Wiki Factory Racing

After last years win in the Junior category I was looking forward to competing in the Open Men's division and hopefully getting the win. However it became apparent that I wouldn't be given leave again to race and would have to set up the safety and look after the competitors. With the weather forecast looking marginal and a lot of rain in the mountains, we made the decision to move the race from the Waimak Gorge (Coast to Coast course), down to the lower Waimak. The new course had a good combination of downstream river paddling, flatwater and a nasty upstream stretch to the finish line. However much I was jealous of the racers, it was nice just standing on the river bank in the sun watching everyone I have either competed against, or trained up myself, paddling by. Its always a good feeling knowing I contributed to their success. Hopefully next year I will be on the water myself though racing!

Sky Rock n Run on the 21st November was one of my main goals for the year after missing Coast to Coast and GODZone due to injury. It promised to be a cheap but brutal event with 3600m of climbing over 42km of trail running. It also provided me with a much needed focus over the winter on starting the long road of working on my running so it was no longer a weakness for future events. Although I knew I had substantially worked on my running and was a lot stronger than I had been before, I still had no expectation going into this event since it was also going to be my first marathon. My plan was just to run steady and try to stay running until the end. The event started well with me making a steady climb up Mt Oxford and following descent down to the first aid station (14km) in the top 15. By now the day was starting to warm up and I was beginning to notice the heat and the subsequent increase in fluid consumption. As I began the steep climb to the top of the Black Hill hut clim