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Tauhara Half Marathon

3 July 2016
Distance: 21.1km
Time: 2:48.56

Beautiful Mt Ruapehu.
Icy roads causing accidents and a holdup on the way.
Mr Ngaurahue.
And away we go, just in time to catch the last participants crossing the narrow start chute.
The wide open area of the paddock helped to quickly spread out the field.
Up and up we went.
Until we came across this little congested bottleneck.
A beautiful sunny morning and crisp air.
This is one of the worst bits.
A nice and easy stretch on the edge of the forest.
The first water point with freezingly cold water.
Cold, cold, cold in the forest.
Finally a bit of sun again.
The start of the out-and-back stretch up a shingle/gravel road.
Gerry at the turning point and second water station.
Frosty conditions and very cold temperatures kept us going to try and keep warm.
What does this even mean?
It almost felt like we were running in a freezer.
The final, very chirpy waterpoint.
Frozen soil.
The long walk up a 1.5km hill, 3km before the finish.
Finally the finish area came into sight.
Back on the cattle tracks.
A long queue of participants waiting for a sausage sizzle and a beer.
Glad we did!

After four days on the road travelling to Auckland, back down to Wellington and back to Palmy the night before the Tauhara, I was a little reluctant to get up at 4am to travel to Taupo for this event. It was just all becoming a little too much. But, we were entered, and events usually cheer me up, so despite no running (and a lot of sitting!) for four days, we took to the road once again to see what this event was all about. Continue reading →

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Wellington Shoe Clinic Half Marathon

Date: 26 June 2016
Distance: 21.1km
Time: 2:12.48
Previous: 2014, 2015

I think my arms aren’t long enough for selfies.
Drizzly and cold weather conditions at the start.
Gerry, me, Rachael and Kathleen (who ended up doing 7 of the 8 Half Marathons to support Rachael).
The field of half marathoners.
Making our way down the ramp from Westpac Stadium.
Some drumming entertainment en route.
Rachael and Kathleen looking strong.
Lovely jazz along the way. Pity we couldn’t listen to them all the way.
An entertaining marshal at the 10km turn-around point.
Being an out-and-back course, you get to see everybody on the course.
Gerry rounding the halfway point.
🙂
Even if someone paid me, I would not have taken the dive.
With only a couple of kilometres left, I couldn’t wait to get to the finish.
Rachael and Kathleen crossing the finish line shortly after us.

Wellington is just one of those events – the ones you do because everybody does. And, well, FOMO (fear of missing out). And since the major spot prize usually entails free entry and a trip to a big international marathon (this year it was the Paris marathon), we decided to do the event and be in for the lucky draw. Why not? At the very least, it forces one to do your weekend long run, which might otherwise have fallen by the wayside. Continue reading →

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#5 Manawatu Striders inaugural marathon

Date: 29 May 2016
Distance: 42.2km
Time: 4:38.44

The Team: me, Gerry, Graeme and Rob at the start of our fifth marathon.
A quick selfie.
The field of marathon runners, wondering how long the rain is going to stay away.
Passing under Summerhill Drive.
The Bridle Track next to the Manawatu River.
Gerry at the first water point.
Evidence of the past couple of weeks’ rain.
Flooded paddocks around “Swamp City”.
Gerry with Patricia.
Higgins Aggregates yard.
Always nice to see Mike still going strong, after 500+ marathons.
Gerry, Karen, Norman and Charlotte.
High-five with Perry, and James.
Michelle with another red-and-black team member. 🙂 Don’t know who he is.
The turn-around point in Higgins property.
Rob heading out to the turn-around point, only a few minutes behind us.
Heading back towards town along the never ending Te Matai Road.
Nice to see the rain didn’t deter our usual bagpipe player at the Manawatu Striders annual event. It’s always great heading the sound of the bagpipes from a distance as you run along the river.
Gerry is clearly on a cruise.
John speeding through the last five kilometres.
“Jumping” puddles. Uhum, or whatever you call trying to sidestep puddles after 34km.
Photo by Cheryl Sturm.
With the final turn disappearing in the back, we’re on the home straight.
A nice little loop through Waitoetoe Park.
Heading back upstream. Photo by Cheryl Sturm.
Despite being very sick, Cheryl still braved the foul weather to come out and offer support.
Digging deep – only about 2kms to go.
Just up the hill and around the corner – less than 1km to go. Photo by Ian Porritt Photography.
Rob at the finish.
Graeme pushing a mate through the finish.
Showing our bling – Rob, me, Gerry and Graeme.

