The Cathay Pacific Half & Quarter Marathon

I didn’t walk on Sunday with North Shore Nordic Walkers; instead I attended one of Auckland oldest fitness events at the Orakei Domain, The Cathay Pacific Half Marathon and 11km Run & Walk.  The event has run for 18 years and is popular with all kinds of people from runners to walkers and even Nordic Walkers and I have taken part in three of these in the past few years.  The event is marked with a T-shirt printed in a different colour each year and it was great to see them lined up on a makeshift washing line this year to commemorate their 18^th anniversary.

Cathay Pacific 2012 - celebrating 18 years in Auckland!

Some of the North Shore Nordic Walkers (nearly) took part in the event two years ago which was called off due to a Tsunami warning. Despite the disappointment June Stevenson from Nordic Kiwi organised an alternative event which many of the erstwhile Nordic Walking participants attended a week or so later around the same course.  I remember that we got some funny questions as we walked by, many people thought that the race had in fact been rescheduled! On the day however June redirected us to Cornwall Park where many of the event participants could be spotted around the park sporting the famous coloured Cathay Pacific T-shirts.  In 2010 the shirt was a far from fetching shade of orange so it was quite easy to spot them amongst the green of Cornwall Park.

During the last month or so June and Paul Stevenson have been running a training squad for the 2012 event, some of the squad had never taken part in any marathon and as we all know preparation is paramount if you really want to take part in any event.  Over the last few weeks on a Sunday, our squad has been training at various locations in and around Auckland in order to improve technique, walking times and fitness levels.  It’s been a great experience and I would encourage anyone who is a little timid of entering into any event, just do it as it is or indeed for fun or for a sense of personal achievement. My advice would be to get professional instruction and coaching as it can make a huge difference and also join a team for support and encouragement The group that I was part of was fun and easy going but extremely focused, with mixed abilities but everyone felt part of a bigger commitment.

21K Runners Finish

Everyone receives a pack from the organisers and in this comes a start time, because the event has staggered starts it feels less crowded and it’s easy to pick your pace at the beginning. It’s also arranged so that all the participants finish in time for prize giving at 11.00 am. I arrived earlier than my allocated 11K start time in case the weather got warmer and made my way from the start line on Orakei Domain. I set off along the Tamaki Drive sea front towards the city, fixing my position behind a power walker who was pounding the pavement at a reasonable pace.  This area is open to the public during the event and the pavement is also shared with other runners, walkers and cyclists so it can be tricky to negotiate. I find now that my hearing is tuned into my surroundings much more so during events and I was very aware of someone coming up quickly from behind, I caught a glimpse from the right where a walker passed close by very fast.

The weather was superb for walking and I have Iearned through various classes and certainly from other events to slow myself down as I tend to become very competitive and want to walk quickly; so despite the temptation, I carried on in the shadow of the power walkers in front of me.  It’s whilst walking behind someone that you also start to notice their technique, and I realised quite quickly that neither of the two ladies were going to last at the pace they were going.

For a while it was game of cat and mouse with the said two ladies until I got to where the strikers were protesting outside of the dock gates. It was there that I passed them both, walking further down to the crossing point where the police and marshalls were holding back the traffic for us at Quay Street.

Paul Stevenson & some of our Nordic Walkers

Crossing over in Tangihua Street I was passed by a female runner, she was running quite heavily and seemed to be intermittently walking/running some of the course. I followed and overtook her several times all along Beach Road, Roynane Street and crossing into the Strand.

Once back onto Tamaki Drive we continued our relay until we turned into Ngapipi Road, then onto Pantai Drive which was when I lost her and lost my direction. I inadvertently followed the 21 K runners way into Coatea Ave and on the corner of Kepa Road before I realised what I had done.
I had to quickly bound with my poles back to the 11 k track to the finish and I made it in spite of my detour in 1 hour and 40 mins.

I was clapped in by some of the crowd and my fellow Nordic walkers.

We all hung around the finish line watching and cheering on our fellow team mates, it was a great atmosphere and well organised.  The event is well sponsored and co-ordinated by Calliope Athletic and Harrier Club every year, it’s safe and its fun, the day is highly enjoyable and the prize giving is immensely entertaining and done with great humour.  I’m always surprised to see just how many participants are actually visitors from other countries.

June Stevenson & some of the 2012 Nordic Walking Training Squad

There are some very unflattering pictures of me along the way which I’m not going to share!

You can find some of the team photos on the Nordic Kiwi Facebook page, make sure you “Like” our page and keep up to date with events and the latest health and exercise articles. Back to normal walking next week.

Course Map:

http://www.coolrunning.co.nz/races/cathaypacific/map07.gif

Other Info:

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/events-cancelled-while-nz-tsunami-alert-3384513