Andrew's Walking (& Running)

Custom Windows7 Logon screen

2012-01-25T15:57:00.000+13:00

I recently upgraded to a new laptop running Windows 7. After the accumulating headaches of Windows Vista the new machine is bliss! One of the cool things that can be done on with Windows 7 is to easily update the background image on the Windows logon screen. The process is described nicely on Tech Republic.

My only additional comment to the Tech Republic post is about the image. If it exceeds 256kb then the new image will not be displayed. From inside the Microsoft Windows Picture Manager compress the selected picture to 'Document' quality, then crop so that the dimensions are the right ratio for your screen.

I don't know whether this will be by permanent logon screen, but here is a picture of what it looks like with an image from the Great Naseby Water Race:

Ngauruhoe Circumnavigation

2012-01-11T15:59:00.001+13:00

The plan was simple: a loop around Ngauruhoe, constructed as follows:

up the Mangatepopo Valley and up to South Crater by the standard track (no adventure here, although we could have done the old Devil's Staircase;
across South Crater and drop down over the side into the Oturere Valley;
cross-country to Oturere Hut;
follow the Northern Circuit track south through the Rangipo Desert and turn west at an appropriate point;
follow the gentle slope up between Ngauruhoe and the Tama Lakes - exact route not important because it's such a wide gentle lava flow;
head over the saddle between Ngauruhoe and Hogsback / Pukekaikiore; and
follow the unmarked but well-trod trail back to the Mangetepopo Valley track and back to the car.

Into Oturere

It was initially a little steep heading
down from South Crater, but it is by
ANY route.
Photo: Mike Tennent

Heading up to and across South Crater went like clockwork, and we made good time. Heather and Mike had a few misgivings on reaching the far rim of South Crater, but we were soon on our way down and the going was a lot easier than it first appeared. Some might even say it was fun!

After following the stream bed down for a while we branched across the sandy desert to meet up with the poled track to Oturere Hut. There was a bit of a hunt for the track, but the GPS waypoints turned out to be pretty much spot on.

View down the valley into Oturere

Mike and Heather running cross-country along
the stream valley

Running with Heather through the desert.
Photo: Mike Tennent

Oturere Hut

After a stop at the hut to refuel we continued on, following the Northern Circuit track as planned. The track is undulating, but for the most part is runnable. We were still right on our planned time at this point, so all was good.

Posing for a photo at the hut.

Heather and Mike run off into the desert

Through the Desert

An "undulation" in the desert...

Natural bonsai

Just up that valley...

Time for a late lunch

Saddle #1

The plan was to cross the saddle between Ngauruhoe and Pukekaikiore. What I didn't realise was that there were three saddles! The first saddle is shown in the photos below. This didn't quite feel right, and after a bit of a diversion down the side of the valley we came back up and continued on to the next saddle.

It looks like a saddle... as a natural low point it even
has water lying on the ground. In fact it IS a saddle...
just not the one we were looking for.

View down the valley from this saddle

Saddle #2 - The Crucial (Wrong) Turn

Having recovered from the previous wrong turn we continued gradually upwards. Cresting a slope to (another) saddle we were very pleased to find a marker pole. There were no orange marker triangles, but the existence of the pole meant we were heading in the right direction!

I stopped to take a couple of photos, and then we left turned and headed down... in the wrong direction. The photo below shows where we should have gone - across the lava field to the third and final saddle. Instead we headed around the slopes of Pukekaikiore. The only way out in that direction is an unpleasant and very slow stretch of bush-bashing, which is exactly what we had to do.

The Pole: this pole is crucial - at this point head
across the lava field, maintaining height. Do not be
tempted to head down.

The goal from the pole: head for the left hand side
of THIS saddle.

Having traversed around the side of Pukekaikiore until we could go no further, it was time to head down through the bush. Even though the day was hot, Heather and I stopped to put our overtrousers on to stop our legs being scratched to pieces. We pushed and shoved and slipped and slid through the thick scrub and bush. With a stroke of luck Mike happened on a narrow but deep stream bed, and that provided a clear path down.

Out of the bush and into a more open stream at the base of Pukekaikiore, we followed that UP for a short distance to a clearer section of vegetation that allowed us to gain the low hill between us and Mangatepopo Valley. At the top of the hill was an unmarked track. Following this west led us back to the poled Northern Circuit track (the section from The Chateau to Mangatepopo), and we were out!

A short diversion back to Mangatepopo Hut to sign out of the log book and then back to the cars. 10h47, but most likely would have been the planned 8h if we had taken the right route.

Map

Team Nuu Muu

2012-01-09T21:29:00.038+13:00

At Mt Kaukau Trig

Not really... it was actually a run on the Wellington Skyline track with Heather and Vivian Cheng. But the girls were both wearing Nuu Muu running dresses and I took lots of photos!

Richard dropped us off at the base of Mt Kaukau and we walked to the top. After stopping to admire the views and visiting the trig (not often done, as it is about 500m away from the lookout), we ran south along the Skyline track. Presented with several options for heading down to Otari-Wilton and Karori, we chose a new option that took us down into the Karori Cemetery. A great fun couple of hours on a spectacular summer day!

Sometimes trail running takes concentration...	... and sometimes it is just fun!
The track goes just over there...	Views over Wellington Harbour

View across to the South Island

Baring Head

2012-01-07T06:31:00.069+13:00

View from the old World War II bunkers

After a solid day of work it was off to explore Wellington's newest regional park at Baring Head. The park is the home to old World War II observation bunkers, and also to the Baring Head lighthouse which was first operated on 18 June 1935. Some nice trails on open farmland, with great views out into Cook Strait and the western Pacific Ocean.

The Old Pumphouse	Our trail guides for the day
The trail	At Para Trig
Baring Head lighthouse	Baring Head, rocks popular with local climbers

Jumbo-Holdsworth

2012-01-03T07:28:00.045+13:00

At Holdsworth Trig

My first trail for 2012, and also my first time doing the loop in this direction. The first leg up the Atiwhakatu River track to Atiwhakatu Hut was quite pleasant, runnable in most places, and at 7.3km a wee bit longer than DOC's posted 5.5km.

View of the Atiwhakatu River through the trees

Atiwhakatu Hut

From Atiwhakatu it was up the rain guage spur track to Jumbo Hut. This seemed to be even worse going up than going down. After an age of slowly making our way up the steep rooty climb we emerged from the bush into the clouds just a little short of Jumbo Hut.

A short stop for food and to change into dry tops then it was off to Jumbo Summit. Most of this was in the clouds, although visibility was still reasonable and they added dramatic effect to some scenes.

At Jumbo, the ridge to Holdsworth behind

Just short of Jumbo Summit we broke through the clouds, and from the summit were treated to spectacular views along to Angle Knob, down into Mid Waiohine, and along the ridge to Mt Holdsworth. The Jumbo-Holdsworth ridge was particularly spectacular, with cloud on the eastern side of the ridge and clear skies on the western side.

After photos we set off along the ridge. As always the climbs and apparently narrow sections looked a lot worse than they actually were. I must be getting old or out of practice though, as very little of this actually seemed to be runnable.

Holdsworth Trig from the sign

Once at Holdsworth it was time to stop at the trig for more photos. I have passed the trig on many occasions, but never made the very short detour! Cloud would come and go, sometimes obscuring the view and sometimes allowing us a clear view of the ridge we had just travelled.

Powell Hut emerges from the cloud

All climbing done, it was time to head down to Powell Hut. Most of this section of track was very pleasant and easy, and before long the hut suddenly emerged from the cloud. A quick stop to fill in the log book and replenish water, then it was downhill again. Heading down from Powell there are some big drops, much easier to climb up than scramble down, and then there is the steep section of track that heads down to Mountain House. From there it is all straightforward - across Pig Flat and down the Gentle Annie to the carpark.

We had started relatively late in the day, so it was now time to find some food. Mid-way takeaways in Carterton did not disappoint - not only were they open on a public holiday, but their Hawaiian Burgers were excellent!

2011 Annual Review

2011-12-31T23:59:00.143+13:00

This year I discovered the fulfilment of being support crew and pacer for another runner, rather than always being the one that is out on the course. The day is still long, and there is much to keep one occupied. But the fatigue level is not nearly as great and there is a special reward that comes from helping someone else achieve their goals.

A wadi in the Rangipo Desert

January

Walked the Hutt River Trail Ultramarathon
New walking PB of 28:14 at the Trentham United 5k Series
After a 2-hour delay to the start, was 2nd walker at the Tussock Traverse

On the way to Mt Eliza

February

28:31 and first walker at the Wellington Waterfront 5k Series
Run/hike the Thompson's Track - Mt Eliza Loop in the Kaimais
29:08 and first walker at the Trentham United 5k Series
Support crew for Heather at the Length of the Lake ultramarathon

My first pacer number! Heather's race number
(orange) and my pacer number (white)

March

Joined Perry Newburn at Rotorua for part of his run to raise money for the Christchurch earthquake appeal
Got my first "pacer number" when I was support crew and pacer for Heather at the Tarawera Ultramarathon

View North from the Eastern Hills

April

Ran 58:19 for 11km at the tough cross-country / trail Porirua Scenic Run
A good 21km training run in the Hutt Valley Eastern Hills

In full storm gear on Tongariro

May

Ran the Rotorua Marathon
A planned trip to Tongariro summit turned into an out-and-back trip from the crater rim when the weather turned
After months of no walking training, recorded a new racewalking PB of 60:05 for 10km at the RWNZ Relay Championships
Ran in the Trentham Harriers' Club Cross Country Champs

In the rain at the Wellington Marathon

June

Ran in very wet and muddy conditions at the Dorne Cup Cross Country race
Ran the Wellington Marathon
Helped organise the Salomon Nightlight Trail Run and Movie Fest

Beautiful but dangerous, Tongariro

July

Ran the Hidden Trails Half Marathon in Kawerau
Some bad decisions resulted in an epic trip on Mt Tongariro
Purchased a new ice axe to take next time I do something like the Tongariro trip
The Eastbourne Afterwork Rogaine with Heather
A tough marathon-length training hike/run in the Hutt Valley Eastern Hills with Heather
Walked in the Trentham Harrier's King of the Mountain walking race
A fun run in the snow on Cannon Point as snow fell in Upper Hutt

Heather and Viv at the Great Naseby Water Race

August

Pre-race course recce at Naseby
A very enjoyable (and slow) run in the 50km event at the Great Naseby Water Race with Heather

Heading past a woolshed, Marton-Wanganui ultra

September

Walked the first two legs of the Marton-Wanganui Relay for the Trentham team, who eventually finished 2nd
Continued on to complete the Marton-Wanganui ultra for the 9th time

Mokihinui River

October

Support crew for Heather at the Sri Chinmoy 12 Hour race
A wonderful week whitebaiting in Seddonville
Ran the Chasm Creek Walkway
Ran the spectacular Charming Creek Walkway

Coastal views, Toi's Challenge

November

A nice run up the Karapoti Gorge
Ran the Toi's Challenge trail race
Run / hike from Mangatepopo carpark to Tongariro Summit return

December

Run / hike around the Old Dobson's Hut - Smith's Creek Loop

Old Dobson's Hut - Smith's Creek Loop

2011-12-17T20:13:00.018+13:00

My last significant trail run for the year, a cool overcast and slightly damp day to introduce Heather to some real Tararua tracks. After a couple of days of heavy rain the track up the Marchant Ridge seemed a little wetter than normal, with fewer branches to provide firm footing through the bogs. A great day to be out though, with no serious rain and good views.

Link: My Wild Trails Route Guide

In the bush on Marchant Ridge

Climbing again, but in the open, after Old Dobson's
Hut site

A large tree fall on part of the downhill track

Trail Runners were here!

Tongariro Summit

2011-11-30T23:58:00.018+13:00

The final snow slope up to the summit

Back to Tongariro again, in much better conditions than last time. A time of 4h:03m for a return trip to the summit via the new standard route.

Heather and I jogged a lot of the trail up to the Devil's Staircase. At the bottom of Devil's Staircase was the first of the school groups that we would encounter for the day. No problems here though as they were putting on helmets to prepare for some rock climbing.

We hiked up the new route to South Crater, catching and then passing through a group of school girls from Auckland along the way. As we arrived at South Crater there was a large group of people, possibly several groups, all resting up. More people than I had ever seen up there!

We jogged off across South Crater to find a clear spot behind a rock and sat down for a bite to eat. After that we continued across South Crater and climbed up to the rim. We passed through another school group along the way. We smiled as we heard that the group had been underway for 4 hours, as we had been underway for only about 90 minutes.

Looking across towards one of the Emerald Lakes

Having made the crater rim we took a few photos and then jogged and hiked around towards the summit. It was not until the last slope up to the first summit that we encountered a snow slope. The slopes and ridges that had been covered in snow when we did the crossing and summit in October 2010 were now almost entirely clear.

We stopped for lunch at the summit, and then started back down. We jogged as much as we could around the rim, but the route down to South Crater is sufficiently steep and slippery with loose scree that there was no chance of running. Our legs were feeling fairly tired by then so we walked back across South Crater.

The new Devil's Staircase is easily runnable, so we ran all the way down to the valley. We also ran most of the way back down the valley to the car, mainly stopping to walk at the more technical sections where the track drops down around the end of a lava flow.

Tois Challenge

2011-11-20T19:35:00.000+13:00

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

Shotover Mountain Marathon

2011-11-13T11:01:00.000+13:00

A promotional video for the Shotover Mountain Marathon, the inaugural event to be held on 4 February 2012. Looks absolutely awesome, will definitely add it to the "to do" list.

Karapoti Gorge

2011-11-01T21:17:00.025+13:00

Went for a nice trot through the Karapoti Gorge. A nice easy run on a vehicle-width track through mixed exotic forest and native bush beside the Akatarawa River. Following the run I wrote this Wild Trails route guide on the Running Wild website.

Relics of old baches

Looking down into the Gorge

A higher res version of the photo in the route guide.

Seddonville

2011-10-23T22:33:00.004+13:00

The Mokihinui Valley should perhaps be called the Valley of Unrequited Dreams: the river sparkles with Fools' Gold, and at the right time of year there is an influx of whitebaiters hoping to catch the delicacy that sells for over $100/kg in North Island shops. The old timers will tell you of days past when the "spotters" in the river used to go black as the huge shoals of whitebait swum past, but those days are long gone.

At the head of the valley lies the township of Seddonville, once the base for logging and coal mining operations. Coal mining was centred particularly around Chasm Creek, Coal Creek, and Charming Creek - the latter being one of the longest lived mines in New Zealand.¹ Even those activities have an element of unrequited dreams: Seddonville was the site of the first state-owned coal mine in 1893, but that struggled and closed after just 21 years; and private mining ceased in the 1990s as the high sulphur coal became difficult to sell.²

The Grader works on one of the side streets

Nowdays Seddonville no longer has any particular reason for continued existence, and like many small New Zealand settlements continues to exist solely because it was established at some point in history when there was more work to be done.

At the end of a side road that leads up the valley from the main road through to Karamea, the main reasons for visiting Seddonville would seem to be to walk the Chasm Creek walkway, walk the Charming Creek walkway, or to fish for whitebait when it is in season. The Mokihinui is a good river for trout fishing, but will never draw the same numbers as flock to the Tongariro River and Lake Taupo.

Seddonville Hotel

Any visitors must surely visit the Seddonville Hotel, which is also the local cafe, restaurant, dairy, and motels. We never sampled the fair from the cafe, but the meals were very good, and the newly refurbushed motels were excellent. It also appears to be a place to visit in its own right - three middle aged motorcyclists were observed arriving, then after some refreshments tinkering with their bikes for about half an hour or so before riding back out to the main road.

A testament to more prosperous and populous times, the old school has been converted into a Holiday Park. Rates are reasonable, both for caravans and the (very tidy) bunk rooms. The toilets and showers are very clean, and the kitchen and common room are very welcoming. For my money, the Seddonville Holiday Park is a better standard than the larger holiday parks in more popular locations.

View from the section

Just past the old school, where Gladstone Street becomes Charming Creek Road, an unsealed driveway climbs steeply up a low hill to a 1 acre section. At the top of the driveway is a decrepit old caravan and piles of old wood, iron, and other assorted items. The driveway turns left into a flat site, cleared a year ago, but now being reclaimed by gorse. We are told that the section was bought 5 years ago by someone on Waiheke Island who wanted to "live the dream", but is now being sold as the dream slips further away. There would be extensive views of the valley with a little bit of clearing, but the price was more than a little steep for a section with no utility services - no power or phone. The owner will be hoping for another gold rush perhaps!

Regardless of the above, or more likely because of it, Seddonville is a remarkable place to visit. The pace of life slows and one can really relax. I hope to be back again in the not too far distant future.

Notes:
[1] New Zealand History online: Charming Creek
[2] New Zealand History online: Seddonville

Links:

Seddonville Hotel

Charming Creek

2011-10-21T23:34:00.046+13:00

The Charming Creek walkway follows an old tramline that was used for extracting coal and timber from the Charming Creek area. The northern end of the walkway starts at the old mine entrance. From there the track descends gently downhill to the Ngakawau River and then down through the Ngakawau Gorge to the coast.

The Charming Creek end of the walkway has a number of old relics, including old boilers. The track passes another vertical boiler that has been painted to better preserve it, and then winds passed a large flat area that appears to have been the site of a coal stockpile. While isolated railway sleepers have appeared at odd intervals till this point, now there are several long straights with all the closely-spaced sleepers still in place.

Steam Engine at Mumm's Mill

Mumm's Mill has the mill steam engine under cover, and informative story boards describing the operation of the mill. There are also a number of other relics in the area, including isolated sections of rail.

Just before a small swing bridge is a small spring, leaching sulphur. This is apparently the site of a hole drilled during coal prospecting in the period 1910-1912. Across the bridge and the scenery becomes more spectacular as the old railway formation begins to wind its way through the Ngakawau Gorge.

Mangatini Falls

Mangatini Falls are first seen approaching a tunnel, then once through the tunnel again visible and more spectacular. A side track leads down to the river to provide better views.

Section of track showing wooden centre rail used
for braking.

Ngakawau Gorge

The track remains largely intact along this section, including a wooden centre rail which would have been used for braking to slow heavy coal trains as they descended through the gorge. The track then crosses a swing bridge before edging its way along the bottom of some sheer rock walls (marked with signs pointing out the danger of falling rocks).

View of Ngakawau River mouth

Finally down to "The Bins", which was also the site of a railway siding. Near here are views down towards the mouth of the Ngakawau River, including the road bridge for the road north.

The posted time for the walkway is 3 hours on the DOC sign, but it took us about 1h45 with some running, some walking, stops for photos and to admire the views, and stops to read the information boards.

Plan showing coal at Charming Creek. Source (with explanatory text): New Zealand History online

Links:

Route on MapMyRun
Mining at Charming Creek - Seddonville, Ministry for Culture and Heritage, updated 16-Feb-2009
Charming Creek Walkway, Department of Conservation

Chasm Creek Walkway

2011-10-20T23:30:00.000+13:00

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.

Road and Rail Bridges

View of the road bridge from the old Chasm Creek rail bridge


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

Support Crew at Sri Chinmoy 12 Hour

2011-10-01T22:59:00.002+13:00

A couple of hours in to the race, Heather running with Vivian Cheng,
winner of the womens' 24 Hour race, with Simon Clendon fooling
around in the background.

