At the start. About 30 participants in the half marathon run. Almost clear skies after a very rainy morning.

Koputaroa School in the country not far from Levin.

Wonderful quiet country roads. The perfect setting for any long run.

A tunnel of lush vegetation.

Harry op die tremspoor!

A very friendly lady helper at the water spot, with dark clouds looming.

The section on SH57.

“Guess I should pretend to run up this little hill”.

Yet again, it was pouring with rain throughout the night. If we hadn’t pre-entered, a bomb would not have got me out of bed. I was so not looking forward to a drenched run.

As we drove to Levin, the rain started clearing (again, aren’t we lucky devils!), but my mood was for some reason “under the weather”. I just couldn’t imagine myself having to run 21 kms … We fetched our entries in the Koputaroa School hall and made our way to the start, which is just outside the hall in the road in front of the school. The race only started at 9:30 and as we lined up with about 30 other participants, the organiser briefed us about the route. Continue reading →