The Marvellous Molesworth ( well for the first nine and a half hours)

This weekend has proven to be a real expedition. Me and my team of Noel and John travelled to Hanmer in temperatures in the high twenties with me realising that I had been deficient in my hot weather preparations.

We arrived in Hanmer about 2 hours ahead of schedule much to son John's mirth regarding my obsession with not being late. The southern gate to the high country station opened at 6 pm . This was my first venture into this area, first impressions being that this was an unrecognised New Zealand desert.

After a two hour drive across to the Molesworth Farm Station we arrived to a tent village of running refugees on Friday evening. Everything was coated in a few millimetres of dust which had penetrated everything during the drive.

The day of the race dawned much cooler with a forecast for showers later. 

This is the view from the start  up the Molesworth Valley. This was the greenest part of the run.

This is me at my brightest at the start along with 20 other like minded solo starters, finger on the timer ready for the countdown to the start.

The steepest hill was the Davis Pass at 7 km after which the run was mostly flat or undulating. The event had plenty of activity with all the other solo runners and team runners with their support vehicles. The impression when running is completely different to driving as you are much more aware of the surroundings than you are in a vehicle. I genuinely enjoyed running in this stark bleak region.

Noel Morriss - vehicle support

Just another 20 km to go. As the final legs of the relay teams has left by now, the last 20 km or so were quite lonely but thankfully John and Noel were close at hand with the cloud rolling up Jacks Pass.

Downhill, 5 km to go, 25minutes to cut off,  therefore only 5 minute kms at the end of 80km. Unlike the Blues Brothers I did not have sunglasses or a full tank of petrol.

This was the hardest bit -  running downhill with 3kms to go is pretty sore on the quads.

Finally across the finish line.( 85 km). It was great to see Christy Rhodes and Rachel Holdaway at the end who had been leafleting in Hanmer for Beat Bowel Cancer Aotearoa. Many thanks to Maurice (event organiser with clipboard on the right) for keeping the course open for the tail enders, as at 10h 24mins I was outside the official cutoff.

The evening was celebrated with prize giving and  poetry recitals describing everyones experience. Many thanks again to Maurice for letting me speak a few words about BBCA, with an impromptu collection raising $230+ for  the charity. For good measure my poem was chosen as the winner so I am the Molesworth Bard for this year. I think this just demonstrates that slower runners have more time to think!

The Ballad of Molesworth

What can you say to describe The Molesworth?

Of what I can say it is definitely dusty,

With gel eating runners - notably gusty

And support crews all round, reliably trusty

But when you get to the cut off gate

It is there that you start to hallucinate

For a woman there, who is really size eight

Immediately appears, all lusty and busty

But of all the words, in your "a" to "zee"

Requires a new word in your vocabulary

As whilst the Molesworth is  certainly dusty, gusty, trusty and busty

It is totally,  utterly,  awesomely  Zusty.

( Apologies Dr Seuss)

Pre race jitters

Just 4 days to go.

This week has been quite cruisy. It is tempting to think that shorter runs means that with the extra time available you (i.e. me) can compensate by frequent snacking so a lock on the pantry door is not a bad idea.

Today hit the ominous temperature of 28 degrees, from which the air conditioning at work provided delicious relief. Funny how in NZ we spend half the year complaining how cold it is, only to complain how hot it is  for the other half. Therefore , this means that it will definitely be either a) hot for the run , or b) not  hot. Not hot means a  cold Southerly in my face (  +/-  rain/hail/snow) whereas hot will probably be a dry nor-west wind.

My support crew of Noel Morriss and possibly son John are nearly ready too. The aim is to travel Friday to Hanmer Springs, camp at the start , ready for the 8 am start on Saturday. Noel and John will stop in the van every 8-10 km to  proffer food and water, take photos and fix blisters. The running is sometimes the easy bit. The Beat-Bowel-Cancer-Aotearoa supporters will be at Hanmer distributing leaflets and running the information stand.

Best Regards.

Simon's Hill Expedition.

This week has culminated in 103 kms so a slow taper begins from here on in. Fundraising has steadliy reached close  to $1000 so many thanks for those contributions to BBCA.

Todays trip is 2 weeks from the Molesworth and saw a group of us explore the Simons Hill Station courtesy of owners Peter and Jane. The trip was 24 km with 681 meters of ascent/descent. 14 of us from age 4 onwards jogged/walked /mountain biked / 4WD'd in different combinations up and round Simons Hill. Simon was a maori boy from Banks peninsula who accompanied one of the party members that crossed into the Mackenzie Basin onto  the first sheep run in 1856.

