Training

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12 in 14 Holiday Hundred

Date: 6 – 17 July
Distance: 168km

I am still toying with the idea of doing the Northburn 100 next year. Actually, it’s more than toying. I want to, and plan to do it. Since I’m not getting younger (or fitter for that matter) I’m going to attempt walking the whole thing. Or at least start by walking for the most part, and perhaps try jogging bits on the last lap. But realistically that might be a big ask. I just don’t want to risk starting running early on and then be buggered sooner. Maybe I will be buggered just as much from walking. Question is, how long will it take to get to that point. Will I be able to go further or longer with walking rather than jogging?

At this stage I’m just trying to make it through winter, keeping our run-walks reasonably consist; five to six times a week.

What bothers me is that we did just that all through last year, and apart from a couple of months over Xmas where our training took a bit of a knock, we kept at it. And yet, I’m not getting fitter or faster. But to be honest, at this stage I’m just glad I can still move, as that is also becoming more challenging by the day.

For the school holidays I came up with the idea to do 12km each day for two weeks straight. That amounts to a 100 miles over two weeks. This is not remotely comparable to a 100 miles in one go, but it just wanted to see how this will affect me. And even though it seemed easy enough, I have hip and knee problems which are giving me a lot of grief at the moment.

My right leg/thigh is completely on the blink. To the point where I’m limping and am often in agony. I tried to foam roll and stretch my way out of pain, but that just worsened the situation. I have done this before where I manage to release fascia in wrong places, or the right place but neglecting another spot, or who knows what, but causing the issue to be worse that before doing anything. That’s always the problem with knowing a little but not enough. Or working on one area and neglecting the big picture.

I have very shallow hip sockets, and my theory is that weakness and tightness is causing the ball of my femur to move out of place, and that causes the pinching and pain down my leg. Whether anything can be done about it, is anyone’s guess. Strengthening the joint is probably my best bet. And on hindsight, this is what I should have done the past ten years since becoming aware of my hip problem.

During a stint like this one, there’s no hiding, unless you bail out, which is not something I like to do. So from the start I wasn’t 100%. That’s when I thought some foam rolling will do the trick. It has done wonders in the past. It’s just that without strengthening the muscles at the same time, it doesn’t stick. Only this time, I managed to do more damage than good. For the bulk of our 160km over two weeks, I was in quite a bit of pain, having to walk most of the way. Especially the last few outings. Which in itself is perhaps not the worst idea, as walking fitness is where I’m hoping to make a lot of gains.

Day 1. Linton (9km jog + 3km walk)

For the first outing I put on an old pair of shoes. Altra Superior. They’re not really old in wear and tear terms, but I’ve had them for at least eight years. I’ve always seen them as short distance shoes, and wouldn’t have attempted anything further than a 21k, and even that is pushing it.

Case in point. By the end of our outing, my ‘long’ toe (Mortons foot worse on the one side than the other) felt as if the tip was bruised and battered. It looked swollen and was very sore. I tried to ignore it, hoping it will magically heal overnight.

We decided to jog all the flats and downhills and walk the uphills. Day one done. So far so good, but ended up with a number of nagging niggles, including a sore toe.
[1:37]

Day 2. Linton (9+3km)

Needless to say, I wore a different pair of Altra shoes – one that can go the distance.

The toe was very sensitive, and sore to the touch. Having the blankets pressing down on it at night was painful, so I wasn’t sure how I would cope on the run-walk.

We went for the same approach as the first day; walk the uphills and jog the rest.

Slower, but glad I could manage despite all the aches and pains.
[1:42]

Day 3. Pacific Dr/Summerhill (6+6km)

It was a cold, and wet day. We had to fit it in before work to try and avoid the worst of the rain.

Pressed for time, this meant we nearly matched our quickest time so far on day one.

We followed a 2 walk, 4 jog, 2 walk, 2 jog, 2 walk strategy.

My toe was still giving me grief, and looked very inflamed and red.

