Off-road running

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The Great Forest Events – Waitarere

Date: 8 April 2017
Distance: 21.1km
Time: 3:30
Previous: 2014, 2016

Race headquarters – new venue.
Follow the sign – not the arrow! 🙂
Nice to see Anita briefly before the start. She told me how she won the Taihape Half and got third place at the Martinborough Round the Vines female category! That’s fantastic – well done!
Seeing everyone disappear, while we were having a leisurely walk in the forest.
Graeme coming through the first water point.
As well as Derek, still going strong.
Fellow Manawatu Striders mate, Viv.
Graeme, Ross and another Strider.
Cheryl and Steph catching up at about 6km, having done 27km already.
We donned pink for the occasion – Cheryl’s favourite colour.
Gerry having a very easy run.
Cheryl and Steph, not even looking tired.
The girl of the moment – Cheryl about to complete her very first marathon.
Photo time! Not far now.
On the home stretch.
When we caught up with the 10 and 5km runners and walkers, the road got a bit congested, but didn’t slow us down at all.
Well done, Cheryl, on completing your first marathon! And Steph for running the whole way with her! As Patricia said – welcome to the marathon club. 🙂

A few months ago, a friend of ours won an entry for the marathon of this event. She has been keen to do a marathon for such a long time, and what better motivation than to win an entry. It was going to be her very first marathon and Gerry and I thought we’d like to join her. But, life had other plans, and we couldn’t get the miles done in time for a full marathon, so decided to join only for the second half of her run. Continue reading →

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Taihape Half

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 →

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Doing a hip hop on a half*

*Thanks for the title Graeme!

Date: 14 January 2017
Distance: 21.1km
Time: 3:23

Some members of the Manawatu Trail Runners FB group: Suzanne, Nikki, Amanda, Brett, Wouna, Gerry and Michael.
At the event base.
Des and Henriette.
Nervously happy to be out there.
With 540 participants all starting together, you better get yourself to the front if you hope to pose a good time. Luckily not something we had to worry about!
A gradual incline shortly after the start, helping to spread out the field before the first single-track section.
Any uphill was a good excuse for a walk-break.
Alternating sections of gravel road and single track meant that we didn’t have any problems with bottle-necks.
Jogging through a lush green section.
Had to do a few takes to get this pic with Mt Taranaki in the background.
Back into the forest.
Not sure why I thought that acting like a baboon would prove my steel.
So glad it wasn’t raining or wet going up and down these bare soil stretches.
Enjoying a beautiful morning out on the trails.
Heading back out into an open patch.
A downhill trot…
…followed by an uphill slog.
No getting lost with course markings in abundance.
Luckily we could side-step all the muddy patches.
A mix of sun and shade meant it was never too hot or too cold.
I guess the more competitive runners probably went straight through.
A very scenic stretch, with Lake Mangamahoe in the foreground and Mt Taranaki in the distance.
Running along the banks of Lake Mangamahoe.
Gerry on the first of the two swing bridges.
Still having fun.
The second swing bridge on the half marathon course.
Graeme having a blast on the swing bridge.
Some tree roots to negotiate.
A short stretch run in both directions. But this lot had done a few kilometres in-between and were well ahead of us.
A very curvy section where you really feel like you are going in circles.
A long incline after passing the event base the second time.
Gerry making his way through the young pine forest with Mt Taranaki up ahead.
Gerry photographing the photographer photograping me. 😛
Up and up we went. Just as well, as I had to walk lots anyway.
The Rocky Road stretch. Apart from roots, the only other semi-technical terrain.
Lots of steps, giving our heart and lungs a good workout.
These smiles must have been thanks to the fact that the end was just around the corner.
Very happy to have made it. And getting some medals to boot.
Running a doodle.

On all accounts, I should not have done this event. Apart from doing two half marathons, one in September and one in October, we haven’t been running for about five months, except for maybe the odd 3 or 4km slow trot-walk-run once every few weeks which is not even worth mentioning. And if there’s one thing I know, it’s that you don’t go running races unprepared. Mind you, I’ve never “run a race”. Rather, I participate in events – there’s a huge difference. 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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#5 Manawatu Striders inaugural marathon

Date: 29 May 2016
Distance: 42.2km
Time: 4:38.44

The Team: me, Gerry, Graeme and Rob at the start of our fifth marathon.
A quick selfie.
The field of marathon runners, wondering how long the rain is going to stay away.
Passing under Summerhill Drive.
The Bridle Track next to the Manawatu River.
Gerry at the first water point.
Evidence of the past couple of weeks’ rain.
Flooded paddocks around “Swamp City”.
Gerry with Patricia.
Higgins Aggregates yard.
Always nice to see Mike still going strong, after 500+ marathons.
Gerry, Karen, Norman and Charlotte.
High-five with Perry, and James.
Michelle with another red-and-black team member. 🙂 Don’t know who he is.
The turn-around point in Higgins property.
Rob heading out to the turn-around point, only a few minutes behind us.
Heading back towards town along the never ending Te Matai Road.
Nice to see the rain didn’t deter our usual bagpipe player at the Manawatu Striders annual event. It’s always great heading the sound of the bagpipes from a distance as you run along the river.
Gerry is clearly on a cruise.
John speeding through the last five kilometres.
“Jumping” puddles. Uhum, or whatever you call trying to sidestep puddles after 34km.
Photo by Cheryl Sturm.
With the final turn disappearing in the back, we’re on the home straight.
A nice little loop through Waitoetoe Park.
Heading back upstream. Photo by Cheryl Sturm.
Despite being very sick, Cheryl still braved the foul weather to come out and offer support.
Digging deep – only about 2kms to go.
Just up the hill and around the corner – less than 1km to go. Photo by Ian Porritt Photography.
Rob at the finish.
Graeme pushing a mate through the finish.
Showing our bling – Rob, me, Gerry and Graeme.

A few years ago, Gerry and I did an unsupported, 800km in 26 days walk through the Klein Karoo in the southern parts of South Africa, covering roughly 30+km every day. Day after day, we’d get up before sunrise, walk the whole day, sometimes up to 54km and other times until after dark, before cooking dinner, washing our only other set of clothes, going to sleep, to repeat it all the next day. We carried a tent, sleeping bags, a small camping stove, one set of extra clothes, including warm clothing and some basic emergency food and health care. For the rest, we bought food as we went, so had to be sure to make it to the next town in time to buy supplies. It was challenging at times (I suffered from severe blisters, we were sunburned despite thick slathers of sunblock, and sometimes had to endure temperatures of up to 45 degrees Celsius), but it was also great to spend each day all day long outside and being exposed to whatever nature throws at you – rain, wind, baking hot sun etc. And as the days got shorter during that Autumn month and our trip nearer the end, we were filled with mixed emotions. It was such a huge life changing experience which we didn’t want to end, but at the same time we were getting a bit tired of the mundane task, having to repeat everything each day for days on end. With the only change being the scenery, meeting new people along the way and the sun rising later and setting earlier each day. Continue reading →