Racing Fool

Challenging or insane? I will allow you, my readers, to answer that question. I had never done two races in one weekend. There’s a first time for everything.

We were up early on a Saturday, my two teammates and I, making the hour drive south to Whakatane. There, the first of my challenges awaited me. Monty’s Revenge was a multi-sport run, mountain bike, and kayaking race. (And no, I don’t know why it was named that.) My leg was obviously the 12K run.

It was a chilly morning there by the coast, but quite a crowd had drawn for the event. As the gun went off, the multitude of runners bolted through town, hurdling flower beds, taking no heed of traffic in the round-about, and filing down for a case of stairs. Our destination: the top of the ridge which separates Whakatane from the ocean. At the top of the stairs, we were directed to a narrow trail, climbing still. Many of the runners who had bulleted off of the starting line were now starting to tire, so I used my strength to pass them. Eventually, we made our way to the top of the ridge – rolling terrain and beautiful lookouts to the ocean, which no, I did not stop to enjoy. Around the ridge and down to a small, secluded, rocky beach, I thought I was nearing the end, but then, we were directed back up into the bush. When we exited again, we were on Ohope Beach. I was still feeling strong, so I took advantage of the heavy breathing I was hearing and passed some more people. Whales were frolicking in the waves beside us, Whale Island and White Island stood as monuments in the distance, and the sun reflected off the waves and wet sand making the winter day warm. When I finished, I handed off the bib to my teammate mountain biker who later handed it off to my friend Liz who kayaked. We finished ahead of half the pack in the end, and we enjoyed a beautiful day by the coast.

But, as if that wasn’t enough, Liz and I decided that one race just wouldn’t suffice that weekend. So, on a whim, we drove down to Rotorua on Sunday for the N-Duro 10K race through the redwoods. The redwoods course was probably more difficult than the one the day before with a near-vertical hill in the middle. It was also more of a tactical course with winding trails, stairs, and tree roots to heed. A bit sore from the day before, my muscles ached a bit, but I still managed to finish fourth among the women.

After the race, we ventured over to the Agrodome – a popular tourist attraction in Rotorua – where we saw a sheep-herding demonstration, and then we witnessed “Zorbing.” Leave it to Kiwis to invent another crazy sport; as if bungee-jumping wasn’t enough. A zorb is a ball, within a gigantic ball, filled with air and a bit of water to make things interesting. One to three people get inside the inner ball and then are pushed down a hill, bouncing around inside all the way down. Liz’s nephew had prodded her with questions as to why she had not yet been zorbing, but after witnessing it, we couldn’t understand the hype or justify the price.

And when the day was done, we soaked our sore muscles in natural hot pools so that the next morning, we wouldn’t be walking stiff-legged at work, divulging our insanely challenging weekend.

See pictures at my Shutterfly website.