Preface
Hard on the heels of our previous Half Marathon in Beijing came a long and tiring series of flights to New Zealand (via Hong Kong and Sydney, lasting in excess of 24 hours if you include waiting around in airport departure lounges).
When we arrived in Auckland we were a full 12 hours ahead of the UK and by this time our body clocks were pretty confused to say the least. An enjoyable week spent driving around the North Island in a camper van allowed us to gradually acclimatise, although just as we’d got used to being 12 hours ahead we suddenly gained another hour due to the clocks going back in the UK!
Looking back, 2009 had flown past. The African leg of our 5 Continents Challenge had seen us run the Marrakech Half Marathon in Morocco way back in January, enduring a 500 km minibus journey when our flight was unable to land due to fog and we were re-routed to Fez.
This was followed by the European leg in Paris, run on a pouring wet day in March when we nearly missed the start because although my navigation skills got us to the correct metro line, unfortunately it saw us getting a metro heading in completely the wrong direction. The American leg saw us travel to Canada in May where Anita finished the Vancouver Half on her birthday against all of the odds, having picked up an injury in the week immediately preceding the race, and where I was fortunate enough to win the Masters 45 title.
The Asian leg saw us run the Beijing Half in mid-October, where I had failed miserably to win any prizes for the hurdles and as a consequence had narrowly avoided ripping my shorts completely in two whilst climbing over a metal fence seconds before the race started.
And here we were in Auckland, with nearly 40,000 air miles behind us and just a few days from the final Australasian leg of our world running tour. After all of the hassle finding the pre-race pick-up location in Beijing, Auckland couldn’t have been easier. Our hotel was literally a five minute walk from ExPo and it was a relief to pick up our race numbers and move one step closer to completing our challenge.
Race Day
Race day was on the 1st November - the day after Halloween. The very early race start (6:10am for the Marathon and 6:45 for the Half) and the fact that it started in Devonport – a 10-15 minute ferry ride from the main harbour where most people were staying – therefore caused the quite unique situation where runners travelling to the start of the race were mingling with hard-core party goers. It was quite easy to tell who was who!
Anita and myself had decided to run in fancy dress for our last Half Marathon, and our decision to run as clowns meant that we had to set our alarm clocks for 4am local time in order to ‘do our make-up’ and walk the short distance to the ferry terminal in time to get to the start. Unfortunately, our make-up didn’t go quite as planned and I think we both resembled something out of a horror movie, judging by the look on people’s faces as we walked out into the darkness of the early morning.
By the time we’d crossed the bay and had travelled to the start line, the sun began to rise giving glorious views back across to Auckland city and the highest building in the Southern Hemisphere, the Auckland Sky Tower.
I think we’d envisaged more people running in fancy dress, but we were almost the only runners who had decided to do this (with the exception of a couple of half-hearted nuns) and we were therefore treated as a bit of a novelty, by fellow runners and spectators alike. In fact, we even got a special mention from the pre-race commentator.
The starting gun fired bang on 6:45 and we were off around the streets of Devonport. A beautiful morning it may be, but the roads around Auckland resemble those you would traditionally associate with San Francisco – very straight and undulating, with steep rises and drops.
Our initial position quite near the start line meant that runners began to pass us quite quickly, with at least one in three shouting the seemingly statutory “Come on – you’re running like a clown” (witty folks, these Kiwis). Oh well – given the way Anita runs I’m sure she’s heard it before, but I must say it was all new to me!
Part of our clown’s outfits were a pair of cycle horns, and we (well, me in particular) took great delight in waking up as much of the Auckland suburbs as I could – after all, if I had to be up at 4am why shouldn’t others!
It’s strange the effect that a clown’s costume can have on runners – after all, no-one wants to finish behind the clown do they? One toot of the horn was guaranteed to make even the tiredest runner leap into running action once more, just to avoid the embarressment of us going past them.
After about seven or eight miles we turned onto Auckland Harbour Bridge, normally reserved exclusively for cars. I guess this must have been the best part of a mile from one end to another, and an almighty climb to the mid-point.
After that, the rest of the race was literally all down-hill, with the final couple of miles running alongside the various Quays and Harbours that comprise Auckland’s sea-front. All too soon (for me – not soon enough, for Anita) the finish line came into view and we ran towards it side by side, having agreed we’d cross the finish line together.
About 50 metres from the line my sponge clown’s nose popped off (not for the first time) and I stopped briefly to bend down and pick it up. Life’s strange, isn’t it? Just when you think you know someone as well as you can, they go and do something which surprises you. As I got up and put my nose back on, I turned to look for Anita and saw her scurrying as fast as her legs could take her to the finish line (video footage of which can be found HERE).
Yes – despite me agreeing to run the last two Halfs with her, she’d gone and done the dirty on me at the last moment, and can now claim she was the first of the two of us to complete a Half Marathon on each of the five continents. Her official time of 2:13:06 proves this (one second and one place ahead of me), and so – I suspect – does the official photograph (Anita outsprinting me, despite my desperate efforts to get back level) which Anita assures me she’ll purchase whatever the cost.
As we approached the finish area, we were handed a voucher. For a bottle of water? No - for a local brew lager which was being distributed to all finishers. At 9am? Oh well, when in Rome (well, you know what I mean!).
Despite me having to play second fiddle on the day, the Auckland Half was an absolutely fantastic way to finish our series of five races. The sun shone from start to end, the setting is superb and the organisation is as good as any I’ve seen.
It’s an early start, but it does mean that even we finished before 9am, and as a consequence managed to get back to our hotel, shower, dress and still make breakfast (the closing time for breakfast undoubtedly gave Anita an added incentive to run quicker).
Postscript
2009 will be a year that both Anita and I will remember for the rest of our lives. Not only have we been fortunate enough to set foot on all five continents in one year, but we had also managed to remain fit enough and injury free to complete a Half Marathon on each continent (although in Anita’s case, only just on the Vancouver leg!).
Running has taken us to some places that we’d probably never have visited, and seen us mingle on the start line with people who couldn’t speak our language, but who shared a common interest. The highlight for us both was most definitely the start line in Auckland – with the sun shining over the bay and the two of us looking like the Joker from the Batman movies.
I guess the low point was being told back in January that we’d need to travel over 500 km by minibus from Fez to Marrakech, and realising that there was a good chance we’d miss the opportunity to pick up our race numbers and as a consequence fail the challenge before it had even begun.
But everything fell into place in the end, and we both managed to cross the finish line in all five events. More importantly, we have helped to raise in the region of £3,000 for St. Peter’s Hospice in Bristol, and we’d both like to offer our sincere thanks to everyone who’s donated to date.(Anyone who hasn’t and wishes to donate can do so by visiting www.justgiving.com/5continents).
I think we’ll do something a little less strenuous for our holidays in 2010. However, 2011 heralds our 50th birthdays. “5 Marathons on 5 Continents at 50” has a nice ring to it, but please don’t tell Anita just yet!
Phil Westlake
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