NZ Nationals - 3000m Track Walk

26 March 2009 - Myself and my coach travelled across to Wellington along with many other Nelson Athletes to compete at the NZ Nationals. We all represented Tasman Centre. For our track walk we had to first qualify to be able to enter and as luck would have it both my self and stephen did at the NZ Masters.

Wellington put on a gloreous day - by Wellington standards. Sunny but windy!! I was very nervious entering this as it is my first time competing in the Open class. So I was up against women half my age and size.

The gun goes off and all my plans go out the window as I get caught up with the first bunch. Sadly for me the first bunch seem to just steam away from me as if I was walking backwards but I was the leader of the next bunch of ladies. After 3 laps I settled into a steady pace with 3 competitors hard on my heels. Eventually the group made a break past me but did so in the group of three. I couldnt follow as they stayed two wide so I couldnt get past with out going 3 lanes wide. They were also working together and helping the middle girl (who I found out later was in the Open Women and not Under 19's) As I rounded the last lap (7.5 in total) I decided to give chase to the girl who had passed me as her group had carried on and left her behind. She was 40mt ahead of me and I picked up pace 100mt from the finish. I almost caught her as we went across the finish line. She beat me by 1 sec!! So I came 5th in the Open Women.

I had expected to do 17min and 20 secs but was most surprized to see I had finished 17min flat. That is 27 secs better than my best time. So I am thrilled with that.

My coach was just thrilled and was busy calculating my new training pace for the next couple of months.

Belgrove 18km Race

Records tumble during Belgrove event
The Nelson Mail Last updated 13:49 23/03/2009 Share Print Text Size Relevant offersThe Tasman Masters fifth Belgrove 18km road run on Sunday not only had a record number of entrants but also resulted in three race records being broken.

In winning the men's race in 1hr 4min 51sec, Simon Mardon broke his own record set two years ago by 74 seconds.

He had a good tussle with Brian Kemp before eventually managing to gradually pull away over the last 7km to win by 40 seconds. Kemp, who is currently enjoying his best form ever, also went under the previous best time.

Brent Stebbings had a good run to take third place overall in 1hr 8min 35sec.

Fourth and fifth placings were taken by two M40 runners, Neil Cotton (1hr 10min 13sec) and Steve Flaus (1hr 10min 18sec), who are both in serious training for the Rotorua marathon in six weeks time.

Sixth overall and the first M50 runner was Murray Hart in 1hr 10min 53sec, who also won the Tasman Masters trophy for the highest age graded percentage with 79.51 percent.

The second record was broken by Paula Canning in winning the women's race and finishing 11th overall. Her time of 1hr 13min 32sec broke her own record set in 2006 by 3min 39sec.

Canning's record continues her good form as evidenced by her win last month in the Buller marathon. Second place went to the improving Nicola Mercer in 1hr 22min 24sec.

The third woman was Collette Read in 1hr 24min 21sec who achieved an impressive improvement of 10min 47sec on last year's time.

In the 18km walk, Nyle Sunderland broke the women's record set by Wendy Healey in 2005 by 3min 36sec in recording a time of 1hr 55min 7sec. Her time was also an impressive improvement of 7min 56sec over her time last year.

Stephen Farquhar (1hr 44min 13sec) repeated his performance of last year in taking line honours in the 18km walk. Bevan Cook claimed third place, four seconds over the two hour mark.

Craig and Maren Harford won the 18km relay run in 1hr 26min 54sec to head off Peter Hague and Shane Sunderland in 1hr 33min 55sec.

Day 2, NZ Masters in Tauranga 2009

Photo of our team - Gary Holtz, Me, Peter Hauge, Stephen Farquhar & Yvonne Shaw

2.30am Sunday morning I awake with cold sweats and vomiting…..”oh Joy” I think to my self. I lay awake until its time to get up trying hard not to be sick again. After talking with coach it is decided that I try and start the race and just get around the judges to finish. Today is the 10km and one that I had hoped to do my best in. We all get up and put on our damp racing gear from Friday….ughh…..and head for the 2km walkway. Yvonne takes one look at me and teases me that even when I tell her I am sick she can still never beat me and that I will prob do a record time…….. I weakly laugh and start to dread the start.

8am we are lined up ready to go, gun goes off and away they all go. Stephen to the front, Pete, Yvonne, Gary and then little ol me. There were 6 judges scattered around the track today, so you really have to be watchful and concentrate all the time. By the 2nd lap round I saw Yvonne pass pete and as I too got close enough I also passed Pete….he was looking greener than me!!! Both of us must have eaten something that didn’t agree with our tummy’s. I was not enjoying this race on little bit. I was mentally struggling with the fact that Yvonne was getting further and further away from me and the fact that I was going to be ill at any moment was not helping either.

I managed to make it to the 5km mark before I had to succumb to the queasiness in my tummy and took the opportunity to be ill on the grassy corner out of everyone’s view. Pete by this stage had got his second wind and was away again. With Yvonne in his sights he set out after her and did manage to catch her in the final few laps but sadly for Pete on the last lap as he went over the speed bump a judge was watching and it was decided he had a bent knee and he was disqualified. Which was such a shame as he had picked up and was making good time.

Yvonne cleared the 10km with no marks on the DQ board and won her age group with a time of 1 hour 2 mins. I crossed the line with 1 mark on the DQ board (you can have 3 then you are disqualified) I won my age group with a time of 1 hour 4 mins. Glad to have finished I crawled off to the side and lay on the cold grass and proceed to feel like I was going to die!!! It was the worst I have ever felt during a race.