[1:38]

Day 4. Linton (12km walk)

Our fourth day looked like it might not happen. The weather took a turn for the worse, and it was miserable outside. A freezing southerly gale was blowing, coupled with a drizzle, so we decided to don a tonne of warm and wet weather gear and walk to Linton and back.

It would appear that walking is more difficult that running. My shins hurt and I have a few other body parts that are equally unhappy.

[1:59]

Day 5. Pacific + Massey (8+4km)

The cold weather hadn’t subsided, challenging us with an icy southerly and only 7 degrees Celsius. To make the outing feel like it’s ‘shorter’ than it is, it helps for me to stay near the starting point. We parked at NW Summerhill, did two kilometres down Pacific Dr before turning around, passing NW again to head down to Massey.

We walked the first and last 2k, and jogged the 8k in the middle. This was out quickest outing yet.

[1:34]

Day 6. River upstream (4+8km)

For some change of scenery, we opted to go upstream from Firzherbeet Bridge. It was still very cold, turning an already difficult outing into a challenge. We went for a walk-two-jog-one approach. Sort of … (2 walk, 1 jog, 2 walk, 1 jog, 2 walk, 2 jog, 2 walk to be precise). With a totally buggered leg, and a throbbing toe, the walking started to gain prominence.

Later that evening I noticed that a red line was forming next to the nail of the long toe. It was still sore, and the nail had a blueish tint.

[1:45]

Day 7. Summerhill trails (4+8km)

Being a weekend day (Sunday), we decided to do the new highway, as that was up the hill – the opposite of what we’ve been doing so far. It was very cold, but at least there was no wind at home. But on arrival in the carpark an icy wind was blowing a gale, and despite multiple layers we were not dressed for it. So we turned back and did the Summerhill trails instead. To get the distance, we went through the Massey science centres, over the foot bridge and back to Summerhill shopping centre where we started.

My long toe was still sore and swollen. That night I tried to inspect it to see what was going on. Apart from being very sore, the red was bugging me. I trimmed the nail again extra sort and accidentally cut into the skin. That’s when some bloody water came out from the blister underneath the nail which I hadn’t noticed before. With the whole thing so swollen I wasn’t expecting a blister underneath the nail. Hooray, finally progress can be made. I put some antiseptic ointment and a plaster on and went to bed.

[1:50]

Day 8. Pacific Dr nooks and crannies. (12km walk)

From an altered walking gait due to a sore hip and knee, plus a toe problem on the other side, I developed a new blister. Never a dull moment. An no better way to lure out all niggles than a bit of mileage.

The chilly weekend weather stayed with us, and it was only 5 degrees C for our walk.

My long toe was still sore. It’s hard to believe that one little toe can cause so much drama. It’s like it just doesn’t want to get better. And maybe it’s because of the hammering every day. Only six more outings to go.

[1:59]

Day 9. Pacific Dr nooks and crannies (12km walk)

Despite a sore and buggered hip, thigh and knee (things are seriously out of alignment me thinks) we walked again after work in the dark.

I was surprised by the fact that no-one was outside. It was a lovely evening – not super cold and no wind. Yet, the flickering light of TVs is the only sign of life.

Day 10. Linton (12km walk-jog)

Another lunchtime run where we walked for the most part, but with the occasional jog to try and finish in a quicker time. It didn’t really make a difference, as an extended stop to give a little girl some attention (she came off her bike on one of the corners) took a minute or two.

[1:49]

Day 11. Pacific Dr nooks and crannies (12km walk)

By now I’ve almost given up on running altogether. My leg wasn’t getting any better, and the compensation caused my foot to become sore. The little bones felt bruised every time I tried to run. So walking it was.

Due to other commitments, we had a super early chilly start (in the dark just after 6am) watching the sky get lighter was pleasant. Unfortunately it was overcast, so no glorious sunrise. Not much in the line of wind made it a pleasant walk until people started driving to work.

We miscalculated the distance and ended up going a bit too far, taking ten minutes longer.

