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, November 20, 2011

    Tois Challenge

    Coastal views, heading from Kohi Point to Otarawairere Bay
    This is a scenically stunning but rather tough trail run over the hills and beaches around Whakatane and Ohope. Total distance is about 17.5km and the total climb is about 650m.

    The first half included a bit of running back-and-forth as I was focussing on getting some good photos. I completed this half in 1:16:20 (118th man). On the second half, from the Ohope Beach surf club, I pushed a lot harder and didn't stop and wait for any photos. I completed the second half in 2nd half in 1:05:24 (55th man through the section). Overall time was 2:21:44 (133rd overall, 93rd man).

    Below is a selection of photos from the event, plus a map generated from the GPS trace.

    View from the Kohi Point walkway
    Runners, Otarawairere Bay
    Up high again, on the way to Ohope Beach
    Running on Ohope Beach
    A small lake
    Crossing the farmland on the way back to Whakatane


    Map


    From Toi's Challenge
    Posted by Andrew Shelley
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