Going round the bays...again

February rolls around and it's time for the annual Round the Bays fun run. Last year, we both ran the 7km race and we decided to register early and use the opportunity to try and beat our previous times.

But Annalie changed her mind after her training runs crept into double figures (in kms) and decided to put her efforts into trying to run the half marathon. So Ian went for a time record. Annalie opted for a distance one.

Race day dawned with near perfect conditions. There was a break in the super-hot weather we've been having, even extending to a little drizzle. But there was no wind. We drove down early to park at Annalie's work, which is a 10-minute warm-up stroll from the start. We were greeted by a lovely sunrise over the harbour too.

We met up with a friend who was going to help hold Annalie back from running off too quickly - a fatal mistake in any distance. Then it was time for her to line up and off she went, not to see Ian for over 2 hours.

Ian's race started 1 hour 10 minutes later, just as the winner of the half marathon was crossing the finish line! He placed himself at the front of the pack and got off to a good start. With more training under his belt compared to last year, he managed to shave off nearly a minute per km from his previous result.

Annalie's strategy of running with her slower friend paid off as she had a great run. She stayed with him until the 14km mark and then decided to push on. Our friend Dave was waiting at the turn and gave her lots of encouragement as she entered the final third of the race. From this point she passed around 250 other runners, according to her results breakdown, and she beat her goal time of 2:15. The photos make it look like a painful experience, but she is adamant it wasn't as hard as they make it look ;)

For completing the half marathon, Annalie also got a medal, to prove that she's actually done it!

So we both achieved PBs this year. The only question now is, what next?...