Ultra-Adventure: Part 1 - Training and Traveling

Even before we ran the Wharf to Wharf, I was already planning our next adventure. For a time, I considered trying to run the Tongariro Circuit in one day, but we decided that 50 km of mountainous terrain might be a bit too much to bite off for our first ultra. So, I found an alternative - the Timber Trail - an 85 km biking and hiking trail following an old logging track. Of course, we aren't quite ready to run the full 85 km, so instead we planned to run the second part of the trail - from Piropiro Campsite to Ongarue. I found a company that would give us a ride to the start so we could leave the van at the endpoint and run to it. The run has a nice elevation profile and lots of neat remnants from the logging times.

However, before we could embark on a run of that caliber, I felt we had better get some training in. I was still in "marathon shape" and Sonny and I had just managed 25 km, but there is a pretty big difference between running for 3 hours and running for over 6!  So I plotted out the most evil run I could on Waiheke Island. It included the first part of my marathon, especially the rope-climbing hill. On a gorgeous sunny Saturday, two weeks before the planned run, I dragged Sonny out for what I hoped would be over five hours of trailing running torture.

"Reasonable fitness"

At the top of the rope climb

Manganese mines

Of course we went in

Sonny loved it

Sonny is not too sure about this whole long run thing

We made it through the long and tiring run. We returned hope, hot and sweaty to spend the next week recovering before our very first ultra! After a few days of being extremely lazy and carbo-loading (its called tapering, Sonny!) we handed the dogs off to their sitter, packed up the van, and set off on another adventure!

After a few hours of driving, we turned off the "highway" to the backroads and continued to drive for an hour. We eventually hit the visitors center for the Timber Trail, where we took photos and a large scale copy of the map. We started to get just the tiniest bit nervous that we had to run nearly 50 km the next day!

After checking out the campground located near the visitor center, we decided to head on to the campsite at Piropiro. This involved another hour drive on winding roads, and then a further 40 minutes on dirt roads like below. It was the best campsite I have stayed at in New Zealand. It was basically a giant field with a few toilets and plenty of gorgeous trees. We made a delicious dinner and settled in with a  beer after some exploring.

We ended up going to bed before 10 pm which is ridiculous, but very good when you have to run 48 km the next morning. But that story will have to wait....