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, October 20, 2011

    Chasm Creek Walkway

    Mokihinui River
    The Chasm Creek walkway takes in a very scenic part of the old Ngakawau-Seddonville railway, just a few hundred metres west of Seddonville. The walkway itself is perhaps only 500m long, so we tacked it on to the end of a morning run from the Seddonville Holiday Park and through the streets of Seddonville. These photos show some of the highlights - the main river is the Mokihinui River, and this section is simply stunning.

    OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
    Mokihinui River

    Tunnel
    Tunnel View

    Mokhinui River
    Tunnel


    Road and Rail Bridges

    Road Bridge
    View of the road bridge from the old Chasm Creek rail bridge
    chasm-creek-train F166 1903
    chasm-creek-train Ww571 1968
    Photographer Henry Winkelmann captured this
    'mixed train' (featuring both freight and passenger
    carriages) crossing Chasm Creek bridge in 1903.
    The locomotive is an F class (possibly F 166).
    Source: Train crossing Chasm Creek bridge, 1903
    Headed by Ww571, a freight train carrying timber
    and coal crosses Chasm Creek bridge in December
    1968. Photographer: Graeme McClare, 1968
    Source: Train on Chasm Creek bridge, 1968
    Both photographs Ministry for Culture and Heritage, New Zealand History Online, updated 22-Feb-2009
    Posted by Andrew Shelley
    Labels: ,

    1 comments:

    Frida said...

    Hi there, Andrew. It is so good to see people appreciating the beautiful Chasm Creek Walkway. I spearhead a group, Kaitiaki Mokihinui, that has looked after this walkway for many years now. Last year DOC ditched it and handed management back to LINZ, with whom the land was originally vested. LINZ gives us much less support than DOC did so we have a lot more work to do now - and its all voluntary, but worth it to keep this gem open for the public.
    Chow for now,
    Frida.

    January 24, 2012 11:29 PM

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    January 24, 2012 at 11:30 PM

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