Last year Heather was my support crew at the Sri Chinmoy 24 Hour Track Race. This year she was doing the 12 Hour and I was her support crew. She did a fantastic job for me last year, so I had a lot to live up to!

Everything went to plan for the first 4 hours. Heather stuck to her planned schedule of run 4 laps, walk 1 lap; and her pace was a consistent 8km/h. There was a brief bout of nausea during this period... perhaps too much electrolyte drink?? A break from any food and drink for a while and that came right.

4 hours brought the first change of direction and, for Heather, a change of dress! Heather's schedule also changed to a planned run 3 laps, walk 1 lap. This continued for another 10km before Heather was hit by a sustained bout of much more serious nausea. Heather had her challenges over the next few hours and I had mine! What to give her to eat? What not to eat? What would sit well? Gingernuts, cups of tea, chicken soup, grapes were all tried with varying degrees of success but none were the magic bullet.

The wind was strengthening and was cold. Not so much fun for the support crews sitting and standing around, but even less fun for the athletes. The cold head wind at the south end of the track was cutting through whatever layers the runners were wearing and seemed to be knotting up a lot of stomachs. The other end of the track was relatively sheltered, or at least a tail wind, and runners would overheat. As a result the runners were struggling to get their layers right and stay at a comfortable temperature, and many were suffering stomach problems. On one lap I walked with Heather I noticed a couple of large pools of vomit by the start/finish line!

I got Heather to layer up a bit more with a jacket and tights in the hope that might make a difference. The warmth did seem to help a bit, but as with everything else it was not the magic bullet!

Heather in her evening dress, but also jacket, gloves, and tights to
keep out the cold. Running beside the winner of the mens' 24 Hour
race, Graeme Butcher.

8 hours brought another change of direction and another change of dress, this time a black number for the evening! By this time the stadium was cold and quiet. The 6 hour runners had long finished and gone home, the sky was grey, and light levels were slowly dropping. Two hours later the light had faded enough that the stadium lights were coming on, creating a much better atmosphere. Rain showers also started to come through, but with the stadium lights that just added to the atmosphere.

Heather continued to complete laps. At 11 hours she was 4km behind 3rd place. Seeing this she asked how many laps the gap was... that would be roughly 10 laps, but that is a lot to make up in the last hour. She was back alternating running and walking now and the laps kept ticking by.

With about 15 minutes to go I informed Heather that by my reckoning she had 6 1/2 laps to go to get to 75km. That was the spark she needed, and she suddenly found a new source of energy and determination. No more walking from here, and all the laps were run. We started counting down the laps, and Penny Kirkwood joined her to run the last few laps. Heather received her wooden block, I grabbed a warm top for her to put on when she'd finished, and I then joined her for what should be the last lap. Over the start/finish line for one last time, and Heather put on a big surge as we pushed towards that last half lap, still time on the clock so we just kept on going... and finally the hooter went when we were almost right outside our tent!

Heather had made up that 4km in the last hour, plus a little bit more. She finished in 3rd place, a little over 300m ahead of the woman in 4th. I was using my GPS as a backup timing device, and had managed to clock up 21.79km run and walked as I went backwards and forwards, did a few laps with Heather, multiple trips to the kitchen, etc!

Links:

Official photos

Ouch

2011-09-10T22:34:00.057+12:00

After leading the Trentham Gold relay team through into first place at the end of 16.7km, I continued on to complete the full solo event for the 9th time.

My plan had been to walk slowly for a km or so to loosen up and then run and walk the remaining 50km to the finish - walking the ups and running the flats and downs. In theory it should have been possible to have a fairly relaxed and comfortable day. In practice it was a little different - although I was walking well over the first 2 laps of the relay, my muscles were not trained for walking that fast and my glute medes were very tight and sore after I had finished. This would affect me for the next four laps, ensuring a time that was slower than last year's walk!

At around 22.2km I had to lie on the ground and get Heather to push down on those muscles with all her body weight. That gave some relief, and I jogged off along the gravel road. However, by the top of the big hill at the end of lap 4 (~30km) I was very tight and sore again. Just before the end of the lap I lay down on the ground again for Heather to push down on the affected muscles. This time I also took a couple of neurofen and decided that I wouldn't try running again for quite some time and would just walk the next two legs. By about half way through leg 6 the muscles seemed to have come right and I was into a good walking stride. By now I was questioning my decision to try and run rather than just walking the entire event again.

Stopping for food and drink at the top of Reid's Hill.

Walked up Reid's Hill and met Heather at the top for a drink of coffee milk and a tollhouse biscuit. In the photos I look absolutely knackered, but I was feeling much better here than I had for quite a while. After some food and drink I jogged off at a comfortable pace.

Mixture of running and walking through to Fordell, going through 50km in a pedestrian 6:03:50. A drink of coke at Fordell and then along the gravel leg. By now I was down to a mixture of running and walking on the flats, and only consistently running on the downs. What a fantastic change it was to be able to run the big downhill near the start of lap 9 - over the last four years while I have been walking I have always had some significant heel blisters by this point and they are very sore on this steep downhill, sometimes even bursting at this point. This year I was able to run comfortably down with still no hint of any blisters at all.

The rest of lap 9 progressively became harder as I became more tired. Heather generally drove only about 1km up ahead of me, and it was always a morale boost to catch her up. Best of all, she was greeting me with a big cheery smile, and that seemed to make the world of difference.

It was also very hot by now, but I couldn't be bothered taking a layer off. Out on to the sealed road again, and it's probably only about 8km to the finish. Vivian Cheng was catching me now despite having started an hour after me. I held her off for as long as possible, running when I could and walking with purpose when fatigue told me to walk rather than run.

Viv closing in on the last lap.

Through the last lap changeover and Viv had still not caught me, but she was closing relentlessly. When I ran I was faster than Viv, but when I walked I was slower, and her speed was faster than my average. With about 2.5km to go she finally caught me. As she passed she asked if I wanted to run with her for a bit, but I was too fatigued and just wanted to walk for a bit.

Some more big cheery smiles from Heather, and she was probably only driving forward about 500m at a time along here. Around the bend and it is about 1km to the finish. A combination of run, walk, run, walk. My right calf was also starting to feel a bit crampy, but I just kept quiet about that. One last smile from Heather and then she was off to the finish. Up the hill (small rise) into Wanganui, I started to run, but my calf was really threatening to cramp. On the flat I did start to run again, around the corner and into the finish.

Marton-Wanganui Relay

2011-09-10T19:42:00.003+12:00

Had a fantastic walk at the Marton-Wanganui relay. I race walked the Trentham United "Gold" walking team into first place at the end of the first two legs. The team finished 2nd, in a total time of 7:03:23 for the 66.3km. This is the first year that the team has made the podium!

As with the previous three years, I walked the first two legs for the team before continuing on to complete the whole event. I was pleased with the state of my shins over the first 5km - while they did tighten up, I didn't get the searing pain of previous years and consequently was able to keep a quicker pace.

The second leg starts with a good climb and then has a long downhill into the Turakina Valley. Brian Prescott was running alongside me up the hill and then we were caught by Phil Grimmet from the Scottish walking team. We continued as a group down the hill, chatting as we went. I was expecting that the lead three teams were well ahead, but part way down the hill the group of three appeared about 200m ahead of us. We picked up the pace and closed in quickly. Vanessa Lowl from Taranaki Racewalkers moved from 3rd into 1st, and my group of three passed the other two. We continued to close on Vanessa and I moved in to sit behind her left shoulder. I was there for a few minutes and then when I judged that there was about 2km to the end of the leg I made my move. I picked up the pace to move away from both Vanessa and Phil. I slowed a bit on the rise into the changeover, but still managed to tag our next walker (Jackie) with perhaps a 30m lead on the next team.

Somewhat pardoxically, I seem to be significantly faster this year with almost no walking training. I stopped walk training in early February, and since then my only walking has been setting a 10km PB at the RWNZ Relay Champs in May, Trentham's King of the Mountain in July, and a 7km training walk earlier this week. Inspite of that limited training, I walked my fastest time over the last four years. In 2008 and 2009 I recorded 1h52, in 2010 I recorded 1h56, and this year I recorded 1h46.

Trail Running Goodness

2011-08-29T10:14:00.002+12:00

Had a great weekend away at the Great Naseby Water Race. Going into it with injury, Heather and I both downgraded to the 50km event. We were slow, but completed it, had a great day, and injuries were no worse (report).

Also scouted out parts of the Central Otago Rail Trail with Heather on Friday (post to come) and then over breakfast on Sunday we made tentative plans with Viv and Richard to run the trail in January.

Here's one of my favourite photos from Naseby - Heather and Viv modelling the latest in women's running fashion while running through the snow and mud:

Injury = Slow Fun 50k

2011-08-27T19:34:00.002+12:00

After illness, injury and low training miles the decision was made to drop down from the 80km event to the 50km event. What a good decision that was! It made for a relaxed and enjoyable day, with lots of time for photos, on a course that was made more fun by the presence of snow.

The plan for the Great Naseby Water Race this year was to do the 80km event again, only this time running and also starting early so that the option existed for changing up to the 100km if everything was going well.

In the month leading up to Naseby everything didn't go so well... a cold in the last week of July put paid to a 50km training run, dropping it to just 20km and a week of low mileage. Then Heather picked up an injury to her right quad, and I started to develop a range of niggles and problems with my quads. So the next planned long session and big week also faded. Any sensible person would have perhaps decided not to run at all, but we decided to drop down to the 50km and see what happened.

The day before the event we arrived in Naseby, having conducted something of a recce of the Otago Central Rail Trail along the way. The first order of business after unpacking the car was to check out the course. It was early afternoon, the sun was out, the temperature was pleasantly warm, and there was a lot of snow on the ground.

Anticipating we'd be slow because of the injuries and lack of training we elected the early start. Up at 5am, showers, breakfast, get all geared up, and ready for the 6am start. I found the start of the first lap incredibly confusing and disorienting: not only was it in the dark, but where there was snow the day before there was now a wide clear path. It turned out that one of the Race Directors, Jamie Sinclair, had been out raking away the snow!

Emerging from the forest on to Translator Rd.
Photo: Matt Bixley

The clear path only lasted so long, and then we were on to some slippery stuff. Time to walk a bit to avoid unnecessary injury too early on. Across the little bridge, skirt the edge of the snow, and into the forest. Even the snow here was much reduced, and Jamie most certainly hadn't been clearing in here. Down on to Translator Rd to be greeted by Jamie, Matt Bixley, and Grant Guise who were effectively acting as impromptu race marshals to ensure we all went the right way. The snow on Translator Rd had also largely gone, so there must have been a lot of snow melt yesterday afternoon.

Photo: Heather Andrews

From here the road was "largely clear" until the 3km mark, just one patch of icy snow at perhaps 1.5km. At about 3km we turned up a road that had a serious covering of snow. The choice was a couple of inches of soft snow, or vehicle tracks that had turned icy. This was an uphill section anyway, and we had always intended to walked it due to our injuries.

Around to Coalpit Dam and the light was just beginning to show. Stopped to snap a quick photo of the trees silhouetted against the sky, then round to the half way aid station. The light was getting better by the minute and it was lights off as we made it up on to the Mt Ida Water Race.

Coalpit Dam in the early morning light

A really good fun section as the track dropped down a snowy bank off the water race and then slogged up a steep snow/mud climb the other side. On the first couple of laps this downhill has great fun, but later on turned slippery as the snow compacted down.

As the trail twisted along beside the water race it alternated between being clear and patches perhaps 50m-100m long of snow. We took it easy through these early on, but discovered later that with a short stride the soft sections of snow were ok for running.

Back around to the start/finish, lap 1 completed in a relaxed 1:26:38. Time to grab a bit of food, drop off head torches, and stop for a quick chat. Matt Bixley was pushing us back out on to our second lap, saying "bye, bye" until we left!

Photo: Emma Andrews Event Photos

Laps 2 and 3 were very enjoyable, feeling fresh with a relaxed pace, and generally good ground conditions. The hill at 3km remained slippery, and we continued to walk that (as well as other hills). Early on the second lap the sun rose properly and we enjoyed the spectacular view of the snow clad Mt Ida range as the light changed. Lap 2 was our fastest at 1:21:41, and lap 3 was somewhat slower at 1:27:40.

Another slow transition at the end of Lap 2 as Heather chats with
Viv and Jamie, while Richard looks on and I take the photo.

At the end of Laps 2, 3, and 4 we stocked up on pizza and salted potatoes from the aid station, plus a couple of bite-sized Heather Bars we had made on the Friday. A few painkillers were popped to deal with our injuries, and half-strength Horleys Replace proved an ideal drink.

Lap 4 we were starting to tire a bit and seemed to walk a lot more than on previous laps. We were still feeling good though and enjoying our time out on the course. This was our slowest lap at 1:31:12.

At the end of Lap 4 Heather changed her dress, we had some food and drink, and then walked off munching on a piece of pizza. The snow was well and truly melting by now, and in some places was becoming a muddy bog with the passage of many runners. The fun snow slope from the first few laps was now slippery and treacherous unless one was careful to use the soft snow at the far left. Viv caught us up and ran with us for a bit along here before continuing on. A few km from the finish we encountered Jamie hiding behind a twig (it was his camouflage), and he then ran and walked with us from there to the finish.

Links:

Event website
Album on Emma Andrews Event Photos

Naseby Pre-Race Course Recce

2011-08-26T20:08:00.001+12:00

Miner's Cottage. Very warm and cozy with the log
burner going.

Arrived in Naseby and was pleased to find that some of the previous week's big dump of snow was still around. While it had been a pain for the Naseby residents, it was very pretty and it was a rare chance in New Zealand to have some proper snow on the course.

After checking in to the Miner's Cottage at the Larchview Holiday Park, Heather and I went for a walk to check out the condition of the course. There was a LOT more snow than we were expecting, and the chance of wet feet seemed high, as it was melting in some places and turning quite slushy. But most of it was still powdery and there didn't seem to be too many problems with slippery ice.

Just along from the start/finish area and the snow is
about two inches deep.

We run from the right in this picture and then cross
either bridge. The snow was several inches deep
in places here.

Just after crossing the little bridge we head up this
slope. The snow was deep here with slushy areas
where it was melting. The best footing was the dry
area to the left at the edge of the trees.

Translator Road. The course emerges from the
forest on the right and then we run up this road.

The full set of photos is available on Flickr:

Progression

2011-08-10T10:39:00.001+12:00

One of the nice things about running a given course semi-regularly is that it's possible to track improvement (or lack thereof) over time. The chart below shows my times recorded for a trail near home. Excluding three significant outliers, the the year to date has seen a fairly steady improvement in my times as fitness improves, hill running ability improves, and general ability to run the more technical sections also improves.

Also noticeable is that after the first data point there is a small cluster at about the same time, then a more recent cluster with a lower average time.

The slope of the trend line suggests an improvement of 2.41 seconds per day. That suggests that over the next 6 months (180 days) I should get 7m:14s faster. But to put that in perspective, the course is only about 9.25km, so that is almost 47s/km faster. Or alternatively, the time currently predicted by the trend line is 49m:39s, and the trend predicts that I will be 14.6% faster in 180 days. I suspect that this is a rather optimistic prediction with most of the easy gains already made, and as a consequence the trend line should flatten out a bit more over the rest of the year.

The Training Week that Was(n't)

2011-07-30T23:30:00.000+12:00

This last week had been planned to be a big week of training in preparation for the Great Naseby Water Race at the end of August. But a cold got in the way and my eventual mileage was well below where it should have been.

Sat - I could feel the cold coming on and should have taken the day off. Instead I walked my harrier club's King of the Mountain race. How could I pass up a race?
Sun - The previous day's race had exacerbated my cold so I did indeed take the day off.
Mon - there was snow on the hills. Very low on the hills. How could I pass up a run in the snow when it might not snow this low again for years?
Tue - Heather was down and we were going out to dinner with friends, so this was a good day not to train. And, yes, my cold had freshened up after the run the day before, so it was a good thing not to run.
Wed - just a very short run. I still had my cold, and Heather's legs were only just starting to loosen up after a very hard massage the week before.
Thu - a nice evening run up to Birchville Dam and back. It was a slow one as I was still feeling the effects of my cold and Heather's legs were still recovering.
Fri - we were planning a big day for Saturday (50k) so took this as a rest day.
Sat - the plan was 50k, but we only ended up with about 20k. I was stuffed as I was shaking off my cold. Heather seemed in better shape, looking like she could easily go another 10k when we finished. We went shopping that afternoon!

The end result was total weekly mileage that was at least 40k less than planned, and no decent long session. The 100k is looking less likely at Naseby, but the 80k / 50 mile should still be possible.

Cannon Point Snow

2011-07-25T14:50:00.113+12:00

Year after year the few days we get snow on nearby hills are days that I have to be at work. And usually the snow is no lower than about 500m-600m above sea level (asl). But this year we had reasonably significant snow down to about 150m asl, and as I write this in the afternoon we have a decent snow shower at about 50m asl.

My favourite little trail run from home takes in Cannon Point, which at 345m had plenty of snow on it. Here are some pictures from the run.

Looking south from the Totara Park bridge

Cannon Point with a dusting of snow

The snow starts to appear on the sheltered side

Across the valley

Top of the main climb

Up from Birchville Dam, heading to Cannon Point

View to Cannon Point trig

Looking North from the trig

View of Mt Climie from the trig

Coming back down the zig-zag track

Mt Climie from the Totara Park bridge

Cannon Point Snow, a set on Flickr.

King of the Mountain Walk

2011-07-23T22:26:00.008+12:00

This is an open handicap race, with the slowest away first and the fastest last. The winners are the first female and first male across the line.

This year I was second to last away, with the fastest person (Stuart) just 15s behind me. He had caught me within about 300m, so my chance of winning rested in part on who was stronger on the hills. The first 2k of the race are essentially flat, and followed by 2.2km of hill climb. At the end of the flat section I had still not caught anyone, and Stuart was now about 75s ahead. The next kilometre brought almost the entire field into sight, with everyone starting to bunch up nicely. With about 500m to go I started to catch and pass people, but ultimately could only manage 10th out of 16, although I was just 57s behind Stuart who was 1st male and 3rd overall. My elapsed time for the 4.2km was 27:13, a good margin faster than last year.

13 people were within a range of 1:27, so as the handicapper for the race I'm pretty happy with that.

Eastern Hills Trail Marathon

2011-07-16T18:48:00.001+12:00

Who was responsible for this? Someone thought an out-and-back along the Hutt Valley Eastern Hills might be a good idea, and on suggesting it someone else said "ok". This was an out-and-back version of the one-way trip on 22 April, naturally with twice the distance but with more than twice the climb since last time we had a net downhill. Somehow we both thought it seemed like a good idea.

This was not an official marathon, as it was neither officially measured nor a public event. Heather's GPS measured the course at 42.23km with a huge 1,495m of climb, so the distance was long enough. I will claim it as a "fat ass" style marathon though, with no official entries, no fees, no aid stations, and no course markings, and no prizes. Just a couple of friends out for a long run on a defined course!

We had a perfect winter's day; it started very cold, but for the most part was fine and sunny. There were clear views to the South Island, with four snow-capped mountain ranges visible.

