The Triple Peaks Challenge 2018 race report

This was my fourth, and shortest ultra marathon. It was also my best performance to date. I’m really pleased with how the day went, and while I could have run faster and done better in terms of placings, I’m happy with my result.

If all you are interested in is the stats from my race, scroll down to the bottom and I’ll list them there.

Things started out well, with a pleasant drive north, heading to Havelock North, a suburb of Hastings. It was a showery drive and quite cool, but it was also good to be out of the city and driving through some different countryside. This was the first time my wife has been to this part of the country, so it was all new to her.

We found our accommodation, an air B&B just a couple of hundred meters from the finish line, easily and got ourselves sorted. Then it was back in the car to drive up to the top of Te Mata Peak so my wife could get to see some of the countryside I would be running through the next day. With showers rolling across the farmlands below, it made for a very dramatic landscape.

It was too cold and windy on the top of Te Mata Peak for us to stay there long, so we headed back down to find the venue for registration. Again this was pretty easy, and we arrived nice and early, before the crowds. I collected my race bib and swag and then we headed back to our accommodation for a snooze.

The race briefing was at 7pm, the perfect time for my wife to have dinner at a local Indian restaurant, while I attended the race briefing.

I learned my lesson in the Taniwha ultra last year, about having a big meal the night before a race, so I just had a small back at the B&B so I would not be loaded down the next day.

I spent a comfy night, sleeping on and off, waiting for the alarm to go off. And when it finally did, I was up and into it. Breakfast was had, a blog was written and I was good to go. All we had to do now was walk a couple of hundred meters to the start line and stand around with the other runners.

We arrived early enough for my wife to order a coffee at the café next to the start line and sit and enjoy it. I wasn’t feeling nervous, just excited and keen to get going.

Soon enough the number of people standing around increased, with the mountain bikers in the front, runners in the middle and walkers at the back. My wife gave me a coffee flavoured kiss for good luck and then I wandered off to stand with the walkers.

I set up LiveTrack on my phone and got my Garmin watch primed to go. Then everyone surged forward. I was caught napping!

I hit GO on my watch and prepared to start running. But everyone around me had stopped again. False alarm. Bugger. So I stopped the timer on my watch and checked the time. Three minutes to go. More than enough time to reset everything and start again. So I deleted my ‘run’ of 5 seconds, and fished out my phone to restart the LiveTrack.

But then everyone surged forward again and this time they didn’t stop. With three minutes still to go until the official start time, the race was under way and I was caught with my phone out in one hand, my watch not ready, and people pushing past me as I fumbled to put the phone away, get the watch started, turn on my camera….

I’m surprised I didn’t end up flat on my face as I followed the crowd of people through the start line and into the street. Everyone around me was walking, mainly because there was no room to run. I got myself sorted and started weaving between tall people, looking for openings where I could break into some open space and finally put my legs to work.

It didn’t take long and soon I was up to speed, running with the pack, and passing people every few seconds or so.

I had decided that since the race was shorter, only 45kms, and the last leg of the race was all downhill, that I’d go out hard and really test all my training and see if it held up in race conditions. I was running at a good pace along the road as we headed up towards the road-end and the start of the trails.

By the time we left the tarmac I was nicely warmed up and ready to start attacking the hills. The first 7kms were reasonably flat and easy running and I made good time and progress through the pack. I was working hard, but feeling good. As the terrain got steeper I slowed down a bit, but I was still passing people and running sections that they were walking.

My training was paying off. Learning how to engage my glutes properly and let my body move in a relaxed way was paying dividends as I continued passing people. I was feeling pretty good at this stage. My legs were feeling a little jelly-ish and I knew I was probably over-cooking it a bit, so I slowed down a bit as we got to the steeper sections.

I was still keeping a good pace up until the 11th kilometre where everybody walked because it was so steep. We toiled up the slope to the sound of good old 80s classics booming out from some enormous speakers at the top of the hill. It made me smile as I clambered over the fence, posed for the official photographer and then pushed on through to the first checkpoint.

I had been going for 1 hour and 30 minutes and left the top of Mt Erin with a huge smile on my face.

