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.


    Sunday, April 10, 2011

    Anton Krupicka on Trail Running

    I have been aware for some time that I find roads and trails engender quite different mental states. Roads are good for speed and focus, but the natural environment of trails provides a much more calming and centering experience.

    A recent article in Running Times by ultra-running phenomena Anton Krupicka provides a more personal and philosophical look at trail running. Anton writes:
    For better or for worse, when one lives in a town or city, one lives in a built world. This world offers many distractions and comforts that I have come to enjoy quite a lot — libraries, coffee shops, bookstores, cafes, markets, high-speed Internet, etc. — but the fact remains that these things are all constructs that humans have imposed on an otherwise pristine landscape in order to keep themselves entertained and occupied.

    Perhaps the problem with this is that, when I am mired amongst all of these material and intellectual pursuits, I ultimately feel a lack of an underlying foundation of pure, unadulterated action or being. A stimulating novel or a smooth road might both be nice, but neither feel real to me in the most rigorous sense of the word, when compared to say, running through a grove of ponderosa pine trees or beneath a gigantic slab of sandstone turned on end by some ages-old tectonic force.

    And so that most fundamental authenticity or reality is what running in the mountains provides for me on a daily or twice-daily basis. Without it, I have — unfortunately, based on past experience — gone completely mad. But even more importantly, I have found that this engaging with the natural world is, over time, very instructive. Running in the mountains creates a space — through silence, openness, a removal from distractions — in which I can come to know myself and explore myself.
    Anton Krupicka On Being Real: Why I Run Trails, Running Times.

    A very inspirational shoe commercial by Anton in which he also talks about his trail running philosophy:


    I love the quote: "Everything hurts after 60, 70 miles... But that's why you run 100 miles. Anyone can do a 50 mile or 100k".
    Posted by Andrew Shelley
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