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| hard at work in sauze d'oulx |
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| date 15 feb 2003 14 april 2003 19 april 2003 27 april 2003 1 june 2003 5 july 2003 13 july 2003 20 july 2003 27 july 2003 2 aug 2003 3 aug 2003 10 aug 2003 17 aug 2003 24 aug 2003 31 aug 2003 6 sept 2003 14 sep 2003 21 sep 2003 28 sep 2003 5 oct 2003 |
| race nz championships carlsbad 5000 paderborn stadtlauf olympus marathon sbs christchurch half marathon north island cross country utica boiler maker 3rd grossglocknerlauf (wmra gp) karwendellauf tri-run postlingbergllauf 13th schlickeralm-berglauf sierre zinal 21st matterhornlauf (wmra gp) 15th challenge stellina (wmra gp) 2nd trofeo montagne olimpiche jungfrau marathon tubingen extreme lauf, val gardena open race at the world masters 30th hochfelln berglauf (wmra gp) |
| time 27m 56s 13m 55s 28m 26s 2hr 13m 00s 1hr 05m 28s 27m 34s 1hr 13m 01s 59m 15s 16m 08s 57m 00s 2hr 29m 12s 1hr 01m 59s 1hr 16m 43s 46m 55s 2hr 49m 01s 21m 24s 1hr 34m 45s 39m 12s 40m 51s |
| result 3rd 13th 6th 7th 1st 1st 15th 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 9th 1st 3rd 1st 1st 1st |
| location inglewood, new zealand carlsbad, san diego, usa paderborn, germany hamburg, germany christchurch, new zealand taupo, new zealand utica, new york state, usa heiligenblut, austria mittenwald, austria linz, austria telfes, austria zinal, switzerland zermatt, switzerland susa, italy sauze d'oulx, italy interlaken, switzerland stuttgart, germany st ulrich, sud tirol, italy zel am harmersbach, germany bergen, germany |
| distance 10000m track 5km road 10km marathon (42.2km) half marathon (21.1km) 9km 15km road 13.6km 1050m climb 11km 1400m climb 4.5km 250m climb 11.1km 1300m climb 31km 2000m+ 800m- 14.35km 1001m climb 14.6km 1500m climb 10.7km 650m up & dn 42.2km 1800m climb 7.5km road 19.1km 1499m climb 10.1km, 700m climb 8.9km, 1001m climb |
rr rr rr rr rr rr rr rr |
| rr: race record nzr: new zealand record |
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| zermatt not quite the same day as in the photo above but still good for running and over 1000 people took part this year. the race heads up round the right side of the matterhorn and then comes back to finish below the ridge in the foreground had a couple of great training runs here as well running near where this shot was taken (above). the matterhorn had a big rock fall earlier this summer because of the warm weather melting the ice on top. the swiss are also in the middle of building a ski lift on to the glacier to the left of the matterhorn, something of an engineering feat when you consider that glaciers are continually moving. a change of scenery in geneva to catch up with former scottish harrier hunter nottage was next. tried to get a ticket to see alinghi - the movie, but all sold out as they are big heros in swizerland. from geneva i headed into france stopping at the lake beside annecy and then to albertville. over one big alpine pass and then over another, the col du iseraan which rises up from val des irere. this is the highest pass in the alps at 2770m and there were plenty of cyclists making the grind up to the top with signs every 400m showing elevation. a very fast descent in the pug as time was getting tight and then up and over the col du mt cenis at 2450m which drops into the val di susa and italy. driving like an italian now means driving with headlights on at all time as this is the new law. the mt cenis road takes you down almost 2000m to susa. there are quicker ways to get from geneva to susa but the tunnels, frejus or mt blanc are 30-40 euro each way and french and italian motorways are tr�s expensive. made it 5 from 5 in susa this year, it doesn't seem like i have been here 5 years in a row but the results sheet says otherwise. no kiwi team here this year and the yanks beat the italians to take the trophy with the big hat (challenge stellina). stayed in italy at one of the 2006 olympic games sites, the ski resort of sauze d'oulx. it is 1560m high so was sucking it in a bit. ran up to col du bassette at 2470m high where you can continue on to sestriere. in winter you can ski 30-40k up and down the valley here, not skiing the same run twice. Had a good cycle around a loop taking in a few of the tour de france climbs. you can tell you are on a road that le tour has been recently because there is paint all over the uphill side and the descent has been newly asphelted. |
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| j o n a t h a n w y a t t |
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| beppu - february '03 a spot of pacing for a marathon in beppu, oita, japan. ran to 31k but the highlight was the hovercraft ride and our poor interpreter slowly turning green. pretty cold there flying into osaka, kansai was freezing in the middle of a wind swept bay. a nice race and orgnised with typical japanese efficency - like getting to the start 2.5 hours before the gun and a japanese lady who sews your number on your singlet - how cool is that? |
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| run down. . . |
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| tour 2003 |
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| long walks at kansai and long drops at the hotel |
