Athletics track events: M Games

The weather over the weekend couldn’t have been better for a camping-type weekend. Even though there was a hitch with the borrowed tent (i.e: I didn’t know what went where and how it all worked...) So I had to play damsel in distress. My knight in shining armour had a wooden leg, but he was a very nice guy and together we managed to get the tent up. That was a relief!

Friday evening the first event was the 1500m. I wasn’t sure how it would go. I hadn’t timed myself for that distance in a long time and I was a bit nervous about the competition and the pace. But it worked out OK when I finished with the Gold. Later on, I collected the Bronze for the 200m.


Just after winning the 1500m (Gold)

Saturday morning’s event was the 400m. By then I had gotten to know a few of the other competitors and between events would hang out chatting and watching the other races with them. The 400m was a tough race but managed to grab the Silver. I was pretty happy with that as it was a close one and I almost dropped that spot at the end.

I left the stadium around lunchtime and wandered around Wanganui’s main street where I was quite tickled by the fact that some things have not changed since I lived there back in 1998/1999. Some of the shops were exactly as I remembered – or some with minor changes. There were differences too, of course, but everything looked like it had been spruced up a bit more.

After lunch, I was back into the serious business of my next event in the afternoon. The 100m was fast and furious. I came off the blocks fast (which surprised me) and was off to a good start but lost some ground around the 40 or 50m mark when my heel started to hurt. I barely clung on to finish with the Silver. The pain became increasingly worse, so I went to the Games Village to see a physio. He said I tore something in my foot. I forgot what exactly. Well, I can’t pronounce it anyway. He did an ultrasound on my foot, then strapped it up and told me to rest it.

Overnight, I agonised over my last event – the 800m on Sunday. Should I pull out? Should I run anyway? Would I aggravate the injury if I ran? Would I always regret it if I pulled out?

Sunday morning, I got up early to dismantle the tent. The foot was no better, but I headed to the stadium anyway. Once there, I realised I was never going to pull out before I even started. So I found myself on the start line for the 800m. Within the first 300m, I knew I was not going to be able to keep up and dropped off the pace and had to be content with holding second. I finished with the Silver and though I was disappointed at what could have been a Gold, I was happy I started and finished the race.

So 3 days, 5 events, 1 Gold, 3 Silvers and 1 Bronze medals (+ an injured foot).

Overall it was a great weekend, met some really cool people and I had a blast!

My weekend haul