Round The Bays

After many years since last running in it i took apart again in this yearly event held around the beautiful waterfront of Auckland. Ran in aid of charity it consists of a 8.4 km run or walk around the bays east of downtown Auckland. All kinds of people take part in it and mostly for fun, with of course a few taking it seriously. There are young and old, babies in prams being pushed, wheelchair participants, people in costume. This year there was the best part of 30,000 people taking part, but in previous years there have been as many as about 80,000. Gone are the days when i last ran it and «flew «along the course so to speak and ran some serious fast time. This time i was running interspersed with spells of walking due to niggling injuries. Anyway it is all fun and at the end, as the team i ran with had, there are barbeque sites for a bit of relaxing afterwards. They have buses which run back into town once it is all over but these can get pretty full up so would expect a bit of a wait if you do do it. All in all it is a great event to take part in, even if you only walk it and most of all remember you are there to have one thing… fun!

Once upon a time I was one fit specimen. I played sport. I had actual muscles. I could run the 100m in under 12 seconds. Then I started at University and became fat and old and computer bound. I’m an academic now. So it was with some trepidation that this year I accepted the challenge of Round the Bays, a fair few years since I last did it. The 2013 event attracted something crazy like 70,000 people on a perfect sunny Sunday morning. Happily, I can report that I can still run. I did in an hour without stopping. Not bad for an academic. At the end they had lots of promo girls giving out free shit so that’s another plus. Just one thing, they need to work on the transport back to the city afterwards — I could’ve walked it faster than the bus got me back to town!

I did round the bays last year and I enjoyed myself. Running or walking isn’t really my thing but I can honestly say I enjoyed the event. It all happened when we were sitting with my boyfriend and he suddenly says right hun we are going to do round the bays. I laughed and continued eating my dinner. I didn’t think he would sign us up for it, but I was wrong.
In about 10 minutes I had an email welcoming me to the run. I laughed and said okay why the heck not. I got my friend to do it with me as I knew my man would want to run and I would enjoy a quick walk or jog. That is what happened, he ran off and left me and my friend to do it at our own pace.
After the run I was so tired but the events happening around lifted my spirits and I enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. It is definitely an experience which everyone needs to indulge in.

Round the Bays is an iconic fun-​run held every March from the ports of Auckland to St. Helier’s Bay.
Each person must register either as an individual or as part of a team and all fees are put toward charities including the Variety Club and Cystic Fibrosis.
The run itself is 8.4km long, around Auckland’s beautiful bays. This year over 70,000 people participated, and Auckland turned on the sunshine and blue sky for the event. It was an absolutely amazing day, with all sorts of people giving it a go! Costumed runners, elderly runners, babies in prams and your average triathletes — the run is for anyone!
The only downside of the event is trying to catch public transport back in to town. I suggest parking up in a bar for a well deserved cold one and waiting a few hours for the crowds to die down!

I’m pretty sure this yearly event is billed as a fun run and I’m not sure how much fun I actually had running my little heart out. I know I came pretty close to carking it at one point, but the exhilaration I felt at the end when I had actually completed it was hard to compare.
This year I decided as like a group activity that I was going to organize a group of us from work to get together and do the Ports of Auckland Round the Bays, it was going to bring us together more and really help with productivity blah de blah (well that was my spiel anyway) I really just wanted a laugh getting the boys into our team uniform of Lycra jogging shorts and and hot pink sweatbands really.
This run has been an annual event in Auckland since 1972, where it attracted 1200 exercise fanatics, this year it has grown to over an estimated 70,000 thousand participants, which is just craziness!
The course runs from the city on Quay street and ends up at the waterfront in st Heliers Bay while following a flat course around Waitemata harbour. It really is a beautiful part of Auckland and is a great way to be able to see it as well!

I took part in my first Round the bays today and thought it was great fun.
The run starts by Vector arena and follows along Tamaki drive, ending at St Heliers Bay. It is a distance of 8.4km. Along the way signs let you know how long you have to go, there are water stops and lots of people cheering you on.
Some people at one house even had some speakers that were blasting out fantastic running music — when I ran by it was the Black Eyed Peas — I gotta feeling, and later on heard ‘Chariots of Fire’ — can’t get much better than that!
A great run, with beautiful scenery, and also good for families. In 2013 it was $ 15 to register, with the money going to charity.
Tip: arrive with plenty of time. I didn’t quite have enough, so while I managed to drop my bag at the baggage truck that meant I didn’t have time to find a toilet and have a nervous pee! Lets just say when I got to the finish line I went straight to a portaloo (though there are of course toilets along the route).