back-to-back half marathons

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Round the Vines half marathon

Date: 20 March
Distance: 21.1 (20.4km with our GPS)
Time: 2:25.45
Previous: 2014, 2015

We were still casually hanging around the town square when the announcer said “30 seconds to the start!”, so we ended up starting right at the back – a position we defended successfully for the full first lap.
Fun and games amongst the grape vines.
Aid stations also competed in the fancy dress department, with this group dressed in an assortment of onesies and sleepwear.
Not far into the first lap we stopped to start sampling some of the produce from the local wine farms.
Each aid station featured live music, adding to the great vibe of the event.
The winning Zombie/Walking Dead aid station.
More entertainment from one of the friendly local musos.
In addition to the wine, fresh fruit was the order of the day.
Some garage rock, literally.
Checking time (not that it matters in this event!)
Enjoying the en route entertainment.
The course passes through the local school, which is the main beneficiary of the event.
Some costumes were more, uhm, unique than others!
Where’s Wally?
Some amusing signs to keep us smiling.
Runners inspiration.
The obligatory selfie – and what a great setting for it!
Incredible to even see a bride and bridesmaids among the fancy dress teams.
Reaching the finish, a.k.a. party central.
The bridal party finishing in high spirits.
What an amazing turnout! This race keeps getting bigger each year, and rightfully so.
Team All Sorts – perhaps not the most inspiring costumes of the day, but we had a huge amount of fun.

The Round the Vines saw its 21st running in 2016. And what a fantastic turnout (1500) for this amazing event. It is hard to believe that Martinborough, as such a small town, is able to put on such a mammoth size event. The organisers are doing something right! But who can fault this jolly-great-most-enjoyable event? Continue reading →

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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.

Continue reading →