Running just as fast as we can...

Contrary to how it might appear to readers of this blog (and prepare yourselves for a shock here), I am not actually the world’s most active person.

In fact I was once described by a very close friend as almost ‘sloth like’ at times when it came to the need to jump up and down and move about. So it was with an inner disbelief that I found myself blithely agreeing a couple of months ago to take part in an 11km run as part of the annual Xterra festival down in Rotorua.

Rotorua is generally known in New Zealand as a place with a dubious smell and lots of hot springs and bubbling mud, due to covering a vast area of land that is thermally active, but every year in April they hold the Xterra Triathlon there, an event viewed very seriously by some and that can be entered as an individual, or as a team, along with opportunities to just enter one event such as the run or mountain bike ride. Not wishing to let a team down by being the designated runner, Michelle and I decided that the best event for us to take part in was the individual run, conveniently taking place around a lake where no one could see if you walked! We were further encouraged by the fact that our event started at 8am, when the lake was shrouded in mist and most people hadn’t got up!! We were supported in our quest for glory by Michaela (another runner) and Shianne and Jill, who had entered the walk. So although we might not have looked like professionals we arrived raring to go!

Perhaps not taking it as seriously as we should!


We're off!

Now I'm not quite sure what we were expecting but any practice that we had done (and there hadn't been a lot of it!) had involved going running down by the marina by where we lived, a lovely flat run near the boats... however the 2 laps around the lake were a bit of a shock as they included rather a lot of hills, trail running through the woods and even a bit along the beach, along with a hideous section of steps! But it was a glorious day and the scenery was beautiful, although I think if I'm going to be honest it was more of a shuffle than a run for me!! We ran together for the first lap but were then hit by a devastating injury when Michelle hurt her knee and was forced to walk/limp the majority of the 2nd lap, so in the pure spirit of just winning at all costs I left her behind and raced for glory, coming in nearly 12 minutes before her!! (Mich I'll quote your words back to you - its not a race (except it was) but if it had been I won!!!)

The beautiful Blue Lake in Rotorua

Finished at last!

Not looking hot and sweaty at all!

It took me just under an hour and a half, so not great, but it was a great feeling to finish and I was feeling good about myself for a good 20 minutes until Mel finished her race - a half marathon in 1 hour 48 mins!! She was 21st out of about 150 so really was amazing! We were all very much in awe of her and it just shows what you can do if you properly train!

The amazing machine called Mel

By starting so early, we were fortunate to have finished our events by 10am and could then relax for the rest of the day whilst the main event started! We had 4 mixed teams entering the triathlon and Susan Sawbridge doing the whole event as an individual - another machine! The prize for best team name definitely went to Sam, Maria and James aka the Mullet Masters, and for having the best team t-shirt!!

That really is Maria in the picture on the tee!

The order of the day was swimming, cycling and running, and there were a lot of nervous people before the start of the 1km swim, especially Josh who had come in last in 2009 and was determined to break the cycle, so it was with bated breath that the starting gun fired and the water was broken with a heaving mass of people! It was difficult to tell from the shore who was who so we just had to wait to see who would emerge from the water and it was with relief that Josh made it to shore with a few others in the water behind him!! Congratulations as well go out to Davina who came in first from our merry group!

Josh runs out for glory!

The relief!

The triumphant swimmers with a celebratory Guinness!

The bikers were up next and as it took them a couple of hours we enjoyed a lovely lunch by the lake in the sunshine! Next up were the runners, with Natalie setting off first but Colin's team taking the glory by finishing first! Our teams were no where near the top in the league tables, in fact the poor Mullet Masters might have won best name but had the dubious fame of finishing last overall... poor things!

Natalie sets off for glory!

But Colin steals her thunder at the finish!
It was a great day and we returned back to our lodging in the evening for a well deserved soak in the hot pools to ease all those aching muscles and share a refreshing glass of wine!! We also had a hangi - a traditional way of cooking meat in a hole in the ground so that it is almost steamed... it can give it quite an earthy rubbery taste but it was a good experience!

The spring break shot!

The next day gave us the opportunity to relive the experiences of the previous day over breakfast before heading out to take in some of the more cultural aspects of Rotorua. It really is quite disconcerting to be walking down roads and literally see steam rising from the ground in front of you, not to mention always experiencing an odour of rotten eggs on the breeze!

It also seems to be a hot spot for Maori culture and just walking down the streets you see houses with traditional carvings outside, or 'tiki' (apparently this is what the Maori call the first man). A feature of them appears to be having their tongues poking out and they are often found marking the boundary of a house or important site. They vary hugely in size but are quite impressive and can be funny!

Spot the odd one out!

Not the most polite carving to have outside your house!

This one looks like he is in a certain amount of pain!!

I particularly liked the one above and wanted to stand to have my head coming out of his mouth but apparently this might be viewed as culturally insensitive! (Who would have guessed?!) We also saw a marea, which refers to the name of the enclosed space that is reserved for cultural gatherings/ceremonies etc. It is like a spiritual home for Maori's and should be viewed with respect. They tend to have a lot of carvings on the meeting house, perhaps because the carvings can be thought to also represent dead ancestors.

The Marae

We also decided to experience the natural culture associated with the area and went out to Wai-o-tapu (Sacred Waters in Maori) a scenic reserve described as a 'geothermic wonderland'. The first experience was visiting the mud pool, an area that was once a large mud volcano that was destroyed by erosion in the 1920s but where the ground just gurgles and bubbles away - check it out below (this is our first blog video link - we are hoping it works!)

The whole area is covered with collapsed craters, cold and boiling pools of mud, water and steaming ground. Particularly impressive was the Champagne Pool, the largest spring in the district (65m diameter and 62m deep) and about 700 years old. It has a surface temperature of 74 degrees and creates a constant stream of effervescent bubbles, just like a glass of champagne!

Sadly you couldn't actually get a glass of champagne to have by the pool!

Obviously because the earth's crust is so thin in this area the whole section of ground can be quite unstable so there were lots of obligatory warning signs to stay on the paths marked, which were at times ignored by certain members of our group, to the point that I risked life and limb to step over a barrier!!! fortunately the ground didn't cave in beneath me and I survived my piece of recklessness!

There for a reason....

Exhibiting signs of recklessness!

All the minerals in the area can cause different colours in the rocks, like the yellow sulpher cave seen below and a bright green pool from the collodial sulpher! It was literally pea green and definitely not something you'd want to go for a swim in!

Randomly whilst we were walking around the area we stopped to offer to take a photo for a family and the guy stopped and looked at Michelle and I and said - 'I know you two from somewhere'. We were none the wiser until he took off his sunglasses and it turned out to be Joel Smith from Crowthorne way - a real blast from the past and a very odd place to meet considering he also lives in Auckland and we haven't met him here yet!!

The whole weekend was definitely an interesting experience but I for one was glad to get back to the slightly more sweeter smelling air of Auckland!