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.


    Monday, February 25, 2013

    Waihohonu

    Cliffs
    Cliffs across from the new Waihohonu Hut

    Track with Heather
    Track bordered with heather
    Although I have driven the Desert Rd many times, I had never previously stopped to do the track into the Waihohonu Hut. Situated almost exactly in the middle of my drive, it was the perfect way to break up a long day in the car.

    The views were good, and I particularly like the heather beside the track at this time of year. The two things that struck me the most about the track were how sandy it is, and how flat it is. There are a few undulations, but very few. Overall, it is a very slight climb from the carpark to the hut, and most of it is not noticeable.

    The new Waihohonu Hut is a bit of a shock - not at all like normal New Zealand huts. No wonder DOC is closing other huts if it is spending that much on huts that it deems to be money makers!

    Older Waihohonu Hut
    The older Waihohonu Hut nestled in the trees across
    the valley.
    New Waihohonu Hut
    The uber-flash new Waihohonu Hut, looking for all
    the world like a chalet.

    Still, the new hut has been situated to make the best of the views, and it must be spectacular in winter when there is snow on the mountains.

    Washout
    A washout on the track - this must look great during
    heavy rain! The track is to the right, and DOC has
    added a bypass through the scrub further to the
    right of that.
    Te Maari
    Steam cloud from Te Maari

    More photos on flickr.
    Posted by Andrew Shelley
    Labels: , , , , , ,

    1 comments:

    Anonymous said...

    Loved camping at Waihohonu and swimming in the river on a stinking hot day.

    March 3, 2013 at 11:12 AM

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