A few years ago, Gerry and I did an unsupported, 800km in 26 days walk through the Klein Karoo in the southern parts of South Africa, covering roughly 30+km every day. Day after day, we’d get up before sunrise, walk the whole day, sometimes up to 54km and other times until after dark, before cooking dinner, washing our only other set of clothes, going to sleep, to repeat it all the next day. We carried a tent, sleeping bags, a small camping stove, one set of extra clothes, including warm clothing and some basic emergency food and health care. For the rest, we bought food as we went, so had to be sure to make it to the next town in time to buy supplies. It was challenging at times (I suffered from severe blisters, we were sunburned despite thick slathers of sunblock, and sometimes had to endure temperatures of up to 45 degrees Celsius), but it was also great to spend each day all day long outside and being exposed to whatever nature throws at you – rain, wind, baking hot sun etc. And as the days got shorter during that Autumn month and our trip nearer the end, we were filled with mixed emotions. It was such a huge life changing experience which we didn’t want to end, but at the same time we were getting a bit tired of the mundane task, having to repeat everything each day for days on end. With the only change being the scenery, meeting new people along the way and the sun rising later and setting earlier each day. Continue reading →

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#4 – Lords of the Ring – Massey 21 Circuit Marathon

Date: 22 May 2016

Distance: 42.2km

Time: 4:57.38

On a chilly Sunday morning …
… a few friends embarked on a crazy adventure …
Bobbie and Graeme starting their first lap. [Photo supplied by Rachael]
Rob looking happy to start his first lap. [Photo supplied by Rachael]
Gerry, Pete and I on our first lap. [Photo supplied by Rachael]
Smiles all around, as if this would be a walk in the park. [Photo supplied by Rachael]
Sometimes the sun came through.
Our water point after 20 laps – we ransacked the table.
Cheeks still stuffed with food from our last stop.
Gerry in the wee redwood “forest”.
Rachael tending to supplies.
Our traffic management entailed cones at all road crossings.
Rob collecting cones afterwards, still with a spring in his step after 42kms.
Our lap counter and motivational board.
The 5 marathons team still smiling after our fourth event: me, Gerry, Graeme and Rob. [Photo by Rachael]
Event medals.
Event T-shirts.

And just like that, it was winter. When Gerry and I woke up to get ourselves sorted and head over to Massey to do the set up for our run, it was three degrees Celcius. When we started at 8am, is was only five degrees and at the warmest point during the day, the temperature reached 13 degrees. As luck would have it, this day also marked the start of the first snowfall in our region. Continue reading →

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#3 – Hawke’s Bay International Marathon

Date: 14 May 2016
Distance: 42.5km
Time: 4:37.45

Early morning with the sun just up over the sea.
The start banner up ahead and a sea of runners/walkers.
Wondering what is going to happen over the next five or so hours.
A lovely sunny day…
…with colourful streams of runners stretching out ahead and behind us.
Rob going strong.
Up on the first stop bank, being chased by Mr Farty-pants.
The stop bank went on for miles and miles.
There were quite a few spots where friends and family could support participants.
A percussion band made for some wonderful entertainment.
This little bridge bounced quite a bit – out of sync with your steps, which felt very weird.
Haven’t I seen this before somewhere? 😉
The halfway point and 21.1km start.
Gerry powering up one of the little hills.
The ‘pimped up’ Air New Zealand snack trolley.
Apple orchards all along the route.
A welcome sight after having no water points for a while.
Apple orchards …
And more apple orchards.
Some motivation on a shelter belt.
Yay! not far to go.
Crossing SH50.
Finally the vineyards.
Extremely helpful volunteers – running backwards with me to fetch a jelly snake. Admittedly I might not have managed to get going again if I stopped at that point.
Running through the autumn vineyards provided a nice change of scenery.
What we thought was a water point, turned out to be a supporters area.
Passing a supporter areas, with Graeme’s family in the background.
Have I mentioned that I just love olive trees?
Whoop-whoop!
The end is in sight.
Great to finish in such a festive environment.
Happy to be finished!
Graeme just after he finished.
And Rob staggering in. 🙂
The 5-in-5-in-5 team: Graeme, Rob, me and Gerry.

Our third event in the five marathons challenge was snugly sandwiched between two full working days in Wellington. How’s that for luck. We left home before dawn on Friday morning, returning at around dusk, quickly unpacked camera equipment and repacked running gear, and dashed off to Napier to be in time for registration. Unfortunately, we were too late for the Expo. Continue reading →