West Coast marathon

Posted by Neil on 5 May 2011 | 0 Comments

Deb Arnold celebrates her 100 th marathon in style

How did I celebrate running my 100^th marathon? I went looking for a new experience and to challenge myself so I fronted up for the West Coast Marathon. Expecting a tough scenic run and I got that and more, this race has over 2100 metres of vertical climb and covers a variety of terrains. 

Talking to others who had previously run this race and given that I had done no off-road training since December 2009 I set myself the goal of finishing under 7.30hrs.

This race comprises 3 separate legs each with its own challenges. In 2009 the 1^st 14km leg was changed significantly from that of previous events, going from an on–road leg to one that was totally off-road and taking runners along the beach, down streams, across farmland and up steep single tracks. Because of the rough terrain all runners were required to carry food supplies and water along with a 1^st aid kit and thermal clothing.

The race started at 7.30am, heading down Bethells Beach then steeply across farmland where at one point the climb took us through a paddock of horses – some of which became spooked and ran among and through the runners giving us quite a scare. At the end of this 14km Leg loop was the 1^st water stop which, as with all the water stops, was stocked with electrolyte, water and bananas.

Leg 2 saw us heading north along the Te Henga walkway, this was extremely steep and narrow with stunning cliff top views. There were many stiles to climb over and we had to be careful with foot placement as some areas were heavy with flax bushes that you had to scramble your way though. There were amazing sea views and although areas of the track were overgrown and technical the views made for quite a distraction. About 6kms of this track is cut into headland with drops into the ocean 100_s of metres below. About 2/3 of the way along this 9km Leg 2 the path dropped down almost to sea level, before climbing steeply again to finish out on the edge of a gravel road and the 2^nd water stop (23km mark).

Leg 3 started with a gravel road section that led to the Goldie’s Bush/Mokoroa loop. We passed though a gate and were hit with a sudden change of scenery with a dense canopy of native bush and an even firm trail. There was a steep downhill section of steps and heading right the track changed again – becoming progressively rougher until we arrived at Mokoroa Stream. This started the hardest and most technical part of the entire course. It involved countless stream crossings and sections of running down the rough boulder strewn stream bed hunting for the next marker to indicate where to exit out of the water. When you weren’t wading through cold fast flowing water you were on uneven narrow, root ridden and sometimes nearly nonexistent trails. It was very slow going – as my legs were tired and cramping whenever I was called on to reach up for foot holds in the banks or rock faces bordering the ever deepening stream.

We then we headed away from the stream back uphill on what was once again a nice track to Horseman Rd and the 3^rd water stop (28km) which had plates of chocolate brownies that were well earned after the toughest running I’ve done in a long time. We next dropped back down the track we had just run up and continued around the 2^nd half of leg 3 which contained gnarly single track and it was completed with a steep climb out of the walkway on a leg sapping zigzag of wooden steps taking us back up to the entrance of the track to the same point we had entered and water stop #2 again, then it was back up the gravel road to return along the 9km Te Henga cliff top trail on very tired legs to the finish across a deepening estuary to Bethells Beach Reserve.

The race has a cut-off time of 4.00pm which allows 8.5hrs to complete the marathon. I had been told I’d take 7 to 7.5hrs based on my road marathon times and came in at 7.02, finishing with a big sense of achievement and notable array of scrapes and bruises.

I’d definitely run this again but with serious off-road training as it is a tough and challenging marathon and I’ll admit to feeling very sore for days afterwards.