Indice dei contenuti per February - March 2019 in Trail Run

Sometimes it just feels right, and sometimes you look at something, and you ask yourself, 'hmmm, why hasn’t this been done before?' The inaugural Tails n Trails event felt a bit like that. It seems like a concept that just works and fits perfectly, and as Forrest Gump might say, “It’s like peas and carrots”. The story goes that the good folk at Eukanuba were looking for an innovative way to connect with dog owners, particularly those that enjoyed running and walking with their canine friends, and they found Total Sport, a company specialising in the concept, creation and production of unique participation-based events (primarily trail run/walk events) in stunning, natural locations. Again, peas and carrots, it was probably just a matter of time before Eukanuba and Total Sport teamed…

When I was young, somewhere around 10-12 years, my parents thought I was too skinny and took me to the doctor. What was wrong with him, did he have some sort of allergy or disease? Nothing obvious showed up. I was sports-mad and played rugby for a club in a weight division, under seven stone (about 44.5kg), and I distinctly remember at least once an opposing coach protesting that I must be more than seven stone. See, I was pretty good and tall so won a lot of lineout ball. I guess they were always looking for other teams who were scamming the system so brought scales along to the matches. I always passed. As I moved into my teenage years, I became conscious of the fact that I wasn’t…

4am in Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. “What are you in Taipei for?” asks the woman beside me. “An endurance running event,” I reply. “A 24-hour race where you run as far as you can within that time.” “You mean a marathon?” She’s impressed, and turns to the next person in line. “This lady here has come from New Zealand to run a marathon!” Further attempts to describe the nature of a 24-hour don’t land at all, so we accept that I’m doing a marathon and move on. “Want to represent New Zealand in Taiwan?” asked the Athletics NZ email six weeks back. Does a trail runner shit (responsibly) in the woods? Suffice it to say, I was keen. Luckily a few others were too and we fielded a full team…

DIEZ, NUEVE, OCHO...we are starting already? But we just got off the bus!. SIETE, SEIS, CINCO, CUATRO...set the watch, quick selfie at the start line. TRES, DOS, UNO...and it hit me. I was here. I was doing it. My dream of running in Patagonia was becoming a reality. I felt a wave of emotion wash over me, and then settled in to a jog up to the starting incline. Patagonia has fascinated me for years. Prior to moving to New Zealand from Ireland, I had spent time rock climbing and mountaineering in Europe and had read of the famous peaks in Patagonia that serious climbers attempt to summit. Torres del Paine National Park is home to Los Torres – awe-inspiring mighty granite towers that rise dramatically into the sky from…

As the ridgeline fell away before me, I slowed my cadence. A cool breeze swept up from the valley below bringing a moment’s relief from the humidity. I looked for where the trail would take me next – across a valley floor carved by a creek and long ago converted to farmland, and then up onto ridges fringed with tall eucalyptus. There on the edge of the forest I spied another runner coming toward me. I started moving again – no runner wants to look slack around another. When we were close enough, we shared the coded smiles of trail runners and traded information about our day; her English accent rattled through the bush and her enthusiasm destroyed any rumours that our Northern cousins struggle in the Australian heat. “Watch…

Western Australia April 7 3 Waters Running Festival, Bunbury, 50k, 42k, 21k, 10k, 5k, road 22 Mt Helena 40 Miler and Relay, 64.4k, off-road 27 Light Horse Ultra, Woodvale, 12hr, 6hrs, 3hrsm kids race, off-road May 10 Pemby Trail Fest, Pemberton,50k, 21k, 14k, 10k, 7k, 2k, off-road 19 Salt Lakes City Limits Trail Race, Lake Walyungup, 25k, 12k, 6k, kids 2k, off-road 25 Woodchoppers Ultra, Donnelly River Village, 50k, 25k, 12.5k, off-road New South Wales / ACT December 1 Westies Joggers 10km Fun Run, Georges Hall, 10k, road 16 Misty Mountain Trail Run, Mt Warning / Wollumbin, 50k, 30k, 20k, 11k, 5k, off-road January 5-6 Narrabeen All Nighter, Narrabeen Lakes Sailing Club, team/solo 12 hour, 42k at 9.30pm 42k at 3am, road 26 Australia Day Fun Run, Coffs Harbour, 10k,…

