Tarawera Trail Marathon

It's probably not a good idea enter a marathon (in your non-running year) just because you have a discount coupon......  luckily for me, this marathon was enough of an adventure to barely count as a run event.

I like that the Tarawera Marathon is a retracing of history's footsteps, a retracing of the route the locals of Mount Tarawera took to flee the eruption which destroyed the famous pink and white terraces.  It's an event which has attracted a lot of local Maori, running and walking to retrace ancestral paths.  It's a variety of terrain, forest, bush, lakes, trails, paths, climbs and descents. 

Race report:  The only thing I need to put into words is the fact that I was flying down the Tarawera Trail over the last 15km.  I was hauling people in, on the nicest part of the track, having a great time.  With only 2km to go, I hit the last hill.  And then I remembered that the last hill was 4km from the finish line.  My Garmin was wrong and my world imploded - those final 4km were a killer.  My saving grace was passing a young bloke running his first marathon, and goading him into running with me - we kept each other going right to the soft sand of Lake Tarawera.


Other than that - a picture paints a thousand words.  One happy camper.