Photo is of me slowly coming back to life and speaking with Stephen (my coach)

After the race we zipped back to the motel, through all the gear into the rental and it was announced that I was driving back home while the guys were going to sit in the back and enjoy all the wineries on the way home……………..all 3 of them. Needless to say that by the time we pulled up at the airport, the guys were in a “great” mood and poured them selves out of the car and into the airport. Luck it was a gentle flight back home.

All in all, we had a fantastic trip away with most of us winning two gold medals and being NZ champs in our age groups. Stephen and I have qualified and been invited to enter the NZ Open Track & Field at the end of March…so what this space.

Day 1, NZ Masters Champs in Tauranga

Day 1, NZ Masters Champs in Tauranga

Friday 6th March 2009 brought about the start of the NZ Masters Champs. We had decided to fly up to Auckland and then drive to Tauranga…..me thinking it’s only an hour drive – turned out to be more like 3!! The flight up was bumpy and I got my ears talked off by a wee 6 year old that sat beside me. After a 2 km walk to find the Juicy Rental cars – we bundled into the wee car and were off…………in the wrong direction and almost ended up in Auckland city!! Being with two men…..it was up to me to get directions and head us in the reverse direction and on our way.

We arrive in Tauranga 3 hours later and it is pouring with rain. The track is just a wash with water and did not look that inviting for walking…back stroke or freestyle more like. The only positive thing was that it was very muggy and humid with no wind. After a wee huddle amongst our wee team it was decided that personnel bests were not going to be broken in these conditions and that to just get the race over and done with was good enough. We braved the rain and proceeded to warm up and get ready for our first race of the weekend – 3000m track walk.

At the gun, Stephen leapt out to a front spot, closely followed by Pete. I set off after them and quickly passed the two walkers between us. I quickly set into a comfortable pace and was surprised to hear as I went past the time keeper that I had done a 2.11 first lap and that I was feeling great. This continued through the next 5 laps and as I came round on the last lap and heard my time I knew that if I pushed now it would be a personal best……and it was.

I improved my 3000m track time by 9 secs…………17:26 was my official time. Nelson also bagged 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th with 3 of us getting personal bests and 4 getting GOLD medals to boot. Stephen (our coach) was just thrilled.

Saturday was our day off, so we travelled back up the road to Wahi to met up with Cath. While exploring Wahi we discovered that up behind the old pump house was a huge huge hole!!!! Infact, it’s the largest open cast gold mine in the Southern Hemisphere. Most impressive. We all drove back to the motel and preceded to park up for the night, it was raining again so telly was put on so the guys could watch rugby. We were all watching the lightening out side when a close clap of thunder struck…….blew the power for the whole of Tauranga and Rotorua for 2 hours. I have never heard a clap of thunder like that before.

2009 World Masters Games

Well I cant beleive I am about to post this.

The World Masters Games are being held in Sydney this year, in October. It has been something of a small dream of mine that I should enter. I told a few people I would love to do it but didnt really think that it would be a posiblity.

After my success at The Buller Half Marathon, I started to look towards the end of the year with a great longing. Then some thing happened that made me change my priorities. What happened? A very sad event happened.....while competeing at the Buller as I neared the end an ambulance went out with lights and sirens blazing. Everyone was talking about this at the prize giving and then a couple friends of my training partner came over and told us of seeing a male walker colapase and they stopped running to asist and ended up giving CPR until the ambulance arrived. Lucky they were nurses. Well after that, no one knew who it was or any other details until I looked up on the Stuff Sight and went to the Westport paper and learnt of the persons name. It was a walker we all new, he was only 60 and his wife had walked that day too and had won her age group in the rec walk. They both come over to our events and compete and are well liked and respected. Sadly, he died on Weds afternoon after spending 4 days in intensive care.

This made me think that time is really too short and that why put off tomorrow what you can do today!! so I chatted to my hubby and he said go for it.

So I am officiall announcing that I have booked and paid for my flights and entry....


I am going to the 2009 World Masters Games in October!!!!

The Buller Half Marathon 2009

This is an event I have been waiting all year to enter again. Last year I was second women home in the Race Walking section and I was so determined to go back and win it and do a faster time.

This year was to be more of a challenge to me than I had first thought of.

1) - my training partner and very good friend was entering as a RaceWalker
2) - I had torn my calf and it has not healed
3) - I had not long recovered from 100 day cough

We had all challenged my husband, Shane, at xmas time to enter and so he had been jogging along with Yvonne and me on our long Sunday treks. Week 1 a 12km, week 2 a 16km and week 3 an 18km and then after that we shortened it back again. But 2 weeks out both Yvonne and I were injured. We had both pulled the same leg calf muscle. Both of us were hedging bets on how the race would go and as the day drew nearer the scarier it got. I just couldnt see myself being aggressive and competitive against her. I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to find my competitive edge at all.

This year the race was run on Valentines day....which is also our 6th Wedding anniversary.....a nice way to celebrate it I thought.

We drove down to Westport on Friday, stopping at the swing bridge and going over (me terrified of heights....I nearly had kittens..TWICE!!) but I lived and made it back.


We pull into Westport and find our accommodation. A lovely man had opened up his home and billeted us for the night.

