A Pictorial Essay of Wellington

Aside from the 43km I'd put in a couple of weeks ago, I hadn't yet put in the 70 - 100% distance that the Kepler site recommended. With just over 3 wks to go I knew that if I didn't get out and put in the monster training session now, I wouldn't have enough time to recover, start tapering and generally prepare for the actual race. PJ had abandoned me, hail was forecast and it was Friday 13th - sounded like ideal conditions for the big push!

With a full pack and full stomach I headed out of my front door on Friday at 7.30am and up the road to the top of Tinakori Hill, stopping to admire the novelty of being out so early, appreciate the blue sky and take footage of one of the ridge-lines my travels would take me on.



I ran along the summit of the hill and descended into Wadestown, and then dropped down into Ngaio Gorge. Turning left and heading along this now reasonably familiar track, I greeted another early morning runner, looked at the gorgeous green surrounds and wondered how I'd feel in another 8 hours when the morning commuters were heading back the other way.

Reaching the end of the Gorge, I decided to head right along the main road, into Khandallah and climb Mt Kaukau rather than the Crow's Nest: today was about ticking all the boxes and Kaukau was a rather large box to tick - especially via the Stairs of Death (as they're lovingly known by Wellington runners and mountain bikers alike).

I've only ever been down the SOD and they seemed long and deathly in that direction. Much to my delight, they weren't as bad as I anticipated (taking only 30mins to ascend, rather than the hour the sign predicted) and after a brief video stop at the top, I started jogging along the Skyline walkway towards Makara Peak.



The sun shone and the breeze was there but wasn't significant. The bad weather wasn't meant to roll in until the afternoon and my intention was to cover Kaukau to Makara Peak as quickly as possible as it was the most exposed section of the trek. Not to mention the fact that I was detouring from the main route so I could put my "oh look, a shiny / we're not in Kansas" in.

The view of South Island was clear and boded well for a delayed arrival of the forecast atrocious weather from the South. After a quick pop up my favourite hill return route, I was on to the last few km until the ascent to Makara Peak.



As I headed up the mountain biking paths to the summit, the 4hr mark rolled over, and I must admit to feeling a little relieved to stop for a few moments and take a few photos. An Em's Powerbar* later, I continued along the 4WD track and down into the Karori Mountain Bike park.

After stopping to fill up on water and a toilet break, I headed up Wrights Hill. Since Makara Peak I'd started to feel uncomfortable in my descents as well as ascents. My legs were tired and every now and then there was a slight stumble (= another bruised toenail).

I was somewhere in the 30km region by this stage, but still covering the terrain at a brisk pace, making it to Wrights Hill summit by 5hr30mins. I took a break here, choosing to sit and enjoy the view of Kaukau (where I'd been much earlier) and suck back a couple of Leppins. Memo to me: don't enjoy the view so much that you end up with Leppin all over your leg. And don't bother to lick it off - it tastes of sweat!

Back onwards, and back upwards. I dropped down onto the Gutbuster track and started heading towards the Brooklyn wind turbine. I knew I had some steep climbing to do, but forgot how much distance I had to cover: the detour to Wrights Hill from the Gutbuster is about 1/4 of the way round - not 1/3. This was tough going - not only steep, but really rutted; I was glad that I had my radio with me and the Sanctuary birds to keep me company.

Once at the summit the path ran parallel to the summit road, and I cut through, joinied the tarmac seal, and headed off towards the radome (Ed's note - known locally as the 'Golf Ball') at the summit of Hawkins Hill at the top of the tip track.

As I headed upwards again, the sky began to darken and the breeze began to pick up. I could see the Cook Strait from where I was, and there was at least one of the four horses of the Apocalypse riding towards me. As I reached the radome, it had arrived and it was all I could do to take a couple of photos, and run down the hill, bent over trying to shelter from the cloud and huge winds that had come in. Really scary to see low cloud being blown over the road I'd walked up in sunshine not 2 minutes earlier.

According to radio reports (I had my head phones in), people were calling in saying Wellington had just got very dark, there was hail in some places and that Armageddon had truly arrived. All the more reason for me to cover as much ground as quickly as possible.

Putting on my rain coat for heat retention (the rain and hail hadn't reached me yet), I made my way (at best attempt) at full pace along the summit of the Gutbuster to the Turbine, along and down the other side (I always forget how much it undulates at that it doesn't just go down from the Turbine).

Carefully making my way down the other side (it's pretty steep) and after a slight "where the heck am I?" detour, I was back into familiar territory and making my way through suburban Northland and up the other side of Tinakori Hill.

My ankles were hurting, having worked exceptionally hard and my feet were well blistered. Despite this and my aching legs, I was still fit (Ed's note - read "stubborn") enough to detour to the masts on top of Tinakori Hill (thus ticking my final box), take photos of Hawkins Hill (see below) and head down the path I came up 8hrs earlier. I even managed a slow trot down hill the to home.

8hr15min, 47km. Notably longer length (v 43km) and shorter time (v 9hr30min) than taken the other week - says something about knowing where you're going!

I had blisters upon blisters. Blisters in places that hadn't even been rubbing. All of my legs - that's the entirety of them, I haven't grown an extra one - ached, as did my glutes, back and swollen hands. However, the number of steep hills I'd climbed put me in good stead for the Kepler and as long as I bathe my feet in white spirits between now and then, every thing should hold up. No complaints from my hip and no chaffing either - bring on 5 December!


*Email Ben at Gymeez directly (info@gymeezwellington.co.nz) for Em's Power Bars - they're brilliant.


Ignore the first 'END' on the map - my laptop spat the dummy.