Getting an early morning ferry from the City Centre (while seeing people still out partying) is the start of the race excitement.
Watching the All Blacks beat Australia in the Rugby World Cup on the big screen before setting off certainly gives you a mental boost... And then... it starts. And it's still cool.

10 minutes later and Auckland's humidity begins, about the same time as the first incline. Boom. Marathon distance and marathon mentality: here we go. And we're now at Takapuna.... Where's the bridge?

Then it's the bridge, hurrah. you're running over a spectacular bridge with breathtaking views either side of you, and it really is incredible. Even though you feel the incline going up and up, but not the descent into the only slight poor scenery of the whole event - a brief bit of dockside industry. But it's short lived... and just as it improves: You wish you'd picked the Half option, as you see the signs for the finish... only to run way down the coast (again, spectacular views of the Hauraki Gulf and Rangitoto Island) to the turn-around point, back up the coast, to the finish.

The finish: a big park area with all sorts going on. Suddenly the pain you felt (I felt) from about 9KM onwards, subsides, and it's an incredible feeling in beautiful surrounds. Hurrah. Now, where's the hot-dogs and physio?