On arrival into Christchurch Airport around midnight on Saturday after heading out straight after work it was a little disconcerting when the Customs Officer mentioned that there had been a weather warning issued to all runners competing in the Christchurch Marathon with a overnight southerly expected to bring bitterly cold weather with snow and frost bite conditions expected early Sunday morning.
Following a relaxing evening in The Hotel Grand Chancellor Christchurch, I met up with the New Zealand Marathon Champion Shireen Crumpton in the Hotel lift and on feeling the cool air outside lightly jogged to the start. This was a real buzz to share the journey with Shireen and discuss her plans for the Half Marathon. My congratulations to Shireen on coming home second in 01:15:45 behind the little Aussie pocket rocket Lisa Weightman with a magic time 01:12:28.
There were 4,731 entrants across 7 events with only 606 starters in the Marathon and 571 completing the distance. Having originally started the day out in my beanie, toe warmers and gloves in preparation for the bitterly cold conditions - I made the poor decision following the light run that it was nowhere near as cold as my previous races through Amsterdam, Dublin or New York. I then proceeded inside the registration areas to drop off my gear and warm up prior to making my way to the start. It was not until I was rushing to the start line and realised that it was freezing cold and the snow was falling that it seems like the gloves and beanie may have been a good plan!
The marathon course was a scenic run starting in the city and heading out around the Avon River and back into Hagley Park. There were more than 2,000 entrants in the half marathon with all competitors starting out at the same time ensuring the crowds and atmosphere was great for the first half of the race. On reaching the half way point, the majority of competitors finished the Half Marathon and the select few continued on through for another lap of the course to complete the marathon. This was tough mentally to see the finish line and realise that the mission was only half complete!
The remaining competitors taking on the full marathon then discovered the roads were deserted and there was little atmosphere with supporters wisely heading home to keep warm. The weather was bleak, wet and freezing and it really felt like my hands were going to get frost bite! The second half of the run was colder than any run in Europe and in the end the major motivator to complete the race was to simply get out of the cold. In the end I crossed the line in 04:18:50 and could not get back for a hot bath quick enough to start the recovery and defrost process ...
It was interesting to discover that there were ten superheroes competing in the marathon in an attempt to break the world record for the distance in a superhero costume, held by Ian Sharman from the United Kingdom at 02:49:50. This was most fascinating as I competed with Ian in the 2008 Marathon des Sables.
The superheroes were competing to raise funds for the "Life Education Trust of Canterbury", which provides education in mobile classrooms to teach children about healthy lifestyles, healthy choices, and taking care of and respecting their bodies. It is a not-for-profit organisation, which receives no government funding for its work, but visits approximately 12,000 children per year in Canterbury alone. I would like to extend my personal congratulations to the ten superheros with Nathan Aldridge dressed as Robin (Batman's sidekick) smashing the previous record with an incredible 02:43:35.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Rotorua Marathon
Rotorua (from Māori: Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe, "The second great lake of Kahumatamomoe") is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. Rotorua city is infamous for its "rotten eggs" smell, which is caused by the geothermal activity releasing hydrogen sulphide into the atmosphere. The high sulphur content in the air can irritate some people with respiratory problems and cause accelerated corrosion of metals and higher costs of maintenance - hopefully this would not present too many issues during the marathon!
Having made the 230km journey southeast from Auckland I arrived into Rotorua early Friday evening to make my way to the Rotorua Marathon Registration. The Marathon Registration was a little larger than expected and was extremely professional and very well organised. Following the pre-race pasta meal in a local restaurant that was a little less than filling it was time to head back and prepare for another big race. It was interesting to note that while Rotorua is a major destination for both domestic and international tourists, with the tourism industry being by far the largest industry in the district it was surprising how few people were in town.
The morning of the Rotorua Marathon was significant for more than one reason with Saturday May 2nd also my 36th birthday! What better way to celebrate my special day than running in another marathon through the scenic streets of Rotorua.