[2:09]

Day 12. Pacific Dr nooks and crannies (12km walk)

This outing had to happen after work, so we saw another sunset. All our after workday outings, where we couldn’t go over lunchtime, happened after or before work.

[2:00]

Day 13. Pacific Dr and Massey (12km walk)

It was a Saturday where we had a lot of things to do. Moving studio, collecting artworks and materials to go into storage, and the list goes on.

Exhausted we could finally do our walk, again just as it was getting dark. As it was the penultimate, and again with another commitment the Sunday night, we opted to have bubbly prematurely to celebrate.

[1:58]

Day 14. Pacific Dr nooks and crannies (12km walk)

We started the day trying to finalise a retaining wall we’ve been working of for a couple of months. We started good, things were going well, and then came the rain. This caused some slipping behind the wall and into the holes before we could fill it up with concrete, which meant we had to undo everything and start over. It set us back considerably, and a week-long project took months.

Lots of digging and shoveling mud, clay and stone. Sore and exhausted, we had lunch and went for our walk. Luckily with walking, one can have whatever you like for lunch without too many ill effects.

[1:53]

And just like that, we covered 100 miles. It’s unfathomable to think we have to do that in one go, over super hilly terrain. But it’s a start. And as I say, as long as we can get through winter okay, we can start training a bit more specific with regards to hills. Not that there’s anything remotely hilly enough near us, but an hour or two’s drive would help.

What bothers me is my leg situation. Although I struggled through the past two weeks, the pain is now non-stop, sore with every step. That is not the way to train. I have to get my hip dysplasia sorted. As long as the ball moves around in the socket, there will be pinching and pain. Foam rolling just aggravated it, stretching doesn’t help either. I am at my wits end.

Going forward, I might just try to keep walking at least. It won’t really help with fitness, but it feels better than doing nothing. Or giving up altogether. Will have to wait and see how things progress before making the final call about Northburn.

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Mentors Country Estate parkrun

Date: 7 March 2026
Distance: 5km
Time: 37min

During the flight from OR Tambo to Hong Kong with my mother’s ashes in the overhead locker, I reflected on our three week trip to the motherland. It was tough.

My mother passed away on 3 October last year at the age of 87. For the past 16 years she lived in a house we owned. Being so far away it was the best we could do to try and help her. Fortunately I still have an older brother and sister who could be more hands-on with the day-to-day needs. Providing her with a place to stay may well be a subconscious way to ease the guilt of us moving so far away.

The past number of years she became increasingly frail. On and off she stayed with my brother 700km away, and the past more than a year, she was with him all the time. 

Even though our house stood empty for the best part of two years, nothing happened; no squatters, no burglaries, no vandalism. We all needed some time to process the death of our mother, so thought we can just carry on with business as usual until July when we planned to go over and start sorting out her things. Unfortunately this all changed on Christmas eve when all the outside copper pipes were stolen from the house. This was followed by another event where the copper wire leading to, and inside my mum’s pottery kiln was severely damaged and stolen. The other issue was that my brother was still paying the rates&taxes on the property (to keep the power on for the alarm to work), which was really just a waste of money. We had to do something urgently.

We quickly made travel arrangements and by mid-February we were on our way, this time flying via Hong Kong. The quickest route, and the one we’ve taken the past five or six times, is through Australia. But we’ve never had much joy with Qantas, and the last time was a nightmare to put it mildly. Every trip without fail, our luggage stayed behind in Australia (the connecting flight allows too short a turnover time), the food deteriorated with each trip, and arriving back in Wellington at 1am is just plain nasty. On top of it all, the shuttle bus to long-term parking in Wellington didn’t run during the night, and we had to walk the 2km in the middle of the night. Luckily that changed a few years ago.

This time after four flights we arrived tired, but without any serious issues, and immediately set to work. With the help of my brother we spent the first week chasing copper pipes into the bricks and mortar. Gerry did most tof the hammering, my brother the copper pipe soldering, and I finished off plastering and filling up gaps. After four days, we had water in the house again, and could start with the clean up.