Maggie  making sure that we get going up the hill

View of Mt Cook from top of Simons Hill

Halfway round. Mt Cook ever-present.

Probably the Best Barbecue in the world. Many Thanks Peter and Jane. This running lark gets really tough at times ( should I have seconds/thirds or fourths?).

Ka Kite.

18 days and counting

Work has been a little bit in the way recently so no more long epics in the last 10 days. However I was pleased to run a sub 3 hour 30km on Saturday, courtesy of my running mate Ronnie who is a seasoned Comrades Ultramarathon runner. He pushes me to do faster runs rather than just long slow plods which is a danger when left to just running on my own all the time. All said, I have still managed 117 km in the past 7 days.

Halloween passed with evil spirits being kept at bay by my daughters' lanterns.

The days are getting longer such that most of my runs  now start in daylight, so my werewolf antics are over for a few months. Weather been mostly sunny so mornings are pretty good.

Dawn Lake Hood

I will start tapering now as today was my final long run of 32 km before the Molesworth. Saw a weasel today which reminds me of my favourite joke

Q. How do you tell the diffence between a stoat and a weasel?

A. One is weaselly recognisable and the other is stoatally different

ka kite

Werewolf run

The combination of work and the full moon must have been getting to me as last night I went for a run in the mountains from Glenfalloch Station at the head of the Rakaia River, to Lake Heron.

Moon rise was 7.36 pm to the East

Arrowsmith range to the west

A full moon accompanied me for most of this run/walk. It became a bit cloudy around Midnight, but it cleared again from there. Every tussock looked like some unidentified animal so it is easy to see where the  imagination can run riot to conjure up all sorts of beasts and monsters. 

The run finished at 4 a.m. 50 km over 8 hours so this will help put some miles in the tank. Total of 121km past 7 days. Being too sleepy to drive back immediately, I had a snooze for a couple of hours to be woken by the sunrise shining on the Rakaia River.

 

Ka Kite

What doesn't kill you, chocolate will make you stronger

Mt Herbert - "North face"

The weekend has consisted of 3 runs around the flats of Ashburton. Today I took advantage of a board meeting in Diamond Harbour to go for a run up Mt Herbert. This is the highest point on Banks Peninsula, east of Christchurch, at 920 metres. Mt Herbert was named after Sir Sidney Herbert, the British secretary of war who was responsible for sending Florence Nightingale to the Crimea War. Thus, indirectly he was responsible for the birth of the nursing profession.

View of Southern Alps - stretches across an area 3x the size of Switzerland

The day started with benign spring warmth which progressively disappeared. The area is quite spectacular with its views but the hillsides are quite bleak having been denuded from fires and land clearances in the distant past. I ran past an area of skeletal dead trees which gave a graveyard eeriness to the run.

What trees there were certainly gave no doubt as to where the prevailing wind came from, as this stunted mountain totara , below, shows.

Fortunately as this was an "out and back" run/walk/stagger,  and the wind direction did not change,  I did not end up bald on one side of my head.

Running back up Mt Herbert after going partway along the peninsula summit track, I hit the wall.

Internal question : Why am I feeling so terrible?

Internal answer   : Because you nearly fifty, running up a stupid hill , it is  cold  and you are hungry

Internal Solution : Eat CHOCOLATE

Result                 : Yum. Caramello never tasted so good. Feel Better

Fortunately from thereon the run was all down hill so the 4 hr 17  min run saw me cover the grand total of 24 km with 1238 metres of ascent. This was one of the toughest outings I have done for a long time, so hopefully this will improve my endurance. Total of 94 km in the last 7 days. Managed to snooze through the board meeting without snoring.

Kia Kaha

Post Match review

Last weekend took a different  direction with "master's" soccer involving 5 games of 40 minutes resulting in 1 draw , 2 losses  one win and one team which did not turn up. Intriguing that 2 hours or so of football over a weekend leaves you much more sore then 2 hours of running. Falling over hurts more after age 40.  However aside from bruises the legs are intact if not the pride.

After the southerly blast ( last game on Sunday was played in a howling gale at 2 degrees Celsius) , spring has returned. I went for a slow achy 4 hour run today around the  roads of Geraldine.

