Off-road running

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#3 – Hawke’s Bay International Marathon

Date: 14 May 2016
Distance: 42.5km
Time: 4:37.45

Early morning with the sun just up over the sea.
The start banner up ahead and a sea of runners/walkers.
Wondering what is going to happen over the next five or so hours.
A lovely sunny day…
…with colourful streams of runners stretching out ahead and behind us.
Rob going strong.
Up on the first stop bank, being chased by Mr Farty-pants.
The stop bank went on for miles and miles.
There were quite a few spots where friends and family could support participants.
A percussion band made for some wonderful entertainment.
This little bridge bounced quite a bit – out of sync with your steps, which felt very weird.
Haven’t I seen this before somewhere? 😉
The halfway point and 21.1km start.
Gerry powering up one of the little hills.
The ‘pimped up’ Air New Zealand snack trolley.
Apple orchards all along the route.
A welcome sight after having no water points for a while.
Apple orchards …
And more apple orchards.
Some motivation on a shelter belt.
Yay! not far to go.
Crossing SH50.
Finally the vineyards.
Extremely helpful volunteers – running backwards with me to fetch a jelly snake. Admittedly I might not have managed to get going again if I stopped at that point.
Running through the autumn vineyards provided a nice change of scenery.
What we thought was a water point, turned out to be a supporters area.
Passing a supporter areas, with Graeme’s family in the background.
Have I mentioned that I just love olive trees?
Whoop-whoop!
The end is in sight.
Great to finish in such a festive environment.
Happy to be finished!
Graeme just after he finished.
And Rob staggering in. 🙂
The 5-in-5-in-5 team: Graeme, Rob, me and Gerry.

Our third event in the five marathons challenge was snugly sandwiched between two full working days in Wellington. How’s that for luck. We left home before dawn on Friday morning, returning at around dusk, quickly unpacked camera equipment and repacked running gear, and dashed off to Napier to be in time for registration. Unfortunately, we were too late for the Expo. Continue reading →

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#2 T42

Date: 7 May 2016
Distance: 42.2km
Time: 5:27.32
Previous: 2011

Pink portaloos!
Waiting for the race to start, with our usual mix of excitement and panic.
Some nasty little hills on the 2km loop through the paddocks at the start helped to quickly spread out competitors.
Meet Chris, in red behind me. We managed to stay within shouting distance from each other for the entire race.
Enjoying the early morning sun as we ran along the logging track.
Happiness is running through the trails on a crisp autumn day.
Slippery conditions early on when we could still spot some other participants.
Beautiful views over the Tongariro National Park.
Nothing like crossing a mountain stream to keep your feet fresh and frosty!
The downhills were great for making up time, but hammered our quads.
Some downhills definitely felt safer on foot than we would have felt on MTB’s.
Taking a cautious approach on one of the wider crossings.
What goes down usually goes up again, so after some major downhills it was back to slogging up some never-ending hills.
The rain of the preceding few days made for some very slippery downhills.
…and muddy uphills!
Despite all the mud, the stream crossings helped keep our shoes uncharacteristically clean.
It required concentration and fancy footwork to keep upright on some of the more slippery downs.
The aid stations were quite far apart, so after miles of non-stop climbing this was a very welcome sight.
Speeding through the stream to limit the time spent in the chilly water.
Whenever we saw these signs we knew there was some exciting obstacle ahead…
…in this case, another icy stream.
Some puddles could be avoided, even though I’m sure the speedy front-runners charged straight through.
Many parts of the route looked completely unfamiliar, including this bridge.
One of the official vehicles, transporting the bicycles of some unfortunate MTB participants.
Signage (including the familiar blue TotalSports ribbons) was excellent, and we never felt we might be on the wrong route.
Taking a photo-break about 3km from the finish. Thanks for offering to take the photo, Chris!

 

Our second event in the challenge turned out much better than I expected – great weather, good physical condition, and manageable terrain. After a not-so-nice experience at Rotorua, I feared that things can only get worse. I was still tired from the Rotorua marathon, and on top of everything I’ve picked up a couple of niggles. Continue reading →

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Great Forest Events

Date: 10 April

Distance: 21.1km

Time: 2:22

Previous: 2014

Race briefing.
The marathon runners and walkers have started already. Next up are the half marathon guys and girls.
Walking to the start a few hundred metres from the race HQ. A colourful stream of participants ahead of us.
Gerry, Wouna and Cheryl at the start.
And a fairly long stream of runners behind us as well.
And away we go!
The first water point.
Cheryl, and me still in longs as the overcast morning chill started making way for a warm sunny day.
Fun signage for our entertainment.
Even some music at this water point.
Always great to run with no traffic worries.
Gerry going strong.
Lots if these bright mushrooms all around the forest.
A typical scene at this event.
Some muddy patches here and there.
About halfway at the Manawatu River.
A welcome water point in a clearing in the forest.
Lovely and warm in the open patches.
Signs of industrial activity.
The 10km participants linking up with the 21km course in the last few kilometres.
Some more entertainment at the start of the only “hill” on the course.
Happy at the finish, with Powerade, an apple and medals. It was the nicest, most welcome apple I’ve had in years.
A cute sign to celebrate the 20th anniversary of this great event.
Catching up with some mates at prize-giving.
The Neva Bean clan from Whanganui.

Each year thousands of participants make the trek to the Matariki forest at Waitarere Beach near Levin. And why won’t you if you live only a stone throw away? The Great Forest Events chose their name wisely. It remains a great event; with lots of participants, great atmosphere, good organisation and medals to boot. Continue reading →

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(Wine-to)-Brine-to-Wine

Date: 3 April

Distance: 31.5km

Time: 3:36

Gerry at about 6.5km. The morning was just cool enough to justify starting with a second layer.
A drizzle to keep us cool.
Passing the middle bridge of the 3 Bridges event.
Nice walkway next to the river for miles and miles.
Not too far from the river mouth.
Gerry sharing high-fives with Graeme.
On the way back. We were too pre-occupied to think about taking pics between the last few kilometres and the start of the event.
By this time the sun was very hot!
Gerry going strong after about 21km.
A prominent feature in Whanganui.
City centre. Only about 7km to go.

I am finding it increasingly more difficult to write objectively about events. Simply because I love doing events! The vibe, the people, the support, the fact that you get your training done with others – what’s not to like? Continue reading →

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Taihape half marathon

Date: 19 March
Distance: 21.1 (21.5km with our GPS)
Time: 2:19.07
Previous: 2015

At the start on a beautiful sunny morning in the country.
Jogging up the first hill that you encounter shortly after the start.
Running along the rolling hills is pure bliss.
Crossing a gorge before heading down a dirt road.
Some shelter from the trees keeping us from overheating.
High-5! Pete on his way back from the out-and-back stretch.
A jolly waterpoint at the turn of the out-and-back bit.
The volunteer water girl even offered to take our photo.
Interesting tree formations on the horizon as we jogged along the country roads.
Drinking in the beauty of the surroundings does wonders to keep your energy levels up.
Reaching the section of road comprising the out-and-back 10km event, things got increasingly social.
From about the 16 to 20km points you face a slow and steady uphill.
Firefighters doing the 10km as training for the Sky Tower challenge.
Over the last few kilometres we passed many 10km walkers.
Gerry trying his luck passing close to the whomping willow!
The finish in sight on the last long downhill.

As we drove up from Palmy for this event, I was counting my lucky stars that the weather was really good. Warm. Yet again. At last year’s event, the temperature was a bit cooler but still great. This year was just perfect for me, but I suspect at 20 degrees Celsius it was a bit on the hot side for most other participants. Continue reading →