View of South Island mountains

Time on the outward leg was 3:25:50, just 2 minutes slower in the uphill direction than in the downhill direction last time. We were both pretty stuffed by the time we tagged the gate at the top of the Wainui Hill Road, and then turned and walked back uphill for 1km before we reached a convenient place to stop for lunch and a quick breather. Less than 15 minutes later we were back underway, but with our tired state the return (net downhill) journey took about 3:30.

Eastbourne Rogaine

2011-07-14T23:05:00.000+12:00

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.

New Ice Axe

2011-07-14T09:29:00.001+12:00

After my epic on Mt Tongariro I decided it was definitely time to buy an ice axe. The axe arrived by courier today... and what a lovely axe it is! I purchased a Simond Ocelot Hyper Light from iclimb.co.nz. Now I just need to find an excuse to use it!

The most difficult part of the decision was what length the axe should be. In reading around I found a variety of perspectives, from (a) the more traditional perspective that the end of the axe should be about 2 inches from the ground / about ankle height when the head is held comfortably, to (b) the more modern perspective that shorter is better.

Using the traditional perspective an axe of around 68cm-71cm seems about right.

Grant Guise from iclimb gave good reasons for both longer and shorter, and pointed me in the direction of the REI guide on How to Choose an Ice Axe. Given my intended use for the axe, a length of about 60cm-70cm seems about right.

In this youtube clip, Ed Viesturs recommends an axe of 65cm-75cm length for use on Mt Rainier, which is probably reasonably similar to the type of terrain that I would typically be on. With 6 Everest summits under his belt, I'm inclined to accept his advice!

Suburban Mountaineer has a post on choosing an ice axe and specifically on why a longer axe might be useful for traditional mountaineering. He provides a sizing chart for traditional mountaineering axes. I'm about 5'10.5", so the chart suggests an axe in the range of 62.5cm (steep, 45-67 degree slope) to 67.5cm (elevating, 24-45 degree slope).

Putting all of that together I get:

Traditional, 68cm-71cm;
REI guide, 60cm-70cm;
Ed Viesturs, 65cm-75cm;
Suburban Mountaineer, 62.5cm-67.5cm.

Given all of those perspectives I decided to go with the 68cm Ocelot Hyper Light. Lengths of 60cm and 75cm are also available.

MP3 Conversion

2011-07-11T11:34:00.008+12:00

I never been one to run with music but a number of my running friends swear by it, particularly when the going gets tough on ultras. And top athletes like Kilian Jornet do it, so perhaps it is worth trying...

When the going does get tough I'd like to be able to select a playlist based on the type of music that appeals, rather than just having to endlessly skip through tracks. I had an old MP3 player, but that didn't let me use playlists. So I was talked into buying a Sony Walkman NWZ-B152F. It was an end-of-line item and I got it at a good discount.

A nice little unit, but apparently somewhat out-of-date. Heather could download m4a files on to her Walkman and they would play just fine, but mine kept coming up with 'file error'. A search on the net, and the data sheet said that it should be able to play m4a files. A search on the player itself, and the operations guide on there said only mp3 and wma files. Hmmmm, clearly an old version of the player.

Not to worry, the net is a repository of all things useful (as well as many things not). A post on Microsoft Answers pointed to a useful tool and a post on eHow detailing how to convert m4a to mp3. The conversion software is from maniac tools and is super-simple to use... instructions in the eHow article. By default the mp3 files are even written into the directory that holds the m4a source files.

Epic = Bad Decision

2011-07-04T20:50:00.036+12:00

The day's objective.

A simple summit loop on Tongariro turned into something of an epic because I assumed that snow conditions would be better further on, and didn't stop to consider what might happen if the conditions were actually worse. The full trip took 6:11:52, nearly 2 hours of which was taken to travel just 850m. Next time take an ice axe or crampons, or turn back.

The day started well, with clear sunny conditions. It had been a cold night, with the temperature on the mountain dropping well below zero. But by the time I set off from the Mangatepopo carpark at around 10am the air temperature was about 5 degrees, and there were clear sunny skies.

I jogged off up the track, although this was hard work with the gradual climb and the weight of water. Stopping for a few photos and walking the rougher climbs around the end of lava flows, I made the 4.5km to the base of Devil's Staircase in about 45 minutes. I elected to take the old Devil's Staircase rather than the new track with its wooden steps. I could rationalise this as choosing the safer option, as any ice on the wooden steps would be treacherous. In reality, though, I just preferred the path less travelled.

I unclipped my walking poles and then proceeded across South Crater while adjusting them. I was walking along the well-travelled path so the ice and snow had been broken up and was easy walking. A few moments inattention while I was adjusting my poles and I strayed onto the ice, slipped, and came crashing down onto my backside. That certainly gave me a pause for thought, and I wondered whether the climb on the track up the crater wall would even be possible.

Looking full of confidence at the top of
the climb out of South Crater, the ridge
to the summit behind me.

Reaching the crater wall the track had been nicely broken up by those ahead of me (including a group wearing crampons), and it was a relatively easy walk up. At the junction with the summit track it was time to stop for a few photos before continuing around the crater rim. Very few people had been around here (perhaps two others), but although the surface of the snow was icy for the most part the travel was easy because the slopes were also easy.

The crater rim, leading to the summit left of centre.
The obvious climb up the ridge to the right of centre
should have been the turn around point. The poled
route traverses diagonally across the shaded snow
slope to the left of that ridge.

About two thirds of the way round the rim came the point that should have been the turn around point. The poled route cuts to the left diagonally across a slope rather than going over the top of the rise. This was shaded and very icy. I inched my way along about 20m before deciding that the risk of a fall was too high, and then inched my way backwards to safety. I took the alternative of going up and over the rise, which is the way that the others seemed to have gone. This was steeper and more slippery than I would like, and at the time I definitely didn't want to go back down this slope. In retrospect it probably would have been ok for a controlled glissade, but at the time going back down did not seem like a good idea at all.

I assumed that the snow conditions would be better on the other side of the mountain, with more sun having been on the snow during the day, so it *should* have melted more and have less of a hard crust.

Off that slope and it was a relatively easy walk around to the two summits. Another short slope, but the snow on there was ok. Stopped at the main summit for some photos, then started down.

The first couple of metres down were fine, but then it all quickly turned bad. Relatively soft snow turned icy and I had to carefully lever myself down holding on to some rocks. A few more steps on good snow, then I slipped on an icy patch and fell. On the icy patches it seemed easier and safer to stay seated, kick my heels into the surface and then inch forward. Reaching a better patch of snow I would stand up and try walking again, only for the same thing to happen again. I inched every so slowly down, taking almost 2 hours to travel 850m.

The slope down. It was a lot icier than this in many places, but I wasn't so keen to stop and take a photo in those spots!

Looking back at where I had come down.

The day after my trip there was a news story of a tramper who fell in icy conditions on Mt Egmont, fracturing his lower leg. That scenario certainly crossed my mind several times as I inched my way down from the summit. The slope is not extreme, but the icy conditions were treacherous. Relatively soft snow would suddenly give way to ice, and on at least four occasions I slipped and fell down. It would have been all too easy to accelerate away down the slope only to come to a crashing halt against the rocks. Luckily in all instances the ice gave way to softer snow and I could dig my heels in before sliding too far.

Having dropped low enough the slope eased up a little and the snow became a lot softer, with some patches of powder. I could now stand up and walk at a good pace. I was fed up with this now and wanted to get back to the car. Another half an hour and 1.3km and I was back down at the Mangatepopo Valley track. I jogged most of the way back to the car, stopping again at the most technical sections, and also stopping to talk to an older couple who had been up to South Crater for the day. Less than 1km from the car my tiredness made itself known as I tripped on a rock and fell, crashing my right hip into another rock. A large purple bruise and some abrasions, but nothing serious.

Risk Assessment
This was a "near miss". I got off the mountain in one piece, but with no safety margin. I slipped and fell four or five times while standing, and also slid a couple of times while sitting. Any one of those slips could have resulted in an uncontrolled slide and a fracture like what was suffered by the tramper on Mt Egmont.

The pre-trip risk assessment should have considered the need for an ice axe and/or crampons. With those the entire loop could have been completed safely.

While on the mountain I should have questioned my assumption about better snow conditions on my intended route down. I should have explicitly considered the possibility that the conditions might be as bad, or worse than the route up, and then made a decision accordingly.

More photos available on Flickr.

Kawerau Hidden Trails Half Marathon

2011-07-03T20:57:00.009+12:00

Ran the first 11km with Heather at a controlled, easy pace. Then put the hammer down for the last 10km (relatively speaking). Pretty well knackered at the end of it, yet I used to be able to run that fast for the entire half marathon... a long way to go before I am back to full running fitness. But no injuries yet, so all is good!

The course was a mixture of road and trail, mostly flat, but with a few little ups and downs. A slightly bigger climb at the start of the first lap, as we were routed up a hill through a reserve. That climb was bypassed on the second lap.

It was very cold before the start of the race, with the air temperature at about 8 degrees C and a cold wind blowing. The sun seemed to come out for a while during the run, but the wind remained cold. After the finish a group of us relaxed and recovered in a thermal pool... bliss!

Salomon Nightlight Trail Run and Movie Fest

2011-06-24T21:55:00.001+12:00

A good evening of trail running entertainment tonight in Wellington. I helped organise an evening hosted by New Zealand representative runner, member of the Salomon International trail running team, and Salomon Ambassador Anna Frost.

The evening started with a small group trail run on the slopes of nearby Mt Victoria, including some tips from Anna on hill running technique. Who better to get tips from than a world-beating runner?

I couldn't attend the run, but I could attend the movie screening afterwards. There were two movies, both inspirational in their own way:

"For Alan", a short 15 documentary about Malcolm Law's 7-in-7 Challenge to honour the memory of his brother who died of Leukemia some 40 years ago. A short trailer is below:
Kilian's Quest Kilimanjaro, the story of Spanish trail- and ultrarunning phenomena Kilian Jornet's record-breaking run up and down Africa's highest mountain. 17km and 4,000m of ascent up; 12km and 4,000m of descent down. This was a 26 minute documentary showing first the acclimatisation trek to the top of Kilimanjaro, and then the record setting run. A number of short clips from the film are available on Youtube:
Word has it that copies of this film may be available in New Zealand later this year.

Thanks to Anna for hosting the event, Daniel from Bivouac Outdoor for bringing along a selection of trail running gear to display and for booking the premises, to the Tararua Tramping Club for the use of their clubrooms, to Malcolm Law for the film "For Alan", and to Salomon Running NZ for the film of Kilian's Quest Kilimanjaro.

Inspirational Short Films

2011-06-23T17:46:00.000+12:00

Two inspirational trail running films by Joel Wolpert, each featuring one of the USA's top trail ultramarathoners:

Slogging to the Top, featuring Geoff Roes

Winter Running, featuring Anton Krupicka

Wet & Windy Wellington

2011-06-19T21:48:00.018+12:00

Wellington always "turns it on" for the Wellington Marathon, and today was no exception. Some rain was expected, but only light showers, and wind was supposed to be 30km/h northerlies. The wind seemed to build throughout the event so that by the end we were struggling into northerly gales and being pelted by horizontal rain driven by the wind!

First shower of rain arrived about 37 minutes into the run. It was a bit windy and cold around past the airport, but this is the most exposed section of the course, and it looked like we just had a passing shower. Turning north around Miramar Peninsular we were told to run on the cliff side of the road (on the right, facing traffic, although the road was closed). There was a bit of a head wind in some parts along here, but generally it was not too bad.

Rounding the end of the peninsular and turning south it was pleasant to have the wind behind us. There was some good running along here with the wind behind, picturesque scenery away from any built up areas, and still early enough in the run that everything still felt good.

Over the Pass of Branda we crossed a number of runners we knew coming in the other direction, including Pat Stitchbury, Perry Newburn, and Vivian Cheng. Went through the turn in 2:11: Quite pleased with that, we were both feeling relatively fresh, although my right glute was starting to get quite sore.

Heading back the wind seemed to get progressively stronger, and by the time that we were back out of the built up area the wind was so strong that it was easier to walk when we were going straight into it. Along here I started to notice my right glute and right hamstring were pinching. It must have been starting to show because there were a few places where Heather asked if I was alright.

After going back past the airport we turned into the wind again. Many more walks along this section as the stretches into the wind were longer, and the wind was much stronger. The rain also started in earnest and was almost horizontal as it was being driven hard by the wind.

I got completely soaked through along this section. My polypro top and shower-proof nylon jacket were no match for the wind and rain. Although we were at sea level the weather felt like what I would expect on a mountain ridge. And because we weren't on a mountain ridge I didn't have my storm gear! I started to get quite cold so Heather gave me her seam sealed jacket to wear -- she was still warm and hadn't been wearing it, and it made a significant difference to my level of warmth.

We started making the most of the weather, taking the opportunity to jump in puddles and splash each other as we ran. A good way to have fun when the weather was atrociously bad!

I eventually finished stiff and sore in 4:46:58. Slightly faster than at Rotorua, but a lot harder than I would have liked. Probably again a case of not enough training, but at least this counts as a good training run for something!

Dorne Cup

2011-06-11T20:24:00.027+12:00

After recent heavy rain the ground was very soft and muddy. With additional heavy rain earlier in the day, and the women's and younger age grade races before the men's race, the ground was churned into slushy mud in many places around the course. Spikes were hardly enough to stop slipping up the stopbanks, and for the first time ever in a cross country race I was able to land on my heels running downhill -- usually this would result in a slide and a fall, but the ground was so soft today that my heels would just sink in.

The course was two laps of a 4km course. I had very even splits: I recorded 19:09 for the first lap and 19:20 for the second lap. My pace would generally have been slower on the second lap, but I had a great sprint finish over the last 150m and made up the time.

Blood and a Swim at the Club Cross Country

2011-05-28T19:11:00.001+12:00

Time for the Trentham United Harriers' Club Cross Country Championships again. The same two-lap course as the last couple of years, but the stream had recently been dredged out and "remodelled", leaving a much deeper section for the course to be routed through. Made it through the first crossing with no problems - that was only about mid-calf depth. Looped around on the grass for the return crossing - this time it was mid-thigh depth and I took a tumble as I reached the other side. Hands down on to the bank, soaked the front of my singlet and my shorts, and cut my left knee on some stones or rocks on the stream bed.

Straight back up and kept on and on to a gravel track through one of the patches of bush. Then a long stretch of good running on grass, with only a small slippery patch as we went through a ditch. Another long stretch on a gravel path through bush, a bit more grass, and then the "horse paddock". The horse paddock is used by the local pony club - into a ditch and up a short hill to get to it, then three low jumps, down into another ditch, and then climb out of the ditch and up and over the stop bank. Long grass with soft conditions and a large puddle, more rough grass, then up over the stop bank and very short firm grass over the cricket field back to the start finish.

20:11 for the first lap, and then on to the second lap. I walked through the second deeper stream crossing this time and stayed upright! Through the second lap in 20:41 for a total of 40:52 over 8.37km. 40s faster than last year, so I'm happy enough with that. A few cuts and scrapes and a bit of blood on my left knee, but nothing that should cause any problems.

10k at RWNZ Relay Champs

2011-05-22T20:21:00.018+12:00

New PB! Took 1:20 off my previous best to record 60:05 for 10k at the Racewalking NZ relay champs / Ekiden walking relay in Upper Hutt. I had done no walking training since early February, so was expecting a time about 3 minutes slower. However my running training had apparently given me the aerobic conditioning I needed to turn in a good performance.

Time and distance recorded on my GPS.

I was expecting the trademark painful shins to appear early in the second lap, but they never eventuated. Perhaps the muscle fascia was constantly inflamed last year and the break from walking training has given it a chance to recover? I did suffer from fairly bad stitch for a lot of the race, so if I can sort that out I might finally be able to dip under 60 minutes!

Lap times (for 1.25km laps) were 7:37, 7:32, 7:39, 7:29, 7:23, 7:33, 7:33, 7:19; first 5km in 30:17, 2nd 5km in 29:48. My GPS recorded only 9.91km... the course was supposed to be officially measured with a wheel, so the 90m must just be GPS error.

Tongariro Out-and-Back

2011-05-03T19:22:00.019+12:00

This started out as a fanciful notion before the Rotorua Marathon that maybe we'd give the 50km Tongariro Northern Circuit a nudge just 3 days after the marathon. But we were both tired and our plans shifted several times until our intention was to head up the Mangatepopo Valley to Tongariro, do the summit, and then come back down the west ridge.

The weather in Turangi was wet, but at Mangatepopo it was warm and sunny with clear skies over the mountain. Having expected bad weather we both started in thermal tights, but by the start of the climb up to South Crater it was sufficiently warm that Heather decided to quickly change into something cooler.

We took the tourist route rather than the old Devil's Staircase up to South Crater. As we had lunch up on South Crater we watched a bit of cloud start to drift over the crater rim, but all still looked ok. The temperature dropped a bit, so Heather put her thermal tights back on, and we both put warm tops on. It looked like there might be a bit of cloud as we made our way around the rim to the summit, but it didn't look like it would be anything too serious.

The short walk across the crater, and then we started the hike up the rim. The weather closed in rapidly as we climbed. By the time we reached the top visibility was down to about 50m, and we needed to put on our raincoats, gloves, and beanies because of the cold wind.

In storm gear, but back down out of the wind.

The wind grew stronger as we walked around the rim, and after only about 200m the wind was so strong and cold that it was time to put on our waterproof overtrou as well. As it started to rain we quickly decided that the better course of action was to go back. Down at South Crater we were largely out of the wind, and the rain had stopped, but the cloud was still low and visibility much reduced. Without the familiar landmarks it seemed that we were in a completely different place.

Looking down at South Crater in the clear

Less than an hour later, back down in South Crater.

A short way down from South Crater it was sunny and warm again so we took off all our storm gear. Clouds threatened in the distance, but we were able to make it back to the car without any more rain. For a while we walked along talking to a guide who was guiding two Singaporean clients across the Crossing, and we also ran some of the flatter sections.

A good decision not to try the Northern Circuit - our legs were far too tired for that. And a good decision to turn back when we did. All in all a very pleasant day, with for the most part good weather, only a small amount of weather drama but the gear to cope with it, and good company.

Rotorua Marathon

2011-04-30T22:32:00.003+12:00

My initial - and publicly stated plan - was to run to 5k, then walk for 5 mins, run to the next 5k marker (i.e. 10k) and repeat until done. In practice I adopted an entirely different strategy... I started running with Heather, keeping a nice controlled pace, and when the 5k mark came around I just kept on running. In the end we stayed together for the entire event.

We walked the hills around the back of the lake, and went through the official half way mark in about 2:16:50. However, after dropping back down on to the flat things started to unravel for both Heather and me. For my part my lack of training was starting to show: I had sore feet, tight calves, sore quads, sore glutes, and my hips were also starting to get a bit sore. Apart from one recent 21km run/walk in the hills, all my runs had been 7km-12km on trails. Apparently 12km isn't really enough if one is planning on doing a marathon! But I had the experience and mental strength from all my ultras, so I was able to keep on going.

Coming back to running after a long break a few lessons were re-learned. One key one for me is that I will blister on the end of my 2nd toes unless I have taped properly or have gel sleeves on those toes. This was always a problem when I used to run marathons, and so it proved to be again!

