When I first saw Terry’s very excited post about his dream to put on this awesome run up to Mt Difficulty coming to fruition, I got quite excited too.  Terry had mentioned it to me a couple of times over the past few years and I have always really enjoyed my training runs up to Mt D.  And then I saw the video he posted a few weeks before the race and to be totally honest it kind of freaked me out!

Rachael early in the big climb. Photo : Alastair Hanson.

Now, I’m just your average Joe Bloggs runner – I’m not that fast, in a midsize field I usually come in around the middle, and only once in my life have I had a podium finish (and that was probably through none of my own doing!) but I have done quite a few events so consider myself to have a reasonable amount of experience – I just like to get out there and enjoy the fantastic countryside and running companionship that is on offer.   I have done a “Terry Davis special” before – one of my very first mountain running events was the inaugural Highland Events Skyline Challenge (which is no longer held) in pouring rain and snowing at the top of Mt Alpha.

So at first I was really excited about this race and then I was absolutely terrified.  Terry did not help matters at all when we were sitting at our kids swimming lessons, talking about the race and he said to me that there was potential in this race for someone to die.  Great way to promote the race Terry!! Not only did he tell me this once or twice but about a hundred times (ok slight exaggeration, but only slight).  By this stage I was kind of thinking that maybe I shouldn’t do this event, that I wasn’t up for it and it was too technical for me.  But I couldn’t stop thinking about it and how awesome the course was and it drew me in.  So nothing like leaving it to the last minute (especially after yet more warnings from Terry about the danger), I entered on Friday.

Then we had the briefing and needless to say I didn’t sleep well on Friday night.

Saturday morning dawned with the classic Cromwell fog and I knew we would be in for a gorgeous day up above it on the hill.  Nerves reached their peak but also the excitement of the unknown was creeping in.  There’s nothing like doing a race for the very first time for me – not knowing what lies ahead and also not having any pressure of previous times to beat and goals to achieve.  I went into this event thinking I would take around 4 hours to complete it and I was going to try and “enjoy” it as much as I could.  To be honest I was not looking forward to the first part of the run – having to do a lap of the rustic course first before we headed uphill did not excite me in the slightest but as it turned out it was the perfect warmup before hitting the steep stuff and I actually enjoyed the loop.  Terry had warned us at the briefing of the steep uphill in the first part of the climb and he said we would know in the first 10 minutes if we wanted to continue – and there would be no shame in turning back and going to do the Rustic instead.  “Like hell” I had thought at the time – no way would I be turning back to go down after getting part of the way up that hill. The climb up didn’t bother me in the slightest (from a heights/gradient) perspective, yes it got steep, VERY STEEP, it was definitely hands on the ground territory and I was making sure at some points that I was certain where my hands and feet were placed before I made my move but I plugged away quite happily and made my way up the course following the markers.  I was thinking at that point that Terry had unnecessarily tried to scare me off – not knowing what still lay ahead on the downhill section!  I wasn’t keen to look back to see where I had come from until I eventually made it through the fog and out into brilliant sunshine where it was welcome relief to stop and take a couple of photos.  At this point it wasn’t as steep as previously and it was a little easier to continue the climb up.  At one point I looked up and could see the runners far ahead in the distance and it was a little daunting that I still had quite a way to go.  It was very slow going up the side of that hill for the 3km climb – my watch recording two 30 minute kilometres and a slightly quicker one at 25 minutes!!!  Catching a glimpse of a radio tower I yelled out to the guy behind me that we were nearly there – only for it to disappear again and we had to slog it out for what seemed quite a distance before finally reaching Steve, the marshall at the top of Mt D.  At this point I had put my hat and gloves back on, as well as my windproof vest, as there was a bit of a cold breeze blowing and it did make me think that I wouldn’t like to be doing this event in bad weather as we were quite exposed up there.

