52 in 52 Race #5 - Xterra Riverhead

RIVERHEAD!

Another trip down Memory lane on Sunday at my first event at this years Xterra Auckland Trail Running Series (it was Race #2, but I missed the first)... Riverhead Forest hosted my first ever event in the Xterra Auckland Series back in 2010 and so it is always nice to head back.

Despite my title, it wasn't as muddy this year as 2010, but definitely the muddiest I have encountered in many a day.

Total Sports Aaron & Nicola Carter

Driving up from Rotorua on the morning after leaving at 4.45am, I was driving through teaming rain nearly the whole way. Even when I got to Race HQ it was still raining pretty steadily on and off.... but of course Total Sport know how to organize a race as it stopped raining completely about 20 minutes before race start!

Great to catch up with 'the team', Keith Crook, Steve Neary, Leah Anstis, Anna Murphy, Mal Law, Paolo Osorio... the list gets ever longer!

Also there were the fabulous team from Inov-8, Richard was the runner today with the girls guarding the shop! Cam from RockTape was taping up a storm and great to catch up with.

Alan Reeves (Reevsy - left) was on the microphone for the 3rd week running and gave me fantastic coverage, chatting to me twice before race start and again at the finish as well as a few more plugs thrown in during the day... thanks mate!

With a very tough weekend to come and a slight groin strain, I had decided to take it a bit easier for this race... and for once I was true to my word. I cruised gently up the first long climb, having a chat to Chris Hope from New Zealand Running Calendar before he pulled away into the distance!

First little excursion away from the forestry road gave us a taste of the race to come with slippery step up and lovely mud (right).

Then it was a lovely series of ups and downs across the various ridges, sometimes through the forest and sometimes through recently felled areas (left) and some large open spaces. The variation of this race was great. 

About 3km in the lovely Anna Murphy (right) and I got together and kept each other company for about the next 8km. This was pretty good for both of us as we were both trying not to go too hard and the pace stayed comfortable right through to the course split... where Anna took the Long Course arrow and yours truly the Super-Long!

After we split I once again had to be careful not to push too hard, but this was solved quickly with a nice 100m (vertical) climb in the next kilometre. Then some more fabulous ups and downs including a couple of freaky mudslides downhills.

It was on these that I found out about the 'almost unfair' advantage I had... my Inov-8 X-Talons... they were amazing. I have been racing in trail shoes for quite a few years now, but nothing that comes close to the grip of the X-Talons Three times on muddy downhills the people in front or beside me were reduced to going down on their posteriors (left) while I ran down almost like it was dry... stunning, you have to try them to know just how good they are!

Just after meeting back up with the Long course you start to get close enough to the finish to hear the speakers and everyone else finishing... but you still have quite a long loop to go and the last 2km is mud, puddles, followed by more mud and even more puddles. Feeling pretty good after taking it easy I let myself have a little burst here and passed quite a few.

I had a ball in this race, not busting a gut running allowed me to really love the mud and the trails and the company at the finish just made for a perfect day.

For the record I finished the 24hrs in 2:39 for 7th place in my agegroup.

So that's number 5, great day, great fun... as usual with Total Sports!

52 in 52 Race #4 - Thermatech 3D Rotorua 2013

In 2012 this event came up 11 weeks after I ran the Tarawera Ultra. I hadn't run an event for 3 weeks and was getting a bit fractious so I hopped on NZ's best website for events - The New Zealand Running Calendar and spotted 2 close events. One was the Tauranga Half and the other was the Thermatech 3D.

It was at first a tough decision, Tauranga was cheaper and the 3D was on trails I ran all the time - so how exciting was that going to be? In the end though, trails won out over road (as they usually do) and I sneaked down for a late entry on the Saturday night. 

What does this have to do with this year... well it was awesome!  

Firstly, running trails you know and love in a race is so different to a training run. 

Secondly we actually went down a couple of trails I had never run - in my very own Redwoods! I had a blast and finished 3rd in my age group.

So in 2013 for the 52 in 52 there was never a doubt... Neil and Katrin were kind enough to sponsor my entry to the event and a happy man was I. On Saturday they had a great Expo where I caught up with Susan and Richard from Inov-8, my incredible sponsors. They were so busy that I didn't have much chance to chat though.

