Queens Birthday Day 1 - Night Relay (Muriwai Golf Course)

On the Saturday night we had a fun night relay at the Muriwai Golf Course before the social. It reminded me a bit of last year's Halloween score event on the golf course which was truly hilarious and an awesome event despite the fact that I am literally terrified of the dark (I'm trying to conquer this by making myself do these night events whether I want to or not). The relay format was pretty simple. You were in teams of 2 (I was in a team with my mate Michael who I did TWALK with) and either started on Leg A or Leg B. The first runner in the team would head out and do their leg then hand their map to the other team mate. Then once they'd come in the first runner would head out on the second leg then hand the map to the second runner to do. Make sense?

We were on Leg B first and I made Michael run first. He was racing against his mate Matt which was quite funny. You could see the trail of lights out on the course as you waited around, freezing cold, at the finish. They came in together, much quicker than I expected and I was off before I knew it. Lara (Matt's relay partner) started just ahead of me and she had awesome reflective strips on the back of her tights so if I wasn't totally sure I was going right I could just look up and see where she was!

A couple of Aussie girls started a few seconds behind us so were chasing us the whole way and we formed a little train (we must have all been Leg B starters) which grew in numbers as we went along (picking up other runners who'd started before us). It was actually really fun but we were going incredibly fast and I was pretty knackered by the time I got back to the finish to tag Michael.


Loop A - our second leg
I was hoping the second leg might be a bit longer not 'cause I felt like running for longer but more because I really wanted a bit of a rest before having to run again but Michael finished it in no time. Lara had already set out (turns out Matt forgot the last control so mispunched on the second leg hence coming in a little bit before Michael) so I was on my own and I stumbled on the first control despite one of my mates saying to take it easy 'cause it was a tricky one. I did exactly what he'd done! After that it was pretty simple and basically just a matter of keeping my legs moving as fast as I could! It's such a weird experience running off road in the dark especially on this golf course map...the terrain is really bouncy. I can't really describe it but your foot never lands quite how or where you think it's going to.

Anyway, turns out we were the first New Zealand team (beaten by a couple of Aussie teams...they took it pretty seriously though whereas we were all out to have fun). Awesome!

Queens Birthday Day 1 - Long Distance (Telephone Track)

It seems that all my long weekends are taken up with orienteering and Queens Birthday Weekend this year was no exception. No travel required this time since all the events were taking place in the Auckland region with the first 2 days on my local stomping ground, Woodhill.

I've been getting quite nervous before events since moving up to W21E. I'm guessing this will slowly pass as I get used to this grade which would be good because nerves make me panic and make stupid route choices. The first race was a long distance race at Woodhill on the Saturday morning. Long distance is probably the event I like the most. Anyway, it's your lucky day 'cause Dad was standing at the start taking photos of me...


Nervously waiting at the start box with about a minute to go.

And we're off...trying not to trip up whilst attempting to locate the first control on the map.
I actually found the first control fairly okay which is always a good way to start. Things were going mostly okay (abet a little slow and cautious) until #15. From #14 I bashed out of the sanddunes as quickly as possible because it's crappy terrain and difficult to work out exactly where you are. I thought I could relocate once I was back in the forest but it felt like a bit of a dead zone and nothing was fitting. I ended up nearly at the road before I worked out vaguely where I was.


I then promptly stuffed up #16 as well. I got up to the depression to the left of the control which I knew was wrong so I went right into the next depression but it didn't look how I imagined it would (it was much broader). I fluffed around for a bit too long before nearly stumbling on the control! Frustrating. The rest was okay and I came in with an alright time especially considering the field...I even beat one of the Aussie bushrangers! Yeah!

TWALK 2010

TWALK is basically a 24-hour orienteering race split into 5 legs and is held at a mystery location in Canterbury every year by the Canterbury University Tramping Club. Oh, and you get to dress up in ridiculous costumes...at least at the start before they become too annoying and you have to ditch them. This year the race started at the Cave Stream carpark just down from Craigieburn with the Hash House (like base camp I guess) at the Flock Hill Lodge. Basically leg 1 is about getting from the start to the Hash House and all the other legs are based from there. Leg 1 is the only compulsory leg (obviously). Make sense? Good.


