Lake to Lighthouse race

This was the inaugural Lake to Lighthouse race and was held over two days with one day based at Lake Waikaremoana and the second from there out to Wairoa. The base for briefing and the first days racing was in Tuai on the shore of a little lake called Whakamarino where we were fortunate enough to be staying literally right in front of the start finish area.

Day 1

Given our proximity to the start we squeezed in an extra quarter of an hours sleep before downing the obligatory race day breakfast and getting ready for the start of what promised to be a long tough day out. The course for day one saw us tackle a 15 km MTB, a 12 km paddle before the day’s major obstacle, a 45 km run. We then returned to the bikes for a 6km roll back to the finish.

Given the makeup of the race it was no surprise that the majority of the contestants where part of a team where the daunting run could be broken into two more manageable parts. At the gun we made our way out onto the road and when I turned around to see who was there I noticed a small gap and no one really paying much attention. Anyone that knows me knows I don’t need to be asked twice to try and make a break and so off I went. The start of the MTB was 6km of uphill, 300 metres vertical which took us to the shores of Lake Waikaremoana. Once there we spent the next 10 km bordering the Lake before we arrived at the transition. I had no idea of where the others were as I set off on the kayak and looking back was straight into the sun. The kayak across the Lake was stunning and across to the left I could see the Panekiri range that we would eventually be running across the top of today – no worth thinking about really. Just over half way we did a loop into a bay and coming back out I could see George Christison chasing hard in his kayak but surprisingly no one else for quite a way. Marcel Hagner was racing but had only just returned from the AR worlds in Brazil and it was obvious that he was still recovering from that. As we exited the lake via a small river flowing to it I beached my boat and headed off on the run. Both Elina and I were wearing GPS watches for the run as seeing as we had never seen the course we wanted to know how far we had gone and roughly what speed we were travelling at. The track was pretty good as it weaved in and out of many small bays and every now and then it would cut across the neck of a peninsula, usually resulting in a short sharp climb. I had one small excursion when the marshal hadn’t quite made it into place. Had had the choice of a campsite or a hut – I chose the hut and after about 400 metres I ran out of track resulting in a few choice words and a hasty retrace of my steps and off towards the campsite. Luckily this appeared to be the right direction now. The 20km mark check point was the other interesting checkpoint on the track. When I saw it I was thinking, excellent, that’s some great progress, even though my watch was only saying 15km. About 300 metres later I passed the 15 km check point, I’m sure the two CP’s were completely oblivious to each other but I’m sure it was a bit demoralising further down the field to get a teaser of being so far through and then a bit reality check a minute later. I’d been feeling pretty good on the run and passed through the transition for the team runners at 25km after about 2 hours 20 minutes. I had no idea what sort of lead I might have had so after changing water bladders it was off for the final slog of the day. After about 3 km the track turned up and the speed fell away. It was a great day but now the heat was causing me to drain my drink a bit faster than anticipated and with only one water stop at the hut I had to rein in the effort to avoid fully cooking myself. I was struggling a bit by this stage and I could see a long way above the bluffs standing out above the sky. It was dawning on me now that I may have run the first half a little quick and that I maybe should have brought a bit more fluid. After finally getting to the ridge I was anticipating an easier run but at the end of each downhill the track again went up, following a multitude of small peaks. It would have been a real advantage to have down this section in training so you knew what was coming up but no knowing was torture. The distance covered was only creeping up by now with the speed dropping considerably compared to the flat and I was waiting for George to come steaming by. I knew I must be getting close to somewhere when I saw someone go haring up the track in front of me an seconds later a bagpiper  burst in to sound, a slightly conspicuous sound on top of a stunning range in the middle of nowhere.  What this did thankfully signal though was I had reached Panekiri Hut, a large cup of water was quickly consumed and I headed off knowing I must be getting close to going downhill to the transition. It still turned out to be a while but there were some incredible views from several of the areas and then it was into the bush for a steep descent covered in obstacles trying to trip you up or twist your ankle. The transition was a relief to reach and climbing aboard the bike it was a great finish to the day to blast down the 6 km to the finish line. George arrived 9 minutes later and as we cooled off in the lake and watched the other come in we heard the women were having a bit of an epic battle with Elina and Sophie Hart essentially racing side by side since the beginning. Eventually Elina slipped away on the second half of the run but Sophie held it together to be within striking distance for the second day.