The morning was cool and overcast with more than 2,000 competitors lining up on the start line. Having studied the course it was clear that this event would be a real test with a number of steep hills to climb along the way. The plan was to set out with the 4:15 pace group though with only a 4:00 and 4:30 pace group I decided to start out with the 4:00 group. Following the traditional performance of the Māori haka the runners were released.
I started out strong and soon noticed there were issues with my shoes. I struggled through and were clear of the 4:00 pace group until the 19km mark. This was a significant stage of the journey as I was mindful of a steep incline prior to the half way point. Following successfully scaling the largest hill on the course I made the move to take some time out to adjust my shoes and relace my shoes in an attempt to improve circulation.
There were ongoing issues with the shoes and a general feeling of tightness that may well have been associated with the long drive from Auckland and the lack of proper stretching prior to setting out on the great NZ adventure.
I was looking to pace myself through the event and conserve as much energy as possible and this was made a little easier with the water stations having sports drink and water only available in cups making it challenging to keep running and maintain fluids! It was great to see competitors mention that they had seen me at previous events in Canberra and on the Gold Coast. The alarm bells rang when I spotted the 4:30 pace group surge past me around the 38km mark and I made an effort to keep the group in sight ...
As we approached the final stages there were a number of familiar faces in front that had been sighted throughout the race and fortunately the Rocky Balboa tunes on my iPod provided that little extra inspiration to come home strong and put the pain to one side. I made a strong sprint towards the finish line and crossed the tape in 4:28!
This sure was a great experience that proved the best results will be achieved with thorough training and preparation, muscular balance, race ready shoes, correct pre race and race nutrition and massive commitment and dedication ... In the end I was very pleased to have achieved another international marathon. It was now time to celebrate my Birthday :-)
Having made the 230km journey southeast from Auckland I arrived into Rotorua early Friday evening to make my way to the Rotorua Marathon Registration. The Marathon Registration was a little larger than expected and was extremely professional and very well organised. Following the pre-race pasta meal in a local restaurant that was a little less than filling it was time to head back and prepare for another big race. It was interesting to note that while Rotorua is a major destination for both domestic and international tourists, with the tourism industry being by far the largest industry in the district it was surprising how few people were in town.
The morning of the Rotorua Marathon was significant for more than one reason with Saturday May 2nd also my 36th birthday! What better way to celebrate my special day than running in another marathon through the scenic streets of Rotorua.
The morning was cool and overcast with more than 2,000 competitors lining up on the start line. Having studied the course it was clear that this event would be a real test with a number of steep hills to climb along the way. The plan was to set out with the 4:15 pace group though with only a 4:00 and 4:30 pace group I decided to start out with the 4:00 group. Following the traditional performance of the Māori haka the runners were released.
I started out strong and soon noticed there were issues with my shoes. I struggled through and were clear of the 4:00 pace group until the 19km mark. This was a significant stage of the journey as I was mindful of a steep incline prior to the half way point. Following successfully scaling the largest hill on the course I made the move to take some time out to adjust my shoes and relace my shoes in an attempt to improve circulation.
There were ongoing issues with the shoes and a general feeling of tightness that may well have been associated with the long drive from Auckland and the lack of proper stretching prior to setting out on the great NZ adventure.
I was looking to pace myself through the event and conserve as much energy as possible and this was made a little easier with the water stations having sports drink and water only available in cups making it challenging to keep running and maintain fluids! It was great to see competitors mention that they had seen me at previous events in Canberra and on the Gold Coast. The alarm bells rang when I spotted the 4:30 pace group surge past me around the 38km mark and I made an effort to keep the group in sight ...
As we approached the final stages there were a number of familiar faces in front that had been sighted throughout the race and fortunately the Rocky Balboa tunes on my iPod provided that little extra inspiration to come home strong and put the pain to one side. I made a strong sprint towards the finish line and crossed the tape in 4:28!
This sure was a great experience that proved the best results will be achieved with thorough training and preparation, muscular balance, race ready shoes, correct pre race and race nutrition and massive commitment and dedication ... In the end I was very pleased to have achieved another international marathon. It was now time to celebrate my Birthday :-)
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