5am Saturday, we awake to eat banana's and get ready only to find its RAINING!!!!! well that's better than 30 deg heat....a little....We head to the buses and get taken to the start line. Promptly dropped off at 7.30am and left as offerings to the sandflys (that were the size of house flys!!) Race start was 8.30am and the gun goes off and away went the runners. I waved and blew kisses to Shane as he jogged past to start his first ever Half Marathon. Then in a huge mix up, instead of waiting 5 mins the guy yelled out to go as walkers were getting mixed up with the runners. So off we shot. Yvonne and I flew off to a shocking pace...way too fast but neither would let up. We did out first km in 6mins 11 (and thats up hill too) and that pace continued for the first 7km. I clicked on my music at 7km and set off in the hope that I could pull away and put a small amount of space between us. I slowly pulled away...metre by metre until at the 10km mark there was a 30 mtre gap. By the 10km mark my leg was hurting terribly, I had felt it tear and the pain was awful, but the stubborn me kept pushing. In this whole time unbeknown to Shane...he was only 100m a head of me and I had been watching him the whole time. I had hoped to catch up to him just at the finish but he found a surge of energy towards the end and I lost sight of him. But the time I crossed the bridge 2km out from the township, I looked behind and thought I saw Yvonne hot on my heels (about 30 mtres behind me) and was so paniced as I was completely done and dont think I could have fought her off.

Turning at the ANZ bank has never felt soooo good. Racing towards the park and finish I was thrilled to know 100% I had won the race walk section and given a personal best time. As soon as I crossed the line it was a quick dash to the first aid station and ice on my leg for half an hour. I was there for Yvonne cheering her on and jumping for joy seeing her beat her last years time and finish too.

We stayed on for prize giving and I won .. a trophy, a pair of shoes, a rimu jewellery box and a huge bottle of bubbly. The cute wee tiger is my Valentines pressy...hehehe...still romance there.

Shoe Clinic 10km 2009

As a New Years Eve dare....I dared shane to enter the Shoe Clinic 10km race held in Nelson around monaco. He had been walking the 5km series with me and had just started to jog the odd few. So he took up the challenge and started training with me. Everything was going to plan until I pulled my calf muscle during a hard training session on the track. But this didnt stop me entering too.

The day dawned and it was going to be a super hot one. The race started at 4pm and the heat was horrid. At the start we were all told there would be no drink stations either......most of us dont carry water so it was a shock to us but not much could be done about it.

The race was more a training run for me as there was no competition in this one for me so I set into an easy pace but by the 5km mark was starting to suffer terribly from lack of water. At this stage shane caught up to me and jogged along beside me for some time but about 1km out I told him to head off and to his surprize he did. He bet me by 2 mins flat. So the challenge was laid by the walking team that shane should enter The Buller Half Marathon.....to which shane nearly fell off his chair and spilt his beer!!! "what..in 6 weeks you think I can jog 21.1km....."

and so the training began.......

RUNNERS
Shane Sunderland 63.17

WALKERS

Nyle Sunderland 65.17

Athletic Nelson Prize Giving

Last night was the end of year prize giving for the Athletic Nelson Club. They had quite a turn out and it really impressed me how many children there are in the junior grades and just how supportive all the parents were.

It was such a buzz watching these young ones come up and carry off trophies to proudly display at home for a year and to hear how well they have all done. The Tasman Centre has 37 NZ titles spread amongst all the runners. Thats a huge acheivement for the club.

Our walking team went along as we knew that Steve and I had won the Tasman Centre Road Champs...giving us both a trophy. What I didnt know was that I was awarded "The Most Improved Female Athlete of The Year" This has never been won by a walker before nor has a walker been nominated. I was just totally speechless.

So while I nurse a chest infection I sit here proudly looking at my trophy feeling very very chuffed with myself............and to think 10 years ago I thought Race Walking was the most ridiculas sport ever thought of....... WHO KNEW.

Kirsties Wedding Day

Kirsty and Keria - both are looking so stunning.



Here is Shane and I at the party.

Today was my cousin Kirstie's wedding day. Unfortunately for me, I came down with one of my "Migraine's" blasted things and so had spent all Friday night taking as many pain killers as I could with out knocking me over. After little sleep, we got up nice and early to head over but the car was full of dog hair and so due to us picking up my Grandma, we thought we should clean it out.....then out came the car wash....well needless to say we were late heading away...But the car looked beautiful!!!!!! (remember this)

Anyhow....we got to Blenheim and I shot away to see my best mate Rach and her kiddies. I got ready at her place and promptly had two wee twin girls lined up getting full makeup applied also....they are so adorable and even Sam got in on the act with the hair spray.

With the weather setting in we were not sure if it was still to be a beach wedding or a church wedding. Finally the call came through...it was to be the beach. I zipped away and picked up my Grandma and then Shane and away we zipped to Rarangi. The wind was picking up and was fast becoming a southerly (for us Rarangians.....this means a howling gale!!!)

With my had firmly plastered on my head, we made the climb over to Monkey Bay. They had a wonderful spot...just infront of the rock face where it dips in to make a small cave. Two arch's made from drift wood had been set up with lovely purple flowers and flax. A perfect setting. Photo to come.

Kirsty looked a magical sight as she walked down the track to the bay, the wind playing with her flowing dress. Her wee daughter Keira was so beautiful. A precious wee dot that walked down hand in hand with her Auntie.

After a beautiful service they were pronounced man and wife, poppers were popped and bubbles were blown. We all made our way down to the community centre for the first round - much home brew was up for grabs...the Black Sambuca being one of the most popular. I could only watch as my head was just pounding. My auntie was awesome and gave me some pain killers and good advice.

