What to do when you’re a crowd of three? If not the three musketeers, the three wise men, three blind mice, three little pigs, three Stooges or the Bee Gees, it has to be the three wise monkeys!

Registration in the Gallipoli Room, Community Centre Norsewood.

Nettie, myself and Gerry at the start on a lovely sunny, albeit chilly, morning. [Photo © Johann van der Merwe]

Brand spanking new shoes for Nettie and Johann. Don’t think it is necessary to “run in” trainers these days anymore. [Photo © Johann van der Merwe]

Coronation Street, Norsewood. Bustling with activity outside the registration venue.

Race briefing. The cyclists in front of the runners. [Photo © Johann van der Merwe]

Participants were invited to dress up for the event, but only a few fancy dress outfits were around at the start.

Looks like a huge field shortly after the start. Keeping clear of other runners, cyclists and support vehicles proved quite a challenge on the very narrow country roads.

Going strong on a sunny, cold morning.

Lots of rain the previous night made the roads shine in the sun.

Beautiful scenery in rural NZ with snow on the Ruahines. [Photo © Johann van der Merwe]

A short out-and-back section with the turnaround point at the 5km mark.

Not sure what the scarecrow in the front was trying to do … :-). [Photo © Johann van der Merwe]

Johann with a bounce in his step thanks to his new shoes, while Nettie is jogging along comfortably.

A nice downhill in a valley.

Blue skies and a winter sun helping to warm us up.

Yeah! The 10km point also had a “woohoo” in the road. These types of signs give me a smile everytime.

I just love these country runs.

Waterpoint with friendly volunteers. Three en route at approximately 5km intervals.

Very happy to have a sunny run after the night’s rain.

Rolling green hills in the countryside. [Photo © Johann van der Merwe]

The last kilometres is run through the small town of Takapau.

Johann and Nettie still looking strong at finished.

Just a couple more steps.

Since the Wellington marathon three weeks ago, we ran an average of four times per week. Not too bad, I guess, but not as much as I hoped. There were too many days of foul weather and laziness. We also did a trail run, the first of many more to come leading up to the Tarawera 100. Yep, we took the plunge and entered for the beast – something I’ve been wanting to do for the past few years. (Am I repeating myself?)

As is always the case (at least for me) with your weekly long-run training, it is so much nicer to cover the distance with other people. Knowing you’ve got company out there, even if you don’t utter a single word to anyone else, is enough to make the run easier. The joys of running for most people might be that they get alone time. Time to switch off and have only their own thoughts to keep them company. I get that. I do that too! But I still prefer to have other people around, just to see them even if I am caught up in my own thoughts and pretty much ignoring everybody else. Continue reading →