That evening everyone was treated to some great hospitality from the people of Tuai. A hungi had been prepared for dinner and along with displays from the local kapa haka group, Operatic maestro William Winitana MC’d the evening and engaged the audience with some incredible singing. Overall the evening was a vivid display of the Maori culture in the area and gave everyone a much better understanding of many aspects of the Maori traditions. For Elina and I this was one of the real highlights of the race weekend.

The next morning and it was another early start on the Mountain bikes, this time a slightly bigger biking assignment with 85 km through to the start of the kayak leg. Again the teams could split this in two providing a more manageable option. I was again surprised when after only a few hundred metres I again found myself all alone again. The ride had several large climbs and i was wary of the fact I hadn’t been over the course and didn’t want to expend all the energy too early like the first day. I settled into a steady pace and on the first major climb I could see George and another rider a couple of minutes back. The first 60 km was all on a mixture of gravel and sealed roads and with mainly good fast riding. On one downhill I looked down at the speedo which was reading 84 kph, I looked up just in time to see the upcoming corner was covered in loss chip from a repair and only just made it round still upright. A few other people commented they had as similar experience in the same place.  It was just over two and half hours to get to the team changeover point and then we headed off on a short farm section with some super steep climbs. It was in stark contrast to the speed we’d been doing for the past couple of hours but soon we were on the tops and riding some fun tracks before dropping back down towards the road and a final hammer down road to Fraser town and the start of the kayak.

My Mum was helping crew for us and pointed me down to the river bank where Al and Mark who were crewing for Elina and I had positioned the boat heading straight down step muddy bank and looked expectantly at me as if I was going to jump in and seal launch myself into the river. We finally reverted to a standard entry beside the bank as they sank ever lower in the knee deep sticky mud. The paddle promised to be a long one with almost the entire section of river being tidal and for those of us lucky enough to be near the front an incoming tide. The first part of the kayak went quickly as the helicopter pilot seemed to be trying to land on my kayak creating all sorts of crazy downdrafts to deal with and I was lucky no to end upside down. A little further down I was feeling good and all happy that I’d knocked off the first hour when I realised I’d made a mistake about what time I got in the boat and had in fact only been paddling for 30 minutes. The cruellest thing about the course is you pass by the finish line on the way to the river mouth and the end of the kayak. The historic lighthouse has been moved to the riverbank in the centre of Wairoa and going against the tide I didn’t hold much hope of seeing it again for at least another hour. The banks were packed with people and it gave the spirit a good lift which helped pass the last section of the river. I was feeling a little stiff as I climbed out of the boat but it’s always good when you are only a flat 5km run from the finish and there was no sign of George right behind me. I slowly got into a rhythm and it was great to see all the people out all the way to the finish line. Crossing the line a group of local kids performed a haka for me, which was a pretty cool experience and capped a race that in many ways will stand out for me for the whole experience rather than the racing. George came in a few minutes later flanked by his kids and not long after we saw Elina and Sophie paddle past along with the rest of the competitors.

Elina took out the women’s race completing a great family double for us and the praise for Chris and his team in putting on then inaugural race was universal. It is definitely a tough race as an individual but I think it has a huge scope to grow mainly with the teams, the area is stunning and the whole community supported the race in unbelievable fashion. It really is as much an event as race.

This was our last race for the year in NZ, we head to Australia for the final of the Anaconda series and then on to try and defend our title at the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge with Elina and I being joined by Jarad Kholar from Australia and Jay Henry from the USA.

Thanks all for you support, thank you also to Mum, Al and Mark for their time in coming down to help us out with the transitions.

Merry Christmas