At the uni carpark wondering what on earth I'd got myself into but terribly excited all the same.
I was in a team with a couple of Christchurch-based orienteers, Michael and Tane. Tane and I were rocking the Mr and Ms Claus thing and Michael, well he decided to wear a netball skirt and suit jacket...how that fitted with our theme I have no idea but there you go...!


Michael, me and Tane at the start...exciting!
Michael was our trusty team leader having done this race something like 10 times before. Tane had done it about 4 times. I figured that if people had done it that many times and were still keen to come back and do it again the following year then it couldn't be too bad!


A control is somewhere up there amongst good old Matt and Garry (a TWALK term for the thorny matagari bush).
We set off at a fairly reasonable, cruisey pace with the idea that there were many hours ahead of us. It actually wasn't nearly as cold as I had thought and we were all stripping off layers (and bits of our costumes) fairly soon into it. The river crossings were another story though. At least my shoes were super fast draining so the cold water didn't stick around. Navigation wasn't very hard (although Michael will perhaps never live down leading us up the wrong spur to the wrong clearing especially since we all said we trusted he was correct). Once at the control circle though it's a different story.


One of the big elements about TWALK is that the controls are hard to find and the clues are terribly cryptic. They may not even be quite in the control circle on the map let alone in the centre as they are for traditional orienteering. For example, there were clues like 'break me off a piece of that chocolate' which translated as a broken tree branch lying on the ground in a patch of beech trees where there were lots of broken tree branches all over the ground! I was quite proud of finding the control at the top of Helicopter Hill and then fooling other teams around us into looking further down. Brilliant!


This photo reminds me of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe for some reason...all that is required here is a lamppost.
Anyway, we finished Leg 1 in fairly reasonable time (roughly 5 and a half hours - I think we arrived at the Hash House in 4th place which was quite amusing considering we were just cruising compared to a couple of teams who raced past us near the end...clearly speed doesn't necessarily win you the race in TWALK).


Trudging up Helicopter Hill
Leg 2 looked like it was going to be tough...just how tough we were about to find out. It was getting dark by the time we left the hash house (we had a fairly leisurely transition) so we had our headlights on in preparation right from the start. There was a hell of a lot of uphill along a road (looking for controls along the way) and it didn't take long before we were into the snow.

Somewhere along the river I managed to slip over and twist my left index finger back in such a way that it hurt like hell (we now suspect I actually cracked a bone). Luckily it was cold so my hands were feeling a bit numb! Then as we climbed our way out of the river a bit later I managed to stab my left eye (clearly the left side wasn't lucky) with a protruding branch and lost a contact. Guess it didn't matter too much that I was a bit blind after that since it was dark but it did affect my balance!


Yep, it got dark and cold
We could see various trails of lights along the hillside to our right so we figured that was where we were heading. With a bit of luck we managed to find all of the controls up there (turns out that a lot of teams didn't find them...clearly we had the skills or something!).

We had decided fairly early on that we wanted to tackle the controls on the top of Broken Hill which turned out to be a mistake but it certainly led to an adventure. Most teams were turning back by #11 with the idea of trying to get all of leg 3 instead (which looked easy but apparently the clues were ridiculously hard and most teams got very few points despite being out there several hours). Climbing up from #11 we encountered a thick bush of young pine trees we had to bash through for ages which weren't shown on the map before finally getting out into the open and by then we were soaked right through our waterproof gear. Not good.


Somewhere along the ridgeline of Broken Hill before I began to freeze
Once on the top of Broken Hill the snow was getting pretty deep in places (I managed to sink up to my waist once) and the weather felt like it was packing in...rain, sleet, snow and wind were making things very unpleasant. We managed to keep our spirits up for awhile but finding the controls on the ridgeline were proving to be pretty tough and it was too cold to search for long. Somewhere along the ridge I started to get extremely cold and was having trouble moving so the boys pulled out more warm gear from their packs and helped get me into it. They were worried I was getting close to hyperthermic.

But not long after, we all started to freeze. The control on the saddle was nowhere in sight, the weather sucked and our morale was going downhill. Michael made an executive decision that we needed to get off the ridge and down off the mountain as soon as possible. Tane led the way, working out the safest route down through the snow and rocks. I was having trouble even walking as I got colder and colder. Things were not good. And then we hit the scrub. I could see the valley below and it seemed miles away (Michael optimistically reckoned it wasn't too far but then he was saying that the whole time...anything to make sure I kept moving). Tane bashed ahead while Michael helped me down. I spent way too much time on my arse but I couldn't keep myself on my feet...not helped by snow and thick scrub. I've never been so happy to reach the bottom of a hill in my life!