 
Before I go on I will tell you that this is one Festival with something for just about everyone! In the running/walking they have a 2km for the kids, a 5.5km, 10.5km and of course 21.1km. They have a 31km MTB race, a 42km Duathlon. Then there is a 9km paddle, 25km Grassroots Multi-sport Challenge, a 50km Premier Multisport Race (where Richard Ussher finally got knocked out of #1) and a 50km Team Multi-sports race. So the neat thing was that whole families were there competing in a range of totally different events.                                

 
Race morning dawned overcast with no sign of rain and a pleasant running temperature. Down at the race start area an hour early as always, I sucked in the atmosphere, watched the kids 2km race(left). Talked to a lovely lady from Te Puke about the merits of Rocktape and then taped her knee for her! Caught up with Tarawera Race Director Paul Charteris and met Geoff Higgins in person for the first time... also a quick catch up with the lovely Margo Southgate ever smiling who snapped my start-line pic (above).                    

And then we were off and straight away a change from last year's track. Just a subtle change but noticeable for a local! Out further towards the Nursery Hill road before we turned back into the forest. 

About 1km in and the first climb starts, the famous 'Green' trail through the Redwoods (below)... not up the stairs like this years Tarawera Ultra, but up the other side as in previous TUM's. A bit of running and a fair bit of walking for the 120m climb and then down the steps to the other side. 

 
A little scamper through the main Redwoods trails then off the side on a new 'locals trail' that I have not seen before, which soon joined the start of the next uphill. This in total was a 187m climb, but the first bit is one of my favourites in the forest... I have dubbed it Back Trail, I found out on the day that others call it Fern Gully, whatever the name it is a runnable climb on magic single track up to Tokorangi Pa Road.  

Once up there the climb continues to the very top point of the road. Unfortunately due to logging it has changed from a track to a forestry road for this section, but you are too busy slogging up the hill to be too concerned.

Then it was helter skelter down the back, 

..then cut across to the Tank to Town Trail which brought us down onto Tarawera Road. We then rattled downhill parallel to the road for a bit and cut across into a lovely piece of single trail that this race introduced me to last year. As you can see from the picture (right) it looks like virgin forest and yet this is less than 400metres from the roundabout at the bottom of Tarawera Road! 

All that was left was a quick zigzag across through main trails and some bush to the finish where... we took a left and headed out on lap 2! Whether it was the hangover from Huntly or just old-man's tiredness. 

 


I struggled a bit in this lap... mind you, I wasn't the only one. 

I still passed more than passed me, so I guess that's acceptable. I caught up with Geoff Higgins towards the top of Tokorangi Pa Road for the second time and he graciously zoomed a head to get a couple of

pics of me running up the hill, Thanks Geoff!

Caught a few more on the downhill sections towards the end and finished just over 2:12 which left me in 2nd position for my age-group. Felt a touch disappointed as I was about 5 minutes slower than last year... which is bloody stupid, cos the course was slightly different and this was my 3rd half in the previous 3 weeks.

On to the prizegiving that night and these guys do it well. Radio Sports controversial host Mark Watson was MC and the prize list was something to behold. I had a chance to catch up with Susan from Inov-8 for a little bit longer chat, she had done fabulously well finishing 3rd in her section of the 50km Multi-Sport Challenge!

All up a great day in my fabulous little corner of kiwiland and if you were not there then you missed out big time!

52 in 52 Race #3 - The Huntly Half

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When I first started running in 2006 I weighed 112kg and had decided that if I wasn't to go the way of my Father and Uncle and die in my early 50's, then I needed to lose some of that weight.

I started off running in the Redwoods, struggling to run just over a kilometre on my first run, but stubbornness took me out again the next day, sore and stiff and determined to run further.

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I eventually built up to a few more km's than that and got talked into running the 10km at the Rotorua Marathon that year. I surprised myself by finishing 8th in age in a reasonable time and caught the running bug. 

So I set myself to do the Taupo Half that year and, all going well, the Auckland Marathon. Along the way, however the opportunity came up to run the Huntly Half... I thought "why not?" ... a good chance to see where I was in my preparation for Taupo.

In that race I, as so many first timers do, started too fast, hit the wall and struggled home just under 2 hours.

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So this year I was so rapt when Dion offered me a sponsored place in the field in the chase for 52 in 52. Originally I was to have run the Big O on Saturday and Huntly Sunday... but unfortunately the Big O has been postponed for a month or 3.

The Bonus of that was that I could give Huntly my all.

