Great Forest Events

by

Great Forest Events

Date: 10 April

Distance: 21.1km

Time: 2:22

Previous: 2014

Race briefing.
The marathon runners and walkers have started already. Next up are the half marathon guys and girls.
Walking to the start a few hundred metres from the race HQ. A colourful stream of participants ahead of us.
Gerry, Wouna and Cheryl at the start.
And a fairly long stream of runners behind us as well.
And away we go!
The first water point.
Cheryl, and me still in longs as the overcast morning chill started making way for a warm sunny day.
Fun signage for our entertainment.
Even some music at this water point.
Always great to run with no traffic worries.
Gerry going strong.
Lots if these bright mushrooms all around the forest.
A typical scene at this event.
Some muddy patches here and there.
About halfway at the Manawatu River.
A welcome water point in a clearing in the forest.
Lovely and warm in the open patches.
Signs of industrial activity.
The 10km participants linking up with the 21km course in the last few kilometres.
Some more entertainment at the start of the only “hill” on the course.
Happy at the finish, with Powerade, an apple and medals. It was the nicest, most welcome apple I’ve had in years.
A cute sign to celebrate the 20th anniversary of this great event.
Catching up with some mates at prize-giving.
The Neva Bean clan from Whanganui.

Each year thousands of participants make the trek to the Matariki forest at Waitarere Beach near Levin. And why won’t you if you live only a stone throw away? The Great Forest Events chose their name wisely. It remains a great event; with lots of participants, great atmosphere, good organisation and medals to boot. Continue reading →

by

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 →