We decided that we were just going to curl up in our sleeping bags once we were back at the Hash House and call it a day. Good move since it was already 4am by then. I would have liked to have been out for the full 24 hours but in reality it wasn't going to happen after Broken Hill. If we hadn't gone over the tops I'm pretty sure we would have been keen for more. It was a bad decision but at least we had quite an adventure and it certainly makes a good story!


Oh dear! What a terrible after photo (and this was the best of the bunch). We are attempting to get warm again in the Hash House.
Once back at the Hash House I was so cold that I couldn't move my limbs enough to get into dry clothes so I had to be helped. Not good. I barely managed any sleep and nothing seemed to warm me up but at least I was beginning to feel a little more defrosted. It wasn't until the trip home on the bus that I finally managed to fall asleep...


Drifting off while waiting for the bus to arrive to take us back home again.
I keep getting asked if I'd do this race again considering the conditions we ended up in. Maybe I'm completely mad but I can't wait until next year. Bring it on!

Mtb Rogaine 2 - Marquita's Garden

So after thrashing myself on a 90 minute foot rogaine, it was always going to be tough to get on the bike and do another 90 minutes on those grueling hills. A good plan was always going to be essential and I was fairly happy with mine. I knew there was no way I could get the controls further out so I stuck with a route on tracks I was relatively familiar with (I've ridden here a few times this year) and was definitely not going to try and be ambitious...I was knackered before I even started!


Attempting to plan my route.
Even with the route I chose, trying to avoid too many heinous hills, I found myself having to push the bike up way more hills than I would normally (although there are always hills here that you just can't ride up...not in a million years). Having ridden up here a few times I did have some idea on a good route choices and I ended up with a pretty good plan (well, for me anyway). I only changed it a tiny bit to go grab a 50 pointer when I realised I had a little bit more time than I thought.


I could have probably got another 30 points but I was pretty happy with how I did especially considering how exhausted I was by the time this race started! It would be interesting to see how I would do if I was fresh. I reckon I could get quite a few more (heading down to the far end of the forest). My technique and general riding skills are definitely improving though...bring on Aussie!

Rogaine 3 - Slater Road

Oh my god, this was epic! Okay, well I knew that from the moment I heard there was going to be a rogaine at Slater Road but when I got the map my fears were well and truly confirmed. Slater Road is the map of Rob and Marquita's farm...mostly a huge pine forest out the back filled with mountain bike trails. What makes it so tough is just how steep it is (and I mean steep) and the forest is not clean running like much of the pine forest we run in at Woodhill.


So I picked up the map and really had no idea where I was going to go. In hindsight (what a wonderful thing) I probably should have taken the advice I gave my parents (!) and tried to get a whole heap of the farmland controls which were on the flatter area and definitely easier to get to. Instead I headed straight out into the bush and spend a good 75 minutes bashing about in it before picking up some of the farmland controls on my way back to the finish.


Looking down to the event centre (where the hut is under the trees...which are all part of the map).
I didn't get nearly as many points as I hoped for (well, I guess at least I didn't plan too cautiously this time then!) but at least managed to work out a route to get back to the finish without being over the time limit, picking up a few points along the way.

Despite everything it was good fun and I definitely pushed myself physically up some of those climbs. I really love this forest but it is real steep and super technical. I mean, I've run and biked up here heaps lately but I still get confused every time I go out! It's a bit of a shame I won't be around for the final rogaine in the series as I'll be in Christchurch for another event. Oh well, can't do everything I guess!

Rogaine 2 - Turkey Ridge

Turkey Ridge is one of the few farmland maps we have in the Auckland region and I think it's been a couple of years since I last ran there (I vaguely remember it was overcast and I stuffed up somewhere stupid but really that's not that uncommon!). It's steep...lots of contours, made worse by the fact the map uses 5 metre contours (that means that it's 5 metres in height between each contour line on the map...does that makes sense?).

Anyway, I was determined to plan my route better this time and be a bit more ambitious. Turns out I was probably still not ambitious enough but we'll get to that. When we got handed the maps it was raining so I went back to my car to plan my route so had no idea what other people were planning and just hoped I hadn't picked a stupid route. Obviously not as there was a huge train of us heading to #54 as their first control.


