Keenan • NZ is my ‘you’re not gonna die so drain your savings’ celebration 🙂
February 22 at 11:36am •
NEW ZEALAND in only 9 days!
half marathon Wednesday [13.5 miles] – channeled my inner angry girl [Pink on the iPod], negative split 2nd Half [work day time crunch] – NEW ZEALAND in only 9 days! #cancerfree
Sandra • looking good, just like a winner should.
Keenan • Thanks Sandy — life is really really good.
Sandra • I’m glad for you. I’m happy too. Life is good.
Preston • Glad you’re back in your running shoes!!! Wishing you lots of energy and fun.
Stacy • So awesome!!!!
Keenan • NZ is my ‘you’re not gonna die so drain your savings’ celebration 🙂
Stacy • Sounds like a MUST meet up for sharing coffee, stories, and photos when you get back!
Dawn • There are too many more places to see!
Keenan • Agreed, travel buddy!
Gwendolyn C • Good luck!
Ellen • Yay!!! I’m so proud of you, high school chum!
Gwendolyn R • Inner angry girl negative split lmao I might need to try that hat trick!
Keenan • HAHA – Pink was my jam today. 2 hours of angry girl – best!
Gwendolyn R • PERFECTLY PINK Have a blast in New Zealand can’t wait for the pics!
Erin • You’re awesome K*!!! Good luck!
Sarah • Gotta love Pink for motivating!!! Have a blast in NZ…can’t wait to hear all about your adventures there!
Keenan • Mark your calendar – Toronto, May 2017!
Sarah • oh ya… I keep forgetting that LOL seems so far away…
Tina • Amazing! Look good, K*! Miss you. Please come down to our area so, we can have a reunion soon.
Millie • You go K!!! Love & miss you, Aunt Millie
Will be out-of pocket most of March — but expect some amazing blog posts when I return. New Zealand, how crazy is that?!! WOW, WOW, WOW! ❤️
**Every Kiwi Quest needs an ITINERARY – here’s mine (and another marathon too)**
AU converter for my iPhone
Daylight hours from 7:30am – 8:00pm, take a raincoat and pack an umbrella! March tends to be Queenstown’s wettest month of the year. Temperatures range from 40-65 °F.
- Auckland
- Flight arrives 7:30 AM
- Hop-on Hop-off Tour 9am – 4pm, ½ hour intervals
- Grand Millenium Auckland CHECK IN after 3pm
- Sky Tower
- Leave Auckland & travel to Rotorua
- Rail New Zealand Tour 7:30am – 4:59pm E ticket
- Overnight in Rotorua at Apex on Fenton
- Leave Rotorua & travel to Christchurch
- Happy Ewe Tour 10:00am – 1:00pm
- Flight to Christchurch 4:00pm departure, 5:50pm arrival
- Overnight in Christchurch Airport Palms Motel
- Jet Boat Tour
- Scenicpacific Tour Alpine Safari Train – Jet Boat – 4WD 8:00am – 6:00pm
- Overnight in Christchurch Airport Palms Motel
- Pick up car APEX rental @ 9:00am & travel to Franz Josef Glacier
- Real Journeys Doubtful Sound Wilderness Cruise, phone 0800 65 65 01
- Depart Christchurch – views of Waimakariri River before Arthur’s Pass Hwy 73
- 2 hours to Castle Hill – stop and crawl on boulders
- 2 more hours to Hokitika Gorge – hike & explore
- Lake Kaniere (if time permits)
- Down west coast to Franz Joseph
- Overnight in Franz Josef Alpine Glacier Motel CHECK IN by 8pm
- Travel to Queenstown
- Minnehaha Walk (possibly Thursday night instead – glow worms in rainforest)
- River Walk (suspension bridge – good view of glacier)
- 5 hours to Queenstown – go past and do Glenorchy-Queenstown Road with great views of Lake Wakatipu
- Overnight in Queenstown Blue Peaks Apartments CHECK IN by 9pm
- Tour Doubtful Sound
- Real Journeys Doubtful Sound Wilderness Cruise 7:15am – 8:15pm
- Overnight in Queenstown Blue Peaks Apartments
- Tour Queenstown
- Nomad Safari Tour (half day)
- LOTR Scenes Wakatipu Basin 8:15am – 12:15pm
- Queenstown Gardens
- Gondola/Luge Park
- Overnight in Queenstown Blue Peaks Apartments
- Nomad Safari Tour (half day)
- Travel to Dunedin
- 3 ½ drive
- Olveston House Tours 9:30, 10:45, noon, 1:30, 2:45, 4:00 (people usually spend 2 hours here)
- Larnach Castle & Garden 9:00am – 7:00pm self-guided tour option