| below is the hafen hotel, flash hotel close to the start of the hamburg marathon. unfortunately my room had fantastic views of the carpark and not the river elbe that this side faces. the marathon runs along the road in the foreground. |
| brilliant course and atmosphere as thousands line the streets and the course wends its way along the mainly flat streets of hamburg. 20,000 plus people run and start in three different places. a slight headwind made it tough on the way back - didn't seem to trouble the spanish winner who ran 2hr 07m 27s. I ended up in 7th in a time rather slower than that with my excuse being i ran through the drinks tables instead of past them, would have made quite a picture i would imagine. still struggling with the drinks too, keeping them down i mean and had a repeat of berlin at the end, stephen blair can shed some more light on that one |
| hamburg - april '03 training had been focused on the hamburg marathon and leading up ran the 10000m at inglewood, racing to a new pb there. ran the carlsbad 5000, reported to be the worlds quickest 5km on the road. quite a feat really as i was surprised how hilly and slow the course was. if someone can crack out a 13 flat 5k there then that is worth 12:45 odd on the track easy. a bit short for me considering my marathon training but a nice race all the same. on to germany and a 10km in paderborn, a bit of biffo saw 1 guy go down with 500 to go, i got the feeling the kenyans didnt like some white fella taking it to them! quick 220+km/h bursts on the autobahn were other highlights of a good race plus an authentic italian gnocchi from wilfred's village made for a memorable time. |
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| europe 2003 a stop over in new york city and race up in utica near the canadian border kicked off the start of the european tour. dotted down in europe mid july and collected a peugeot lease car again and drove to austria for the first of a series of mountain races for me. this race held in heiliginblut austria (name has something to do with blood, holy blood actually, and don�t get me started on the good water - bad water thing) is part of the gp series run by the wmra mountain running organising body. it was a hot day and finished up a big climb as you leave a valley floor at the foot of the glacia and climb up the side. the grossglockner in the background of pic (below) is the highest mountain in austria at around 3790m. i took the grossglockner halpenstrasse which costs about 25 euro each way but is a stunning way to get into the town. each hair pin bend is numbered (about 28 in total) and the road climbs to around 2500m. |
| race zwei in mittenwald germany at the border of austria is a pituresque town made famous by a violin making industry 350 years ago and by being on a trading route through the alps pretty steep one and includes a bit of slippy scree stuff and you run through a 450m long tunnel at the top through the rock. accommodation was provided by the kiwi/german couple of imke and kim rodley living in the leutasch valley just over the border in austria and tliving in an area of 250km of cross country ski trails which make excellent summer training too |
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| pics: quality nanas. martin cox (england), myself, and marco guiardo (italy) with the grossglockner behind. the last long climb. and a part of the organising team (heide and claudia) |
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| a short race in linz on saturday evening and then to telfes for a sunday race and 350km of driving in 2.5hrs in between was a busy weekend the shot right is the postlingberg, a hill overlooking the austrian city of linz with markus zuhlbruckner. this is the finish for the 4.5km linz race |
| cross training seems to be a big part of my mtn running this year, the hardest thing about water skiing was getting into the skis also did a spot of paragliding down from the finish of the course in telfes (austria). much easier than walking down far left vtt in the stubai valley |
| switzerland next, and managed to get a cheap motorway vignette so i can whizz thru the country instead of visiting every town along the way. raced in the 31km sierre-zinal course de cinqs 4000 montagne where the hot weather made the course pretty quick this year and ran to the first sub 2hr 30 time in the races history. course climbs over 2000m, most of it in the first 12km and descends steeply toward the end dropping some 800m with bits in between on nice panorama trails. a few sore legs after mean having to rest up and drink the excellent valais wine instead of soaking up the heat on the trails |
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| the jungfrau marathon starts in interlaken and this year i was able to take part since alaska world trophey is not in the plan. had a course recce on wednesday using train and feet and then on thursday took the first train to the jungfraujoch or top of europe train station, the highest station in europe at 3450m and the viewing platform is almost 3600m. pretty nice area looking down on a huge glacia and stopping in the train at the eigerwand, half way up the north wall of the eiger. this is a 2.5hr trip each way and while my train pass for the week was free from the race organisers it normally costs about 200 nzd to take the trip up and down! during the race along the course were some ex-pat kiwi supporters and a lot of bands, cow bells, horns and bag pipes as you climb the last section on a steep ridge with 