I got round most of the loop on the right-hand side of the track within 30 minutes so I realised then that I was going to have to head further out to the left than planned. As it turns out, I had a very similar route to another girl in my grade so we were sort of racing each other for most of the time. Every time I thought I was taking a different route she'd show up next to me a couple of controls later! It did help push me onwards a bit though.

Once I got to #36 I gave myself a turnaround time (I think I had about 50 minutes to go at that point) but I didn't stick to it and turned around earlier than I needed to, mainly because the other girl and another guy who'd joined our little party were turning around at that point. I could have at least got #49 and maybe #56 and then dropped #41 later on which was so steep it wasn't really worth it. I ended up crossing past the finish with about 17 minutes to go. Picked up the last 3 I'd left for a finishing loop and was home with about 9 and a half minutes to spare and nowhere to use them up! GRRR! But I ended up with 1020 points which was pretty good really and got me 2nd equal in open women which was quite good.

Can't wait for next weekend though...Slater Road rocks and we have a mountain bike rogaine in the afternoon. Gonna be awesome.

Adventures in Queenstown

I've been in Queenstown all week on a work trip but you can't come all the way down here and not try and see at least some of the cool sights. I've been starting work at 9am every morning and it doesn't really get light enough to venture out until about 7:15am and even then you wouldn't want to be in the bush until more like 7:45am so that leaves me a tiny window in which to sneak in some runs and unfortunately means I haven't been able to do my favourite one (the One Mile Creek/Fernhill loop). But I have managed to sneak in a couple of my favourites so far...

Yesterday, after doing intervals and hill sprints the day before, I thought I'd tackle Queenstown Hill. Poor thighs were burning a bit after the hills of the day before but hey, at least they were still working! It's a bit of a grind to get to the base of the track which is, ironically, not at the base of the hill since you have to climb up some wickedly steep streets first. Then you wind up through the bush loop track which was pretty dark on my way up. Once you get up above the bush you keep following the track to the summit through the tussock...I've never come up here (winter, summer, spring, autumn...I think I might have been here for every season!) and not been freezing no matter how many layers I had...but the views are always amazing.

Anyway, here's a few snapshots of the run (mostly from the open tops section)...


Here is the view of Queenstown Hill from the deck of my apartment. Obviously this is a bit later in the day since, well, you can actually see it as opposed to when I left yesterday and it was still dark.

Once you get above the tree line you can either head back down the loop track or head up to the summit. Why you'd come all this way and not go to the summit though is beyond me.

Looking down over Queenstown from above the treeline. You can see the sun is still trying to make it's way over the tops of the mountains.

Yay! I've made it to the summit! Here we're looking out towards Ben Lomond which I've climbed on a previous adventure here when there was a lot more snow.

Looking down towards the lake and the mountains beyond from the summit. Wicked morning.

Quite possibly the most unflattering photo of me I've ever seen! Trying to take a photo at the summit was hard...it was bloody freezing (and I'd forgotten my gloves) and you could only take it from one angle 'cause the sun was still in the process of rising (it has a long way to rise to get above the mountains round here).

Making my way back down the track.
So that was yesterday's run. I was feeling a bit tired this morning (we worked really late last night) and my legs were definitely not in the mood for hills so I thought I'd cruise along the Sunshine Bay track which starts about a couple of ks from the apartment. It's short, gently undulating and through a nice patch of bush along the lakefront. On the way back I nipped up the beginning of the One Mile Creek track which has a link to the street our apartment is on which meant I didn't have to go back along the road. A bit of a tough climb but at least it's short!

Anyway, here's a few snapshots from along the way (mostly on the way back when it was actually light enough for my camera to see anything)...


Looking back towards Queenstown and the Remarkables from a lookout point on the track.

Sunshine Bay track.

The Sunshine Bay end of the track.

Looking back towards the Remarkables from Sunshine Bay...yep, the sun is still trying to make it's way up into the sky. It's going to be another awesome day (I must have brought the good weather down with me!).

Hmmm, this one is a lot better than yesterday's attempt!

Sunshine Bay track...homeward bound.

The bottom of the One Mile Creek track which starts at the base of Fernhill. I love the autumn colours and how the leaves are all over the track.
Hmmm...I wonder where I might get to tomorrow.