Rachael heading for home after surviving the “tickey” bit above. Photo: Nigel Lines

After a bit of a chat with Steve and refuelling I made my way onto the 4WD track to start the descent – checking my watch I saw I had covered 9.5km in 2:18, not even half way I thought but quite happy I should be well on track for under 4 hours.  The next few km ticked away as I ran down and chatted with Alan from Queenstown.  It was pretty easy running, down the 4WD track – just the odd snow drift to run around the edge of and a few slick parts to watch out for.  We hit the fog again just before the tape directing us to head off the 4WD track and back onto the uneven, untracked ground.  This slowed us down again as it was harder to run on and also the fog made it difficult to see where we were headed so there were quite a few points that I had to stop and look hard for the next marker to make sure we headed in the right direction.  But I never felt like we couldn’t find where we were going so I was happy with the track marking.  At this point I’m thinking again what on earth was Terry Davis going on about trying to freak me out with warnings of a nasty descent and his story about when Ed started shaking his head and telling Terry he couldn’t make people go down that way  – when we reached Penny, who was marshalling, and was meant to be at the worst part of the descent but had climbed up further as apparently people were getting a little wary higher up from where she was originally.  Penny told us to take it easy down through where she was but it was nothing to worry about and then to watch out for the yellow Caution signs.  That was all fine, we made it down past Penny cheerily waving goodbye, made it carefully past the first caution sign and then we hit the second caution sign and OH MY GOD I then knew what Terry was talking about!!  It was steep and technical and pushed me right outside my comfort zone coming down that cliff face – I came down most of that face on my backside and clinging on to any thyme bush I could get my hands on, at one point I was the most uncomfortable as I really just didn’t know what my next move was going to be but Alan had kindly stuck with me and made sure I got down safely with a few pointers of where to go next – albeit very slowly!!  There was only one point in that descent that I felt totally unsafe and the rest it was just up to me to know my limits and come down however I thought I could.  I’m not ashamed to say I came down there pretty slowly – I’m just happy to say I got down in one piece without tumbling to the bottom!!  Thinking back on it now I needed to go down that slowly, as if I had tried to rush myself over something that I just had never experienced before it could have ended in total disaster – just like Terry had said!

After the scramble down it was a climb through the fence back onto the 4WD track that led us back to the rustic course and an easy 2km trot home.  I met my husband a few hundred metres from the finish who had come looking for me as he was tracking me by GPS and he had got worried as it looked like I had stopped in one place and hadn’t moved for 15 minutes – yeah I said cause I had to come down Terry’s hideous cliff face and it probably took me 15 minutes!!!!!

Happy to be finished in under 4 hours, I reflected back on the race and the reality set in that I had actually done it and completed another one of “Terry’s specials” and special it was – nothing I have done before this race compares in any way, shape or form.  A gruelling climb and then technical downhill, where I was pushed right to my limit, made for a race where time spent running was outweighed by time spent hiking or clinging to the hillside but I loved every second I was out there (okay maybe not the cliff face as much!!) and the buzz I had for the rest of the day tells me I’ll be back again for more next year.  You haven’t quite managed to scare me off just yet Terry!!

5 marathons in 5 weeks ending it in style at the Rustic Run! Firstly a huge thank you to Terry Davis, Ed Stevens and all their team for putting together this amazing event.  They had so many different runs taking place at the same time giving plenty of options for everyone.  Everyone I know is always asking for great local events that are affordable to attend, have a good social aspect and great scenery.  The Wild Earth Ascent and Rustic Run answered this.  I really hope to see this event supported by a lot more local people next year.  I know it sure beats heading out for a lonely long run.

A big goal of mine this year is to work on my running for my Ironman racing.  Hence running 42k+ each weekend for the past few weeks.   When I heard about this race I wanted to be on that start line.  While it may seem crazy to go out and run this distance every weekend (although I am guessing not to the people that took part in one of these events) having finally beaten my injury I’ve had for over 12 months I couldn’t think of anything better.

On to the race…  Packing up the car and heading to central for the weekend is always a great change.  The weather in Dunedin had been so cold and damp and I couldn’t wait to get out of there!  Well I forgot that I mostly head to central in the summer and it was actually pretty freezing up there but was so still, with not a breath of wind.  Race morning came like any other and I was excited about the fact I was only running a marathon and didn’t have a whole Ironman nor the 3.30am wake up call.

Out to the location at the Gold Miners Trails in the pitch black with the head torch on and it was time to go.  I was suddenly thinking what have I got myself in to? As I am far from a mountain goat with my running ability and was sure I was going to fall over a million times.  Luckily I had only signed up for the Rustic Run and not the Wild Earth Ascent (maybe next year).  My marathon race consisted of 8x 5 and a bit km loops.  They were a great change from the roads I am use to.  Made up of wider trails, rocky parts, single tracks, grass and some good wee hills up and down, all making the time go by.  There was also the option of a half marathon around the loops or straight up the mountain!

