3:53 finish. Nice race in and around Stavanger, a small port city on the southwest coast of Norway about four and a half hours south of Bergen. No major crowds or anything, but friendly volunteers and small groups of enthusiastic spectators. Starts and finishes downtown with some urban and residential sections, but most of the course is on bike paths through wooded areas alongside lakes and a nearby fjord. Lots of short steep hills that seemed to never stop, but weather was ideal and my time was decent.
Welcome! This blog gives a summary of each marathon with finish time/place, course info, conditions, and links to performance data and travel photos. There are also separate pages listing marathons in different countries/continents, states, and Canadian provinces as well as general info about my running background, frequently asked questions, and advice for anyone looking to start running or exercising more. This blog is linked on my Facebook page, but I'm very rarely on social media otherwise.
Saturday, August 26, 2023
Saturday, August 5, 2023
Marathon #142 (country #25): Taupo Marathon, New Zealand
4:02 finish, 106/274 place overall. Scenic race along Lake Taupo, New Zealand’s largest lake in the center of the North Island, about three hours from Auckland. Ideal running weather - cold at the start but warmed up nicely into the 50s. It’s a little hilly, and an added challenge is the way they lay out the course on narrow sidewalks and paths with huge numbers of shorter distance walkers participating at the same time as the full marathon runners, making it congested even in the later miles. Still, lakefront sections are very scenic and it’s well supported. Considering my lack of training coming off of a minor injury, my time was slower than usual but not as bad as expected.
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