WE DID IT - WE DID IT - WE DID IT

What an awesome day, what an awesome event, what an awesome team of Hospice Hobblers.

Matthew, Lynn, Dianna Carol, Bridgette and Gaynor - happy smiling faces all ready for the challenge.  Bright blue skies, light breeze - perfect for running/wading/climbing/scrambling or any other means to get to the other end.

NEK MINNIT

Grey skies, rain and chilly winds - oh well Matthew this is your leg you go for it, we will support you from the Hospice car.

Waiting for the hooter seemed like it was taking ages - 150 individuals running the whole 33km - they must be mad!! 25 teams made up of 2, 3 or 5 people running legs of the 33km.  That's us and 2 teams from Westpac Lake Rd - I've decided we are all mad

Matthew and Carol doing the change over.  Matt looked fresh and smiling when he came in - he loved every minute of it and is looking forward to next year.















And off Carol goes - 5km of rock climbing, doggy paddling (those are Carols words not mine) from Long Bay to Browns Bay.   Her goal was to do it in 1hr15min. 

We started yelling at Carol when she was in ear shot as she was so close to her time, she came in at 1hr 10min.

Pass the transponder to Dianna for her leg of 6km Browns Bay to Milford. Her goal under an hour

By this stage Matthew had had a break, some food and with the body holding up decided to keep Dianna company on her run, I truly think he is mad!!!!.  Off you go Dianna run like the wind, leap rocks in a single bound, make us proud

They were the only ones to take the Milford inlet right at the opening to the sea.  Worked a charm as well.  No swimming, just wading. Dianna's time 57min - whew could she cut it any finer.

Now it's Gaynor's turn - Milford Beach to Takapuna Beach 5km.  Gaynor has been training hard, walking hours and to be honest she can actually walk faster than some of us can run. 
It was all business for Gaynor, with determination she set off at a cracking pace.







Now this is where it gets a little funny. All day I had been driving the car, dropping one runner off picking the other up with other waiting team members.  Matthew had gone with his wife to head into Takapuna beach for my last leg.  Dripping wet Dianna was in the passengers seat, Carol doing her speech in Devonport.  Gaynor had set off at 2:30pm - at about 2:55pm I said to Dianna, we are not going to get to the end of Takapuna Beach in time.  Drop me off and I will run down the beach and be there ready to meet Gaynor.  So with my antiflam ready to put on my ankles while I wait, my Hospice t-shirt still on and my ipod in my bag and my bag and water bottle I was walking down the ramp to Takapuna Beach only to see Gaynor running along in front of me.  What on earth, 35min, Gaynor had done nearly 5km in 35 min.  She informed me that I would have to catch up.  So running with all my gear I'm chasing Gaynor down the beach only to see Matthew running from the transition end to meet us both.  Gaynor ran to the drinks stations got a drink then ran back about 50m to meet me.  Laughing all the way, we change over.

So I'm off 6km in an hour - that's my goal.  With hardly anyone on the course by this stage, it was a lonely old run, but thank goodness for my ipod.  I couldn't believe it when it started to rain just as I was coming into Kind Edward Parade and the wind, I think I would have rather had the water.  The wind was harsh, the rain was cold my ipod now my only friend.  As I was running down King Edward Parade other competitors were on their way home, couldn't walk now even if I wanted to.   

Then I see the sight of camel coloured t-shirts and realise it's my team, Gaynor and Dianna had made it to Devonport in time.

My time 45 min for 6km

Total combined time 33km in 5hr48min averaging 6km/h - not bad for desk bound Hospice workers who less than 5months hadn't even heard of the Coastal Challenge let alone think of putting in a team. With no broken bones, no blood but a couple of bruises, wet feet and a buzz so high we will be floating for weeks, we are all thinking of doing it again next year.

We can not express how grateful we all are for the support from our families, who have put up with changing diets, endless training sessions and nerves on Friday night and the forever present smell of anti-flam (or was that just my house).  And the wonderful sponsorship from everyones team that was involved in helping us make this event one that will only grow each year. 

