The Great Kauri Run

What an absolutely fantastic race! :)
We got to enjoy some absolutely stunning views, a nice challenging course with ever changing surroundings from beach, bush with stream crossings, tight single trail, steep descents and climbs and rough roads. And all this with a good cause in mind, to try re-establish some of the enormous Kauri forest that once covered the Coromandel peninsula some 200 years ago. For every competitor in the great Kauri race (13km and 32km, walking and running options) a Kauri tree gets planted along the race route. over 1200 trees over the distance of 3km have been planted before the race this year and another 360 Kauri trees will be planted after this years race (the 6th ever Great Kauri Run)!

My friends Ann and Bryon were mad enough to offer to take me to the race, the poor buggers had to get up at 4am! How crazy is that!?!
The race started at Waikawau beach; with the first two kms being in rather soft sand we were trying to dodge the incoming waves, it looked rather playful watching Graeme Pearson way in front of me weaving up and down the waters edge. we then left the coastline and the course went along a nice bush trail following a small river upstream and crossing it a few times along the way until it got steeper and steeper up the hill and we lost the river to head to the top of the ridge and from there pretty much followed the ridge line for the rest of the course. At places you could look to the right and left and see beautiful coastlines to both sides, how awesome is that! :)
Running along all by myself for a while I was fully absorbed by the stunning views and just enjoyed a great time out there following the ever changing terrain towards Coromadel. I must have slowed down a little then when I looked back in the very technical single trail about 3/4 of the way through I could see Michelle Hyland, and she was pretty much right behind me. I knew I had to change my pace or she would get me and I might loose my ride back home as Bryon had warned me that he would leave me behind if I didn't win. ;) I knew there was a nice long decent coming up and then we would be pretty close to the finish line. So I wasn't too worried yet about having to walk home to Rotorua. It was a great feeling running down that last long downhill section making use of the gradient to speed up the legs and get a sensation of speed. I wasn't quite sure how much of a gap I had but I was safe. I won by just a minute.

Bryon and Ann were waiting at the finish line with a punnet of strawberries as I had told them about how nice it had been at Toi's to get some strawberries at the finish :) thanks heaps they went down a treat! :)

Ps: we couldn't stay till prize giving as it would have meant we would be home after 9pm (which wouldn't have been very nice for the driver when he already got up at 4am!) so Graeme Pearson was so nice to pick up my goodies and take them to Rotorua for me. man was i surprised when i saw what i got!!!! the best ever prizes i reckon! i got a beautiful rare swamp Kauri bowl, some nice sunnies, a handy backpack, an cool event t-shirt and a free entry to next years event! will i go back?? bet i will :) it was so much fun and then i get spoilt rotten after! COOL!

Toi's Challenge

the toi's challenge is the first race of the triple crown series. it's an 18k running race from Whakatane to Ohope and back, it's super scenic and has loads and loads of steps, 'ouch!!' yeah people have told me about them but i certainly didn't get it until yesterday when i saw/felt it first hand, but it might have been a good thing not to know, as it was very painful in deed. i must be getting soft! oh well! other then stairs there was a bit along Ohope beach and on the way back we ran through some beautiful bush, it was absolutely stunning and i can recommend anyone to go and walk or run the track, depending on your level of madness ;)
the race was really well organised and there was lot's of smiling people that cheered us on along the way. i blame the amount of sunshine these people are able to enjoy for always being so happy :)
i had a good battle with a local girl Karen, who took off like a rocket at the start and seemed to just want to keep going at that mad pace, luckily for me she was fading too, just like me. we changed lead a few times before i managed to pull it off and win the race, i was pretty shattered though i must admit.
Fiona got second in her class, awesome effort!! ;)


almost forgot, one of the best things about the race was that when you crossed the finish line you got a punnet of super delicious strawberries - they went down a treat!!! :)

looking forward to a restful week and then to the next challenge - the Kauri run! i hear it will be a stunning run as well, can't wait! ;)

to finish off another pic from the breathtaking Toi's track ...

getting a new bike yipee! :)

my new bike is being built up...., I am very excited about it trying out. unfortunately the weather is rather miserable so will have to wait at least until tomorrow. :(

Rob and Mike already tested their new carbon lts and love them! to be honest I thought my santacruz lt was 'mean as' but if I can trust the boys' verdict (and normally I can) the carbon frame is EVEN BETTER!?!? crazy! not sure how that can be but I shall find out soon ;)

my new bike is a new santacruz carbon lt with the new fox float 150 forks and the new sram xx gear (10 speed), mean!!!

will get a pic when it's all built up and 'hopefully' not too dirty yet.

happy trails.... :)

a few images from our trip to Switzerland

Rob in Livigno (Italy) having a play on the burms


on our way up...




same trail still but a bit further on
above St Moritz at Lake Suvretta, ... taking in the sights and having a breather before enjoying the super long and technical downhill single track ;)

update - finally

it's been, once again, ages since i updated this site, sorry! at least i have a good excuse this time ;) i have been in Switzerland visiting my family and having a fantastic time, good enough an excuse?

