17 December 2008

new trail

i went to check out the new no brains extension on sunday. it's awesome! it still needs a bit of bedding in as it is brand new but it already is so much fun! :) and now there are even more reasons to do no brains, other then the wicked view at the look out and the prime trail itself, the trail keeps going now!! - actually it's not so much an extension as a new trail instead of no brains which is a bit of a shame.
from there i went up pondy rd to do pondy downhill (the bike trail not the horse trail) it is still one of my favourites next to chestnut into roller coaster and tuhoto ariki.
if you want to know more about the trails in whakarewarewa forest check out this link.

10 December 2008

The goat (alpine run) - 6 dec



I went into the race with no ambitions as it was just going to be a casual event, no pressure to do well, as I am not a runner but I like going for runs and use the sport for cross training.
The day was a stunner; we (I went down with Nick Lambert) could see Mt Taranaki crystal clear when we sprinted off down the road trying to get a good position in the field before heading onto the walking trail. It got technical as soon as we entered the trail; you have to watch your step and try to spot the good lines (similar to biking). I had heard that the course was going to be super technical but I didn’t quite imagine how technical it was going to be. I was amazed at some of the runners’ skills as they zoomed past me almost floating over the super rough terrain – it looked wicked! While I was running along I had someone tell me that I was 1min down, I didn’t think much of it. Later on the course Henry told me I was 3min down from the lead woman. I didn’t think I was going to be able to catch her up but kept on spotting her a little further up the trail. It wasn’t until the very end that I came close enough to Oksana to realise that I could maybe win if I gave it a bit more – but there was bugger all left in the legs. I was shuffling up the infamous Mama’s Mile (the very last part of the course which is an uphill tar seal road) when Budgy drove past yelling out to me to hurry up. So I thought I better give it a try. I ended up winning the race in 2hrs 27ish min and I am still quite surprised but also super stoked about it.
I can fully recommend the event as it is quite an experience but be prepared to climb up rock faces or other steep terrain rather then running the whole way.

huka xl - 29 nov 08


78k of almost only single track – what a primo race course!!

I arrived at the start about 20min before race start and the start area was pretty full already – luckily I was able to sneak to the front and found some familiar faces like Mike and Tim and Budgy, so it was a nice relaxed start, we pretty much chatted away till the gun went off. The very first bit was on the road but we hit the single track pretty much right away and then rode trail after trail and it just didn’t seem to end! It was awesome! I had no idea where the course was going – other then that we were eventually going to get to the dam and then take the Rotary track back to Taupo. It was cool to not know what to expect and do trails that I hadn’t done for ages or never done at all. I had no idea were the other girls where while I was riding along as the course keeps winding along but I thought I had an ok lead so I just enjoyed the ride and tried not to slow down too much. When we hit Taupo I though ‘sweet we are there’ (I was a bit tired by then and was looking forward to the finish line) but the race didn’t quite finish then – we were lead back into some more tight single track that I had no idea it existed and growled up some more steep rises before we finally ended up in the park close to the finish line and … yes crossed the line to win the first Huka xl race. It was a very cool race because the course was so awesome, I will do it again for sure!