Distance today = 58.16 km; Total distance = 1773.61 km; Location = about 7 km east of Te Kauwhata –  37 23.794′ S, 175 13.012′ E; Start time = 0829, Finish time = 1647

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/146919138

Following on from yesterday’s blog, we had a great evening with the Hamilton Road Runners at a bar/restaurant in East Hamilton called The Cook. It was a great night, and I even received an invitation from the two man acoustic act to do a song or two. I’m afraid I’m too rusty on guitar at the moment to perform to a real audience, so I graciously declined.

This morning, more runners from the club arrived at our motel to “run me out of town”. Before that, however, one of the club stalwarts, John, arrived with a box of Mizone electrolyte drink, which will do me for the rest of the journey in NZ. Thank you to John and Lynn for providing this.

We ran through town and then along the banks of the Waikato River for about 10 km before they said goodbye and sent me out on my own. The rest of the day was quite enjoyable, passing through classic rural scenery. The world’s best support crew arrived at the 31 km mark, in the middle of nowhere, with a milkshake, piece of fish, and bacon and egg slice for my lunch. That kept me going all afternoon, finishing the day at 58.16 km.

A note to those who use the Garmin link – when I stopped and clicked off my GPS watch at 58.16 km, I mustn’t have pushed the button hard enough. As we headed off in the support vehicle, I noticed the distance continued ticking up, at which point I promptly turned it off again (more firmly this time). The official distance for the day is 58.16 km , not the 58.92 km recorded on the Garmin site.

I’d like to end today’s blog with a massive thank you to Roger “Chook” Evans. Not only did he arrange for the Hamilton Road Runners to come and run with me, both yesterday and this morning, he also arranged last night’s function, as well as our accommodation for the evening. Not to mention that he has provided the support vehicle for the entire NZ leg, and will be doing the same (in partnership with his brother Don) for the entire North American leg. Can you get a better friend than that? There simply aren’t enough superlatives to describe Chook, so I will just say a big THANK YOU once again.