So, last Saturday I dragged myself out of bed at 5:45am, to get ready for a 6:30am departure. What was I thinking, when staying snuggled in bed sounded so damn fine? After picking up Shelaine, we were off to the Karangahake Gorge, southeast of Auckland. Despite the early start, we arrived at event base feeling pretty invigorated by the sunshine (oh, and the coffee).
Xen decided not to run, but he couldn't resist the twisty roads on his bike, so he met us there.
Stu and I did the mid-distance 13k course, while Shelaine, recovering from injury and potentially defying her physio's orders, opted for the 7.3k course. Both courses proved to be totally stunning. In fact, probably the best trails I've run on in New Zealand. I had planned to take my camera for the run, but chickened out at the last minute. Here's a taste of where we were (courtesy of the Total Sport website).
Here we are, mid-run. Can you tell we're having fun?
After the run we obeyed Shelaine's physio's orders and stretched, stretched, stretched...(for anyone who has done one of these events before, you know the real reason we stuck around was for the Speights and sausies!).
On a post-run high, we were unable to resist the urge to pose on top of some huge tyres.
We had a little time to kill after the event before the awards ceremony and spot prize draw, so we headed to Waihi to check out the gold mine.
It took a little while for the silliness-inducing endorphins to wear off.
Just when we thought the the day couldn't get any better...it did! Shelaine and I both won our respective categories! We got some wood trophies, carved out of timber from the Martha Mine in Waihi. Not bad, considering the serious lack of training and the "let's just go for a laugh and good time" attitude.
Stu, you were right...what a fantastic day. The only downer was that Mike was stuck at home catching up on school work.
Fantastic photots - what a beautiful day you had for it! Well done you girls too....very impressive.
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