So here I am, 5:15 on Sunday morning, writing a race report I never intended to write. I blame everybody whose race reports I avidly read before going to bed last night! But having been awake for over an hour, reliving my epic adventure and writing it in my head, I thought the only sensible thing to do, knowing that sleep would continue to elude me, would be to get up and set the words down on the page; perhaps then they’d leave me alone and I could go back to the land of nod.
I’d run the 60km last year, knowing that I wasn’t capable then of running the 100km, but I’d trained well since then, always with this ultimate goal in mind, and on Saturday last week I knew I was ready. I’d been waiting for this day to come for some time. Excited wasn’t even close!
I kissed my hubby, gave my last hugs to my gorgeous runner friends and supporters, and moved towards the gateway. I’m not fast by any stretch of the imagination, and I had wondered how far up the field to start, not wanting to get carried away too quickly by the front runners, only to regret it later, but I also didn’t want to be held up at the few bottlenecks along the course. I’m pretty sure my decision to try to be reasonably close to the front was pivotal, as those of you who started further back would most likely agree! When we hit those first twisty-turny uphills, and squelched through the mud puddles, boy, did I feel sorry for you guys! If it was bad now, how difficult was it going to be after another 6-or 700 pairs of feet had gone through?! And how about all of you without trail shoes?
Now that was a thing that had caused me a bit of anxiety the day before. I’d had my race planned, in terms of shoes, for weeks! Comfy-as Hoka Clifton road shoes to Okataina, on account of the lovely groomed trails and those two road sections, especially the new downhill from the top of Direct Road; trusty, low-to-the-ground, easy-to-step-over-roots Inov8’s from Okataina to the Falls; and ugly-as but super comfy Hoka Stinson ATRs for the mostly even forest road through to the end. I’d bought them specifically for that purpose - and they’d been on special; bargain at only $99! And here I was at the race briefing hearing Paul say that the terrain of the day was really only suited to trail shoes. Bummer! Now what? I had to make a decision pretty quickly as my drop bag for Okataina had my Inov8’s in, and they’re my muddy-trail shoe, so once I’d left that in the truck, that would be that. But running 60km from the start to the Falls in my Inov8’s? Nope. Not a good idea. My ITB’s would be screaming at me again after those hard surfaces, and having run 40km last year with bung ITB’s I knew the Falls would once again be the finish of my race; I didn’t want another 60km medal, dammit, I wanted the 100km! Then all of a sudden the panic subsided and I could clearly see that the only thing I needed to do was start in my trail Hokas, change as planned into my Inov8’s at Okataina, and give my Hokas back to Steve, my lovely hubby and support crew, to bring back to the Falls; problem sorted! Phew! Good decision, very good decision! Although nowhere near as grippy in the mud as my Inov8’s, the Stinsons did a pretty good job and they were, of course, superb at protecting my knees on the roads.
So anyway, back to the race. I started well, felt really strong and comfortable, and despite not wearing my HR monitor - to preserve the battery on my Garmin - I could tell I was in a good place, and at various points I thought back to how I had felt last year and got a real buzz from knowing that I was so much stronger this time around. A few weeks beforehand, I’d come down to do a recce on the new course and had got a tad lost at a few points - map reading is not one of my skills, and I’d been very thankful for the GPS on my phone! - so we got to the new road section quite a bit sooner than I expected. Nice! And the mud didn’t really phase me - I’ve run in worse in the Waitakeres and Riverhead. As I popped out at the Blue Lake, my pacer Sandrine starting yelping and jumping up and down, running along the outside of the course with me; she’s ace, but more of her later! I couldn’t stop grinning. And then there were my other friends, Liz, Hayley, and Julz running later relay stages, and then there was Steve, trying to get me to look so he could take photos, telling me I was doing great; happiness is - being supported by loved ones on a long run.
By the time I’d got round the lake to the aid station I was pretty much on schedule and absolutely over the moon. Bronwyn had already gone through, but she’s a machine, and I was the second of our group, I couldn’t believe I was ahead of Pete, Jenny and Liam, all of whom I respect hugely as runners; I put it down to the fact that they had probably been held up by the bottlenecks at the mudslides. Lots of hugs and photos and I’m off again, beaming. A quick pee stop at Okareka - don’t you just hate having to pull up wet Skins™? They never feel quite the same as before. Better than wetting your knickers, though! - and on towards Millar Road. I ran so much more of this than last year and got to the aid station happy as Larry. It was pretty busy, and I recognised loads of people, so to be in the same aid station as them was a really positive experience. I was just finishing my water and Heed when Liam arrived - selfie time! The only photo I took! Well, it was a bit damp for most of the day.