- Railway Station (said to be a must see)
- Cadbury World 9:00am – 3:00pm 1 hour tours
- Overnight in Dunedin Scenic Hotel Southern Cross
- Tour Dunedin
- See prior day list as all won’t be done in ½ day after getting there
- St Clair beach
- Overnight in Dunedin Scenic Hotel Southern Cross
- Travel to Oamaru
- Moeraki Boulders 75km north of Dunedin, 40 km south of Oamaru
- Victorian Precinct
- Blue Penguin Colony (evening, pay, stands to watch)
- Yellow-eyed Penguin Colony (evening, free)
- Overnight in Oamaru The Criterion Hotel
- Travel to Hamilton
- Breakfast Included at Criterion Hotel
- 3 ½ drive to Christchurch to return car (noon return time)
- 2pm flight departs Christchurch arrives 3:45pm Hamilton (Alternate flight departs 6:15pm and arrives 8:00pm)
- Pick up Avis car by 4:30 (rental closes at 5pm)
- Overnight in Hamilton (North Island) Novotel Tainui Hamilton
- Hamilton/Matamata
- Tour Hobbiton (2 hours) 10am tour – arrive by 9:45 to check in
- Sanctuary Mountain self-guided options 8:30 – 4:00
- Overnight in Hamilton Novotel Tainui
- Hamilton/Auckland
- Kirikiriroa Marathon to start at 7:00
- Hamilton Gardens
- Waikato Museum
- Travel to Auckland (2 hour drive) Drop off for car at Airport is 8pm
- Flight is 11:10 pm
Rolled into Pueblo 10 minutes before bib pick-up ended. Landscape more reminiscent of New Mexico than the Rockies. Former steel town (one old smokestack remains)…Spanish just as prevalent as English. LOVE the diversity of our state – Eastern Plains to the Rockies, canyon walls of the Western Slope, red clay of Pueblo. Colorful Colorado.
Only 2 ½ hours from home but decided to hotel before tomorrow’s marathon…close 5 minute walk away. Still full from my Deli lunch, night-walked the City downtown before setting my morning wake-up buzz. Last shuttle bus depart: 7:30am, late 9am marathon Start.
Woke Sunday to sunshine, forecast low 60’s – ‘bout 15 degrees cooler than Friday’s unseasonal high. No specific time goal today, training focus [has] been on leg strength: Wyoming’s Bighorn 50 in June. PR speed will come later.
Hour+ wait before the day’s start. Met up with fellow 50-Stater Dave Bell, introduced myself to 3 other Maniacs. No matter how remote the run, our community’s well represented/we’re a tight knit group. Even in far-away Russia, I connected with 4 fellow Maniacs.
2:04 2nd Half – STRONG!
First race with a watch, have resisted for years. HUGE adventure planned in March, needing an easy way to log my daily mileage. (Thanks Bro, lovin’ my 2014 Christmas gift!)
Race Start. Easy 10+ minute pace, still chatting with my 50 State friend …decided to use today as a training run. Beautiful weather, why not? Trekked entirely on bike path. First few miles in Lake Pueblo State Park. (in my opinion) Left too early, nothing crazy scenic in Pueblo.
Never been one to run & talk, never felt it possible. STRONG today – consistent training paying off. Easy, comfortable 2:35 first Half (one of my slowest starts ever). Hung with Dave thru mile 14. Quickened my step, said our goodbyes & I took off. Checked the watch: 8:35 mile. Goal: every mile under 9 minutes. Electrolytes & water at each aid station. No walk at mile 18. No slog at 20.
2:35 first Half – dude, we were way way back. Didn’t catch another runner ‘til mile 19…but then I kept ticking them off. Guy in a red cap, girl in pink tights, 2 couples running together. But where’s the Newton kid? (First 5-6 miles Dave & I traded leads with the ‘Newton kid’. Guy shared my shoe love, Boulder’s local Newton Running Company. Been running in Newtons since early 2015.)
Series of loops, miles 18 to 23 – spotted ‘Newton kid’ on my left…at least a mile half lead. Older lean lady-Ironman tattoo, woman wearing a North Carolina cap, my first Maniac. Mile 24 – 9:03 mile. Dug deep to drop pace under 9 again. No pills, no puking – that was last year. Mental transformation.