The biggest bummer of the whole night................I crashed Shane's car on the way out of the party. I backed the car out from the car park but didn't allow enough room when I turned to drive out and I hit the passager side skirt on a large rock....I took the paint off the whole side skirt and smashed it underneath......Needless to say I am not the most popular at the moment....I am on punishment - 2 weeks of foot rubs and back rubs with no complaint and must refill all drinks with out question. :0) I dont mind that sort of punishment.

I also had a race the next day. So we went home and I took alot more painkillers and got a good nights sleep. Up at 6am and away to the start I went.

Todays race was a 10 miler from Nelson to Richmond. I had already decided not to push myself too much and my training partner had asked if I would like to walk together..which we did. Still beating her time from last year. We walked 16.1km in 1 hour 47mins .. not bad for a couple of chicks that were not feeling so flash!!! But I have spent the rest of the day laid up. My head ache did ease up while I was walking but came back with avengence later that day.

My Grand Daughter, Katie-May

Katie-May 11 months old. We adore her staying with us. Shane is loving being called Popz.




Last night I had the pleasure of having my grand daughter come and stay the night with me. I just adore her and love every minute of being around her. But I must admit to it being a slight culture shock as its been 18years since I have had a wee one crawling around.



To go in to her room in the morning and have her squeal with excitement is just the best. Then we get to destroy the lounge with toys. They go from one end to the other and she races between then with me chasing her. Here is a photo of her going hard and playing the pot and above of her chomping on her fav toy.

Nelson Mail

Gold-medal effort more than a walk in the park
ATHLETICS
By WAYNE MARTIN - Nelson | Wednesday, 06 August 2008

COLIN SMITH/Nelson Mail
DELIGHTED: Nelson race walker Nyle Sunderland displays the medals she won at the 2008 Oceania Masters Games in Townsville.

It's taken Nelson's Nyle Sunderland only 18 months to get in step with her new sporting career path.
That's how long she's been involved in competitive race walking but despite the relatively short time frame, last week she walked away from the Oceania Masters Games in Townsville with three gold medals.
Sunderland, 41, won gold in the women's 40-44 10km road walk and 5000m and 3000m track events, recording personal best times in both her track successes. She won the 5000m title in 29min 34sec and the 3000m in 17min 31sec, having earlier recorded 62min 36sec for the 10km event.
She was delighted with her personal best performances in the balmy 26degC temperatures.
"That was the highlight of the whole thing," she said. "You're always aiming to beat the clock and first time on the track to come away with speeds that I haven't done before was just great."
However, the 10km proved much tougher than expected.
"The 10km walk was probably the biggest disappointment, really, because that was the one I was expecting to do the best at.
"The track that we did it on was in a public garden and it was a curved walkway. So there weren't any straights, it was all snake bends with rises and dips. It had potholes in it that they'd filled with sand just before we started competing. There were huge potholes with tree roots coming out. Everyone was complaining and no one wanted to walk on it."
The tricky surface ultimately took its toll.
"Unfortunately, I injured my leg halfway through by standing in one of the sink holes. My heel went into the sand and over-extended so I pulled my knee but still managed to finish.
"The first 5km, I did 30 minutes, which was almost my time for the track so I was on track to do a really good time - then I hurt my knee."
While the injury didn't affect her track events, the judging was stringent, with six judges situated around the 400m track. However, Sunderland's sound technique meant she completed all her events without mishap.
Formerly a competitive triathlete, Sunderland switched to walking less than two years ago.
"At one triathlon I saw a race walker and thought, `I want to do that, they can go fast'."
She credited technical advice from experienced Nelson team-mate Sharon McDonald and coach Stephen Farquhar, and the support of her husband, Shane, for her successful transition - and plenty of hard work, involving training six days a week for seven weeks prior to Townsville. It left her in the best possible physical condition.
"I was very confident. I'm fitter now than I've ever been in my entire life and I've just turned 41 so who knew?"
Besides her three gold medals, Sunderland ended the competition on an unusual note when she was invited to compete in the 4x100m sprint relay, ultimately helping her team to the silver medal. She also ran the final 200m leg in the team medley, resulting in a bronze medal.
It was a refreshing release from all the previously intense scrutiny.
"As a walker and having all that constraint, to be able to stretch out and run like the wind was awesome."
She's competing in the 10km Swann Trophy walking race up the Maitai Valley on Saturday but her focus is already shifting to the national championships in March and the World Masters Games in Sydney in October 2009.
And after Townsville, she feels like the best is yet to come.
"Watch this space," she quipped.

Off To Townsville.

Off to Aussie on Friday at 6am…..Yawn…..its going to be one long day.

We land in Brisbane at 8am and don’t fly out to Townsville until 6pm later that day. We are hoping we can stash our luggage in a locker somewhere and head off to the huge shopping complex up the road.

I thought that my first posting should be the times that I am racing. Just so you know to send me lots of encouragement to help me out … :0)

First race is Tuesday at 7.30am – 10km road race through Anderson Park
Second race is Thursday at 4pm – 5000m track walk
Third race is Saturday at 10.30am – 3000m track walk

Hope to update here soon

Hugs to all.

Harry Kerr 50km Track Relay

As said below in our press release....lol....We went to Auckland and raced in the NZ National Track Relay which was also to commemorate the first ever Olympic medal won by a NZer ... which happened to be a bronze won by Harry Kerr... A Race Walker.

