WMC Half Marathon 2005

Race Report
WMC Marathon/Half Marathon/10k
26 June 2005

I knew it was too good to be true: Thursday 23 June was a stunner – a classic, crisp, sunny Wellington winter’s day. Not a breath of wind. I sucked in a big breath of fresh air, looked out over Happy Valley and towards the windmill (barely spinning) and thought – “it’s good to be home”.

Two days later, I lay huddled in bed – unable to get to sleep for the hail pounding my bedroom windows, and questioning my sanity in having sacrificed annual leave on a winter trip to Wellington.

As any responsible runner does, I had put myself to bed early that night (of course, only after the All Blacks had done with the Lions) – and then the rain came – and then the hail. As a born-and-bred Wellingtonian, I was probably naïve to expect otherwise… However, as I’m now based in Sydney, I was a touch grateful at the civilised hour the race was to commence. I’ve become used to 7am or even 6am starts, borne out of necessity in the summer time when the mercury is already commencing its upward ascent at that early hour. Also, despite the weather, I was very much looking forward to catching up with all of my running pals.

…and what an event it was! I was gob-smacked at the turn out. I didn’t know NZ had that many runners, let alone runners game enough to take on a bitey Antarctic-sent southerly and say “bring it”. Numbers reached 3,658 – about double last year’s turn out. So what happened? I think that the committee for the event – Sally Anderson, Steffan Vluggen, Stan Wing, John Meads, Brian Hayes, Andy Sommerville, Kelvin Moffat, Geoff Norman, John Gallagher and Margaret Richardson, just keeps getting better at what they do. As a committee member last year, I saw first hand the dedication that is required to pull together such an event. The marathon/half marathon/10k is something that not only the WMC, but also the entire Wellington region can be proud of.

So, what of my performance? Excuse time. Amongst others, I’ll cite the fact that Sydney is a pretty poor training environment for running into the wind! Others didn’t appear to need an excuse: Mark Growcott did a 1:23 half marathon – a PB by 4 minutes!

Running times aside, I got a lot of pleasure from revisiting some familiar places: the whiff of chlorine as I trotted past Freyberg Pool, the gale force wind that hits you like a wall as you round the corner past Hotel Raffaele, the choppy waves surrounding Greta Point and the bright orange Zephyrometer (a beacon of hope that the turn around was drawing near).

The tail wind on the return journey was most welcome. However, by that stage I think the journey there had already knocked the stuffing out of me! Peter Searle, who was leading the 1:40 pack was long gone by then. Ahhh – excuse number 1354 – Peter didn’t bring his chocolate Labrador along to piggy back me when the going got tough! Somehow though, I managed to convince myself I should be precisely on time.

A family member recalled the expression on my face at that stage: “struggling”. I would probably add to that the look of “sucking on a lemon” – my lips curled back and eyes squinting as the elements had effectively blinded me!

I did get a real buzz from the surprise some of the marshals got when they realised it was me running – friends who didn’t know I had come to visit! And the hugs and kisses I shared afterwards with my “running family” were gold – I was freezing on the outside, but they warmed me from the inside out!!

I think no matter how well you do on a day like that, you can sit back at the prize-giving, clapping on the place-getters, and feel like one yourself. This year, I had to chuckle though – so many great names came out at the prize giving! Surnames such as “Best”, “Eager”, “Champion” and “Hurryn”…pretty apt descriptions of the hardy types that battled the odds out there that day!

Angela Etheridge
Official Overseas Representative