this is in the Swiss alps above St Moritz, riding there is just amazing! ;)

i'll be quick as i should be other things this time of the day and week (oops)
Rob and i got back from our holiday on thursday morning so we are still a bit jetlagged. glad the sun has been out every day since we have been back, it helps heaps!

i did the final of the three 1/2 halfmarathons in 3 month in Taupo on saturday. almost 1000 people lined up to do the run or walk of the W2K- and Headlands track loop. we couldn't have wished for a more stunning day, it was sunny and mild. we also got spoilt with worldclass views across the lake where we could admire the mountains covered in white, there was a clearing with a seat somewhere along the track; i was soooo tempted to stop there ;)

running i felt better then i first expected, not too fresh but pretty good considering the circumstances. so i managed to make it three wins in a row, very happy about that.

i went for a spin on the bike yesterday to stretch the legs and ride some of our world class trails (there are one of the best for sure ;) ) the body wasn't feeling to fantastic but thanks to the great trails i seemed to find a little bit of energy to get up to hot-x etc... good times ;)

Well done Fiona for doing so well on the weekend and looking forward to the next challenge.

sorry for not having any pics, i will add some 'shortly', at least one from a ride in the Swiss alps ...

Mizuno Half Marathon - Lake Taupo

I just got back from Taupo half marathon.

What a stunning day - it was super sunny and the views of the white mountains were fantastic, it was like they were inviting us for a ski - it was really quite tempting i must admit ;)

Apparently there were 2000 people doing the run and 1000 doing the walking option! pretty amazing really!

The race was good and pretty hard, we had quite a bit of side/head wind to fight, well that is my excuse anyway ;). it felt strange running on the road as i normally do my running in the forest, i prefer being in the nature surrounded by plants and birds and breath in the fresh air.

The first half of the course was pretty much all along the main road which is the highway and is pretty straight, but to keep us sane we got to see amazing views of the lake and the snowed in volcanoes, so i cannot really complain! From there it went across some grass fields and onto the cobbled walking tracks that follow the lake front. So you get to enjoy the nature despite it being a road race which is a big bonus!

I was being chased the whole race by a girl who looked like a runner and had a mean stride on her. Luckily i was a little taller then her, i guess that was my advantage but i don't know. Anyway i thought i had dropped her a little while after half way but i was quite wrong there. then i got a surprise when i could suddenly see her pony tale in the shadow that was following me as we were on the home straight 3 or so ks to go! (bugger!) From there she was pretty much stuck to my heals and i had to dig deep to keep her there rather then the other way round ;)

as i was running towards the finish line i was still expecting her to challenge me, and i was super glad to get over the line first ;) i think i got 20th overall, and 1st female (i know that one)

Fiona got in a little after me, she had a great run too!

we are now looking forward to the next half marathon (the last of the 3 in Taupo this winter) and it will be an off road one which is more our style, sweet! :)

ps: there was some hot soup waiting for us at the finish line, it might not sound like much but it was such a treat and warmed us up nicely :) thanks!

Brooks Half Marathon

It's been a while since I have done an event. It was good to have a break from it for a change, also I haven't got that much spare time for training and racing anymore now that I am working and not studying and with the short days - cannot wait for daylight savings! Yay we are slowly getting there! :)

Pam, Nick, Fiona and I all decided to participate in the Brooks Half Marathon in Taupo which was on today. It's a new event by the organisers of Whirinaki Quest. The event was really well organised and attracted close to 400 runners and walkers - man I wouldn't have wanted to walk in these conditions, it was freezing enough running! - just heard the wind speed was up to 70km/hr at times! no wonder it felt like you were trying to push through a concrete wall at times! ;)

We were super lucky with the weather as it was meant to be pouring down over night and maybe even during the event, but all we had to put up with the strong and frosty wind and some super dark clouds that kept eyeing us up but decided to hold off. Nice!

It was quite funny how just before the event EVERYONE seemed to be debating about what and how much to wear, it made for some random conversations amongst strangers ;)

The race itself was fun. The course took us around Mount Tauhara. There was plenty of uphill and downhill over farmland, through forest roads and a bit of single track and at one stage some cows had to share their paddock with us, they didn't seem to happy to see me, I must have been pretty smelly, they all ran off in a hurry.

Fighting against the wind was the hardest thing, at places it felt like you were not moving much, it didn't seem to help when I ducked down to try make myself smaller for better aerodynamic - I might have to practice that one ;)

It was a cool event, really well organised and no need to hang around for ages for prize giving as the spot prizes were in our registration pack and they handed me the trophy as soon as I crossed the finish line - forgot to say, I won :)

sorry no race pics ;(

Here a picture from the course, obviously not taken on race day, what a shame we didn't get to enjoy the magnificent views today. I did see the lake but Ruapehu was hiding under a duvet of clouds.