So... First things first...
I'm done work in Nelson officially!! Time has absolutely flown here and my days in the sun shine here are on the decline.
On to the half marathon-
I caught a ride to Westport with a bunch of the former employment gang Friday night. We were up and to the grounds by 7 to catch the bus to the half marathon start sight. I tell you that bus ride seemed very long- it was going to be a LONG 21 kms... Imagine something like 2500 runners assembled on a road... It was quite the sight. We set off slowly, slowly, slowly across the start line. But only after squeezing to let a cop car through. Anticipating my slow time I had attempted to push myself to the back of the pack. This was aided by the wee path we created for the cop car. The sun was out early and it was quite warm- was very happy to encounter the water/ sponge station which must have been at about kms 3 or 4. Very happy to see them every same distance interval. The first 12 kms went quite well. There were some ups and downs which were a little hard for me who trained only over the flat. I also found the lack of my normal route a bit of a challenge. The first bit was quite scenic, right along the Buller river. At half I was way ahead of my practise and normal 8 kms extrapolated time, however I started feeling it for about the next 6 kms. So very happy the sun went under a cloud for a good part of the next bit. Happy for all of the road signs that were a nice distraction. Happy for the runners who happened to run beside me at the same pace, if only for a time. Impressed by the speedy walkers who went blowing by!! Very happy to see the 3kms sign left. At what I thought was about 2kms picked up the pace to try and put on a finish... Running past town quite happy to hear the claps and cheering realizing the finish line must be in sight... Being sprayed by water right near the end- lovely... Finally- turning off the street and towards the finish. Going through the shoot, getting the medal, and stretching and off to find the rest of the crew I travelled from Nelson with. Enjoying the afternoon out in the sun in good company... Being so pleased to have finished... And hurting the next days... oh yes. :) But it was worth it... I finished in a personal best of 2.40 far ahead of my practise times. Slow for the runners, and in the bottom 150 or so of around 1400, but fantastic for me... who couldn't comfortably do the Centre of NZ climb when I moved here, or run for 5 minutes. Special thanks to Michelle for driving, Bev my roommate and encourager, Rita for the energy to start my runs one fine Sunday morning a few months ago, and Shaz and Amanda for suggesting the Buller when back in December I threw out the idea of running one.
We toured the pancake rocks before returning on Sunday. Or should I say punakaki? (spelled wrong, perhaps??) I love the sea... I love the sea... I love the sea...
And a few comments now on the immigration business, for anyone thinking of doing NZ. First- if you're here more than a year you need a NZ drivers license. This means you need to have proof you've had your drivers license for over 2 years. IF you're from Alberta with a multi year license this is easy. If you're from Saskatchewan it means requesting things from back in Saskatchewan...
Also- for the canadian criminal check I today visited the Nelson PD and got led back into the fingerprinting room to get my prints taken. Exciting! :) Now I get to sent them off to Ottawa... the website says it can take 150 days... A bit of a hold up to the immigration process- you see- so do it early!
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