running

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Birthday run (26 February 2011)

The birthday boy on the footpath next to the river (which is just beyond the bushes on the left).
Picnic on the rocks.

Happy birthday, dear Gerry, happy birthday to you!

Most people will probably think “hey, it’s my birhtday, I’m not doing anything”. But we decided that a nice picnic by the river wouldn’t do no harm, especially with a little run to get us there.

Shortly before lunch on a windy Saturday morning, we packed some cheese, ham, buns and chilli olives, plus the usual jelly babies and water, before heading off to the river.

The Manawatu River is fairly dry at the moment, as is the whole Manawatu (and other parts of the country), but the walkway is always a nice playground away from traffic. We parked at the holiday park side and trotted along for about 4kms when we spotted a nice area on some rocks next to the river. Good enough to cut our 7km run short there and then, so we settled down and unpacked our spread.

Sitting quietly next to the river amongst trees, I can barely imagine a previous life where the closest nature and peace was some distance away from home through hideous traffic – enough to make you stay at home.

After a lovely picnic, we walked the 4kms back to the car, having the rest of the day ahead for more celebrations.

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Introducing the New Plymouth Downhill Demons (12 February 2011)

The Te Rewa Rewa bridge that forms part of the extension of the walkway to Bell Block.
The Downhill Demons and us.

At seven thirty on a lovely Saturday morning, six of us were outside Henriette’s house in New Plymouth for a casual jog down the Te Henui Walkway and onto the Coastal Walkway to the impressive new Te Rewa Rewa footbridge by the sea.

Continue reading →

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Manawatu Striders Super Seven Series #3 (1 February 2011)

Thousands of people on their way back to the finish next to the Manawatu River. A tiny part of the wind farm can be seen in the back on the hill.
The start at the YMCA with 1500+ entrants.
Congestion on the walkway.
Water table just after 3km.
The keys table. You leave your car keys on a table while you run.

After our little stint through the Manawatu Gorge on Sunday, my muscles were (as expected) extremely tender. So much so, that I battled to go down stairs or anything that required using my quads. In fact, just plain walking required a whole amount of courage and clenching my teeth to try and overcome the overwhelmingly sore leg muscles. And having rested altogether for a day didn’t seem to help any!

But, crazy as only “runners” can be, we found ourselves at the start of the third SSS event. Again a huge field of over 1500 participants showed up. Anybody and everybody that moves in Palmy seems to be pitching up for these 7km run/walks. Continue reading →

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The Kahuterawa Two Day Classic race – 27 November 2010

Palmy in the distance
The Dransfield Woolshed
Registration
Shortly before the start
Halfway up the 200m climb at the start of the race
Halfway point with me in the last position!
Back at the start

The Kahuterawa Two Day Classic race (27 and 28 November), organised by the Manawatu Striders, is a marathon broken into three stages over two days. Stage one is 7km long and started at nine in the morning. The 15.42km second stage started at one in the afternoon of the same day, and only the following morning at nine, saw the kick-off of the last leg of 21.57km. 42.2km in total. It’s a great way to get a feel for covering the distance of a marathon, while being broken down into manageable stages. In our unfit state, we sadly only managed the first short stage of 7km. Continue reading →

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Starting over?

As a South African living in New Zealand and running my own company, I have my fair share of instability and lack of routine. The result often being, lack of commitment towards my love for running, with a number of other excuses.

Jogging next to the Manawatu River

Beginners advice

Do you see yourself as a runner, but then every so often get sidelined by something and end up not running for extended periods? And how agonizing is the battle to getting back on the road after such a long lay-off? Continue reading →