Kapiti Classic Beach Races (21.1km) - 13 March 2011

The participants at the start of the 21.1km beach run.

For lack of another word, I can only say that this race is awesome! What a gem. NZ is full of these very nice off-the-beaten-track small town races and the Kapiti Classic, a newby on the calendar, is no exception. Another "inaugural" for us ;-).

Gerry at the start of the run.

We left Palmy at 7:00 for the drive down to Paraparaumu where the different races were to start: 21.1km, 10km, 5km and a 1km dash for the kids. All the events can be walked or run. The starting times for the different races were staggered so we had company all the way.

We arrived an hour early at Maclean Park - race headquarters - and my best attempts to have a quick nap amounted to nothing. And then the funniest thing happened - on hindsight, that is. Walking to the toilets, half asleep in my case, I spotted a cubicle opening right in front of me and walked straight in. Gerry headed for the one next door. But when I stepped out, there he was … standing in a queue! Where did that come from?!? It took me a second or two to realize that I'd jumped the queue completely, and a long line of clearly agitated males were glaring at me, not even trying to hide their "stupid women!" thoughts. At least one guy saw the humor in the situation. And, thinking about it, I may have helped a few others to a half-marathon PB, running on pure adrenaline! ;-)

The first turnaround point at 2.5km.

Heading in a northern direction
for the first 2.5km.

With just a cool breeze blowing, we made our way to the start on the beach with some 30 odd other runners on the 21.1km course. With so few participants it is almost possible for everybody to start right in the front - in one long line next to each other! Race briefing was short and sweet (being an out and back event, one of the organiser's comments was "Be careful not to run into other athletes coming the opposite direction!") and then we were off. 

The start of the kiddies 1km dash.

We were warned about a couple of river-crossing, so "you will get wet", and while this could have phased me, running 42km in pouring rain a week ago, somehow made this sound like nothing. The water was shallow, but still deep enough to get your feet/shoes thoroughly soaked.

Getting wet is still something to get used to. We were completely spoilt (?) in SA with the country generally tending more towards the dry side. Rain was a bit of a novelty for us, and you could almost always avoid getting wet. Not in NZ though.

River-crossings added a bit of excitement to the race. Kapiti island is on the left.

Just enough to get your feet
soaked.

The first 2.5km is run in a northern direction towards Waikenae beach, before you reach the first turn around point. Heading back, you run past the start/finish point, which is at the 5km mark and also the first of two water points. The course carries on straight, passing the 1km dash for kids, the 2.5km turnaround point for the 5km event, and the 5km turn around point for the 10km event. This is also the second water point, which you pass again on your way back. Three kilometers further you reach the turnaround for the 21.1km event, and from there it is only 8km back to the start/finish. A nice little loop in both directions on the beach from the start/finish area.

The finish line with a few supporters cheering
participants on.

Gerry, attempting to leap
over the rivers.

As you run the bigger loop in a southern direction (after the shorter 2.5km northerly loop), you also pass Raumati beach, with the turning point for the 21.1km event being at Paekakariki beach, the next-door neighbouring town.

Kapiti island lies a short distance out to see, and with the perfect weather, lots of fisherman, boats, kayaks and people cooling down in the sea, were also around, contributing to make this a very social event.

Gerry, very please to have won one of the two main
spot prizes.

Between 12km en 13km the sound of your feet on the sand suddenly turns into the crackle of clam shells under your feet as you run through a very shelly section, while the cool breeze picked up a little to face you head on on your way back. 

The races are scheduled to take place during low tide and, being run right on the beach, the course is as flat as you can possibly get, which actually makes it a bit more difficult, me thinks. No "freeing" on downhills! And the softish sand on some sections may also have added a bit to the effort. As it turns out, I had a nice little swollen and sore middle toe on my left foot the day after the event, possibly due to some monkey business, making a funny move somewhere on the course …  

My feet - clearly not used to
running wet!