1 km to go. plenty of people out watching and running through wengen (site of the longest downhill world cup run, and had a chat with peter mueller the swiss champion who could do it at speeds over 150kph) was a bit like the old cycle race thing there as people lined the streets urging you on. a very well organised race, hot showers and massage at the top and massages en route if you so desired as well. lots of drink and food stations and the distances were posted every 250m! two sprint primes along the way kept it interesting and the ethiopian runners contested the first at 3.8km and then i had a go at the second but the ethiopians were wise to that and snuck in ahead just before half way. at 25km the race leaves the valley floor to go to wengen and gets pretty steep and relentless toward the finish. the last km is downhill just to make your legs totally cramp so its a tough event. |
| approaching the half way point in Lauterbrunnen and the sprint is on for the prime |
| stayed in the jungfrau region after the race at a small town called murren, a two stage gongola ride on the schilthorn bahn. no cars here and a quick descent on the mtb sees you drop 700m vertical to the valley floor. this is an area popular with b.a.s.e. jumpers with the odd one not opening the chute in time. this village is perched on this cliff edge and a few too many beers at night and walking the wrong way could end in disaster. there is also a triathlon here a few weeks earlier which covers over 5000m vertical climbing in a 12 hour race and the duathlon in zoffinger (10k forest run, 150k hilly bike and 30k mtn run) is next weekend. . . . . . |
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| jungfrau marathon |
| a change of scenery running wise saw me head back to tubingen where two years ago i took 3rd place in this stadtlauf which runs through the old town. each year there is a festival here with its sister towns in alsace provence, france and umbria, italy and this brings in a few thousand people keen to sample the wine and food. this year it was announced that dieter baumann would compete for the last time (barcelona 5000m olympic gold medalist). this is his home town so a sunny day saw more than 50,000 people lining the 2.5km course which we run 3 times. i had the distinction of being the last white guy ever to beat dieter baumann in a race and took 3rd place again behind 2 kenyans and in front of one more with dieter taking 5th. warming down we were surrounded by thousands of people, quite amazing really. a quick stop in to see the iaa auto show in frankfurt joining the many thousands of people organised in typical german eficiency and then a quick 500k drive over to bergen hitting a new peugeot record for me of 195kph. downhill and the little 1.4lL engine near the limiter. also gave the abs a good testing at one stage. . . |
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| probably the hardest climb in a mountain race i have done. a very steep last 2 kilometres which made the grossglockner glacier climb look like a walk in the park. very funny coffin chairlifts on the way down also made for some good humour. in the photo are lucio fregona, the race organiser (a. stuffer), and gerd frick the race finishes at 2685m at forcella sassolungo and climbs 1475m in its 19.1km. spactacular all round views of the marmoladas and over a hundred paragliders and hang gliders up there. a few hardy souls tackling the 3200m vertical rock face above our finsh line too. |
| i was tempted to take a week off but a very nice race in the val gardena, a part of sud tirol in italy (otherwise known as the dolomites) presented itself and from the profile it looked pretty spectacular. and so it proved with great weather and |
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| an illustration of mountain running:(left). this is kim rodley, former valley�s man and now resident in the leutasch valley (austria). he is near the finish line in the appropriately named extremelauf. it shows that mountain running is indeed quite tough. |
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| above is the telecabine, nicknamed the coffin. the cable doesn�t slow down to hop in so you must stand on the board as shown and the first person jumps in and then the second must get in. if you are a little slow on it you get a healthy push from the guy behind and he slams the door as you sail out over the edge! managed a new land speed record when my german friend let me drive the bmw z4 he was testing. reached the speed limiter of 250kph on the munich - garmish autobahn, in the wet! it was all pretty safe until he switched out the traction control through some twisty corners. . . . nice bib kim |
| i almost decided to hire this instead of the peugeot for europe this year, but unfortunately common sense prevailed |
| the final race of the season in bergen, and the seasons have changed. raining at the start and by km 5 it was snowing. last 2 k it was slip and slide to the finish in a white out but can�t complain since weather this year has been fantastic. ok, so how am i going to get this one home? |
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| thomas and jono in the leutasch valley, austria, looking a bit younger! |
| bergen, chiemgau |
| photograph courtesy of winfried stinn |
| photograph courtesy of pat meffan |
| the finish line is here |
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