We were picked to win bronze .. but have to admit to having some doubts once we got there and you saw how fast these people were on the track. But we pulled our selves together and proved to them and ourselves that we are a force to be reckoned with by winning 3rd.

So here are our medals - A NZ bronze medal and the replica Olympic medal. I am just soooo proud of what we achieved.

NZ 50km Team Track Relay Champs

The Athletics Nelson race walking team confirmed their current national ranking when they comfortably won the bronze medal in the New Zealand 50km Team Track Relay Championships held at Sovereign Stadium in Auckland last Sunday. This follows their third placing in the NZ Team Road Relay Championship held in Wellington in May.

The event coincided with the 100th anniversary of New Zealand’s first Olympic medal. Harry Kerr, from Taranaki, won the bronze medal in the 3,500m track walk at the 1908 Olympic Games held in London. The other kiwi competitor in the race, Arthur Rowland, finished 5th.

Auckland A won the race from Taranaki A with a winning margin of 22 minutes setting a new race record of 4 hours 24 minutes. The Nelson team recorded a time of 5 hours 7 minutes with the Wellington team placed fourth with a time of 5.17.16. A total of seven teams completed the event which was held in warm and humid conditions on Auckland’s North Shore.

The first 10km leg was completed by Sharon McDonald in a time of 1.04.46 with Peter Hague finishing the second leg in 1.06.07. Yvonne Shaw finished her 10km leg in a personal best time of 1.02.30. Nyle Sunderland also recorded a personal best time of 1.00.54 in the fourth leg of the race. The final 10km was completed by Stephen Farquhar in a time of 52.53, only just short of his best time recorded in 1992.

“We were a little short of our target time of 5 hours but overall we are all very happy with our performance” says team coach and competitor Stephen Farquhar. “It was great for us to be invited to compete in this race and we certainly didn’t disgrace ourselves.

“A third placing is significant when put in context of our training facilities” says Farquhar. We all met at Trafalgar Park every night for the last 6 weeks and either headed off down the walkway towards Richmond or did 1km reps on the grass track in the dark complete with our head lights.”

“We regularly shared the park with the Makos. They were very accommodating and supportive”

The first three teams received an exact replica of Harry Kerr’s Olympic medal in addition to their respective NZ Championship medal. The first six teams to complete the 50km event also received a replica of Kerr’s original Olympic scroll recording details of the event and the team’s placing and time.

Wellington Relay

We decided that we would try to put together a team and head across to the Wellington Relay. It is raced over a marathon distance which means that we needed a team of 6. At the last minute one of our team members pulled out - leaving us with no chance to race for medals or any form of prize. We asked the officials if we could form a composite team and they let us ask another walker from another team to join us.

Even with this upsetting our night (which we drowned our sorrows....with way too much wine) we all marched up first thing in the morning for the race.

With 2 of us being total unknowns - we were watched with great interest from other teams.

Much to the surprize of most of the teams-we blitzed our way to third place.......just sadly the medals were given to 4th place.

Subway Nelson Half Marathon

I knew that my competition would be tough for this event.

Having finally beaten Sharon at the 10km race a month ago and also getting a personal best time of 62mins the pressure was on. I had been training with Yvonne and knew that we were neck and neck for speed and stamina. It would come down to race day tactics.

The day before the race I develop a migraine…….I get these for 3 days and they blind me. After taking enough drugs to drop a horse, I drag myself out into the cold and bright light to line up with everyone for the start. I didn’t give my self very good odds that morning due to feeling so nauseous as well.

My plan was to stick behind Sharon and try to keep Yvonne behind me and also not go out too fast at the start (a half marathon is not won in the first 5 km) but at the 3 km mark I felt great – adrenaline had taken care of my head ache and I passed Sharon on the over pass bridge with Yvonne hot on my heels.

The first 10km just breezed by and when I rounded the half way mark and doubled back I finally saw how close Yvonne was behind me…..she had gained. She was now 100mtr behind me. So I picked up the pace and set off determined to keep her at bay. By the 18km mark my hips and legs were hurting and I was having trouble keeping them moving. But some great encouragement from Shane on the side line spurred me on.

I crossed the finish line at 2 hours and 15 mins…………….5 mins faster than I had hoped for and giving me 1st place.

2008 Buller Marathon

Feb 9th 2008, I joined the line up for the Buller Half Marathon. I was a "Buller Virgin" and felt so over whelmed by the enormity of the event. As far as I could see behind me - was a sea of faces. Eager and nervous eyes steering ahead waiting for the gun to go off. I was lucky and nabbed a great spot on the front line of the start. The weather was high cloud and everyone was praying it would remain that way for the whole event - prayers were answered!!!

As the gun goes off you round a corner over a bridge and start climbing the first of many rises. I cant call it a hill or steep but it was still a grind to push up at pace to try and gain some distance from the other walkers. The runners had started 5 mins ahead of us and it was not long before I was passing weary runners that had dropped off the back of the pack and were either jogging or walking slowly.

I kept a steady pace for the first 5 km, picking up a couple of other walkers that came up behind me. Once I had warmed up and caught my second breath I really didnt feel like having company so I plugged in my Ipod and off I went. Half way came and went in such a blur. The drink stations were so well placed that you just paced your self from one to the other. My friend Yvonne was walking in the rec group not Race Walking like me. She is a little quicker than me and my goal was to catch her. At the 13km mark I came within 20 feet of her till she looked over her shoulder and saw me...........then I couldnt gain on her. But remained close behind.