In short, we had to go through and clear out all my mum’s things. Eighty-seven years worth of belongings which she meticulously saved and looked after. I was keen on some fabric and yarn to use in an upcoming exhibition about the circle of life and death, but couldn’t take much as we only had two suitcases with a limit of 23kg each. The one thing mum said I could have was two 1930s rocking chairs, but short of paying a fortune to get it to New Zealand, I had to let it go.

Most of her things ended up donated to charity, a handful of things were sold, and the rest went to recycling and the rubbish dump. Such a sad and terrible thing to have to do. I discovered mum’s wedding album, grandma’s birth and death certificates, granddad’s identity document, and the list goes on. Just sad.

With no good reason to keep the house any longer, we were also keen to try and sell the property. I fashioned a hand made ‘for sale’ sign which we stuck on the gate. In case. Agents came around, potential buyers started walking through while the place was in shambles. Stuff everywhere, tools, cement, paint, coupled with a house that wasn’t lived in for more than a year, it looked terrible. One of the people popping in to look around, brought his wife a couple of days later to have a look, and another few days on they brought their daughter. The place needed a lot of work, the garden was in shambles, but it was still a decent sized plot, with two separate dwellings; one the main house, and the other a studio. It has a lot of potential. But beggars can’t be choosers, and we had to let it go for far less than what we might have been able to sell it for if we had the time to get things in better order. But time was a luxury we didn’t have, nor the money and ended up just being relieved to have a buyer.

The end of an era. A heartbreaking experience.

Before we left from NZ I had grand plans to go for walks on the beach with my sister and brother, but the only thing we did was work. From sun up to late every day, work. Luckily my brother could get leave, and with my sister on pension, we spent the evenings together. During the days we worked together.

Our last Saturday morning in SA we decided to treat ourselves to a quick parkrun. I didn’t have running clothes so thought I’d just walk. Working with dusty and old documents meant that hay fever was a constant struggle for me and I ended up taking far more antihistamines than I would have liked, which didn’t help my cause. Getting some fresh air was much needed, and to celebrate the ‘offer to purchase’ that was signed the day before, we went for it.

During the night the wind picked up. It was blowing a gale and the noise from the trees and corrugated iron rattling meant I was awake a lot of the time. We got up, had red bush tea and a pear before driving to Mentors Country Estate about five minutes away. It was still windy, but not as strong as during the night. Also, it started to rain, and there was a nip in the air. Not ideal conditions for a first outing since before Christmas.

Mentors is a large, privately owned wedding and accommodation facility located on the side of town near Jeffreys Bay, with the windfarm next door.

We arrived shortly before the start, and standing in the cold wind and spits of rain, I was contemplating our ‘bad’ luck with the weather. Apart from running shoes I didn’t really have appropriate clothes to wear for a run, so donned the nearest thing that is not a pair of jeans. Since the weather wasn’t ideal and looked even worse on the horizon, we decided to start with a jog in the hope of warming up a bit, and getting it done quicker. My baggy hippie-type pants turned into a sail catching a lot of wind. In the right direction, it could have counted in my favour, but it felt like nothing other than a handicap.

The idea was to jog slowly until I couldn’t anymore and then just walk to the end. But leg-memory seems to be a thing. We ran at a seven-plus minute per kilometre pace which turned out to be attainable, and I could keep going until the end.

The course is a short lollipop with two laps of the round section, off-road in a nature reserve. Lots of volunteers were on the course encouraging runners and walkers. Having a double lap of the one section meant they had a short course (3km?) as well as the full parkrun 5km distance. We were 99 runners and walkers, and being a flattish course and a loop, meant we could almost see everyone out there. In the distance we also saw some Blesbok and ostriches.

