Fairfield

Today the walking group met at the clubrooms and carpooled to Fairfield where we met outside "Fulton Hogan" on the Old Main Road. I am not sure how many walkers set off in the fast group but I suspect close to 30 members.

We turned into Flower Street and a fast pace was set as we climbed a hill until we reached a farm property. We climbed over a stye and continued walking uphill on the farm property. We climbed another stye and entered Chain Hill Road. When we came to a T-intersection we turned left onto the unsealed section of Chain Hill Road. We walked until we came to a dead end and walked back over the unsealed road. When we came to the T-intersection we walked on the sealed part of Chain Hill Road. Parts of this road were hilly. Some of the faster walkers set a cracking pace of which I was not part.

When we came to the Old Main Road we followed it until we hit the south of Fairfield. We ended the last section through Fairfield to our cars.

The 9km walk took 1:40 hrs. It was a great course and one I had not done previously.

Clyde to Alex Walk, Second Year

Each year the Caversham Harrier's Club hire a bus and travel to Clyde for this annual event. The club also pays the entry fee for all those that participated.

We all met at the Otago Road Services Bus Depot in Green Island at 9am. I think there were around 36 on the bus with 50% of them being walkers.

The race starts on the Clyde Dam at 1pm and heads down the by-pass road through the historic township of Clyde, past the hospital, along Muttonbird Road to the main highway until reaching the outskirts of Alexandra.

I got away to a good start being in the first group off the dam. By the time I got into Clyde I was in the first 10 but as is usual I was passed by 4 walkers to finish in 14th place. Caversham had its own walking race within the main race and so I was the 4th Caversham walker home. The three club walkers ahead of me were Tom, Gordon and Colin. My friend Danny was fourth home.

My time was 1:13:01 which compares to 1:12:18 last year. My goal is to break the 1:12:00 mark.

The prize giving at the end of the last race dragged on and we left the stadium at 5:15pm with the bus heading to Shingle Creek Hotel for a lovely buffet meal. We left the hotel at 7.30pm sharp and arrived back at 10pm.

A great day of club fellowship.

Mt Cargill for 2nd day in road

I left home at 7:05am to walk the Mt Cargill loop, the reverse route from yesterday. It was much cooler with a tail wind into town. Logan Park was drier as the sodden ground was firmer to walk on. It was an icy breeze through North East Valley.

The head wind up Mt Cargill Road was strong and almost icy. It was head down and I looked forward to reaching the turn-off into Upper Junction Road. Once out of the wind it was an easy descent to Roseneath. The last section along SH 88 (Port Road) had a tail wind.

I managed the walk 15 minutes faster than yesterday in 3:45 hrs.

Marathon Walk Preparation

In less than 3 weeks, Denise and I head to Greece and the Greek Islands for a holiday. While in Athens it is my intention to walk the original marathon course from Marathon to Athens which is over 42kms. I have decided to step up my daily walking kms to prepare for this special walk.

This morning just before 7am I did the Mt Cargill loop of 2okms. I left in the dark with mild weather. The pleasant temperature continued until I reached the top of Upper Junction Road and a cool breeze could be felt. The Mt Cargill transmitter could be seen poking through some low mist. As I descended the Mt Cargill Road I could feel a change in the air to a frosty feel. However when I crossed the road at the Normanby Hotel the welcome sun felt good on my back. There was a heavy dew (or rain) on the grass at Logan Park but I enjoyed looking at the second of two trusses just put in place at the new stadium.

For some reason I kept getting annoying little stones in my shoes and had to stop 3 times to rid the discomfort. When I hit Ravensbourne the sun disappeared and it was very overcast with inclement weather threatening.

I got back home exactly 4 hours from when I started. I was trialling a new pair of trainers and had no blisters or tired feet.

If inspired in the morning I may do the route in reverse.

Leading the Walking Group

As our walking club leader Kieran was at a wedding I was asked to lead the fast walking pack and to come up with a course.

I clicked on to www.mapmyrun.com and worked out a 9km course (In fact the site said 8.83km). It involved walking along the following streets - Isadore, Aberdeen, Ravenwood, Cliffs, St Clair Esplanade, Kettle Park, Prince Albert, Bayview, Kircaldy, Macandrew, Easther and Middleton.