I arrived at the top in 64th position (for the solo runners) with plenty of people (including some mountain bikers) behind me.

The run down toward the second checkpoint, and the first transition point for those doing the team race, was mostly easy, apart from the numerous holes that kept me twisting my right ankle.

I think the training in my Vibrim Five Fingers saved me here. They promote strong ankles because they offer no support, and even though I nearly fell several times as my foot turned over yet another lump, or sunk into another hole, I felt no pain and it didn’t hinder me in the slightest.

The downhill run was not super fast, but still nice and quick and I made it to the second checkpoint 38 minutes later feeling quite good. I didn’t stop for water, as I still had plenty on board. The day had not begun to heat up very much and I was barely breaking a sweat, especially on the downhill leg. I left the checkpoint in 65th place with a nice gap behind me to the next person.

I got passed a few times by people going way too fast to be doing the full distance, and then by a little old granny who was walking. She was unstoppable. She had walking poles, all the gear and she was going for it.

I’ve learned through the races that I’ve done, that some of the oldies that fast walk are just amazing and the best strategy is to get out of their way so they don’t run you down.

I then began the climb back up to the top of Mt Erin again, following a different track. This track was too steep to run in most places and when I tried my calves started cramping really badly. I tried to push through it but they got to the point where the muscles were locking up and I was waddling more than I was running.

This was really frustrating. I had the energy to run, I had the technique to attack the hill. But every time I tried to run an uphill bit my legs just cramped up tight. So I walked as fast as I could, hoping my calves would come right on the downhill.

It was shortly after this time another runner came up from behind and said, “Don’t I know you?”

Indeed she did. Her name was Shiree and we had met at The Taniwha ultra last year. I had tried to follow her through the race but she was just way too strong for me and left me for dead. She finished over two hours ahead of me. She is around the same age-ish as me, and is just a monster on the trails. She is not super fast, but she just never stops running.

Except she wasn’t running now. Even she was walking. So we chatted as we toiled our way towards the summit and passed through the checkpoint. I had now been running for 3 hours and 26 minutes and was in 68th place.

The first ascent of Mt Erin took me 1:30 for a distance of 12 kms. The second climb took me 1:16 for a distance of 9km. So I was not a whole lot slower the second time up the hill even though I was walking more than I wanted to.

But I couldn’t stand around congratulating myself, Shiree was already on her way down again towards the Tukituki river, and the next checkpoint. She called out “Come on Trevor!” and with a laugh I launched into a run after her. My calves behaved on the downhill and I soon caught her up again.

This section of the race was really pleasant. We chatted as we picked our way down the side of the hill, no tracks for this bit, just red arrows showing the way across farmland. And if I’m honest, she carried me through this part of the course, when I would have walked for a bit.

But she was relentless, and I just couldn’t stop my calves from cramping each time there was even a gentle rise, and soon enough she pulled away, plodding off into the distance.

And then I was back running alone along the bank of the river, all brown and swollen with floodwaters. It was that flooding which had prevented us from crossing over to run the ‘A’ course around and over Mt Kahuranaki. I think it would have been a much easier run than the second climb up Mt Erin.

I considered this as the next checkpoint came in sight, and I found myself running alongside a young girl who was doing it a bit tough. She had run out of water and was not looking too happy. But family came to her rescue and ran with her to the aid station to get her refilled.

I was fine for water, having had a quick refill on the top of Mt Erin, so I pushed on through the aid station heading for Te Mata Peak.

By now I had dropped a couple more places, leaving me in 70th place.

Right now I was feeling really, really good. This transition point was the final cutoff. Runners had to make it to here in less than eight hours or they would be classed as DNF (Did Not Finish). I had been running now for 4 hours and 40 minutes. I had plenty of time.

With all that pressure off, I took the next section quite easy and just enjoyed running through the little valley that lead back towards Havelock North. I walked more than I should have, probably, but I didn’t really mind. It was so lovely in there that I just wanted to savour it and not just push through without taking it all in and appreciating it.

Finally I reached a marshal who pointed the way to the real climb up Te Mata Peak – a steep section of switchback track the climbs up a near vertical cliff face.

