Plenty of us crosstrain off the bike and there's even some filthy mulitsporters lurking in these parts. So why not a "where did you" for runners like we have for MTB and roadie rides?

I'm spending most of my time in running shoes these days as I shed all the excess weight I put on after hanging up my roadie shoes for a couple of years. So I'll get the ball rolling...


I had to drop the missus off early this morning so went dressed for a trail run and parked up the car by Makara Peak and trotted out for a sifty 12km (with 436m of vertical ascent) out and back along the Skyline track. Beautiful conditions for running in, with little breeze and nice cool temperature. Nothing fast about it as I kept stopping to take photos on the out leg, but I'm now looking forward to the second round of the Xterra series next weekend.



skyline run-2 by Adrian Rumney, on Flickr



skyline run-3 by Adrian Rumney, on Flickr



skyline run-8 by Adrian Rumney, on Flickr



skyline run_profile by Adrian Rumney, on Flickr

Bloody pedestrians! Get off our MTB tracks!

Oli wrote:Bloody pedestrians! Get off our MTB tracks!

Oli wrote:Bloody pedestrians! Get off our MTB tracks!

It's anarchy. I'm a rebel man... don't mess with my vibe.

Tugboat wrote:

Oli wrote:Bloody pedestrians! Get off our MTB tracks!

It's anarchy. I'm a rebel man... don't mess with my vibe.

Or else he will shake his fist at you like the guy in his avatar,

Marc Madiot.

He looks like he's giving a VERY ANGRY handjob.

happybaboon wrote:He looks like he's giving a VERY ANGRY handjob.

Nah... that's Marc Madiot at his happiest!!

Tugboat wrote:

happybaboon wrote:He looks like he's giving a VERY ANGRY handjob.

Nah... that's Marc Madiot at his happiest!!

when giving handjobs???

Got out this morning and did round 2 of Xterra Wellington. The medium distance course set out from Catchpool Valley, a brutal climb up the Butcher Track and then along Cattle Ridge before a technical descent back into the valley. 12km all up with 600m of vertical ascent and over 2,100 calories burned.

I was a bit destroyed at the finish. The spa sure felt good when I got home!


2013 Xterra Wellington - Rd 2 Orongorongos-1 by Adrian Rumney, on Flickr



2013 Xterra Wellington - Rd 2 Orongorongos-3 by Adrian Rumney, on Flickr



2013 Xterra Wellington - Rd 2 Orongorongos-4 by Adrian Rumney, on Flickr



2013 Xterra Wellington - Rd 2 Orongorongos-6 by Adrian Rumney, on Flickr



2013 Xterra Wellington - Rd 2 Orongorongos-7 by Adrian Rumney, on Flickr

Nice one!

Much like Adrian I did the Xterra on Sunday except I did the long course (20km). Great race, our climb was a bit of a slog though. Legs are feeling a bit pwned today.

Final round of Xterra Wellington this morning. A perfect bookending of the series with rain and slippery mud to finish things off, just like the first round.

The medium course was 11.2km and 605 vertical metres of climbing. The two main climbs were ridiculously steep and the slipperiness made them even more fun. But it wasn't just the steep climbs that defined this course. The main bit of ridge running was not on the ridge itself but along sheep tracks traversing the steep hill just off the top. Wearing Salomon's grunty Speedcross 3 shoes meant i still had grip whilst the people around me slipped left, right and centre. Throw in a 300m descent at an average -38.2 degrees, and a bit of an obstacle course under manuka branches and a washed out fence and this was definitely the most technical of the four rounds, beating out the fantastic tree root ridge in the Orongorongos in round 2.

I remembered to suck back a couple of gels and finished in pretty good shape. Looking forward to next year's series already!!


Screen shot 2013-06-09 at 6.00.36 PM by Adrian Rumney, on Flickr



xterra rd 4-2 by Adrian Rumney, on Flickr



xterra rd 4-3 by Adrian Rumney, on Flickr




xterra rd 4-4 by Adrian Rumney, on Flickr




xterra rd 4-5 by Adrian Rumney, on Flickr

Tugboat wrote:. Wearing Salomon's grunty Speedcross 3 shoes meant i still had grip whilst the people around me slipped left, right and centre.

It you think speedcross3 have a lot of grip you should try innov8 x-talons - larger more agressive lugs and sticky rubber ( hang onto wet greasy rocks much better ). The sc3s do win when conditions are more mixed though as they have much more cushioning (hard packed sections in xtalons ain't much fun) or when conditions aren't fully mushy ( smaller pointier lugs on the sc3s penetrate firmish ground better tha the big fat lugs on the inov8s)

Heights of Winter rogaine for me. Intentionally in a walk not run team however still managed 34km & 1540m climb.
Great day out.
Using Salamon XA Pro Ultra 2. Good grip however finding it difficult to determine best size though. 1/2 size bigger feels a little loose running downhills however good for distance, whereas the current size feels good down, a lot more stable but a little cramped later in events and has caused some lost toe nails. Guess it's just one of the issues everyone has with feet swelling after a few hours.