Our official time was 4:47:54, which turns out to be exactly the same time that Heather recorded last year! Thanks Heather for running with me, it was very enjoyable to have your company for the run.

Postscript: Our GPSes both recorded the course as about 300m long. It's not entirely clear though whether this was a fault in the course measurement or a fault in the way the runners of our speed ran the course: at the 2km everyone stayed in the right hand lane, going wide around the corner, whereas in previous years this corner has always been cut. There wasn't any cones or other markers to keep us in that lane, that's just what everyone did. It's hard to see that it would have accounted for all 300m, but it must have counted for something.

Hutt Valley Eastern Hills

2011-04-22T18:57:00.009+12:00

Training run with Heather Andrews. In at Wainui Hill, heading north along the main 4WD road along the ridge, and out at Silverstream. We walked most of the climbs, and ran most of the flats and downs. A total of 21.1km in 3:23:48.

Hover over pictures for captions, click for larger versions.

The day started off overcast, but cleared later on to a fine day. Good views across to the South Island from some of the high points.

I tried out my Inov8 trail shoes - nice and light weight, no blisters, they seemed to work pretty well. Certainly the best replacement yet for my very old asics trabuco, which are much lighter and more flexible than recent models of the same shoe.

And here's the map:

My set on Flickr: Hutt Valley Eastern Hills, Apr 2011.

Porirua Scenic Fun Run

2011-04-17T21:40:00.002+12:00

A bit of a naff name for a really good tough trail run! 58:19 for 11k on trails and cross country. Pretty happy with this given a couple of much faster kms, and with my relatively low level of training.

First 1km is flat and fast, mainly on the road and then on to an easy trail. Went through this far too fast, clocking 4:01. From there the course winds around the Whitireia Peninsular on the coastal track. The tide was high and in a couple of spots the track disappeared under water, requiring either a quick splash or a short diversion into the rough beside the track.

After about 5km we reached the rocks... this is only a short section of a couple of hundre metres, but heaps of fun. A short climb of maybe 7 foot, run down the other side, another short climb, push on up through some scrub, then a nice downhill back to the main track.

But then the serious climb starts: it's only 80m ascent, but in various steep climbs across largely untracked farmland, and achieved in a total distance of about 1.2km. And by now my legs were feeling fairly trashed from running much faster than I ever do in training. One final climb to the high point and turn around, and then it was generally downhill over undulating terrain.

About one km of downhill gave a good chance to stretch my legs out, and then it was about another km to the finish.

Results are here.

Updated Race Time Prediction

2011-04-11T15:21:00.003+12:00

The list of events covered by the race time prediction analysis has now grown to include 29 events and/or distances. While the analysis is focussed on ultramarathons, three trail marathons are now included, as is the sub-marathon Routeburn Classic. The new Northburn 100 mile run is included, but the shorter Northburn events (50km and 100km) have insufficient finishers to be included in the analysis. Five ultramarathons no longer held (or superseded by course changes) have been included for historical interest.

The full list of events and distances is:

Sub-marathon trail run:
- Routeburn Classic
Marathons:
- DUAL Trail Marathon;
- Motutapu Marathon;
- New Plymouth Marathon (which is net downhill and fast);
- Standard Marathon;
- T42 Trail Marathon;
Ultramarathons:
- Reference 50km, 80km, 100km;
- Great Naseby Water Race 50km, 80km, 100km;
- Heaphy Five-O (no longer held);
- Hutt River Trail Ultramarathon 60km;
- Kepler Challenge 60km;
- Length of the Lake 67.5km;
- Marton-Wanganui 67km;
- Molesworth Run;
- Northburn 100 mile;
- St James Ultra (no longer held);
- Tarawera 2009;
- Tarawera 60km, 85km, 100km;
- Taupo 100km pre-2009 (very hilly first 45km);
- Taupo 100km 2 Lap (2009);
- Taupo 100km 4 Lap (2010, 2011);
- Te Houtaewa 90 Mile Beach Run;
- Triple Peaks 47km.

The Sri Chinmoy 50km and 100km events (Christchurch) are counted as "reference" 50km and 100km events due to the flat, fast nature of the course.

The updated table of multipliers is given below.

Table 1: Race Time Prediction Multipliers, Ordered by Multiplier

Event	Distance (km)	Multiplier
New Plymouth Marathon	42.195	0.96
Standard Marathon	42.195	1.00
T42 Trail Marathon	42.195	1.17
Motutapu Marathon	42.195	1.19
Reference 50km	50	1.21
Routeburn Classic	38	1.24
Dual Trail Marathon	42.195	1.31
Naseby 50km	50.1	1.41
Triple Peaks	47	1.59
Hutt River Trail	60.25	1.62
Marton-Wanganui	66.4	1.77
Te Houtaewa 90 Mile Beach	60	1.81
Length of the Lake	67.5	1.94
Reference 80km	80	2.05
Kepler Challenge	61.3	2.16
Tarawera 60km	60	2.26
Naseby 80k	80.16	2.39
Molesworth Run	84	2.58
Reference 100k	100	2.63
St James Ultra	67.2	2.66
Heaphy Five-O	78.4	2.74
Taupo 100km 4 Lap (2010, 2011)	100	2.86
Tarawera 86km	86	3.07
Naseby 100km	100.2	3.07
Tarawera 2009 (*)	89	3.10
Taupo 100km pre-2009	100	3.12
Taupo 100km 2 Lap (2009)	100	3.13
Tarawera 100km	100	3.64
Northburn 100 mile	160	9.52
Note:(*) Although the precise distance for the 2009 edition of the Tarawera Ultramarathon is unknown, this does not affect the overall multiplier.

The methodology remains as described in my May 2010 post. The rate of slow down derived from my latest analysis is 1.120, rather than the 1.197 previously obtained.

Anton Krupicka on Trail Running

2011-04-10T10:16:00.005+12:00

I have been aware for some time that I find roads and trails engender quite different mental states. Roads are good for speed and focus, but the natural environment of trails provides a much more calming and centering experience.

A recent article in Running Times by ultra-running phenomena Anton Krupicka provides a more personal and philosophical look at trail running. Anton writes:

For better or for worse, when one lives in a town or city, one lives in a built world. This world offers many distractions and comforts that I have come to enjoy quite a lot — libraries, coffee shops, bookstores, cafes, markets, high-speed Internet, etc. — but the fact remains that these things are all constructs that humans have imposed on an otherwise pristine landscape in order to keep themselves entertained and occupied.

Perhaps the problem with this is that, when I am mired amongst all of these material and intellectual pursuits, I ultimately feel a lack of an underlying foundation of pure, unadulterated action or being. A stimulating novel or a smooth road might both be nice, but neither feel real to me in the most rigorous sense of the word, when compared to say, running through a grove of ponderosa pine trees or beneath a gigantic slab of sandstone turned on end by some ages-old tectonic force.

And so that most fundamental authenticity or reality is what running in the mountains provides for me on a daily or twice-daily basis. Without it, I have — unfortunately, based on past experience — gone completely mad. But even more importantly, I have found that this engaging with the natural world is, over time, very instructive. Running in the mountains creates a space — through silence, openness, a removal from distractions — in which I can come to know myself and explore myself.

Anton Krupicka On Being Real: Why I Run Trails, Running Times.

A very inspirational shoe commercial by Anton in which he also talks about his trail running philosophy:

I love the quote: "Everything hurts after 60, 70 miles... But that's why you run 100 miles. Anyone can do a 50 mile or 100k".

Heather Bars

2011-03-31T00:49:00.004+13:00

One of the treats provided at the Tarawera Ultramarathon aid stations in 2011 was "Heather Bars". Heather Andrews provides the recipe for these muesli bars which were so popular with the runners.

HEATHER BARS FROM TARAWERA AID STATIONS

This is not really "my" recipe, this is a recipe for flapjacks given to me by a friend, and who knows where she got the recipe from! But recipes are made to be shared, so here it is.

Heather running in to Millar Road
aid station.

150g Butter
75g Brown sugar
75g Golden syrup (I used three good dessert spoons, I did not weigh it!)
225g rolled oats
200g made up of the following: sesame seeds, pumpkins seeds, dried apricots, sliced almonds - go easy on the sesame seeds they go a long way.

Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Melt the butter, brown sugar, and golden syrup in a pot, do not burn!

Mix in all the other ingredients and stir thoroughly.

Press into a 20cm tin and smooth over the surface. Bake for 20-25 minutes until set, I then slice it, and set in the freezer/fridge.

On race day I used the mini muffin cupcake cups (what ever they are!). So you didn't get sticky fingers on your run!!

Links:

Bay of Plenty Times feature on the Tarawera Ultramarathon, with comments from Heather and a specific mention of the Heather Bars.
My report on crewing and pacing Heather during the 2011 event.

Support Crew and Pacer at the Tarawera Ultramarathon

2011-03-19T23:16:00.163+13:00

My first pacer number! Heather's race number (orange)
and my pacer number (white).

Support crew and pacer for Heather Andrews at the Tarawera Ultramarathon 85km event. I was support crew through to Okataina Lodge (about 40k), then picked up as pacer from the next accessable aid station (Tarawera Outlet at about 55km) through to the finish. Very proud to have been there for Heather's new longest distance.

After a night of rain the day dawned cold and clear. Great conditions for runners, but less so for support crew standing around waiting for their runners! I first saw Heather at about 5km as the runners emerged from the bush. She was looking fresh, but so she should be when there was another 80km+ in front of her!

At about 5km

Then it was quickly back in the car and down the road towards Blue Lake. Part way down the road was another access point to the trail. This time I walked along the trail and talked with Heather while changing her water bottle and providing a fresh Gu. I ran back down the hill to the access point, being greeted by several runners who wondered why I hadn't entered this year.

Tamara Cartwright, and Ray and Joan Scannel.
Ray is wearing his Western States silver buckle.

It was here that I also met Ray and Joan Scannel from the United States, both who have 10 (or more) finishers buckles from the Western States 100 mile Endurance Run. Ray is something of a Western States legend, holding the Master's record for several years from the late 80's through most of the 90's plus had a few top-5 finishes at the event.

Back around the road to the other side of the lake and the Tikitapu (Blue Lake) aid station. The aid station was well stocked, but I also greeted Heather with supplies and walked with her while she ate and gave instructions for what she needed next.

I drove around to the Lake Okareka aid station, but the lake side carparking area was completely full. After a bit of a wait to get back out of the carpark I drove a short way back up the road so that Heather would have easy access to the car. I then ran back down the road to meet Heather and we ran together back to the car and the aid station. Heather had a drink of cold coffee milk at the car and picked up her hydration pack for the long stretches between aid stations on the Okataina Walkway.

Running in to Millar Rd aid station,
Heather in the lead.

We headed off along Millar Road, first at a run and then dropped back to a walk when we reached the big hill. I ended up going all the way to the Millars Road aid station. We thought we should perhaps run a bit as the road levelled off and we approached the photographer. I dropped back a bit so that the photo would focus on Heather - the result is the absolutely fantastic photo on the right!

After a drink of coke and a quick selection of goodies from the aid station Heather ran off into the Western Okataina Walkway, and I started back down the road. Just a few hundred metres down one of the race crew pulled up in a car and offered me a lift back down to Okareka. I gladly accepted and then was soon back down at the car.

All go at Okataina. Not sure what Ray Scannel is
doing on the left, presumably just saying goodbye
as they left for the next aid station.

From Okareka it was drive around to Okataina Lodge aid station, set up, and wait. I chatted to Tamara Cartwright while waiting, and even ordered a flat white for Heather from the coffee cart. Time started ticking by, and the carpark started to empty out. Decisions, decisions... would Heather be sufficiently tired that she wouldn't want to walk the extra 10-20m to the car, or would she be happy to be away from the main group of people? Disaster... just as I decided to shift the car Heather appeared... I had shifted the chairs and then needed to move them back to the car. Meanwhile Heather wasn't pleased that I wasn't ready. Never mind, she was soon sitting down and I was fixing a hot spot on her foot while she had a few things to eat and drink. The coffee was at a good drinkable temperature and went down well.

We set off walking along the Eastern Okataina Walkway while Heather ate some more and let her stomach settle. After perhaps a kilometre it was time for me to turn back. I jogged back to the car, packed up, and set off for Kawerau.

Once in Kawerau I checked in at "pacer central" to get my pacer number, then off to the information centre to find Tamara Cartwright. Back to drop Heather's car at the finish line and then Tamara drove out to the Tarawera Falls aid station. A bit of a walk from the car to the aid station itself (officially the 60k mark) and then I decided I would run/walk the 5km in to the Tarawera Outlet aid station.

More than a few runners seemed a little confused to see someone wearing a number heading in the opposite direction, but none turned and followed me!

After waiting at Tarawera Outlet for a short while Heather appeared. She was disappointed to find there was no coke, was feeling a bit queasy and was talking about dropping at the 60km mark. She also said she had been willing me to come along the track to meet her, so a good decision!

Tarawera Falls

We ran and walked towards Tarawera Falls, while I tried to keep talking and give Heather reason to keep on going past the Falls aid station. A friend was meeting her there, and would have a car, so she was contemplating stopping and dropping out of the race at that point. I had some work to do! I kept her moving through the aid station, with only a very brief stop before we continued walking up the road. Unfortunately I was so intent on keeping her moving that I left behind a small bag that had a spare thermal top and one of our sets of lights (handheld plus head torch).

Heather had a case of good old ultramarathon nausea by now, so we just walked for a while. Water was not sitting well, but watermelon was good. Lucky I had grabbed several pieces at the aid station! There is an enormous, steep, sandy hill along this section. I remembered it from last year, but it seemed steeper and nastier this year, and it wasn't in the place I remembered it to be! I guess I was a bit tired last year and my memory was affected...

Some time after the hill Heather's stomach started to settle and we started to run a bit, looking for trees and clumps of grass to mark the point we would run to. Run a bit, walk a bit, we were steadily making forward progress.

Eventually we made our way to the Titoki aid station. They didn't have coke, but they did have Mountain Dew! I filled one bottle with water, the other with Mountain Dew. We both had something to eat and drink, and I grabbed some more supplies. We walked a little to allow the food to settle, and then started back in to running on and off.

From here my memory seems to fade, as did the light. The sun sank and it slowly got darker in the forest until we needed to get our lights out. With me having left one set at the Tarawera Falls aid station Heather took the headlamp and I took the handheld. Some sections of forest trail were too difficult to run on our tired legs, but the forest roads were ok.

The last few km seemed unfamiliar - I remembered some parts from last year, but other parts were quite different. It turns out I was right, as part of the course had been rerouted to bypass cyclone damage.

At last we were at the bridge across the Kawerau River. From there it is generally easy terrain across rugby field, a golf course, down a short street section, and then another rugby field. Rather than the sparsely spaced bike lights of last year, the route home was lit up by flashing traffic cones - they were easily visible and a great idea!

Heather at the finish

Through some trees and the finish line appeared in the distance. Time to run to make it look good! As we crossed the line Heather's watch said 14:27:59, but the official time was 14:28:03. We had finished, and I felt far too knackered given that I had only done 35km to Heather's 87km.

Links:

Bay of Plenty Times feature that quotes Heather
Tarawera Ultramarathon website
List of blog posts about the 2011 race collected by the race director

Running with Perry

2011-03-15T23:56:00.010+13:00

Ultrarunner Perry Newburn decided to run from Auckland to Christchurch as a way of raising money for the earthquake recovery fund for Christchurch. Heather and I joined him for part of his run on day 4 of his journey.

Heather met me at Rotorua airport (I flew in) and then we drove in to Rotorua and grabbed some breakfast from McDonalds just before they closed their breakfast menu. A bacon and egg McMuffin with a hashbrown and a coffee! With tummies satisfied it was off to find Perry. Along to SH5 and then turn left at the Nongotaha roundabout to follow it towards Hamilton. We saw Perry's support vehicle, drove up the road a bit further to a convenient stopping point, and waited.

Perry and Heather take a walk break while Perry has a drink.
Heather proudly wearing her Canterbury Crusaders shirt in support
of Christchurch.

Perry appeared fairly soon, and Heather set off to run with him. I waited in the car for a bit, then drove ahead and jogged back to meet them, took a few photos, and ran or walked with them back to the car.

I leap frogged like this a couple of times, and then was back around the roundabout to the road into Rotorua. I ran back to meet Perry and Heather and ran back with them again. I was parked at the same spot as Perry's crew car, about 6km out from the town centre, and we all had a small coke. We all walked while the coke was being drunk and then ran back to the car.

This time I had a mission: the temperature was picking up and it was getting very hot for Perry. It's not so bad when you're just running 10-20km for the day, but when the daily total is around 70km it can be a significant problem. I was sent on a mission to McDonalds to get three large drink cups - two filled with ice and one filled with coke. I gave the ice to Perry's crew, who put one in a chilly bin, and tipped the other into a pair of long johns and tied them to fashion collar to go around Perry's neck.

Back down the road and park around the corner in Lake Road to check that all was ok. We were only about 2km out from the town centre now, so I needed to find a carpark. Around the lake side of the hospital and down the road a bit further I found one just outside St Michael's Church. I jumped out of the car and ran back to Perry and Heather. Heather's water was nearly finished so I took her bottle and ran forward to the car to refill with coke. They very quickly caught back up to me and I had to rush to catch up.

Around the corner from Lake Road and in to Tutanakae Street - this was the final stretch into the centre of Rotorua and Perry's date with Mayor Kevin Winters. We ran pretty much down the middle of the lane to the waiting Mayor and photographer. Mayor Winters presented Perry with a book and letter to pass on to Mayor Bob Parker of Christchurch, and then we were treated to the amusement of watching the photographer taking a series of staged shots of Perry.

A staged shot

The end result

Links:

Perry's blog posts for this day - mid-day progress update and end of day update, complete with a set of the photos that I took
Article in the Rotorua Daily Post

Support Crew at the Length of the Lake Ultra

2011-02-19T23:05:00.017+13:00

A change for me - this time I was support crew for Heather Andrews while she ran the 67.5km "Length of the Lake" ultramarathon. It was good to be the supporter rather than the athlete for a change, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Being support crew keeps one in amongst the action, probably more aware of it than when racing. It also makes for a busy and absorbing day, although not nearly as tiring as being the athlete!

Running into Turangi.

The day itself started off warm and then just got hotter. Almost the entire course is without shade, so those that were out there all day had a serious dose of sun and heat. The temperature was something like 24-26 in the shade, but would have been much hotter on the road in the direct sun. Over the last 20km or so (from Hatepe Hill onwards) I was supplying Heather with a cold wet flannel with increasing frequency, to provide at least some cooling.

A great effort by Heather to clock up a new personal best distance in trying conditions. I am proud to have been part of it!

Taking A Break

2011-02-13T10:15:00.006+13:00

Due to health reasons I will not be doing the Taupo 100k on this coming weekend, 19 February. I will also likely avoid doing shorter races for a while too. It's possible I might get back to 5k races by the end of March, but we'll see how that goes.

I the mean time, there are posts to be written for:

I will endeavour to get these up as soon as I am able.

Trentham United 5k Series

2011-02-09T22:28:00.006+13:00

29:08 and first walker. The walkers / slow runners field was much depleted this week, so I largely had to focus on this as an individual effort. There was also a cool NE head wind along Fergusson Drive, noticeable but not particularly strong. Pre-race warmup was 2.2km, although legs felt good after that. Even though I felt like I was working as hard as last time, my time was significantly slower at 29:08.

