Kauri Classic 32km 2019

Kauri Classic 32km 2019

5 May 2019

Waikawau Bay to Coromandel Town

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3618490130
https://www.strava.com/activities/2342230220

Watch the video! https://www.relive.cc/view/2342230220



Getting There
A good contingent of friends were available for this run. Me, Will, Neville, Brett and Michal.
Up early at 5am for a 5:30am departure, picking up Brett and Will in Deep Blue (using 85% return). Nev and Michal (with their families) went down for the weekend separately.

The day was foggy, but once that cleared was a gorgeous day! Blue skies, no wind - threatening to be hot for running - even though May.

Down to Coromandel in good time to register and catch the 8:30am bus to the startline at Waikawau Bay.

Then it was a short walk down the track to the startline on the fantastic beach.
Brett had opted to do the 23km distance, so it was Me, Neville, Will and Michal at the startline.

The Run
We started about 10:20am with a 2km run along the beach.

Michal set the early pace with a few blistering 4:15/km splits along the beach on the sand!
The other three of us settled into about 6th-8th positions and crossed the stream at the far end of the beach.

This was 'jumpable', and we didn't need to get our feet wet. The subsequent tough ascent up the river to the lookout involved 15 stream crossings, but the level was low, and it was nice to run the entire race with dry feet :)

After a while, we caught sight of Michal, who had come back to a more sensible pace on the hills, and we slowly reeled him in. I was finding the going tough, but still (foolishly) smashing up the ridge pretty fast. By the time we had gained most of the first set of altitude, I was pretty buggered.

Endless severe up and down seesaw ridges followed. Walking was essential on all the uphills at this stage :(
It got hot. Like really hot for a while. But luckily some intermittent clouds came over, which cooled things down. Much of the second half was actually under tree shelter.
Me, Neville and Will were still in close contact at this stage, until we met at the second drinks station. From here there was some longer downhill sections, and Nev absolutely flew down these, and quite quickly out of sight.
I moved a bit ahead of Will and had some solo running for half an hour or more.

By the 16km halfway stage, I was feeling knackered, and not looking forward to the second half.

However, I slowly recovered some energy, and managed to retain a reasonable pace right through to the end.
Will caught me up and overtook me, and was running strongly. I didn't think that I would see him again, but he ended up getting cramp. I helpfully gave him my 'CrampStop' vinegar. Heh Heh. Lovely stuff. You are welcome Will :)

Eventually Will and I got to the last drink station, and then it was a hard climb up to the Cell Tower hill. (name?). This appeared to be the high point, but actually is quite deceptive since we then toiled through the most technical section of rooty, muddy track for ages before coming up to the Trig point at 586 meters elevation.
This really was the top, and the views were stunning.

The descent back down to Coromandel was endless. Steep, fast, rocky, muddy. The weather during the previous week and also today was completely dry. Nevertheless, parts of the track were slippery and required ultimate concentration to avoid slipping and falling.

Finally the downhill was over, and there was a final 2km through Coromandel to the finish line. I was running ok through to the end, with only the start of cramping in my right calf. But it didn't slow me down any.

Michal and Will (suffering from cramp) finished soon after me.

It turned out that Neville had come in 2nd overall, (in 3:18) over 8 minutes ahead of me, which was a great result. Not surprisingly, he had a tumble on the way down the hill!

I think everyone was happy with their day. It was nice to have Nev and Michal's families there to support.

Brett had a strong run through the 23km, to finish in 2:37, being 8th overall and 2nd in age group.

I won the 50+ in 3:26:08 and 4th overall. Michal was 6th overall, and Will was 7th overall.
An excellent set of results.... pity that the non-first-place prizes were so crap!!

Summary Wrap
I had a decent preparation, albeit not feeling super strong in recent weeks. I managed nutrition ok - I had toast at home, then a biscuit and half a banana before the start, and then a gel every 40 mins, plus a few lollies at aid stations. Could I have run faster? No, probably not, although I possibly tired myself out a bit too early. Legs felt ok, although I strangely got somewhat sore feet. I overfilled my camelbak I think, and foolishly finished up with quite a bit left in there.
An awesome event, and more scenic even than I remembered. Fun to do with friends ;)