On Thursday my friend Danny and I walked the course to see long it took and it was 1:40 hours. I reasoned the walking group would take a shorter time.

Around 20 walkers headed off from the clubrooms at 2:05pm in conditions ideal for walking. It was interesting that two club members asked me to keep the pace up as they felt it was cool for walking.

We did keep up a steady pace. The only area of contention was when we reached the steps at the top of Macandrew Road. Some members wanted to go up the steps as they felt it would be quicker and afternoom tea was being served at 3:20pm. As it worked out the Easther Crescent option was just as quick as we all reached the clubrooms just after 3:30pm, in time for afternoon tea. Time taken was 1:30 hours

When Kieran organised our walks they just happen and I do not think we give due recognition to him for the work he does.

A Wet Winter's Day

The club met at the clubrooms for its weekly walk/run yesterday afternoon. The problem was the weather. It just poured and it was very cold. As a result there were less than 20 participants with only 9 walkers.

We headed down Corstorphine Road onto Playfair Street and then into Thorn Street. From here it was along David Street, along Forbury Road until we hit Jacob's Ladder off Valpy Street. Once at the top of the steps we walked up Aberdeen Street into Isadore Street and back to the clubrooms.

The 4.8km walk took just under an hour. I was soaked so I took off home immediately for a shower.

Hamilton's Diggings

Saturday 24 July

This morning I left Dunedin at 9am by car to travel to Middlemarch to spend most of the weelend with my mate Noel Matthews. Noel had rung earlier to report that I would encounter ice on the road probably past Lee Stream. I was not in a hurry and enjoyed a leisurely drive. I met an extremely slow SUV so had to overtake as the driver was irritatingly slow. However I reached Noel's B&B before 10:15am. His family were in Australia so we were going to enjoy a Boy's weekend.

Noel drove us in his Hi-ace to Daisy Bank about a 45 minute drive north of Middlemarch which is past Hyde. Our plan was to walk to the top end of the Rock and Pillar Range followed by undulations to Hamilton's Diggings and Cemetery - a distance of 20kms return.

The air still had an icy feel and as we walked up the farmland hill I could feel a chilly breeze on my face. My initial thought was how was I going to cope in this cold weather. We had lots of layers and spare clothing in our backpacks. My finger tips were cold even though I had gloves.

We walked casually up the hill with the sun making an appearance. Once we hit the summit the warm sun made it a lovely stroll along a plateau until we came to two buildings on our left. From here it was a slippery walk down to the diggings and another short walk to the cemetery. It took 2:45 hrs to reach the cemetery from the start of our walk. The weather was perfect while we had a 30 min lunch.

The distant hills of the Maniototo Valley had a deep white snow and provided a magnificent back drop for our rest. We looked at all the gravestones in the restored cemetery. Gold was first discovered here in 1863 and had over 40 stores and 25 liquor outlets in its heyday. There was a James Howell tombstone which is my mother's maiden name. I was also surprised at the age of the people when they died. Many were late seventies and early eighties. I would have thought that because of the tough lifestyle that people would have died earlier.

We walked back at a faster pace and managed the slippery initial hill easily. We reached Noel's van in 2:15hrs and we both felt pretty good. Noel had a bit of dis comfort from a toenail that needed cutting. My soles felt they had been on a 20km walk.

For tea we walked to the Middlemarch pub for a few jugs and tea. It was home in time to watch the Australia v South Africa Tri-Series rugby game. A few more beers and a port saw the night out nicely at midnight.

Sunday 25 July

I was keen to walk the first leg of the Rail Trail from Middlemarch to Ngapuna. The start of the Rail Trail is 1.5km from Noel's home. It was a cold frosty morning with lots of fog. We started out at 9.15am and before we reached Ngapuna the fog had lifted and the sun was very warm causing us to unlayer our clothes. It was a gentle 6km stroll each way. We got back to Noel's B&B at 11:45am. Had a bite and then it was a lovely drive back to Dunedin in the warm sun.

A wonderful, satisying and physical weekend. Thanks Noel