Thompsons Track and Mt Eliza

2011-02-05T20:10:00.036+13:00

My first foray into the Kaimais, a hike around the Thompsons Track - Mt Eliza loop with Heather Andrews. The weather was hot and humid.

Heather makes her way around a bog

From the carpark we set out along Thompsons Track and quickly found that it had many bogs and ruts created by 4WD vehicles. Some required a relatively careful sidle around. But one caught Heather out... mud she thought was only an inch deep ended up being knee deep! A quick wash in a nearby puddle, and then a good excuse to splash around in the next stream across the track!

Oops! That was deeper than expected!

Mud!

After a deceptively gradual climb we found ourselves at the "summit" of the Track. Looking west there were expansive views of the Waikato. Looking east were views back towards Tauranga.

View east from the top of Thompsons Track

Heading across the open grassland towards
Motutapere (left) and Mt Eliza (out of picture to the
right).

From here we turned north to follow the DOC tramping track towards Motutapere and the Mt Eliza turnoff. This section started with a steep climb through native bush and then emerged out into open grassland with views to Motutapere, Mt Eliza and the Waikato.

Disappearing back into native bush the track became significantly more rugged as we wound our way around the side of the hill to the track junction. At the junction we found our first DOC sign and turned east to head up and over Mt Eliza. DOC times were 1h20 to the Mt Eliza Mine and 2h30 back to the carpark.

The track surface was very easy underfoot as we descended for a while before beginning another climb to get to the top of Mt Eliza. The top of Mt Eliza is quite flat, and we were never entirely sure that we had found the summit... until we started down the very steep track down the other side. By now we were feeling a bit tired and were very glad to be going down this track rather than up it!

Mt Eliza Mine entrance

We took a short detour to the sign-posted Mt Eliza mine entrance (just 60m from the main track). The tunnel looked in good condition, but we did nothing more than poke our heads in the entrance.

After the Mt Eliza mine the track levelled off a lot and wound its way around the side of a hill while crossing a few side streams. When we reached the main (Waitekohe) stream we decided it was time to dump our packs and stand in the water for a while. We briefly toyed with the idea of full immersion, but the once we were standing in the water thought better of it! Our legs felt decidedly heavy after standing in the cool water, not helped by the track climbing again on the way back to the carpark.

A small bright blue fungi spotted by Heather at
the bottom of the Mt Eliza track.

Arriving at the Waitekohe Stream.

Wellington Waterfront 5k Series

2011-02-01T22:17:00.005+13:00

28:31 and first walker. Like the Trentham race the week before, I did a 5k warmup earlier in the day to make sure my shins were properly warmed and stretched prior to the race. The write up on the Scottish Harriers website notd "a reasonably strong northerly wind and a congested waterfront meant everyone had to work hard for their time". I'm not sure, though, that the wind was responsible for the full 16s reduction in my time from the Trentham course - the Wellington course should be faster, and my legs were still tired from battling gale northerlies at the Tussock Traverse in the weekend.

Tussock Traverse

2011-01-29T18:11:00.065+13:00

Rainbow in the clouds as we drive to the start.

The remains of tropical cyclone Wilma swept across the north of the North Island the day before the race, with the township of National Park receiving a good downpour during the night. But the rain was forecast to clear, so it shouldn't be a problem. Apparently conditions on the other side of the mountain weren't so good though, and the organisers delayed the start of the race (and the departure of the buses to the start area). After a 2 hour delay it was finally on to the buses and on our way. Luckily I had extra food with me, so it was no problem keeping my energy levels topped up.

By the time the bus was underway the weather was clearing rapidly. Although there was still significant cloud around the mountains, there was also lots of sunshine. A couple of rainbows attested to the moisture that was still around.

Big bus towing little bus

Turning off State Highway 1 onto the Tukino access road there was a new lake! Hopefully that wouldn't cause too many problems with the buses getting to the start area. There were a couple of streams to drive through, but they were ok. More problematic was a patch of sand where our bus became stuck. Everybody out and try pushing. That didn't work, so the bigger, heavier 4WD bus up ahead backed up and towed us out.

No more dramas and it was up to the start area. As we arrived I saw Colin Horne, the record holder for the walk. With him in the race there was no chance that I could win: I thought I could perhaps do 3:30-3:40 in good conditions, but his record is 3:29:19. We chatted a bit, made our final preparations, and lined up at the start.

The start was as brutal as ever, a 2.2km climb gaining 180m in elevation. I led the climb, but Colin was very close behind. I was first to turn North onto the Round the Mountain track, but Colin was soon speeding away from me as he was much faster than me over the rough rocky downhill.

Progress is "generally" downhill as the course works its way down to the Waihohonu turnoff. "Generally", but there are some undulations along the way and a couple of tough climbs.

Travelling down a wadi

The turn west at Waihohonu takes us out of the wadis and exposes us to the full force of the gales. For the next 10km or so we are climbing most of the way as well as pushing our way into the wind. The track is quite wet in places along here, with large puddles left by the recent rain. Never have I been so pleased to find the sections of track that DOC has "upgraded" with gravel!

At the far western end of the Tama Saddle we drop sharply into a stream bed and then climb back out even more sharply. It's at this point that the two lead runners come past, running lightly and still looking fresh. Talking to the winner that evening I learn that they have been regularly rotating the lead so that neither of them becomes too tired from constantly working into the wind. I also learn that there was a third person with them, but he doggedly stuck to the lead and then was dropped when he wore himself out.

Taranaki Falls

From there it's an undulating slog, with more climbs and downhills, then a horrendous set of washed out steps. Eventually it's down the steep steps to the Taranaki Falls, and from there the trail is generally pleasant all the way to the finish.

Links

Event website

My photos on Flickr

Course Map

Trentham United 5k Series

2011-01-26T19:52:00.018+13:00

New PB! Much to my surprise I walked a new PB of 28:14 tonight. Given my lack of recent short races and the Hutt River Trail ultramarathon on Saturday, I thought that I would be working hard just to get a time in the 30 minute range. This was an extremely pleasing result on a course that is known to be slow, with several rises, sharp dips, corners, and two short sections of grass.

I did a warm-up 5k earlier in the afternoon, and another shorter warm-up and stretches before the race. Nearing the end of the first lap I was surprised that the runners hadn't yet started (walkers had a 15 min head start), and I ended up going through the lap in 14:05. The second lap was a bit tougher, but I didn't slow like I thought I might, clocking 14:09. Perhaps my recent speedwork is making a difference already?

Results are here under "Race 1".

Hutt River Trail Ultra 2011

2011-01-22T22:42:00.044+13:00

Approaching the end of the Rimutaka Incline.
Photo courtesy Richard Wall.

Weather conditions this year were generally good: for the first 8k to the Rimutaka Incline summit it was heavily overcast with pleasantly cool temperatures. After the summit tunnel there was a patch of drizzle, and conditions remained good (overcast) through Tunnel Gully. The weather then started to clear and temperatures warmed up considerably. It remained warm for most of the way down the valley, but I do recall a few cooler patches at times.

This year's event confirmed what I had suspected for a while: my endurance is fine, but my leg speed is not. To be fair, my time this year (7:29:39) was a smidgen faster than in 2008 (7:32:14) or 2009 (7:30:42), but it was well short of my PB (7:14:49) last year. As the only walker in the ultra I still took the win, but I was hoping for a quicker time ahead of the Taupo 100k in four weeks time.

There's a few factors that might each individually account for a minute or so in time, but I was losing time (compared to last year) at every split for the first 40km. Possibly the biggest factor was not being in the right place mentally to race. I have four weeks to fix that, less when recovery from the weekend and taper for the 100km are factored in. Time to ditch the repeats that I've done for the last three weeks in training and start doing a few 5km races. A 10k or Half Marathon would also be good, but there doesn't appear to be any at a convenient location in the next two-three weeks.

4x1km Repeats

2011-01-18T23:27:00.002+13:00

After a light week of training my legs should have been fresh for today's set of repeats, but my legs felt a bit sluggish and the first two repeats were a little slow. I dropped my car off at the mechanic's and then walked the 5k to my training circuit. That provided a good warm up so it was straight into the repeats, 4 x 1km with 500m recovery. The first was 5:59 and the second was 5:57, both of them a good 15s slower than what I wanted. Then I managed to pull out a 5:34, followed by a 5:42 (checked briefly by a car, so still happy with that). From there it was a 500m recovery and then 5km back home.

The 7 days had started with a 10k recovery on Wednesday after the previous set of repeats. Thursday was a 10k tempo session, structured as a 3k warmup, 4k tempo, 1k recovery, and then 2k warmdown. That ended up being the best 10k time I have recorded on that course for many months.

The Whakatiki River. The stream we explored was just out of shot
on the left.

Friday was a rest day, so I went exploring a local stream with my boys. Just 3.3km, but 90 minutes! Saturday was a 9.4km run up to the Birchville Dam and return.

Sunday was intended to be a 21km, but that never happened as I spent the afternoon working on a document instead. Monday my quads were still a bit sore from Saturday's run, but after a 10k recovery session on the Hutt River Trail were feeling quite a bit better.

This coming weekend is the Hutt River Trail 60km ultramarathon, so the rest of this week will be relatively light. Whether my legs are in any sort of shape for any speed training next week remains to be seen.

Another Mixed Training Week

2011-01-11T19:43:00.005+13:00

Last week's post was written just after I had done 5x500m repeats. The next day I was definitely feeling the effects of the speedwork, with several tight and sore muscles. So Wednesday was a light recovery session, 9.5km in total.

Thursday was my first tempo session for many months. I could still feel some of the effects of Tuesday's speedwork, particularly in the way of sore shins. I slowly warmed up for 4km, then did 3km at about half marathon race pace, then warmed back down again for a total of 10km. The whole session was faster than I have done on that course for many months, so I was happy enough with that. But big improvements still need to be made!

Friday was a rest day in anticipation of a 50k session on Saturday. But Saturday's session was a disaster... toilet stops required every couple of km, and after 20km and 8 toilet stops I decided to call it quits. My legs were sore and I was feeling like I had walked 40km rather than just 20km. My guess is that something was wrong with my electrolyte levels, hence why I was "losing" so much water. So I went home to rehydrate with lots of electrolyte drink.

Sunday was about 21.8km on an undulating road circuit through the rural area in the Mangaroa Valley behind Upper Hutt. Monday was another rest day.

Tuesday was time for speedwork again, this time 4x800m with 500m rest. My average pace was faster than for the 5x500m, and I felt like I could have done a few more when I finished. Will probably step up to 4x1km with 400m rest next time. After that I need to start thinking about reintroducing some short races: 3000m and 5000m on the track, and 5km on the road.

Training Highs and Lows

2011-01-04T21:03:00.001+13:00

The passing of Christmas means it's time to get serious about training for the Taupo 100km on 19 February. So towards the end of a week of reasonably good training I had a 50k session on Thursday 30 December. My time was nothing spectacular, but nor was it intended to be: this was just a good long session, and I came away from it feeling good.

A rest day on the Friday and then a 10k for recovery on the Saturday. Sunday was supposed to be something a little longer, probably a 21k, but instead I kicked the table leg and did something painful to the little toe on my left foot. Very painful, so it was out with a bag of frozen veges to try and reduce the damage. A bruise developed as the day progressed and it was still quite sore. Monday my little toe was still sore, but improving noticeably towards the end of the day.

Photo of my left foot after today's training session, showing the bruising.

Tuesday my foot was good enough for some speed work. This was the first speed work or short race that I had done for many, many months, so I started conservatively with 5x500m with 500m recovery. Being out of practice I struggled to hold a constant pace over all 5 repeats, but the last two were the fastest so I am happy with that.

The general plan for the next 6 weeks is to progressively build up the speed work to at least 5 x 1km repeats interspersed with 5k races, and to include another couple of 50k sessions and the 60km Hutt River Trail ultra.

2010 Annual Review

2010-12-31T23:59:00.045+13:00

2010 is the year I became a fully-rounded ultramarathoner. I competed in both road and trail events, as I did last year, but this year I also competed on the track and stepped up to the classic ultra time/distance of 24 hours and 100 miles. It's been a long time in the making - I ran my first ultra in September 2002 and eight years later I finally stepped up! In the process I was awarded membership of the NZ Centurions, only open to those who have walked 100 miles in 24 hours or less.

January

New Year's day family trip up Mt Lowry
Hike from Campbells Mill Road across Mt Wainui to Battle Hill
Hike along the length of the northern section of the East Harbour Regional Park, taking in Mt Lowry, Mt Hawtrey, and Butterfly Creek
Hike to Burn Hut in the Tararua Ranges
Walked the Hutt River Trail Ultramarathon - my 20^th ultramarathon
Hike around the Old Dobson's Hut Loop on a wet afternoon

February

Set New Zealand Best Time for 100km walk of 12h:16m:47s at the Taupo 100km

March

Trip to the summit of Mt Tongariro and down the unmarked west ridge
Walked the 50 mile (86km) event at the Tarawera Ultramarathon
Off-track hike to Tongariro's North Crater

April

Off-track partial circumnavigation and summit of Pukekaikiore at Tongariro National Park
Moonshine 24 rogaine

May

Ran the Trentham United Harrier Club's annual Novices & President's race
City Safari rogaine
Walked the long (10k) leg for the Trentham team in the Ekiden walking relay
Ran the Trentham United Harrier Club's Club Cross Country Championships

June

10km racewalk at the NZIC campus in Upper Hutt
Walked the Scottish Harriers Three Peaks event
New PB of 4:51:28 at the Harbour Capital Marathon

July

Ran (and walked) the Wild West afterwork rogaine
Did a run/walk at the Hutt 5 Bridges Marathon
Competed in the Trentham United Harrier Club's annual King of the Mountain race for walkers

August

Mucked about at the Korokoro Rogaine
Ran the Butterfly Creek Nighttime Madness
Walked the 80km option at the Great Naseby Water Race

September

New PB and new course record at the Marton-Wanganui Ultramarathon

October

Qualified as Centurion NZ C16, set NZ walk records at 50 miles, 12 hours, and 100km, and completed a total of 174.460km at the Sri Chinmoy 24 hour race

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November

Participated in the Great Forest Rogaine in Rotorua
Pre-Kepler training on the Ultra Fun Run short course on 13 November

December

Did a run/walk at the Kepler Challenge
A post-Christmas hike to Field Hut and Tabletop

Field Hut and Table Top

2010-12-27T17:48:00.051+13:00

Soon after arrival at Field Hut

As part of a decent week of training over the Christmas - New Year period, a hike up to Field Hut and Table Top with Richard Wall, Vivian Cheng, and Heather Andrews.

The DOC sign says 6.6km and 3-4 hours to Field Hut. We made it in a relatively comfortable 2 hours. It had been raining lightly on the way up, but was very warm. We stopped at the hut for lunch, put on some extra layers, and then went on up to Tabletop. It was a bit windier up on the tops and visibility wasn't great, but it was still relatively warm.

After a bit of larking about for photos at the far end of Tabletop we turned to head back down to the hut. It was definitely colder as we were walking into the wind, and I was now glad to have my coat on. The cloud started to lift as we were descending and soon we were treated with views through the clouds down to Otaki Forks.

In the clouds on the boardwalk on Tabletop.

On the way back down from Tabletop the clouds
lifted to give us this view back down to Otaki Forks.

Viv, Heather, and Richard try to work out whether
they will cross the river. I already had -- it wasn't
particularly deep.

A quick stop at the hut to collect water and talk to some of the other trampers, and then it was back down to the Forks and the car. Conditions were warm and pleasant when we got down there, so we sat on the grass to talk while we ate the remainder of our supplies.

Kepler Challenge

2010-12-04T19:52:00.098+13:00

This was my 7th ultramarathon for 2010, and I hadn't trained properly since the 24 hour race in October so serious racing was out of the question. I had done a bit of running training, and the main plan was to get Heather round the course in her target time of 10h:30m or less.

In brief, we ran the 5km to Brod Bay, and then walked the long climb up to the bushline. After a short breather for Heather we ran around to Luxmore Hut. On this section we saw Glenn Tachiyama, who was indulging in his passion of photographing ultramarathons.

Behind Luxmore Hut there is another long climb around the flanks of Mt Luxmore. Early in this climb we saw Paul Charteris, who was also photographing runners.

With most of the Mt Luxmore climb done the 7-in-7 runners caught and passed us. At around about the same time we passed a woman who was sitting in a yoga pose on a rock beside the track. The shot was obviously posed, for two photographers who are just out of shot.

Heather running on the tops, South Fiord of Lake
Te Anau in the background.

Descending to Forest Burn Shelter.

Starting down the steps that mark the beginning of
the descent.

We alternated running and walking along the tops, and were both very pleased when there was no more climbing to be done. A quick stop at Hanging Valley Shelter, then down the steps and then the long descent to Iris Burn Hut with two sets of interminable switch-backs.

Not far down the track from Iris Burn Hut there is a clear area, and along here the TV helicopter did multiple flybys to obtain footage. After putting on a good show for the helicopter it was back into the bush and we started to walk. Heather's legs seemed to have run out of steam after the long descent into Iris Burn, and now we were walking a lot more than running.

After a short stop at the Rocky Point aid station we continued on to Moturau Hut. Someone said it was 28 degrees - that seemed about right - it was extremely hot out in the sun, and still hot in the shade of the bush. After another short stop it was on towards Rainbow Reach and we started to run some more.

Just 10km from Rainbow Reach to the finish, and seemed to run more along here than we had since descending to Iris Burn. The distance is split up nicely with a couple of extra drink stations, and then finally was the 1km to go sign. Out of the bush and a short, hot stretch in the sun, then across the control gates to the finish. 10h:31m:38s, so pretty close to Heather's target.

Links:

Race website

My photos on Flickr

Paul Charteris' photos on Flickr

Race report from Grant Guise (4th)

Kepler Training

2010-11-13T20:05:00.043+13:00

It's that time of the year for Kepler training, so I took Heather for a trip around the Ultra Fun Run short circuit. The weather was supposed to clear, but it ended up being cold, grey, and very windy up on top of Mt Climie.

Descending past the Birchville Dam

Our plan was to run parts of the circuit, although neither of us felt like running a great deal. 46:59 to the top of Cannon Point, so in line with what I had done previously. Down via the Birchville Dam rather than the steep bush track, then up the river and out to Te Marua. Around behind the water supply lakes and up to the SH2 underpass. Reached the gate at Kaitoke loop road in 2:37:58.

The first transmitter tower emerges in the wind-
blown clouds.

Down to Tunnel Gully and tagged the gate on the Mt Clime access road in 3:01:53 (3:04:45 previous best). From there things started to unravel a little as Heather discovered just how tough the long ascent can be with 77:21 to the top. At the top it was cold and windy, and we were in the clouds, so we both changed into some warmer layers, rain jacket, and hat/gloves.

Part of the route off Mt Climie. No track particularly
discernable, but there is a clear route through the
vegetation.

The descent was a little slippery, requiring slower going in some places. We reached the road 79:05 after leaving the top. A quick refill of water at Mangaroa School and we walked most of the rest of the way home for a total time of 6:41:30.

