Your pink face matches your pink shirt - running 16km at Country to Coast

Boss: Your face is as pink as your shirt Eloise.
Me: *pant* *pant* ummmm yes *struggling for breath* so it is Paul.

That was the first thing my boss said to me when I arrived at the finish line after running 16km (‘’You’re now running 17km’’ said the starting man - errr WHAT?) Country to Coast event in the weekend.

Talk about a warm welcome!

Starting the race at Riverlands Road in Havelock North, I was thrilled to have another member of the 40-strong council iWay team to run with - thanks Bruce Allan! After being thoroughly briefed on what to expect along the Rotary Pathways track, and pleasantly informed we’d be running about 17km not 16km as planned *panic starting to creep in*, the race started in that quiet, eery way any race starts with a build up of nervous energy, mentally preparing for the next few kilometres of pain that lies ahead, and where the first drink stop will be. Well, that’s what I was thinking anyway.

After the terrible weather Hawke’s Bay had experienced over the previous week, I was expecting to have my newly pink running shoes soon filled with water and turning a lighter shade of brown. To my surprise, the track was dry, easy to run on and had the most spectacular views imaginable. Think Te Mata Peak to the left, cows and grass all around you and the coastline directly in front. Talk about a way to take your mind off what you’re doing!

Thank goodness for the drink stops along the way and the toots over the bridge all made possible by the team at Rotary Havelock North.

Still hobbling two days later (insert sympathy here), the event was well worth it. The crowd that hung around at the end of the event was impressive - I would be as bold as to estimate about 1,000 of the 1,142 people who entered brought their family, friends and dogs in tow to be into win spot prizes including a brand new iWay bike.

Thanks to the rest of the iWay team for participating on the day and thanks to my boss Paul, who by the way didn’t run or walk, for your warm reception at the finish line - I’ll be making sure you get out there and run in 2012!

Must queue: will win bike

A queue not for the faint hearted, nearly 400 people waited for up to an hour to go into the draw to win a new iWay retro-style bike as part of the Country to Coast event in the weekend.

People had to correctly answer the question ‘’How many kilometres has iWay developed in Hastings’’ which Chris North from Havelock North correctly answered as 60 kilometres.

Good on you Chris!

What is iWay?

Don’t know what iWay is? Well where have you been?

iWay is all about making Hastings a walking and cycling friendly city. We want more people to beat the feet or get out on their bike because it’s an easy safe and fun option for the whole family.

Hastings won a hotly contested $4M in funding from the NZ Transport Agency’s model communities project.

The $ is to help us make Hastings a world leader in encouraging walking and cycling. So what are we doing with the $4M bucks?

We are linking where people live with where they work and where they play. This includes new cycle lanes (on road ones painted bright green so drivers know to stay out) and some off road ones to keep you extra safe.

We are also going to be improving safety at intersections and roundabouts and slowing down traffic in some places, so no matter where you bike, it’ll be sweet as.

Plus we’ll have plenty more bike racks all around town, so if you do ride, there’ll be somewhere to park up. But iWay isn’t just about biking, because walking is cool too!

We’re fixing up our footpaths, creating new ones, making them wider, improving lighting and making it safer to cross streets with pedestrian crossings and the like. Hastings is set to be walking nirvana.

Other things we are working on include travel planning with schools and workplaces, cycling training for kids and plenty of cool events that you can all get involved in.

Hastings is made for walking and cycling, it's got good streets and it's really flat. iWay is going to help Hastings people get up on their feet or take up pedal power.