Introduction

Welcome to my blog. The title originates when my primary athletic activity was competitive walking, but now that I am back to running it also includes that.

Not all content is accessible from the main page: for example, the rogaines, racewalking, and ultramarathon pages all include content that is only accessible from those pages.

Ultramarathons

Ultramarathons are any event longer than the standard marathon distance of 26.2 miles / 42.195km. Standard distances for ultras are 50km, 50 miles, 100km, and 100 miles. There are also 12 hour and 24 hour track runs, and multi-day "stage races".

I have currently (September 2012) completed 30 ultramarathons, plus 1 DNF at about 66km at the Molesworth Run. Reports for most events are provided below.

See also

Rogaines

Rogaining is the sport of long distance cross-country navigation. Events can be as short as 2-3 hours or the standard 24 hours. Teamwork, endurance, competition and an appreciation for the natural environment are features of the sport. Rogaining involves both route planning and navigation between checkpoints using a variety of map types.

GN Phillips and RJ Phillips, Rogaining, 3rd ed, 2000


The two main umbrella organisations for rogaining in New Zealand are: My reports for selected events are provided below.


Hiking and Mountains

The Hiking, Trail Running, and Mountains pages are all inter-related, but with some subtle differences:
  • Hiking is not an organised race, and may include Coastal Adventures, activities in the Mountains, and hiking in other locations;
  • Trail Running covers organised events, some in the mountains, but others on local hills and trails; and
  • The Mountains category covers both events and hiking in various places that can be classed as mountains.


    • Racewalking

    Racewalking only has to meet two technical requirements:
    • no loss of contact, as judged by the human eye; and
    • the leg has to be straight from the moment of first contact until it is upright.
    More detailed rules are here.

    I'm not particularly good at racewalking, often falling foul of the straight leg rule. But I still give it a go and here are the results of my endeavours.


    Running

    This blog is primarily about my walking activities, but sometimes I do run. Here are reports for events where I have run.

    Shorter Races

    I classify events as ultramarathons, marathons, rogaines, and "shorter events". So a "shorter event" is just something that is shorter than a marathon and is not a rogaine. Consequently there's a mixed bag in here: running, racewalking, half marathons, 10k and 5k races, , etc.


    New Zealand Ultramarathons

    Selected New Zealand Ultramarathons
    For exact dates see the race websites or contact the race organisers.

    Surface in [square brackets]: [R] = sealed road or other paved surface, [T] = trail, [U] = unsealed gravel/shingle/metal road.

    January February

    • Heaphy Five-0 [T], ~50 mile trail run along the Heaphy Track in the Kahurangi National Park. (website)

    • Great Lake 100k [R] - 100km individual race (previously a 100 mile race) run in conjunction with the Great Lake Relay. (website) (My Reports)

    March

    • Te Houtaewa Challenge [sand], 60km. (website)

    • Triple Peaks Challenge [T/R], 47km for runners, walkers, and mountain bikers. (website)

    • Motutapu Adventure Run [T], 49km, for 2-person teams. (website)

    • Tarawera Ultramarathon [T]. Distances of 85km and 56km in 2009, 100km option also available in 2010. Relay options available (2- and 4-person over the 85km and 3-person over the 56km). (website)

    • Northburn 100 [T], 50km, 100km, 100 mile. (website)

    • St James Ultra [T], 67km along the St James Walkway. Run in 2007, 2008, 2009. EVENT NO LONGER HELD. (website) (My Report)

    April

    • Bedrock 50 [T], 52km. (website)

    • Riverhead Adventures Trail Run [T], 50k and 30k.

    May

    • No races

    June July

    • No races

    August September October

    • Sri Chinmoy 12hr and 24hr track race [track] also doubles as NZ 24hr Championships. (website)

    November

    • Molesworth Run [U/R], 84km solo, 2x42km relay and 4x21km relay. (website) (My Report)

    • Around the Mountain Relay [R], 100 miles. (website)

    December

    • Kepler Challenge [T], 60km. Also the Luxmore Grunt, 28km. (website) 2000 results here. (My Report)

    • Sri Chinmoy Ultramarathon [R], 50km, 100km. (website)

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