Mile 25: Blue Newton shoes in sight. No walking, he’s not given in. If I want it, I’ve gotta catch him soon. Mile 26: I’m still a body length back. Breathing hard, been pushing for too long…too late in a race. Finish line ahead. Held my breath, swallowed hard. Sprinting, I didn’t look back.
Marathon #82 – my strongest 2nd Half in years…a 2:04 – after running 13+ miles. Laid in the grass & panted. Stretched, up in 5. Shook hands with fellow runners, congratulated their achievement.
BIG day for me. Not my finish time…but HOW I finished – at least 5 more miles left in the tank. FAAANNNTASTIC!
On track for 100 – next weekend: Fort Worth’s Cowtown Marathon, everything’s bigger in Texas 🙂
Keenan Haga
Pueblo Marathon and Half – Marathon – Pueblo, CO Feb 19, 2017
Overall: 57 4:39:24
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- Downtown night walk
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- PBR World Headquarters
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- marathon #82, my Louisville neighbor’s first Half
Margaret “Maggie” Brown (July 18, 1867 – October 26, 1932) (posthumously known as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”) was an American socialite and philanthropist. She is best remembered for exhorting the crew in Lifeboat No. 6 to return to the debris field of the 1912 sinking of RMS Titanic to look for survivors. During her lifetime, her friends called her “Maggie”, but after her death, a 1960 Broadway musical based on her life and its 1964 film adaptation were each entitled The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
Marathon Sunday in Pueblo…time to pull out the folder. AAA articles, newspaper clippings, emails/FB posts from friends, pages ripped from airline magazines – all activities/places which spark interest & light my heart. Doesn’t everyone have a folder? 🙂
First Colorado marathon of the year so…decided to celebrate a famous Coloradan – the Unsinkable Molly Brown. Saw the 1964 movie (starring Debbie Reynolds) on Netflix. Over-the-top energy, hillbilly drama. Set in Leadville, the Browns would move to Denver (after a successful mining claim) & try to join the social elite…sorta like a movie version of “The Beverly Hillbillies”. Of course, there’s no place for Molly at anyone’s table (despite her wealth). Freak circumstance puts her on the Titanic – and she becomes a national celebrity.
Kicked off ‘Molly Brown Day’, the night before in nearby Longmont. Purchased dinner theatre tickets for a local adaptation of the Broadway play. Reality: all ‘Dinner Theatre’ is not created equal. Tonite’s performance was light on talent & the hall struggled with food service. Show started 45 minutes late – but overall, a FUN experience. Something new to do on a Friday night. Check, done. No regrets.
Saturday morning: short 2-mile run, packed an overnight bag, quick shower. Dropped Ro at the kennel, next stop: Denver – specifically, 1340 Pennsylvania Street…the actual Molly Brown House. History nerd alert – LOVE LOVED it.
Movie: ‘Molly’ Brown
Reality: Margaret, Maggie — but never, Molly
Movie: illiterate mining girl
Reality: high school-equivalent education, well-educated vs her [female] peers
Play & movie were based off articles published in the Denver Post, written by socialites who disliked Molly because the Browns represented ‘new money’. Most of Denver’s elite wanted to be accepted in East Coast social circles so went to great lengths to distance themselves from ‘new money’ (their parents’ generation). Colorado only achieved in statehood in 1876.
Turn of the century wallpaper, stained glass, kerosene lights, Victorian furniture, bear rugs & animal mountings (inspired by President Teddy Roosevelt)…like walking back in time.
Post-Titanic ‘Molly’ Brown fought for women’s suffrage. Colorado became the first U.S. state to provide the vote (Wyoming, technically ‘the first’, was a territory). Mrs. Brown ran for US Senate twice. She purchased land to create the City’s first parks & fought for worker’s rights – an issue which ended her marriage (technically though, they never divorced).
Really really interesting day. If ever in Denver, take the hour-long house tour ($11). Highly recommended.
New York Deli News for lunch (well-known Jewish deli, another ‘first’ experience), followed by my first Colorado visit to IKEA. Haven’t seen dollar hot dogs & cinnamon buns since leaving Connecticut. LOL>
Sometimes the best vacation is in your own backyard. LOVE LOVE my Colorado life!
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- Longmont dinner theatre
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- community player performance
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- highly recommended
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- Turkish statue
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- original cloth wallpaper
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- lady’s favorite colour: GREEN
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- cinnamon rolls & DIY furniture
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- Jewish deli MAGIC — DELISH!
