Otago Peninsula Challenge 2011

Dunedin's temperature was 35 degrees which was the hottest day of the summer. 350 walkers participated in the walk. It was the second time I had done this walk so knew what to expect. I was delighted with the way I walked to the Papanui Inlet and was in 10th place. The boat ride across the inlet worked out well with hardly any waiting.

I managed to walk briskly along Victory Beach passing two more walkers. A funny incident was when the woman beside me was talking on her cellphone and entered a seal's space. The seal barked and moved towards the woman causing her to do a hasty retreat. She said, "Deserves me right for using my cellphone". There were a number of sealions and seals on the beach monitored by DoC staff. I still felt good.

The four wheel drive track was alright but when I reached the goat track I hit the wall. I had to stop often up the hill and was breathing heavily. This was the pattern for the last 5kms. For the first time I struggled and finished in 3:06:51 which was 28 minutes slower than two years ago. I was the 28th walker home (15th in 2009) and 9th male.

The problem was I did not do as much preparatory walking and lack of water. I took no water on the walk but decided to rely on the drink stations. The Otago Daily Times reported on its front page that two walkers were airlifted to Dunedin Hospital - one for dehydration and one for severe heat exhaustion.

Second 2011 Summer Walk

On a day that started with driving rain, only 9 people turned up for the second summer walk for the new year. Our walk two weeks ago was at Sandymount, a quiet 2.3km stroll.

Yesterday we carpooled to Macandrew Bay and walked up Greenacres Road to Highcliff Road. We headed along Highcliff Road to Camp Road and then onto Castlewood Road. When three of us got to the 5okph boundary, we turned round and walked back up the hill for almost a kilometre to meet the slower walkers. It was back down to Portobello Road and then to Macandrew Bay. It was a strong head win on the flat back to our cars. Kieran and Gail walked very well but I was a significant distance back. I need some more training. THe loop was 7.74km going by "MapMy Walk". The walk took just over 90 minutes.

2010 Statistics

2010 was my best ever year for walking since beginning in September 2006.

Distance covered 2726km
Days walked 360

My Old "Haunts"

It was my pleasure to lead the walking group from Moana Pool today as Kieran our leader was not avaiable. I decided to do a practice walk on Wednesday morning with Danny just to be certain I knew where I wanted to walk. The practice walk took 90 minutes and was just over 8kms. The course took in a lot of my "haunts" from when I was a youngster.

13 members headed off at 1:05pm. We went along Arthur Street and then turned right up Russell Street. Where Russell Street meets York Place we enter a pathway through the bush until we hit Queens Drive. We turned right until we reach Braid Road. We turned left to walk up a path beside Bellknowes Golf Course. Once we reach Ross Street we cross over to a narrow lane that comes out at Scarba Street. We head up City Road until we turn left onto Charlotte Street.We cross the road into Hereford Street which is downhill and included steps. We reach Kaikorai Valley Road and then walk past Cableways Tavern onto Taieri Road. It was then up Taieri Rd, along Helensburgh Rd. At Maori Hill we go down Drivers Rd and onto Queens Drive back to Moana Pool.

It was a lovely warm day and it took 1hr 40 mins but this included a lot of stops.

The course was:

Summer Season Begins Earlier

Our fortnightly summer walks are due to start on 30 October but Katherine organised for interested walkers to meet in North East Valley. I had no idea what to expect. Katherine arranged for a couple to escort us up a rising Watts Road until we came to a farm. We followed a surveyed road over the farm land until we reached the road. We followed the road a short distance to a t-intersection at Campbell's Road. Two of the walkers opted to turn left heading into Pinehill for a quicker 4km walk in total.

The remainder turned right and walked up Campbells Road and walked until we came to a gate that we had to climb. We had an interesting walk along the farmland track climbing over fallen trees and through a swamp. We then had to go down a marked track until we reached the track that heads down to Bethunes Gully.

It was a lovely day for the remainder of our walk back to our cars. Distance 7kms. Time 2 hours

End of 2010 Walking Season

9 October was the closing day for the Caversham Harrier's Club meeting at 3pm. The walking group did a similar walk to the previous week except we went along Riselaw Road and back down Waimea Street.We merged onto Sidey Street, then Cole Street until we reached Caversham. We strolled through the Caversham suburb and along David Street onto Forbury Road. We climbed the steps up to Francis Hodgkins Retirement Village. From here it was a quick walk along Easther Crescent onto Middleton Road, back to the clubrooms.


We got back at 4.15pm and waited around for a club barbeque just after 5pm. An hour later was the prize giving ceremony and I was fortunate to win the Walkers Aggregate Cup over three events - 1500m (2nd), 5km handicap (3rd), Brighton- Green Island 9.6km (10th). A pleasant surprise was to be given a $150 voucher for running shoes as well.

Marathon Walk

23 September

I reached Marathonas at 6.45am by bus from Athens. It was too dark to read my map so I backtracked the route the bus did until I reached south of Marathonas. I started the walk at 7.20am averaging 5km per hour for the first half marathon.

I had to detour from the Marathonas Avenue to walk around the "Tomb of the Marathon Warrior" which was the 5km mark. At 10km it was through Nea Makri and at 15km I hit the first hill near the Rafina Junction. There were a number of hill climbs, some quite long.

When I reached half way at Pikermi I stopped at Baronburger for an orange and water. I was feeling great, fitness wise but my feet were beginning to become sore especially the heel of my left foot.

It was quite a boring course with few interestung features. There were an abundant number of car sales. I decided to drink lots of water because I did not want to become dehydrated or suffer heat stroke. I was walking by myself although there were lots of people around once I reached halfway. I had to be innovative in finding appropriate toilet stops.

My first challenge came at 30kms when the two laned highway became four lanes. The two inside lanes went to Athens while the two outside lanes beside the footpath I was walking on detoured to the left onto a major highway "642". I had to cross the busy road onto the Athens lanes and then walk along a concrete lip about a metre wide. I was not sure if I was breaking the law or not. It was a relief to see the street sign Mesogeoin Avenue. As I neared Athens I had to do a similar thing again.

At the 30km mark my feet were very sore and I lacked enthusiasm to take photos or stop. All I wanted to do was finish. I should point out the temperature was the coolest we had struck over our three week stay in Greece. It was around 23 degrees and it became hotter once in the main part of Athens (27 degrees).

As I walked through the suburbs of Chalandri and Chalargos the intensity of the traffic was noticeable. At the 39- 40km mark Mesogeoin become Vas. Sofia Ave. After 41.5km you turn into Irodou Attikou which is a narrow street behind the Greek Parliament and where the Greek President resides. The street was blocked off to traffic and there was a high police and military presence. This may be due to recent civil unrest regarding the new austerity measures put in place by the government.

At the bottom of this street Denise was waiting for me. We walked together through the Panathenaic Stadium and on the track to the end. It was a great feeling to have completed my first marathon and in particular the original marathon course. I finished the walk at 5.10pm