Road running

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Kahuterawa Classic (15.4km leg) – 16 November 2013

Participants arriving at the start of the race.
Mike Tennant, working towards completing 52 races in 52 weeks.
Some back of the pack shenanigans.
In high spirits, despite the challenging hills.
Running in such wonderful hill country makes the miles go by in a flash.
A great little single-track section in the middle of the run.
Running along the hills provide wonderful views of the valleys around Palmerston North.
The last main turn, towards a farm track leading back to the start.
What would a New Zealand country run be without a flock of sheep in the distance?
Hitting the farm track approaching the finish.
Almost there – running along the farm track just before the last long downhill towards the finish.

After a lay-off of ages (and I really mean AGES – it’s been 2 years since we last participated in a road race, and since then our training has been more off than on) we recently decided to make a concerted effort to get back on the road. And knowing ourselves, we realised this was not going to happen if we didn’t have something to train for. So we entered the Classic Hits Run Mahana Half Marathon, scheduled for 1 December.

To make it to a level of fitness that would more or less get us through a 21.1km race by the start of December, we set some intermediate ‘long run’ targets – a 10km run a few weeks ago, 12km the week after that, and then, as our first race in a long, long time, the 15.4km second leg of the Kahuterawa Classic, a marathon split over 3 legs and two days, hosted by our local running club, the Manawatu Striders. Continue reading →

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Kahuterawa Two Day Classic – 19 & 20 November 2011 (43.99km)

Taking shelter from the rain before the start of the 15.42km event.
A handful of participants getting ready for the start of the walking event, with some threatening rain clouds on the horizon.
The field of about 20 participants in the 15km walking event.
Compared to running, passing other participants in a walking event seems to take forever!
Not far now. Gerry on the final stretch towards the finish, with the sun also making a surprise appearance.
The start of the half marathon run. Still rainy and windy.
Alister explaining the course before setting us on our way.
Gerry making the most of the lovely rolling countryside.
One of our busier moments on the run – the Kahuterawa Road out-and-back gravel section on the way to Black Bridge.
The drink station at the Black Bridge turnaround – me in last position.
Gerry and Alister (who manned the water table) having a chat while we take a rest at the start of the Greens Road out-and-back section.
When going so slow as we did, there’s time for playing around with photo opportunities.
Wonderful lunch in the Dransfield’s Woolshed. This race must be the best value for money in all of New Zealand.
Alister handling the prize-giving in the woolshed.

It’s official – I have well and truly run myself unfit. I guess that is what happens if you just pile on the kilometers, plodding away at the same pace without doing any quality sessions. And as we all know – when you go longer, you get slower.

When we ran the 7km section of this event last year, we promised ourselves to do the full event this year. But things don’t always work out as we plan, does it?

Continue reading →

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Auckland marathon – 30 October 2011

Medals! The first time ever out of all the events we’ve done in NZ so far.
The Te Kuiti campsite on the pavement opposite houses.
To the back of the field. We were somewhere in the middle.
The front of the field, with the start banner way up ahead.
A sea of green (the official race T’s) with olive trees lining the streets of Devonport.
Sun coming up in the background. Willie (in green and blue) and me.
Willie, Gerry and myself in front of a (clearly very committed) Tonga RWC supporter’s house.
Supporter flags.
Drummers at the start of the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
Gerry and Willie on top of the Auckland bridge.
Me and Gerry, on our way down.
A loop at the bottom of the bridge, passing underneath towards the city.
Gerry running along the waterfront road on the second half of the race.
A Star Wars storm trooper.
Water cups everywhere with some runners still coming from the front on their way to the turnaround point.
unner dressed up in full leather biking gear – helmet and all. Must have been hot.
Auckland Sky Tower, close to the finish, visible in the distance. Still going strong.
Yeah! Only 2.2km to go, and we’re on 4:31. Still running without a watch, so we had now idea what our time was until this 40km mark.
The end. A wonderful run in lovely weather.
Gerry, me and Willie (on the other side of the Sky Tower).
In the bus on our way back to Willie’s car. Gerry chuffed with his medal!
Gerry, me, Willie, Alida’s dad Esra, and Alida at Piha beach, enjoying a bubbly.
Course map.

T’was a rainy day in Palmy when we left around two in the afternoon, heading for Auckland. Gerry and I decided to make a wee bit of a outing of it and packed the tent for a halfway sleep-over.

We took the road over Wanganui and onto the SH4 to drive a section that we haven’t driven before. New territory – hilly and curvy roads between farms, a beautiful area in the heart of King Country. About 20km from the Waitomo Caves, we stopped to overnight at Te Kuiti. Should the caves entry fee be affordable and time allows, we would make a trip in the morning, to see amongst others, the glow worm cave. However, neither turned out in our favour. So, off we were to Auckland, to Willie and Alida who kindly hosted us for the weekend. Continue reading →

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Koputaroa 21.1km, Levin – 16 October 2011

At the start. About 30 participants in the half marathon run. Almost clear skies after a very rainy morning.
Koputaroa School in the country not far from Levin.
Wonderful quiet country roads. The perfect setting for any long run.
A tunnel of lush vegetation.
Harry op die tremspoor!
A very friendly lady helper at the water spot, with dark clouds looming.
The section on SH57.
“Guess I should pretend to run up this little hill”.

Yet again, it was pouring with rain throughout the night. If we hadn’t pre-entered, a bomb would not have got me out of bed. I was so not looking forward to a drenched run.

As we drove to Levin, the rain started clearing (again, aren’t we lucky devils!), but my mood was for some reason “under the weather”. I just couldn’t imagine myself having to run 21 kms … We fetched our entries in the Koputaroa School hall and made our way to the start, which is just outside the hall in the road in front of the school. The race only started at 9:30 and as we lined up with about 30 other participants, the organiser briefed us about the route. Continue reading →

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Taranaki Daily News 21.1km – 2 October 2011

One supporter going the whole nine yards, in Wanganui. When we first passed, a whole lot op people were outside partying. They also had a van painted to match the house.
Another quaint sign in a paddock created with fencing poles.
At the start – Spider Man and all.
Runners in the distance making their way up a hill.
The sign that Gerry is nearing is a permanent sign that the school kids created, warning motorist that they are approaching a school and should drive carefully.
A little girl supporting her mom all the way as dad drove the car further up the road every few kilometres.
Another hill to negotiate.
These chirpy bees livened up the atmosphere for all who were in the area. We recently attended the Rollar Derby held in Palmy and the Taranaki team are known as the The Taranaki Rollar Corps Rumble Bees. We were wondering if these two are part of the team?
A wet finish – just to keep one honest.
Frozen to the bone with the finish in the background.
Gerry, myself and Marianne, with Des and Henriette in the front seats.

The Rugby World Cup is in full swing, and it is great to see all the supporters’ flags and messages on houses, in paddocks and on cars. Everywhere you look there’s support for people’s favorite teams which in NZ is, of course, the All Blacks.

All the way, as we drove to New Plymouth on Saturday, evidence of the country’s commitment to the RWC is visible as the world cup fever casts its spell on everybody. There’s no escaping the mania that plays off all around us – tonnes and tonnes of little flags representing all the different countries are hanging from every shop and restaurant, while loads of cars are driving around with All Black flags stuck in their doors. The occasional Irish, England or South African flag can also be spotted, but the black flags are hard to miss. An article was even published, giving stats about the amount of extra petrol your car will be using with the drag of each flag sticking out from your window. Continue reading →