To totalsport thank you for having Hospice North Shore as your Charity Partner - we look forward to working together next year to make this Challenge one which will only grow in strength for both of us.

To Bridgete Lal from TomFit, thank you for helping us get race fit 

Click on http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/fundraise/topathletes.aspx?e=867 to help raise our sponsorship total.  We will be leaving it up for a couple of weeks.

To the other teams Warehouse Glenfield, Westpac Lake Rd and Pac n Save Albany - thank you for coming on this journey with us, we hope to see you all again next year.

THANK YOU     THANK YOU     THANK YOU

The money we have raised will help make each day the best day possible for our patients and their families. 

Keep watching our website http://www.nshospice.org.nz/ for an updated and final fundraising total.

From the Hospice Blogger (Lynn) and the Hospice Organiser (Carol) it is over and out from us for another year.  But I promise you we will be back and maybe some more of our supporters can run it with us.

Hospice Hobblers Team

Hospice Hobblers are made up of people employees of Hospice North Shore



 Carol Herbert - Fundraising Development Co-ordinator

   

I have been privileged enough to have worked at Hospice for the past 11 years within the fundraising team.  I am responsible for keeping our wonderful supporters informed about  news and events at Hospice North Shore, as well as co-ordinate our annual appeal week, plus of course sign us up for the Coastal Challenge!  Every day I get to see first hand the amazing difference that Hospice makes to those on the North Shore who are living with a terminal illness and their families.

Gaynor Larsen - Funding Development Manager

I joined Hospice North Shore in October 2000 and have been in charge of the growing fundraising team ever since.  I am responsible for all the grants from Trusts and Foundations, in charge of the Bequest programme and for relationships with major donors and Clubs & Societies. .  It is a full on varied roll and as is the nature of fundraising, has many challenges as well as highs and lows.  It’s exciting to see a fundraising campaign become successful which is what I am sure will be the case with this  Coastal Challenge. Although Carol twisted my arm to join Hospice Hobblers, I was really ready to sign up as I enjoy physical challenges and this is a great opportunity for us to support each other as a team as well as raising funds for our favourite charity, which of course is Hospice North Shore!

Lynn Kenyon - Fundraising Co-ordinator

I have been part of the Hospice North Shore family for over 7 years, 5 as a volunteer and 2 as the Fundraising Co-ordinator.  My primary role is to process all donations from our wonderful supporters.  I am also responsible for the volunteers during our Appeal Week in May, Entertainment Book campaign and the very rewarding Memorial Brick Wall, just to name a few.  I have witnessed personally the work of Hospice and how they help patients and families during a very difficult time.  When Carol first told me about the Challenge, I said yes to being part of the team, what she left out was the "coastal" part - with the day looming near, but butterflies are having a field day and the challenges seems a little daunting, however not as daunting as the challenges that our patients and their families face every day.  I'm already thinking about next years challenge and maybe will do a little more than my one leg, but it's early days.  And yes I am also the Hospice Hobblers Blogger

Matthew Luxon - Family Support Social Worker

You may have heard of the term, ‘bio-psycho-social’. It is a rather simple model which encourages health workers to consider as holistically as possible the needs of our patients and their families or friends. Although the boundaries are not always quite so clear, primarily our Doctors and Nurses focus on the biological or physical needs, our Counsellors and Chaplin on the psychological, spiritual and emotional needs and as a Social Worker I’m particularly interested in the social or environmental needs people have. This may involve assisting people with issues related to housing, finances, transport, accessing resources and mediating between various services to ensure a person is receiving excellent care. I divide my time between our Inpatient Unit and visiting people in the community. I love my job and am feeling like I’ve settled into it having been at Hospice North Shore for 18 months now. Participating in the Coastal Challenge I have to admit was primarily all about me wanting to get fit! However, the spin offs have been awesome; getting to know my work colleagues better and raising money for this great organisation being the main benefits. Believe it or not I’m even starting to think about next year’s Coastal Challenge – but that might change after Saturday

