Palmerston North

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North Range Road

Date: 29 August 2015

Distance: 25km

Having a laugh at the finish, l-to-r: Kevin, Wouna, Gerry, Greg, Marian, Peter, Cath and in front Steph, Cheryl and Rob. Photo supplied by Cheryl, and taken by the late Stuart Hilder. The four walkers (Bruce, Evan, Denise and David) were having lunch already.
Shortly before the start. Steph, Cath, Greg, Cheryl, Denise, Bruce and Evan. Photo from Cheryl, taken by Trevor.
Cath, myself and Cheryl passing the deer farm.
Cath on a nice downhill section.
Gerry passing one of the muddy parts.
Cheryl and I only just visible in the distance.
Gerry and Cath rounding the corners ….
Cheryl screaming past with Palmy in the distance.
Steph and Greg still in sight up ahead.
The muddy stretch nearly over.
Cath negotiating one of the worst patches.
Cheryl still having fun in the windfarm.
Shenanigans on top of the world.
Easy going from here on a well-maintained gravel road.
A lovely run among the wind turbines.
Cath and Gerry arriving at the finish at The Bridge Cafe.
We had to have medals for our first running of the North Rage Road. 🙂

Having a quiet gravel road on top of a mountain with virtually no traffic, through a wind farm with wide open expanses, has to be the ultimate playing ground for runners, walkers and mountain bikers alike. Wonderful scenery in all directions, literally in our backyard, makes it hard not to want to run there all the time. Except, of course, on days with inclement weather. With views from the top of the Tararuas and great scenery in all directions, it is inevitable that you will be exposed to the elements. Continue reading →

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Manawatu Striders Half Marathon, Palmerston North

Date: 9 August 2015

Distance: 21.1km

Time: 1:40:46 (Gerry); 2:21:42 (Wouna)

Friendly Striders volunteers ready for late registrations on race morning.
The race features a nice long, straight sprint to the finish.
Wouna and Cheryl near the finish. Less than 2km to go and still fresh and happy.
Cheryl’s kids joined their mum in crossing the finish line.
More Striders volunteers helping out after the race.
Many hands make light work.

If you do any significant amount of distance training, you invariably end up running out of new routes in your region. And most likely, to simplify your daily routine, you end up regularly re-running the same routes day after day. In our case, our daily runs usually include Massey University and/or the Bridle Track along the Manawatu River.

As a result, lining up at the start line of the Manawatu Striders Half Marathon which covers, you guessed it, Massey University and the Bridle Track, I was not exactly breathless with anticipation about the course. Which is not to say that it is not a nice route – we just get so used to it that we forget that it’s actually quite special. Spoiled ay? On the bright side, I was aiming to improve on my time from last year, so that will keep things interesting. Continue reading →

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In it for the long haul – Manawatu Striders Winter Series

Date: 26 July 2015

Distance: 15km

Time: 1:39

At the start, Kevin getting ready to get the show on the road.
Running along the Bridle Track.
The track was still in the shade, making for a rather chilly start to the run.
Beautiful tranquil Palmy on a lovely sunny morning.
David making sure everybody goes where they should.
On Massey campus, a small uphill stretch before looping around a car park and back down.
Another out-and-back stretch, making for a more social run.
The only water point, nicely positioned so you pass it twice.
We were too late/slow for the biscuits, but coffee and tea were still on offer.

The weekend long-run is probably the most important item in your weekly schedule on your way to fitness. Without the long-run, your endurance will not improve. Especially for okes like us who like to go far and long.

Not wanting to miss out on the Manawatu Strider’s Winter Series 15km event (which was too short for our build-up to the Taupo marathon), our only option was to fit in another few kilometres before the start of the Striders’ event. Wanting to cover about 30km, we could either do the course twice, or just do our own thing on a different path. We opted for the latter, and at about 7:30 in the morning we started out from the race start-and-finish area, heading out west through the Esplanade, past the swimming pool, turning onto the Bridle track at the Holiday Park, and ran all the way to the far end of the track and back to where we started. From the Holiday Park to the end of the track is 7.5km, so out and back is a nice 15km run. Continue reading →

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Manawatu Striders Super Sevens 2015

 

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For the front runners, the Super Sevens course starts with a sprint over the sports field to get to the narrow path through the Esplanade before it gets congested.

The Striders are clearly doing something right when it comes to their start-of-the-year Super Sevens Series. Year after year I am amazed at the number of people turning up each Tuesday night to run or walk the 7km (or 3km) course along the Manawatu River, through the streets of Hokowhitu and back through the Esplanade. It’s a very scenic little course – probably one of the reasons the series is so popular. The Super Sevens really is a huge celebration of summer, good times and general physical wellbeing here in Palmerston North. Continue reading →

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North Range Road training run

All smiles in the early morning.
After starting on a good gravel road, the route soon gives way to a jeep track.
Between about 4 and 10kms, the route is quite rough – definitely 4×4 terrain.
Along the route, there are many service roads turn-offs which could potentially be confusing, but these are all locked with huge “No entry” signs, so no risks of missing the correct route.
It’s not all windmills – there are some trees too.
For the most part, North Range Road is pleasantly undulating.
Some small puddles can be jumped…
…while bigger ones have to be negotiated more carefully.
The result of stepping into a muddy section on the side of one of the larger water puddles.
A great morning for a run.
The majestic wind turbines form a scenic backdrop for the run.
Still very happy with my new Salomon hydration pack – it fits like a dream.
The windfarm features a range of different turbine types.
We only met two other people en route – this mountain-biker coming past from behind, and later a hiker passing us in the opposite direction.
What a view!
For the most part, the route consists of very well-maintained gravel roads.
The route winds its way through the hills and valleys of the Tararuas.
Flying down one of the downhills of Hall Block Road.
When you get to the end of the track at Gorge Road, it’s just a small distance to the Bridge Cafe.
Very stoked with our new training route – what a great morning out!

One of the problems when training for ultra-long events, is that you need to spend a lot of time on the road. Which means, unless you are inordinately blessed with a limitless supply of training routes and trails close to where you live, you are bound to end up traversing the same routes over and over. Using events as training runs is a great way to break the monotony, mix things up and keep your running exciting, but given the cost of many races in NZ, it also is one of the best ways to blow your budget faster than you can say “marathon”, as we dearly discovered during these past few months. Continue reading →