XTerra Waitawa 2023

 

XTerra Waitawa 2023

21 May 2023

22km, 730m, 2:04:12

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/11160617183
https://www.strava.com/activities/9109312064/overview

Entering the Race

The first race of the winter XTerra series. Yay! So when I got the email saying that it was nearly sold out, I signed up and told the Boyz they should do likewise. Naturally they didn't, and then the race sold out to their 'deepest dismay'. Being very unhappy with this deployable state of affairs, I contacted someone and got the 3 recalcitrant runners sneakily signed up through some backchannels...

This didn't go down particularly well, especially with the pouring rain throughout the week and the expectation of a mud-bath run. Softies!

Race Day

I drove Will, Barnaby and Neville out to Waitawa, leaving Greenlane at 7:20, which was ok timing. We got a good carpark without any off-roading being required.

The weather was patchy, with huge rain falls yesterday and the ground was very sodden. Not quite 2018 wet, but certainly muddy!

As it turned out though, the rain held off nicely, and it was actually very comfortable running conditions.

Race

The course was new for 2023 - basically going anticlockwise now (mostly). Still 2 laps for us for about 22km and I counted 730 m elevation (not the 500 they advertised@!)

We started off up the carpark hill, and Will and I were a bit ahead of Barnaby and then Nev. This proved to be the way it was for most of the first lap. Will and I swapped the lead a few times, going at a good pace. Barnaby slowly lost ground (being about a minute back after the first lap), and we'd lost sight of Nev behind us.

I was wearing my Salomon SpeedCross 6 shoes for max grip. They were super excellent. Barnaby also enjoyed his Salomons, but Will and Nev were slipping and sliding terribly in the mud and wet ground. At one point near the end of the first lap, we descended a long muddy section, and I heard Will slip over just behind me. He skated down the slope on his feet, hands and one knee for quite some distance and it crossed my mind that he might even just keep speeding up and overtake me! 

We managed to start the second lap ahead of the 1 hour mark, and hence stayed ahead of the Mid course runners for a change. At about the 13km mark, we came back up off the beach for the second time, and ascended the super steep, super muddy section that included several ropes to allow people to climb. Will (who was just ahead of me) was impeded by a couple of other guys who decided to slide down the hill and take him out. I took my chance to sprint past the Divas and rapidly gained a fair bit of distance before Will managed to grub his way up the hill.

From here I kept a steady pace - looking back often for Will but slowly pulling further ahead of him :)

I came in 10th overall at 2:04:12, with Will 90 seconds back and Barnaby and Nev each 4 or 5 minutes thereafter.

I was first 50+, with Barnaby getting second! 

Nev was pipped at the line by 7 seconds into 4th 50+ position - he clearly should have tried harder :)

Summary

It turned out to be a super fun morning. The weather was good and the running was fun (esp. for those with sufficient sole grip!).

We also had other Run Like Crazy team members (who we mostly failed to meet up with)

Michal and Daniel and Sophia.

Ed and Hamish et al.

Notes

• Welcome back Barnaby!
• Grippy shoes on that mud is very necessary. They gave me multiple minutes of advantage.
• I had one AI and one NoDoze and then one gel pre-race, and a big muesli bar and gel during. Two cups of water at aid stations. I think perfect fueling strat.
• Tired afterwards without being dead. Various sore leg parts, but not during the run, so who cares?
• I did exactly 2 minutes slower on my second lap than the first.
• Nev beat home a guy who just did a 3 hour marathon, and so now Nev is inspired. I'm publicly doubtful about this endeavour, which I will watch from the sidelines with anticipation!