Dianna Lints - Office Manager

My role at Hospice North Shore as Office Manager is a varied position which encompasses many areas throughout the organisation including IT, Telecommunications, Management of Reception/Administration and providing PA support to the CEO and Board of Trustees – just to name a few!!   I have been at HNS for just over a year and I must say I love it, there are many challenges as in most work places but nothing compared to what our patients and families have to deal with on a day to day basis.   I am so lucky with the support I receive from my colleagues which makes HNS such an awesome place to work.  Now down to the nitty gritty.......I had a weak, mad moment when Carol our Fundraising Development Co-ordinator asked for team mates for the Coastal Challenge and me being a team person with a love for fitness and the outdoors thought why not!  This also gave me an opportunity to get to know some of my colleagues which has been a great team building experience.  So watch this space – only two more sleeps to go and we will be off on our adventure whilst raising money for such an awesome workplace and charity – Hospice North Shore!

So that is us, we all have varied jobs within the organisation but all critical to ensuring that  Hospice can continue with complete care of our patients and their families free of charge.

We only have 1 more sleeps to go, the legs are being massaged, the food intake has jumped up a notch, the running gear is ready to go, and the weather watching becoming an hourly event.

Thank you all for your wonderful emails that have been coming in supporting us to keep going, give it heaps and enjoy the day.

I will be blogging after the event with photos of us coming across the line so keep a watch

A big thank you to all that have supported us on
http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/HospiceHobblers/ we are all very humbled by the wonderful encourgement of our supporters and families.

Final training run - 12 Feb 2012

The numbers are dwindling, the day is windy and it looks like rain.  But the few crazy dedicated souls are out ready to battle the final km.

I'd like to say we were at the finish line, but in fact we hadn't even started, that's why we are all smiling

Not that you can see it very well, but there were at least 20 - 25 kite surfers hanging out at Cheltham Beach.  Very impressive. I think we should talk to totalsport and see if we can do the challenge this way.  Great view from the top of North Head

I probably should have checked but the council were doing repairs on North Head steps so we had to go around - now being short I have decided is not an asset all the time.

 

How many km did you say before we get to turn around - "don't bother -  talk to the hand talk to the hand" - we aren't listening anymore

As we head back after only walking to Narrow Neck we chat away noticing there are not a lot of people on the beach.  That is because it is cold and windy and not exactly holding hand beach weather!!!!

As the North head steps loom in the distance and the thought of us racing up them with the other 500 odd people a beautifull sight of the P&Q liner leaving the harbour.  Now that seems like a much better way of seeing the North Shore Coastline.

 



Remembering that the North head steps were under repair we decided that we would risk it for the sake of training.  However at the top we had yet another obstacle to tackle, the barrier. 
"Come on Gaynor is it not time for resting we still have 1km of road to pound"


So here we are blogger readers, the last training run.  This weekend we will be doing our own legs at approximately the right tide height.  We are more than a little nervous, but looking forward to the great challenge.

My next blog will be about Hospice Hobblers, what we actually do within the organisation.

Thank you all for your wonderful support, we are racing ahead in our sponsorship on http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/HospiceHobblers/

And yes I will be blogging after we finish,it may a day or so but there will be photos of our transitions and finishing.  
THANK YOU





5 February - Leg 3 (again) Browns Bay to Milford at Low Tide

A brave team of walkers set out on very cool day with howling winds, grey sky's and no thermals - this is summer after all and our thermals had been packed away.

Leaving Browns Bay at low tide was a great way to start, strolling along not a care in the world feeling the wind in our hair

Then wham - on our back side as we slide down the rocks, the only way to go sometimes - not at all lady like, but hey its about finishing not looking pretty

Then another gentle stroll - time to take in the scenery, the sky and a general chit chat about why we are doing this.  Bloggers in the front, hoping for the "action" shot

This is pretty impressive, running - yes running over the rocks

Then wham - coming into Murrays Bays - slippery rocks, crashing waves and two bloggers waiting for the tumble

On this  leg you actually get to do some running, which is nice to see how the legs are coping. 

