Category: Ultra

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Well, 2019 turned out to be an epic and crazy year for me. It was on the cards to be a year with a crazy start; Coastal challenge, Ring of Fire, Xterra Rotorua, and Breca Bay of Islands all within a two-month period. But that was ok, as I’d have an easy end to the year. Ah ha, sure, righto. Continue reading “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Taupo Time

Some events just seem to call out to you proclaiming “you need to run me”, and I don’t know why but the Taupo Ultramarathon never had such a siren’s call to me, at least not with any urgency. But thanks to winning an entry from Wild Things, it was now on my calendar, and I’d chosen the 74km as the next step up on the ultra-distance ladder.

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ROF Is Not To Be ROFL’ed At.

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. And that’s what happened to me in my build up to 72km The Ring of Fire Ultra, only mine was more of a gut shot. One month and two days before the big day I was literally lying flat on my back in the hospital with severe abdominal pain, that turned out to be a gangrenous appendix. So that made things interesting. Continue reading “ROF Is Not To Be ROFL’ed At.”

One Under Baked Ultra, Please.

I’d never quite felt right in saying I run ultramarathonS since I’d only done one, it should have simply been ultramarathon. My aim was to get the ‘s’ this year, but I wasn’t planning on any of the big events. I simply couldn’t commit to the time needed for training, not to mention the cost, so what was I meant to do? Find the cheapest, easiest (it’s a relative term) event with a huge cut off. You can’t do much better than 5.5km (80m gain) loops of the Blue Lake in Rotorua, with a 24 hour cut off, oh and it’s free (though I did donate to their Give-a-little after and a bag of lollies).

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So Close To Going Far

Oh my, oh my, the 11th of November is only a few weeks away, and that means toeing the line for 50kms of fun. This meant that labour weekend was to be my peak/hell week with back to back to back long runs planned, with the filling of the long run sandwich being the Total Sport Waihi event. But as with any well laid plan, it all went to hell in a hand bag. Continue reading “So Close To Going Far”

It’s Not All Events

As I promised here is all the goings on that aren’t a race. As many of you are aware I’ve entered the 50km Tarawera Ultramarathon, which of course requires a fair amount of training and preparation. I also have been getting a lot of sideways looks and “say that again” from people. Oh and I’ve been getting a ton of new cool gear too.

Continue reading “It’s Not All Events”

Long Day At The Office

After suffering so much envy of the longer course scenery at the Waitomo Trail Run last year, I decided I wasn’t going to miss out this year and I entered the 35km super long event. I certainly was not let down by the natural beauty of the region, which helped some ways towards making up for some of the disappointment felt along the way.

Continue reading “Long Day At The Office”