My first international race for the year was the New Zealand
100km Tarawera Ultra Marathon (TUM), at least it was supposed to be 100km. I
had travelled over to Rotorua last year (2013 race report) and raced on the
altered ‘fire course’. This year I was excited to hopefully race on the proper
course in its entirety. Also with TUM being part of the Ultra Trail World Tour
the depth of competition would be deeper and hopefully a good opportunity to
race against some different girls.
My training for the TUM hadn’t been very specific. Usually I
set aside at least one day a week to do a long run which replicates the course
I’m going to be racing. For TUM it should have been long runnable hills
covering between 60-70kms. Instead I’ve been a little more focused on time
based training (6-7hrs) with lots of steep vertical climbing. I decided to make
this choice with my training as I’ve got another event (ultra skyrace) only a
few weeks later that is very different to TUM. So my focus was to train
specifically for one or the other, but not both.
 |
| The trail at the start of the fun run. |
The aura surrounding this year’s TUM had been just as good
as last years with respect to the athlete information and enthusiasm from Paul
Charteris and his team. The energy that exudes from the TUM Team is infectious
and you cannot help but get caught up in it all.
I arrived at Auckland international airport with Brian on
the Thursday before the race, and together we picked up our rental car and then
proceeded to Rotorua, with just enough time to check-in at the Holiday Inn and
get dressed for the afternoon fun run. We boarded one of the many buses with other
excited runners for the short drive around to the drop-off point. Our bus was
a-buzz with chatter which was not too dissimilar to a primary school excursion.
The fun run was really well attended and the trails it traversed on the south
side of Rotorua were superb. I fell into a gentle pace and found myself running
near Meghan Arbogast. I introduced myself and we had a good chat for a few
kilometres. Last year’s fun run I chatted to Timmy Olson, this year Meghan.
These TUM fun runs are the best, truly. The fun run finished at the spectacular
Te Puia. A few of us were herded to the side then taken onto the geyser plateau
for a photo shoot. I hadn’t done a ‘running’ photo shoot before and it was fun
following the conga line of runners being lead around in a figure of eight by
Anna Frost. At the conclusion of the photo shoot I had a short pre-raceinterview with Bryon Powell of irunfar.com. After viewing a lot of Bryon’s
interviews it is kind of funny being in one of them. And no, I haven’t watched
it yet.
 |
| Running photo shoot. irunfar.com |
The Friday morning before the race Brian and I met up with
Nick Smith (fellow Berowra Bushrunner) and his wife Andrea, for a recce drive
over the course and its checkpoints. Nick and Andrea hadn’t been on the course
before, and Brian and I hadn’t seen the back part of the course as last year it
was removed entirely from the race due to extreme fire danger. The recce was
time well spent and helped to refresh my mind on what was coming up and which
checkpoints are worth refuelling at.
 |
| Recce drive: (L-R) Nick Smith, me, Brian |
We returned from the recce drive with enough time to attend
the Athlete Q&A before the race briefing and check-in. A few days earlier
Paul Charteris had made the decision that all runners would need to carry a
waterproof jacket. For some the jump from no mandatory gear, as per the
standard race rules, to the requirement to carry a waterproof jacket was too
much which lead to some very entertaining reading on Facebook. The decision was
made as a result of tropical cyclone ‘Lusi” which was slowly bearing down on
the New Zealand North Island and was expected to hit the TUM course on race day.
On my way to dinner I passed the race registration area and
there was a lot of noise and chatter coming from the room. I stuck my head in
to discover that there had been an announcement and that the course was to be
rerouted and the distances originally on offer (60km, 85km and 100km) would now
be altered to a ‘short course’ of approximately 59km or ‘long course’ of approximately
72km. There was a lot of speculation and pointing to maps which led to some
interesting dinner conversation. Ultimately everyone was in the same boat and
we would have to see what the following morning’s race and weather would bring.
Following my usual restless prerace sleep I got up, got
ready then Brian and I met up with Brendan Davies for the short drive to the
start line. Emerging from the Holiday Inn in the early morning darkness I was
pleasantly surprised to find that there was only some light cloud cover and
that everything looked remarkably dry. Perhaps the weather forecast was wrong,
it is after all the only profession where you can be consistently wrong and
still get to keep your job. On the drive to the start line rain drops on the
car windscreen signalled the change in weather conditions. We arrived just in
time to do a quick prerace warm-up to loosen the muscles and settle the nerves,
and then it was time to manoeuvre ourselves near the front of the pack. After
the prerace formalities had concluded I turned on my head torch then joined in
with the countdown, then we were off and running.
