Introduction

Welcome to my blog. The title originates when my primary athletic activity was competitive walking, but now that I am back to running it also includes that.

Not all content is accessible from the main page: for example, the rogaines, racewalking, and ultramarathon pages all include content that is only accessible from those pages.

Ultramarathons

Ultramarathons are any event longer than the standard marathon distance of 26.2 miles / 42.195km. Standard distances for ultras are 50km, 50 miles, 100km, and 100 miles. There are also 12 hour and 24 hour track runs, and multi-day "stage races".

I have currently (September 2012) completed 30 ultramarathons, plus 1 DNF at about 66km at the Molesworth Run. Reports for most events are provided below.

See also

Rogaines

Rogaining is the sport of long distance cross-country navigation. Events can be as short as 2-3 hours or the standard 24 hours. Teamwork, endurance, competition and an appreciation for the natural environment are features of the sport. Rogaining involves both route planning and navigation between checkpoints using a variety of map types.

GN Phillips and RJ Phillips, Rogaining, 3rd ed, 2000


The two main umbrella organisations for rogaining in New Zealand are: My reports for selected events are provided below.


Hiking and Mountains

The Hiking, Trail Running, and Mountains pages are all inter-related, but with some subtle differences:
  • Hiking is not an organised race, and may include Coastal Adventures, activities in the Mountains, and hiking in other locations;
  • Trail Running covers organised events, some in the mountains, but others on local hills and trails; and
  • The Mountains category covers both events and hiking in various places that can be classed as mountains.


    • Racewalking

    Racewalking only has to meet two technical requirements:
    • no loss of contact, as judged by the human eye; and
    • the leg has to be straight from the moment of first contact until it is upright.
    More detailed rules are here.

    I'm not particularly good at racewalking, often falling foul of the straight leg rule. But I still give it a go and here are the results of my endeavours.


    Running

    This blog is primarily about my walking activities, but sometimes I do run. Here are reports for events where I have run.

    Shorter Races

    I classify events as ultramarathons, marathons, rogaines, and "shorter events". So a "shorter event" is just something that is shorter than a marathon and is not a rogaine. Consequently there's a mixed bag in here: running, racewalking, half marathons, 10k and 5k races, , etc.


    Saturday, November 13, 2010

    Kepler Training

    PB130068
    It's that time of the year for Kepler training, so I took Heather for a trip around the Ultra Fun Run short circuit. The weather was supposed to clear, but it ended up being cold, grey, and very windy up on top of Mt Climie.




    Birchville Dam
    Descending past the Birchville Dam
    Our plan was to run parts of the circuit, although neither of us felt like running a great deal. 46:59 to the top of Cannon Point, so in line with what I had done previously. Down via the Birchville Dam rather than the steep bush track, then up the river and out to Te Marua. Around behind the water supply lakes and up to the SH2 underpass. Reached the gate at Kaitoke loop road in 2:37:58.


    PB130068
    The first transmitter tower emerges in the wind-
    blown clouds.

    Down to Tunnel Gully and tagged the gate on the Mt Clime access road in 3:01:53 (3:04:45 previous best). From there things started to unravel a little as Heather discovered just how tough the long ascent can be with 77:21 to the top. At the top it was cold and windy, and we were in the clouds, so we both changed into some warmer layers, rain jacket, and hat/gloves.

    Route Down #2
    Part of the route off Mt Climie. No track particularly
    discernable, but there is a clear route through the
    vegetation.
    The descent was a little slippery, requiring slower going in some places. We reached the road 79:05 after leaving the top. A quick refill of water at Mangaroa School and we walked most of the rest of the way home for a total time of 6:41:30.
    Posted by Andrew Shelley
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