The finishing time is a little fuzzy in the memory banks, can't find any official results either. It was either 3:28:57 or 3:27:58. It was run around a lake, entirely on paved roads. Seasons are flip flopped, so April 30th is Fall / Autumn in NZ. Can't remember weather conditions, most likely it was sunny, beautiful and nice.
In a that was then, this is now moment.... training was so different then. I ran most days, mostly the same places, same pace - my favorite place to run was from my house (lived on a farm) out to the Kaitoke Regional Park and back. Was about a 15 mile jaunt. Pulled these pictures from online of the area - quite a different place to run than the flatlands of Colorado....
Some of the filming for Lord of the Rings was done there a few years later - only evidence of that is the sign that is there now....
Trained for about 3 months, remember dealing with some sore shin splints that I just chose to run through. No such thing as hill training, tempo runs, fartleks. No taking any food or water with me on the training - if I got thirsty there was always a creek I could just stop at and scoop up a few handfuls of water before keeping going. No GPS watch to track the pace, distance, elevation or whatever. No technical shirts or fancy shoes, just what I could afford - cheap sneakers, singlet / tank top and rugby shorts.
Oftentimes in training I would have to avoid the sheep herds or cows on the roads. Sheep are so stupid. Easily spooked, never predictable, yet fun to chase after. I never met a sheep that was smart. I have a Sheep Story I will write out one day - it's a good one.
Back to race day - just over 2000 runners. Such a pretty place to run........
The next day I boarded a plane, followed by another and then several more - leaving New Zealand and flying to the USA - where I have lived since. For those of you who have run races, particularly ones that result in DOMS - I would not recommend running a marathon, then sit in a plane(s) for the next 2 days. "Ouch" is a little non descriptive.
Added more photos to this....
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