Thursday 1st May 2025. Offical public holiday in South Africa – May day (thank you)
This would be Yvonne Perry’s 20th Rhodes 21km. Quite some milestone for sure. A whole twenty one years of visiting Wellington to run the then Safari and now the Rhodes 21km. Tenacity describes this well don’t you agree? Tenacity and the mere fact that Yvonne loves running this route. And who wouldn’t? it’ just too fabulous for words. So as usual a crowd of us gathered to discuss our next run. Of course it would be the Rhodes half marathon. Based in Wellington it’s just over an hours drive so naturally we would arrange car sharing lifts. I would be travelling with Yvonne who was the driver alongside Sharon and Heidi. The next car would ferry Paula, Megan, Sonz and Naomi through to Wellington where we’d meet somewhere. Probably at a gazebo on the school field?

Well on Thursday morning the weather was as miserable as sin. Dull. Overcast. Moody. Cold. And raining! Definitely not my favourite kind of weather but be that as it may, it was time to get up, get dressed and wait for Yvonne to collect Heidi and I. Once in the car with the heater turned up, it was super cosy stopping off to collect Sharon. Lot’s of girl chatter along the way, mostly about running and the weather of course as, and I might have mentioned this, it would be Yvonne’s twentieth Rhodes 21km. We had quite some downpour on the way through with a load more looming in the distance.
Parking as it is at most races remains premium. So, after following a few vehicles that were also looking for parking we decided amongst ourselves to park on a street outside somebody’s house along with most other runners including a huge tour bus. A little walk up to the school with all of us needing the ablutions and hey presto we were done. We then met up with the rest of the girls and made our way to the start line. There I met with Yolande and happened to catch a glimpse of Sam. One or two other Westies, but with the weather being as it was, folk were huddles together trying to get as much shelter as humanly possible. The gun went off but it was a blooper. Yup a false start. A few minutes later the gun went off again, this time they meant business. It was time to go. Up quite a steep hill for starters with many folk just walking as it was hopeless trying to get through the crowds at this point. Once at the top of the hill, as luck would have it, the heavens opened and there we were, hundreds of us running in this downpour. Runners scrambling for their rain jackets whilst others plodded on regardless.

The chosen route is so beautiful. I must admit I find this run to be such a peaceful happy run. There’s always so much ‘gees’ along the way. Little children from neighbouring farms line the roads with their usual cries of ‘hou bene hou’. Loads of encouragement not only from the kiddies but their relatives too, still dressed in their bedroom attire. Breaking away from the tar road for a while, one gets to run on a dirt road quite obviously often used by traffic and farmers as there are good tracks that one can run in. Unfortunately, with the rain this time, there were a few occasions which left some good old skiddy bits which just managed to bring one right back to one’s senses and out of a comfort zone. Each and every single water/refreshment table was a pleasure to stop at. From any juice imaginable along with sachets of ice cold water was the choice of the day. Wow those little boxes sure quench a thirst and manage to pack some good old fruits into the body. Such a brilliant idea. I didn’t even go close to the water sachets, just straight in for a box of juice. My favourite being the banana and strawberry I might add. Yum yum. Truly delicious. There being some serious hills on this route, I’d like to think that our constant hill training came in handy. No walking up the hills for me. No sirree. In fact, I remember walking very little and when I did, it was with purpose. Weather man Pete had just about got the weather sorted by this time although we still experienced the odd shower here and there. But nothing to write home about. The last three km’s were practically flat and if not flat, then downhill. Thank goodness. What a pleasure. And there it was, nearly over and done with, my third Rhodes. Not like Yvonne running her twentieth. Megan had organized a bus which Paula, Heidi and Yvonne hopped onto coming in dead on target. Such an achievement having so many run under one’s belt. The wonderful smell of success. Not forgetting however that this alone comes with sheer determination and hard work. Once with all of us in, the heavens opened once again and yes this time we ran for shelter in the nearest gazebo whether there was room or not. Squishing and squashing was now the order of the day. We were already wet how was it possible to get any wetter? The wind was up too which made the morning decidedly unpleasant.

But to finish off this tale of Rhodes half marathon in Wellington, I would do it all again in a heartbeat. I thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of the run. A brilliant route. Wonderful marshals at every important station, water tables par excellence. The entire organization of this race was worked out so well and hearty congratulations must go to the WELLINGTON ATHLETIC CLUB!!
And to Yvonne. Because by now you must know what she did 😊