The weekend in New Plymouth with Janine and Callan and some running fun

 Hi,

New Plymouth, you have wowed me with your town. Great places to visit and poke your nose into, great cafes. Would visit again in a heartbeat.

Thank you to Jason for looking after the cats too. They would have been very happy to get attention from you.

Coastal 5 was the event that got us all up to New Plymouth for the weekend. 5 running events totalling 42km over the two days of the weekend. 

Mike and I left home early Friday morning - before we had to leave. Yes, we were ready early. Headed to Aotea to pick up Callan and Janine. Janine was driving there from her place.

Driving to Aotea early Friday

Iced latte at Bulls

Charge up at Bulls while we got some food. That went well too. Then back in the car to drive up the west side of the maunga to New Plymouth. But to do that we needed a bit of extra charge. So we stopped for some food at Hāwera - in the cafe attached to the library. Nice place.

Further up the highway

The back seat look ready

ōpunake beach

Great views

Lovely beach

Maunga looking fine

Views down the coast

Walk back

Hāwera Woollies for Toby

We were staying at the Plymouth International hotel on Devon St East. Really nice place. Easy to park in their car park each time. Good rooms.

Plymouth International - our room

Saturday morning at 5.45am

Up at 5am Saturday for the first event. The half marathon. Nothing like getting the bulk of your distance done on the first event. But at 5.15am I peeked out the window and was greeted with Rain and wind. Uh oh. But by the time the event started at the wind wand at 6.15am, it had almost stopped a drizzly rain. And by the time they ran past me after 6km it was already starting to get sunny.

Walking to the start

He looks ready

Start line forms

6k in and he looks great

Sun is coming out

The course stretched out along the coastal walkway and then headed into the streets and parks of outer New Plymouth. Fairly flat course with some little risers to keep things spicy. That was the marketing speak.

Mike had Glympse on so I could follow his progress. He was always looking consistent whenever I took a look.

Callan finished first, about 500m ahead of Mike. Both looked strong going over the finish line. And Janine was only 10 minutes behind Mike - also powering through to the finish.

And done.

21km done

To the finish line

The 5k was next - up in Pukekura park. And we were early there so we got distracted by the gorgeous wee zoo right next to the start line. Loads of cool animals. Otters. Meerkats. And the capybara had been moved to Wellington to keep their capybara company. A lovely connection to our zoo.

Otter

Eating s rat lunch

5k at Pukekura park

Zoo

This 5k run was twice around the park. And had a steep uphill on the first lap through. Callan ran the entire way up the steep hill. Mike and Janine were more measured in their approach to the steep section. And why not? They still had another 5k event after this!

But we had to refuel. Went to Elixir cafe and the three of them were tempted by the famous Mince on Toast. Callan might have built up some anticipation there. I think they all liked it. My bagel was good.

Elixir cafe famous mince on toast

Nice drinks

I watched the women's cricket (BBL) while the team drove to Bell St for a bus to their 3rd event. 5km up some hill Pukeiti. Sounded like hard work.

Sydney got some hail

After the events for the day, Mike, Callan and Janine went out for some kebabs. But I was still full of bagel so stayed in the room. They were back early and we were all asleep pretty fast.

I got up at 4am to watch the rugby. England v All Blacks. What a dire game for NZ. They have a lot of room for growth. At least the Silver Ferns beat England.

The team headed out at 5.40am for their 10km uphill slog. 4th event. And it seemed it was pretty good. They were back before I knew it. And they showered and we checked out and headed to town for the last event.

We grabbed some kai at The dept cafe. And then into the start area to watch the waves before theirs. Elite athletes first. They did it in 5 mins or so. Then they ran the kids event. The boy that won their 5k wave in the park won the kids events. So fast. And some of the kids were barely beyond walking stage. But so heart-warming to see.

Their event was last. And it was great fun. Callan smashed it. Mike also ran super-fast and got 8 minutes in his time. Janine was no slouch either and after running over 40km they all ran really well.

Before the 1.6km sprint

Looking ready for the last event

And done

Medallists

We finished all the races in glorious warm sunshine. They all looked fresh enough to continue running. And that is what you want from a race weekend.

We left and immediately hit traffic as roadworks slowed our departure from New Plymouth. We got to Bulls to recharge and visited Maccas. Then down to Wellington. We hit Transmission Gully closures so were in a traffic jam on the expressway for about 25 mins.

Dropped off Callan and Janine. Then home to see the cats and unpack. What a great weekend. The team were so good. Plenty in the tank.

I would recommend this event to anyone wanting to stretch themselves.

Have a great week.

Love,

Angela