritage Register, the building is one of the most elaborate brick mills built in the early 20th century Victoria. The Darling family also played a large role in the Australian milling industry.

Did anyone receive any mail yesterday? I received a parcel, from an Australian post contract courier. I did see the mailman on his motorcycle around the suburb, but there was no mail, unless you include junk mail as mail.

A look at the news says there was a snap strike at a sorting centre at the Dandenong Letters Centre. Well, that explains everything. Well, sort of. I thought strikes had to be announced in advance and snap strikes are no longer legal. Or have the rules all changed because Labour are now in power?

News Link
Herald Sun’s “Mail delayed by Australia Post Strike”
The Age “Picket at Vic post centre“

You have to feel sorry for Werribee. Not only does it suffer from Boganitis but is also infamous for it’s sewage farm. Yes, 55% of Melbourne’s sewage goes to Werribee. Here’s a joke to start off our shortened week.

HURRICANE APPEAL

A major hurricane (Hurricane Shazza) and an earthquake Measuring 5.8 on theRichter scale hit the Werribee/Sanctuary Lakes area early Friday afternoon with its epicentre near the Geeelong Freeway.

Victims were seen wandering around aimlessly, muttering “Faaackinell”. The hurricane decimated the area causing approximately $30.00 worth of damage. Three areas of historic burnt out cars were disturbed. Many locals were woken well before their centrelink Cheques arrived.

The Leader Newspaper reported that hundreds of residents were confused and bewildered and were still trying to come to terms with it. One resident - Traycey Sharrynn Smith, a 16-year-old mother of 5 said “It was such a shock, my little girl, Chardonnay-Mercedes came running into my bedroom crying. My youngest two, Harley and Kev slept through it all.”

Apparently looting, muggings and car crime were unaffected and carried on as normal.

The Australian Red Cross has so far managed to ship 4,000 crates of Bacardi-Breezers to the area to help the stricken locals. Rescue workers are still searching through the rubble and have found large quantities of personal belongings, including Health Care Cards, Jewellery and Lap Tops from Officeworks.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

This appeal is to raise money for food and clothing parcels for thoseunfortunate enough to be caught up in this disaster. Clothing is most sought after - items most needed include: Baseball caps, Da-da tracksuits, singlets (blue & white), white sport socks, Nike boots, any other items usually sold at Dimmey’s or The Reject Shop.

Food parcels may be harder to come by, but are needed all the same.Required foodstuffs urgently needed include: Microwave meals, baked beans,Ice cream, Chips, Fizzy drinks. Donations of $15.00 will be taken to buy a packet of Winny blue 25s and alighter to calm the nerves of those affected.

**Breaking news** Werribee Uniting Church has cancelled their local “Nativity Display” due to their inability to find three wise men or a virgin.
Thanks to Strider

When looking for a good image for this post, I found The Werribee Blog. Good for a laugh.