A big weekend of running

For Easter weekend I decided to make a start on a project to document the trail for the Wellington Urban Ultra Marathon – the WUU2K.

It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I ran the race last year, to help anyone else who is interested in doing the race to see what the course is like, and get some inside knowledge. No-one asked me to do this. I’m just doing for my own enjoyment and to ‘give back’ to the running community.

Things started off well. Good Friday was a lovely day, with bright sunshine and almost no wind. I drove out to the start of the course and got under way, running up Mt Kaukau, dodging around kids and dogs and everyone else who had come out to enjoy the nice weather.

The run along the Skyline track was equally lovely, with views to the left and right that were just stunning. This time, I managed to take the correct turn, and stayed on the trail all the way to the end, where the first aid station will be in the race.

I had intended to try and get the next section in as well, while we had good weather, but unfortunately I had put my camera away without turning it off and filmed a good section on what it’s like being carried in a pocket in a race vest. That drained the battery too much to be of any use on the next section. So I turned around and headed back the way I had come.

On the way back there were a few entertaining moments watch a couple of young lads toiling up the track to the top of Johnston Hill. I can imaging their conversation earlier in the day had gone something along the lines of:

Hey, let’s grab some beers and sit up on the hill and watch the sunset.
Yeah, ok.

Being young lads, they hadn’t thought about the logistics of doing this. So they each had a dozen bottles, in a box, and were carrying them as they tried to negotiate the rough terrain on the way to the summit. Neither of them were doing terribly well.

If they had thought about it a bit, one of them might have suggested using a backpack to put the beers in….

I chuckled to myself as I powered up the hill past them and left them to it.

Back on top of Mt Kaukan it looked like half the city had come up to check out the views – the place was packed. So I took a couple of photos and then headed back down to the car, bounding down the stairs.

It was a good run, and I got plenty of video and photos to use for the video describing the trail.

I planned to go back the next day and complete the second section.

But Saturday was really windy, and to be honest I was a bit knackered. So I stayed at home and pottered around a bit and made up the first video in the series. (1 of 6).

But on Sunday I was determined to get in two sections of the course. Once I had done the next two sections, the remaining ones were all accessible by running from my house – I wouldn’t have to drive to get to the start of any of them.

That would mean it would be a lot easier to do a section after work if it was a nice day.

I was up early (thanks to an extra hour marking the end of daylight saving) and arrived at the Makara Mountain Bike Park at about 8.30am. There was one small parking spot left, which I claimed.

I got myself sorted and then set off at a slow jog up the road towards where I had completed the previous section, about 2km away (uphill all the way).

Section two of the course starts with a climb up Makara Peak, and then you run along the mountain bike tracks back down to the carpark when my car sat waiting for me to return.

There are two versions of the course at this point – the 42km version for those running the marathon event, and the 60km version for those running the ultra marathon event.

My plan was to run the 60km version of the course, since that’s the race I’ll be running.

But you can guess what happened can’t you?

I took the wrong 4 wheel drive track from the summit and ended up running the 42km version, al the way back down to my car.

I have to say I was pretty annoyed about that!

But, undaunted, I decided to do the next section that climbs up Wright’s Hill and then winds around to The Windmill. I knew that section quite well so I was confident I wouldn’t get lost (and I mostly didn’t).

I was climbing well, and running better than I ever have. Everything was working really well, except my reaction time. I caught my toes on a root (at almost the exact same place I did it last time!) and ended up flat on my face on the track.

No damage was done (to the track), but I now need a new watch strap. I carried on, shaking my head a little at my clumsiness, until I got to the top of Wright’s Hill. It was another stunning day in the city and the views were well worth the climb up (and the faceplant).

The track around Zealanda was as rough as I remember it, but this time it didn’t seem quite so hard to run. There is a big, long uphill section that I have never managed to run up before (I barely managed to walk up it during the race last year). But this time I just powered up it and kept on going.

I was quietly quite chuffed about that.

I completed the third section, took some more photos, and then once again turned around and headed back to my car. I still had the second section to run, and I thought if there was enough daylight left when I got back to the car, I’d try and get it done.

So now I ran back down the trail, a lot quicker than I came up, to try and give myself enough time to have another crack at the second section. It turned out I had pretty much all afternoon.

So I stopped for a banana and refilled my water bottles. Then it was back on the road to the starting point once more and the grind up to the summit of Makara Peak.

This time I studied the map carefully before heading off, and I made sure I was on the correct 4 wheel drive track this time. I followed it down to where it hooked up with a track called Leaping Lizard and then spent the next hour or so running along some lovely tracks, deep in the bush.

I did have a moment of - Oh no, not again! When the track took me right down next to the road. I though I’d taken the wrong turn, again. (this is not unusual for me. I’m good at taking wrong turns).

But then I saw a part of the trail I remembered from the race, so had a little reassurance that I was still ok. The trail I was on hooked up with the next train on the list, and I knew I was good to keep going.

A couple more hill climbs later, I was back up on the ridge top and looking at my last downhill leg of the day – the same track I had run this morning. I wasted no time pounding down the trail, heading for my car. It felt really good and I was flying. At least I thought I was.

At one point a five or six year old kid was running behind me, I think he wanted to overtake, but I refused to let him past. Thankfully his dad was walking up the trail and he stopped before it got really embarrassing.

And then, I was done for the day, and grateful to be done.

Today I spent the day making up the videos for section two and three. That’s half of the course done, and I’m happy about that. Hopefully they will prove useful for anyone thinking about giving the WUU2K a go.

They will also be useful for anyone playing the Steemit Ultra Marathon game, as this will give them a good indication of how fast they can run on the different sections of the course.

So a big weekend indeed.

Mr. Garmin says:

• Total distance run: 59.91km
• Total time running: 8.40 hours
• Total elevation gain: 2477m

Elevation profiles of the different sections

Note: there are two for section two because I ran it twice – once for the 42km course and once for the 60km course

Section one

Section two - 60km course

Section two - 42km course

Section three

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Do you like games?

Check out my Steemit Ultra Marathon game where you can win 20SBD for first place, 10SBD for second and 5SBD for third. Get your virtual running shoes on and get ready to run!

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Also don't forget to check out my Dad's blog

Who else can tell you stories about impersonating an officer, stealing a military aircraft to go on a booze run, or steal military aircraft and go on an unsanctioned bombing run - and that's all before he turned 18!

Check out @len.george and find out what other madness he got up to!

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