Running has opened up a whole world I wouldn’t have seen from the couch. I’m stupidly grateful I live in Wellington, a city that sits on top of hills that sit on top of hills, and hugs a harbour, tight. Dawn, dusk, sunshine or storm, whenever and wherever I’m running, the views are always spectacular.
I can’t say the same for other places I’ve lived, which are either too small (Havelock North), too flat (Christchurch), too choked by motorways (Auckland), too rural (somewhere in the Midlands, UK), too architecturally conformist (Gyoha), too polluted (Ilsan), too blah (Blenheim).
I’m not picky, aye?
Anyway, my Sunday Morning Run Club (SMRC) has introduced me to some of Wellington’s beautiful bushy places and coastal trails that I would never have discovered on my own. It takes effort to get off the beaten track, but I’m often rewarded with awesome scenery. And then there are the sights that find me on my most everyday, well-worn, urban routes. I’ve started a list of the good ones. Coz really? Monkeys? How many people get to see monkeys when they’re out for jog with the girls?
TOP MOST UNUSUAL SIGHTS WHILE RUNNING IN WELLINGTON:
– Hundreds of runners dressed in Santa suits
– Monkeys
– World War 2 magazines
– Sheep freely roaming in an inner-city street
– Poetry excerpts strewn about Queens Wharf
Gettin’ literary Photo: Lauren Costello
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