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Running events saved my life…well I’m being a bit melodramatic there…but yes I reckon I was heading towards a post-sporting life of sitting on my butt and eating and not much good comes from that. The first real event I did was a 34k coastal run that involved wading, swimming, rock-hopping, scrambling and soft sand running. It left me vomiting, cramping, heat struck and physically just about the worst condition I’ve ever been in…only once have I been worse which was after dodge vindaloo in India. It also left me euphoric…well sort off.

It was the challenge that got me. Never had I challenged myself like I had over the last 11k of that run. Yeah sure I’d faced the fastest bowlers and trickiest spinners the world had to offer in my cricket career and when you are playing sport for a living the pressure of the situation is immense but I knew what I was doing when it came to batting….I’m no athlete.

It took every bit of will power I had to haul my failing body to the finish line that day…and I promise you I felt proud of myself when I did, every bit as proud as a test hundred.

Running is funny really, because as I shuffled along Takapuna beach I was saying to myself that I would never do this again and yet within 10 minutes of finishing I was planning how I was going to attack the race the following year.

From that day on I’ve been a runner…well a weekend warrior to be exact…entering events and running hard, competing against my friends but mostly myself.

It’s a simple act running; easy to do for a wee while but hard to do for long time. Its simplicity makes it accessible to everyone and it offers everyone a plethora of reasons to do it. I do it now to achieve a burning desire to run a sub 3 hour marathon and coming from the couch with little natural athletic ability achieving that goal will make me feel chuffed with myself…and that’s it really…what ever your reason to run it gives you a chance to feel chuffed, and feeling chuffed with yourself is a great feeling.

You can beat your mates, beat your best time, beat your negative inner voice…but you don’t just have to beat someone you can join someone else’s personal challenge and enjoy their ride. Running events are wonderfully inclusive. Everyone can get involved from the elite athlete driven to win, to the weekend warrior trying go top ten, to a mother of four wanting to challenge themselves, to the event goer who just likes being part of crowd.  

So I hope to see you out there on the Hamilton roads and hope you get as much of a kick out running races that I get.

Sunday 5 October 2014
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