We all know a person, who inspired us to lace up our shoes. Sometimes they are admired from afar, sometimes they are sporting stars extraordinaire: Usain Bolt , Haile Gebrselassie … But you don’t have to be Jamaican or Ethiopian to be a champion runner in my books! Right here in our own backyard is all the inspiration you could possibly need:

Enter :  Kiri Price  , who will this September run her 100th marathon at the aptly named ‘Legend’ marathon in West Auckland. The Legend or as it is properly called ‘The Lydiard Legend Marathon’ is described on their website as :

‘The Arthur Lydiard Legend events were created in conjunction with the master coach himself, on courses that have produced our most famous and successful Olympic athletes, the likes of Peter Snell, Murray Halberg, Barry Magee, Bill Bailey and many others…The Legend event is steeped in history and was developed with Arthur Lydiard himself prior to his passing in 2004 – this event was not meant to be a memorial to the great man, and has become a major road run/walk event in the calendar.’

See the amazing New Zealand Herald article on Kiri’s adventure.

Aptly named and steeped in history to mark the amazing feat that is Kiri’s 100th x 42.2 km.  Yes – 100 !! And not only that. Kiri will run this one with 100 friends, family and supporters all wearing purple to mark the occasion ( I dare say, I put my hand up, too !)

Kiri is an inspiration on so many levels, not only is she one of the most humblest persons you will ever meet, but as a running coach at the Millennium Institute www.autmillennium.org.nz and with Get Running www.getrunning.co.nz  she has literally helped hundreds of people to see beyond what they thought may be possible and encourage believe, where often we fail to imagine and all of them ran marathons. And as if that was not enough, she has run countless kilometers with blind and disabled runners in support of   http://www.achillesnewzealand.org/  at the New York marathon and many other events around the world.

This is our chance to give back to Kiri ! Please, if you want to see history in the making, join us as spectator or even better still as runner at the http://thelegend.co.nz/  or find Kiri’s 100th on Facebook !

Happy running as always,

Carmen

Ok, ok – I say this every year : Ironman , shmironman , over it … And then it get’s to a week out and I just can’t contain my enthusiasm! I am so excited to see so many of you cross the finish line, get to the pinnacle of your achievements and finally ‘knock the b*****d off’ !

Toni (and hubby David), Ivan, Sean, Donna, Chris, Robbie, Mark, John, Ruth, Karen, Ricki, Caroline, David D.  , thank you for your dedication and commitment ! I know that at times having your weekly massage would have felt like that extra hour you could have spent training, but I know (and you know ) it has given you the recovery you needed to keep going. WELL DONE to get to this point, go hard and do yourselves proud.

All of the GO2Max crew, Stephen, Vanessa, Anna, Reece, Ryan and everybody else – you are awesome , go get ’em! We will be at the turn around in Riporoa, so go round nice and slow so we can spot you 🙂

And last but not least if you are down there checking out Ironman NZ 2016 , go and see some of the exhibitors at the expo: Jason of Triathletes Corner, Em’s power cookies and of course all the massage providers , who have spent all week down there in the tent, away from their respective clinics to be there.

As every year, I will be down there all over the course, ready to call out your name (though I do avoid the old ‘looking good’ or ‘not far now’ ).  This year though , instead of cheering on hubby, he will be right  at my side – with a bit of luck halo freshly removed –  and envious of every second not spend on the course. Counting down to next year.

Good luck and great racing – and see you on the massage table next week 🙂

Happy massaging as always,

Carmen