Great Forest Rogaine

2010-11-06T21:56:00.143+13:00

An 8 hour rogaine through Rotorua's Whakarewarewa Forest and surrounding areas. This was Heather's first rogaine, and seemed like it would be an enjoyable way to have a bit of "time on our feet" as we built up to Kepler.

We set a reasonably ambitious route, based on what we should be able to achieve if we were "just" out ultramarathoning. But we were carrying more gear and water than we are used to, Heather was recovering from the Auckland marathon the week before, and I had various excuses! So we followed the initial part of our plan, but then cut a big chunk off later in the day as it became obvious our plan was too ambitious.

Heather emerges onto the forestry road after
control 72.

First stop was an easy #39 behind the Redwoods visitor centre. Then up the hill on the walking tracks to #92. Out on to the foresty roads and along to #72. Then it was down some MTB single track (I can run some of this faster than I can ride it) and a short push through the bush to emerge on another forestry road. A quick out-and-back down the side of a fenced off compound to #55.

On the way to #68

From there it was a lengthy trek along gravel and then dirt roads before the steep climb up to the Whakarewarewa lookout and #99. We missed the single track short cut down, so followed the dirt road down into the MTB park. From there it was an out-and-back along the dirt road and single track to #68, and then pick up #41 near the carpark. I needed a quick stop here to tape some hot spots on my feet - the adidas trail runners that I was wearing were causing unexpected problems on both feet.

Feet dealt with it was off down the road towards the Waipa Mill. Around the side of 2 effluent ponds to gain the track behind. We were making our way along an indistinct part of track when right beside us at chest height was a "sprinkler"... only problem is these sprinklers use effluent! It was time to make haste before they came to life. The sprinklers seemed to be everywhere through this section of forest, although for the most part they were well off the track.

Our route. In most places the layering of the route on the map works well,
although it does go a little astray in the bottom left hand corner.

Along to #77, then back out to a logged out area and the forestry roads. We stopped for a quick break at the clearing at the base of #94, while Heather sorted a hot spot on one of her feet. There was no track up to #94, but for the most part travel through pine forest was relatively easy - it was just a case of continuing to head up. Rather than coming down the way we went up we continued over the other side, and stumbled on a rough track which led us most of the way back down to the foresty road. A short scramble down and we had come out pretty much where I had hoped.

Easy travel along forestry roads to #71 and then some compass work to get to #57. Just when I was starting to get concerned that the undergrowth was becoming significantly more difficult to push through and it seemed to be taking a long time to get to the track, out we popped! Turn right and follow the single track (+ a climb) and there was #57. Follow the single track out to the clearing by the road and time for a stop for food and warmer layers.

Pansies growing in the old quarry

Up the hill to #93 then a mixture of jogging and walking down. Along here we started reconsidering our plans. Time was getting on and we were well behind where we should be. There were a couple of out-and-back options from the cross roads; we decided to do #66 in the old quarry and see how long that took. #66 done, along to the main road, and the sensible decision was to start heading back. Unfortunately that meant a long slog along a paved road with no controls! It was around this time - about 7pm - that we noticed that the effluent sprayers were operating in the forest either side of the road. A good time not to be in there!

MTB rogainers check their maps as darkness falls.

Thought about going for #52, but it looked like it could be a bit slow to get there so we opted for #37 instead. From there it was #48 beside a small pond, #46 behind a big metal tank, and #43 in a clearing. Next stop #60, then #90 and we would reassess at that point.

We got #60 with no problems, but on our way to #90 made a blunder... It seemed to be taking a long time to get to #90, and after checking the map several times I worked out that we had taken a wrong turn. The good news was that this would still get us there, just a little more indirectly. The foot track had been following a stream, and then started to climb away from it. We must be getting close... and then looming up out of the darkness was a huge tree killing machine with enormous pincers and a mass of downed trees strewn behind it. I tried clambering over the trees to see if I could find a way through, but there was nothing obvious. In the end we decided that it would be better to just retrace our steps and take our originally-intended route to #90. So we got there, but not without wasting a lot of time. And it turns out that if we had clambered over the logs we would have found ourselves on the road that leads to #90. It all seems so much less obvious in the dark!

#90 done and all that time wasted it was time to start heading back. Out to the road, we should be able to run along that and pick up #42 on the way. We were jogging along quite nicely until the edge of the road where I was suddenly had a big hole and I tripped. Thump, I went down hard. The map in my right hand protected most of that hand from the coarse chip - the bag shredded, the map was largely ok, and there was a gouge out of one part of my hand. My left hand was saved by my compass, with the cover of the compass shattering on impact. I also took a solid blow to my left knee, and once I stood back up it seemed like I would only be hobbling slowly back to the finish. My leg loosened up a bit as I started to move, and after a couple of minutes I was walking at a reasonable speed. #42 was now out of the question, so it was straight back to the finish and pizza!

More photos available on Flickr.

All Walkers Should Boycott the Auckland Marathon

2010-10-31T13:13:00.001+13:00

The attitude of the Auckland Marathon towards walkers is inexcusable, and it is completely unacceptable that Athletics New Zealand should support such an event by making it their marathon championships.

It is unacceptable that walkers are told they can run if they want to. It is not too difficult for the organisers to arrange scrutineers to ensure that walkers only walk and do not run - both the Rotorua Marathon and the Harbour Capital Marathon manage to do this. And having put in place such measures it would also be possible to have merit prizes for walkers. It is also unacceptable for the organisers to fob off any criticism by stating that no discussion or correspondence will be entered into over any of the rules.

Perhaps the organisers are only really interested in the entry fees they can charge, and perhaps Athletics New Zealand still harbours the attitude that if walkers were real athletes then they'd be running.

The Auckland Marathon's full rules relating to walking, as they appear on the event website, are:

The adidas Auckland Marathon is primarily a competitive running event.
Walking is not an official "Event" category of the adidas Auckland Marathon carrying any competitive status and is not part of any other sub-event within the adidas Auckland Marathon such as a national or area championship so is not scrutinized. The adidas Auckland Marathon is not a competitive walk event and will not be scrutinized as a walk event. Walkers are numbered differently solely for start purposes only.
The adidas Auckland Marathon entry form (online and download) requires participants to nominate their chosen event and whether they will run or walk in the Marathon or Half Marathon events.
Walkers and runners are allocated different bib colours and numbering systems solely for starting purposes only. As a fundamental safety measure for both walkers and runners, participants entered as walkers start behind the runners to ensure as smooth a flow as possible through the starting line and the early stages of the event.
There is no competition or prize category for walkers and therefore walkers are not scrutinized in any of the adidas Auckland Marathon events.
Walkers who choose to run at times during their chosen event on the day (and vice versa) are not penalised.
No discussion or correspondence regarding any points outlined above will be entered into by the Event Organisers.

Source: Auckland Marathon policy, accessed 31 October 2010.

A Snowy Tongariro Crossing and Summit

2010-10-25T20:31:00.095+13:00

Looking back at Red Crater. Click on the photo for a panorama that stretches around to North Crater.

For the first time in about 30 years I was lucky enough to be on Mt Tongariro when there was a reasonable amount of snow!

Heather had never done the Tongariro Crossing before and, after her crewing for me for the entire 24 hours at the Sri Chinmoy 24 hour race, how could I refuse? It took no effort at all to convince me, and we had an absolutely brilliant day.

An early start saw us on the start of the track by 7:30am. Up the Mangatepopo Valley we passed a number of people, but our early start meant that not many tourist walkers were on the track yet. At the end of the Valley we left the tourist track and I led the way up the old Devil's Staircase. Views back down the valley were spectacular, but there was very little snow in evidence. Ngaruhoe had some snow on its slopes, and there was patchy snow on the outer flanks of Tongariro, but we weren't at all sure that we would find anything significant once we reached the craters.

We reached the saddle and the entrance to South Crater, and there was snow! Initially a small patch to walk across and then as the crater opened up in front of us there was snow covering most of the crater walls. We stopped for a quick bite to eat and then ventured across to the "seasonal lake" which is ignored by most people. The lake was frozen and after a brief exploration we returned towards the tourist track.

Clouds streaming in through the saddle.

It had been clear and sunny up until now, but ominous clouds were approaching from the west through the saddle between Ngaruhoe and Tongariro. We started up the crater wall but stopped to put on extra gear as the wind picked up, clouds came in, and the temperature dropped.

The summit ridge.

At the top of the wall we found a partially sheltered spot and stopped for lunch #1. While we were there the cloud cleared, although the cold wind remained. After lunch we decided to head across the snow slope until we joined up with the track to the summit. A couple of "bumps" along the crater rim and then we were on the ridge to the summit. It was absolutely spectacular up here, with the ridge and slopes covered in snow.

We visited both summits, stopped for various photos, and then retraced our steps around the crater rim. At the snow slope we donned our waterproof over-trousers and glissaded down the slope. After a hesitant start Heather found that it was great fun, so we walked back up the slope for another go.

Emerald Lakes with ice.

After the glissading we walked back across to the Crossing Track and walked around the edge of Red Crater and ran down the steep sandy slope to the Emerald Lakes. Another short glissade, lunch #2, and then it was off across the snow again to rejoin the track. The snow here was soft enough that we often broke through the surface, although we didn't usually sink in very far.

As we had seen on the summit trek, Blue Lake was frozen. And just around the corner from Blue Lake started the descent to Ketetahi Hut and then to the car park. We ran most of the way down, stopping just for a few photos along the way. About 1km before the end of the track my legs had had enough running so we walked the rest of the way to the end.

New NZ Walk Records and Centurion NZ C16

2010-10-03T23:25:00.049+13:00

How to sum up a race that lasted a full 24 hours but only went round in very small loops? Perhaps the best place to start is the results:

NZ 50 mile walk record (9h:49m:16s);
NZ 12 hour walk record (97.940 km);
NZ 100km walk record (12h:15m:22s);
Completed my first ever 100 miles in 21h:37m:55s;
My 100 mile walk qualified me as Centurion NZ C16;
Completed a total distance of 174.460km for the 24 hours.

I had divided my race into three stages: the first stage to 100km; the second stage was from 100km to 100 miles; and the third stage was from 100 miles to the finish at 24 hours. I had time goals for the first two stages and a total distance goal for the third stage.

Stage 1: the first 100km

Before the race I had been very careful to tape any places on my feet that I thought might blister, including double-layered telfa pads so that they would take the friction rather than my feet. But after only a few of hours I could feel a hot spot on each heel and knew that I was still going to get blisters. I could stop and deal to the hot spots, but I didn't know what I would do differently. I was also aiming for various records and stopping would cost valuable time. So I kept on walking.

Heather checks on me as I go through 50 miles

My target pace for the 100km would give me the NZ walk records for 50 miles, 12 hours, and 100km. Everything went pretty much to plan and I steadily closed in on 50 miles. A few laps before the 50 mile mark I was told I was about 10 minutes under the previous record, and so it proved to be. The existing record was 9h:58m:28s (Gerald Manderson, 1999), and I recorded 9h:49m:16s.

By this point I had noticed that my left foot was feeling a bit wet. I assumed that this was because a blister had popped. I'm getting used to such things so I didn't give it too much thought and just carried on towards 12 hours and 100km.

As 12 hours approached the fatigue was taking its mental toll. Mark Gray stood at a point on the track just before the start/finish line and told me that the record was 5km from that point. 5k on the track is 12.5 laps, which means that the existing record would be at about the 200m mark in 12.5 laps time. Simple. Except it took me a while to figure that out at the time! Mark was standing at the record marker as I got there, and from memory I was able to complete another 500m before the 12 hours was up.

No time to rest after the 12 hours, as the 100km target was only a few minutes away. I had hoped to do 12h10m - which seemed a reasonable target given my road time - but I never seem to do as well on the track as I do on the road and was a few minutes slow. As the 100km approached I picked up the pace again and went across the line in 12h:15m:22s. This was a good 5 minutes faster than the existing official record of 12h:20m:33s (Peter Baillie, 2005) and also faster than my time at the Taupo 100km earlier this year.

After the 100km and the first view of my feet

It was now 9:30pm and time to prepare for the night. I stopped (relatively) quickly to change into warmer gear. The seat was ready for me, I sat down and got my first look at my feet: my shoes were blood soaked! Never mind, it might have looked gruesome but my feet weren't particularly painful and I couldn't think of what could really be done to fix the problem that wouldn't take a long time to do. So it was warm top on, jacket on, shorts off, Skins tights on, shorts back on, shoes on, and go.

I was expecting to slow a bit after the 100km but, oh my goodness, this was something else again! It was so difficult to get going again, my feet were sore and my legs were stiff. My average lap time instantly increased by 33 seconds a lap and I couldn't bring it back down.

Stage 2: Centurion Qualification

The next target was 100 miles. I had a time goal for 100 miles and wanted to break the record, but after a while it became clear that I was going too slow for that. Not to mind, 100 miles marked another very important aspect of the race: qualification as a New Zealand Centurion. Centurion qualification is generally awarded to those who walk 100 miles in under 24 hours, under the scrutiny of judges to ensure that the person actually is walking. Prior to the race only 14 people had qualified as Centurions in New Zealand, and I wanted to be C15.

There were three walkers aiming for NZ Centurion qualification: myself, Rudy Schoors (Belgium), and Caroline Mestdagh (Belgium). Rudy and Caroline have both walked 100 miles multiple times and are Centurions in the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, USA, and now New Zealand. I had a large lead on Rudy by the time I got to 100km, but then I slowed and he did not. As 100 miles approached he was closing rapidly. The lap count on the day indicated that when I reached 100 miles Rudy was less than 400m (1 lap) behind me! But subsequent checking of the scoring showed that one of Rudy's laps had been missed and he was less than 400m ahead of me.

Walking a lap with Rudy

I slowed again immediately after completing the 100 miles, allowing Rudy to catch me up. Having both completed 100 miles we shook hands and walked the next lap together. I then needed to leave the track for a few minutes for a bathroom break while Rudy continued on.

Caroline was some distance behind Rudy and me, but also went on to complete her 100 miles and qualify as NZ C17. Both Rudy and Caroline completed only a couple more laps after reaching their 100 miles, enough to ensure that if there was a lap counting error they would still have made 100 miles.


The new Centurions: Rudy Schoors NZ C15, Andrew Shelley NZ C16, Caroline Mestdagh NZ C17

Stage 3: The Remainder of the 24 Hours

I had thought it was hard getting to 100 miles, but everything suddenly became so much harder again. There was still just over 2 hours remaining in the event and there was a significant temptation to stop now that I had achieved 100 miles. It seemed that I thought about stopping with every lap. But I also wanted to see what total distance I could do, and I was now in 4th place on the leaderboard and didn't want to just give that placing away. So I trudged on.

Graeme Butcher had a bad time of it during the night and I had eventually caught him and passed him as he just slowly walked laps. But with the sun appearing and obviously feeling better he started to run again. He pulled back the laps and eventually caught and passed me, relegating me back to 5th place - the same place that I had been seeded at the start.

24 hours was fast approaching and it would soon all be over. Sandy Barwick walked my second-to-last lap with me and we talked about things I cannot yet remember! Then it was the final lap and time to put in a final sprint. I charged around the last lap faster than I had walked for many hours, crossed the start/finish line again with a few more seconds on the clock, and made it 60m down the straight. The hooter went and it was all over! I put my finishing block down where I was, marking a total distance of 174.460km.

Lap Times and Speed

The chart on the left (below) shows my lap times throughout the event. Up to 100km the laps were generally under 3 minutes per lap, except for the odd lap where I had a short break. Immediately after 100km there was a longer break as I changed into warmer gear for the night. My lap times then increased by a bit over 30 seconds a lap and then slowly drifted up. The chart on the right provides an alternative view, plotting speed for 10km blocks. Up to 100km my average speed was a little over 8km/h. After 100km my walking speed immediately dropped to 7km/h, and then after 130km continued to drift down. There was another drop after 100 miles, but then a pick up in speed over the last few km.

Time per lap. The upward spikes show laps with stops for reasons such as bathroom breaks.

Average speed over 10km blocks. The heavy line shows my walking speed. The lighter line shows the average speed including stops.

Acknowledgements

Page 2 of my food schedule. The time
schedule recorded every lap!

Many thanks to Heather Andrews who did a great job as support crew, keeping me fed and watered, and a wonderful job of keeping on top of various schedules. She continually monitored my position and checked in with the official lap scorers to ensure that my records were timed. And she kept on top of food schedules and drug schedules in a way that would have been impossible by myself. Checking back over the food record it turns out that I ate more than I thought I had, which can only be a good thing in an event that lasts this long. And thanks also to the racewalkers who came along to the track and offered their support, especially David Sim who also assisted Heather with record keeping and Mark Gray who could give me feedback out on the track. It was a long and very cold night for supporters. Thanks also to the Sri Chinmoy marathon team for their efforts in organising and running the event. Each and every lap was acknowledged by our lap scorers, and they were positive and cheerful throughout the 24 hours.

Links:

Official race report and detailed results

Preview article in the NZ Herald

My photos on Flickr

Otonga / Belmont Regional Park

2010-09-26T16:39:00.026+13:00

A portion of the Otonga map showing my route

A short 2 hour practice rogaine through the bush and steep hills of Belmont Regional Park. Being just six days out from the Sri Chinmoy 24 Hour race I was taking it easy, as I didn't want to tweak or injure anything before the event. As a result this was just relatively light and easy navigation practice.

I did manage to get lost at one point towards the end. I was heading through the bush towards A20. Having taken a bearing I was heading in generally the right direction. I got to where the bush became more difficult and started to look around. Before long I was not sure which direction I had come from, nor which direction to go. So it was out with the compass and take a bearing back towards the track, which was in the opposite direction to where I thought it would be! Follow the compass and in just 20m or so I found the control. Then it was follow a littl gully up to the track and then off to collect A8.

Marton-Wanganui 2010

2010-09-11T17:43:00.094+12:00

View across farmland, snow-capped ranges in
the distance.

New PB and new course record! 6h:47m:37s. This one came as a bit of a surprise - with having walked 80km at the Great Naseby Water Race just two weeks prior, and having done no speedwork at all, I started the race thinking I would probably walk about the same time as last year, maybe a little slower. But I was significantly slower, and by 20km was 4m34s behind last year and it was looking like a sub-8 hour finish was unlikely.

But then things started to change as I started to regain time and began to close the gap on 2009. However, my time relative to the 2008 record continued to deteriorate all the way to half way, and by 35km I was 6m49s behind. Lap 6 (35.5km - 43.5km) provides a good opportunity to identify how well I am likely to do over the rest of the race. In the previous two years I have had a bad patch along here, but this year I am feeling somewhat better and make up time against both 2008 and 2009.

2008 and 2009 time relative to this year

At the lap 6/7 changeover I took a chocolate chip muffin, a banana, and a couple of pain killers. From there it was up Reid's Hill. Part way up is the 45km mark and at about there I drew level with 2009. It appears I powered up the rest of the hill and gained a considerable amount of time. I was now within striking distance of the record and my focus shifted to that.

On Lap 9

Through 50k in 5:55:04, and on to the start of Lap 9 in 6:06:40, just 54 seconds behind the record. The weather looked like it was starting to turn for the worse and I had a significant blister on the medial side of both heels. Coming late in the race with already tired legs, this is a tough lap starting with a steep down hill, large diameter gravel, some significant undulations and bad camber. With blister problems and the potential for rain it would be easy to lose focus and slow considerably along here, so I asked Heather to stay close in the car.

