jogging

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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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Karioi Classic Run – 44km off road

 

The beautiful Mt Karioi – the playing ground for many a runner and cyclist.
Registration at the Fire Station.
Lisa explaining the route.
Beautiful morning with the sun just waiting to poke an eye over Raglan.
Mt Karioi visible in a distance as we made our way out of town. Most other competitors already disappearing into the distance, never to be seen again.
Gerry going strong.
Passing the golf course and me already huffing and puffing.
Gerry flying down the gravel road.
Passing farmlands in the early morning rays of the sun.
A friendly volunteer handing me a cup of water.
Follow the shadows.
Passing typical farm scenes along the way.
Aside from one or two trucks and cars rumbling past, the road was all ours.
Downhill! Finally :-).
Because of the possum infestation, and particularly their night time escapades, possums are often turned into what is locally known as “kiwi speed bumps”.
The loneliness of the long-distance runner. That’s of course if you don’t run with your partner.
Arriving at the first transition point.
Transition point and drinks table at about 15km into the race.
Mt Karioi as seen from another angle. Slowly working our way around the mountain.
Entering the farmland, the terrain changed to grass and paddocks.
The red dirt girl on the red dirt road.
Sharing the green hills with the local farm stock.
Mt Taranaki should be visible on a clear day somewhere in the distance.
Stunning scenery to make you want to sit down, pour a glass and appreciate the moment.
Pigtail pegs marking the route across the paddocks.
The loneliness of the long-distance runner, Part 2.
Lots of muddy sections on the farm roads.
Mud, sweat and tears.
The organisers making sure participants head in the right direction.
The community rallied behind the event – young’uns manning the water station at the 20km mark.
Very appropriate signage after the kids water point. 🙂
Stunning views in abundance on the Karioi Classic.
Huge Manuka (or is it Kanuka?) trees to provide shelter and shadow on hot windy days.
Running back towards Raglan on the ocean side of the mountain.
Volunteers at a very exposed spot on the mountain. Luckily the weather was good, although a bit chilly.
Sixth cyclist from the front and still enough time to take some pics.
Rolling green hills with happy woolly sheep.
Time for a walk break as a bunch of cyclists came past.
Lots of steps on the scenic pathway that leads to the beach.
Run, in the Forest, Run!
Making our way down to the beach.
Being so far towards the back of the field, we reached the beach as the tide was going out, resulting in hard sand and “easy” running.
Only about 4kms to go. Yeah!
Gerry still feeling strong and running well within himself.
Gerry all smiles on the final 2kms.
The grassy bit to the finish felt like it was nine miles long.
Lisa encouraging and congratulating participants at the finish.
Dirk handling the prize-giving.
And moi as the second female finisher in my age category – a first time ever for me! Age has it’s advantages. 😉
Celebrating with a well-earned bubbly.
Watching the sun set after a wonderful day out.

In our buildup towards the Tarawera (I still get sleepless nights every now and again just at the thought that we’ve actually entered for this mammoth event), we opted to do the inaugural Karioi Classic trail run (a 44km run around Mt Karioi) which is luckily mostly just off-road and not very technical. The cycling event has been going for a few years, but this would mark the first running of the Karioi. Initially I was a little reluctant to enter, due to me maybe not being fit enough, Raglan being too far from Palmy and the event probably being to soon after our previous marathon. However, the race sounded so nice that we decided to do it anyway notwithstanding my trepidation – we desperately need time on the trails, and what better way to spent it than with like minded folk (although we were for the most part by ourselves on the trail). And there’s just something about an inaugural, isn’t there? Continue reading →

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Fun on the fifteen – Manawatu Striders winter series (15km)

The club house where the events start and finish.
Inside at registration.
Runners huddled around the course maps.
More runners studying the different routes.
Course maps for the 3km, 5km, 10km and 15km events.
A chilly start, but glad the rain held off.
Not long before the start.
And off we went, rather unexpectedly.
The well known first couple of kms, same as the Super 7s route.
Passing under the Manawatu Bridge.
Me at full speed coming down Fitzherbert Street.
Crossing the Manawatu Bridge on our way to Massey Uni.
Sticking to the walkway, the course passes through a couple of tunnels under the roads.
Gerry making his way up the second hill on Massey campus. A few people had to backtrack after going straight ahead instead of turning right.
Striders on the out-and-back section next to the sports ground on Massey campus.
Lovely to see so many Striders. Time for me to start remembering fellow club members’ names, me thinks!
More Striders.
Gerry at the turn of the first out-and-back section.
June having fun en route!
Al and Cath.
The out-and-back section at the Massey agricultural research farm, opposite Massey Campus.
Still going strong.
Gerry approaching the Manawatu Bridge. Less than 2kms to go.
Speeding across the bridge towards the finish.
About 1km to go.
Margaret doing great in the walkers event.
Bananana! I hope the banana handouts at the end of events never stop.
Warm coffee, tea, hot chocolate and biscuits in the clubhouse. What a way to end a wonderful event.
Al and Cath approaching the finish.

It’s that time of the year again; freezing nights, frosty mornings and the garlic shoots just starting to poke their heads out of the ground in your vege patch.

It is also time for the Manawatu Striders Winter Series. I will never forget our previous running of these events in 2011 when the windscreen of the car was so frozen, that it took several buckets of water to clear a patch. As soon as the water hit the windscreen, it would just freeze again. That was on the 10km event earlier in July. The 15km was a fair bit warmer at about the same time of the month than this time around, if my memory serves me well. Winter arrived late this year and to top it off, it has been unseasonably warm. Grass was growing in full force, my asparagus still hasn’t died down to recuperate for next years season and our olive grove is full of new growth.

Continue reading →

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Norsewood to Takapau – 21.1km

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 →

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Armstrong Wellington Marathon

Still fairly dark (and cold!) outside at the start of the marathon.
Westpac Stadium, start and finish venue for the race. Great to start a race at a venue with almost more toilets than participants! 🙂
From Westpac, down the ramp and onto the street. The low light made for some rather arty photos.
At about the 8km mark, still going strong.
The “W” of the Wellington sign was changed to a “V”, to coincide with the launch of a local vampire movie, “What we did in the Shadows”.
The whole run hugs the coastline.
The turn around point at Scorching Bay.
And the second time around, each time collecting a rubber band..
Beautiful rays of sunlight shining on the ferry for a brief moment.
Might not look like it, but a chilly wind was cutting around these exposed corners.
Gerry and Johann still going strong.
Only 12.2km to go! Fatigue and silliness starting to set in.
The busy walkway behind Te Papa in the last 3 kms.
A bit of sun for the final stretch. Gerry still smiling.
Up the ramp and only the final few hundred metres to the finish.
The three colours rubber bands you collect at every turn around point.

For the past four years since moving to Palmy, we’ve been keen on running the Wellington marathon as a birthday present to myself. I know, that might sound a bit odd to most people, but to treat yourself to something that’s healthy and good for your soul seems to me like a wonderful gift. Especially if you could make sure that you’re fit enough to enjoy the distance rather than it being torture. Continue reading →