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Wairarapa Country half marathon, and some

Date: 13 October
Distance: 21.1km
Time: 2:21.40
Previous: 2014

Start of the 21.1km run.

I can’t help but wonder when I will line up at the start of an event again feeling just half prepared, and not physically in a bad way (stressed out, migraine, anxious, niggles everywhere, you get the gist). All this comes down to daily life. It’s tough isn’t it? When you have a million things to do every day and you’re always behind schedule, it just gets on one’s nerves and causes all sorts of problems. Continue reading →

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Tauranga marathon

Date: 20 September 2019
Distance: 42.2km
Time: 5:26.12
Previous: 2017 (inaugural)

Shortly after the start.
Check out that loo queue on the left.
Young Rob and I. A beautiful, sunny day with just a light breeze.
We moved towards the back of the starting shoot, but there were still quite a few runners and walkers behind us.
On Papamoa Beach Road.
Rounding the mount.
At the end of the Mt Maunganui loop.
Cars only had one lane and were backed up for miles.
A jaunt through the Port.
A scenic section overlooking Port Tauranga.
Very tempting to follow the Half Marathon course straight to the finish.
Yay!
The mount is getting smaller in the back.
Rob already miles ahead of us.
Checking out the 10km map and wondering what possessed me to do the marathon.
A lovely part of the course.
Another friendly aid station.
Running along the boardwalk.
The mount looks so far away.
The last aid station, less than 2km from the finish.
The finish in the main street of Tauranga City.

On Friday morning, shortly after breakfast, the power suddenly went out. That was when it dawned on us that council scheduled a power outage from 8:30 until 3pm. The house needed a vacuum, the washing machine was halfway through its cycle, the dishes needed cleaning, we hadn’t showered yet and I was still going to cook us something for the road and dinner. We couldn’t wait until after 3pm, so out came the broom while I was cussing away at the wall-to-wall carpet. Oh, how I hate thee! It’s just a breeding ground for allergies and impossible to truly clean. No matter how much water and soap you throw at it, unless you have suction that can peel the carpet off of the floor, you won’t be getting all the crap out. Ever. Well, that’s my take on it anyway. Continue reading →

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Hatuma Lime half marathon

Date: 15 September 2019
Distance: 21.1km
Time: 2:17
Previous:  2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017

MC in action.
Cath and Cheryl joined me for the pic.
hi Anita!
Hey Kev!
Lots of traffic on the course.
Gerry practicing his selfie skills.
A lovely section before and after the last change over point.
When there’s “running” in a sentence it can only mean one thing ;-).
Less than two kilometres from the finish.

It was our sixth outing to Waipukurau for the annual Hatuma Lime half marathon, still the event we’ve done the most times of all. Hard to say why we go back almost every year. Maybe because it has by now become a “thing” – the event we’ve done most times? Continue reading →

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Cape Egmont Half Marathon

Date: 14 July
Distance: 21.1 (we measured 21.4)
Time: 2:16:10

Wet and dark at the start.
Not quite convinced of our own sanity!
The race is run on sealed country roads.
Awesome volunteers braving the weather.
A bit messy with no bin after the aid station.
An unsealed section shortly beyond the second aid station and relay team hand-over.
Did I mention it was wet?
Happy to be done with it.
Cape Egmont lighthouse.
Good to be out of the rain, but still cold and wet.
The tail-end Charlie.

When training and running trail ultras, one tends to run yourself unfit with regards to normal road running. Unless, of course, you do all the homework for both disciplines and can still manage to run a decent, consistent pace whether it be on or off road. They are for the most part two very different types of sport and specificity is key when training for the one or the other. As someone who certainly enjoys both (running is running to me) I try to enter a variety of events, both on and off road. Continue reading →

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Ultra-Trail Australia

Date: 18 May 2019
Distance: 100km
Time: 24:42

ali_pottinger_pic

At the finish – thanks for the pic Ali Pottinger!

It is not ideal to go into an event unprepared and exhausted. Juggling too many things meant a frantic last minute finalising draft chapters of my thesis to be reviewed while we are away in order to optimise time. Trying to remember what to pack in a very short timeframe did not help the stress levels. We left Palmy at 3am on the Thursday morning of 16 May for the drive down to Wellington for our flight at 7am. Allowing only two hours for the trip, I was holding my breath that something wouldn’t happen to prevent us from making the flight in time. Like a house or some such being moved (as often happens during night time) causing a hold-up and blocking the highway for an extended period. Fortunately, we had no issues, caught the shuttle bus from the long-term parking as we stepped out of the car, and made the flight to Australia on time. Continue reading →