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Risdon Brook Track – Hobart (Tasmania) – unofficial parkrun and then some

Risdon Brook reservoir.
A lovely sunny day.
Heading up one of the hills.
A Tasmanian Native-hen (Gallinula mortierii).
We passed quite a few other track users.
A great outing.
Some welcome shade.
The dam wall.
Close encounters with a wallaby.

Our training took a turn for the worse the past couple of weeks, so the thought of a 101km event in 9 days time, is making me a wee bit nervous. After 19 hours of traveling, we finally touched down in Tasmania, and decided to walk the 1.7km to catch a local bus into town where we had to pick up the rental car. At $11 for the both of us, it seemed a much better option than the airport bus at $40 for us two. Besides, we needed to do some form of exercise after all that sitting. Continue reading →

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Paekakariki Escarpment Track

Date: 4 February 2018
Distance: 17km
Time: 3:04

A wonderful early morning outing.
A short section next to the highway at the start.
The early sections were in the shade, and quite cool to start off with.
Wonderful views all the way.
Dropping down to the railway line.
The distance markers indicate distances from station to station.
No shortage of stairs.
Kapiti island.
Fun times.
Not all track users were equally fast.
Benches at the highest point.
Good times.
A slip covering part of the track. Luckily there was a rope to hold on to.
Stairs, stairs and more stairs.
Kate striking a pose.
The swing bridges are quite runnable, as long as you get your rhythm right.
A muddy patch in the shade.
Heading down to another swing bridge.
This is what happens when you take too long taking a group selfie. 🙂
Easy running on the lower sections.
Passing right by the railway line.
A quick breather before Kate and Kel went on to catch the train, while Gary, Gerry and I ran back the same way we came.
It’s not just the views that take your breath away.

We finally got our butts down to Paekak (thanks Gary!) to see what all the fuss is about. With Gerry often working in Wellington for the past seven years, we were driving down a couple of times a month, and often more. And each time would be a reminder that we still want to go do it this walk which has been advertised far and wide. Everybody knows someone who has done it, if they haven’t done it themselves. But, getting over there would mean another trip, and quite frankly, I was getting sick of that road. At the end of last year, Gerry decided to let go of the ad hoc weekend job in Wellington, giving us a breather from a lot of the trips, and making it more bearable.

We decided to make an early start, so left Palmy shortly after 6am. Kate and Kel managed to come along at short notice so we all met bright and early at Summerhill Shopping Centre.

The track is just about in Gary’s backyard, so he often uses it for training. He invited us along previously, but something came up and we couldn’t make. This time we were not going to miss out again.

We started off at the Paekak end at about 7:30am. Crossing underneath SH1, we went straight onto the track and slowly started making our way up the hill. The first bit was mostly runable and not too steep, but once we reached the millions of stairs, I was reduced to a slow walk. The path is fairly narrow, and to be quite honest, I would not like to be up there on a windy or gusty day. You are quite exposed against the side of a very steep hill.

Luckily, it was the most glorious day, weather wise, and we were treated to beautiful views over Kapiti Island and the South Island. Since we were on the western side of the mountain, the sun was still low enough for us to be in the shade for the most part. Just as well, as things got quite hot later on without much of a wind.

We reached the highest point after about 3.9km, where a couple of wooded benches have been installed. The five of us were by ourselves when we got there, but on the way back it was packed with people making a day of it. The track also got much busier on the way back and we had to squeeze past lots of people on the narrow track.

After some photos of the scenery and selfies, we started going down on steps that were clinging to the side of the mountain, interspersed with the narrow track. I’m really not comfortable with heights, but this was somehow okay-ish. I’ve sidled around much hairier ridges in the past and this did not make my nerves stand on edge all the time.

At about 5.5km we reached a slip where a guide rope was put in place for safety. It did not fill me with confidence, and I’m quite surprised, given the terrain, that there aren’t lots more slips. Not long after we got to the first of two swing bridges. They are wide and sturdy, easy to run across if you don’t create a rhythm causing you to bounce out if sync.

The last couple of kilometres were easy, downhill and nice to run, and we reached the other end of the track at Pukerua Bay (after 7.5km) in about two hours. After a quick breather, and leaving Kate and Kel who took the train back, Gerry, Gary and I turned around to run back. There were already a fair amount more walkers and runners on the track, but soon it became really busy. Passing walkers going in the same direction, as well as passing heaps coming from the front, including quite a few other runners, made me glad that we started when we did.

This seems to be a hugely popular track, even if just to walk to the highest point for a picnic and lovely views, and back again. It is well worth doing, but I would recommend going early. The earlier the better.

Do it, if you haven’t yet.

