Samoa Perimeter Relay

While Angela was away in New Zealand the second Samoa Perimeter Relay was held. This is the same event I participated in last year as part of the New Zealand High Commission Team. We all had a good time last year and vowed to do it again this year, but since then 3 out of our team of 6 have returned to New Zealand including Caroline, the High Commissioner and our team captain. Her replacement isn’t a keen runner, so not only were we looking for 3 new runners, but we also needed a sponsor!

This year Darryl took charge and pledged the support of National Pacific Insurance so our team, the NPI Flyers, was created. Joining Darryl, Jenny and me form last year were Paul (Jenny’s husband), Slava (the new volunteer vet at APS, all the way from Russia) and Saxon (at 18 years old he was the ‘fresh legs’ of the team).

The NPI Flyers (l-r Darryl, Slava, Adam, Saxon, Jenny, Paul)

The organisers made a few minor changes after last year, but basically the event was the same – teams of 6 running 104 km around the coast of Upolu, starting a Sinalei and finishing in Apia. The route was divided into 24 legs that ranged from about 3km to just over 5km – so each runner had to run 4 legs an a total distance of about 17.5km.

This year we started 5.15am, an hour later than last year but my hopes of a better night’s sleep were dashed because I had to take Angela to the airport at 1.00am! We got to the start line OK, all decked out in our NPI hats and ready to run. Paul was our first runner and set a cracking pace that was keep up by Saxon, then it was my turn. The first leg is always the easiest, it is the coolest part of the day and you are still fresh. I had a good run, starting just before the sun came up and finishing as the sun rose.

By the time we got to my second leg the sun was up and we realised it was going to be a hot day. There was a bit of light rain around, but we always seemed to miss it! My run was along a flat part of the coast that had been hit by the tsunami last year. The buildings to my left in the photo above were damaged by the tsunami and have now been abandoned. I hadn’t been back to some of these areas since the tsunami and it was a little strange to be running through these places. Closer to Lalomanu a lot of the tourist accommodation has been re-built, but a lot of the villages have been abandoned with new settlements having been established further inland.

By the time we got to our last rotation it was the middle of the day and really hot, with no wind or shade. We all found it hard going but pushed on, keen to get to the finish. Later in the day we heard that some of the other teams had runners that couldn’t complete their legs, meaning that one of their other runners had to pick up the extra distance. I am glad this didn’t happen to us because I know I wasn’t keen to run any further than I had to by the end of the day!!

We got to the finish line just after 2.00pm in a time of 8 hours and 54 minutes – this was almost an hour quicker than last year and good enough for 3rd place!