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After a week of dreadful weather, I left Rotorua in the pouring rain and arrived in Huntly with the Sun trying to shine through. A good crowd there on the day, caught up with a few familiar faces which was great... got a wee stint on the P.A. microphone again.... then it was wander over to the road for the start.

The course was different to that in 2007....

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that race went out into the country with lots of out and backs, and then came back into town and finished around the Lake. 

This year we started in the same direction - but not far, than we looped around next to the lake and through and out of the park, winding our way south, over the railway overbridge.

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A bit more winding through the streets and then over the Waikato River bridge, which was cool. A quick loop on the other side, through a park and back over the bridge.

I had tried to set off at the same 4:42 per km that I used at Cambridge in my PB, but it was fast becoming obvious that this race was way tougher than that... but I pushed the best I

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could. 

We looped into the main street and then back up the hill and around the far side of the Lake. While I was feeling it by this stage, I was still comfortable enough to enjoy the lake track - definitely more than I enjoyed it 7 years ago!

Out of the Lake Domain and into the streets and a nice wee killer climb... steep enough to hurt, but very runnable. 

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Out into the country and the part of the run that was pretty much the same as last time - only in reverse! 

We came to the Drink Station Intersection which we would return to twice more, then went out to the Coal Works in an out and back, which I didn't mind as much this time compared to '07, as I knew others running and was able to say hi to the likes of Kerry Suter, Ian Hansen, Leah Anstis, Darryl Conn and Roger Morris.

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Back to the drinks corner and a right turn into the road to the Speedway for a very long (and painful) out and back. At the turnaround we headed back up the hill into the wind with a few drops of rain, which felt great and was the only rain we saw all day.

The Straight (Click to enlarge)

Back to the Crossroads for the last time then took another right turn into the last thing you want to see nearly 17km into a race - 1.6km of dead straight road into the wind! So we ground it out, I was in my last 5km mode here of just trying to catch and pick off the person in front of me... caught 2 on the straight. Finally made it to the turn, a few hundred metres of curving road and then another 1.2km of stright - GRRR... worked my way down, catching a mixture of Half and 10km runners and then we were nearly there, could hear the crowd and turned the corner, a wee straight and then onto the grass for the last 200m to the finish.

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As a dedicated trail runner I have always thought of road halfs as a bit soft, the only thing hard is the surface and that fact that you have to run so much faster... but this was a tough event, as was shown in many of the pics of finishers in that last 200m.

In the end though, I managed 1:42:48 for my second fastest half ever... so I guess I did ok.

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After the event I stayed and watched a few friends finish and caught up with a few others.

All in all an extremely well organized day, from the parking right through to the marshalls and 'race village'. I left a little sore, but nowhere near as bad as the cripple who hobbled to his car 7 years ago. A good challenging Road Half.

Thanks Dion... a great day!

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52 in 52 Race #2 - Te Mata Terrific Tui

An event cancellation gave me a week to recover after T42 and then it was off to the fabulous Hawkes Bay for the first race of this years Hammer Nutrition Hawkes Bay Trail Run Series (HBTR) as the second race of 52 in 52... and what a great choice it was!!! As the rest of the country was getting dumped with copious amounts of rain,  
the Hawkes Bay was, as usual, warm and sunny.

Lunchtime Saturday in Rotovegas and filled up at Gull with diesel using some of my sponsored vouchers. Gull have made getting around the country so much easier with this great donation. Lainy and I then headed over the hill. The lovely Lesley Wilson (and hubby Des) were our great hosts for the evening... which pleased Lorraine as she didn't need to get up so early for the race. It also meant I ate way too much dinner as it was fabulous!

Frank Spencer

Race Morning dawned fine and slightly misty, GPS got me to race start nice and early - as I tend to do. Caught up with Louise and Philip Shambrook, the Race Directors of the Series who have sponsored me for all 4 races. Also there were a few people I had only met previously on facebook, as well as Earl Wykes from BNI and Frank Spencer (right) who had been assigned to run with me on the day. I wasn't a very good guest though and lost Frank on one of the early hills... kept thinking he would catch me up but he didn't quite.

Emergency Number 1... no Porta-Loos!!! Fortunately they arrived before race time and a relieved Mike lined up for the start. Philip delivered a stirring Race Briefing and then, totally without warning invited yours truly to say a few words, which I did poorly!. Then the start... a quick burst of bitumen inserted to make up the distance right got us warmed up... then back into the farm and the climbing started.... 
 





