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.


    Thursday, July 14, 2011

    Eastbourne Rogaine

    I looked at the map and immediately started thinking of clockwise loops; Heather instead suggested anti-clockwise. A quick look at the contour lines and anti-clockwise seemed a much better plan - rather than climbing to the ridge in one big, steep climb, we could break the climb in two and it wouldn't be quite so steep.

    We set off through the streets to collect a couple of 10 pointers and 20 pointers, a good opportunity to warm up on the flats before heading into the hills. A rude shock as we started up the short but steep climb up to #42, then up a much bigger climb to find #80.

    At the top of the climb we headed south along a track that initially we doubted even existed. But then the vegetation opened up and we followed it through one open stand of beech trees, another section of dense vegetation, a second stand of beech trees... and couldn't find the control anywhere. After going a long way past where the control should be and coming all the way back again. We saw several other teams up there, but no one could find the control! Eventually we decided that was enough time wasted and we should head on to the next control.

    Out to the main track and along to #34. A long haul, with a much steeper and more techical (lots of tree roots) climb than anticipated up to #35. Yet more climb and roots as we made our way up to #51. That took a little bit of hunting for, but not too much.

    Running down the tunnel of light created by
    my headlamp.
    By now we were running short of time so couldn't afford to spend much time hunting for controls. A cursory look for #62, but we didn't see it, then along the ridge to #32. Finally we had some downhill, but it was still very technical! It was time to head back down... and it was an incredibly steep downhill. We contemplated stopping for #41 and #21, but were really short on time. Out to the road and a run down the wharf to get #26, then back to the finish.

    Done in 2:55:19, so perhaps we could have / should have looked a little longer for #62, or diverted #41 and #21. Perhaps next time!

    Although we couldn't find #80, neither did several other teams, including the top scoring team. The team that came second did find #80 but said it was well hidden. But with one team finding it none of the teams that tried and failed were awarded the points, including us. Team Ultra Fun was 21 out of 27 teams.

    Posted by Andrew Shelley
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