MEET YOUR CLUBBIE - Joe Garbellini

What’s your favourite way to spend a weekend?
 We love to travel, so ideally we would be away somewhere.
 
If not, then a perfect weekend at home would involve parkrun first thing on Saturday morning, kids sport, catching up with friends over drinks, maybe an orienteering event or long run and then a nice late lunch/early dinner at home on Sunday with the family to wrap up the weekend.
 
What was the best running vacation you ever took and why?
 The first marathon I ever ran was in Portland,Oregon.
 We had friends living in Saskatoon in Canada.  We flew to Canada, met up with them and travelled around  for a few weeks, including a stopover in Portland for my mate and I to run the marathon.
 Was a great vacation, exploring North America for the first time, made all the better by the marathon run.  Having said that, my first marathon was hard work, especially in the last 10 kms.
 
How did you get into running?
In my early 20's, living in Sydney, friends and I ran the City to Surf a couple of times and a half marathon, all with little training.  Really enjoyed those runs at the time, but then stopped running for a long time.
 
Whilst living in Singapore in 2011, I was offered a full health/fitness assessment through work.  At the end of the assessment, the nurse/consultant told me I was reasonably fit, but that it would be good if I set myself a goal to work towards to improve my fitness further.  So I committed to training and running a half marathon.
 
I trained for the Singapore Half Marathon in November of that year and from then I was hooked.  I have been running consistently since then.

What was the last race you’ve done?
 Melbourne Marathon on 13th October 

Would you say you’re more of an extrovert or an introvert, and how does it relate to your running?
 I enjoy spending time with people, meeting new people and being in the company of people, so would say I'm an extrovert.
 I love the social side of running and the people I have met as a result.  
 
What’s your favourite thing about running?
 When I run, I feel really alive.  I guess that's my favourite thing about it.
 
What annoys you most?
 Can't really think of anything that is annoying about running, although I do get annoyed when there is a clash on Saturday morning and I'm not able to get to parkrun.  Fortunately, this doesn't happen very often.
 
What’s the running highlight you’re most proud of?
Running 3:37 at the Melbourne Marathon recently, smashing my previous PB by 14 minutes.
 
Do you think you’ll stay at your current distance awhile? Why or why not?
 I will always have a soft spot for the marathon and would love to continue to run one per year for as long as I can.
 
Having said that, I am keen to move into longer trail runs.  In January, I am running the Two Bays Run on the Mornington Peninsula, which is 56kms, making it my longest ever run.
 
Then later in the year next year, I am contemplating running the Surf Coast Century 100km trail run.

Are you more of a “run to relax” or a “run to get it done with” type of person?
 Definitely “run to relax”.

How much time do you spend running in a week?
According to my Strava account, I average 5 hours 12 minutes per week at an average distance of 49kms.
 
Your most favourite workout.
I love being able to combine a run with a commute or getting to or from somewhere - killing two birds with one stone.
 
Your least favourite workout.
I can't really think of too many runs that I haven't enjoyed. Perhaps my least favourites are those runs that I have to cut short due to a time constraint.  
 
What is your favourite regular course and why?
  really like variety with my runs, so I don't really stick to a regular course.  Having said that, I have run Ashgrove parkrun 95 times and I love getting down there on a Saturday morning.  There's always a great atmosphere and the people are fantastic.

Were you running growing up?
No.  I ran a half marathon and a couple of City to Surfs in Sydney in my early 20s, then didn't run for a long time until I got into it in a big way 8 years ago.
 
What is your definition of a perfect run?
I think most parkruns fit my definition of a perfect run - lovely location, friendly people, nice time of the morning, a good distance to be able to run at a nice pace, with the opportunity to chat afterwards.
 
What runs makes you feel most accomplished?
I love the feeling of accomplishment from a long run.  The ultimate in accomplishment is finishing a marathon or ultra run, especially if it has all gone to plan.  Don't think I will ever forget the feeling of accomplishment after the Melbourne Marathon recently.  

What race or run do you regret not doing in the last year?
I've missed the Fortius 5km Champs for the last 2 years due to clashes with orienteering events.

What race or run is on your bucket list?
Besides the big overseas marathons that I talked about earlier, there are a number of other runs that I would absolutely love to do at some stage in the near future;
1. I would love to qualify for the Boston Marathon and run it. I’m still some way away from qualifying, but I’m hopeful that one day I’ll get there.
2. Have been wanting to do the Marathon Du Medoc for a long time. It’s a marathon through vineyards in France, with non-compulsory stops at each cellar door. Think it would be a lot of fun.
3. In the valley where my parents are from in Italy, there is a trail run through the Vineyards along the valley called the Valtellina Wine Trail (there’s a Vineyard theme coming through here). 
4. In the same valley, there is another run called the Valtellina Vertical Tube Race. It is utter madness, with the run heading up the side of a mountain, running next to a straight water pipe to the top. Although it is insane, I would love to do it once.
5. Being obsessed with parkrun, I would love to run where it all started, at Bushy Park.
 
If you could have a super power, what would it be?
I would love to fly.  Think it would be great if I could get to anywhere I needed to be by either flying, riding a bike or running.  I could even Strava all my flights.
 
If you could go back to anytime in history, where would you go?
I think I would enjoy Europe in the late 1800s/early 1900s before the advent of electricity, cars etc.  The simplicity of life in those times would appeal to me and would be great to see what life was like for my Great Grandparents and my Grandparents (in their younger years). 

If you got to name a new race, how would you decide what to call it?
If it was a parkrun, I would give it a name that started with X, allowing all the parkrun tourists aiming to complete their alphabet challenge to finally tick off the letter X.