Date: 18 March 2017
Distance: 21.1km
Time: 2:29
Previous: 2015, 2016

Briefing inside the hall. Haven’t been inside before.

Was great to meet Anita before the start!

The winding road uphill in the first two kilometres.

Distance markers for the half, 10km and 5km runs.

Getting fancy with our selfies!

First water point with very helpful little volunteers.

The stream cut a massive gorge through the area.

David C and Graeme enjoying the day out as part of the walkers event.

No, I did not just poop that out! The first of some massive mushrooms. Haven’t seen them before.

David J, who came second in the 21.1km walk category.

Fun times at the water point at the turn-around of the dog-leg.

Not much blue skies this time around, but still a great day out.

Gerry having an easy morning out.

Derek going strong – another walker in the half marathon event.

A wee gathering in the middle of the road. Rob arrived and started very late, so we saw him on the out-and-back stretch.

Another one of the gigantic mushrooms. It’s the biggest one I’ve seen in my life!

On the last bit of the uphill, before the final kilometre or so downhill to the finish.

After a long hiatus and battling to fully commit and get back into things, I thought participating in an event might help me find my running mojo, so we entered the Taihape Half. (Boy was I wrong – it’s been a week since, and I’ve managed one run …) Not having done the hard yards, I knew this kind of distance wasn’t the “right thing to do”, but throwing caution to the wind, I figured if I take it really easy I should be able to cover the distance. Even if it means having to walk most of the way. Continue reading →