Xterra Waitawa 2018

Xterra Waitawa 2018

17th June 2018
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2782263646
http://totalsport.racetiming.co.nz/competitions/1617/Superlong%20Course%20Run


Wahoo! The new Xterra race at Waitawa Regional Park was a great event.
Brett and I headed out on Sunday morning.
It was a beautiful morning as the sun rose over the Auckland east coast and countryside

There had been heaps of rain in the preceding week, and overnight on Saturday. The gravel track to the registration area was fine.... but the grass areas were a quagmire of mud and 2 inches deep squelchy water! Hopefully the Waitawa Regional Park guardians won't object to the damage our feet caused...!

The superlong course was 2 laps of 11km each. The start was on a gravel road, slightly downhill, and sorted out the group before hitting some really nice single track. Overall very rolling hills and muddy patches, but no truly gutbusting hills.


I ran the superlong course in 2:02:34 for 6th place overall, which I was super pleased with.
I took an AI the night before, and usual 1+2 gels during. Got the new re-usable cups, which I ran with in my pocket. (it worked ok). Just had 2 cup fulls of water on the course.

For the measurable sections, my first lap was in 54 mins, the second in 56 mins, which wasn't too much of a slowdown. I avoided falling over - the muddy bits weren't too slippery or steep. I chased after juliette foley (aka friends Bullot's) for much of the first lap, but she turned off onto the long course after 13km, after which I didn't see anyone ahead of me (or behind) for 5km or more!

Brett crunched through the long course and enjoyed being out on the trails. Mark and Lynda P, Emma and Pattie also did the long. Pauline did the first lap of superlong, but didn't feel good and pulled out. The boys were conspicuous by their absence... (you know who you are!)

Overall a great run :)