Taupo weekend...leading up to race

After 2 weeks of being back into training it was off to scenic Taupo this weekend for the 17th running of the Mizuno Taupo Half Marathon. My Parents live in Taumarunui which is about an hour or so away over the other side of the lake and as I had a couple of meetings I needed to deal with I headed there on Saturday so i could drive over to Taupo on the morning of the race. Driving down the weather forecast on the radio was for gale force winds and a storm warning...awesome.

Got to Taumarunui and the weather wasn't too bad. Sat in the sun drinking coffee and thought that if it stays like this it will be a really pleasant run the following day. Saw an old fashioned steam train as I drove into town so had to take a pic of that coming into the station as well

Decided to abandon the 31 day challenge temporarily so I could carbo load and had an awesome bowl of penne pasta with tomato, onion, ham and parmesan..om nom nom nom. Afterwards I strapped my ankle up real good to ensure I would have no problems come the morning.

Woke at 5am race morning to get ready and head off by 6am. Had clothes laid out the night before sop was able to dress quickly, have a nice strong cup of black coffee and some scrambled eggs on dry toast with 2 bananas to eat on the drive and out the door.

The drive only took me an hour and a bit as there was no traffic on the road and it was not icy, which meant of course that I was in Taupo by 7:20am for a 9am start. Went into the Great events Centre to collect race pack and transponder and texted my sister to see how far away she was ( as she was travelling down from Hamilton). Turns out she would be there about 8am so I went for a wander round looking at the set up of the finish line and went for a stroll along the lakefront ( which was very grey on such a cold overcast winter day)

My Sister turned up at 8am and we had a few photos and then started to warm up. It was really cold so we kept our jackets on as long as possible. The start was set for 9am so at 8:40 we headed for the starting corral. This was on the road by the marina and hosted by the MoreFM crew and the Mayor of Taupo. The clock ticked down and at 9am, the gun went off and we were away in waves. Race report to come soon