Mother Natures steps are always there to lend a hand as you scramble down them.  However not always as easy at this one

Finally we reach Milford Inlet, where we nominated the only person wearing something that resembled a swimming costume.  I waited with camera at the ready for that "action shot" - such a supportive bunch we are. The we turn around and head back the way we came.  Roughly 12km so not bad for a Sunday walk with a bunch of crazy people.

 Along the way we came across people fishing for our dinner, and seagulls too cold to even fly - now what does that tell you about the day!!!!


A boat in a tree - interesting??? and a chimney without a house - not even going there!!!

 

As we head back into Browns Bay, we all reflect on the week that has been.  One of the Glenfield Warehouse staff members who was being cared for in the Hospice unit passed away.  When life is taken early it again makes us realise why we have undertaken this challenge.  Ours is a small challenge that will last only a day, for many of our patients and their families, everyday is a challenge. 

Hospice Hobblers and the greater Hospice family send their thoughts to Mary's family and her greater Glenfield Warehouse family.  

Please help us to help our patients and their families.  Support us by donating via http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/HospiceHobblers/

thank you

Leg 2 Long Bay to Browns Bay

This is an interesting leg, if you were to calculate the tides Carol - yes Carol (punishment for reading tides wrong in our first practise leg) will actually be doing this only an hour or so after the tide has turned and on its way out.  So in reality Carol is going to get wet - payback can hurt sometimes.

We did however do this leg in reverse from the northern end of Browns Bay beac to the northern end of Long Bay beach

Do we organise live pre-leg entertainment or what??   A gentleman was net fishing and caught all this in his net.  It is bait fish but the kids loved it and nothing like seeing their faces before we started on our journey

End of Browns Bay beach - Tipau Point.  Doesn't seem to be a lot of rocks or beach there for us to walk across.  I did warn everyone that we "may" get wet

And here are the walkers - not as many as last week, but it was a long weekend after all.

Jade, Stephen's daughter is a real star, riding high on Dad's shoulders she thinks it is easy - she chatters away and tells Stephen to be careful

OK so far so good, still got dry feet, no one has fallen over, but there have been some close calls that is for sure - and Jade riding high without  a care in the world

Spoke too soon, Gaynor was the first to slip over.  Some of the rocks were very slippery and Gaynor was not the last to kiss the ground.

Waiaki Beach - I think we should just borrow one of these and then give it back when we reach Long Bay - it is very tempting, so far we have not got wet but somehow I don't think it is going to stay that way - we still have Toroa Point to get through.

Where did Carol & Gaynor go??  - Come on girls get a wriggle on

One draw back of being the photographer and blogger - you have to climb everything first to get the photo

Maybe this looks worse than it is.







As you go around this leg, there is more than one option to tackle some of the rocks that mother nature puts in your way.

Option1

Up and over the rocks with a handy rope bolted to the rock face to get down - I am so impressed by what mother nature can do.



Now if she can arrange a coffee shop along this leg that would be brillant

Option 2

Go right through the water - refreshing I think they said or was it S**t it's cold

Again being the blogger I had to go first to get the photo opporunity (but really I was hoping someone would fall in) then wade fast to the other side to get the guys coming down the rock face.

Then we came across this rock, pretty cool we thought.  I did think about carrying it home to put in my garden, but the thought of carrying it, myself, the waterbottle and the camera was just getting a little to hard - after all I was in need of a coffee or amber liquid of some sort.

Toroa Point - we are nearly there
















A bit more art - some people pay thousands of dollar to see art like this. And we have it in good old Gods Own

A bit more clambering

AND

Long Bay Beach

Bring it home team.  Now if we can still look that refreshed on the day I will be more than impressed and since I am running last someone else will have to take the photo.

Thanks to the hearty souls that ventured out with us on a long weekend.  We will be attempting leg 3 next week Browns Bay to Milford, the very first practise run again.   And no Carol is still not in charge of tide reading.

Thank you for all the wonderful people who have sponsored us on http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/HospiceHobblers/ we might not be breaking any Coastal Challenge records, but we are having some fun, getting to know our wonderful corporate supporters of Westpac Lake Rd, Warehouse Glenfield and Pak n Save Albany, and raising funds to ensure that we can make each day the best day possible for our terminally ill patients and their families.