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, June 30, 2013

    The Old Track

    The old sign marking the Old Track
    To mark the 50th anniversary of the fatal crash of NAC Flight 441 into the Kaimai Ranges, I was one of a small group of three that hiked in to the crash site. Heading in from the Tauranga side of the Kaimais, the first few km are a walk up the very muddy Thomson's Track. We found the side track where it should be, but being marked only with trappers ribbons would be very easy to miss. This track brought us out to a clearing on the North-South track, apparently where a hut may have once stood and a long-drop toilet still does. The North-South track is technical in places, but well-marked with orange triangles and clear enough to see where one is going. South along the track until the junction with the "Old Track". The Old Track is also marked with orange triangles, although perhaps a little less frequetly, and is very overgrown in places so that it is not possible to see ones feet.

    Thompson's Track
    Bright green grass at the side of Thompson's Track

    Ribbons marking the tramping track as it leaves
    Thompson's Track
    On the Old Track

    Rob and Heather on another part of the Old Track
    Spooky Tree in the cloud

    Looking down at the saddle after a very brief
    diversion part way up Mt Ngatamahinerua
    Having reached the tree marking the route down to part of the aircraft wreckage we decided we would first try heading up Mt Ngatamahinerua to the trig. That proved slow going, so we soon turned back to the saddle and went down to the aircraft. See here for that part of the story.

    Map of the route. The yellow pin marked ZK-AYZ is the wreckage site.

    Angle iron provides a convenient bridge
    Rob finds that straight through isn't
    always the best option
    Posted by Andrew Shelley
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