XTERRA Belmont

Stream crossing at the bottom of Horokiwi Bridleway

This was the long course, total distance 16.8km with 880m of climb. This is a tough run, made tougher by steep slippery downhills on grass and clay. I was well and truly knackered at the end of this, always a good outcome!

From the start its 500m of easy running and then it’s in to the first climb, about 230m over 2km. This climb takes in the Danzig MTB track with lots of switchbacks.

Downhill is a pleasant grade on an unsealed (mainly clay) road. The gradient along here is good, allowing for fast running. At about 3.8km the track pops out onto Normandale road for about 1.3km. The grade is much the same as for the unsealed road, so the fast running continues.

Around the corner into Stratton St, and then a hard right onto the trail. This is instantly much steeper, and with the rain the grass and the clay were both wet and slippery. I caught up to about half a dozen people along here as they tip-toed along and tried not to slip. I took a couple of photos and chuckled to myself at how timid people were, then promptly slipped, became airborne and landed hard on my backside. No damage done and no mud on the camera lens!

Down to the flat, a quick road crossing, a water crossing, and a few hundred metres of farm track, then it was in to the big climb up Belmont Hill. Climbing 324m over 2.36km, this is a long, hard climb. I am used to being relatively fast up hills, normally being able to walk them faster than other competitors. But not today! Today other competitors caught and passed me, and then pulled away into the distance.

At the top we didn’t go over the trig, but instead took the track to the west along the hill tops and then south down along the Horokiwi Bridleway. This is another steep, slippery descent of 377m, and I caught everyone who had passed me. I passed them again by the bottom, and then slowly pulled away. A very steep short climb of 42m and then another climb of 146m. I was spent and then competitors I had passed caught and passed me again. A fast descent of 114m brings us down to the 16km mark. From there it’s just a gentle climb and about three stream crossings over the last 800m to the finish.

Belmont Rogaine

The last of the 5 events held in Wellington over Waitangi weekend to celebrate the 21st birthday of rogaining in New Zealand. The very first New Zealand rogaine was held in Belmont Regional Park, and today's 4 hour event was also held in the park.

With about 10-15 minutes of planning we had picked a loop, and then walked back to the start area just in time to miss most of the briefing! A couple more minutes and then it was time to start.

Competitors scaling the hill to the first trig.

We initially set off at a jog, making sure we really were where we thought we were on the map. Cross-country along a fence line for a short section, then up a steep hill to gain our first points at the trig. Just 10 points, but we were underway!

The next control looked easy on the map, but for some reason we didn't find it quite as fast as might have been expected... which in this instance just means we had to search a little rather than walking straight to it.

On to the next one, down the hill, up the next one to the track junction, and ... stop. In a demonstration of just how out of practice we were with map reading and rogaining, both of us jumped to the conclusion that the next control must be over the far side of the huge hill in front of us. After several minutes of matching features to the map, and actually reading the map properly, we realised that the next control was DOWN the slope in front of us, just a few hundred metres away. So down we went, and control #90 was in the bag.

Looking down into the gully concealing #90

A row of World War II bunkers in the distance.

We continued down hill to the farm road at the bottom of the valley, and continued on with our planned route of heading out to pick up #41. That done, it was back up the valley, and then a steep climb out to get #52. Another short, steep climb and we were back level with the WWII bunkers. Count the pillars inside one of the bunkers for another 20 points - not such a fun task when there were several dead sheep inside!

At the gratuitous trig

Then off for a jog as we set off to get #50 at a power pylon. We now decided to make a change to our plan, and rather than heading to #80 and then #51, we instead went to #70 then down to #80. This route to #70took us around a track not far below a trig... the trig wasn't a control, but it was there... and we might not ever be here again... so we climbed the short distance up the hill to claim a gratuitous trig!

Trig conquered, it was off to #70. Climbing over a gate, I jumped down and felt a searing pain in the main joint of my right big toe... this was not good! No more running for a while, and even walking I was a bit slow. When we got home there was a large bruise on the side of my foot, so somehow I had landed badly and caused some damage.

Rogainers in the valley below

We claimed #70, down the steep hill to the farm track, then walked and jogged down to the valley floor. Up to #80 - quite a social control with lots of people claiming it. Along to #51 or climb out the more direct way? We decided we were getting tired and didn't want to have to sprint uphill to the finish! So we climbed out the direct way, and then claimed controls #12 and #11 and had a more leisurely finish.

Otonga / Belmont Regional Park

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.

Puke Ariki: traverse of the Belmont Regional Park

A generally easy walk with Jan Bliekendaal. There was heavy, low cloud and blowing a gale on the tops. For the most part the trail was well marked, but we did find one area where we the markers were no longer standard and it looked like we might have gone onto the wrong trail. A few moments deciding what to do, and then we set out cross country in the direction we thought we should be going. We found the orange markers again, and it turned out that we were on the right trail in the first place, but due to "cow damage" the markers had been replaced.

By the time we were down at the Korokoro end of the Park the weather was clearing and it was quite pleasant. We caught the train back to Manor Park and then walked the short distance back to the car park.

More photos available on Flickr.

Haywards-Haywards Journey Run

A fantastic clear, hot, and sunny day. Won the walk in 2:47:32. A slightly new course from previous years, with a major downhill from the top of the Hill from Hell to finish at Te Whiti park rather than the top of the Wainuiomata Hill Rd. Had the lead right from the start, and was never really challenged. Reached the top of the Belmont Hills in 57:57, and then accelerated on the downhill. Reached the valley floor and crossed Lower Hutt with no one in sight. Extremely hot (with no wind) climbing the firebreak at the end of Summit Rd, but there was some breeze once up on the ridgeline. The hills seem to get harder every year!! At the top of the Hill from Hell there was a right hand turn to follow a narrow and slippery track down through the Eastern Haywards Scenic Reserve. Finally emerging at the bottom there was about 200m of road to the finish. Thanks to the anonymous donor of the prize for the first walker!

Haywards-Haywards Mountain Run

The Hutt Valley turned on some beautiful weather (of course) for this Boxing Day run. Coming at the end of a hard week's training, it was always going to be difficult to do this race justice. Still, a good way to spend part of the morning. Ran well on the downhills (but not so well on the uphills) to record 2:09:36 and place 46 out of 76 runners. Official report and results.

Haywards-Haywards "World Championships"

A leisurely run (and walk) over the hills of Lower Hutt on a beautiful sunny Boxing Day. Starting with a gentle traverse of the Belmont Hills, the run then crossed Lower Hutt, and proceeded to climb the Eastern Hills, taking in the extremely steep "hill from hell" to finish at the top of Wainui hill.