Walking over the final hill to the sound of a pipe band was just inspiring....fantastic stuff. I think from memory the hardest part of the whole race was walking up the main street in Westport.....it just felt like it went on for ever. I did however manage to case down and catch the 2nd recreational walker and passed her on the finish line to finish in 2 hours 25min. A personal best. Gained me the official result of 3rd overall and 2nd female race walker. My coach was 1st female....(but was only 3mins a head of me)

This was the best organised event I have entered to date. I cant wait till next year.

My new tatttoo

I have always had a fasination with Egypt and the Egyptian religion. I have wanted to get an Egyptian tattoo for many years but never found the right one. About 2 months ago I found it. The Eye of Ra. So I got it for myself to xmas.

5 Generations get together for Xmas

A most treasured photo..... 5 generations.

Katie-May 6 weeks old.

Plus a 7th generation of Eldest daughter having a daughter first.

We all got together to met up before xmas. It was so wonderfull having family all around. Aunts, uncles, cousins and grand parents galour.

Great Great Grandma with Katie-May.

Dont they both look so beautifull.

Blenheim Womens Triathlon 2007

Dec 3rd was the Blenheim Womens Triathlon.

I came over and entered it again hoping to beat my time last year and place top three.

The day was high cloud but extremly hot and dry.

The walk started out with my friend zipping ahead of me and winning the walk leg by 30 secs.

I still powered along after her though thinking I would catch her up on the bike leg.

Here I am just getting into top gear trying to pick up as much speed as I can after being delayed in the shoot for 30 odd seconds while they let a car go by.....grrrr....and again I was delayed at the round about as well.... so each time I got closer and closer to Yveonne I had to sit and watch her get further away from me.

I must have made up some time as I did pull in behind her at the end of the bike leg. She had a quick trans and raced away to the pool before me. I just couldnt get my legs working and so wobbled after her.

It came down to a race in the pool with her not being able to swim so she ran in the pool and I swam. She ended up beating me by 3 seconds. So I was placed 2nd over all and I bet my time from last year by 4 mins. I am very very happy with that.

Dad, Grandad and Great Grandad....all in one

Today my dad came over from Aussie to catch up with us all and to meet his first Great Grandchild.

It was an awesome day, so much to catch up on. It was just so wonderfull being near my dad. It doesnt matter how old you are......to a daughter.....your dad is the most important man in your life.

Here is Shakara, Granddad, Teagan and Kayne.

In all the excitement we forgot to get a photo of me with dad. Next time!!!

Katie-May ... still in her nightie, checking out the tall dashing man that was holding her. The moment I took this photo she flashed her Great Granddad the biggest smile.




Just melts your heart .......

Katie-May Castle Wells

October 30th, 2007 at 5.47pm Katie-May was born via C-Section and weighed 8lb 14oz.

After a long night and even longer day, it was finally decided that baby was not moving along as she should be and C-Section it was.

Teagan, Josh and Katie-May are all doing fantastic. Josh (dad) is a little frazzled by it all and Teagan is just tired and sore......as can be expected.....................as for Katie-May, she fed all night and slept all day wondering what all the fuss was about.

I truly think she is the most exquisite wee baby.

This is a family photo of Teagan, Josh and Katie-May

Teagan gave her the middle name of Castle in honour of her Great Grandma. Her middle name was a family name of Hard Castle. Teagan thought that Castle would be a nice way to honour her and carry on her name.

We all go across to Blenheim soon were we will have a 5 generation photo. With Great Great Grandma, Great Gran, Nan, Teagan and Katie-May. Infact it will be a time for the whole family to get together and met the latest family member.

Teagan also carrys on the family tradition of Eldes Girl has a baby girl first.

My Baby haven a baby...

Teagan (my oldest daughter) turned 21 this month. I cant believe it was 21 years ago that I looked just like her picture here. They say her due date is 20 October but I can't see her going too much longer. She is at that frustrated "just get it out stage" she is bored with just sitting around waiting. Doesnt matter how much we all say.....sit...enjoy....relax...............she just cant wait. lol Something every mum can sympathise with. This is teagan with her partner Josh. Keep popping back as it wont be long now till you read the announcement that I am a Grandma or Nana or Gran or Nan......hopefully by then I will have made up my mind what I want to be called.

Woodbourne Half Marathon 2007

19/08/07

Picture perfect blenheim day. Not a cloud in the sky nor a breath of wind....and we are up at 8am getting ready to enter a half marathon.

I had brought a GPS to use and so we decided to head to the river and set it up while we waited until it was time to start. Of course we had our "babies" with us Casey and Trixie our dogs. Well you wouldnt pick it but this was to be the day that Casey just had to go off and find the deadest and smelliest thing to roll in. She stunk the car out so badly. hahaha So shane had to head down to the river and wash her while I raced and then he had to contend with wet smelly dog for the rest of the day.

We lined up at 9am for the walkers. The main contenders were Sharon (my coach) and Richard (winner of St Clairs) the three of us headed out together but Sharon burst away quickly so I stuck with Richard for the first quater but he was much fitter than me and slowly pulled away.

Here I am at the 5km mark checking my GPS to see how far I had gone and what my pace was. It was this feature that helped me to keep a steady pace the whole way...I must admit that the step hill at the 10km mark absolutley wiped me out. Even in the read out on the GPS it clearly shows I slowed down after that.

I could still see Richard and Sharon some distance ahead of me until the 15km mark and then they had a race between them with them swapping lead many times.

