1 November 2020
The Day
I drove Brett, Barnaby and Will out to Hunua (leaving Home at 6:55 was good timing) on an overcast but dry morning. We fortunately met Evan Greenwood out there, who agreed to join RunLikeCrazy so we ended up with the required 5 in our team :)
The Run
I had been carrying an inner hammy injury, so I was planning to run this race fairly steady and safe.
I started at a cracking pace, and was well ahead of the others by the 200m mark. Thereafter, I sensibly 'allowed' Will and Barnaby to move ahead of me.
The first part of the run is very pretty single track, largely flat and with a couple of small stream crossings. I was running alongside Evan from Greenhithe (who turned out to be the eventual winner of the 50+ category and a good Ultra runner), although he passed me after 8km or so.
Me followed by Evan
After 11.5km, we hit the A R A Drive Climb for 2km of unrelenting 250m uphill elevation. I managed to run non-stop up this section, which I knew wasn't a wise idea.... but it was a good challenge and I just imagined it being the Goat's Momma's Mile and that Neville was just ahead of me :)
At the top of the climb, we got into the PukaPuka track! This is a super fun trail, with plenty of roots and challenging footing. There were plenty of steep uphill sections which defeated my ability to run. I didn't fall over (I was running pretty cautiously), and enjoying it all.
I wasn't suffering from any sore legs or ankles, which was great. After about 17 hours of subjective time, I finally hit the road and the final 3km downhill section on the gravel road and across the dam to home base. My hammy got sore with 2km to go, but luckily I was nearly finished by then.
Brett had another strong run, smashing the 60+ (and 50+) in the Long run!
Barnaby and Will duked it out the entire way.
Barnaby unwisely tried to outsprint Will at the end, which didn't turn out well for him.
They took out 9th and 10th overall - impressive!
Wrap
It was great to get out on the trails again after some covid delays. A very good result for team RLC, but we stayed (I think) in 3rd place overall.
I was 2nd in the SuperLong 50+ series overall, as was Barnaby in 40+.
Brett smashed the competition in the Long 60+.
Michal had a good excuse for his absence, running 3:11 in the Auckland marathon :)
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