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.


    Saturday, October 6, 2012

    Support Crew at Sri Chinmoy 12 Hour

    About 5 minutes after the start. From left to right: Kim Allan, Patricia
    Stitchbury, Heather Andrews, Wayne Botha.
    This year I was support crew again for Heather at the Sri Chinmoy 12 Hour. The day dawned with atrocious weather: heavy rain and very strong winds. As we were driving to the track the rain was pouring when we were just a kilometre away. But by the time we got there the rain stopped and the weather started to fine up. It was windy all day, but for the next 9 hours the rain stayed away.

    As is usual with these events, there were lots of people there that I knew. Michael Rodliffe was running to win the men's 6 hour, Cliff Harrison was walking the 12 hour, Wayne Botha running the men's 12 hour, Mark Guy running the men's 24 hour, and Kim Allan, Tracy Benjamin, and Penny Kirkwood in the women's 24 hour. There were also the supporters: Fiona Harrison and David Sim for Cliff, Simon Clendon for several runners, Amy Campbell with the world 24 hour champs still fresh in her legs, Philip Sharp (NZ Centurions), and Steve Neary and Vicky Plaistowe who both turned up to see the madness.

    Summer running.
     
     
    By late morning it was so hot that the runners were in t-shirts and singlets, and even as a supporter it was very warm. For the couple of laps in between handing supplies to Heather I would sit beside the track in a fold out chair, feeling much as if I were at the beach (minus the sand that would be blowing in our faces). Simon Clendon was even handing out iceblocks to the runners! But the wind continued unabated and by mid-afternoon runners were starting to layer up again.

    Heather battled with nausea again this year, and as a consequence there was a period of several hours in the afternoon where she didn't eat a lot. Sri Chinmoy peaches, mashed potato, and cups of tea eventually came to the rescue. Definitely a challenge to try and solve before "next time".

    By about 7:30pm it started to rain, and then started to absolutely pour. Cliff Harrison's support crew took shelter in the vestibule of our tent. I had my full wet weather gear on, so was reasonably comfortable out in the rain, but still needed to record laps and get whatever supplies Heather might need.

    Heather's trophy
    Heather clocked up persobal best times for 50km, 70km, 80km and 50 miles. Best of all, she also won the women's 12 hour!

    In other action that day, Wayne Botha set a world record for 100km run in bare feet. He developed a large blister on one heel, but in total his feet were in great condition when he finished.
    7:12pm and Wayne Botha keeps churning out the laps
    on his way to a barefoot world record.
    Posted by Andrew Shelley
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