With Richard taking the win in the end and sharon very close behind him. I finished the 21km 3rd and in 2 hours 32 mins. I am thrilled with that time and it shows me that I have gotten quicker, unfortunatly I pushed myself a little too hard and over extended my right knee and am now off for at least a month to let the little muscle in the back of the knee heal. But at least it will heal.

Next race - Spring Duathlon at Rabbit Island, then training for the Waimea Half Marathon Oct 27th.

Winter Duathlon Rabbit Island

Sunday 15th July, -1 frost on the ground. Its 9am and I am out at Rabbit Island........its freezing!!

But it is the start of the winter round of Duathlons.

I had been naughty and have done little training at all.... still for fun thought to enter.

It is a beautiful day, clear blue sky, sun shining and a frost that looks like snow. I took the lead from the start (sexy blue wee beany aye!!) I didn't feel my toes still the start of the bike leg lol...

It was a short race today with a 2.6km walk, 11 km mountain bike and 2.6km walk to finish.

The bike leg was really hard. Biking in sand and pine needles was really tough. It felt like I had a flat tyre the whole way around.

The views over the bay were fantastic. Crystal clear day, calm sea...just magic really.

Getting off the bike and heading out for the second walk was odd. My legs had pumped up soo much from the bike ride that it took a while before I could really walk properly.

But I finally got them going and finished in around 1 hour 20mins. But I won the walk section and also my age group................first competion as a 40 year old.....now that sucks!!

Trip to New Plymouth

It was Nana's 80th birthday and we were to be her surprise present.

In the photo is Steve, Diane, Nana, George, Mum and Shane.

We were meant to fly up but due to it being school holidays we were unable to get flights, so after much discussion we decided to drive up. We booked the last ferry on Thursday night - this left picton at 7pm but due to bad weather we didn't arrive in to Wellington until after 11pm. With torrential rain the drive up was not the most pleasant. We arrived in New Plymouth at 3.45am and was thrilled to hear that Diane had filled the hot water bottles and we had a nice warm bed to climb into. I get migraines (I hate them sooo much) but anyhow as it would turn out I woke up Thursday morning with one forming and it stayed with me until Sunday night. Needless to say, I took a lot of painkillers and was high as a kite for most of the weekend but I did manage to hide just how much pain I was actually in..........I think I am getting used to them.)

Lucky for us we missed the tornado's!!! but we did have the first day with wind and rain. Saturday came quickly and it was so exciting to finally meet with the rest of Shane's family. Cousins that he has not seen himself in over 10 years!!

Here is the gang....Paul, Karlene, Belinda, Teresa and Shane.

We had an awesome night, sitting around the open fire drink in hand and listening to all the stories flow.

Shane took me to Pukekura Park on Saturday. What an awesome park. We went up to the little zoo at the top and spent ages watching monkeys and otters race around.

There were many little walks that zig zag through the whole park and a huge water fountain. I loved the waterfall - It would have been lovely to see it going at night as it has lights behind it....

On Saturday morning I headed out garage saleing while the guys went off on the bikes. Here is a photo of the likely lads.

Family time

Last weekend I got to met the newest member of our family. My cousin Kirstie's baby girl Kiera. Plus it was also her engagement to wayne too.

It was so neat to catch up with Aunty Row and my cousins and their family too. I really dont get enough time to see them all as much as I would like too.

I will add some of the photos that were taken on the day.

Shakara getting some time with Kiera.

Teagan is the hair dresser of the family and just loves doing peoples hair.

St Clair Half Marathon

I stumbled onto this site about 6 months ago and thought what a cool thing to do. It is a 21km walk/run through the vineyards in Blenheim/Marlborough on Saturday 12th May 2007. Totally cross country with stop banks to climb up, swamps to walk through, fences to climb and a creek to cross. I challenged my step sister to do this with me just before Xmas and she was so keen that she went on line and paid for her spot almost immediately. Sadly by the time I went to pay for mine they had all sold out. Only 200 people were able to do this one. Anyhow, Gina kindly gave me her entry as my birthday present so I was able to go.

Two days prior to this it poured with rain and had become really cold. So far in all my events I have been really lucky and have not yet done one in the rain. I really thought this was going to be my first. We drove over from Nelson on the day and thankfully it was a clear sky.....well it was 7am so couldn't see past the fog really.

The walkers were to head off first with the runners starting off an hour later. With the grass full of dew we were off.

I led out for the first 200 m then this guy just blasted past me like I was ambling like a snail. I figured it was not worth it trying to keep up with him as I have never walked 21km before and new it was going to be tough. My toes were frozen and I wished I had worn better socks. I kept thinking that if they didnt stop hurting I was not going to be able to finish. (The joy of inheriting gammy toes as the long toe hits the end of my shoes and really hurts)

One thing that really annoyed me was an older lady that was running started out with us and she ran beside me for almost quarter of it then she caught up with the guy in front of me and run behind him. (I notice that they still have her time in the walkers results!!!)

The cloud lifted and like a very typical Blenheim day. It became hot. I had dressed for a cold day so found the heat hard.

I found it really odd with this event as the guy out in front had such a lead on me that once past the 8km mark I hardly ever saw him at all and behind me was the same. I could no longer see anyone behind me. So I found it hard to keep pushing myself to keep going quickly and I was so afraid I would get lost. They said to follow the blue pack strapping that was on the ground but when you pop out from the vineyard row you are not sure of which row you should head down again. So I felt a little disorientated at times.