As I got around each lap the hills got bigger and the legs were turning to jelly but there was always a group of friendly spectators to send you on your next lap and Glen there to hand me my goodies.  The great thing about this event is you can set up your own aid station and drink and eat what you like. Proud to say I didn’t fall over once, only a few close calls and actually really enjoyed all those laps, coming away with the win.  Definitely a must do race to put on your calendar for next June.  Hope to see you all there.  Big ups to my sponsors Kinetic Health, Shoe Clinic Dunedin, Nathan Performance Gear, Aloe Up and Cycle World Dunedin who all keep me in this sport.

More details on the Rustic Run and results HERE

Wild Earth Ascent details HERE

First 7 “runners” walking up the first climb.
Photo: Alastair Hanson

I’m not going to describe how or why this event came to being. I wasn’t even meant to be there, but I couldn’t ask for a better substitute for the event I was supposed to be at. The head cheese at BCR has been out on one Rogaine with me, he hates them, with a passion, but The Wild Earth Ascent is the very reason I like Rogaines. It takes you to places that very few people have been to, you’d never go to even you thought about it AND….. you get the opportunity to get lost.

With Heights of Winter cancelled due to storm damage and a birthday on Sunday, a day trip to Cromwell was a good option. Being just a bit excited saw little sleep and I was away from Dunedin at 4am for the 8am kick off. Terry was clear that he didn’t want anyone coming who couldn’t look after themselves. So what the field lacked in size it didn’t lack in depth and it was no surprise to find myself at the base of the first 1000m climb off the back of the pack that was a mix of ½ and Full Ascenters.

That first 1000m occurs in just 3km, with the last 100m being quite flat. There was no hiding, you were going straight up and managing heart, lactate, quads, calves and potentially fatal falls were the order of the day. Or just staying on course. I got into a nice rythym and climbed with Dean Hudson, the shepherd from Lake Mckay Station on which the Big Easy is run. He and I had spent a bit of time running that one together as well. Up through the inversion layer and into a stunning Central Otago Skyline. Another aspect of this run is that the number of photo’s taken/participant is quite high. It seemed like everyone made the most of the opportunity to explore and enjoy the surroundings.

Eventually we topped out at the Transmitter, 1000m climbed in 60 minutes (55 for the front bunch) with a 27 minute kilometer thrown in for good measure. The return on the first lap took us 6km down a good farm track through patches of snow drift to a spur with a direct line to the bottom. I ticked along down there at 4:00 min/km trying to take care of my legs for the 2^nd half. The split from the track to the spur didn’t cause me any problem although it did for some others who may have run all the way to the bottom then joined the end of the 2^nd lap. What caused me problem was following the spur and then coming to cliff straight ahead and to my left, so naturally I took the gentle open spur on the right only to have to re-climb it and find the notch in the cliff we were to go down. Oh well, 3 or 4 minutes wasn’t going to end my day. Then we got to the good stuff, straight down a rock face where catching a toe could see you pitch forward and freefall some distance to hopefully land in a patch of thyme rather than rock. Nigel from eyetoeye photography placed himself at the base and managed a few great shots of the scrambling required.

Matt getting ready to drop in. Photo- Eyetoeye- www.facebook.com/negotiates

I bumped into Terry as I returned to the start/finish, “You’re a funny f…er Terry Davis”. He takes great pride it getting us to do things that others wouldn’t dream of putting on. I don’t think it concerns him at all that only 8 of us finished the full marathon. I think he’d be good at putting on a Barkley Marathons type event and try to break us one by one.

From the base we begin the 2^nd climb that seems even steeper but eventually flattens out to only 25-30% instead of the 40-50% for the majority of it. Never have I been so happy to have a Suunto and watch the Altitude tick by in lots of 100m. This climb was the undoing of a few. I got off course at the top by good judgement had me follow the track knowing it would go to the Transmitter, but for our poor old English/Aussie/U168 mate it was the end of his day. Losing a heap of time he opted for the quad bike ride to the base so that he could get to Dunedin in time to watch the English lose to the AB’s. For me I got a time check to Grant half way up, it looked like he had 20+ minutes. At least I assumed it was Grant, it was just a person on the horizon. Turns out I lost 12 minutes on that climb but I’d expect that. 4km for that 1000m and with no one insight behind it was time for photo’s and a look around before the traverse across the tops and the long long run down to the Kawarau river. At which point Terry had clearly decided we’d seen enough track and pushed us across the side of a terrace with sore feet and through some lovely rosehip, thyme, matagouri and rock, all with a fast running finish just 50m away to right. So instead of 4:30/km I was reduced to 16-20 minute k’s.