Between 4km and 11km we were dead last, but we managed to overtake two or three people to finish in 2:19. There were no prize-giving as such, but when you hand in your race number, you stand a chance to win a spot prize. And low and behold - Gerry won a prize! Lucky devil. A night for two at the Quality Hotel in Cuba Street in Wellington. Can't wait! Thanks to the organisers and sponsors for yet another great event. We'll be back next year!

To top it off, we had a lovely pizza on the beach at Waikenae, before heading back home.

Bayleys Mountain to Surf Marathon (5 March 2011)

Gerry and I in the bus at the finish, happy to have
survived the ordeal! ;-)

Having done the Mountain to Surf in 2008, our first international marathon, I was very eager to run the race again. My memories of the previous event was generally good, that it was a well organised event, apart from a cold wind and rain in the second half of the run (not that the organisers could do anything about that!). The organisers also offered us accommodation for the night before the event and was generally very kind to us. They made us feel most welcome.

So, on Friday afternoon, we were packed and ready for the trip. We left from Palmy at around lunchtime for the three hours trip to New Plymouth. An old running buddy from our CSIR club days, Willie, also relocated to NZ and we were pleased that he decided to join us for the marathon. Driving from Auckland, he arrived shortly after us at the Fitzroy Holiday park where we would be staying.

As we were nearing New Plymouth, it started to rain on and off, but by the time we reached The Quality Hotel Plymouth International - the race headquarters - to pick up our registration packs, it was fairly hot and humid. MetService predicted some rain for the Saturday, but we were holding thumbs that they might be wrong. One can never really tell what the weather will be doing. We quickly said hi to Neale, the race director, who mentioned that the previous two years were extremely hot and runners battled with heat exhaustion. Rain, therefore, from an organisers point of view, would be better.

At registration we bought some very cool race t-shirts - lovely white Adidas technical tee's.  We're definitely going to wear these with pride on many future runs!

On a bus to Abilene - not!

Afterwards, we bought some ingredients for a pasta and started to set up camp around six. And shortly thereafter, it started to rain again. We quickly made dinner and were sitting in the camp kitchen, when it suddenly really started to pour down. When we eventually got a bit of a break in the weather, we dashed back to the tents by ten and jumped into our sleeping bags, laying there, listening to the rain coming and going - not knowing what to think.

And what a dreadful long night it turned out to be. I battled to sleep, the wind was howling and the rain continued with greater and lesser intensity throughout the night. We got up shortly before five to have breakfast (yogurt and banana for me, which would be a first as a pre-race meal), sort out race numbers, attach timing chips etc, and were on our way to the race headquarters where we would catch the bus to take us to the start.

Participants waiting to start.

At the gate of the Egmont
National Park.

As promised the buses left promptly at 6:15. As we were driving towards the mountain, it was raining all the way. Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain. As we approached the start at the gate of the Egmont National Park in the dark, we could see some of the walkers who started 1 hour 15 minutes before us, making their way through the farmlands, soaking wet. By then, I had given up all hope for a miracle of no or little rain for the run. The biggest issue for me, has always been to start a race in the rain. It is okey if it starts to rain some way into a race, but not at the start … But we were there, we were entered, and as Gerry said, you can't wear the race t-shirt if you don't finish the race, so we had more than enough motivation to keep us going.

Briefing just before we were off.

The bus stopped and no-one wanted to get off. We knew we still had to wait about 30 minutes in the dark and in the rain before the race would start and participants were reluctantly looking at each other to see who would go first. We had no choice but to step out into the wet weather and as a quick introduction to what was to come, I managed to step into a puddle, getting my left foot soaked completely. At that point you just give up and start to see the humour in the situation :-).

Fortunately it wasn't too cold, but being wet is not associated with warmth either. And so we waited. Some more buses arrived with some more participants and we were all gathering under trees and umbrellas like soaked chickens. What a sorry bunch we were. It was quite funny actually.

Just before 7:15 we were rounded up by Neale, who gave a short briefing and then we were off, with another first for me: starting a marathon in the rain. The first few kilometers are mostly downhill, making for a fast start. The three of us were trotting along, already in the back of the field, getting wetter and wetter, and settling into the running-in-the-rain-thing, while the dark was turning into a faint cloudy, misty, rainy, morning light.

