Place of peace or "war zone"?

At the time of writing I only have 5 sleeps to go and can't wait to get on the plane.

A great reminder today that we are heading off to a third world nation still struggling to find a democratic balance after abolishing their monarchy (take note John Key and all you republicans out there). On Sunday the "Maoist" president decided to fire the army chief and announce it to the nation. However with the the farcical way politics work in Nepal the Army chief comes under the control of the Prime Minister who comes from the "Nepali Congress Party" and he immediately reinstated him so now the nation goes on high alert with riot police dispatched to guard the city while there is yet another power struggle. One of the other key political parties appears to have withdrawn from the process throwing the coalition government into disarray so who knows - we might have a few good old fashioned street riots on our hands.

To view the NZ Herald article click here

The reality is that it is most likely perfectly safe (a bit like Fiji really) and the media found another opportunity to create a bit of hype. I have never believed in mixing sport and politics anyway so aim to keep well out of any hot spots, spend a few days at the Orphan Help Centre to see where the money we raised last year is being spent and more importantly spend some fantastic time with the kids before heading off up into the mountains with Rod and the competitors in the Tenzing Hillary marathon for some much needed acclimatisation. One way or another there should be some spectacular photos coming home with me.

Many thanks to all of you who have supported and encouraged me while preparing for this event and trip with special mentions to Bec's Forlong from "Performance Massage" in Ellerslie and all the team at 1RM Physio in Penrose for helping keep my failing body on the road. Also to all of you who came to the fundraising night at College Rifles where we raised $20,000. My brother Rod who has been a great motivation in keeping me running (I still can't keep up with him) and is now joining me for the first few days of the trek which will be fantastic.

Also many thanks to Wendy Chrisp for all the advice she has given me in preparing for the upcoming Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon. Wendy is an extraordinary endurance coach and amazing athlete in her own right and took the time out to fill me in on all the little things that will make the big differences competing at altitude in a third world country. She completed the Tenzing Hillary marathon in 2005.

One more special mention to my staff at TechRentals and Bearcom who have put up with me while I have been training especially to Neerja Mahendra who has offered fantastic advice on the Indian leg of my journey and also made family introductions for when I am in Delhi.

The Global Corporate Challenge begins while I am trekking so my "step count" better be right up there with the top guys at work or I will never live it down.

I can't help but feel under prepared physically but with all the advice I have received, commitment to achieving the goal and sheer stubbornness that has seen me through many trying times I know that it will be the mental side that will win through and get me over the finish line.

Xterra - Off Road Half Marathon Rotorua

Well once again the Xterra team has put on an exceptional event!

This has to be one of the premier events in the NZ off road & triathlon calendar!

Before I go into my event I must give credit to the amazing effort that the team and sponsors that put this event together (especially Hellman Worldwide Logistics the major sponsors of the event) and urge you all to support those businesses that continue to support these events and causes in trying times!

Held around the Blue and Green Lakes just out of the Rotorua township the setting is spectacular. For families there can be no better event for introducing this type of sport to the wives/partners and children. There are a range of events suitable for all sorts from walkers to runners, mountain bikers and the true athletes that encompass all - the Triathletes.

At the start line there is a veritable village of sponsors, supporters and activities (including a fantastic children's area this year) where there is all ways opportunity to feel involved or absorbed in the event at some level.

Leading into the event my training wheels had continued to fall off with work being all consuming and an increase in the niggles that have been plaguing me (maybe because I haven't been training as much I am thinking now).

After a leisurely drive down from Auckland the night before we awoke to a perfect day for the event. Slightly overcast but very still so just enough warmth in the day to function at optimum (for those in good shape). Ironically I was in probably the worst condition I have been in in nearly 12 months. I had an awful sleep and woke with chronic back pain and stabbing pain right down through my sciatic nerve on my right hand side which meant I could hardly even get my socks & shoes on!

Never one to grumble too much I popped a couple of runners friends (Voltaren) and struggled down to the start line.

I had come down with my partner Anna, brother Rod, sister in law Lisa and friends Jeremy & Anna all of whom had entered the event (except Anna who fully deserved a sleep in after a week of looking after 4 kids). Anna & Lisa ran the 11km Blue Lake Loop and knocked close to 10mins off their time from the previous year which was a great achievement.

With my sciatic nerve issues I found it incredibly frustrating. I felt I had the gas in the tank but could never seem to stretch it out and get any pace so was reduced to what felt like an old mans shuffle for the entire race

Rod and Jeremy strode off into the distance and Rod powered on over the latter stages of the race to come in in 1hr 44mins which was three mins faster than his time last year and Jeremy also made a great improvement on last years time to come in in 1hr 48 mins.

