Athletics A Spectator Sport?

I haven't watched athletics since the Lynford Christie at the 1990 AKL Commonwealth Games 100m when I was on the far side of the track :(

Hot bods !

Yes Porritt Stadium on Saturday was full of them.

Highlights:

• Monique Williams cleaning up the 100 and 400m.
• Valeri Vili throwing the shotput within a metre of the edge of the sand next to the 20m mark, and skinny white guys throwing half as far.
• Stuart Farquhar throwing the javelin about 50% further than the next furthest chuck.
• High jumpers clearing over my head. I though I did well to jump to my lips at high school.
• Womens 1500m: Auntie of Nikki Hamblin (19 yo in England squad, but out here training with her new Kiwi cyclist boyfriend and running for North Shore Bays) tells her son and his friends to stop running up and down the far bank and give her support. Told pre race that she is frustrated with the slow times here and being told she cannot go until after 300m. The cheering "Go Nikki!" by the cheersquad on the far bank is the loudest by far - every lap - and at the 200m mark she accelerates around the outside and away to win by over 15 metres. Impressive.
• Mens 100m final with 8 starters: "Set ... Bang-Bang" , "next break will be disqualified", "Set..Bang Bang..Number 4 out" "ARRRGGGHHHH!!!!" (Guy who later blitzed the 200 is gone), "Set..Bang Bang..Number 6 out" "FUUUCCKKKK!!!!!!"
• Mine coming 2nd in the 100m under 12. No prizes for 2nd.

Summer Running

Dean Karnaze's book (eg 217km ultra marathon in Death Valley in temperatures up to 55C) was the inspiration I needed to get me running again after Christmas and having done the 20k to Karapiro on Sunday I'm on track to do Rotorua again on 4 May. Again because it's taken me 14 years to forget what last time felt like. Memories like the guy who went past me near the airport with red stains where the sleeves of his too-large white T shirt overlapped his elbows.
Funny how I don't seem to be feeling any better with each run. I put it down to my pace being driven by tolerance level for discomfort, that no matter the length of run I'm speeding up or slowing down, going further and including more hills but keeping the stress level relatively the same. The same as when I started on 5k runs. I'm certain the experts would say I need to vary stress level. Slow learner me !

Drought Over

Environment Waikato chairman Peter Buckley who farms in North Waikato said "I've lived and farmed around here for 56 years and I've never seen it like this 1973/74 was pretty bad as was 1997/98 but nothing like this."

The pasture on my 30 min drive across the Waikato each day is looking just like the Scotsman Valley (near here) bottom photo. The bonus is my tan hasn't been this good since the summer I pulled ragwort on Mrs Johnson's horse farm, and the blackberries are thriving. They taste great in apple crumble despite my scolding for not putting sugar with the fruit, and only half a cup with the flour, but that's why God invented icecream. Yummy.

Newsflash: Today I was drenched in my 50m walk from staffroom to office at lunchtime, and this evening had to buy 2 umbrellas from TWH in Matamata (Bedford Park looks the same as it did in my All Black strip at Saturday Football when I was 5-12) after standing under a tree for half an hour in the rain watching football (as in Ronaldo) practice at P Park.

I reckon here in the Waikato we've still another 2 months of summer to go though.

Classic Jerry Collins Quote

Jerry on TV this week when asked did he still have a hangover from the World Cup :

"Hangovers only last a day"

You da man Jerry !