Rain, rain and more rain.

Reaching our first water point, there was unfortunately no water left! So we had to aim for the next water point at 9km, hoping it wouldn't also have run dry by the time we got there (which fortunately wasn't the case for the remainder of the race - especially in the second half of the race we had plenty of water points, well stocked with water and Leppin). At 6kms we turned off Egmont road onto quiet roads to meander through farms. Still raining, we tackled the uphill section that followed - a slow-poison from the 6km to the 12km mark. Gradually we conquered the hill in the rain reaching the top while being soaked to the bone by now. And wasn't it supposed to be downhill from here?

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain.

A few kilometers before Inglewood, we turned onto the State Highway 3 and had to run single file, while cars and trucks were speeding by. In Inglewood at the halfway mark, the participants running in teams, had their change-over to the second team member for the second half. Jokes were exchanged with some of the marshals next to the road, and it was nice to find that most of them still found proceedings quite amusing, despite having to stand in the rain for hours.

Me and Willie at about 12km.

Through Inglewood, we turned onto the State Highway 3A for the biggest part of the second half. These sections turned out to be my least favorite bits of the race. A lot of support vehicles were also on the road, stop-starting, dropping off sustenance for friends and family, driving slowly and hovering next to the road. This turned out to be a pain at times, in particular as some support vehicles clearly had very little consideration for other runners, speeding past, stopping without warning, and making it difficult for other traffic to pass between them and the competitors. (Or am I just sour because we weren't receiving any support and had to carry bags of jellybabies etc with us all the way?) Personally, I think it is a bit unfair towards those who don't have support, coming from far and not having someone in the area to hand out goo's and gels and whatever is required.

On the positive side, all major road crossings were very well marshaled, and cars were promptly stopped to allow us to pass.  The drivers being stopped also seemed to not be too phased by the delays, and quite a few smiled and waved as we passed. Also there were short sections where no support vehicles were allowed, which made a huge difference.

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain.

The poor marshals at the water tables, soaking wet.

We were going strong to the halfway mark, but I could feel the accumulative tiredness in my legs from the previous weekends' 21km long runs. They were a bit sore and we were firmly in "unfamiliar" terrain, having run our last road marathon in 2008 - the Bayleys Mountain to Surf! The kilometers were going past slower than I hoped for over the undulating terrain from the 12km mark to the finish, but we continued fairly strongly until about 8kms to go when I started to battle a bit. By now my legs were more or less numb and extremely sore at the same time. And I've never been so wet in my life. Still the rain didn't stop.

With the "run bits, walk bits-strategy" for the last couple of kilometres, we made it to the finish, which came just in time. I myself was close to finished, but we managed to complete the 42.2km in 4:49:15, looking like prunes, soaking wet, cold and sore. And as Willie jokingly said: "We ran 42.2km and all we got was a banana!". No medal to brag with. So, Neale, how about it for next year? :)

Lots of cars, also from supporters on the
State Highways.

The rain eventually started to ease up a bit in the last kilometre. With the finish being in Waitara, some 20km from New Plymouth, we took the bus back to the hotel where we fetched our car and returned to the campsite. Figuring it to be a good idea, we each grabbed a beer and went to stand in the sea, hoping the cold water would bring some relief to our sore leg muscles. And then that euphoria of realizing what you've just accomplished kicks in and the silly grin can't be wiped off your face by anyone.

Willie treated us to lunch, and some JC le Roux bubbly and OBS! When last did we have some of this Africana? Thanks Willie!

At the prize-giving, we discovered that the overall ladies winner was Charlene Jacobs, originally from South Africa. Congratulations Charlene! Well done, on an excellent time of 3:15:49.

All-in-all a great event. It was the 32nd running of the Mountain to Surf. We will probably be back, but as Willie mentioned, a medal would be a nice keepsake for an event like this. Oh, and thanks for the banana and watermelon at the finish. And thanks in particular to the kind lady who took off my timing tag, as I was certainly in no position to bend down and take it out of my shoe laces myself.

