Introduction

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

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

Ultramarathons

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

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

See also

Rogaines

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

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



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


Hiking and Mountains

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


  • Racewalking

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

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


    Running

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

    Shorter Races

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


    Sunday, August 11, 2013

    Pukeonake Recce

    Roughly two-thirds the way along the Mangatepopo access road is a benign-looking mound that appears as if it would be a quick and easy walk to the top. Running low on daylight it seemed like the perfect option for a quick leg stretch. Even better, the topo map indicated that there was a trig at the top.

    It had been raining all day, and more rain threatened, so we put on full wet weather gear. It was also only 4 degrees, so buff (as neck gaiter), beanie, and ski gloves were also in order. From the rough carpark there is an easy walk along the old, partially overgrown, and eroded 4WD track.

    After a steady and easy walk for about 1km, we rounded the corner and... what an incredible view opened up in front of us: it was like half the mountain had fallen away! Instead of a conical mound, the whole centre had been eroded away into a large crescent shape. The obvious way forward was along a twisting dry stream bed that led towards a vertical face, and on our left was a large scree slope.

    Part way up the stream bed we decided that the better option was to climb the slope. We started up the slope, the weather started to close in, and the light levels were fading. The top of the crescent was tantalisingly close, but the better option was to go back. We ran down the scree slope, and then walked back down the 4WD track to the cars.

    The trig, if it exists, still beckons. And now that we know what Pukeonake is actually like we have a plan for next time!

    The unassuming mound of Pukeonake from the road.
    The carparking area is on the outside of the
    bend in the road, and the 4WD track heads from
    there around to the right hand side of Pukeonake.
    The view up the dry stream bed towards the
    vertical wall in the distance. We scrambled up
    the slope to the left.

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