Patatfees Napier Half Marathon - Saturday 17 June 2017

I thought that I should do this race because it is held in our village and I won't find another race any closer than this one! It passes within about 50 metres of  the gate at the bottom of our drive. It would be nice to find out what this race is all about and the route - so I entered! I didn't intend running it fast but as a training run, as I am starting marathon training now and didn't want to jeopardise that. I couldn't help worrying a little, though. This is the write-up for it taken from The Whalers Athletics Club newsletter.

A tough, circular race which is run on a hilly course. The race starts off rather deceptively with an easy two kilometre downhill canter through the village before heading out into the farmlands. The course becomes a gravel road at the 6km mark and you'll enjoy running through fields of giant proteas. The hard work begins after the halfway mark with a steady climb through fields of barley, wheat, oats and canola. The road climbs for over five kilometres until you reach the 16km marker which is also the highest point of the race. After this is a gradual and pleasant jog back to Napier and you're home after a gradual and tough climb to the finishing post.

They neglected to say that it would probably have been raining in the day or so leading up to the race, or it will be raining on the day so expect a lot of squelchy mud and puddles! Oh, and it's likely to be very windy too - from all directions!

It was drizzling, very cold, and very dark when I staggered out of bed at 6am on Saturday morning. I got the cats and dogs fed, and opened up the doors so the chickens could come out whenever they wanted to. Then I made my breakfast of porridge and jam! Steve was doing the 30km mountain bike race, which started 20 minutes before my race - but he didn't need very long to get ready and had another 45 minutes in bed!

It was getting light when we left the house but continued to rain on and off. We, eventually, managed to find a parking space in a very rutted field at the school and Steve got his bike off the carrier at the back of the car.

It was still raining when we got to the starting area but eventually it eased off a bit, and just a few minutes later, it was Steve's race.

 While the 15km MTB cyclists got themselves lined up ready for their race, I went into the toilets - and there was no queue. That made a nice change. Then it was the runners' turn. The 10km and the 21km lined up together and both races started at the same time at 8:30.

We started off by leaving the school through a rather muddy area, then it was all downhill to the main road and through the village. We turned off (near our house!) and ran off down the gravel road for a few kilometres, which wasn't too bad, and I was able to keep a reasonable pace. Then we turned off on to a farm with a single track road. We passed some very sweet young calves in a field, then a bit further up the road it got progressively muddier. I was determined I was not going to slip and, along with a few others, gingerly held on to the fence posts at the side of the road taking really slow, tiny steps for a hundred metres or so to get through it. I'm glad I had the sense to wear my trail shoes, unlike one runner who was wearing new shoes.

Then there was a lovely dry bit, and after that we would go through the same scenario again - mud followed by dry patches, for what seemed like ages. This was going to be a long half marathon! The sun came out, then it got overcast again and started raining - again! We were also slowly (in more ways than one!) going uphill. Couldn't get out of the wind either!

At last, we found ourselves on the proper road again and there were a few lovely kilometres of running on road, albeit was gravel and it was very wet! However, that couldn't last and we found ourselves entering the gates of another farm, climbing, climbing. At least the sun was out now! We also had a few of the cyclists pass us at various points too on their races.

Have to admit the views up there were stunning. I hadn't realised that there were cereals and vines being grown up there in the mountains!

At last, we reached the top and then started the descent. It was lovely to be able to run downwards for a change, although there were still some very muddy patches. I had thought I was making fairly good progress and would be at the Finish soon, which was only about 5 kms away at that time, thereby finishing in 2hrs 30mins, but there was a long squelchy muddy area of about 150 metres long which put paid to that, and I had to creep over it slow step by slow step! Silly me!

Eventually though, I found myself back on tarmac, and the main road, and just a couple of kilometres to run. All uphill, of course, and the last 1 kilometre was real hard work, as the Finish was up a steep hill and around the running track.

Wow, I felt I earned that medal!
2hrs:51min.

Hooray! Finished it!

No, I don't think I want to do this one again. The 10km, probably, but not the half marathon. But at least I have had that experience and know what it is like! lol!

Someone else finished his race too! He should be proud of his achievement! A good time and a good position!