We decided that this was the weekend to up our distance and start to crank it up a bit to see how we held up physically and mentally. 30km over 3 stages was the plan with 2 of those stages not yet tackled so we'd need to rely on our maps. After a 5.30am drive out to Berowa, we had a moment where we realised it was still dark and we had no lights, but after 10 or so minutes of running we were able to read the maps and kick on. Now 30kms is a long way so I won't bore you with every nook and cranny we ran up and down...but I'll break it into stages and some highlights and lowlights. Stage 3 from Bewora to Apple Tree Bay, was 13.5km of ok'ish running with a big flat run along a creekbed (although we were freezing down in the valley), a big road climb up out of the valley and then a smidge of civilisation before hitting some easy firetrails to the checkpoint at Apple Tree Bay where we stopped for a stretch and some food. Stage 4 Apple Tree Bay to Ku-ring-ai Creative Arts School was also a good stretch of solid running with both of these stages seeming relatively more easy than the first 2 stages, not as much clambouring and more running and strong walking. We started to feel some "hot spots" on our feet and "the Blister police" ie whoever didn't have the blister, would make sure plasters and tape was quickly applied. This training was about experimenting with food, and clothing and really understanding the strains our bodies would start to feel. A short break at the end of this stage brought a personal highlight for me with a cheese and marmite sandwich on fresh bread. This was quickly followed by a lowlight when I dropped it in the dirt. Mia was starting to get a few problems with her feet by now too. It was cold with none of us really warming up, and Mia's feet started to suffer from circulation problems. Stage 5 from the Ku-ring-ai Creative Arts School to St Ives, should have been a good one but we stuffed it up a bit and ended up feeling a tad disappointed with ourselves as a couple of mistakes with the map caused extra kms to be added, including an extra big fat climb. We did meet a group of amazing women in their 60's and 70's who we walked with for a while - they had done many Oxfams, including NZ (completed in 22 hours) and were going to England for the UK Oxfam. They were doing a 12 hour walk when we met them and gave us lots of advice and looked very skeptical when we said what we were doing...ie running as much of the event as we felt we could, maybe sleeping for a few hours, having meal stops and other stuff we thought was sensible. We decided that having met a few people out on the track you take what advice you want from people and discard the stuff we don't agree with for our team. Somehow in the rain with aching legs, sore feet and a bit grumpy that we'd made a bit of a hash of the last leg, our black car waiting for us with John, the boys and heaters was a welcome sight. A fabulous effort and an eye opener at the same time!! Low Lights... Mia's sore feet, my fat fingers, cold (not enough clothes then too many)getting a bit lost to St Ives, Tracy snagging her Skins while bushbashing (to try and find our way to the track)...High Lights ...Successfully running/walking 33+kms!!!!!!,team hugs at the end of each stage, Tracy's Fruit Tingles, seeing our car at the end!
Completed Checkpoint 2 (Bewora) to CP3 (Apple Tree Bay) 2 Hours 45 mins, 13.5kms difficulty 4; CP3 (Apple Tree Bay) to CP4 (Ku-ring-ai Creative Arts School) 8kms 1 hour 15 mins , difficulty 3; CP4 to CP5 (St Ives Show Ground) 1 hour 30 mins 9kms (+ extra 2kms!), difficulty 3
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