You were left in no doubt from the very start as to how tough this was going to be, 
it was more like the English Fell Running than the trail-running we do here, with lots of grass, rutted farm and stock trails, mud and of course cow-pats! My Inov-8 X-Talons were fabulous on the muddy and slippery grass and 'other materials' and my only fall was when I tripped!



The climbing at first was steady but runnable... but that changed.
There was some great switchback climbs with trails barely as wide as your foot. Most of this stage was walking for me... with the occasional bout of enthusiasm leading to a hundred metres or so or running. The views were getting ever better and it became obvious why running in this area is so popular. One wee trip nearly sent me down a high steep bank, but I got away with a muddy knee and a faster than usual heartbeat for a couple of minutes.

To give you some idea, I normally take 20 or 30 photos during a race... for this race I took 102!!! 
I can't get them all in here, but will upload the best to Flickr.

The Fenceline

Finally got to the top and the Lookout and was feeling tired but happy to finish climbing - I thought - then we were directed off up even further through grassland - as in "just run along the fenceline", so we climbed along the fenceline, then dropped steeply down the other side - which very quickly lost its joy as we saw the leading runners slogging back up this hill towards us!! This was the out and back section we had been told about... afterwards on Garmin it didn't look too tough 80m vertical in 1.4km... but it was. Passed Frank my 'co-runner' in this area and told him I was fading... I think we both were. 


Once back at the top we cruised over into some of what appeared to be MTB Trails and more like my normal type of trail... only I was too tired to enjoy it.

Frank finishing...

We wound our way through several valleys and woody stretches, before heading out of Te Mata Reserve, across the stream and into a final 4km of farmland. The first couple of these kilometres were gently uphill and I dredged enough out of the old body to run these... albeit rather slowly, however now we were mixed in with the medium distance runners and I employed the old trick of 'just catch the next one' to pick off quite a few on this stage. 

Then the big downhill to the finish and I just let the old tired legs go... so glad to hit the finish though for a sticky bun and a drink! Snuck back up guiltily to meet Frank finishing his run. My time of 2:27 shows how tough a half it was as it felt like I ran as well as I did in Xterra Rotorua 4 weeks back where I ran 1:45.


Then had a post race catch-up with the lovely Jen from Cranford Hospice before Philip shoved the microphone under my nose for a few words.


This was a fabulous day, well run with a nice family feel. Most of the runners seemed to know each other and Philip and Louise are working hard to make sure their events don't get too big. I had wonderful support on the course and donations both before and after the race.

The next HBTR race is in 3 weeks and I will be there... why not join me!

52 in 52 - Race #1 ..... T42

Well it finally arrived… the first race of the 52 in 52 Challenge. 

I deliberately chose a tough marathon to start and will finish on a marathon with a host of Half Marathons or longer in between.

Pre Start - fresh and clean!

It was a no-brainer to start with the T42… firstly it was on my birthday, secondly it is one of Total Sports flagship events and they have been fantastic with my support of this venture and finally it’s bloody tough – a reminder (if I needed one), that this is no walk in the park.

I filled up Friday night at my local Gull using some of the vouchers they have sponsored me with. 

The budget for my side of these events is very tight, so I passed on getting accommodation the night before and was up at 5am eating breakfast and taping my knees with fabulous RockTape – who have just today come on as a product sponsor, donned one of my splendid race-shirts from All Sew Embroidery and then off around the corner to pick up Tarawera Ultra Race Director Paul Charteris who was entered in the 24km event.

The further we went the better the weather got and by the time Paul dropped me off at ‘the Farm’ it was clear with the sun peeking through regularly – although a touch chilly.

Through the comprehensive gear check and then shoes checked for external dirt (my inov-8 X-Talons were spotless) and pick up my number and transponder. Caught up with and thanked Total Sport owners Nicola and Aaron Carter, this challenge would have been nearly impossible without their support. Then shelter out of the wind and wait for the bus to arrive to take me to the start.

With Marcus Daws, awesome Ostepath, great runner

Met a few new friends on the bus – Sarah Lei from my town of Rotorua and the lovely Barb Carson from Wanganui, both of whom I would encounter in the race. Once at the start it was great to catch up with some of my favourite people, Steve Neary, Marcus Daws (my Osteopath Sponsor from Waikato Osteopathic and a bloody good bloke), Jeremy Weight, Kerry Suter and Tom Frenz (who towed me up the last 3 km of last years Goat) to name a few… one of the best reasons to run events is the fantastic community of runners.