The WOW was long, wasn’t it? I’m sure it gets longer when you’re not looking. Are we there yet? I kept thinking I was, but only once was I correct! Liam and Julz, the second leg relay runner, had passed me but Liam’s good, and Julz was fresh so I was still pretty happy, the only thing causing a slight furrow of my brow was my left ITB trying to say hello. So I said hello back, but told it that it really wasn’t a convenient time to play, so would it mind going away, and tried to think of all the things I might have done which might have invited it. Undoubtedly the slipping and sliding in the mud at the start would have been one thing. Full body assessment for form, minor corrections and a concerted focus to maintain good form. Go Away ITB! Well, it skulked in the background, but didn’t quite have the strength to make a real nuisance of itself, only enough to slow me down a bit and keep me cautious on the long downhill. At times like these you remind yourself that actually going uphill is really not bad at all! Not wanting to leave my happy place, I took a Panadol and a concrete pill and congratulated myself that I had managed to get this far this year without the agony that I had, by this point, endured last year, and set my sights on Okataina, hugs and fresh shoes.
Isn’t Okataina brilliant?! Such a welcoming place. Hugs and kisses exchanged I concentrated on refilling my bottles with Perpetuem - that is truly powerful stuff, by the way, and if you’re looking to improve on your nutrition, check it out. I hadn’t really intended to eat much from the aid stations but those oranges were just oh so sweetly, calling my name! I guess that’s what I needed - a bit of sugar! Mmmmmmmm! I see Pete for the first time - yay! And Liam is still here, although Liz is long gone on her relay leg. Now to get the ugly-bug Hokas off my feet and put on my Inov8 slippers. Hey, there’s my big toe sticking through my new socks! Bugger! No clean ones until the Falls. Oh well, note to self for next year - have a clean pair of socks at every aid station, just in case! I give my final kisses to Steve, wait for him to go up the track a bit so he can take photos, and I’m off again. Next phase of the journey. I know I’ve left the aid station about 5 minutes earlier than last year, but I’m a bit disappointed that it’s not more. According to my worst case scenario race pace calculator, which has me coming in to Kawerau at 10:18, I’m behind time; it’s going to be a loooong day, and night.
I am, however, still feeling pretty chipper about the race and how my body is dealing with it. I prepared well and I’m happy. Then I realise that in all the excitement at Okataina, I forgot to refill my hydration pack. Not so good. Oh well, nothing to be done except refill at Humphries Bay and keep the fingers crossed I can make it last another hour and a half! At least I’ve got the liquid in my Perpetuem bottles. May be it was the worry about my water, may be the niggle in my ITB that was refusing to go back home, but I was tiring, and people kept taking to me! I didn’t really want to talk at this point, I just wanted to get there. I remembered I’d put a tube of Blackmore’s pain relief gel in my pack and wished I’d rubbed some on before, but that would have to wait, too. Not bad enough yet. Ran out of water.
Humphries was a game changer! Before I’d gone many steps through the station, taking my pack off as I went, feeling a little, not a lot, just a little, sorry for myself, a wonderful man asked if he could fill my bladder for me. Angel, thank you! And a seat! Yay!!! Boy did I need that sit down. I know you shouldn’t really sit down if you can help it, but I had to get my pain relief cream out, and I had to fix my toe/sock issue. I’d come up with the idea of turning my sock inside out so that the hole was by the little toes - much less likely to poke through - and whilst I was sockless I thought I might as well stick a Compeed over a little blister on the side of my foot, before it became a big problem. All great, except that the pain relief cream wasn’t in my pack - bloody sure I’d put it in - and the aid station didn’t have any. Ho Hum, take another concrete pill instead, I don’t think there’s a limit on how many of those you can take in a day! Standing up I bump into Liam, and chatting instead of concentrating I pick up a cup of Heed and take a mouthful. That doesn’t taste like Heed, says I to the lovely lady at the table. Well, that’s because it’s Mountain Dew, says she. Now there’s a surprise! How can I not know the taste of Mountain Dew, you ask? Well, I can’t tell you the last time a drop of any carbonated poison passed my lips. My body is a temple! Why on Earth would I contaminate it with such a hideous concoction of chemicals?! Hahaha! Right now actually, and would you please pass me another cup? That was magic! I commiserated with Pete on his wasp sting, and made my way, rejuvenated, out of Humphries towards the Outlet.
I check my watch and see that my average pace has slowed, not surprisingly, and wonder whether I should continue on immediately with my nutrition plan, having just been at the aid station drinking nectar from the gods. Every 15 minutes I’ve been taking 3-4 sips, well, great long sucks actually, of Perpetueum, and then every hour on the hour, three BCAA capsules (Branched Chain Amino Acid), and every hour on the half hour,two Endurolytes. It’s worked a treat, apart from the need for that massive Mountain Dew hit of sugar and caffeine! I take some BCAA caps. Next look at the watch a few minutes later and I see a blank face staring up at me. Oh well, I knew it was coming. Thank goodness for Strava and cellphones! But now how on Earth am I going to take my nutrition on time?! Guess, is what you do, girl, guess! Taking stock of the capsules I had left after the run, I didn’t do tooooo bad a job at guessing, but I did miss out on a few. Not sure it mattered hugely.