With a mountain biker still on the trail way behind me I pushed hard up this section. I couldn’t run it, but I could still walk as fast as possible. The mountain biker was still nowhere in sight by the time I got to the top.

Three peaks had now been climbed and all that remained was a gentle downhill run to the finish. I was still in 70th place.

Since there was no chance of winning (the first runner crossed the finish line when I still had Te Mata peak left to climb) there was no point in killing myself to get to the end. So I dropped into the ‘little old man shuffle’ and plodded my way downhill. I was enjoying the run through some really nice bush. When the trail finished and I just had the road section left to run, I jogged along looking at the houses and gardens of what is, a quite pretty suburb.

There was one small surprise left in store however.

A red arrow was on the trail ahead pointing in the wrong direction. It was pointing up! Who the hell put an uphill in the middle of my downhill? I demanded to know the answer to this from the marshals at the top of the climb. I’m not sure they caught the humour in my voice, so I left before I could cause them any further upset. They were lovely old ladies who told me it was only about 1km to go.

The rest of the run down the street was uneventful, until I got to the corner at the bottom, and some more marshals. They told me I had 200 metres to go. 100 metres to the finish of the race (where the timing stopped) and another 100 metres to the finish line where the crowd was standing waiting.

The organisers did this because to get to the finish line you had to cross a busy road, and the temptation if you are racing someone else would be too great to take a chance and cause an accident. So the finish happens where it is safe, and you can just walk the last bit if you want.

I ran the last bit.

It was a great feeling to finally cross the finish line before everyone had packed up and gone home, knowing that there were still plenty more people behind me, that I wasn’t last again.

I ran across the line, letting one last person in front of me (because it didn’t matter now anyway) and received my finisher’s keyring. Then I took my timing chip over and returned it, before going off to meet my wife.

It wasn’t until after I had collected my free beer and found a place to sit that I realised I hadn’t turned my time off on my watch. So Strava thinks it took me about 6 minutes longer than it actually did.

I was glad to be done, but also really happy with the way my body had worked this time around. My core didn’t collapse, so I was able to breathe ok for the entire race. Apart from the cramps in my calves and some sore toes after all the downhill, I felt pretty good. I had plenty of energy left at the end of the race, and I’m sure I could have carried on if I had needed to.

There are so many positives to take away from this race. Some things to work on as well, but I saw dramatic improvements in my running performance. And I think the most telling part of that is in a couple of statistics -

This time I spent about 12 minutes during the whole race static. About half of that time would have been on the top of Te Mata Peak taking photos.

Contrast that with my first ultra – the WUU2K, where I spent over an hour static, sitting in aid stations, quietly waiting for the grim reaper.

And instead of Shiree being over two hours ahead of me, she was only 26 minutes ahead this time. that’s a massive improvement.

Official stats

• Distance: 44.58k
• Time: 7:05
• Elevation gain: 1492m
• Average pace: 9:33 min/km
• Final placing: 84th
• Split times:
  o Mt Erin (fist time) 1:30 – placing 64th
  o Middle road 2:09 – placing 65th
  o Mt Erin (second time) 3:26 – placing 68th
  o Matangi Road 4:40 – placing 70th
  o Te Mata Peak 5:58 – placing 70th
  o Finish 7:05 – placing 84th

Three days later

My legs are pretty stiff and sore, my toes hurt and one big toe is probably going to have a black toenail again. But apart from that I feel really good. Not good enough to go for another long run just yet, but I’m already planning my training schedule for the next race.

I have plenty of time now, so I plan on building up my speed and endurance, as well as doing my best to become a monster on the uphills. I think it is one area that I can excel in and use it to pass other runners who walk instead of run up hill.

The next race however is all flat. It’s the first long race I ever entered, almost a year ago – the Wellington Marathon. Two weeks after that is the big one - the one that all my training from now on will be focused on. This is the one race that I really want to throw down hard and finish strong – the WUU2K.

I have a bit over three months to prepare for it, and I’ll use that time to get as fast and strong as I can. Then we will see just how fast a little old man can run.

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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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