Hamilton Marathon Clinic

Newsletter July 2022

The last few weeks has probably been the wettest for quite a while making it harder to get out
and around, either because of the weather, lack of enthusiasm or suffering from various
illnesses going around. The new committee had its first meeting along with others in the club
and have been doing some planning in regards to the shift and also events over next few
months. These are detailed below and will be expanded on as we get closer to the event or
shift. A few went down to the Ruakura Club for dinner and feedback was positive. There is
another Friday drinks and dinner night at RCC in July.

Subscriptions
Subs are now due and the best way to pay is direct credit with your name and “Subs” included
in your payment details. If unable to do this way cash payments can be done at clubnight.
(Correct cash please as no change will be available)

Full Subscription $70.00

Social $20.00

Direct Credit details Hamilton Marathon Clinic 03-1556-0065373-00

Please note that with the move to Ruakura Club, that social members can be signed in to the
club on occasions but if the intention is to regularly go to the club for a meal or drink, there
will be a need to upgrade your membership to a full sub or join RCC separately.

Coming events
Sunday 3rd July
Jukebox Café – Rifle Range Road. – Coffee back at café after finish. If you have not been
through the car museum there, it is worthwhile and value for money.

Friday 15th July

Social night at Ruakura Club 5.30 drinks and dinner available.

Sunday 19th July

Hayes common Wellington St. Coffee afterwards

Club Shift Saturday 3rd September

This is the big day for our shift. Probably be some working bees prior to go through what we
have and sort out what is no longer needed. Please put date in your diaries as will need as
much help as possible. Anyone with trailers please let Ross know. More details will be in next
couple of newsletters.
 Club Championship.
No firm dates as yet but looking at running the 5km and 10km towards end of year at
Ruakura. The ½ marathon will possibly revert to a 15km which could be held either as part of
Blueberry or the members Blueberry prior or after the Blueberry.

There are quite a few outside events coming up now and if anyone is entering, let us know
what you are doing and how it went. Also, if anyone wants to share transport, please let us
know. I am doing the Taupo off road series Mid distance and happy to take anyone else going
of share transport.
I know Denis is back doing his Marathons and still has the 300 in sight. I believe he intends to
do one every couple of weeks.

3rd July Sunday Club Jukebox Cafe 8.00am

5th July Tuesday Club Night Clubrooms 5.30am
9th July Cougar Trail Tokoroa 7, 14.5, Half
10th July Sunday Club Clubrooms 8.00am
12 July Tuesday Club Night Clubrooms 5.30am
15th July Friday night dinner Ruakura Club 5.30pm
17th July Sunday Club Hayes Common 8.00am
19th July Tuesday Club Night Clubrooms 5.30am
24th July Sunday Club Clubrooms 8.00am
26th July Tuesday Club Night Clubrooms 5.30am
31st July Sunday Club Clubrooms 8.00am
6th August Taupo Marathon Taupo 5, 10, half, marathon
14th August Sunday Club Potluck/farewell brunch Details next month
21st August Craters Trail run Wairakei 7, 12, 21
27th August Mount Half Marathon Mount Maunganui 5, 10, Half
28th August 2-hour race track run Hampton Downs
3rd Sept Shift to RCC 10 till 2 and potluck
lunch
10th Sept Kinloch off road challenge Kinloch 5, 10, half, marathon
17th Sept Rotorua Marathon Rotorua 5.5, 10, half, marathon
18th Sept Tauranga Marathon Tauranga 5,10, ½, marathon,50km
24th Sept Blue Lake 24 hour Blue Lake
1st Oct Trek the forest Blue lake/Redwoods 5.5, 16km
8th October Sun to Surf Ohope Beach 5,10, 1/2
8th October Great lake Relay Taupo
15th October Whitianga Marathon Whitianga Marathon, ½, Half trail,
10 and 5
16th October Cambridge Half Marathon Cambridge 5, 10, half
16th October Huntly Half Huntly 5, 10, half
22nd Oct Pirongia Trail run Pirongia
30th Oct Auckland Marathon Auckland
5th Nov Rotorua Walking festival Rotorua
5th Nov Tairua Trail and Tides Tairua
5th Nov Waitomo Trail run Waitomo
5th Nov City to Surf Tauranga

