Start: Old Mountain Road (804km)
Finish: Waitomo (870km)
Distance for the day: 64km
Cumulative distance: 870km
I set off today with no target distance in mind for the day. I knew as soon as I looked at the maps last night, and then looked at the weather forecast with wind and rain expected, that it was going to be a tough day on the trail. It was, they all are, but I was really pleased with the way it went.
The morning was spent grinding out the very wet, muddy and root-ridden climb and descent of Pirongia (959m). It was always going to take ages, and it did…
At lunchtime I only had about 27km in the bank, so it was going to be a long afternoon and evening session to maintain average. I ran through until after dark, about 10pm, with Jamie joining me for the unexpectedly tough final section. He envisaged 16km generally down hill – he couldn’t have been more wrong. He stuck at it though, and it was his longest run (duration) ever, which is mighty impressive. He also now knows what it’s really like out there. Pretty hardcore is the simple answer…
I’m now going to bed, before I collapse on to the keyboard. Christmas Day tomorrow, we have a few plans to celebrate. Once the 60km is done….