Feilding Moa 21.1km (27 February 2011)

"The 15th running of the Roy Lamberton Memorial half marathon introduces a brand new town & country course starting and finishing at the Makino Aquatic Centre. Also new is the 2-person relay section for the half marathon - that's around 10.5km each. Or try the shorter 5 km event, including a 4 person schools and business house team competition where each team members time is combined for a total distance of 20km. We offer a measured loop course of 21.097km, mostly along quiet rural Manawatu roads with a gentle 75m rise and fall. All events start and finish at Makino Aquatic Centre on the corner of Manchester St and Council Pl. It goes along Manchester St, left into West St, out of town along Awahuri Rd, right at Lees Rd, left into Sandon, (the transition for the half marathon relay) right at Te Rakehou for 1.5km out and back, returning via Sandon Rd, West St and Manchester St.  Each kilometre will be marked." [http://www.harriersnz.350.com/HALF_MARATHON.htm]

At the start (me right at the back somewhere) with
46 other participants.

Gerry and I arrived shortly after 8:00 to register for the event, on a cool and overcast morning. It seemed pure madness to pay $40 for a 21.1km event, taking into account that in SA it would cost around R40 or less. However, we really needed the training and having to run 21km on one's own is always much more of a challenge.

And aren't I glad we decided to enter the race! What a lovely event.

The first few kilometres
through the streets
of Feilding.

The race start was situated about 100 metres from the Makino Aquatic Centre.  After registering, we strolled over to the quiet road where we were supposed to start, only to find the area completely deserted! We were uncertain if we were at the right place, but after a while one or two other runners started arriving. By 9:15 our numbers have grown to almost 50, and the race got going in what appeared to be perfect weather. The first couple of kilometres are run through town before turning off to meander through the countryside and farmlands. At about 4kms we reached the first little hill, a classic "slow poison" uphill stretch that dragged on for just over a kilometre. 

Runners scattered along the country roads.

That left me a bit out of breath, but I was otherwise feeling okey and we could keep running at a comfortable steady pace of, I'm guessing, about 6min/km. Still not having a watch to monitor our progress, we have to run on memory. Many years ago I was able to pace a very steady 6min/km pace in almost any event, from 10km to 42kms. Maybe I had some sort of internal rhythm-thing going? ;-).

The road turned out to be undulating for the biggest part, with the highest point around 75 metres higher than the start/finish. At 10.5kms the switch-over for the team participants appeared to be a jollification as marshals and team mates were sitting around, waiting and entertaining themselves.

The small out and back
section, proving there
were actually some
other runners.

Shortly after the halfway point an out an back section of about 1.5kms ensured some company in the, by now, widely spread out field.

Gerry at the turn (between the 12 and 13km mark).

Water tables, manned by very friendly and helpful volunteers, were stationed at the 5, 10, 15 and 18km marks.

At the 15km mark, I suddenly ran completely out of breath and started to battle a bit to keep going. With short walk breaks - "run bits, walk bits, you'll get there" - I managed to keep going until things started to get better again, with approximately 2km to go (which obviously cost us some time). Being someone who's never had any hay fever problems before, its starting to appear that the damp and wet NZ weather might have quite an effect on my respiratory area!

Friendly helpers at the water station.

Melon and watermelon at
the finish.

Apart from only a handful of cars, the road was very quiet and the race a really beautiful out-in-the-country event. Coming from a big city where the vast majority of events boast more than a 1000 participants, with registrations a mission, congested parking areas, and traffic a major issue, we always referred to these type of events as the small-out-of-town-gems. And now suddenly almost all our events are small-out-of-town-gems!

Gerry on his way to collect his prize.

We finished fairly comfortably in 2:14. Melon and watermelon slices were available to all participants at the finish. After a cup of coffee, the prize-giving started at 12:00. Some wonderful spot-prizes were handed out and both Gerry and myself received something (as did just about every other participant)! Gerry walked away with a bathroom scale (the first time ever we would be able to weigh ourselves!) and me with a nice Adidas T-shirt.

Thanks to the organizers and sponsors for a wonderful event! I would recommend this race to anyone who might be in the area or who would consider making an outing to the Manawatu.