Rice Family

June 5th has been etched on my brain since the start of the year. This was the year I was going to run my first full marathon. I've already run a few half marathons - with my fastest time being 1 hour 38 minutes. I did not run between June 2009 and January 2011 because of an injury. I started the year well and training felt so good. Unfortunately after about 8 weeks my Achilles began playing up again

Last Sunday I watch with tears in my eyes as the race began. A couple of thousand people ran the full and half - including Amy and Matthew. A further 1300 ran a 10 km race - including Hannah.

Hannah was aiming for under 60 minutes and she finished in 58! Amy was troubled by aching knees and completed her half-marathon in 2 hours 38 minutes. Matthew was trying to beat my best time. He is still only 14 but he does train up and down the hills around Diamond Harbour. He came in with an amazing time of 1 hour 35 minutes.

Because of the earthquake the race had to be moved. It is usually run around the streets of Christchurch which is great as there is a lot of support all the way around the course. This year it was around the countryside near Lincoln. This is quite flat and open to the cold southerly that blew in as the starting gun was fired.