T42 - Downhill with a Bite!

(Borrowed from Total Sport)

It's an amazing thing with trail running, if the course is a memorable and a largely enjoyable one, then we forget about how hard it was last year.

This was very much the case with the T42 which last year was my first trail marathon (2011), I remembered that it was pretty much downhill for the first half and I remembered that there was a nice uphill at the end.... everything else slipped out of this aging memory... but more of that later...

As usual Total Sport had booked a perfect day... very icy back at the Park Traveller's Lodge... but that meant a clear and crisp day, perfect for a run!

All onboard the bus at 8.30am for the trip up the road to the start, a wee stop off to watch the start of the MTB race - more to keep us out of their way I think! Lucky enough to sit next to Kugs (James Kuegler) on the bus, one of the best adventure runners in the country. Like the best athletes in every sport he is constantly looking for ways to improve his performance... even though he coaches many athletes, he has still taken on a coach for himself in a bid to be the best he can be.

Keith & Steve

Race briefing was pretty straightforward... I think... short term memory loss due to age... or perhaps I just wasn't listening. The mandatory walk through detergent made sure that we did not do further damage to the local ecosystem. I continue to be impressed by the length Total Sports go to to minimise their effect on the fabulous landscape we run through.

My mates Keith Crook and Steve Neary were both onboard as well, looking forward, like me, to a fun run in the bush! It was also great to catch up with a few of the other usual suspects from previous Total Sport events.


The race starts with a 2km loop through the neighbouring farm that takes the ice right out of your muscles within the first 500m with a nice wee climb... this loop serves two purposes, it adds 2 necessary km's to get the run to marathon distance and it lets the bikes get well out of the way of any but the faster runners like Kugs and Kerry Suter... more about him later as well. It also allows us our one brief run towards the mountain (right), which was in its splendour!

Then onto the T42 proper and the expected downhill... hang on... this is uphill... as I said earlier, we remember what our brain likes and eject all but the most painful of the bad bits. While the first 17km of the race is largely downhill, there are plenty of uphills to work you out. After finishing Tarawera Paul Charteris assured us all that 6 - 8 weeks after was the best time to run a fast marathon time... this, plus the 'downhill' made me push out a bit faster than usual.


At 10km I was about 3 min ahead of last year, 6 minutes ahead after 20km.... but not feeling anywhere near as comfortable as I remember feeling last year... by 30km I was only 2 minutes ahead and suffering with a very, very sore back. No point stopping though as it hurt just as much walking as running. At 35km I was a minute slower than last year and not happy... however the one thing that has definitely improved for me this year has been my finishing. I lifted my effort as much as I could and was pleasantly surprised to cross the line in Owhango 5 and a bit minutes faster than last year.


Elsewhere in the field the amazing Kerry Suter had blitzed everyone to break the course record by 10 minutes, his story is here. He averaged 4.14 min/km for the whole marathon... my fastest pace was 4 min/km and believe me, that was on a big fast downhill, overall I managed 6.36 min/km and was happy. Keith and Steve both suffered injuries that severely hampered their runs... although Steve still scampered in 15 minutes ahead of me with the injury. Kugs 'cruised' into 4th without apparently breaking a sweat and was thinking about running back!

Keith & James

At the finish line the bloody bikers had drunk all the beer!! Total Sport top man Aaron Carter procured me one from somewhere which put the smile back on.


Back to the Park for a Prizegiving, drawing of the major spot prizes (missed out again) and then a bbq dinner and dessert (the mini Pavs were awesome). Us oldies crashed rather early, but could clearly hear the merriment of those that still had some energy until the small hours.

Overall a great run and one to be recommended. Total Sport events are excellent, although at the moment they seem to be suffering a touch with growing pains. The events are getting so big that they are not always coping, i.e. no beer, no goodie bag fillers at Waihi, too many people and not enough food, just a few little things... they are adjusting though and are quick to accept feedback... when entries jump from in the 400's to in the 900's most would struggle and they still run some fantastic events in some amazing venues.

Will I be back next year... you bet, different tactics maybe... but this is a cool run on an excellent trail. (Remember, click on any of the pics for a larger view).