 |
| I'm in there somewhere. |
The pace was solid as we ran up the gentle incline of the
fire trail through the redwoods. The higher we climbed the more the trail
became exposed and we were rewarded with a glorious predawn view of Rotorua’s
twinkling lights. As we rounded the hill and dropped back down to the Water
Tank we were greeted with a small cheer squad. Brian was there and as I dropped
off my head torch he let me know that I was 4th girl. We headed a
little further along the trail before we hit a junction where the first of the
event’s course changes occurred. At this junction the short course runners were
allowed to continue along the proper route and the long course runners were
redirected to do a big loop back to the start line. I joined the long course
runners and once again had no idea where I sat in the field. I kept my pace up
as high as I felt was sustainable for the expected 7-8hrs of racing. It was a
bit demoralising having raced for an hour or so only to find yourself back at
the start line to do the first climb of the day for the second time in short
succession. It was as though our efforts were being judged and I had failed, so
had to attempt the first climb again.
 |
| Through the start line again. irunfar.com |
So for the second time I was determined
to run to the top better than I had done the first time. My effort must have
been deemed acceptable so next time round at the junction I was allowed to go
on to Lake Tikitapu and the checkpoint beyond. It was along this session I
turned my head to find that Katherine Macmillan was now beside me. “Wow”, I
thought, she looked so strong and glided past me on the uphill. I Kept her in sight and caught up to her
again soon after, it was then when we both saw Shona Stephenson ahead so of course
I had to catch up with her. I left Katherine and had a brief chat with Shona
before pulling away a little then found my own rhythm. Now I could start
chasing the short course runners on the proper course. At least I knew this
section from last year. Every runner I caught I used it as a mental sling shot
to shoot past them to the next runner ahead.
 |
| Katherine Macmillan and me. |
By the time I got to the Lake Okataina checkpoint the
weather had set in well and truly. It was raining almost constantly and the
strong winds were driving in every direction but upwards. There was no hiding
from the weather so I ran on, like most people, with wet clothing. At the
checkpoint Brian was there to help me refuel and then I was off onto the short
road section up to the Millar Road aid station and turnoff into the forest.
This next leg was pretty long (14km’s) and contains the biggest climbs of the
course. It was along this leg that I was passed by the charging Claire Walton (2nd).
It was still too early on to charge after her, so I focused on maintaining my own
pace. The early part of this leg everyone was still heading in the same
direction. By the time I got to the highest point on the course the first relay
runner came charging towards me. Most of the way down the other side Sage
Canaday (eventual race winner) came running up the hill. Shortly after Sage
passed the flood gate of runners/walkers started to open and there was an
almost constant flow of faces heading towards me.
 |
| Almost at Okataina Lodge checkpoint. |
I arrived at the Okataina Lodge checkpoint and was again greeted
by Brian. He handed me a small soft flask and told me there was a short 2km
out, 2km back section to do before I returned to the checkpoint. So I quickly
left him and proceeded out along the course. About halfway along I passed Jo Johansen
(eventual female winner) on her return journey. Along this section I was passed
by Ruby Muir and had an “oh crap” moment until I remembered that
she was doing the relay. Soon afterwards I spotted Meghan Arbogast, Katherine Macmillan
and Shona Stephenson all pretty close to each other. They all looked very
strong and I knew if I slacked off or struggled in any way then they would
catch me so I made every effort to stay focused.
 |
| Did I mention how wet it was? |
Back at the Okataina Lodge checkpoint Brian gave me the rest
of my food and drink then it was onto the last leg of the run, back up and over
the big hill. I charged up the hill as best I could passing more and more
friends, exchanging pleasantries as we passed. On the later part of this leg I
was passed by a strong finishing Dawn Tuffery (3rd). Unfortunately I
was lacking the speed to stay with her.
 |
| I did not wipe my nose with the flag. I promise. irunfar.com |
In the end I completed the revised course in 7:18:54 for 4th
place. I’m not exactly shore what distance it was in the end, possibly anywhere
between 72-74km’s with 2600m of ascent, depending on whose watch data you chose
to believe. I was happy to have maintained what I thought was a fairly constant
pace, or at least effort. I felt comfortable running in the wet windy
conditions, but as soon as I crossed the finish line I could feel the chill
start to set in. The revised course was probably better suited to me as it had
more ascent and decent than the intended 100km course does over an equivalent
distance. In a way I was glad that the
weather conditions had deteriorated throughout the day as it meant Paul
Charteris had made the right decisions regarding the waterproof jacket and
revising the course route. So ultimately I am still to race the proper TUM
course, but on the flip side Paul now has an alternate route for a ‘fire
course’ and ‘cyclone course’. Oh well, there is always next time.
 |
| Womens Podium (L-R): Paul (RD), Jo (1st), Dawn (3rd), me (4th), Meghan (5th). irunfar.com |
 |
| My boxing kangaroos. irunfar.com |