At the finish, coffee and snacks could be bought from the gorgeous stone and thatch roof venue. Water with lemon and mint were provided and the sheltered area meant a lot of participants were just relaxing and catching up. We bought a coffee and sat on the porch with a beautiful view over the farm thinking about life, death, running, and survival. A nagging concern that our upcoming flights might be cancelled (due to war and ultimately greed) and that we might not be able to get home, were thoughts I was trying to avoid.

Afterwards we went back to the grindstone to finish off the remaining things that had to be done before flying back super early the next day.

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The year gone by

And just like that another year is on its head. It is a real shame that we didn’t get to do any events this year. There are a number of reasons for that, but one that stands out is the entry fees. It has become stupidly expensive, and I just don’t want to pay that anymore. Just the other day I was looking at a local event and the late entry fee for a 10k run is $100! Normal is $70 which is already a rip-off, even taking into account that participants have to be bused to the start. 

Then there is the issue of Ironman. I try to avoid doing any events that are organised by or associated with the Ironman Group. This includes iconic events like the Tarawera Ultra, Queenstown Marathon, Hawkes Bay Marathon, Auckland Marathon. On top of being super expensive, they are killing the little man and ruining the running scene. But nobody seems to care. I am very much in the camp of ‘refusing to support the Ironman Group’. And in an attempt (I’m guessing) to try and keep up with these big corporations), most other events are also getting to the point where exorbitant fees makes it impossible to enter for average participants who just do events for fun.

A change in traffic management rules did not help either. This killed off the last few small events that were still standing. Unfortunately community events (like the North Range Trio) suffered as a result of all of these things. There aren’t many affordable events left nowadays, and even though there are quite a few I would still like to do, most of them are on the South Island, which is another kettle of fish altogether when it comes to money and prices of things. You may as well cross the ditch and go for events in Oz. 

This all changed my mindset from supporting events to one of ‘doing it myself’. Dream up my own runs and then do it. We have done so many 10kms and half marathons in the past that it would have to be an exceptional event for me to sign up. Especially taking into account that we often run half marathons and further when training for long events. The distance is nothing special if you just to it for enjoyment and socialising, and my guess is that that might be the case for a lot of runners out there. So to attract the numbers in shorter distance (especially if you want to include families and kids) they have to be VERY affordable. Well, that is my opinion.

On top of all this, it would appear that the running scene had changed quite a bit. Or perhaps it is just me that changed. I don’t get as excited about events anymore, which really is a shame. The result? I am not committing to upcoming challenges because there are none. Every now and then I look through the running calendar in search of something to sign up for, but when it comes to the entry fees, and often travel and accommodation, I just want to run screaming to the hills. Which in itself is not the worst idea!

We managed about 280 activities on Strava this year totalling about 1550km, so not entirely sitting on our laurels. But we don’t have focus. We don’t have a proper goal – something to scare me to do more. I just do my 4k run most days of the week and walk a couple more. It is not enough. I still have lofty goals, but without the occasional event to keep one honest, I’m afraid I would have to be a lot more disciplined. Which currently I’m not. When the weather is bad, which is a lot of the time, I just don’t bother.

Let’s hope 2026 will be more eventful, even if just to do more hiking/tramping. And who knows, maybe I can still get myself committed to enter a 100 again. Preferably a 100 miles and not a 100km.

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Branch Road and more

Date: 9 November
Distance: 7km
Time: 1:07

It took me a long while to post this. Perhaps because it marked the ‘last straw’ in terms of my fitness levels, or lack thereof – I had to admit to myself that things were not progressing as I had hoped. This was very demoralising. The struggle, for whatever reason, is very real. However, by now it has also started to become a mental thing – if you think you can’t, you can’t. I still believe things will look up sooner or later. But I digress.

A number of years ago when Gerry and I were still organising running events (before COVID left us with no other option than going back to full time employment), we were always on the lookout for new places to host events that could include a wider community. One of the options was venturing into the Pohangina Valley. We scouted a few places in the area, and also walked up Branch Road, a paper road, which looked like it might be a good candidate. However, after walking up the track we didn’t deem it suitable. From memory I think there was a slip, or something looked a bit unsafe, or some or other issue I can’t recall right now. Being a narrow path and a long drive to get there might also have had something to do with it.