In this issue of Trail Runner we’re going to discuss two integral facets of sound performance and how these two impact on, and for many athletes are mistaken for, each other. We are talking about intensity and economy. Both of which can either make or break your race. One is developed in training and one is enhanced by discipline and fitness however, it is influenced by knowledge and affects race strategy. When we discuss the term ‘running economy’ I am referring to a mix of physiological and biomechanical factors that can positively or negatively influence energy utilisation when we run at a set speed or intensity. The less oxygen you consume at a set speed, the more economical you are said to be, and the longer you will be able…

Where: North of sunny Nelson, Cable Bay Walkway extends from Glenduan to Cable Bay, providing expansive and impressive views of Tasman Bay and Cable Bay. Distance: 7.4 km one way – the trail can be completed in either direction. Degree of difficulty: Moderately challenging. Access: The southern part of the walkway begins at the end of Airlie St, Glenduan, a short deviation off State Highway 6 at Wakapuaka – 10km north of central Nelson and you can park your car on the roadside next to the beach. The northern end of the walkway is at Cable Bay, where there is a car park. To reach Cable Bay, head north from Nelson along State Highway 6 over Gentle Annie Saddle and turn left at Cable Bay Road. Cable Bay is 8km…

More often than it used to, the question of why do I run crops up. Mostly it is asked by someone other than myself and it is usually asked in an inquisitive rather than accusatory tone. Usually. It seems that if you look a certain age you have to justify to others who look that same certain age why you spend much of your time running and in most cases they don’t. Perhaps it is driven by guilt on the part of the questioner – a kind of resentment that you haven’t hoisted the white flag to age and decrepitude and taken up crochet or Mah-jong. “Physical and mental health maintenance, enjoyment, routine, need, desire, passion... they are all part of the answer.” In some cases it could be because…

The Kangaroo Island ‘Run With the Roos’ Marathon is not one of those marathons you just happen to train a bit for, and then go and run. It takes logistics not unlike NASA landing the InSight spacecraft on Mars to get there, so it definitely falls into the category of ‘destination marathon’. In fact, there were a number of overseas runners there, several of whom had skipped the bigger Aussie marathons like Melbourne or Gold Coast in favour of this race as their Australian run as part of their mission to complete seven marathons on seven continents. (To be clear, they didn’t actually skip those other marathons, they just didn’t do them.) Kangaroo Island or ‘KI’, as it’s known locally, may only be 14km off the South Australian coast, but…

If this was another running publication, I would be espousing 10 strategies for you to become the best middle-aged athlete that you can be. But, if you have stuck around here for a while, or have ever read one of my articles before, you will be well aware that this is not how I roll. Want to know how to be the best older athlete you can be? You need to be the best human first. Trail running is something that middle aged athletes flock too, both those that are life-long runners and perhaps those being new to the sport, or who are returning to a focus of physical well-being that they may have had in their youth and may have lost over their younger and middle adult years as…

“The roar of the crowd is like nothing I had ever experienced before. It’s so loud, it blocks out the aching in your legs and all of a sudden you don’t feel tired anymore.” - Nancy Jiang During the High Trail Vanoise 6 Cols event, her first real mountain race, Nancy Jiang promised herself she would never do this again. “I was very close to tears,” she remembers. “It was the first time I had to run in snow and along mountain ridges with chains. By the climb up the last peak, I was crawling.” Fifteen mountain races later, she’s still going. “I guess like they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Spending a summer running in the Alps is a dream come true for many trail runners.…

After attending the University of Canterbury, Espiner spent 10 years as a newspaper journalist before switching to television in 2003. He has a proven track record in political reporting, having been political editor for Television New Zealand and, earlier, the Sunday Star Times, as well as reporting on trade from China, on war from Afghanistan, on politics from Washington, on international relations from Papua New Guinea and on climate change from Antarctica. Most recently he worked for TV3 as an anchor and journalist on 3rd Degree and The Vote, and continues to write a political column for The Listener. In 2014, Espiner took over co-hosting Morning Report on Radio New Zealand National with Susie Ferguson. Where are you from? Where do you live currently? GE: I'm from Christchurch originally but…

