Return to racing at the Big O

After a 7 month hiatus with all sort of foot problems, I returned to racing with this years Big O trail run very near my home in Rotorua. O stands for Okataina - the lake that the run circles. The race entry form tells me that O stands for awesome - which is fair enough - it is an awesome run.


I did not take a photo of blue bum on purpose. Blue bum ran through the middle of my scenic photo.

I chose the 19km option- a sensible move since my feet remain untested on anything longer than about 15km as of late. The run started at Crater Farm which is a big chunk of land between lakes Okareka, Okataina and Tarawera. It’s an impressive piece of real estate. If you’d like to buy the farm – it’s for sale at around $4-6 million.

The 19km run starts on the farm at Miller Road – between the Okareka and Miller Road aid stations on the Tarawera Ultra. We ran through the farm with absolutely spectacular views out over lake Tarawera. After negotiating a few fences and scrub – we bush-bashed our way on the Eastern Okataina walkway. For those of you familiar with this track – we popped out on top of the plateau between lakes Okataina and Tarawera.

I was feeling pretty good – and ran quite solidly through the Eastern Okataina Walkway. I was even passing runner. Me! – passing runners - holy hamburgers! Eventually time and distance caught up with my right foot and I started getting minor (then extreme) pain in the arch. I walked the final 4km in to the finish line and enjoyed some sausages.

I am proud to have finished my first trail running race in along time. I loved it – the track – the people – the course (of course). It’s nice to be part of something as a runner again. Thanks to the Lactic Turkey guys - I will be ebakc next year - and not just because I won a free entry.


Cheers, Paul (again a runner)