In 2022 I started working as a trapper in the Southern Ruahine, and my then boss once stopped at the top of this track, and told me that a local lady organises a walk down Branch Road every year. At the time I did not bring our walk from the bottom up and the start at the top together to realise it was the same track. From the bottom it looked like we were walking on private land, and it felt awkward, like we were intruding, so we never made it all the way up the hill. From the top it looked wild and unkempt, but somehow still inviting, like a good place to go on training runs. But we also never got around to walk/run up or down Branch Road by ourselves or as part of the organised event in 2022 or 2023.

In 2024, when the event was on again, friends couldn’t make it anymore, so they gave us their entries. We arrived bright and early, signed in, and got some sweets and water from the car to take with. Two buses took all of us up the windy road to the start of the track (driving past the home of my ex boss). Most people were walking the event, but we were rushed for time, so decided to run down. Looking at the time it took, including a pee stop, photo taking, looking at the scenery, and trying to be sure we stayed on the trail, we may as well have walked. Although we did arrive first, it wasn’t very long before the first walkers showed up.

The first 1.1 kilometres were run on a new forestry road. What was still an overgrown path a couple of years ago, was now a decent logging road. We encountered a marshal at this point who was still busy putting up signage. We passed him shortly before hitting the ‘single track’. This stretch was quite overgrown with tall grass. With all the rain of late coupled with some warmer days, the grass is out of control at our place. It was the same for this track.

Some permanent sign boards made it reasonably obvious where to go and one shouldn’t get lost, but occasionally we did question which was the right way. We passed some slips and some muddy sections, but overall it was an enjoyable outing. I can absolutely see the locals supporting this year after year.

But …

Shortly after, I got sick again. Almost to the day I had COVID last year. It made me wonder if someone on the bus might have been sick, but of course I could have picked it up anywhere. And again, I was sick for quite a long time. More than a month. And somewhere along the line Gerry also got sick. This meant our running stopped, yet again, for more than a month. It feels like I just cannot catch a break.

After some hemming and hawing, doing the maths, over and over, I had to admit to myself that I would not be able to make the Old Ghost distance in the cut-off times by the event date in February. I have no doubt that I could cover the distance at mostly a walking pace, but it might have taken me twenty-four hours. I noticed from previous results that most runners finish in less than 14-15 hours, something I was likely not capable of achieving. We had to forfeit our entries. It is always such a hard decision to make. But it was the right decision.

Fast forward a few months (!), we followed some of the live coverage of the event at the weekend. It looked amazing. I was jealous of everyone’s fitness and capabilities. It feels like I’m never going to get there again. But since we pulled out of the event at the end of last year, and getting over COVID, we started jog-walking again. We also signed up for the Wilderness Walk1200km, which is an initiative by the Wilderness magazine to get people moving. The aim is to cover about 3.3km every day. I guess the rationale is for people to be active for roughly 30 minutes every day. And so far so good. We are on track, perhaps even a bit ahead of where we are meant to be.

On top of the walking, we also try to jog 5km most days, with a slightly longer run on the weekends. That means we cover 9km most days, and initially I could feel that the extra load set me back a bit. But at some point I should get used to doing that distance, and I should start to improve. I’m convinced of it, although the past five months or so proved otherwise.

I’m still hopeful. I’m still hanging in there.

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The Awa Adventure Run (inaugural)

Date: 28 September
Distance: 22.6km
Time: 3:50

A new event on the running calendar is always exciting. The website stated that it is run in a mountain bike park, called That Place, and that the elevation is 1130 metres for the longest distance. Which is of course the one we went for. What’s the use of driving 100km if you are only going to run 14km or 7km. The elevation should have been a warning sign, but who is scared of a little hill.

I am tired of making excuses for my ‘bad performance ‘. I’m tired of being slow. I’m tired of feeling like I’m never ever going to be fit again. On the up side, even though I’m not one of the quickest runners around, I still finish what I start. So far.

