Running events

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Hill repeats with weights – Aorangi Undulator marshalling duties on the mountain ridge above Washpool Hut

Starting fresh, clean and without any aches or pains.
Putangirua Pinnacles campsite.
The route follows the riverbed for the first half kilometre or so.
Easy going on a well formed trail in the first couple kilometres.
Even steps to make it more accessible to do the Pinnacles scenic loop walk.
The PInnacles.
A split in the road to complete the Pinnacles walk, go to Te Toki accommodation or further into the mountain to Washpool Hut.
An easy uphill section on a 4WD road.
Very steep, but easy going.
Through the manuka trees onto a grassy patch.
Some NZ wildlife.
If this is not a magic mushroom, I don’t know what is!
Further and further up the mountain.
Follow the orange triangles – up and up.
If I had to guess, I would say that the Libertia (NZ iris) grows at about 300 metres above sea level. At least in this area, we saw them on both sides of the mountain at about this altitude.
In a distance: the sea to the left and Lake Ferry to the right. We followed the ridge in the foreground.
Another weird looking fungi.
Arriving at the hut that was “born” the same year as Gerry!
Our marshalling spot, geared with gels, tent, stove and camera.
Magical misty mountain.
Variety of ferns in the area.
The hut is way down below in this valley.
The trunk and roots of a Matai tree.
At first I thought a hunter had slaughtered his deer on the track!
Between the beech trees.
Fetching water from the stream about 60 metres from the hut.
A steep little climb between the stream and the hut.
We had a cozy evening by fire and candle light.
A very small little hut that only sleeps six.
The hut is nestled in a tiny clearing in the forest.
There’s quite a bit of stinging nettle in this area.
Evidence that this hut is frequented mostly by hunters.
The hill is often at this gradient, necessitating an all-fours approach.
Back among the native NZ iris.
The flowers of a rewarewa (NZ honeysuckle)
Lunch in a grassy clearing.
Gorse Alley.
Back on the 4WD track and at the turn-off to the PInnacles viewpoint.
The Pinnacles.
Pinnacles up closer.
Fallen trees (manuka) make for a 15kg squat and deadlift, all in one!
On the edge of an abyss.
Back in the river bed.
A few minor stream crossings.
Pinnacles up close.
Last one.
Don’t ask.

Another year of not doing this event, but this time we opted to marshal. I’ve always been  partial to multi-day runs, which is maybe why I also love tramping so much. So while we were in no state to participate, we thought it would be nice to experience a wee bit of the event at some level. Event organiser Chris Martin (aka Martini) agreed to have us, and placed us at the peak of the fourth “undulation”about 2-3km above Washpool Hut in the Aorangi Ranges. The Aorangi Undulator comprises of a 100km event (the A100), run over the three days, and a one day event of about 32km, which is also the middle day of the A100 – the day we marshalled. Continue reading →

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New Plymouth Joggers and Walkers Club Half Marathon

The old Taranaki Daily News half marathon

Date: 7 October 2018
Distance: 21.1km
Time: 2:23.44
Previous: 2011, 2014

There were other runners, even though it doesn’t look that way on any of the other pics!
Two years to go to the 40th anniversary of this event.
The event offered water only at the aid stations, so we had to take our own stash of jelly sweets along.
Lonely morning out, so we had to entertain ourselves out on the course.
More on-course entertainment. 🙂
One third down.
Running along country roads just out of town.
Back in suburbia.

We’ve done this event a couple times before, and for some unknown reason we’re usually on a downward spiral during our training cycle. Not that we have a formal “training cycle” in any form or shape, but somehow we’re always either injured or just plain unfit this time of year. But doing the event is always a good excuse to see friends who live in New Plymouth. They unfortunately have gone through some hardship recently, having lost a brother (and brother-in-law) to point-blank murder, so it was under very sad circumstances that we caught up with them. (Not to go into the details, but it was a good reminder of some of the reasons why we emigrated to New Zealand eight years ago.) Continue reading →

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Red Walk & Red Nose Family Fun Day

Date: 30 September 2018
Distance: 10km
Time: 57:18

Gerry, me and Rob.
At the start of the 10km event.
Jane and Jackie making the most of it.
On the way to the halfway point.
Catching up with the 5km participants on the way back.

Gerry and I participated in the Palmerston North edition of the event, which aims to “raise money and awareness for the amazing work Cure Kids does to help fund valuable research into a variety of child-related illnesses and conditions in New Zealand”.