I’m not sure that making the podium is much to claim when there are 8 finishers. But I’ll take it. I’m often told that by running in the hills I’m missing so much of their beauty. To that I say rubbish. By running in the hills I’ve been able to visit so many more places in the time I have available, especially with a young family. The 3:30am start was worth it, I got to see a great place and be home in time to enjoy Orienteering with Samantha who had dressed up like a Vampire.

An enormous thanks to Terry for giving us the opportunity to do something beyond the imagination of most. There was a great crew out on course, all very experienced themselves, making sure we got from A to B in some sort of order.

The Ascent goes up, down, up and then down. I am useless at going up so it should be fun. We have an interesting piece of compulsory gear, a GPS enabled cell phone with a Tracking App so that Terry can find us if it all goes pear shaped. The weather is good though and sadly the snow has gone so there shouldn’t be too many issues. But what it also means is that live tracking should be possible for a wider audience.

Use the following link to find out location, it will open a page and if you switch the viewer to satellite (photo) you can then compare the location to the image below. Where the username says mattbixley you substitute in others you may know. Anyone who wants theirs added to the list send a message or write in the comments.

Link for Anroid users

http://www.greenalp.com/RealtimeTracker/index.php?viewuser=mattbixley 

 Usernames:
mattbixley
grantguise
croydon
lisamcf

Link for Apples ?????????

Course:
A 5k loop with out and backs at the base, followed by the First Climb and Descent in RED. The 2nd lap then climbs and descends via the BLUE lines. A fun day.

For an event organiser who’s best known for the Northburn100 you may be surprised at how excitedly Terry talks about the Rustic Run’s 5.275k laps. “I seriously LOVE this loop  – it is just a sweet wee run. There is some technical single track, there are some grunty but short hills, there is lots of smooth fast grass track… seriously one of the best 5k loops about. It’s particularly good for newbees to trail/mountain running. 5ks is very achievable and the whole idea of the event is to do it with a team as a relay. There is a cool start/finish area with hot drinks and food… music playing, teams bring their own chilli bins and camp chairs… just a great supportive atmosphere.”

The other thing Terry goes on and on about is the majesticularity of Mt Difficulty looming very steep and about 1km high above the venue.

“Over there is where you climb up the second time…” Terry Davis points out the big climb in the 2nd lap of the “Ascent”.

And that’s where the Wild Earth Ascent comes into play. “Imagine a course that just went staright F#$%en up that!!” It was the gut wrenching loss of the America’s cup last year that pushed Terry to seek out a route up the front face of Mt Difficulty. He found a goody but is was following a chute that would have been way too dangerous with falling rocks and things… So he’s laboured away (it was very selfless hard work apparently) and come up with not one, but two routes basically following ridges from the base to the top. “this type of event needs to have a Marathon aspect to it to get any credibility and make it worth peoples while to come all this way in the dead of winter. And these front faces are so special I thought to give best bang for buck we’ll make it a loop course and send them up it twice, but over new country each time.”

He knows this course is not for everyone and he’s gone to some lengths to actually put people off entering. “We really only want very confident mountain runners/trampers to show up for this event. The front faces are probably the most continually steep, steep parts of any event like it in Australasia – it’s between 30-40’ gradient – 30’ doesn’t look like much on a protractor but when you’re clinging on to the side of the mountain it feels surprisingly close to 60-70’!”

But it’s actually not all about the up hill. Once at the top of Mt Difficulty (so named by the early gold miners trying to find a way from the Dunstan to the Arrow) you have about 8km of SWEET traverse/downhill before heading back cross country – gnarly down and back up following a fence line and then more traversing and a steep downhill down to the river – all good adventurous stuff and that’s the finish of the first loop. For those doing the marathon they get a whole new ascent to do – the same 8km SWEET traverse and then another 9 gentle downhill ks back to the finish.