Blueberry Run
This is back on in 2023. Tentative date set for 12 February 2023 TBC with Blueberry Country and
the Ohaupo School. Suggested members do run/walk on 19 th February (or a Tuesday night) to
avoid Waitangi weekend.
Parkruns
The Parkrun concept was started in 2004 in London when 13 runners completed a 5km time
trial. It expanded to two events in 2007 and in 2009 went International with an event in
Denmark and has steadily expanded ever since. Parkruns are now held in 22 countries.
Lower Hutt Parkrun was the first in NZ in 2012 and there are now 37 venues around the
country. They vary in size from the smallest being Hamilton Park in Gore which has had its
biggest entry of 64 up to Hagley Park in Christchurch with 523 its biggest entry.
Parkruns are free to everyone and can be run, jogged, walked, push chaired or a combination
to any of these to complete a timed, measured 5km course. 5km is a distance which is a good
target and realistic for people who do not compete in other events or as a starting distance. It
is also a distance which means that if people are going for a PB they need maximum effort
from the start and over the complete course. There is not the luxury of starting at a steady
speed and then picking up the pace. Many people who do events use it as a training means to
get speed work in and getting PBs does become obsessive to many.
The other good thing about the distance is that with the average time being just over the half
hour and most finishing within the hour means that with an 8.00am start everything is over by
nine and you still have most of the day.
As mentioned, people set targets of PBs and also there are number of event targets, 50, 100,
250, and as I was drafting this Hayley Robinson and X clinic member just completed her 250 th.
Some people their target is doing as many different courses as possible and this could be
completing all in NZ or a mix of here and overseas. Others work on the alphabet trying to do
an event starting with each letter. The University run starting with U was a big help for those.
For others doing a Parkrun out of your area is a good way to see places when on holiday. I
managed one in Edinburgh a couple of years ago and in last few weeks I did the one in Hagley
Park, with 300 entrants, and the following weekend Blenheim with 33. While I enjoyed Hagley
Park it was just too big and with everyone on the concrete path the field was spread back a
good sixty metres and were unable to hear the Directors briefing or the start from where I was
and it probably took 20 or 30 seconds to get over the start line. Being a walker, even with
those numbers I ended up with very few people around me. Blenheim was out and back
course along their river and very laid back and friendly, though a cold and frosty morning.
We are fairly luck that we have two courses in Hamilton and Cambridge only 15 minutes down
the road.
Hamilton Lake is the “Senior” event and is a lap and a bit around the lake. It can get a bit busy
at times with other users and some of the boardwalks get a bit slippery. The grass start/finish
when used can mean wet shoes and feet. Also, the odd person has encountered an aggressive
goose or pukeko. Scenery and wildlife wise it is hard to beat.
University was in some ways a catchment course for Hamilton Lake to ensure numbers did not
get too big, but it has its own strong following who enjoy the course. It is made up of 4
different laps round the University lakes and playing fields and again quite picturesque and
friendly.
Cambridge from the velodrome towards Cambridge on the river trail and is an out and back
course. Who ever plotted it had a bit of a mean streak in them as the last hundred or so
metres are uphill. There are river and farm views from the course.
If you have never done a Parkrun I would recommend them to you, so get out and have a go.

Soup Night and Auction

After a year of so many disruptions it was nice to finally get back to having a Tuesday night post club
night dinner. This took the form of a soup night with I think three or four different soups and similar
number of yummy deserts. Everyone was full at completion. The club thanks everyone involved in the
night from making and supplying the meal, setting the place up and cleaning up afterwards. There was
also an auction of refreshments supplied by Lex who was downsizing his house and wine collection. There
was a good assortment which was keenly bid on (Limit was up to $15 then if more than one person,
there was a draw and only one lot per person) and there were quite a few bottles of bubbly and someone
mentioned that Lex had had a few podium finishes over the years and being a canny Scotsman could not
waste the bubbly by spraying it from the podium. All joking aside it was a very kind gesture which saw
many happy recipients and also the club coffers increased by $235.
Dennis Jordan’s Marathon Review

My Recent 4 Marathons

May 7 T42 Marathon On the T42 trail near National Park. This is a long-established
Mountain Bike event with them adding a Marathon & ½ Marathon a few years ago. I did this
event the 1st year they had the marathon and have not done it since due to falling on Rotorua
Marathon day most years. It was a cold morning but with the marathon starting at 9,30am it
had warmed up enough so that jackets and thermos had been removed before the start and
put into the hydration packs [part of the start conditions was we were required to have warm
and rainproof gear on us throughout the event]. There was no snow on any of the mountains
which is unusual for that time of the year – they are covered with the white stuff now. This
was the 1st marathon for many since Covid lockdowns, so it was great to catch up with fellow
competitors who we had not seen for a long time [a giant reunion with so many doing this that
would normally be at Rotorua].
There was a lot of uphill section from the start, so I was able to keep up with a lot of the
slower runners for some time. In fact, the bulk of the course was uphill, so I was able to be
around other 100 Marathon NZ Club members throughout the marathon. I put my jacket back
on with approximately 10km to go. It was starting to get dark when I finished, so cold when I
was having my complimentary beer. The car heater was not warm enough in the drive back to
race headquarters at National Park. My time was slow as I was cruising through and
catching up with fellow competitors. 7Hr 51min 111th out 116 finishers.

21 May Palmerston Nth Marathon It was very mild at the start, but the marathon
walkers and slower runners had extra layers on for the predicted heavy rain expected later in
the day. The strong winds came and made horrible conditions on the exposed part of the
course at around 28 to 33Km where I struggled. With this event using the new river walkway
extension this is now a top marathon course. I pushed myself at the middle stages which bit
me a while, so I finished strongly, but very pleased to get to the end. The rain did arrive later
than expected [during prizegiving] so another good day out. My time 6Hr 37min

5 June Aurora Handicap Marathon [Hutt Valley] This is one of my favourite marathons
which starts in Silverstream and heads up the Hutt Valley then over to the quiet country roads
of Mangaroa and Whitemans valleys, then the 2Km steep downhill back into Silverstream. The
handicap section means staggered start as per your estimated time which means everyone
supposably finishing close together and anyone could win. I knew I would not catch most of
those that started in front of me, so I cruised around enjoying the course and no pressure. [I
have won the handicap section in this event twice. I finished in 12 th place out of 18 [yes, a
very small field 6Hr 36min 14th fastest.

19 June Wellington Marathon As usual a cold June day for this event – but I have
done this in much worse conditions, so I was not complaining. There was a very strong wind
for 500 metres around 17Km and 27Km. I pushed myself at the start then got into my
comfort zone and enjoyed the atmosphere and feeling strong throughout the 42Km. Later,
when I downloaded data from watch, I realised I had pushed my heartrate onto the 190’s, but
I had got through without a problem, which shows me I can push my limits higher if I stay
focused. My time 6Hr 22min 15th out 23 finishers in the walk section.

Congratulations Dennis for a fantastic effort and commitment to walking so many marathons!
If anyone needs advice or support with their motivation don’t hesitate to talk to Dennis. What
an awesome effort Dennis.