Month: July 2016

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A “user-friendly” test in endurance

Some quick planning the night before, over a tipple.
At the beginning … there were two clean, non-sore runners …
After a while, the sun came through …
… and rumours of severe weather warnings seemed far off the mark.
Fuelled with fries (stupid, stupid), we suffered through a very difficult third interval.
Interval 4 around Massey campus was the first of the dark runs.
When will this end??
Around 2:30am, soaking wet, we were almost finished with our sixth interval.
Interval 7. Now we may as well push through. So close.
And what a wonderful treat to be joined by Graeme (all the way from Whanganui) and June!

When Gerry first told me about the Ultra Interval Challenge, I was very excited as this sort of thing is right up my alley. It is a worldwide initiative where everybody started at the exact same time, irrespective of where you are in the world. In NZ our starting time was 10am on 23 July. The idea was to run 10km every three hours over a 24-hour period. Therefore 8x10km, totalling 80km. Our initial intention was to turn it into a wee event, by having a base camp with supplies, access to toilets, etc, and hopefully, manage to lure some friends into joining, but then we got busy with other stuff and all but forget about the challenge. Continue reading →

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Tauhara Half Marathon

3 July 2016
Distance: 21.1km
Time: 2:48.56

Beautiful Mt Ruapehu.
Icy roads causing accidents and a holdup on the way.
Mr Ngaurahue.
And away we go, just in time to catch the last participants crossing the narrow start chute.
The wide open area of the paddock helped to quickly spread out the field.
Up and up we went.
Until we came across this little congested bottleneck.
A beautiful sunny morning and crisp air.
This is one of the worst bits.
A nice and easy stretch on the edge of the forest.
The first water point with freezingly cold water.
Cold, cold, cold in the forest.
Finally a bit of sun again.
The start of the out-and-back stretch up a shingle/gravel road.
Gerry at the turning point and second water station.
Frosty conditions and very cold temperatures kept us going to try and keep warm.
What does this even mean?
It almost felt like we were running in a freezer.
The final, very chirpy waterpoint.
Frozen soil.
The long walk up a 1.5km hill, 3km before the finish.
Finally the finish area came into sight.
Back on the cattle tracks.
A long queue of participants waiting for a sausage sizzle and a beer.
Glad we did!

After four days on the road travelling to Auckland, back down to Wellington and back to Palmy the night before the Tauhara, I was a little reluctant to get up at 4am to travel to Taupo for this event. It was just all becoming a little too much. But, we were entered, and events usually cheer me up, so despite no running (and a lot of sitting!) for four days, we took to the road once again to see what this event was all about. Continue reading →

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Wellington Shoe Clinic Half Marathon

Date: 26 June 2016
Distance: 21.1km
Time: 2:12.48
Previous: 2014, 2015

I think my arms aren’t long enough for selfies.
Drizzly and cold weather conditions at the start.
Gerry, me, Rachael and Kathleen (who ended up doing 7 of the 8 Half Marathons to support Rachael).
The field of half marathoners.
Making our way down the ramp from Westpac Stadium.
Some drumming entertainment en route.
Rachael and Kathleen looking strong.
Lovely jazz along the way. Pity we couldn’t listen to them all the way.
An entertaining marshal at the 10km turn-around point.
Being an out-and-back course, you get to see everybody on the course.
Gerry rounding the halfway point.
🙂
Even if someone paid me, I would not have taken the dive.
With only a couple of kilometres left, I couldn’t wait to get to the finish.
Rachael and Kathleen crossing the finish line shortly after us.

Wellington is just one of those events – the ones you do because everybody does. And, well, FOMO (fear of missing out). And since the major spot prize usually entails free entry and a trip to a big international marathon (this year it was the Paris marathon), we decided to do the event and be in for the lucky draw. Why not? At the very least, it forces one to do your weekend long run, which might otherwise have fallen by the wayside. Continue reading →