Where: Ships Stern Circuit is nestled in Lamington National Park, which lies on the Lamington Plateau of the McPherson Range on the Queensland/New South Wales border. The 20,600 hectares Lamington National Park is located 85km from Southport on the Gold Coast to the southwest, while Brisbane is 110 kilometres north; and it is known for its natural environment, rainforests, birdlife, ancient trees, waterfalls, walking tracks and mountain views. Distance: 21km return. Degree of difficulty: While moderately difficult, this is a long run so be adequately prepared to be on the trail for a while, with enough food, water and other provisions. Access: The Ships Stern circuit commences opposite the road entrance to Binna Burra Mountain Lodge. If travelling on the Pacific Motorway M1, take the Nerang turn-off and follow the…

I enjoy adding some purpose in my daily training habits with goals. My main BIG role goals are intertwined with gradual improvement in my ability to be a good father, husband, physiotherapist and coach. At the start of 2018 I wrote down a swimming and running goal that were both well outside my comfort zone. You don’t grow when you are in a state of comfort, so creating goals that stretch you outside the comfort bubble is something we should all strive for. I swim a minimum of two times a week to allow me to run injury free. A 7:30pm 45-minute Monday night pool session with some training buddies, and a no wetsuit sea swim year round at 12:15pm on a Wednesday. Swimming is the ultimate in ‘aqua yoga’…

They had me at scones and jam. Who wouldn’t go past an aid station, stocked with freshly baked scones and delicious plum (I hope) jam. When my editor Gregor Paul asked me to write (in December) why I had signed up for the 2019 Tarawera Ultramarathon 50km event on February 9, I really had to think about it. Why would I sign up to run 50km – that’s nearly half way to Hamilton from Auckland, and risk losing toe nails, suffering blistered feet and aching for days? Good question and for the life of me, I could not think why I had indeed signed up. Then I remembered the scones. In 2016, I ran the Tarawera Trail Marathon event and was so impressed at the aid stations, it made me…

What is not debatable is that staying active is vital during pregnancy – for the health of mum and the baby on-board. Medical director at New Zealand Football and doctor for the All Whites, Football Ferns and Northern Mystics netballers, Dr Mark Fulcher says it is important to do what you enjoy, and if it is running, the advice he generally gives to expectant mothers is running is perfectly safe for the mum and baby until it gets uncomfortable, so long as there are no other complications during pregnancy.. “Any time is a good time to become active but if you have not run before it is probably not a good idea to go from being completely sedentary to running a marathon.” - Dr Mark Fulcher “Any time is a…

NORTH ISLAND February 8 Tarawera 20K, Lake Okareka, 20k, off-road 9 Tarawera Ultramarathon, Hotwater Beach, Kawerau & Government Gardens, 100m, 102k, 50k, off-road 10 Mizuno Coatesville Half Marathon, 21k, 8k, 4k, 2k, road 16 The Great Lake Relay around Lake Taupo, Tongariro Domain/Pukawa Reserve, relay/solo 155k, 67k,road 17 Wellington Round the Bays, 21.1k, 10k, 6.5k, road 23 Camelbak Ruapehu EXPRESS, Horopito to Ohakune, 21k, 16k, off-road March 2 Bayleys Mountain to Surf Marathon, Egmont National Park to New Plymouth, 42.2k, relay/solo 21.1k, road 3 Ports of Auckland Round the Bays, 8.5k, road 3 Rotorua Off Road Half Marathon, Whakarewarewa Forest, 21k, 10.5k, 5k, kids 2.5k, 1.5k, off-road 9 Kirikiriroa Marathon, Hamilton, solo/relay 42k, road 9 MCL Construction Triple Peaks, Havelock North, solo/relay 55k, off-road 9 Tararua Mountain Race: Southern Crossing,…

Both running and yoga have a long and distinguished history. The origin of modern distance running is often traced back to the legendary runner Pheidippides who ran to pass on messages about the invasion of Marathon in 490BC. The origins of yoga can be traced back to northern India around 5,000 years ago, as people sought to unite the power of the body, mind and soul. In recent years, the range of sports available has grown significantly largely due to modern technology, increased leisure time and travel. While running and yoga have stood the test of time, other sports such as mountain biking, triathlon, cross-fit and adventure racing (just to name a few) provide us with new opportunities to challenge ourselves both physically and mentally. From a personal perspective, running…