Round The Bays 2013

It was a perfect morning for Round The Bays today - clear and sunny, and thank goodness the humidity had dropped a bit because it felt claustrophobic enough amongst all these people!

Look at that crowd stretching way into the distance!  I managed to get into position about 500m before the starting line before it became too crowded to move, after the starting cannon it was a mere shuffle to the start line, and I took this photo a few hundred metres further on at 9:44am - just as we broke into a slow jog! 

A lot of businesses enter their staff/families/friends into these events, so there are always a lot of T-shirts to read to keep you entertained while you wait:

My goal was to basically enjoy myself and run at 6:00 pace and speed it up toward the end if I felt good, and this was exactly what I did.  I think.  Whenever I looked at my Sportwatch it read 5:55-6:10 pace, and 5:30-5:45 around the last bay, but when I look at my uploaded splits they read about 6:15-6:20, and 6:00 for the last km.  I have noticed this difference before and wonder if my watch is calibrated correctly or something! 

At the finish line

It is hard to know what my real time was - according to the announcer I crossed the line just on 60mins, but considering it was about 10 mins shuffle to the start line and there was no chip timing I think that's a bit unfair!  My watch reads 59:47 but I actually forgot to stop it until after I had taken all these photos about 10 mins later at 10:40am - so I guess I ran it in around 50 mins.

Also Nike+ tells me I ran my fastest 5k (31:04) without even trying.  I must run a proper 5k race at some stage.

Some runners rinsing off after the race!

I tried not to get annoyed at the people walking three abreast in the runners lane, the people who stop suddenly in front of you, and the people who swerve across in front of you to get to a drink station - this is a fun run after all!   I think it is great that these people are participating in the event, and don't blame them for being unfamiliar with usual race etiquette.  But... if I run next year I will try to arrive earlier and get closer to the start line in an attempt to avoid all of that!

Runners coming around the bend into St Heliers Bay
(that coastline in the far distance is the North Shore, where I ran my last race!)

Runners approach the finish line 

Would I run it again?  I'm sure I will - it is such an iconic Auckland event, and it's big, cheap ($15) scenic, flat and fun.  Plus, now I have a time to beat, and who can resist that?!

Does your city or town have a big local fun run that you always enter?