Run Auckland 5 - Almost Speedy

Nice weather for Run Auckland 5 in Western Springs on Sunday morning. Made a big change to last year when it absolutely hosed down.

At the back end of last week I could feel a cold coming on and wasn't really looking forward to this. It's not all that much fun during a run when you aren't feeling 100%.

This course features two laps around Western Springs and the Auckland Zoo. The first 1.5 km or so is a gradual climb, followed by a flat section along Surray Cres, Old Mill Road, and then a sharpish decline, and another flat section past the Auckland Zoo.

Saw Andrew E and his wife near the start, about to start the 5km version.

The hill climb wasn't so bad and I felt pretty good after the first lap. The second lap started to feel a bit ragged to be honest, the cold was catching up with me near the end. Down the home straight I heard Andrew shout out "give it a burst Aaron!" so of course head down and bit of a sprint finish for the last 100 or so m. Managed to haul in three people. It absolutely gassed me though and I came close to throwing up in the chute! Lovely.






Almost speedy...

9.91km / 42:57 / 4:20 min/km. (gun time 43:15).

Not too far off my PB for the 10km. I figure it was a good race really especially with running with a head cold. What I thinked help a lot was the hill training I've been doing the last few weeks. This hill is pretty gentle compared to Jacob's ladder and Western park so found I could maintain a reasonable pace immediately after cresting. Not sure I could maintain 4:20s over the half distance (although in the ADRA half I did last year did manage 4:30s). Maybe a pace in between might be possible :)

Run Auckland 6 in three weeks which is a half marathon. There is a free 12km run (called the "ringstinger") in two weeks which might be worth a look.