The course follows a number of forestry trails and roads around the lakes and is fairly gentle until you turn away from the Green lake (about 12km into it) to start heading back towards the start. Then there are some great challenging hills and rises right the way to the last 2km which is hard and fast and mostly down hill.



I usually make up a lot of ground on the down hills throwing caution to the wind but not today! I hobbled around in what I still felt was a respectable 1hr 56 mins (10 mins slower than last year). Considering the state I was in prior to the event I was very happy with the result and it reaffirmed my belief that I can push through the pain barrier on Everest in a few weeks time when (not if) it all turns to crap and my body starts telling me no more!

The other reason for heading down for the weekend was Rod's 40th Birthday for which we had a practice run and a few quiets on the Saturday night which was fantastic especially watching Rod thrash out a few "Tunes" on his new guitar - can't wait for you to get a couple of lessons though Bro!

Another leisurely drive home and a stop off at the legendary Okaroire Country Hotel for probably the best pub lunch on the planet and a soak in the thermal pool topped off a fantastic weekend.

With only a couple of weeks until I fly out I will give a brief update on the body and conditions in Nepal very soon.

Thanks to all

The Motatapu Challenge

HMMM yes I have been remiss in updating things this last month but here we are at last! (Pic's coming soon)


The Motatapu Challenge bills itself as "the hardest off road marathon in NZ" so I was really looking forward to a testing run over incredible terrain and the traditional blue skies of central Otago.

They say two out of three ain't bad and that's about what I got. Yes the terrain is amazingly beautiful, the weather was typically fantastic but the hardest off road marathon in NZ? I don't think so.

The 13th of March 2009 was a crystal clear day. I was in Queenstown and got picked up by my regular Sth Island running buddy and foe in the Razor - Marvin trophy Tony "Razor" Sharpe nice and early at about 5:35am so we could make the drive to Wanaka in time for the bus to the start line on the Motatapu Station (Owned by none other than Shanaia Twain).

We arrived at the Glendhu Bay pick up point on daybreak which was magical (and freezing cold) and were ferried up to the start line. I was hoping for a leopard skin clad Twain to be at the start line waiting for me to wish me luck and start the race but alas she must have slept in (maybe she was making her way to one of the check points to hand out refreshments and motivate us all with a song or two).

Tony was extremely confident he was going to win back the Razor Marvin Trophy as he had been training hard and I had only had 6 training runs in the 5 weeks leading into the race so all the stars seemed aligned for a Razor Sharpe victory.

We got separated in the start area as Tony was still in line for the WC as we were called up to the start line and apparently only made it by seconds. Timing wise this was not going to be a big issue as the event is extremely well organinsed and every competitor has a transponder which logs the exact start and finish time as they cross the lines.

In reality it probably helped me a bit as even though I felt like I was going quite slowly and went through a really tough mental patch between the 20&30km marks I didn't know if Tony was in front or behind me so I just had to keep on plodding.

I knocked the first half off in 2hrs 5mins which was pretty good considering the level of training I had put in but then that training (or lack off) really showed for the next 10km which took close to an hour and a half and I really suffered mentally more than physically.

Just past the 30km mark i found my rythym again and really enjoyed some great downhill sections and river crossings and made up around 60 places in the last 10km.

Prior to the race I had said I would be incredibly happy with anywhere between 4.5 and 5 hrs. I crossed the line in 4hrs 31mins and felt pretty fresh which was great as I still must of had a good base following the Kepler Challenge.

Tony unbeknown to me felt good all the way round but just couldn't get any speed up so finished around 5hrs 10mins and was gutted - still there were plenty of people coming in looking much worse for wear and taking a lot longer than him and he will be on fire when he competes in his favourite race in May over the Routeburn track.

You can never call 42.2 km easy and yes it was a challenge and I had a fantastic time but the race is run pretty much the entire length on a farm road or 4wheel drive track interspersed with a number of easy stream and river crossings so it didn't really feel like it was a true off road event.

Would I do it again - definately. This event is a great cross over event for a road runner wnating to experience an "off road" type event out in the open and it does goe through some spectacular scenery!

The Mac's West Coast Marathon out in the Waitakere Ranges (now the "Speights" West Coaster) took me six and a half hours in November and even though it has a road section it was a real killer but still by far the hardest off road race I have competed in km for km - See my entry "From Emotional Depths to Great Heights" for a review of this event.

Only a few weeks to go until I head off to Nepal for the Everest Marathon now - just getting all the jabs etc required and one more event a quick half marathon in Rotorua with the Xterra off road series on the 18th of April.

I promise I will update all again soon!