With a turnout of over 3500 there was a good atmosphere and it certainly brought Lincoln to life for the morning. There is a race report here.
Christchurch Half Marathon.
Christchurch Half Marathon.
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Jun 5, 2011
Christchurch Half Marathon
The Christchurch half marathon was moved to Lincoln this year, because the traditional course is still unusable due to earthquake damage. I had an enjoyable run, finishing in 1 hour 39 minutes, a little slower than 2 years ago but not bad at all considering the lack of training for that style of event.
With a turnout of over 3500 there was a good atmosphere and it certainly brought Lincoln to life for the morning. There is a race report here.
Christchurch Half Marathon.
Christchurch Half Marathon.
With a turnout of over 3500 there was a good atmosphere and it certainly brought Lincoln to life for the morning. There is a race report here.
Christchurch Half Marathon.
Christchurch Half Marathon.
May 29, 2011
Mt Richardson Run
Continuing the series of my foothills runs, the next one up was Mt Richardson.
I ran up the Richardson track and back down the Bypass Track. There were a lot of people out on a beautifully clear and frosty Sunday morning. There was just a little ice and some fresh snow could be seen over towards the main ranges.
The whole route was runnable and took around 1h 40 min in total, 50 minutes up and 50 minutes back on the Bypass Track.
The view from the summit of Mt Richardson.
DOC Track sign, Mt Richardson.
Summit trig, Mt Richardson.
On route to the Bypass Track along the tops.
I ran up the Richardson track and back down the Bypass Track. There were a lot of people out on a beautifully clear and frosty Sunday morning. There was just a little ice and some fresh snow could be seen over towards the main ranges.
The whole route was runnable and took around 1h 40 min in total, 50 minutes up and 50 minutes back on the Bypass Track.
The view from the summit of Mt Richardson.
DOC Track sign, Mt Richardson.
Summit trig, Mt Richardson.
On route to the Bypass Track along the tops.
May 14, 2011
Mt Grey Run
I ran up Mt Grey, in the Canterbury Foothills today, starting from the Grey River picnic area, rather than Lake Janet.
I found this route to be much more enjoyable than the Lake Janet route, the bush is native rather than exotic at all times and there are better views over towards Mt Oxford and beyond. The pictures are from the phone, so the quality isn't all that great.
The first 2kms or so of the trail are easy running with just a little mud and height is gained slowly, then you hit the switch back section, which still climbs gently up the steeper slope but requires a constant change of direction. There is a short 5 minute side trip at this point to a rather overgrown lookout.
Mt Grey from the lookout on the Mt Grey track.
The eastern foothills from the Mt Grey lookout.
The trail eventually breaks out in to the scrub section and heads for the saddle between the true summit of Mt Grey and point 929. This section makes for great running with views over the other foothills.
Mt Grey summit ridge.
Mt Karetu from Mt Grey.
Good running north of the Mt Grey summit.
From the summit I carried out back down the Red Beech track to make a nice loop. This is also generally good running, but there were some slippery tree root sections, that needed more care. Just over halfway down the Grey River is forded and there is a short climb and long sidle section above the river. There are a couple of washed out sections here that required care when running across them.
Just before the finish the trail passes an old Possomer's Hut and joins the Nature Walk trail. There is a good lookout here back towards Mt Grey and a somewhat gorged section of the Grey River. From here it's only a few minutes back to the Grey River Picnic Area. Total time 2 hours or so (1 hour up and 1 hour down.)
The view back to Mt Grey from the Red Beech trail lookout.
Old Possumer's Hut near the Grey River picnic area.
I found this route to be much more enjoyable than the Lake Janet route, the bush is native rather than exotic at all times and there are better views over towards Mt Oxford and beyond. The pictures are from the phone, so the quality isn't all that great.
The first 2kms or so of the trail are easy running with just a little mud and height is gained slowly, then you hit the switch back section, which still climbs gently up the steeper slope but requires a constant change of direction. There is a short 5 minute side trip at this point to a rather overgrown lookout.