What we thought would be a low-key fundraising walk turned out to be a decent size event – well organised and very enthusiastically supported by the local running and walking community. An enjoyable and festive 10k out-and-back run/walk along the river (there was also a 5k option) was augmented by loads of spot prizes, yummy food and great coffee at the finish, jumping castles for the kids, and more. Nor sure how many turned out but it was certainly a good crowd.

A good event for a great cause – must do again in 2019!

 

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Hauraki Hundee – Trail Trilogy

Date: 16 September 2018
Time: 15:49.32
Distance: 100km (we measured 107.6km)

 

Pretending to nap behind the registration desk.
Race briefing at 12:45am.
And so it begins. Already tired from lack of sleep, but the 100km awaits.
Too dark to take photos, so this was the last one for the next five hours.
Me, Evander (?) and Elee (the tail-end Charles on the bike).
Lots and lots of flat gravel tracks.
Selfie-time.
Hedgehog scull.
The Hauraki Rail Trail must be the flattest track in the country.
One of the organisers ran in to chat to Elee and then joined us on the way back to his spot.
The first “hill” on the course going over the bridge.
About 700 metres long.
The Kopu aid station.
One of many similar bridges in the section between Kopu and Paeroa.
Team le Roux pic, thanks to Evander.
More than 50kms done, but a lot still ahead.
A few of these garden chairs were attached to trees in this section. 🙂
The turkeys in the front. Love their gobble sound. It always gives me a chuckle.
Passing under one of the roads.
Near Paeroa.
Running through Paeroa. We’ve driven through the town a few times in the past – never thought we’d be running through here as part of a hundee.
One of the road crossings in Paeroa.
Paeroa aid station, which is also the start of the half marathon.
Finally we reached the Karangahake Gorge which is the most scenic part of the course.
Just soldering on to the finish.
Some event signage en route.
On our way to the 1km long tunnel. The exit of the tunnel is just a tiny white dot.
Was it not for the lack of sleep, cold air in the tunnel and my tired body, the tunnel might have been quite enjoyable.
The four of us (Gerry, Evander, Elee and me) were within shouting distance for at least 99% of the course.
Jog time. As the kilometres passed it was getting harder and harder to start running after our walk breaks.
Great to see these two again, and they even “organised” a duck for our amusement (just peeking around the corner at the left of the bridge).
The final aid station.
Much more variety in the last part of the course.
Hitting a sheltered patch.
At long last we reached Waihi.
And got company on the road.
Cute little girls mimicking the Hauraki Rail Trail sign, showing us the way.
So tired, but so relieved to have made it to the finish.

As we were driving up to Thames on Friday morning, the thought of wanting to attempt a 100km run on the tiny amount of training we’ve done the past five months, was not something my mind was willing to deal with. It just ignored the prospect and pretended it wasn’t happening. Only after a good few kilometres into the race did it start to sink in that I was totally and utterly buggered. Continue reading →

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Woodville to Wharite Peak (and back)

Date: 1 September 2018
Distance: 28km (14km one way)
Time: 4:22 (approx)

At the start of the walk at the i-Site – just the two of us.
Not sure whether to wear a windproof jacket or a warm jacket, Gerry stopped to swop his top layers.
The sea of orange shirts up ahead.
Wharite Peak covered in a thick cloud.
Soon the orange snake were behind us, as well as ahead of us.
Young and old came out to support.
Early on the gravel road the gradient was still manageable.
Until we started to climb considerably.
The windfarm remains quite a sight from up here.
Up, up, up.
The snow-covered Mt Ruapehu in the hazy distance.
Almost there!
Finally at the trig.
Running downhill is so much easier.
Tracey in the middle, only a few hundred metres from the top.
Going down is fun, until afterwards when your quads are minced.
A narrow bridge we all had to cross on the way out of town, which was insanely busy.

We recently found out about a young Palmerston North woman by the name of Tracey, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a couple of years ago. She received a grant from the Mastering Mountains charitable trust to walk the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, and is currently in training by Massey Sport and Exercise student Arbie Hong. In an attempt to raise money for the MS charity, as well as creating awareness about the illness, she organised the Woodville to Wharite Peak walk. Not only did she organise the walk, but also participated to see how she would manage and ended up walking the full 14km up to the peak in only 3.5 hours. With Woodville at about 92 metres above sea level and Wharite Peak at 920 metres, it is a tough uphill and no easy feat. Continue reading →