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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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Apologies for the clutter


typingTo the kind people following this blog, we’d like to apologise in advance for some rather overzealous posting over the next week or so. We are in the process of replacing a couple of old blogs with this consolidated effort, so we’re just trying to catch up and get all those old posts into their new home.

This shouldn’t take more than the next week or so, so please bear with us – we’ll return to a more ‘normal’ posting schedule soon!

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Kepler Track – 23-25 December 2012

The highest point en route – Mt Luxmore.
Still bright and shiny at the start of the hike.
Gerry crossing the Waiau River at the start.
Lovely to walk in the shade of beech, kamati and podocarps.
Lake Te Anau in the back. We stopped for a quick lunch in the shade – hence the “shady” photo.
Tent pitched, fire going and a tipple in the cup. What more could a girl ask for.
Sunny and very hot once we reached the tree line, unsheltered from the tree canopy.
Leaving our packs in the path to climb the last bit to the top of Mt Luxmore.
here must be millions of similar pics out there – doing the touristy thing and get your photo taken by a fellow hiker at the beacon.
Lonely in the saddle since my horse died.
For miles and miles the path meanders on the ridge with magnificent views to both sides.
Taking a little break in the mid-day sun.
One of the two shelters on top of the mountain. This one being Hanging Valley Shelter.
At our final camp, covering every inch of exposed skin (preferably in more than one layer!) to try and avoid the pesky sandflies.
Very unusual bright purple mushroom.
Back at the start on Christmas day. Hoping next time we come down this way, we’ll the doing the Kepler track trail run.
Evidence of sandfly havoc when skin is exposed for just a short while.

23 December 2012 (15.1km) – Rainbow Reach car park to Brod Bay

It is exactly two years since our last multi-day hike/tramp. And to top it off, we haven’t been very active on the running front over the last year or so either. But we thought this hike would be a nice way to end the year and hopefully entice some new years resolutions on the active front.

Continue reading →

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Pukeiti Puffer fun run (6-7km) – 1 April 2012

Gerry, me and Henriette – nervously ready for big things.
Numbered and ready for take-off!
Dark clouds looming just before the start.
And we were off!
Me and Henriette, still going strong early in the race.
Queu at the hanging bridge.
The marshal at the hanging bridge making sure no more than four people are simultaneously crossing.
Gerry, on the bridge.
A short sealed section at the turn-around point.
Too much energy!
Henriette on the way back across the bridge.
Roll-call at the finish, making sure that everybody made it safely back.

It’s been four months since we’ve done any running. I honestly don’t think the four 5km run-walk attempts to try and get us back on the road in February, counts for any level of fitness. I huff and puff pretty much like my mom’s bulldog just walking up the 50 metre little incline behind our house!

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White Cliffs Walkway – 26 December 2011

Gerry in the blazing hot sun, making his way up the steep climb on private farm roads.
Amused cattle with a lovely view from their grazing spot.
Me on a downhill section with Henriette in the back.
Deon, Henriette and Gerry in front. Evidence of strong winds can be seen by die angle of the tree on the hill.

Whenever I hear the world “white cliffs”, the first thing that jumps to mind, is the brewery. And why not. The White Cliffs Brewery makes a lovely brew.

We were visiting in New Plymouth for Xmas when Henriette suggested we do the walk. It is a fairly long hike, 14km point-to-point from Pukearuhe boat ramp to Tongaporutu. So, on the morning of Boxing Day, Deon, Henriette, Gerry and I left for Tongaporutu where we would leave Deon’s car at the picnic area next to the Tongaporutu river. On the way back to the start, the four of us were contemplating whether we allowed enough time to complete the walk, having left the house quite late, but we decided to do it anyway.

Continue reading →