Mt Grey from the lookout on the Mt Grey track.
The eastern foothills from the Mt Grey lookout.
The trail eventually breaks out in to the scrub section and heads for the saddle between the true summit of Mt Grey and point 929. This section makes for great running with views over the other foothills.
Mt Grey summit ridge.
Mt Karetu from Mt Grey.
Good running north of the Mt Grey summit.
From the summit I carried out back down the Red Beech track to make a nice loop. This is also generally good running, but there were some slippery tree root sections, that needed more care. Just over halfway down the Grey River is forded and there is a short climb and long sidle section above the river. There are a couple of washed out sections here that required care when running across them.
Just before the finish the trail passes an old Possomer's Hut and joins the Nature Walk trail. There is a good lookout here back towards Mt Grey and a somewhat gorged section of the Grey River. From here it's only a few minutes back to the Grey River Picnic Area. Total time 2 hours or so (1 hour up and 1 hour down.)
The view back to Mt Grey from the Red Beech trail lookout.
Old Possumer's Hut near the Grey River picnic area.
Feb 19, 2011
Arthurs Pass - Avalanche Peak Race
After the blowout I had at last year's Avalanche Peak race I was determined to complete the race in good style this year.
With perfect conditions on the day and an excellent atmosphere amongst the competitors I couldn't have asked for a better incentive to run a good race. This year for the first time as well Carolina had entered in the women's tramping section.
Carolina at the start of the Tramping race.
The ascent of Avalanche Peak.
Carolina near the summit of Avalanche Peak.
I took the ascent of Avalanche Peak a bit slower than last year, chatting with a guy from Dunedin for quite some time. I eventually arrived at the summit in around an hour and a half. I felt good running along the ridge and the mountains had started to come out as well. Descending the Crow Scree was an exciting affair. Being a bit further back in the field than last year, there were more people on the scree, and despite all the warnings and generally everyones best efforts there were still some large rocks flying about.
Dropping off of the Avalanche Peak summit.
On the ridge heading towards the Crow Scree.
The descent of the Crow Scree.
The descent of the Crow River was what had hurt me last year, but this time it was OK. I eventually caught up with Carolina on one of the river flats just before fording to the true left and we managed to get a couple of photos. The bush track linking to the Waimakariri was a delight to run on to and it was only when I started running down the river gravel that I began to feel some tiredness in my legs.
Catching up with Carol on the Crow River flats.
The last section, once the road bridge came in to view seemed to take a while, but I managed to run the lot and even some of the final steep climb to the finish line at the Bealey Hotel, finishing in a time of 3h 43 min. Unfortunately, as I was getting the car back at the time I missed Carol winning the women's tramping section in a time of five and a half hours, which was a great result.
Carolina on the short climb to the Bealey Hotel.
Just about to cross the finish line!
The full results can be found here: http://res.nz.eventdirector.net/CHCMA/SITES/318/ZUSER/APCResults11.pdf
With perfect conditions on the day and an excellent atmosphere amongst the competitors I couldn't have asked for a better incentive to run a good race. This year for the first time as well Carolina had entered in the women's tramping section.
Carolina at the start of the Tramping race.
The ascent of Avalanche Peak.
Carolina near the summit of Avalanche Peak.
I took the ascent of Avalanche Peak a bit slower than last year, chatting with a guy from Dunedin for quite some time. I eventually arrived at the summit in around an hour and a half. I felt good running along the ridge and the mountains had started to come out as well. Descending the Crow Scree was an exciting affair. Being a bit further back in the field than last year, there were more people on the scree, and despite all the warnings and generally everyones best efforts there were still some large rocks flying about.
Dropping off of the Avalanche Peak summit.
On the ridge heading towards the Crow Scree.
The descent of the Crow Scree.