I had good speed through this lap and continued to pick up time against the record. By the end of the lap, about 60km, I was 35 seconds faster than 2008. Just one short lap on sealed road to the finish, and I was still feeling good. In previous years it has been difficult to maintain a good pace along this last lap, but this year I was feeling good and actually accelerated through the lap.

Great Naseby Water Race

2010-08-28T23:44:00.078+12:00

Ida Range

The Great Naseby Water Race is held over a 10km course through the Naseby forest, with a number of hills, but also several km of flat trail beside water races on each lap. There are 50km,80km, and 100km options; this year I elected to do the 80km event.

Naseby takes a while to get to, but is a great setting for a race. On several of the forestry roads there were clear views of the snow-covered Ida Range, the conifers are pretty, and there are several very picturesque small lakes.

A small lake on the way to Coalpit Dam.

I had hoped to be walking about 7m:30s per km (about 1h:15m per lap), but with a very hilly first half to each lap I was only managing just fractionally quicker than 8m:00s per km. I quickly took a number of photos on the first four laps; I wasn't particularly worried about the time taken in these stops, as each one was only short and also provided a mini recovery break.

50k runners waiting for their start.

What the 50k runners saw. (Photo: Paul Charteris)

I reached the end of my first three laps (30k, so 50k to go) just a minute or two before the 50k race was about to begin. I took a photo of everyone as a photo was being taken of me, and then went over to the aid station table to get some pizza and boiled potato before heading off again. I kept moving quickly, as I wanted to cover some distance before the 50k runners came through. The lead runners came through about 700m into the lap, and the main bunch passed within the next few hundred metres.

My longest training sessions heading in to Naseby had been of marathon length, and that showed in my lap times. I recorded the first four laps as 80m:12s, 78m:44s, 78m:21s, and 78m:20s. The 5th lap rapidly became a lot harder and my lap time increased to 82m:51s. The final three laps were 89m:19s, 89m:28s, and 88m:07s.

Map of the 10k loop.

I always know when an ultra has taken a lot out of me as it takes a long time for me to write the report. This happened with Naseby, but more because I was already tired before the race than because the course was difficult. Work had been hectic in the weeks leading up to the race and I had been short on sleep on a number of occaisions. I was also treating this event as training for the 24 hour race on 2/3 October, so rather than tapering as the race drew near I walked a total of 50km (over 4 sessions) earlier in the week. All told I was happy with my time of 11h:05m:25s. I had hoped that I might be about 45 minutes faster, but that didn't take account of my already tired state.

Links:

Race website

Preview article in the NZ Herald

My photos on Flickr

Photos and report from Paul Charteris

Butterfly Creek Nighttime Madness 2011

2010-08-14T23:51:00.057+12:00

Heading up the first climb

After several days of heavy rain the track was the muddiest I had ever seen it. Not slippery clay like I was expecting, but a layer of wet slushy mud.

About 1km along the road at a pace that seemed far too fast, and then into the bush. The first climb was much as I had remembered it - calves burning, everybody walking and the climb seeming to go on for a long time. Lights could be seen in front of us, but also a long trail of lights behind us.

Having reached the top there was an initial steep downhill, and then on to a much more gradual easily runnable track. The field had thinned out by now; sometimes we were following other people, and sometimes I was the one out front... it seems a lot darker when not following anyone else! But the running was generally good.

The leg out to Butterfly Creek itself is an out-and-back. Each year a different object is placed at the turn around to ensure that competitors really do go all the way there. This year's object was a pink pillowcase.

We stopped for a couple of photos on the way down the Bus Barn track. Once we were out the bottom it was a good solid run back to the start/finish, and we passed several other pairs along the way. Final placing was 20th out of 32 mixed pairs, and 57th out of 84 total pairs.

Korokoro Rogaine

2010-08-03T21:15:00.020+12:00

With a workload that had gone through the roof it was touch-and-go whether I would even do this one. In the end I decided it would be good to get out for the fresh air, and turned up for a shortened version of the event (just 2h35, then off home to do some more work!)

I deliberately stayed away from tracks I hadn't done before, enjoying the trip down Gabriel's Gulley (#80, #65) and across Puketirotio (#63, #72).

Managed to miss a critical track junction on the way back, and consequently also missed 100 points (#30, #71). Finished with just 490 points, reflecting the reduced time and my generally tired state from too much work and not enough sleep. After deduction of 10% for being solo I ended up equal last!

Sport Tracks

2010-07-30T11:48:00.002+12:00

The Mt Hawtrey map

A number of my posts included detailed rogaine maps or topo maps with my route plotted on them. Some examples from this year include the Wild West Rogaine, the City Safari, and Mt Hawtrey (a topo map). I also used the City Safari map for the Harbour Capital Marathon and the Scottish Harriers' Three Peaks "Out West" event.

These maps are all generated by some software called "Sport Tracks", which provides very convenient and easy-to-use place to store and analyse workout information recorded on a GPS, and can then plot the recorded route on any map that the user uploads. Sport Tracks is available free from Zone Five Software, although users are encouraged to donate. Sport Tracks has lots of "plugins" which allow it to be customised for individual sports and preferences.

The default maps available on Sport Tracks are those available on Google. The ability to upload custom maps is provided by the "OziExplorer" plugin from a developer called "Old Man Biking". Again the OziExplorer plugin is available free, but regular users are encouraged to donate. I think it's a fantastic little piece of software, so I have donated.

I have organised the discussion into an introduction into some of the basic Sport Tracks information and a closer look at custom maps.

Basic Sport Tracks Information

Activity Summary and Aerial Photo (“Satellite”) View

The screenshot below shows some of the basic workout information that is captured by Sport Tracks. The top panel contains a daily list of activities for the week, and below that is a summary of information from the workout (left) and the route plotted on the google "satellite" map (right). Workout information includes basics such as time and distance (automatically generated from the GPS data), but also user-specfied data such as comments on the workout. Depending on how you want to use the software, under “equipment” you can record the specific bike, tyres, shoes, etc that you were using.

Elevation and Options

The screenshot below shows the elevation chart, with the summary of ascent and descent for the selected workout, and a different view of the route (this time using the Google street map). Also shown by the elevation chart is the list of workout-specific information available: an overall summary including user-entered comments, splits, pace, elevation, and three further options that I never use (workout, cadence, and power - the last two being cycling related).

Elevation and Pace Chart

A different view this time: just an example of how different charts look. On the left is the pace chart, on the right is the elevation chart included in the previous example. Because I have very little smoothing specified the pace is a bit erratic. When I’ve stopped but left the GPS running I get a big spike (but if I was using speed rather than pace in those places it would just drop to zero).

Custom Maps

Mt Wainui to Battle Hill

The screenshot below shows a partial view of the map for this trip. Part of the map is from a local mountain bike rogaine (the "Akattack" - I purchased the map, but didn’t do the event), and part from an official topo map. The OziExplorer plugin allows you to take a scanned copy of any map, identify 4 points on it, and then the software scales it to fit.

I could have selected prettier examples showing a route fitting nicely within a single scanned map, but my existing posts already do that. The examples below show how Sport Tracks allows multiple overlapping maps to be used, so that when one map runs out you can move on to the next. And in this instance my selection of the anchor points was sufficiently good that the tracks run smoothly from one map to the next!

One of the things I like best about the ability to import maps is that the rogaine maps have lots of tracks marked that aren't on topo maps, and which I I didn’t take. Once I've uploaded my route I can see where those other tracks went (but from an aerial photo I can’t). And that suggests possibilities for further exploration...

And here’s another screenshot showing how the workout information can be hidden to get a wider view of the map. This time we have a composite of the Akattack map (where available), a topo map, and the aerial photo. The section between Mt Wainui (the little 3 in a yellow diamond) and the little 4 in a diamond is a marked track, but appears on no maps that I am aware of. The Orienteering people knew it existed, but no one had any idea where it came out. We speculated that it could go either in the direction it does, or south east to point 650. So now we know, and it can be added to future maps.

King of the Mountain Walk

2010-07-24T22:22:00.002+12:00

This was an open handicap race, with the slowest away first and the fastest (me) last. I had set the handicaps well, with 10 of the 20 starters finishing within the space of 1 minute. My own handicap was an honest one: my elapsed time was 28:38 for the 4.2km, slightly slower than my predicted time of 28:22. Inspite of working very hard I could only close to finish 50 seconds behind the main bunch.

Sometimes Running is Slower

2010-07-18T21:07:00.010+12:00

Hutt 5 Bridges Marathon

Well that's not quite true, it would be more accurate to say that a walk/run when you haven't trained properly and are just out there to have fun can be slower than a focussed walk.

I was doing this marathon as a walk/run with Heather Andrews, with a planned schedule of run 10 minutes / walk 5 minutes right from the start. I hadn't done enough running to hope to run the entire marathon, and she hadn't done much training in the last six weeks.

A brilliant calm, clear morning as we started, and by 10km it was hot enough to leave jackets at the drink station. As we reached Upper Hutt we moved from sun to fog. Runners and other River Trail users would appear as shapes in the fog before materialising as they came closer. Many of the walkers (who had started an hour earlier) and runners had turned by this point and we saw numerous people that we knew: Malcolm Gray (walk), Ingrid Frost, Patricia Stitchbury, Norman Chan, Kathy Walker (walk), Chris Leahy (walk), Vivian Cheng, Bill Barclay, and Richard Wall (walk).

Through the turn in 2h:22m, if we could keep this up our time would be quite reasonable. Heading back down the river the fog had cleared and we were now running in humid sunshine.

Even though we were now on a gentle downhill the going became quite tough. We kept up with the run 10 / walk 5 schedule through to about 31km. The drink station at 10.5km to go was a welcome sight: the sky had clouded up and it was getting cold, so I was pleased to be able to put my jacket on to provide protection against the southerly.

From here we dropped to something approximating a run 5 / walk 5 schedule, although some segments of both were shorter than that. I was starting to calculate our possible finish time. Sub-5 hours remained possible, but it all depended on how much we slowed over the last few km. Through the 5km drink station and it was still close. My lack of running training was showing, as I was feeling much the same as I did in the later stages of some of the ultras that I have run.

The 2.5km drink station, along the stop bank through the Shandon golf course, then back on to the streets. We ran most of this, but both the running sections and the walk breaks were much shorter than 5 minutes. Before long we were at Udy Street and it was a short trot down to the finish. 4h:58m:09s, slower than my recent walk of 4h:51m:28s, but good training and quite pleasing given my lack of running training.

Rogaining in the Wild West

2010-07-13T22:37:00.002+12:00

3 hour afterwork rogaine, Wellington.

Arriving all of 2 minutes before the start I had no time to plan a route. A quick look at the map suggested controls #15, #30, #21, and #70 might be a good place to start. #15 was a breeze to find, and then as I made my way through the graveyard towards #30 I nearly fell into an old grave! As I was walking along looking at the map I strayed off to the right and walked into the side of an old grave with mid-shin height concrete sides. It just so happened that the concrete top on this one had caved in, so I really could have fallen in!

With a head torch that wasn't as bright as it could be it took a while to find #70 in the bush. After some indecision I decided that up the hill to #14 and #80 would be my next move.

On my way up from control #70 I was caught by Anna McDonnell and Helen McKendry, and from there we stayed together heading over Johnson's Hill (control #80) then ran along the Skyline track to #90 and #81, and down to #100. The night was calm and clear, treating us to spectacular views across Wellington and the harbour.

Coming down from #100 we briefly touched on suburbia before heading into the bush towards #82. Anna and Helen's lights were far superior to mine, enabling them to run much more quickly through the bush. They arrived at #82 ahead of me and then sat down to plan their next move. I had a vague idea of where I was heading next, so I set off for #31, #35, and #3C, joining up with Michael Wood and Gordon Balfour along the way. Michael and Gordon then went off to collect #56.

I pondered my next move and decided on #45. While I was making that decision Anna and Helen reappeared and I joined them again as we trudged up the hill. #45 collected the girls were quickly off to collect #46. I was feeling a bit tired by now and took a while to convince myself that this was a good idea! But eventually I did, and while I was heading in on the bush track the girls were already heading back out. Thanks Anna for the tip on the sidetrack to get to the old quarry, without that tip I would have kept going on the main track and missed it!

Back out on to the road, #54, #53 and #40 were the obvious choice. Time was running down so I then opted for #27 and #3D, with the option of #60 if there was sufficient time. There wasn't, so I finished with 920 points.

Anna and Helen finished on 1110 points, 10th out of 37 teams and 2nd all women team. 920 points would have put me in 20th place, but with a 10% penalty for being solo I dropped to 26th place. Time for prior planning would have been good, as would better lights, but I still might not have been able to match Anna and Helen.

Official report and results are here.

PB at my Birthday Marathon

2010-06-27T16:30:00.008+12:00

New PB! It's not often that one's birthday falls on an event, but this year mine did. Not only that, but a new PB of 4h:51m:28s and 2nd place in the men's walk!

From the start Joff Hulbert and I walked off from the front of the field. The pace was much faster than I had planned, about 6m:30s/km rather than my planned 6m:50s, but I foolishly thought I could keep it up and just hang on. Before we had gone through 3km the first woman, Lee McCracken, caught and passed both of us, and then started to open a commanding lead.

Over the next few km Joff started to open a lead, and the chasing bunch of about four was close behind. By 8km I had closed in on Joff, and Malcolm Gray from Auckland YMCA had broken away from the chasing bunch and wasn't far behind.

It took until about 11km before I was level with Joff. We went through 14km in 1h:31m, still a blistering pace compared to my existing PB of 4h:52m. By this time Malcolm had dropped off behind us, and Lee McCracken was well ahead.

14km also marked the top of the Miramar Peninsular, and from there we were heading south around the bays towards the Pass of Branda and Cook Strait. The southerly wind was intermittent, with stretches of about 50m where it was very strong, followed by a lull in the more sheltered areas. I started racing on this stretch - much too soon - trying to drop Joff during the gusts.

Up and over the Pass of Branda, and along to the turn. We were still walking together at this point, but not for much longer. As we went back up over the Pass Joff started to pull away and I had nothing to respond with. There were lots of runners coming towards us now, although only a few faces that I recognised.

Heading back north was pleasant with the wind behind, and I still kept up a reasonable pace, going through 28km in 3h:08m. The next 750m were also good, but then we rounded the top of the Miramar Peninsular again and were heading straight into strong southerlies. There was nowhere to hide from the wind this time: the angle of the wind meant we were battered by the wind the entire way back to and past the airport. I struggled between 30km and 25km, slowing to an average of 7m:19s/km. Perhaps the one consolation though was that the wind was blowing straight off the airport and we could smell the jet fuel for a stretch of about 3km!

From 35km I picked up the pace to a more reasonable 7m:08/km, but I was still a long way short of my 6m:50s target. It felt like I was working hard, but my heart rate data shows otherwise: I had run out of steam and my heart rate was down to the low 140s.

Just a few more km to go, past the 40km mark, the 41km mark, and then... 2km to go!!! What??? Grrr, if the 41km mark had been accurate I was still on for a new PB, but with 2km to go it was going to be close. My efforts at picking up the pace were not too successful, but with 1km to go I did manage to crank it up and managed to walk the last 1km in 6m:58s.

I was tired and my hip flexors were sore, but I had done it. I had held on to take 2nd place in the men's marathon walk and claim a new PB!

Route (blue) super-imposed on the map from the City Safari.

More Historical Marathon Reports

2010-06-18T21:32:00.001+12:00

I've finished transferring my historical marathon reports across to this blog:

The first marathon I ran, the Rotorua Marathon in April 2000
Wairarapa Country Marathon, October 2000
Rotorua Marathon, April 2001
My first walking marathon, the Great Forest Marathon, April 2002
The Aurora Marathon, June 2002, for which I switched between running and walking every 5 minutes
Back to running at the inaugural Hutt River Trail Marathon, March 2003
Running the Rotorua Marathon, May 2003
Running the Hutt River Trail Marathon, March 2005
Back to walking at the Wanganui 3 Bridges Marathon, December 2005

Scottish Harriers Three Peaks "Out West"

2010-06-13T21:14:00.079+12:00

Wrights Hill, Makara Peak, and Johnson's Hill. I'd done them all in previous Three Peaks events, and this time had a better route planned. Using maps from the City Safari I was well prepared and this time I remembered to take them.

Runners leaving the top of Wright's Hill.
Although they quickly passed me, they took a slower
route down and I was ahead of them by the time we
were down at Karori Rd.

From the Scottish clubrooms I elected to take the direct line to the bottom of Aro Valley, through the bush tracks and over the hill, rather than the longer flatter street route. Up through Aro Valley and then take the enormous flight of steps up to Messines Rd in Karori. On to Campbell Rd and along to Croydon Park. I very briefly toyed with the idea of heading up the very steep track along the Wildlife Sanctuary fenceline, but in a moment of sense opted for the track that zig zags up through the bush. Reached the top of Wrights Hill in 59m:09s.

Runners arriving at Makara Peak via the Ridgeline track.

Last time I went from Makara to Wrights Hill I picked the wrong track and took a lot longer than necessary. This time I had the shortest route off Wrights Hill and then picked up Allington Rd and the 4WD road to the summit. By my watch the total time was 1h:46m:55s, so 47m:45s from Wrights Hill. As I was leaving the summit I noticed several runners arriving via the "Ridgeline" MTB track - they had previously been ahead of me, so another route choice vindicated.

From Makara Peak it was follow the tracks down to the Makara road and along the Skyline track to Johnson's Hill. At one point there was an option to follow the track or take the road. The road was more direct and allowed me to nearly catch a couple of runners who had been a reasonable way ahead of me. Clocked in at Johnson's Hill in 2h:29m:16s, 42m:21s from Makara Peak.

From Johnson's it was back down to the road and out to Karori Rd. Rather than following Karori Rd all the way out I took some side roads and made my way down Birdwood Street - a good downhill that made for fast progress. From there is was back down Aro Valley and back to the Scottish clubrooms, but this time via the flatter streets rather than the bush tracks I had used on the way out. A total time of 3h:19m:34s.

Actual route taken superimposed on the maps from the City Safari.

NZIC 10k Racewalk

2010-06-12T20:16:00.011+12:00

A 10k racewalk on the same course that was used for the Ekiden relay in May. Heavy rain stopped just in time for the start of the race. I recorded 62m:34s, 42s slower than at the Ekiden. The slower time was possibly in part due to slight slippage on the smooth wet asphalt (some of which had some lichen).

Club Cross Country

2010-05-29T17:58:00.002+12:00

Back to running again this week, it was the Trentham Harriers Club Cross Country Championships. The course was very similar to last year's with 2 laps of a 4.25km course covering rough grass, well groomed grass, gravel trails, stopbanks and horse jumps. There was heavy rain just before we started, but then it stopped and held off until I was only about 500m from the finish. I ran 41m:32s for the 8.5km, with my heart rate averaging 167bpm on both laps.

Ekiden Walking Relay 2010

2010-05-23T20:59:00.018+12:00

Trentham again entered a team in the 'B' division of the annual Wellington Scottish Athletics Ekiden Walking Relay. I walked the 10km lap in 61m:52s. This comes at the end of my off season so I wasn't in particularly good form. But my time was less than 30s slower than my PB so I was quite happy with that. A summer of ultras followed by two months of active recovery including plenty of running appears to have left me in a good position to build on.