The weather and time of year will add another ‘adventure’ dimension to this course. “I fully expect a hard frost and then a clear calm day for the event – that is what’s typical for this area at this time of year – but hey if we don’t get a beautiful day we’ll have an even more AWESOMER adventure!”

There are back-up plans if the weather is just too dangerous but don’t worry, they don’t cancel events at Highland Events for any weather and whatever the alternative course may be you will get a worthy mission out of it.

If you go quick you’ll be finished in time to get a ride down to Dunedin for the Rugby – but Terry would rather you hung around for the Beer and Pizza at the Golden Gate that evening for the slideshow of pics from the day and presentations. Beer and Pizza included in the entry fee!! I’m in! See you at Registration Fri 13^th Golden Gate Lodge Cromwell.

http://www.highlandevents.co.nz/rustic-run-and-walk

http://www.highlandevents.co.nz/wild-earth-ascent

FREE STUFF- The North Face and BCR have teamed up and have 2 little prize packs to give-away. Up for grabs is a TNF day-pack, cap and beanie, as well as a little PocketFuel Naturals sample pack. We have 2 of these packages to give away in conjunction with Highland Events Wild Earth Ascent. To win- it is easy, the next 10 people to enter either the Wild Earth Ascent full or 1/2 marathon will go in the draw. Terry will randomly pick 2 names once 10 people have enter (so enter quickly!) and you will receive you prize at the race.

The Big Easy Mountain Marathon, New Zealand’s Highest Mountain Marathon,

So why the name The BIG EASY?

The BIG EASY was originally set up as a MTB ride/race we added the marathon after so many runners said to us they’d love to run over that course. Anyway, The BIG EASY is really a ‘harking back’ to the good ol’ days of understated Kiwi coloquialisms. So many races these days are the ‘Challenge’ or ‘Epic’ or ‘Adventure’… I actually genuinely believe it IS an easy course – easy when compared to the Lake Hawea Contact Epic (125km MTB race), Easy compared to the Bannockburn Pub to Pub Gutbuster (70km MTB race)…

What about compared to other trail Marathons?

Again I still reckon it’s got to be one of the easier ones around. Starting at the Cardrona Snow Farm you are already at 1500m above sea level, you only have to run 9km and climb about 500m (mostly gradual gradient) to get to the top of Mt Pisa at 1960m above sea level – (we think that’s the highest altitude a marathon distance is run over in Australasia). From the top you have an absolutely awesome 21km of vertually continual downhill. mostly it’s a nice runnable gradient but there is about 5km as you get closer to the bottom of very steep downhill that I encourage folk to walk down to save their joints!! After the downhill you still have 12km of ‘crosscountry’ running to get to the finnish at the Albert Town Tavern (where a nice cold Speights summit awaits you!) – this is the tough part of the race – only one short sharp up-hill then the rest is nice ‘undulating’ across farm land until just near the finish where you have to run through the Cardrona river (ankle deep) – this is lovely and refreshing after often a very hot last 12km!

So what’s with the ‘Soft Options’?

Yeah calling MTB and Run options that finish after the big downhill ‘soft options’ is not likely to encourage too many people to do them! But hey we give the customer what they want – a few folk said they’d like to finish at the Lake McKay Station woolshed and not have to bother with the last 12km of cross-county. So we’ve given people that option but hey, we’re not going to pretend that they haven’t gone for the Soft Option! I thinks it’s quite appropriate – fit’s the atmosphere of the event where the focus is very much on ‘fun’ and not taking yourself too seriously.

Plans for the future?

We currently have a Lil’ Easy family MTB 17km… thinking we might as well add in a 12km cross-county run for those on holiday in the Wanaka area – not really up for the mountain run but would like to do something to burn off some festive season calories. Not sure what we’ll call it yet – maybe the ‘I can only be assed with 12ks’ ??

It is not to late to enter the Big Easy- check out the Highland Events website for more details and how to enter

Big Easy Marathon Video by Mal Law at  Running Wild

Start- photo- www.outdoorphotography.co.nz

Northburn 100 this weekend, held on Northburn Station just outside Cromwell, seemed to have a bit of everything. The race itself is crazy hard, with the 100mile having over 8000 vertical meters of climbing, but what stood out for me this past weekend was the weather- easily the most changeable weather I can remember- gale winds that knocked people to the ground, warm temps, heavy rain, clear, starry skys and even a hail storm and a dusting of snow. 

