I was nervous, yet excited, yet not sure how it was all going to go. Kel and I had decided a few weeks earlier that we would run the event together. For both of us it was the first time running this distance and we just wanted to have that support to get to the other end. Finally 10am came and it was time to head off. The first 3.5k of the run was a gradual incline - nothing too bad and I was able to keep a slow run going for most of this time. It seemed like we had covered the first 1k in no time at all. Maybe it was all the amazing scenery along the way! I must say Mt Ruapehu looked superb!
These are just a collection of photos taken from along the way! So the start of the race was on gravel road and after the aid station (with jet planes) at the 3.5k mark, the terrain changed to a 4WD track. As we headed along the track, the grooves grew and the mud appeared. In some places there was no way at all to avoid the mud.
Yep, that's me running through the mud. I never thought I would enjoy doing something like that! Well I guess that shows that you can even surprise yourself. With 15k to go, we decided it was time to celebrate and get a photo with the marker. I was also in awe of the wind turbines in front of us and the shear size of them.
Both Kel and I discussed how great we were still both feeling. 10k down and 15k to go so we continued to box on with a couple more jet planes to keep me going. After this point, there were a couple of hills that were a little hard going and these were well and truly walked. The worst one was between 17k and 18k and I really really just wished it would stop going up. This was one of the first times during the race that I really thought to myself - WHAT AM I DOING????? The top finally came and with it the last aid station. It also meant we just had the last 7k to go and I had run this bit the year before and knew most of it was down hill. We really started counting down the distance now, spurring each other along but still smiling. Not sure where this energy came from with about 5k to go!
Somehow we were still smiling with 1k to go!!
That last km was hard - bloody hard. Crossing the bridge and seeing the end in sight but still needing to get to it. The feet were really sore and I was hot. But I wasn't going to give up and Kel and I ran together that last little bit so that we crossed the finish line together!
Such an amazing day, experience and adventure. I'm still in a little shock that I completed a 25k event and I even had fun along the way. The company certainly helped with getting through to the end and hopefully this is the start of some good training for next year.
