Saturday was the Goat Race. As previously mentioned, the Goat is a race from Whakapapa Skifield to Turoa Skifield on Mt Ruapehu, 21 km of Alpine terrain, undulating but with several steep climbs towards the end, which takes place on the first Saturday of December each year. This year being the 10th anniversary, the race managed to sell out in a day, meaning the organizers in an effort to please as many as possible put on an alternative race, from Horopito, at around 800m altitude, straight up to the Turoa ski field, a distance of around 16.5km, with a vertical ascent of over 1000m. And with very little downhill. Unfortunately for me, this is what I ended up entering.
I had some idea that I had lost a lot of fitness in the past year, due to work commitments, family commitments, and general lack of motivation after a few injuries after Tarawera. I had stubbornly however entered the Big Kid race, foolishly promising myself i'd try to get a bit more training in. Unfortunately, i had also neglected to remember that i had enrolled in some extramural post graduate papers, with exams not too far before the race itself, which led to a study binge and several weeks of very little running, and what running I was doing tended to be flat. So I wasn't too hopeful when 8 o clock on Saturday morning rolled around, and I found myself in the 'fast' group of runners setting off across a steady bu gradual incline towards the Horopito track.
The run started off easily enough, but having learned little from shorter races earlier in the year, I probably set off to fast. about 5km along wide 4wd tracks passed before we came across anything approaching technical running, and this was all on a slight uphill gradient. After 4-5km of this, my legs were starting to protest at too much fast running. We then crossed a stream, and on to the track proper, initially a grunt through shin deep mud, with a few face plants and one instance of coming close to losing my glasses. This part i found much less taxing, perhaps because there was intact very little tome to be lost by walking parts, such was the difficulty of keeping a steady pace going anyway.
After about 7km the run came out onto subalpine meadows of moss and low shrubs. THe mud continued here, but with the start of some significant climbs, particularly towards 9-10kmthe gradient became steeper, and the lack of hill running began to tell as my legs started to protest. After this things became a bit more runnable, with some nice single track along a beech covered ridge line, but by 11km, i was starting to regret the decision to enter and hoping for the end to come soon.
After 12km, we reached Mangaturuturu hut, and the last 4.5km of the original Goat course. This was more familiar territory for me, but this didn't provide much comfort as it also meant the steepest, most draining part of the course. This was also where the weather started to pack in. At 3km to go, the Goat course climbs up a lava flow alongside some spectacular waterfalls. This is a stunning, beautiful part of the course, and on a nice day i imagine would be a delight to slog up. unfortunately, this was not a nice day: driving winds, sleet and tired legs were order of the day as heads went down and short strides were made forwards. Prior knowledge didn't seem to count for much either, as the climb seemed to go on much further than I could remember, and the weather got worse and worse. At 2.5km to go, i stopped to put on more layers of clothing, something I can't remember having done previously in a race for some time, but necessary to ward off encroaching hypothermia.
The final kilometer of the Goat course is the infamous Mamma's Mile, a steep section of asphalt road, killer on the legs having come across several kilometers of rough mountainous terrain. On Saturday this was compounded even further by head on gale force winds, and driving sleet. This must have taken most runners twice as long as it normally would, and it was a relief to see the finish line, almost deserted as it was, as we rounded the final corner into the ski field carpark. Fortunately, a cup of hot curry and a sandwich awaited all competitors, just what was needed after what was possibly the most treacherous conditions i've ever run an organized race in.
All in all, i was disappointed by my time, which saw me well down the field. I am aware I've many outside circumstances which have affected my fitness, but if I am going to be able to put in anywhere near a respectable effort into Tarawera, a lot of work needs to be done in the meantime. As for the Big Kid route, for a training run it was nice enough, and on a nice day I imagine would be a lovely run, but I don't think I'd enter a race straight up it again.
