21.1km

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Specsavers Hastings half marathon (13 April 2014)

A smallish field at the start.
Gerry ready for number two.
Ready to start the timing clock as soon as the runners are set off.
Away we go!
Lovely autumn colours on the trees.
A small section is run through the suburbs before you reach the country side.
Friendly helpers at the first water table.
A beautiful wire sculpture on one of the farm hills.
Gerry going strong.
Horseshoe bend is quite a hilly out-and-back section.
The turn at the top of Horseshoe bend. Time for a walk and a drink. 🙂
Gerry at full speed coming down the hill.
Beautiful scenery.
Lots and lots of corn fields, just about ready to be harvested.
Another short out and back section and Gerry still strong enough for a jiggle.
A whole variety of mushrooms along the way.
The end.
Taking off my timing chip – always tricky on sore legs.
Free refreshments at the finish.
Gerry very happy with his hot Milo. He must have toughened up looking all summery when it was freezing!
Three layers of clothing all the way on the run for me.
Number two done! We achieved our goal of back-to-back half marathons for the weekend.

With the first of our back-to-back 21s in the bag, we were looking forward to the next one which should give us a good indication of where we are with our training for the marathon in three weeks time.

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Great Forest Events – Waitarere half marathon (12 April 2014)

Me shortly before the start.
A rare sight – Gerry doing a “warm up stretch”.
The huge field of runners being walked to the start.
And many more still behind us.
Quickly squeezing out a few more drops before the start. 🙂
These red numbers turned out to be the marathon runners’ signage. Our 2km mark was still a couple of hundred metres further.
If the race becomes any bigger, congestion might become a problem.
A beautiful run in the forest.
Gerry too fast for the little camera and the lack of light in the forest on a cloudy day.
Manawatu River is reached at around the 13km mark.
In a small clearing, Gerry is rehydrating at one of the many water tables.
A lovely run in a pine forest.
Me trying to go as fast as I can.
Gerry still going strong.
Yeah! Couldn’t have come sooner. I was buggered by then.
Flying to the finishing line.
So close, so close.
Every finisher received a medal. A rare commodity in NZ.
Gerry just as he got his medal.
Happy to have finished the first of our back-to-back 21s for the weekend.

The Great Forest Events saw its 18th running this year and boasted a whopping 3243 finishers over all 8 disciplines: 42.2km run and walk, 21.1km run and walk, 10km run and walk, and a 5km run and walk. With the Rotorua marathon only 3 weeks away, we decided to do back-to-back half marathons as our weekend long run.

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Round the Vines – half marathon

At the start: Gerry, Nettie, Johann and me.
A more colourful than usual race briefing.
The start of the half marathon.
On our way shortly after the start.
First water station.
Me flying past the vines.
The road leading through Alana Estate.
Second water station. More goodies to tempt the runners.
Meandering through the wine farms.
Lovely views while running through the vineyards.
Close encounters with a vine.
More fancy dress fun at the third water station.
One man show.
Full band providing great entertainment.
The split for the half and 10 on the first round.
Gerry on the extra loop for the half marathon.
“Garage” band.
Water station #4 – Gerry happy with his Sav.
“As I was trying to say …”
Water station #5.The range of goodies at these water stations was quite amazing.
The detour taking you through the school grounds.
Water station #6 on the school grounds.
Round number 2.
One man show.
One woman show.
A “thank you” from the school as you pass through their grounds.
Full band providing entertainment at the school.
The finish. Me still wondering how on earth I’m meant to cover 42.2km in 6 weeks time!

When first we stumbled upon this event, to be staged in the lovely town of Martinborough, we just knew it is a must do. We need to include long runs on weekends as training for the Rotorua marathon anyway, and what better way to do it than in events with lots if other runners. It’s much easier when you know you are not alone out there covering 20+km by yourself.

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Run Mahana 21.1km – 1 December 2013

Uhum, this was actually a wee bit of a stretch before the start.
Briefing at the Woollaston Estate parking area – the orange caps are the pace setters.
Gerry a few second before the start on a sunny day in Nelson.
On the 1.1km out and back section on the first lap, one could see the front runners. A rare sight for the back of the packers.
Gerry at one of three water tables. Some also had jelly sweets to keep the blood sugar levels intact.
A little helper picking up the used cups.
Always happy to see/be around olive trees!
Prices were up for grabs in the “Mohana” category for Movember.
A clown en route for a bit of entertainment.
More monkey business with just one km to go.
Gerry flying past the vineyard on his way to the finish.
Photo by Shuttersport. The two of us still up for a laugh and a bit of fun.
The famous sculpture at the entrance to the estate.
Lovely venue for the start and finish of the race.
Gerry and I with our Woollaston Sav’s courtesy of the farm.

When Gerry signed up for this event about two month ago, I could barely cover the 5km loop we’ve been using as training for about three weeks. Worst is, it’s mainly downhill! I certainly didn’t expect to run 21km two months later. But we kept at it, did our little training run almost every day and even started to add “long runs” on weekends to get us used to a bit more distance than 5km. 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 →