I guess I feel a little burnt out on the NB100 after doing the live updates- but far out that was a blast! This is not a personal blog, so I will not get into it too much, but as my first “official” outing for this new website it was a really good time and the feedback and support we were getting via the live feed and from the amount of traffic this website has gotten during its first week of being up and running has been pretty choice- thanks for the support!

Back to the Northburn100!

The racing was exciting and not just for those top spots, but as the day wore on and a new one started, following all of those racing was a real treat. Below are a few of the highlights

• Blair McWhirter- not only is Blair super-fast, he is also one of the nicest guys around. I ran and videoed him coming into the 39km check point and he chatted away about his race. You couldn’t tell he had run 39km, 2000+ vertical meters and we were jogging uphill during the video! No surprize he smoked the 50k, winning by 40mins.
• Damien Seller- the Frenchmen picked the Northburn 100km as his first 100k race and nailed it. He was all smiles. Best part of the day Damien? “right now… if someone can get me a beer”
• Ray Sanchez- he was the favourite on paper pre-race and that was before he started talking about finishing the 100mile in 20hrs! Ray’s ultra-résumé is impressive and the article in the OTD where he stated his finishing time goal really brought an extra element of excitement to the race. Never mind that he got lost for 4hrs just before Mt Horn and DNFed at 100k, during the early stages of the race it was all Sanchez. Best part, chatting with him on Sunday morning it sound like he might be back next year.
• “Grand Central Station”- that’s what the big tent at the start/finish area was like, (where runners came back to at the end of each of the 3 laps), especially at the end of lap 1. It was madness, as runners, pacers, crew and supporters beavered around. Rachael and Emma kept the score board up to date, while the Cromwell Loins Club had the cheeseburgers cranking.
• Terry and Ed  (Highland Events), Lisa and Tom- they put on a great event- seeing Tom fang around on his dirt bike was a highlight.
• Glenn Sutton- 5+hr faster than last year – 26hrs33min and the overall win! Didn’t see THAT coming did you? Great run Glenn!
• Andre and Gordi- this side story is a gem. Gordi’s light was playing up during the 2^nd lap and as a result they spent the next 20 or so hours together. Strangers on the start line, these 2 lads could not have had more opposite NB build ups. Gordi injured and hardly trained couldn’t stay away and was a late entry- about 1 week before the race. Andre on the other hand has raced his ass off the last few months, including TuM a week before. Following these 2 along during the race was really good fun.
• Sam Gash- she won the woman’s 100k, smiling the whole way I am sure!
• Jim Kerse- yeah Jim dnf’d during the 2^ndlap of the 100miler- but the guy is 60+yrs old and a total legend in the NZ ultra-scene. You simply can’t not have huge respect for Jim.
  

  Jean- Photo- outdoorphotography.co.nz

• Jean Beaumont – she won the woman’s 100mile, was only 14mins behind Glenn,  and her new course record will be very hard to beat! It was her first 100mile race- no pacer, no crew, no support team. I was lucky enough to run a few sections with her getting photos and video and was so impressed. Jean also busted out the quote of the weekend to one Matt Bixley  “So…you just got Beaumonted”- this is because she ran faster than Matt’s 2^nd place finish time from 2011. She is also my new hero- sorry Marty Lukes, you are last week’s news buddy.
• All those that had the guts to stand on that start line at 6am Saturday morning! It was a real pleasure to track your progress throughout the day(s).

1^st Place Finishers-

50km- Blair McWhirter and Emma Bilous

100km- Damien Seller and Samantha Gash

100mile- Glenn Sutton and Jean Beaumont

Official Results

SportzHub Report

TheBackcountryRunner (TBR)-Lisa, tells us, for those who don’t know, how the Northburn100 came about-

Lisa Tamati (LT)- NB came about after glen Christiansen from the Golden Gate resort invited me down to give a talk one night in the town of Cromwell, I fell in love with the region and Glen and I were brewing up race plans within mins. I had been looking for a place to run a 100mile and had planned to do it in Taranaki my home town but someone beat me to it (Taranaki Steelformers 100 Mile Run). Then Glen spoke to keen endurance athlete Tom Pinckney owner of the gorgeous Northburn station and the race was born, Tom and I set up our own company and the rest is history so to speak.