New club member John Roskvist led the team out on the first leg (7.195km), bringing us through in 5^th position, with Race Walking Auckland's B team just 36s behind us. Viv took over from John, walking the second leg (5km). We remained in 5^th position but the gap reduced slightly to 27s.

Richard Willis walked the third leg (7.5km). Frans van Buel from Racewalking Auckland closed the gap and then slowly pulled ahead to finish 1m:11s ahead of us, dropping us into 6^th place. I took over from Richard to walk the fourth leg (10km). Racewalking Auckland opened the gap further to 2m:37s, but we both gained 2 places so that Trentham was now in 4^the position.

John Ihaka walked the fifth leg (7.5km), closing the gap to Racewalking Auckland to just 7 seconds. The first seven places in the race remained unchanged. Jackie took over for the final leg (5km). Grant Peper from Racewalking Auckland was just 10s/km faster, opening the gap between the two teams to 59s. The 5^th placed team, including New Zealand's current fastest walker, was just 1m:05s behind us.

City Safari 2010

2010-05-16T21:51:00.006+12:00

Updated 27 May 2010: copy of map added.

As with previous years the event started with a 10 minute prologue. We didn’t look at the map until given the instruction to start so there was no time to plan a route: it was just start running and look at the map as we go. We went north and collected 1, 20, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 5 from the prologue map.

The harbour was calm, so we planned a route that included catching the ferry across to Seatoun. The ferry left 30 minutes after the event start, so after collecting the ferry ticket we collected a few nearby controls: 1E, 28, 27, and 1D. That gave us 60 points and we were back to the ferry with a few minutes to spare.

The Ataturk Memorial

A 20 minute ferry ride across to the Seatoun wharf, and we were at the far side of Seatoun in half the time it would have taken to get there on the bus. Then it was 2N, 1V, 3N, 1W, along a nice trail to 46 and then 2M for a combined total of an extra 130 points. At this point it was decision time: back into central Seatoun or south to the 110 points down by the south coast. We decided to head south and made a start up the ridge track. We very quickly decided that was a bad idea and dropped back down to the road and went around the coast. Up to the Ataturk Memorial for 73, and then round to a “small but rugged hill” by the airport for 45. From there it was through the airport carpark and back into central Seatoun for 3M, 1T, and 2L.

Having just picked up 2L we saw a bus coming towards us and made a split second decision to catch it. It turned out to be heading into the hills of south Seatoun before returning back past the spot where we caught it, and then through to Kilbirnie and past the Hospital.

Brooklyn War Memorial from the top of Todman Street

Man on a Donkey, National War Memorial

Getting off the bus just before the hospital we headed across to 3H, 1N, 2G, 3G, 2F, up Todman St (steep) to 41 at the Brooklyn War Memorial. Then 1L, 2D, and 3F the sculpture of a man on a donkey at the National War Memorial. Then through the chaos of central Wellington for another 60 points from 2C, 1J, 2B, and 1H.

Along to the cable car, 30 minutes to go. We debated whether we’d have enough time to go up, get the points at the top. We decided we would go up, and then sat there stressing as first it didn’t move, and then when it finally moved off it travelled at a very sedate speed.

View of Lambton Quay / the Old Bank Arcade from
the bottom of the Plimmer Steps

At the top we raced across the carpark to get 29, then down to Salamanca Rd for 1G, then run along a trail down to a motorway overbridge. Down to Plimmer Steps then along to Jervois Quay and the finish with about 12 minutes to spare.

Our final score was 75 from the prologue plus 660 from the main event, for a total of 735. This placed us 13^th of 26 mixed teams, and 30^th overall of 63 teams.

Map showing route taken: red = motorised transport (ferry, bus); black = foot. Map has been warped to fit my mapping software.

Photos available on Flickr.

Race Time Prediction for Selected New Zealand Ultramarathons

2010-05-10T09:31:00.005+12:00

Athletes have a natural tendency to want to predict their times over different distances and different events. This is relatively straightforward for most road events, but is considerably more difficult for ultradistance events that might have varying amounts of ascent and descent, be at different elevations, and have different underfoot conditions. This post presents the results of an analysis of actual performances in New Zealand ultramarathons, and provides factors to enable an athlete to predict their race time as a multiple of a standard marathon time.

Adapted from: Andrew Shelley, "Race Time Prediction for Selected NZ Ultramarathons", NZUA News, Issue 6, December 2009.[1]

Introduction
Methodology and Data
Rate of Slow Down
Race Time Prediction
References

Introduction

The analysis captures most of the ultramarathons currently available in New Zealand:²

Heaphy Five-O;
Hutt River Trail;
Kepler Challenge;
Marton-Wanganui;
Molesworth Run;
Great Naseby Water Race 50km, 80km, and 100km;
Saint James Ultramarathon;
Sri Chinmoy 50km and 100km events (Christchurch);
Tarawera Ultramarathon (2009 course);
Taupo 100km (both the 2009 course and pre-2009 course);
Te Houtaewa 90 Mile Beach run; and
Triple Peaks Challenge.

The analysis compares results for an individual athlete across different events and distances. Comparison across events and athletes allows us to identify:

The rate at which the average athlete slows down with longer distances;
How difficult an event is compared to a “standard” road marathon; and
A prediction of an athlete’s time for an event, expressed as a multiple of a standard road marathon.

Methodology and Data

For each athlete the result in one event was paired with that athlete’s result in other events. Regression analysis was then used to calculate the average ratio of finish times in an event to finish times in a standard marathon. The methodology ensures that each race result is relevant, even if an individual athlete has not completed a marathon. For example, the results for an athlete who has completed the Kepler Challenge, the Saint James Ultramarathon, and one of the Sri Chinmoy events will contribute to establishing how the times for those three events should relate to each other. Other athletes will have completed both a marathon and one (or more) of the ultramarathon events, and times for those athletes will help establish the relationship to the time for a standard marathon.

The primary data set comprises the race results for the relevant ultramarathons over recent years. Four years of data was used where possible, but for many events fewer years were available. Table 1 shows the years used for each event. The database of ultramarathon race results has one or more race times for 1,269 athletes.

For each athlete in the database of ultramarathon race results a marathon time is also obtained where possible. Marathon times were taken from the Buller Gorge Marathon (2006-2009), the Christchurch Marathon (2006-2009), the Dunedin Marathon (2007, 2008), the Harbour Capital Marathon (2007-2009), the New Plymouth Marathon (2006-2009), the Rotorua Marathon (2007-2009), and the Wairarapa Country Marathon (2006-2008).³ While longer time series were available for some events, a wider date range increases the likelihood that differences in the athlete’s fitness level (and age) would affect the results. All race results were obtained from race websites.

Individuals that were known to be injured or have participated in another ultramarathon in the previous two weeks have had those data points removed. Where an athlete had participated in a particular event in more than one year, the fastest of that athlete’s times was used as the relevant observation.

The final data set consisted of a set of times for athletes who had either participated in a marathon and at least one ultramarathon, or who had participated in at least two ultramarathons. There were 373 athletes in the final database.

The only remaining data that is required is the distance for each race. Distances and sources are summarised in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Race Distances and Years of Data

Race	Distance	Source for Distance	Years of Data
Road Marathon	42.2km	Assumption	2006-2009
Heaphy Five-O	78.4km	Distance on DOC website	2008
Hutt River Trail	60.25km	GPS measurement by author (twice)	2008, 2009
Kepler Challenge	61.3km	Race director private communication with Matt Bixley	2006-2008
Great Naseby Water Race	50.1km	GPS measurement 10.02 km/lap	2008, 2009
	80.16km
	100.2km
Molesworth Run	84.0km	Race website	2006-2008
Saint James Ultramarathon	67.2km	GPS measurement by author (once)	2007-2009
Sri Chinmoy	50.0km	Race website	2006-2009
	100.0km
Tarawera Ultramarathon	90.0km?	No accurate distance available.	2009
Taupo 100km	100.0km	Race website	2006-2009
Te Houtaewa 90 Mile Beach	60.0km	Race website	2008, 2009
Triple Peaks Challenge	47.0km	Race website	2009

Rate of Slow Down

A common approach used for race time prediction is the formula proposed by Riegel (1981a, 1981b):

The factor n is a measure of how athletes slow down over longer distances. Having analysed American data, Riegel proposed factors of n = 1.06 for sub-marathon distance events and n = 1.18 for ultramarathon events. The American results suggest that for sub-marathon distances speed declines by 6% as distance doubles, and that for ultramarathon events speed declines by 18% as distance doubles.

My analysis of New Zealand results suggests a factor of n =1.197 for ultradistance events, i.e. we seem to slow down just a little more than Riegel predicts from American data. An athlete with a “standard” marathon time of 3h30 can then use the Riegel formula and the New Zealand slow down factor to predict a race time over a “standard” 100km event:

According to the formula an athlete who can run 3h30 for a standard marathon should, with appropriate training, be able to run just over 9h50 for 100km.

For the period of the analysis New Zealand had three 100km events: the Sri Chinmoy 100km, the Great Naseby Water Race, and the Taupo 100km. The Sri Chinmoy course is flat and fast and provides the ability to run the “standard” time. The Great Naseby Water Race and the Taupo 100km are slower courses, so the multiplier above will not apply. The following section presents the multipliers for each event – being based on actual results these multipliers reflect the relative difficulty of each course.

Race Time Prediction

The multipliers for each event are presented in Table 2 below. In addition to the actual events, multipliers are included for a “standard” 80km. The Sri Chinmoy 50km and 100km events are conducted on a flat, fast course and can be considered to be the “standard” events for those distances. As calculated earlier, the multiplier for the reference 100km is 2.81.

Table 2: Race Time Prediction Multipliers, Ordered by Multiplier

Event	Distance (km)	Multiplier
Reference 50	50	1.23
Sri Chinmoy (Christchurch) 50	50	1.23
Naseby 50.1	50.1	1.34
Triple Peaks Challenge	47	1.59
Hutt River Trail	60.25	1.73
Marton-Wanganui	66.4	1.88
Te Houtaewa 90 Mile Beach	60	1.93
Reference 80	80	2.15
Kepler Challenge	61.3	2.15
Naseby 80.16	80.16	2.36
Saint James Ultramarathon	67.2	2.69
Molesworth Run	84	2.69
Heaphy Five-O	78.4	2.75
Sri Chinmoy (Christchurch) 100	100	2.81
Naseby 100.2	100.2	3.08
Tarawera Ultramarathon	90	3.18
Taupo 100	100	3.32
Note:(*) Although the precise distance for the 2009 edition of the Tarawera Ultramarathon is unknown, this does not affect the overall multiplier.

A few points that can be drawn from the analysis:

Even after switching to the new “flatter” course in 2009, the Taupo 100k remained a very tough course with no significant change in the multiplier. Running up both the Waitahanui Hill and the Hatepe Hill in the first half of the race appears to be as hard as the rolling hills encountered on the first half of the old course. The further refinement in 2010 without the Waitahanui Hill and Hatepe Hill should hopefully see an improvement in times with the multiplier dropping closer to 3.0.
Multipliers for the Heaphy Five-O, the Molesworth Run and the Saint James Ultramarathon are almost identical. The similarity in multipliers between the Molesworth Run (2.69) and the Saint James Ultramarathon (2.69) confirms what the race directors for the Molesworth Run already thought to be true.⁴ The similarity in multipliers between the Heaphy Five-O (2.75) and the Saint James Ultramarathon (2.69) confirms the views of a number of athletes that have run both races.
Running on sand appears to be quite hard, even if it is well-packed. The multiplier for the 60km Te Houtaewa 90 Mile Beach run is 1.93, in comparison to the 1.73 for the 60.25km Hutt River Trail ultramarathon (which includes a significant hill) and 2.15 for the “standard” 80km event. It is unclear whether the apparent difficulty is accurate, or whether the distance is understated or the event attracts under-prepared runners deciding to “give it a go”.

A range of possibilities exist for further extending this analysis. One possibility is to explore whether the rate of slow down differs between experienced and inexperienced ultrarunners, or with the speed of the runner. Another possibility is to extend the analysis to include other events that may be of interest to ultrarunners, such as some of the longer mountain and trail races. The database could also be used to identify the extent to which there is a common community of runners between different races.

References

For further reading on Riegel’s formula see:
Riegel, Peter S. (1981a) “Athletic Records and Human Endurance”, American Scientist, May-June, 69:285-290.
Riegel, Peter S. (1981b) “A Statistical Analysis of Ultramarathoning Records”, Ultrarunning, September: 12-13.

The Running for Fitness race time calculator has five different race time calculators, including the Riegel method. However, the Riegel calculator has the factor of 1.06 hard coded, so it will be a bit optimistic for ultradistance events.

Endnotes

[1] Thanks to Matt Bixley for helpful comments and contributions to data sources.
[2] The Riverhead Adventures 50km Trail Run was excluded from the analysis because it was unclear whether the same course had been used in each year. The Kaweka Challenge 51km race (“Course 0”) is not included due to not actually having been run during the time period for the analysis.
[3] Results were not included for a number of smaller marathons that were judged by the author as being unlikely to be comparable to a standard road marathon, whether due to the nature of the course or because of communications with athletes casting some doubt on the course length. The Auckland Marathon was not included because (a) results were not available as a csv file or as a spreadsheet, and (b) examination of results available on the internet reveals many errors, including half marathon walkers classified as marathoners. Results for the Harbour Capital Marathon and the Rotorua Marathon were not available as a csv file or as a spreadsheet prior to 2007. Buller Gorge Marathon results for 2006 and 2007 and Christchurch Marathon results for 2006 taken from MarathonGuide.com. Dunedin Marathon results not available on the internet prior to 2007.
[4] Race director private communication with author.

Historical Marathon Reports

2010-05-02T16:25:00.005+12:00

While my peers were off running or walking the Rotorua Marathon this weekend, or even the inaugural T42 Marathon, I was at home, still forcing myself to “recover” from the season of ultras that was my summer. Aside from the cross country race on Saturday, and a 30km training walk on Sunday, I thought I’d also take the opportunity to add a number of marathon reports that were on my old site, but had not yet made it on to this blog: Great Forest Marathon 2006, Rotorua Marathon 2006, Harbour Capital Marathon 2006, Great Forest Marathon 2007, and Rotorua Marathon 2007.

Novices and President's 2010

2010-05-01T18:14:00.014+12:00

My first running race since last year, at 27:06 I was very pleased to be 12 seconds faster than last year. Felt like I had good running form, I just need to run a bit more to translate that into faster times. Rain that threatened at the start did not eventuate and conditions were firm and relatively fast underfoot. A dry summer was reflected in the creek level being lower than recent years. Wore cross country spikes.

Moonshine 24

2010-04-18T21:39:00.006+12:00

Another rogaine, another less than spectacular effort in terms of score. But it was still a good number of hours on my feet at a time that is supposed to be my recovery after the three ultramarathons earlier in the year.

Set off for #10, in the midst of a bunch of people heading up a ridiculously steep track. If this was the effort required to get an easy 10 pointer then this would be a long, hard day!

Old hut on the way to #82

After #10 it was an easy walk around to pick up #47 (a reentrant, but seeming more like a gully). Then down the hill and up a stream to get #82. We saw one team searching completely the wrong stream, at least our navigation was right. Having got #82 it was back down the stream to the road, then up a grassy road, and up a short stretch of stream to get #48. We were scoring better than 100 points an hour - this was looking good!

View from the hill tops

A short piece of cross-country navigation to gain a road, and then it was a long, long climb up to try and find #21. Once we reached the top #21 was on a knoll to the south side of the track, except we couldn't find it. We tried several knolls and couldn't find it anywhere. Worse, while in the bush looking for the control we passed a critical track junction and kept going forwards, and down. A good 500m past the junction, and perhaps 60m down, we realised our error and headed back up. Having lost far too much time hunting for #21 and missing the junction it was now time to push on.

Part of the track between #66 and #68

Heading downhill we picked up the foot track to the left, and then picked up controls #66 (well hidden on a knoll) and #68 (another reentrant, but more like a bog). I was getting concerned on this section that we could run out of daylight at the critical section yet to come.

Around to Orange Hut at the top left of the course, and then along the stream to #87. The route guide directed us to a gully that was relatively easy travel up to #99, but also said that it would be unwise to attempt this section in the dark. It was now 5pm, and the light was definitely starting to fade, but would we have enough time?

Taking a bearing to the gully

I took a compass bearing from the map and we followed the bearing until we were definitely in the gully. The gully was straightforward to follow, although one had to be careful not to go too high (supple jack) or too low (dense cutty grass). Half way up the light faded to the point that it was time for lights. We kept following up until the gully opened out at the top. The map now indicated we should go "up" and to our right, so that's what we did. After a short climb out I pushed through some scrub to find a track, and the track led straight to #99!

Time for dinner.

It was now properly dark. After photos to record the achievement we sat down to eat a filled roll for dinner, and then set off to collect #23 (must be easy) on our way back to the main track.

Soon after departing #99 we lost the track and had to backtrack and start again. The route guide said that the intermittent track followed an old tramline. We were on a benched formation of some sort and thought we had it right. We were paying more attention to this instruction than to the map, which showed the track heading along the ridge line. We were pushing our way through regrowth, sometimes emerging onto what clearly seemed to be a track, and was definitely benched. But the "track" was dropping lower and lower. Eventually we were so far below the ridgeline that I decided it would be worth climbing back to the top to see if there was a more defined track up there. A steep climb to the ridge, then out with the compass to find that we had been heading in almost the opposite direction to where we should have been! Some compass work and a little bush bashing and we regained the track.

It had been dark for several hours by now, and we were a long way from where we had wanted to be. It was time to shorten our route and keep to the roads and tracks. #37, #22, bypass #67 which was off track, completely avoid the SW corner of the map, and head for #79.

#79 took a while to find, mainly because it was not where the map suggested it would be. We were fortunate to be in the right place as someone else did find it. After that it was a climb to get #60, then a trek back to the campsite to have something to eat and a short sleep.

I woke after about 3 hours sleep. There was no sign of life from Jan, so I set about plotting an alternative route for the morning. Given yesterday's progress the route we had previously planned was wildly optimistic. Having done that it was off to the hash tent to have some breakfast while I waited for Jan to wake.

Early morning sun.

We were off at 8am. I felt quite good, although the first big hill climb was a bit of an effort. #104, then along the forestry road and down through open pine forest on a steep spur to #88. Dropping further down the spur we then picked up the gravel road through to "Rallywoods". We had the choice of either heading down the road and up the river to #83, or heading down another spur. We elected the spur. For the most part this was again steep open pine forest, but for the last few hundred metres was dense vegetation. I found that the easiest way through most of the vegetation was sitting down and sliding down hill, a technique that enabled me to stay under most of it. Emerging at the river there was a short drop on to a narrow sandy beach, then two short river crossings - one up to mid-thigh - to gain the control.

Jan emerges from the scrub onto the bank of the
Whakatiki River

Punching in at #83

We still had a considerable amount of time before the 24 hours was up, but we were tired and couldn't really be bothered with another long steep hill climb, so we decided to return to the finish. We got there to find that we weren't the first to finish, but we were about an hour and a half early.

More photos available on Flickr.