The following is a recap of my Pelorus Trust Half Marathon experience held on November 24th. It includes:
- The lead up to the race
- The race (obviously).
- What I liked and didn’t like.
Made sure I ran through the finish line. A little thing I told myself I’d do pre-race.
LEADING UP TO THE RACE
This is basically one of the best views you’ll get. It’s nice, but would be more epic if it was like this for longer stretches of the race.
Having completed the Pelorus Trust marathon in 2018 (had a shocking race) I struggled with motivation to sign up for the Pelorus Trust half marathon this year. But a few friends had registered for the 2019 half marathon and 10km event and I’d be lying if a combination of peer pressure and FOMO wasn’t in the back of my mind.
But for me, the track straight up isn’t exciting and/or inspiring. It’s out and back along the Hutt River which could be cool, but you don’t get many river views at all. Granted the miserable marathon effort probably factors into my reasoning!
Anyway, FOMO won over and I asked my friend to register me for the half marathon when he went to pick up his bib. While he was going that I was on the bus from Tauranga. 10 hours on the bus isn’t the best preparation having run up the Mount Maunganui hill earlier that morning (they were my back up excuses really). I hadn’t decided on goals other than trying to beat my two friends doing the half, which we estimated to be about a 40% chance.
RACE DAY
I slept well on my friend’s couch, waking up at 7:15 am with the half marathon starting at 9 am. A quick banana with peanut butter and water upon waking was a great decision.
We wanted to make sure we got to the race HQ early as we figured with the marathon starting at 7 am parking could be tight. We timed it perfectly and found a carpark close by at 8:20 am.
The event starts at the rugby club which is smart. There’s plenty of open space on the field for everyone to do their warmups without having to hit the streets. With everyone milling around and the relatively small number of runners (low hundreds), there’s no massive chaos prerace of everyone heading to the start line.
About 5 minutes before the start time a loudspeaker instructs everyone to go to the start line for the briefing. I’m not sure if it’s a norm, but they’re pretty insistent on people not wearing headphones during the race which I find strange. It was super funny as my mate had on his large over the head headphones on. After identifying the pacers, I made the decision to follow the 1:50 pacer and see how I felt and would try and chase my friend down if he was ahead after the first 14km.
I needed to stick to this lad like glue.
Beating my friends was my number one goal, but I figured having not done an official half marathon in 10 years anything under two I’d be okay with. But 1:50 was my real goal, with 1:45 my stretch goal.
With 155 runners at the start, the pace isn’t too slow out of the gate as everyone jostles into position but just a couple of hundred metres in you’re running on a boardwalk which is only really practical to run one person wide. That must annoy some of the quicker runners who get stuck early on.
A few hundred metres later and we’re running through Shandon Golf Club which was no doubt a surprise to a few players trying to tee-off with the stampede of feet a stone throw away.
From here on you follow the river north on the western side (assuming you too are doing the half-marathon). You then cross a bridge after about 5km and from here on out, this is where the track isn’t special. You simply follow the undulations of the path near the river.
My plan of sticking to the 1:50 pacer was going flawlessly, and was chuffed I didn’t have any sports drink through the beard from the drink stations!
I passed my friend at about the 8.5km mark, he had tweaked his hip so was now taking it easy to the finish line. He was gutted, but I was secretly stoked I’d beat him. Though I was looking forward to having an epic finish if we were close when we reached the 19/20km mark.
Knowing I’d beat the two friends, my new plan was to continue sticking with the 1:50 pacer until the ~18km mark and then see if I could finish strong. That’s what happened, and seeing a friend who had come 3rd in the 10km race was a nice boost to keep me pushing hard for the last stretch.
The finish line is on the field is where everyone was warming up, and despite the small attendance of this community-run it’s satisfying to push hard until the end with everyone cheering you on.
And all of a sudden, I’d crossed the finish line well under 1:50:00. I’m still a bit confused as my Strava stopped at 1:48:04, so I thought my official time might squeeze under 1:48:00. But it was 1:48:19 which really I’m okay with. If anything the track was slightly long, but I’m not gonna cry about that. I was stoked with my time.
My bib was scanned, medal put over my neck, and banana collected before chilling with my buds waiting for the others finished. With a finish time before 11 am, we would be waiting a long time for the prizegiving at 12:30 pm which would have been nice to attend. But we all hadn’t seen each other for a while so headed off to grab a beer in town and catch up on all the goss.
RELATED READ: RUNNING MY FIRST TARAWERA ULTRAMARATHON
WHAT I LIKED
Some of the action close to the finish line. It’s great for spectators.
- The starting area. Large space and everyone was chilled out.
- Registration right up until race day. Perfect for commitment-phobe like me.
- The finish line entertainment is great. There was a live band this year which made it that much more fun. My friend who came down to watch/support said the entertainment the whole time was awesome.
- All the staff and volunteers were epic. They had the cups ready to grab at the drinks station, the people who were ensuring we stayed on the track kept cheering us on.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
- The track isn’t exciting. That might just be me, but my friend agreed with me after running the course for the first time.
- The medal, which makes for great travel souvenirs, was the exact same as the previous year, and it’s the same regardless of which race it is. At least put the year on it?
- The plastic cups at the drinks stations. It was a windy day, and as much as the volunteers try, I’m guessing some weren’t recovered and ended up in the river (hopefully not).
- At the finish line we could collect a plastic drink bottle. These really aren’t necessary, especially as races around the world aim to be more environmentally friendly.
PELORUS TRUST HALF MARATHON IN 2020?
Will I run it? If I’m in the country, I won’t be jumping up and down with excitement, but never say never. There’s a chance it could happen if my friends sign up again but I won’t be going out of my way to do so.
If you’re considering doing so, I would only if you’ve got a friend or two going along to the race as well. It’s also a decent track to get a good time I feel as there’s little disruptions along the way.
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Hey, it’s Jub here. I’m the guy behind Chur New Zealand, helping you have the best time hiking, trekking, walking…whatever you want to call it…in NZ. I’m based in Queenstown and am always out and about exploring trails, old & new. If you have any questions, reach out.