The descent of the Crow River was what had hurt me last year, but this time it was OK. I eventually caught up with Carolina on one of the river flats just before fording to the true left and we managed to get a couple of photos. The bush track linking to the Waimakariri was a delight to run on to and it was only when I started running down the river gravel that I began to feel some tiredness in my legs.
Catching up with Carol on the Crow River flats.
The last section, once the road bridge came in to view seemed to take a while, but I managed to run the lot and even some of the final steep climb to the finish line at the Bealey Hotel, finishing in a time of 3h 43 min. Unfortunately, as I was getting the car back at the time I missed Carol winning the women's tramping section in a time of five and a half hours, which was a great result.
Carolina on the short climb to the Bealey Hotel.
Just about to cross the finish line!
The full results can be found here: http://res.nz.eventdirector.net/CHCMA/SITES/318/ZUSER/APCResults11.pdf
Mar 21, 2010
City to Surf
Completed the Christchurch City to Surf this morning, a 12km road race that finishes just down the road from where we live. Took it pretty steady and was happy with my time of 54:27 . It's impossible to run too fast for the first few kms anyway - half of Christchurch turns out for this event, which always makes for a great atmosphere.
Mar 8, 2010
Avalanche Peak Race
So as expected, my lack of training didn’t pay off. Somewhere over 4kms in the Crow Valley I went from having a great time to Not Having Much Fun At All.
Everything started out just great, of course. Got to the top of Avalanche Peak in just over 1h 15min and felt great. It was a perfect day for the ascent, the mist was clearing off of the top and I headed up with a small bunch of people climbing at around 15-18m a minute, quite a pleasant pace (or so I thought)
At the 1km mark - and having great fun.
Running along the ridge towards Rolleston (which we hadn’t done last year because of the weather) was fantastic, a rollercoaster of small climbs and descents, followed by an amazing descent of the scree to the Crow Valley – so much easier than with a tramping pack on your back.
The boulder field at the bottom was a great opportunity to eat a few mouthfuls of chocolate and get my breath back. It turned out I had picked up a reasonable cut on my leg when descending the scree, I hadn’t even noticed until a race marshal pointed it out.
So I headed off down the Crow Valley. This was fun too, there are a lot of sidle sections of track in the bush and descending over boulders. You then ford the Crow River and after sideling a couple of screes soon pick up the good bush track that cuts out to the Waimak. And it was here that I realised that I was stuffed.
Up until that point the ground was fairly technical, moving over it quickly was limited by the difficulty and individual skill levels. However the bush track should have been easy running, on so many tramps I have commented to Carolina how great it would be to be able to run this sort of track, and when I finally got the chance my body just said: No not today. This was somewhat unexpected, as normally I come to an agreement such as “OK, but this will hurt for a couple of days” or “OK, but you’ll be throwing up at the end”. Instead it was more of a: “Ha – you’ve been tramping for the last 2 months. Wasn’t much running was there?! Expect me to run continuously for the next 12km or so – you must be joking!”
So the gravel bash down the Waimakariri turned in to a horrible torturous section that I just wanted to end. The parts where I walked people came past me in slow motion, - they were running just faster than I was walking. The parts where I ran I was clearly catching them, but it couldn’t be sustained. The problem was, my energy starved brain finally worked out, was that I didn’t have a running pace that was slow enough. Somehow it was just impossible for me to run slow enough to stay with the group I was in.
I got there eventually, - there were a couple of sections, at Klondyke Corner and on the Bealey River Bridge where the spectators caused the Pride in me to force a more sustained run for a few minutes – until out of sight at least. Finished in 3h 50 min, which was around 20mins down on last year given the length of the course. To give you some comprehension of how bad I felt after the race: For two hours or so, I was Never Going Running Again, and for a day and a half there was No Way I Was Ever Going to Race Avalanche Peak Again.
Next year I will do some proper training.
At the finish: smile is purely for the camera. At this point things that I hated included (but were not limited to): the Waimakariri River Valley and Gravel, the hot and sunny weather, people shouting at me to run faster up the last hill, the hill at the Bealey Hotel, being 34, thinking I could run 25km and climb 1400m without any training, Replace Sports Drink for not working as well as expected, Chris and John for getting me hooked on this event last year.