TBR-Terry, how did you come on board and what’s your role in the event?

Terry Davis
photo- highlandevents.co.nz

Terry Davis (TD)- I was approached by Glen Christiensen and Tom Pinkeny to provide the ‘event management’ component to the team. (check outwww.highlandevents.co.nz

TBR-NB100 2011 and NB100 2012- what differences can we expect to see from the inaugural race from last year, what things are remaining?

LT- last year’s event was fantastic and very successful, we tried our best to make everyone very welcome and to provide an amazing running experience. My goal was to have the toughest 100 miler in the southern hemisphere and I believe I have made it. We got awarded 4 qualification points for Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc the highest amount available giving kiwis and Aussies a chance to qualify.

TD- The main differnce is changing the order of the loops – last year we finished on a 50km loop thinking that would be nicer than a 60k loop – but it was a nighmare from a marshal point of view and had potential for muck-ups due to runners going all over the show. Also this year we started with a loop to the left, one in the middle and a finish over on the right of the mountain – easier to keep track of everyone… and actually, because we have such a good aid station with a bag drop up the mountain the last 60km is probably a nicer way to finish than the brutally steep 2nd 50k loop of last year.

We have also changed the 50k race from the 2nd 50k loop to the first 50k loop. Much more manageable but also it’s a nicer 50ks – our concern last year was that about 10ks of it are ‘off track’ just following sheep trails or markers over alpine ‘tundra’ type terrain… But many of the 100kers and 160kers said it was their favourate part so – better for everyone.

TBR-And for the future of NB100?

LT- We are pleased with the amount of international competitors this year and hope to attract more kiwis next time. Unfortunately we clash a bit time wise with the fabulous Tarawera Ultra so we will try and do something about that for the future.

TBR-Terry- how’s the weather and course conditions looking for the weekend?

TD- The forecasts are getting better everytime I look at them! I think there will be a wee bit of rain on Saturday – the night will be cool and breezy but not too wet and Sunday is looking good at this stage! It is a shame there is no snow likely – honestly, it was the highlight for many of the runners who had to endure it last year! People don’t do this sort of thing to be comfortable.

The course is ‘hard-packed’ and fast – the rain forecast won’t turn much of it to mud at all… there has been more growth than usual this last year so ankle gaitors are highly reccommended – otherwise you will get your socks full of seeds and rubbish – gaiters are great to keep the wee stones out of your shoes too which don’t matter so much for a 20k run but in this event can cause a DNF

TBR-Lisa- off the cuff- who are you picking for the wins across the 3 events (male and females)??

LT- Not sure who is going to win this year it’s such a difficult race it’s hard to make a prognosis, Salomon have a top crew coming  and my friend Ray Sanchez from the States who I ran with in the Himalayas last August in The High race. He is definitely a contender. Tracey Woodford is also back and I tip her to be on top again all going to plan.

TBR-Where do you see people coming unstuck during the race? And what key to success would both of you recommend to runners come 6am this Saturday?

TD- look after your feet at all costs!! have plenty of spare socks and gear in your ‘drop bags’. take it easy on the steep down-hills.

Lisa Tamati
photo:mindfood.com

LT- This race is extremely tough… the ascent for the 100 miler is over 8000m. So a key is starting out really gently and slowly and consistency is the key, not stopping at the very comfortable check points too long. the fact that we have three different loops but which go through the main vineyard check point with lots of food and supporters is brilliant but makes it also hard to leave on round two or three and the longer you dally the harder it is.

The other key is not to tear downhill and shake the hell out of your legs too early; they will be shaking messes by the end. Also keeping as warm and dry as poss. If the weather turns to shit up on the top range it can be very frightening and we have a set up a great network of support for the night sections and have spared no expense with our medical team and 4wd drive ambulance, helicopter on call, doctors etc. as we want our people to have a great adventure but to be safe as well. That is my priority. So my key advice- start out slow and taper off, take it gentle on the down hills for those quads and walk the steep ups, (won’t have a choice probably) and don’t stop for too longer periods. You are in a race a long long race and the pressure has to remain on if you are to get through this mammoth challenge.

TBR-Final thoughts….

LT- This is a challenge of champions and anyone who starts it is a winner and those who finish, bloody tough and bloody lucky.

Thanks so much for making time to chat Terry and Lisa, all the best for the race this weekend!