Hi there,
My lead up to the Heaphy was not without its stress … during the last week, I noticed that one of my laces had frayed badly and looked like snapping at some point soon. This could be a disaster if it happened during the 82 km race, so I debated whether to try running in different shoes.
However, as every runner knows, last minute changes are not a good idea, so I approached Sportsworld Whakatane (thank you Blair) for help. My shoes have a special lacing system which does not require any tying, so this meant that I couldn’t simply buy normal laces to replace the worn one. Blair managed to tie a knot in the lace and then secure that with plastic. To be extra certain, I added a bit of duct tape over the plastic, and thankfully, this repair held for the duration of the race.
The lace repaired with plastic and duct tape.
Our trip to Nelson and then Motueka went very well, and after a pizza meal on Friday night, I went to bed pretty early because of having to be up by 3.00 am to be ready for the 4.00 a.m. departure.
The group of runners was to leave Motueka at 4.00 a.m. to arrive at Brown’s Hut for the 8.00 a.m. race start. This timing presented a couple of challenges. Having breakfast so early followed by a four hour interval before the start, meant that I had to really think about what to eat.
In the end, I had my normal breakfast (Ricies, sugar and milk), a banana and a small tin of Creamed rice at the Motel. I then packed another tin of Creamed rice and a banana for a refill. While packing these items into my backpack, I realised I would need a teaspoon to eat the rice with and hadn’t brought one for this purpose. My solution was to borrow a Motel spoon with the idea of returning it when I got back to Motueka. To be certain that a) I wouldn’t lose the spoon and b) wouldn’t forget to return it, I came up with an enterprising idea (I thought) but which caused some amusement amongst those who observed it :
Loss prevention strategy!
I trust no-one thought it was some new type of aerial! (it worked too : the teaspoon was returned to its rightful owner on Sunday afternoon).
The race actually ended up setting off an hour early, much to the confusion of three runners who arrived at 7.45a.m. to find that everyone else was gone. That was because those of us who had used the organised bus transport were delivered to the startline more than an hour early. Instead of making us sit around waiting for 8 o’clock, it was decided to let us set off at 7.00 a.m.
I owe Steve a thank you for setting the pace for me on the ascent to checkpoint one. He was pacing himself using a heart monitor as a guide. Fortunately it suited my pace too, so I tagged along for quite a while. In exchange for his pace setting, I loaned him my tube of silicon gel to ward off the chafing that had started to bother him.
It was a real treat to run such a beautiful track and I have to say that I really enjoyed my race. It was a glorious day and the views along the way were just stunning. I felt good all the way and finished 13th in 8 hours 12 minutes. For more results and information, have a look at the website : http://www.heaphyfive-0.co.nz/
I felt strong at the finish and could have run for longer, which bodes well for the 250km Namibian race next year : 82km is only a third of that distance, so it is reassuring to know that I can do it relatively easily already.
The finish at Kohaihai - note the trampers on the right who were bemused by us crazy athletes.
While only a few people would choose to run the Heaphy-50, I highly recommend it as a hiking trail. The gradients aren’t too challenging and the accommodation along the route looked really comfortable.
Thanks to Nathan Fa’avae for organising such an awesome event … it was definitely a highlight of my 2008 running calendar. I see on the website that a date has already been set for 2009, and I will definitely look at doing it again.
I am taking a couple of rest days, but will start up again soon and this time I will have to wear my weighted backpack and try out my new hydration system properly. For the Heaphy, I used a 3 litre Camelbak system, but I need to get used to drinking from bottles. I also expect to try out a new pair of running shoes …
Till next time
JO
