Medallion Man!

Will I get these through customs?

So here they are - the two little bits of bronze metal that are the fruits of my labours on the roads and fields of New Zealand. The World Masters Half Marathon was on a fairly awful course - the 10K was a there and back course on the waterfront at Auckland and the Half Marathon did two of those - great for spectators mind. Hobbling a bit on my sore calf I set off less than hopeful but, looking at the other runners race numbers which identified their ages, I realised at the halfway point that I was in third place. I struggled in the second half of the race and it seemed harder than anything I've done for a long time (think - last 6 miles of a marathon!) however I held on to my position. The cross country was certainly different - held on manicured lawns in Auckland's domain the mass start included runners from Russia, Tahiti, USA, Brazil, Ireland, Canada and so on. I know this through talking with some of the participants. However for some strange reason most of the runners, including me, were listed as New Zealanders. A gremlin in the registration works perhaps? Anyhow we all set of for 4 laps of the course and, feeling a bit better than last week, I got another bronze! Almost made it a silver but the chap I was overtaking towards the finish suddenly woke up and shot off like a startled hare! So two thirds eh! I was very pleased with my haul.

Nice set of cones Paul!

In between the two races we looked up our old friend Paul who emigrated to New Zealand last year. Paul and family are settling in very well in part due to a cunning move which was to set up a Parkrun in Cambridge which is an hour or so south of Auckland. Here he is watch in hand awaiting the final runners coming up the hill. Paul and I met thanks to our shared love of hill running and it's no surprise that this course is somewhat hilly - so slow times for both of us. Cambridge is a very pleasant place and to our delight we found that the Good George Brewery had opened up a tavern in the town - we just had to sample what was on offer!

Off your trundler!

Local terminology is a bit quirky over here - supermarket trolleys are described as 'trundlers', bed linen and curtains are referred to as 'manchester' with a small m and corner shops are known as 'dairies'. The pies are even better than those in Australia - my favourite was a Jimmy's Mutton Pie which we came across on South Island! Something we'll try next time is New Zealand Marmite - it's not Australian Vegemite and it's not British Marmite!!?