bridle track

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Manawatu Striders Half Marathon

A few minutes before the start of the half marathon.
All smiles in anticipation of the run ahead on a glorious day with near perfect weather. [Photo by Johann vd Merwe]
The start of the 21.1km. Chris Sanson in the middle, also the overall winner. [Photo courtesy of Rob Weir, Manawatu Striders]
Gerry speeding towards the finish line. [Photo by Johann vd Merwe]
The finish line at the Massey Rec site with Gerry approaching the finish banner. [Photo by Johann vd Merwe]
Me with only a few more metres to go. And June at the finish to welcome me back with a hug. Thanks June! [Photo by Johann vd Merwe]
At the prize-giving with Club President Kevin Palmer. I was very surprised to have won the club female Handicap Cup. [Photo courtesy of Rob Weir, Manawatu Striders]
Gerry also winning the male Handicap Cup. [Photo courtesy of Rob Weir, Manawatu Striders]

I think it’s fair to say that I’m not a very competitive animal. Or am I?

I run for fun. I would never be able to win an event, or be amongst the first 10, or 100 finishers (unless there’s only ten participants), so I don’t do fartleks, or hill repeats or speed work. I just run, for myself and the sense of achievement when completing the odd serious challenge. And for my health. When your doctor and your cardiologist plus your dietician all agree that you should run, you run boy. No questions asked. Every now and again, for whatever reason (wintery weather? laziness?), we take ‘breaks’, where we would completely stop running for a couple of months. But usually we get into again, not without lots of swearing and complaining for allowing ourselves to lose all our fitness and having to start right at the bottom again – what a pain! One great way to break out of an “off” streak, is to enter for an event that would border on the “crazy” side for most non-runners. I firmly believe one should do things that scares you a little. Life begins the moment you step out of your comfort zone, right? And that’s more or less the gist of our running regime for the past 14 years. Continue reading →

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Birthday run (26 February 2011)

The birthday boy on the footpath next to the river (which is just beyond the bushes on the left).
Picnic on the rocks.

Happy birthday, dear Gerry, happy birthday to you!

Most people will probably think “hey, it’s my birhtday, I’m not doing anything”. But we decided that a nice picnic by the river wouldn’t do no harm, especially with a little run to get us there.

Shortly before lunch on a windy Saturday morning, we packed some cheese, ham, buns and chilli olives, plus the usual jelly babies and water, before heading off to the river.

The Manawatu River is fairly dry at the moment, as is the whole Manawatu (and other parts of the country), but the walkway is always a nice playground away from traffic. We parked at the holiday park side and trotted along for about 4kms when we spotted a nice area on some rocks next to the river. Good enough to cut our 7km run short there and then, so we settled down and unpacked our spread.

Sitting quietly next to the river amongst trees, I can barely imagine a previous life where the closest nature and peace was some distance away from home through hideous traffic – enough to make you stay at home.

After a lovely picnic, we walked the 4kms back to the car, having the rest of the day ahead for more celebrations.