Author: Gerry le Roux

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Hacket Track, Whispering falls, and Chromite Mine loop

Date: 24 February
Distance: 11.6km
Time: 2:22

A few weeks back Wouna found a notice about an upcoming textile art exhibition and competition (the Changing Threads National Contemporary Textile Fibre Art Awards) that was open for entries, so she decided to give it a go and entered a couple of her large patchwork-style fabric portraits. Initial digital entries were submitted, from which one of her pieces made it through to the shortlist for the exhibition. This required couriering the artwork down to Nelson’s Refinery ArtSpace, where the exhibition was held. And then came the nail biting wait to hear if she made the finals.

Continue reading →
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The Lords of the Ring: Massey 21 Marathon

Some time ago, we dreamed up the 5-in-5-in-5 Challenge as a way to keep us motivated and out of trouble. In a nutshell, the challenge involves running five full marathons over 5 consecutive weekends (from 30 April to 29 May) in less than 5 hours each. But there’s more… Since the fourth weekend of the challenge period is totally devoid of any running events in New Zealand even approaching the marathon distance, our challenge also means we will have to stage our own marathon in order to complete the challenge. We considered various options, including running the route of one of the existing marathons in our region, but in the end, to simplify issues such as hydration and nutrition during an unsupported long run, we came up with an alternative solution. Continue reading →

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The 5-in-5-in-5 Challenge

Many running books I’ve read talk about being passionate about running. How you can only be a dedicated, committed runner if you love running. And while I do love the idea of running and everything it represents, and without fail feel better after a run than before it, I must admit that I often have difficulty getting myself ready and out the door for a run. Once I’m out there, it’s great, but beforehand I often simply don’t feel up to it, and would much rather be doing something else. Continue reading →

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Manawatu Striders Half Marathon, Palmerston North

Date: 9 August 2015

Distance: 21.1km

Time: 1:40:46 (Gerry); 2:21:42 (Wouna)

Friendly Striders volunteers ready for late registrations on race morning.
The race features a nice long, straight sprint to the finish.
Wouna and Cheryl near the finish. Less than 2km to go and still fresh and happy.
Cheryl’s kids joined their mum in crossing the finish line.
More Striders volunteers helping out after the race.
Many hands make light work.

If you do any significant amount of distance training, you invariably end up running out of new routes in your region. And most likely, to simplify your daily routine, you end up regularly re-running the same routes day after day. In our case, our daily runs usually include Massey University and/or the Bridle Track along the Manawatu River.

As a result, lining up at the start line of the Manawatu Striders Half Marathon which covers, you guessed it, Massey University and the Bridle Track, I was not exactly breathless with anticipation about the course. Which is not to say that it is not a nice route – we just get so used to it that we forget that it’s actually quite special. Spoiled ay? On the bright side, I was aiming to improve on my time from last year, so that will keep things interesting. Continue reading →

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Road-testing the Asics Gel-Kayano 21

Asics Gel-Kayano 21

My trusty Gel-Kayano 21’s after 6 months on the road. Being a mid-to-forefoot striker, the forefoot of the outsole shows a fair bit more wear than the heel, but generally the longevity of the outsole has been good. And I am very happy to report that the upper materials still seem perfectly intact – a definite improvement from my Kayano 20’s.

It has been 6 months since I hooked up with my bright and cheerful new road-tester Asics Gel-Kayano 21’s, so this may be a good time to look back and take stock of the first 600 kilometres of our relationship.

“Six months and only 600km!?”, you may exclaim in surprise. Well yes, I have to confess, my relationship with the Kayano’s has not been exclusive – I’ve also been spending some of my running time in other shoes, including a pair of minimal road runners (the Nike Free 4.0 Flyknit), and a range of trail shoes from Montrail, Nike, Asics and Mizuno. Continue reading →