Four Peaks Range, Geraldine. Spot the native tree ( answer=0)

 Today's run ended in one of the only stands of Totara in Canterbury, in the Talbot Forest.

A Mighty Totara unfortunately with extensive  possum damage.

It is just over 6 week to the Molesworth run now so the longer runs will be occurring over the next 3 weeks. 

Ka kite.

Rowing on Lake Hood

The last 10 days have been splendid with sunny dry days. The soil is starting to show small cracks, so people will be complaining soon of lack of water despite the rainiest winter for many years. This is a picture of some rowers on Lake Hood yesterday morning at the end of my 10 km run. The lake has been well used as the Christchurch rowers have been in Ashburton a lot since the earthquake  disrupted their usual rowing stretch ( Kerr's Reach ) because of disturbance to the river bed there and uncertainty about sewage contamination of the River Avon.

There was a decent tremor of 5.0 last night which was quite reminiscent of the big quake last month. Happily it did not last long although a few seconds seems like minutes when it happens.

Today I managed a 30 km run which felt quite challenging although I was pleased that it was my fastest long run ( >26km) with the exception of the Abel Tasman Coastal Classic, in the past 3 months. Overall 50 km since Sunday. Tomorrow will be cross training on the bike.

Ka kite.

Change of scene

A steady amount of k's this week with 21km/10km/15km runs this week. On Thursday I was stalked by an escaped farm deer for about 6kms. This was a little unnerving as she would canter after me for about 100 metres then stop, sniff the air, snatch some grass , allow me the get ahead for a further100metres then catch up with me snorting and drumming her hooves on the ground. Then repeat. As I figured that there have been no reported cases of deer maulings outside of handling pens , I presumed its intentions were friendly.

This weekend saw me visiting North Canterbury for my daughter's soccer tournament.  I ran along New Brighton Beach both mornings so this provided a beautiful change of scene.

A washed up snapper marked my turnaround point on Saturday. Reminded me of the snapper and chips at the Kaiapoi WMC from the night before. 

This weeks plan is for most of my runs to be during the week as I am involved in a Masters Soccer tournament in Timaru next weekend.

All the best.

Sore Legs

The price for being smug about a good recovery from a run is ... sore legs. I went out with the Ashburton Spring Trail Runners last Saturday- the spring referring to the season, as we  are ( barring one) more in the early autumn of our lives. The run was 17 .4 km with 866 metres of elevation up Woolshed Creek, past the disused Blackburn Coalmine and up to the saddle between Pinnacles Hut and Woolshed Creek hut. The day was windy but eventually warm . I have managed some runs  (notably my slowest flat 21km in 2 months) since and my legs have decided to let me know about it. I even rubbed canola oil into my knees. It didn't work.

These photos are from the archives as my camera battery was not charged up for this run. 

Looking towards the Arrowsmith Range. April 2006

These photos were respectively taken at the extremes of snow cover so if you half close your eyes and imagine the snow as being halfway between the two then you will have a close approximation to the conditions that we ran in.

Chrisanne and John toiling up the snowy track to Woolshed Creek  June 2004.

Kia Kaha.

Recovery and panic

Lighter mornings. Still chilly though.

Well at risk of tempting fate, I am delighted to have beaten 4 hours for the Abel Tasman! Must be a  combination of cunning, better familarity with the course and possibly doing more 15-20 km runs midweek in training rather than runnning more days for fewer km's. This week have run  a 20 km/10km/15 km run and pleasingly my legs have not been as stiff as previous years.

I sat down on Monday night to form a rough draft of my plan of attack for the Molesworth Run, which being 85km I basically thought of a 65km distance run on one day at the end of October and tried to work out  distances around this. This "panic" formula came up with me aiming for about 140 km per week , so back to the drawing board for this programme.  Apart from the distance the intimidating part of the Molesworth is the cut off time of 10 hours. Suffice the training programme is still a work in progress.

Watch this space.

The Abel Tasman Coastal Classic

The first run of the four went underway as planned with the Abel Tasman Park being sheltered from the fierce storm that demolished a sports stadium in Invercargill, and cut off electricity to 14000 homes in North Island.

Cold weather gear  for the boat trip to the start!

The day started with a grey cold boat trip and a shivery roll call on the Awaroa airstrip before the starting gun. The decision to run in normal running gear soon paid off though as  the sun started to poke through the clouds.

The runners strung out along Onetahi Beach. ( 7km)  Moira is the tenth figure ahead of me here!