Admittedly I’m in a bad place running-wise. We battle to get into a proper routine, and every time things start to look like there’s progress, the weather turns super nasty (which is a lot of the time), or life just gets out of hand. It is an endless battle of stop-starts, and I can only hope that things will get better again one day. Running is one of those things that you cannot do haphazardly – routine and consistency is key. And to add injury to insult, I cannot stop eating junk. Coupled with generally just eating too much.

Nevermind. There will be better days again.

As mentioned this run takes place at That Place mountain bike park. It is privately owned, twenty minutes upstream from Whanganui on the Kaiwhaiki Road. We arrived early to find only a handful of other cars. My initial thought was that it would be a very small event. Especially since the school event already took place the previous day.

Walking around in the wet paddock (to register, to use the portaloo) my feet was already wet and we had’t even started yet. A friend swapped his shoes out to keep the pair he would be running with, dry. This made me wonder how muddy or wet the track might be.

It was a beautiful day, and although cool at the start, it quickly warmed up. We lined up for race briefing, and then were sent on our merry way, making our way up the mountain right from the start. But it was not as simple as that. Although we were generally speaking going up, it was on a track that goes up and down and up and down all the way. Fortunately not as bad as is usually the case with bike parks – these ups and downs are decent, not silly little bumps in the road. Once at the top (was it the top?) we passed some ponds, and also started running on forestry roads.

There’s one aid station on the mountain. An aid station that put anything on a lot of other events to shame. It was unmanned, but luckily most participants were polite, closed the containers so that the lids didn’t blow away, and generally didn’t make a mess in/around the food. There were chips/crisps, marshmallows, jelly sweets, and containers with water. Lots of it. You pass this aid station twice. Once before heading down the mountain, and once after getting back up that bugger of a hill. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Shortly after the aid station, a viewpoint over the valley made me think that we were looking down from the Skyline Track, which was obviously not the case as the Skyline Track is further upstream. But the river also formed a near circle with an ‘island’ in the middle.

After some running on undulating gravel roads, we started heading down the mountain on a grassy single track. Being wet made it slippery and no sooner did ‘slipping’ cross my mind, when Gerry landed on his arse. Luckily no damage done, and we could carry on down the steep downhill. These were also too steep to run. Whether going up or down, the incline was challenging to run on. At least for me, in my current state. Others were of course flying down the mountain.

This was also the point at which the camera clapped out. Despite cleaning the lens multiple times, it still looked like it was fogged up. Humidity must have got into the camera somehow.

Once we were finally down the mountain on the river’s level again, we had to make our way back up the steepest and longest hill of any event we’ve ever done. One and a half kilometres of relentless uphill that took me nearly half an hour to complete. Not a single step is level or down, each one is on an incline. My calves were screaming, and my unfit heart and lungs didn’t do any better.

Once back on the mountain, finally, we stocked up at the aid station again before slowly making our way down again where it levels out for the last few kilometres next to the awa. The website gave the elevation gain as 1130 metres, but we measured around 750m. Either way, it is very hilly.

I guess it’s fair to say that a lot of it can be described as undulating, while going uphill and downhill. But to me it was too steep to run. I’m just not in a place where I’m even just a bit comfortable on hills.

Once we were back at the finish (about five metres away!) we were directed in the opposite direction to cover another 1.5km. That was just nasty, but to make the course at least a half marathon, it had to be done. By then I had long given up on running of any kind. In fact about 3km earlier I already gave up the ghost and started to walk. The one part that was totally runnable and flat, was the part I had to walk.

Finally at the almost deserted finish (there were only two others behind us), we got our medals, changed into dry clothes, and made our way back home.

Spring has not been kind to us so far weather wise. It rained heaps and often the wind would blow a gale. But we were very lucky to have had good weather at all three of the events we did in September. Those were just about the only good days of the month.

Now, if only I can get into a routine of sorts and run most days of the week.