 

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Chasing the cut-off – Jumbo-Holdsworth Trail Race

Date: 27 January 2018
Distance: 24km
Time: 4:42.08

Race briefing.
And away we go!
Very early on, runners were queueing at a foot bridge, but since we started off so slow, we only had a wait a short while.
The first seven or so kilometres were all runnable. After the bridge we were by ourselves the whole time until we reached the massive uphill.
A one-person swing bridge where I was reduced to a walk.
When the imposing uphill started, we finally caught up with some other runners.
Gerry was feeding us every 20 minutes or so.
Up and up and up we went.
Finally above the treeline, but then into the fog.
Tall grass and scrub made the going difficult. Not that it seemed to bother most other runners.
Scary bits on the ridgeline.
I thanked my lucky stars that it was foggy, as I’m sure the drop-offs on either side would be very scary!
i decided to rather walk all the edgy bits.
Sidling around the ridge.
Another drop-off to the right. I was secretly shitting myself.
On the edge.
Nice to see a volunteer up on the ridge.
This is more what I thought it would look like at the top.
Into the mystic …
Another ridge to sidle along.
One is quite exposed on the mountain (nevermind the runner in front of me that exposed himself!).
Gerry seems happy that we reached this point.
Having some solid ground on either side of the path is much more comforting.
Foggy path.
One of the more runnable bits at the top.
Sweaty and tired, but happy to be heading downhill for a bit.
Finally we reached the volunteer at Mt Holdsworth.
Mt Holdsworth trig and a friendly volunteer.
Back on the ridge, and finally going down.
Don’t slip!
You couldn’t see too far ahead – possibly a blessing in disguise.
Happy days.
Starting a tricky descent.
A steep descent brought us to the Holdsworth Hut.
Lots of steps on the first stretch down the mountain from the hut.
And of course back into the forest.
The Gentle Annie Track is quite runnable.
Mt Holdsworth in the back.
My quads stopped working at some stage.
We still had a long way down to the start/finish.
Whoohoo! Not far now.
Happy to be so close to our first Jumbo-Holdsworth finish.
“Flying” for the last bit.
Clearly we didn’t go fast enough. Too much energy still.
A fantastic finish to a great race.
Grub on the house! Loved the veges!
Is there a prize for the dirtiest finisher?
Prize-giving in a beautiful spot on a lovely sunny day.

For the past seven years, this event has been on our to do list. But every year there’s something preventing us from entering; too much traveling and sitting over Christmas, too much eating and not enough training, injury, it is always this, that or the other. Finally, this year we took the plunge, very last minute I might add. We only entered five days out from the event (my apologies to the organisers). Continue reading →

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Mt Ruapehu 3-day fat-ass run

Date: 20-22 January 2018

day2b

After entering for the Ring Of Fire event coming up early in April, we thought it might be a good idea to see what we are actually letting ourselves in for. We have tramped the Round the Mountain Track a couple of times with backpacks, tenting and generally being prepared for anything the mountain throws at us, so knew the terrain we are heading into. But we were more than keen to experience the challenging terrain a bit more “light-footed”, without the burden of a heavy pack. I always associated the toughness of the track with carrying a heavy pack and wearing less agile footwear. On the down side, should something happen, we would only have our emergency gear with us which might keep us alive, but would be very uncomfortable should the weather turn to custard. Continue reading →

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Run one walk one – an easy ultra

Date: 13 January 2018
Distance: 60km

Time: 8.5 hours (and about .5 changing gear, eating and filling water bottles and food stuffs)

 

Shortly after we started, Gerry had to stop to suck out the air from his sloshing bladder.
This is where things got interested, trying to find the track from the end of Waitoetoe Park through to Pioneer Highway.
Passing through the suburbs.
Finally back in a park, testing a log chair which was not yet needed at that point.
On the trail again.
Just across Pioneer Highway.
The walkway carries on up to Milson Line.
Apart from a few road crossings, the track is mostly away from traffic.
Most of the track follows the Palmerston North waterways.
One of the underpasses.
Some nice graffiti under one of the bridges.
Gerry having time to play with his camera.
Passing under the railway line.
Yet another bridge to pass under.
Interesting graffiti behind a building in the industrial area.
And still the track goes on.
And on.
Until the track was no more … From here it was a ziczac throught the industrial area before heading down Napier Road, Te Marai Road and back to the river walkway.
Back on the Bridle Track just after we had a good shower. And then the camera battery died.

Planning for Gerry’s 50th birthday, we decided to do that “thing” where you run your age. Eyeballing the running calendars high and low for a 50km run the weekend before or after his birthday, delivered nothing. So what does Gerry do? He signs us up for a 100km event instead, only double his age. What’s a few kilometres between friends? (Goodness knows how we’ll manage a 100 miler when he turns 80!). Continue reading →