I think the hardest part of the race was the last 5km. It really breaks you. Your body hurts, your feet are killing you and you just want to stop. (luckily I had been warned of this by a lady I raced against the weekend before and I took her advice and had lots of carb drinks in my pocket.)

Climbing the fence was extremely hard as there was only 2 km to go and to lift your legs up to climb on a wine barrel was actually alot harder than I thought. My legs just didn't want to bend up that far nor push my weight through so I grabbed the fence and dragged myself over.

I saw the finish line and was so thrilled that I had at least finished. I had made a guess of what time I wanted to do it in........the weekend before I walked the Nelson Half Marathon and did the 10km walk in 1hour 13min..... so I thought I was really pushing it but would like to finish at 2hours 30min. My official time was 2 hours 29min. How cool is that. I got my picture in the paper too. All finishers got a bottle of St Clairs wine, what I didn't know was that all the first place winners got a Magnum of it. So when I crossed the line and got my hand shook and the bottle thrust at me I looked down and saw the size of and instantly thought "oh YEAH" and that's when they took my photo. So yes I had a huge grin on my face.

The next problem was the reporting in the paper about the event. They put the caption under my photo correct but in the results listed me as a man!!! last time I checked I was still a girlie. So I contacted the paper and they were most sorry so said they would correct it. Which I must say they did but with the correction they printed my time wrong. They gave me the time of the second place getter. lol .............. You just cant get good journalism can you.

Taylors Womens Triathlon

Its Sunday 1st April, normally it would be a great April fools joke to get up early and push your self to breaking point but today over 500 w0men in Nelson did just that.

I was one of them.

I woke up Sunday morning and ripped back the curtains expecting to see the rain that had been forcasted. You can only imagine my joy at seeing blue sky and sunshine. It was going to be a fantastic day.

As I raced around the house getting my gear in order, Shane was out in the garage giving my bike the once over, checking air pressure, seat height and that gears all changed smoothly. What a champ he is.

In all there were 298 Walkers and 258 runners. I made sure that this year I was going to get a good start and made my way to the start line to line up in front on the best side of the road. We all stood around chatting nervously waiting for the start.

I led out from the start but the sound of fast moving feet came up from behind and I was over taken by a very fluid and fast moving lady (beside me in the black) she proceeded to pull away from me leaving me in her dust. I stayed in second place with my rival from Blenheim behind me.

Each time I would glance over my shoulder there she would be and 297 other walkers all stomping after us.

By the time we made our way around the 3 km course back to the bike transition she was a good 100m in front of me. I found my bike, threw my helmet on and raced off to the road to mount my bike. Leaping on my trusty stead I peddled off after her determined to catch her up. I caught her up half way round the 12km cycle way and zipped past her and pushed myself to up the tempo to try and get some distance between us before entering the pool (my weakest)

I pulled up at the next transition and gave my bike to a catcher then tried to get my legs to function. They had turned to jelly at this stage and were refusing to do anything that closely resembled a race walk. But upon looking over my shoulder and seeing the person I had worked so hard to catch and pass strutting my way spurred my legs into gear.

We raced into the pool area and entered the pool side by side. I thought I was toast for sure as I was having trouble getting my breath and was wondering how on earth I was going to get on in the pool. But as luck would have it, she called out to me - thanked me for the race and told me to go for it as she cant swim. I thought she was having me on but it didn't take long to see that she really couldn't swim. So all I could do was flip over and back stroke the whole way.

After the race I met up with her (Yvonne) and we are now going to met up and train together from time to time. She is just learning how to race walk and can help me to find the right style as well. So a good friend gained.

Here I am at prize giving receiving my big silver tray and a printed plate for the event. I also won a smaller plate for winning my age group plus a spot prize - I picked a printed tee shirt so I can remember the day.

Now it is back to training hard so that I can do the next three events in faster times.

ASB Womens Triathlon

Today I entered the ASB Womens Triathlon. This is a 200m swim, 12km bike and 3 km run/walk.

Here I am getting ready to start the swim. I am adjusting my attractive looking googles ... hehe...

I ran out of the pool, grabbed my gear and dragged on my shorts over wet legs and grass covered feet.

Helmet on, glasses on and off I race. 3 laps and I must say that the last lap was a grind. It may not have been a steep street but it really slowed you down and your legs and butt complained bitterly!!



With the bike ride over I headed out to complete the walk. For the first time I got a really bad stitch which took for the first lap to go away, so the second lap it was head down and go.



I won the walkers section of this event.....yayayaya.... I won a $50 voucher and also got a spot prize - a bottle of wine. Turns out that there was an error on the day and they mucked up the times. I was placed 2nd with Rhonda Murphy from Blenheim winning the event, they missed her when she crossed the finish line.


So needless to say, I am now writting this up while waiting for my wine to chill.


Next event in Round 2 in the Rabbit Island series then The Taylors Womens Triathlon

Duathlon At Rabbit Island

Sunday 18th Feb,

Entered the Rabbit Island Duathlon. Decided on the duathlon as I am not a strong swimmer and the thought of a 750mt sea swim did nothing for me.

I also decided to run in this instead of walking. First I ran 1.25km

which I did ok on.......gasp!!!!

Grabbed my bike and did a very fast 7km ride (16mins - one of the fastest for the day) then off to finish up with a 2.5 km run.

After the bike ride my legs felt like jelly and it was now mid day and very hot. I really struggled with the run this time, but still managed to finish 2nd over all and win my age group.