Somewhere along this beautiful primordial stretch of forest, a lovely lady sitting on a rock under an umbrella told our little group that there was only 3.2km to go to the Outlet. Oh yay! But hey, at the pace I’m running, that’s a lot longer than it sounds. Never mind, just one foot in front of the other. The Outlet comes and goes and I remember how I felt last year at this point. Apart from being in agony with both my ITBs I was so elated to be so very close to the end, so very close to achieving my goal. And I thought, you know, I’d be very happy to finish right now, if that’s what I’d signed up for. I knew I’d had a much better race, and was feeling so much better throughout my entire body, than last year. But I was going right at the Falls this time! Bring it on! This time I was going for my ultimate goal, 100km. I honestly wasn’t sure how my knees and ITB would hold up, or hold me up!, but I would have had to have had something hanging off for me not to have given it a go. And besides, Sandrine, my lovely pacer, was waiting eagerly at the Falls to accompany me over the final stages; I couldn’t let her down! I focussed on my form, and made sure I took the time to look at the stunning Tarawera River, fast flowing and cascading dramatically over several outcrops, all pretending to be the falls, until the real Tarawera Falls burst out of the rock face high above the path. How lucky are we to be able to experience this beauty.
By the time I reached the 60km finish the rain had been pouring for some time. I glanced at the clock. Nice one! I’d come in 20 minutes earlier than last year AND run an extra 2.7km - super happy! And then there they all were, amongst the crowds, my wonderful, wonderful supporters. Hugs and kisses there and then on to find Steve and Sandrine. Yay! Dry socks - for how long? - and my fat feet Hokas. Sandrine made me eat a banana - I don’t want a banana, but I ate it anyway. She’s a better runner than me, she knows. More Mountain Dew please, yes, two cups, lovely, thank you! Poor Steve looked like a drowned rat; thank goodness he’d bought a seam-sealed jacket, too! We dash off, mindful of the Titoki cut-off, although I’ve told Sandrine, in no uncertain terms, that we’ll be walking, a lot. Yeah, right!
Sandrine had offered to pace me a while ago, but before I knew her I hadn’t wanted a pacer. I’m a pretty independent kind of person, and I’d wanted to run this race for such a long time, and I wanted to think that I’d done it by myself. It was suggested that perhaps by this stage I might be really glad of some company, somebody to remind me to take my nutrition, and somebody to hold my hand in the dark at the end - because let’s face it, coming in before nightfall was never a possibility! Boy, am I glad I put my sensible head on and said yes, thank you very much. Over the last 40km I think she hardly ever stopped talking. Telling me I was Wonderwoman, telling me how fantastic it was that I’d now run further than I’d ever run before; just baby steps; roll your foot, heel to toe; run up little hills with wide legs, sidestepping; keep the pace; have a banana. I think she had it all on a tape loop! I didn’t reply much, but I was happy enough. Of course you’re hurting, of course you’re tired, you’ve just run 80km, it’s normal, just baby steps. I ran up so many hills, just baby steps, I couldn’t believe it. You’re running such a great pace, I don’t think you know how fast you’re running, and we’re running, not walking. You came to run this race and you’re running, you’re going to do it running, not walking. That Sandrine, she’s a legend.
I thought we made quite good time to Titoki, so I didn’t take my headlamp from Steve. Dumb! After Awaroa, where I bumped into the amazing Sally Law (who heartened me by having the same hurty knees as me) accompanied by the equally amazing Vicky Woolley, I was increasingly conscious that the light was fading fast and that I really did need to keep running, not walking. It helped that it was predominantly downhill, of course, and although the outside of my knees was sore, my ITB had obviously got fed up waiting for me to fold, and had gone to find somebody else to play with. Thank you Hokas, I believe.
By the time we rolled up the hill to Fisherman’s Bridge it was proper dark and Steve was very happy to see us. It had been a long time since Titoki. Oh no! No Mountain Dew! Oh yes! Ginger Beer! That’ll do nicely, thank you. And more banana. It didn’t taste as good as that hot cross bun with jam that just screamed ‘Eat Me!’ at Awaroa, but I ate it. It was good for me, Sandrine said so. And she was right about everything else. Steve had only just got to River Road when we arrived, must have made brilliant time. Just baby steps, keep the pace, we’re running, we’re not walking, look at you, see how many people we’ve passed, you’re running, you’re fantastic, look how far you’ve run. You’ve run 100km now, wow, that’s fantastic, just baby steps. Kind of funny, coming through the 100km mark, but still not quite there! The pipe bridge looked very pretty, thank you for that. So tired. The river bit and round the golf course and rugby club seemed to last forever, because I could sense how close we were, how close I was, to achieving a dream I hardly thought possible a few years ago. Through the wooden railing, and there it was and I was running towards it, and I was nearly there, getting closer, slightly bigger baby steps. There’s Paul, with his arms in the air. Sandrine grabs my hand and I’m there! I’ve done it! I’ve done it! I’ve done it!
Time, immaterial really, but for the record 16 hours 18 minutes, oh, and 4 seconds!
Thank you so much to everybody along the way who supported me, and not just on Saturday; this journey started two years ago. You helped make it happen and I couldn’t have done it without you. Paul and Tim, you’ve created something unbelievably special with this race; I know you know it, because everybody tells you so! You must be incredibly proud. Thank you. See you next year. And next year I get to turn left at Titoki!! Whoop! Whoop!
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