Everything started out just great, of course. Got to the top of Avalanche Peak in just over 1h 15min and felt great. It was a perfect day for the ascent, the mist was clearing off of the top and I headed up with a small bunch of people climbing at around 15-18m a minute, quite a pleasant pace (or so I thought)
At the 1km mark - and having great fun.
Running along the ridge towards Rolleston (which we hadn’t done last year because of the weather) was fantastic, a rollercoaster of small climbs and descents, followed by an amazing descent of the scree to the Crow Valley – so much easier than with a tramping pack on your back.
The boulder field at the bottom was a great opportunity to eat a few mouthfuls of chocolate and get my breath back. It turned out I had picked up a reasonable cut on my leg when descending the scree, I hadn’t even noticed until a race marshal pointed it out.
So I headed off down the Crow Valley. This was fun too, there are a lot of sidle sections of track in the bush and descending over boulders. You then ford the Crow River and after sideling a couple of screes soon pick up the good bush track that cuts out to the Waimak. And it was here that I realised that I was stuffed.
Up until that point the ground was fairly technical, moving over it quickly was limited by the difficulty and individual skill levels. However the bush track should have been easy running, on so many tramps I have commented to Carolina how great it would be to be able to run this sort of track, and when I finally got the chance my body just said: No not today. This was somewhat unexpected, as normally I come to an agreement such as “OK, but this will hurt for a couple of days” or “OK, but you’ll be throwing up at the end”. Instead it was more of a: “Ha – you’ve been tramping for the last 2 months. Wasn’t much running was there?! Expect me to run continuously for the next 12km or so – you must be joking!”
So the gravel bash down the Waimakariri turned in to a horrible torturous section that I just wanted to end. The parts where I walked people came past me in slow motion, - they were running just faster than I was walking. The parts where I ran I was clearly catching them, but it couldn’t be sustained. The problem was, my energy starved brain finally worked out, was that I didn’t have a running pace that was slow enough. Somehow it was just impossible for me to run slow enough to stay with the group I was in.
I got there eventually, - there were a couple of sections, at Klondyke Corner and on the Bealey River Bridge where the spectators caused the Pride in me to force a more sustained run for a few minutes – until out of sight at least. Finished in 3h 50 min, which was around 20mins down on last year given the length of the course. To give you some comprehension of how bad I felt after the race: For two hours or so, I was Never Going Running Again, and for a day and a half there was No Way I Was Ever Going to Race Avalanche Peak Again.
Next year I will do some proper training.
At the finish: smile is purely for the camera. At this point things that I hated included (but were not limited to): the Waimakariri River Valley and Gravel, the hot and sunny weather, people shouting at me to run faster up the last hill, the hill at the Bealey Hotel, being 34, thinking I could run 25km and climb 1400m without any training, Replace Sports Drink for not working as well as expected, Chris and John for getting me hooked on this event last year.
Mar 2, 2010
Preparing for the Avalanche Peak Race
So this weekend is the Avalanche Peak Challenge. A 25km mountain run from Arthurs Pass village that starts with a 1000m or so climb up Avalanche Peak itself. I present below my modified version of the organisers suggested training schedule for such a race.
OK, so that is a bit of an exaggeration - it's not like I’ve been doing no exercise at all, but I definitely missed out on the hill runs that I was doing last year. No Rapaki Track in the Port Hills for me this time. Hopefully the longer tramps that we have been doing recently will help with the endurance a bit. We shall see on Saturday.
OK, so that is a bit of an exaggeration - it's not like I’ve been doing no exercise at all, but I definitely missed out on the hill runs that I was doing last year. No Rapaki Track in the Port Hills for me this time. Hopefully the longer tramps that we have been doing recently will help with the endurance a bit. We shall see on Saturday.
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