running

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Cape Egmont Half Marathon

Date: 14 July
Distance: 21.1 (we measured 21.4)
Time: 2:16:10

Wet and dark at the start.
Not quite convinced of our own sanity!
The race is run on sealed country roads.
Awesome volunteers braving the weather.
A bit messy with no bin after the aid station.
An unsealed section shortly beyond the second aid station and relay team hand-over.
Did I mention it was wet?
Happy to be done with it.
Cape Egmont lighthouse.
Good to be out of the rain, but still cold and wet.
The tail-end Charlie.

When training and running trail ultras, one tends to run yourself unfit with regards to normal road running. Unless, of course, you do all the homework for both disciplines and can still manage to run a decent, consistent pace whether it be on or off road. They are for the most part two very different types of sport and specificity is key when training for the one or the other. As someone who certainly enjoys both (running is running to me) I try to enter a variety of events, both on and off road. Continue reading →

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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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Tail-end Charlies for A2E – Hip hip hurrah!

Date: 18 November 2018
Distance: 21.1km
Time: 3:24.02

Wet and windy.
At the start in Ashhurst Domain.
The traffic management vehicle, the last participant, and the water point guys leaving before we got there.
A jolly welcome back at the finish.

We arrived exhausted from gardening work the previous day at the club-rooms to take the bus to the start in Ashhurst. It was again as in previous years overcast and cool, necessitating carrying a lot of additional clothes. The thing with being tail-end is, you can go at slow walking pace, which means you don’t ever warm up. Apart from rain-jackets and an extra polyprop (which I donned even before the start), we also had to carry the first aid kit, as well as water and some snacks for ourselves. Just as well, as the third water point was packed up and gone by the time we passed through. And not only was the water point gone, so was the only toilet on the Bridle Track/walkway! I realise volunteers don’t want to wait all day for the last participant, but to pack up the aid on course before the last participants come through is just unacceptable. Unless, of course, there’s a cut-off point on course and the participant missed that. Continue reading →