Around the Bays 2007

Oh my aching joints!! The day began extremely well - daylight savings meant we could all sleep in a little (1 hour) which was great but still had to leave the house a 7 to meet up at work by 8 am. From our little family there was me, youngest daughter Michaela, next daughter Caitlin and her boyfriend Craig. We managed to get there in plenty of time and all piled onto the bus bound for the start line.
We waited for around an hour at the start line listening to various announcements etc until the first wheelchair racers started off. For those who don't know about our famous 'Around the Bays" fun run - it is an annual event where half of Auckland turns up and as many from outlining districts as well. There must be at least 30,000 people all running from the bottom of the city to the very last distant bay around the east coast. This is an 8.5 kilometer distance and extremely pretty with the beach and harbour on one side and some rather fabulous real estate on the other.
Anyway - I decided this year I would try and run the whole way so I have been in training since Feb (not long I know but at least it was something). I wanted to do it in around an hour which for my age and level of fitness was quite within my reach. Caitlin and Craig wanted to be young lovers and walk the distance hand in hand -how sweet! So that left me and Michaela to run as best as possible. The cannon blasted and we were off!!
The sights along the way were pretty hilarious - I saw a guy running with an empty carton of beer on his head, another guy in a pink bonnet, one green and one purple sock and a sports jacket. And no end of people in strange hats! Mexican hats to bunny ears! Well Michaela and I did indeed run for most of the way with a couple of stops for the potty (must have wasted at least 10 minutes!). She was feeling pretty sick at one stage so we walked for a kilometer or so she could catch herself again.
I didn't see any distance markers for ages and I had no idea how far through we were until we came across a sign that said we had come 5.5 kms and had 2.9 to go! Well - that made me feel a whole lot better! Gave me a burst of renewed vigor!
We made it to the finish line - Michaela in 1 hour and 45 seconds and me in 1 hour and 55 seconds. So I guess if we had not stopped to pee then we would have made it in under and hour! The plan for next year would have to be wearing some sort of incontinence pad or something!! Perhaps we will have to run faster! All in all - I was soooo happy to have finished at the time I wanted - am very sore at the moment though.
The Blood Service and a BBQ and drinks for us back on the farm so we chilled out for a while before taking off back to the donor centre then off home. On the way I stopped at Real Groovy Records and finally found a copy of the Rocky Horror Picture Show! oh be still my beating heart! I have some very fond memories of going to the original cinema all dressed up in stilettos and fish net stockings and completely trashing the theatre along with all the other movie goers. So much fun and way better than the movies today! you can't even throw a jaffa down the isle any more. People get a bit cranky about that. Well - I am off to get a very nice rub after my long run today - I am left pondering - did I lose any weight today??