Author: Wouna le Roux

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Ka Waewae Tātahi o Te Awa Tupua

Date: 6 April 2019
Distance: 57km
Time: 8:22

Warm-up.
Race briefing by headlamp.
Beautiful views from early on.
Sun starting to come through.
First transition point.
Cosy kayakers on the river.
Transition point.
Gerry on his way into the Marae to top up his water bottles.
All the Marae in the area we passed.
Stil found the breeze really cold, especially on my throat and ears.
Transition point.
This little piggy went to …
Flying Fox accommodation.
Selfie time!
Transition point at 15km to go.
Fuck this shit. I’m done. At least that’s how I felt at the time.
More beautiful scenery.
Some amusing roadside scenery.
Finally at the finish, and what a great welcome we received!
A whanau celebrating at the finish.
Race bibs, and we ironically also finished in that order, event Ts and bling.

What could have been an “easy” jaunt in six to seven hours, turned into an LSD run of more than eight hours on our feet. Just as well, as that is exactly what we need in preparation for the UTA. In terms of specificity, we were well off the mark with this event, but it was a good way to force ourselves to get the time and distance in. Continue reading →

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Triple Peaks Challenge

Date: 9 March 2019
Distance: 55km
Time: 9:33

Registration on a rainy Friday night.
But a beautiful morning for the event.
Jason Larkin sporting a North Range Trio headband! Cheers bro!
Mt Erin in the distance.
The day could have been a lot different if it was really wet.
Mt Erin, we’re coming for you.
So close.
Mt Erin aid station.
Mt Kahuranaki in the distance.
Amusing signage convention to show steep downhills.
The rough section (part of the river bed) prior to the river crossing.
Tukituki River crossing.
Chillyyyy!
Transition point entertainment.
Second aid station before the climb up Mt Kahuranaki begins.
Local hero, Nick Johnston, already on his way to defend his Triple Peaks title.
Andrew Thompson finished in third place.
A lonely marshal three-quarters up the mountain.
So so steep.
Trying to go backwards to ease the pain.
Roger Jones at the aid station on top of Mt Kahuranaki.
Trig bagging.
Spotting Te Mata Peak in the distance.
Still cold, but still smiling.
Interesting sign on gate.
Te Mata Peak just visible.
Mt Erin.
Very very steep terrain.
Looking back on how far we’ve come.
Te Mata Peak where a friendly supporter/spectator offered to take our photo.
A ridiculously steep section on mountain bike tracks.
Very challenging MTB tracks on tired and sore legs.
Back in civilisation.
When you think you should have reached the finish line two kilometres ago, only to see this sign!
Just a glimpse of the finish banner by the time we got to the finish.
Prize-giving.

Covering the final few metres of this tough, gruelling run unsure of where the actual finish was, we were stopped next to a gazebo and congratulated by the organiser who was checking that we looked compos mentos. And with a sadistic grin he asked “Did I break you?”, while telling us proudly that he did break some of us. And while he is no Laz and this is not the Barkley, the course sure is tough. It seems to have become a “thing” to try to break participants and more and more events aim to do just that. Turns out, out of the 138 runners and walkers, 21 DNF which is about 7%. Continue reading →

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#dontforgettotrainnexttime – Tarawera Ultra

Date: 9 February 2019
Distance: 50km
Time: 8:48
Previous: 2015, 2016

It’s our third outing to Rotorua for the Tarawera Ultra Marathon, and I can (almost) safely say – don’t do the even numbered years! The weather is always miserable, and raining which means the course turns into a tougher-mudder in these years. 🙂 This year, again, saw a gorgeous, sunny day with little wind. It was likely a bit on the hot side for most, but being in the bush means you are mostly protected from the sun. And I’m the last person to complain about heat. Continue reading →

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Coppermine creek and coppermine loop track

We’ve been very slack lately with our running. More often than not, we’d skip a run. There’s always something, isn’t there? Cutting grass, tending the vege garden, raising baby guinea fowl, studies, work, and before you know it, another weekend rolls around, you’ve had one run during the week and have no plans, nor energy for your long-run on the weekend. You promise yourself you’ll start anew on Monday, and so the process repeats itself. It’s a slippery slope, but in my defence I do stick to this half-arsed routine, rather than giving up all together. Continue reading →

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Around the mountain circuit – Mt Taranaki

Date: 29 December 2018 to 2 January 2019
Distance: Approx 52km
Time: 5 days

Circumnavigating Mt Taranaki (Mt Egmont) has been on our radar for quite some time. Somehow, there’s always something else that gets priority, but this year we decided it is now or never.

Taranaki Maori legend has it that “While Tongariro was away, Taranaki wooed and won Tongariro’s wife, the graceful Pihanga. Tongariro returned at sunrise to find the guilty pair and in the struggle that followed Taranaki was banished. Taranaki retreated to the west coast of the North Island, carving the course of the Whanganui River as he went and filling it with his tears. He then moved North to his present location.

To this day, Taranaki gazes silently at his lover and his river. Pihanga still loves Taranaki and sighs when she thinks of him. Taranaki, when covered in mist, is said to be weeping for his lost love. Meanwhile, the enraged and jealous husband, Mt Tongariro smoulders with fury”. [Ref. Manky Maps] Continue reading →