IT Consultancy and Adventure Racing

Shane runs a few races around Wellington, and this is the 3rd running of the Mukamuka, and I had a title to defend.

Having won the first year after the race leaders took a wrong turn, and then taking out the 2nd year on an alternative course, I was quite looking forward to running the full course this year, though not looking forward to getting smashed by Jamie Stewart.

Looking around on race morning, there was no sign of Jamie, but the room was full of people I'd never seen before, and this was nicely underlined when Shane asked how many had not done this run before and 2/3rds of the room put their hands up. Shane's marketing is obviously getting out beyond the multisport community and in amongst the runners, which didn't bode well for me!

Bussing down to the start line I was lucky in that Rachel was doing the tramping class of the race - as she had to carry a 15Kg pack she had no problem taking my warm gear and leaving me carrying just about the minimum I needed ( though I did still have 2 watchess on for some reason ).

Apparently I was quite focussed before the race started, and I certainly broke recent form by having a bit of a jog and stretch warmup - usually I'll just let myself warm up over the first couple of K, but I was expecting the pace to be hot for the first, flat, 10K, and I didn't want to be too far off the pace before we entered the rough stuff.

I positioned myself at the front as we lined up, and Mick Hill positioned himself alongside me, pointing his camera at me and threatening to be taking an 'in my face' video for the whole run. I hope my 'bugger off' came across in the light hearted fashion I intended, though that may have got lost in my panicked reaction to the 'go'.

Apparently I took off like a scolded cat, and put a gap on the chasing bunch. Surprised to be alone at the front, I looked down at the GPS watch and discovered I was on about 4min20 per km pace. This seemed a bit fast, but seemed comfortable enough, and as the alternative - backing off the pace and dropping back into the pack - didn't really appeal, I thought I'd see how long I could hold on.

Sneaking peeks backwards there was a body about 100m back, and I vowed to keep him there for 1, 2, and then 4k.

A few k into the race there is a rough section as a large fan of rocks spreads across the path, and I decided to take the direct route across this rather than slavishly following the 4wd track that winds all over the place. This proved to be a good move as I came out of this section with a much healthier lead.

I was surprised at how much I concentrated over the race, as my mind hardly wandered from the task at hand, and the next section to the bottom of the mukamuka valley, even though it is relatively flat, took most of my concentration, leaving me just enough to work out that I probably needed a 2 minute lead at the orongorongo track if I was to take another win.

I was hopeful that my improvement over the rock fan would be repeated once I got into the mukamuka valley, so it was nice to see Mark and Ray's marshal point signalling the end of the flat. The offer of chocolate was appreciated, but declined anyway as I was really trying to avoid any distractions.

Up the valley, and despite having come over the course a couple of months ago, I had my first ever piece of route hesitation, as the usual cones at the first valley junction were missing and my brain was obviously suffering from oxygen debt ;-)

Thankfully I chose the correct valley, and carried on, taking a chance to look back at one of the last open sections, I could see 2 shirts a fair way behind, the 2nd one a red item that I suspected was Fleur Pawsey. Into the really rough stuff at the top of the valley, and I could see why people have got lost on this course before - especially with the amount of wind damage there currently is up there.

Scrambling onto the south saddle I was calling out to the marshal I expected to be there - apparently I should have listened at the briefing where we were told this point would not be marshaled this year.

Normally the downhill sections of a race like this are my strength, but I still haven't given it full berries on a downhill since 'doing' my ITB, and my current near exhausted state didn't seem like a good time to try, so a relatively controlled descent followed.

Exiting out into the stream bed, I felt absolutely spent, and started stumbling on the rough, rocky surface. It was time to try a boost, so on top of the Go Fast that was already in my drink system, I chewed on a piece of Go Fast gum. This quickly did the trick, and by the time I reached Jo and Stephen's marshal point I was feeling a lot more in control - even managing to dodge the mountain radio aerial that I only saw at the last minute.

Unfortunately I was instructed to head down the Big Bend track, as this would be easier going and longer than following the river, this would not work in my favour!

This track is a nasty kick in the tail of this race, as it includes a lot more ascent than running down the river, including a couple of nasty pinch climbs, and a point where the track is washed away, the exit not being 100% obvious.

The biggest pinch has a very inviting looking flat track below it that I almost ran onto accidentally. After a moment of turmoil I decided to stick to the official track and started climbing - a conversation at the finish line informed me that the lower track is badly washed out, so it was the right move competitively as well as morally ;-)

Eventually I reached the end of the Big Bend track, to find Doug marshalling the bridge. He obviously wasn't expecting me, and didn't have his camera ready, but it was nice to see he got photos of a lot of the competitors.

Thanking Doug for giving up his time to marshal it was into the last major slog-climbing from the river up to the Orongorongo track. Though only about a 60 odd metre climb, it had my lungs searing as I walked it, breaking back into a trot as it flattened out.

The Orongorongo track is a lovely run on a nice day, but this felt far from a nice day as the undulating track reduced me to walking on a few occasions, who knows what sight I presented to those out walking.

Reaching the various landmarks towards the end of the track, I knew there was one last climb before a drop to the road run out. I was expecting the final 2k out on the road to be my weakest leg, as I had visions of a hoarde of road runners descending on me en masse just before the finish line.

With this vision in mind, I dropped down to the car park and tried to get back used to road running, especially in ultra light off road race shoes. Sneaking a look back as I left the car park, I could see no-one, giving me about a 2 minute buffer ... Hopefully enough, but I wasn't going to let up just in case!

Hammering down the road, I was shocked to find my GPS reading sub 4 minute ks, and that there was still a chance I could break 3 hours - this bit of road is obviously a steeper downhill than I realised!

With only 1 more check behind me, I pushed myself to the limit, to stagger up the finishing stairs and stop the clock at 3 hours and 20 seconds - agonisingly close to the 3 hour mark, though after this much pain I am definitely not promising to come back and try to break that barrier.

Next across the line was Anthony Thomson 11 minutes behind, having gained 4 minutes since the entrance to the Mukamuka valley, and having overtaken 36 people in that section!, followed by Fleur, romping home in 3:15, 20 minutes ahead of the next female.

Many thanks as always to my sponsors Burkes cycles, Fergs kayaks, and especially Inov8 shoes whose Terrocs have provided awesome grip for all 3 wins, and Go Fast for the gum that fixed me in a time of stumbling need.