Introduction

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

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

Ultramarathons

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

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

See also

Rogaines

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

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


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


Hiking and Mountains

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


    • Racewalking

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

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


    Running

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

    Shorter Races

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


    Monday, December 29, 2008

    Akatarawa Traverse

    Photo-0006
    Akatarawa River
    A relaxed but long hike from Upper Hutt to Paraparaumu via the direct route through the Akatarawas. About 36.7km with 1980m of ascent.

    The route was roughly:
    - Over Cannon Point
    - follow 4WD road to Karapoti Gorge
    - through to Pram Track (4WD road)
    - from top of Pram Track take track heading N through bush to Titi Road
    - over Titi
    - follow bush tracks down to Maungakotukutuku Road
    - head N along Maungakotukutuku Road to the forest
    - follow 4WD track up to Maungakawa trig and down to Paraparaumu.

    Photo-0009
    Photo-0010









    There were several false plateaus as we crested the Pram Track, each followed by more climb and then a further flat area. Eventually we reached the bush track - the entrance was very obvious, more apparent than suggested by the photo. Initially the track is a bit rutted, but reasonably easily traversed. Further on the track becomes very boggy in places with deep ruts caused by motorcycles, although in other places it is firm and in good condition.

    Photo-0011
    Top: Jan negotiates one of the bogs.
    Right: Another bog.
    Bottom: Titi Road.
    Photo-0012
    Photo-0013

    Elevation Profile


    Elevation

    Map

    The map for this trip is quite large so it's presented in three parts:

    AkaMap1
    AkaMap2
    AkaMap3
    Posted by Andrew Shelley
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