The day just got better and better. View Between Bark Bay and Torrent Bay ( about 16 km ). North Island is seen in the distance.

Nice flat bit next to Torrent Bay Estuary (about 20 km )

No photos taken for the next 16 km as I got a bit obsessed with trying to beat the 4 hours ( which I did by 1 minute 38 second). This is Moira, who was a short distance behind me, with Chrisanne supporting her on her left shoulder. Chrisanne accompanied Moira for the last 2 km encouraging her with "keep going Mum "  and "you can do it".

In summary a brilliant day with beautiful views of sea, sand and bush and the great company of fellow runners.

Many thanks for the text's and email received.

Now for the Molesworth run in 9 weeks time ......

36 hours to the Abel Tasman Coastal Classic

Big skies in Mid Canterbury today. For good measure  the biggest storm on the planet (a depression of 950 Hpa)  is positioned 1000km south of New Zealand promising to bring strong winds and heavy rain over the next 48 hours. This won't affect the run because .... it is in the bush and nice and sheltered. Yeah right.  If the weather conditions are not suitable, then the run will be altered from the  34 km Awaroa -Marahau one way trip, to the Marahau-Torrent Bay-Marahau 28 km run. There are also other minor considerations such as the flight to Nelson tomorrow and the boat trip to get to the start on Saturday morning.

The running shirt and cap  arrived courtesy of Rachel Holdaway who is the busy Ashburton Beat Bowel Cancer facilitator and has also been targeted by magpies recently.  Many thanks for this - Very smart! I will have to really run well now!

The link for the Abel Tasman run is http://www.nelsonevents.co.nz/AbelTasmanCoastalClassic.htm

I will  post some run photos on Sunday. Many thanks again for the contributions - there was $80 in the collection box in the last 3 days which is just great.

Ka kite.

You know spring is here when you start getting dive bombed

                                          

Therein a Magpie watches.

This morning I was happily running an easy 6km run in warm mild morning sun, only to be squawked and flapped at by a Autralasian Magpie. This set off the obligatory flapping of arms, expletives which do not rhyme with magpie  and a sudden spurt in running pace. Yes, the magpie season is upon us. This will last for the next 3 months, so runners and cyclists need to be vigilant to their presence. At least there was no contact this morning. 

So far I have experienced dive bombing by magpies, plovers and once by a New Zealand Falcon. The falcon was certainly the most awe inspiring as it was the perfect sniper attack, dropping in total silence to target and lacerate the thinning area at the top of my head. The wound was a true badge of honour to the predatory skill of such a raptor. Plovers are just stupid with their flailing legs  and you just want them to shut up. The magpie however is my true adversary simply throught its persistence and by weight of numbers. Last year a most intent magpie attacked me 8 times over a stretch of 100 meters or so. I was very happy when its belt of pines was chopped down for firewood the following winter.

Apart from magpies , I am enjoying the relaxed countdown to the Abel Tasman Run, with touch wood, no injuries. My Beat Bowel Cancer Running Shirt will be ready tomorrow.

Ka Kite.

6 days to the Abel Tasman Coastal Classic

Please excuse this shot but the intention of this picture is to show that I am not just a fair weather runner! Conditions have been a bit mixed this week but have managed 76 kms in the last 7 days. The earth is still trembling with aftershocks round here but nowhere near as sustained or strong as last weekend.  I am looking forward to easing down this week. Moira is showing me a clean pair of heels being 30+seconds faster than me per Km. We keep telling each other it is not a competition.........

Many thanks to those who have donated to Beat Bowel Cancer Aotearoa

Post Earthquake run

Not Bushmansfriend - nice symmetry and soft velvety leaves.

Canterbury had a major earthquake this weekend. Christchurch suffered  very badly, although Ashburton has been very fortunate to escape relatively unscathed.

24km run today in warm  nor-westery conditions along the Ashburton Rivertrack and back around Lake Hood. Nice to start a run in daylight for a change.

I had always thought the above plant was called Bushmansfriend ( rangiora ) for its utility as toilet paper when you get caught short in the bush but apparently this is not so. Until I hear otherwise  I shall call it runners friend instead.

Thursday's run (17km) started in darkness to give me the sun sneaking between Mid-Canterbury's horizon and stratocumulus clouds before it disappeared above the grey at 7 a.m. My podcast ( "Things You Should Know" ), which I sometimes listen to when running, tells me that each photon of light that hits us has been bouncing around inside the sun for half a million years before it warms our skin. Somehow I do not feel quite so old! 