The MTB’s, that had to pass before we started, were a bit slow, so a few minutes later than expected we got away to a good steady start. The 2km loop around farmland at the start always gets the blood pumping and once on to the main 42^nd Traverse trail the merino top disappeared rather quickly. I planned to take it easy, being the first of the challenge, and it felt like I was… but when I looked at the Garmin my pace was faster than planned so I made myself gear back. 

Inov-8 Race Elite 2 Pack

One thing I was loving was the new Inov-8 waist hydration pack, I have never enjoyed running with a backpack and the waist solution worked for me on many levels. It felt comfortable, the bladder holds up to 2 litres (I only had 1.5 for the race), I also had my rain jacket, gloves, beanie, first-aid kit and emergency blanket all around my waist. The difference – usually about 20 - 25km my back starts hurting, being 6’2” I tend to have back problems. However with the new pack it was great until about 38km... at which stage all of me was dying anyway!

Barb Carson on the left

Anyway, a few km’s in and struggling to settle on a pace I was joined by Barb Carson, another 50+ and an Iron-man competitor extraordinaire! I latched on to her pace and we had a great chat for about the next 12km or so which really made the race slide by. Barb’s previous T42 was in a similar time to my previous efforts, so the pace was great. We also had a tail! A lovely Italian lady (from Auckland) Alice Domenichini was quietly sitting behind us… we got a few words out of her but Barb and I did most of the chatting. The first half of the course is rolling with an overall drop in altitude and 3 or 4 stream crossings, not exactly easy, but gentler than the second half of the race.

Around about 18km where the climbing started was the first surprise, in previous years I have walked as much as I have run in these sections, however this year for some reason was different (maybe I was fresher). I ran about 90% of the uphills and passed an awful lot of runners. My time was scaring me but I was feeling good so just kept plodding. I didn’t notice Barb slip back, she just suddenly wasn’t there any more.

A little later Italian Alice passed me, then I passed her and then a wee bit later she steamed past me and into the distance.

Tom Frenz... always smiling!

All was great until about the big bridge where I started to seriously run out of steam. Sarah Lei passed me at the start of the last bit of farmland with some lovely words of encouragement and I managed to stagger/run/walk up the last kilometre or so of trail to the finish… could have done with Tom Frenz (pic at left) to tow me at about this stage… but he let me down and I had to struggle up alone.

In the end 4:23:04, nearly 16 minutes faster than last year and over 20 minutes faster than 2011 and 2^nd in my age group! Happy, but sore and tired.

A Winning Steve Neary and the LTH!

At the finish a beer and a burger and lots of catch-up with the others, Kerry Suter had blitzed the field by over 14 minutes in a race record 2:52:20 – over 90 minutes faster than my time and I thought I did ok! Steve Neary had a great run to win the 40-49 age group (interestingly I would have been second in this group as well). Also caught up with Susan Prater at the Inov-8 tent, she had won her class in the MTB race and the LTH, last years ladies winner was there nursing her broken toe that stopped her defending her title.

Keith Crook shares tactic with Jeremy Weight

Barb Carson won the Vets ladies and Sarah Lei was 3^rd in the Ladies Open with Italian Alice 2^nd.

My good mate Keith Crook on the comeback after a broken ankle was 4^th in the 24km event.

As usual another fantastic day, well run, with a great bunch of people… Total Sport you are tops!!!

Another medal to my small collection

A big thanks to all my sponsors who have got me to the start line... Kaz Dezign from Cambridge for their great work with my logo, website banner and facebook banner. W3 Web Design from Hamilton for getting the website up and running. All Sew have been fabulous with my shirts and are currently helping me get some shirts to sell ready... all without question and making no profit at all! Waikato Osteopaths and Marcus (who ran an excellent time for 11th overall) and who I will be visiting later in the week.

But last word for this race goes to Inov-8, Susan and Richard have been fantastic in their support for me

already and I can say without a word of doubt that the shoes are fabulous… 2 events = 2 PB’s. Many, many runners were wearing X-Talons and for a reason... the grip was out of this world. They were snug on my feet and even in mud and on slippery rocks the grip was solid. Add to this the wonderful waist pack and my trusty race-cap and I could not ask for more!

Roll on Race 2 in the Hawkes Bay on the 19^th… unless I find a race this weekend!

Please... it's not too late... every dollar counts... head to 52in52.org.nz and click in the menu where it says 'Sponsors'. There is an easy form on the right-hand side that will allow you to support me and of course help Hospice!