Escaping the Southerly - Run of the week!

Whilst my daughter was displaying her science project at the local science fair, I snuck off for a coastal  2 hr 20 min run/walk/photostop return trip from Sumner to Godley Head. I enjoyed a cool but clear rainshadow. All places south enjoyed a soggy Antarctic deluge.  Definitely the place to be when the southerly comes.

http://www.beatbowelcancer.org.nz/bbca/

21 days to the Abel Tasman Coastal Classic

Morena. Training been quite steady this week with 90 km so far. Some early starts but thankfully no frosts. This is the home stretch during my 20 km run this morning. I'll need to run some hills next week before I ease down the distances.

http://www.beatbowelcancer.org.nz/bbca/

Kia kaha.

Whats this all about?

Hi there. I'm Mick and I've gone a bit potty in the last 3 years with running distances, which frankly if you had asked me 3 and a half years ago what I thought about people who ran in events which take upto 17 hours, I would have said that they are all utterly mad, had nothing better to do with their time and it served them right if they ended up with arthritis of the knees by next Christmas.  Which is of course all correct.

So why do this?

Well it is easier to explain the how rather than the why and as usual it is best to start by blaming some one else.  On this occasion that would be my wife Moira who is a spectacular woman who started up triathlons seven or so years ago, in the era that dawned when our children had all become of school age. She has proved to be very successful at them. Revealing a terrifying determination to race an ironman (and QUALIFY for the world championships in Hawaii 2008!) , she enlisted me to run the marathon leg in the Wanaka Challenge iron distance race in 2008, which I confess I loved. That was my first marathon. Flush with enthusiasm I subsequently ran the Motatapu Mountain Marathon ( which made me cry) 6 weeks later, and then the St James  69 km Ultramarathon three weeks after that ( which left me  feeling somewhere between being alive and not). None of the times were spectacular but I beat the cut off which has pretty much been the story of  my events since then.

                                    The Abel Tasman Coastal Classic Run  2008

Back to why.

Well initially it is because my first love is being in beautiful country which is where all these events get held. The Wanaka region of NZ is so beautiful it hurts to look at the scenery, the St James' Walkway has a quiet moody grandeur that makes you realise that you are definitely in a world much bigger than your own little existence. The advantage of running these tramping tracks in a day is that you do not have to lug a big pack with you although the time spent in these regions is inevitably shorter. I was lucky to run the 60 km Kepler Track in December 2009 in the best weather conditons for 20 years and I followed this up with running the Tarawera 100 km run in March 2010. Yes it was knackering, but my enduring memory is not of  tired legs, but of pristine bush, the companionship of runners, waterfalls and the fabulous taste of freshly cut watermelon at aid stations. I guess I'm hooked.

                       Bush Running on the Tarawera Ultramarathon March 2010

Shortly before the Kepler Run in 2009, my sister who lives in the UK, - my country of birth-, was diagnosed with T3N1M0 bowel cancer in her early 50's. I myself am a Family Doctor and at first I was very shocked that someone so young should have a relatively advanced cancer. Then with reflecting on the patients that I have encountered over the past 26 years, I came to realise that what would have had a poor outlook at the time of my graduation from medical school, has now turned into a disease  with a much better outlook. Her treatment has been a true ultramarathon with radiotherapy / chemotherapy/ surgery/ chemotherapy and then more surgery. These treatment options have come about through better techniques , better drugs, better imaging and better radiotherapy,all via careful evaluation and research. All of these treatments will need to be refined and made better through yet more research and by increasing awareness of bowel cancer. Bowel cancer is one of three most common cancers in New Zealand.

My current aims are to run the Abel Tasman Coastal Classic 33km Run on September 18th, the Molesworth 85 km run on November 20th , the Tarawera 100km on March 19th 2011, and my ultimate target is the North Face 100 km Blue Mountain Run, New South Wales May 14th 2011- apparently this is reeeaaallly hard!

I will be wearing a running shirt for  the BBCA (Beat Bowel Cancer Aotearoa) charity and if you can donate to this worthwhile cause through their website,  that will give extra purpose to my running and will make me more likely to reach that finish line .

The web address is:-

http://www.beatbowelcancer.org.nz/bbca/

I will endeavour to update this blog from time to time with odd training exploits and other snippets as each event gets closer.

Kia Kaha.