XTERRA: MOTATAPU

Happy New Year – a bit late I know.
Even though the title of this blog specifically refers to 2013, it seems that life, and indeed racing, goes on in 2014! A year ago, the thought of racing in a World Championship seemed almost crazy; yet here we are, I’ve been over to Hawaii, and managed to survive my very first major event! 

And now I have well and truly got the bug, so it's time to look at qualifying all over again...

  

So my 2014 got off to a rather awesome start, in the picturesque setting of Lake Wanaka and the Motatapu valley.
The event referred to as ‘The Motatapu’ began back in 2005, offering a mountain bike or marathon option, and attracted 1,000 participants. Now, in 2014, it is actually now more of a festival of multisport, with five different events all held on the same day and involving 3,700 participants! Needless to say, I was signed up for the Xterra UDC Finance Triathlon; a 2km swim in Glendhu Bay, a 47km mountain bike through the Motatapu Valley, and a 15km run up and around the Miners Trail above Arrowtown. 

My southern excursion actually began on the Wednesday before the race, with Mum and I deciding to make a long weekend of it, and we flew down to meet my sister Jemma in Queenstown. After finally managing to squish all our gear into Jemma’s car (3+ overnight bags, 2 bikes, and a kayak), we slowly crawled up over the Crown Range to the outlet of Lake Wanaka where we were to be staying. Getting there early meant there was plenty of time for checking out the course and the many other beautiful spots around Wanaka and Arrowtown. It also meant we had a chance to catch up with Nick and Judy who had been so good to me whilst I was over in Hawaii. Nick cooked a delicious meal, and it was so good to catch up and get some handy local hints before the race. 

                    
So, race day; it was absolutely stunning weather! A nice leisurely 10.15am start meant the air was cool, but not cold; the sun was out; and the lake was glass!!
There was a nice relaxed atmosphere at race briefing, and on the start line at the Lake’s edge… perhaps a little too relaxed, because many of us didn’t hear the countdown, and I was still in the process of putting my goggles on when the gun went off! I definitely paid for this a little, getting kicked in the head a few times soon after the start. But I soon found somebody’s hip to stick on for a majority of the first lap; it meant I could relax a bit and ease into the race. No such luxury on the second lap however, and I started to cramp a little towards the end of the swim, and whilst heading up the chute to transition. My first transition was tidy, but a bit more speed would be helpful. Sarah Backler (a Pro competitor from Tauranga) was out of the water close behind me, and her quick transition, along with my niggly cramp, meant she was able to pull away from me soon after leaving the swim-bike transition.

 

I was soon hooking into my electrolyte-filled brew, and after around 20mins the cramp had gone and I was starting to settle in to a nice rhythm. The start of the bike section had a number of fairly shallow river crossings which we great fun as we could hit them at full pace. I’m not sure the runners appreciated getting splashed though…
Overall, the bike was pretty uneventful, no major climbs, and all on pretty well groomed 4WD tracks. But right towards the end we dropped down onto the Macetown track and encountered some fast descents and a number of bigger, deeper, river crossings. Fortunately for me, I had been up here with friends earlier in the week, so I had a good idea of what to expect. These crossings were still mostly rideable, although in typical Hannah fashion, I had to fall off on at least one – and of course it was one where there was a group of people watching! After a quick dip and a giggle, I was back up on the bike and got away without losing too much skin or time.

Arriving into T2, the signs were a little confusing and I managed to take a slight wrong turn – a mistake a few had made apparently. Thanks to Craig who pointed me in the right direction! Again, I didn’t lose a who lot of time here, just looked a little silly having to run my bike into transition as it seemed quicker than getting back on and riding the last little section after having to jump a ditch. After ditching my bike, and switching Camelbaks, I was off on the run.

We didn’t have too long to find our running legs before we hit the first hill; a seemingly never-ending hill! I was soon red-lining, although the legs didn’t feel like they were making much progress up the steep gravel track. We had about 45-50mins of pretty solid climbing until we reached the highest point of the race (phew!). The one aid station on the run was ideal! There were heaps of kind and enthusiastic volunteers that gave me not only a nice cold coke, but also a huge dosing of encouragement, explaining that I was 5^th overall (and first non-pro). With my new-found motivation, I made my descent down the hill as fast as I could, with a few dodgy moments on the slippery grass! The views from the top were incredible, but it was hard to find time to look up without ending up going head over heels. The last part of the run was back on the same track we had followed for the bike section, which meant going back through the river crossings from earlier in the day. This was also good fun, and I found myself bounding through the water as hard as I could – probably looking like a bit of a goober, but I didn’t care!

Running into the finishing chute was a fantastic feeling. There was a huge amount of support at the event, and I felt pretty special getting so many cheers as I ran up to the finish. The event was the longest I have completed so far, so I was glad to make it home, still smiling, and in one piece. Position-wise, things stayed as they were at the top of the run course, and I came home as 1st Amateur Female, and 5th Overall behind 4 very talented girls in Nicky Samuels, Renata Butcher, Liz Orchard, and Sarah Backler. But perhaps most importantly, I had qualified for the World Champs in Hawaii all over again!

                         

Thank you to all the event organisers and volunteers; it is an incredibly well run event and is in probably one of the most beautiful locations in the world – aren’t we so lucky here in little old NZ?! Congratulations to Nicky and Braden on their wins and to Nick, Pete, Will, and the many others I have met through events who were also out there smashing it.

Thanks to my coach Brendon for all his help with training and the lead up to the race; to Massey University Sports academy; and to my awesome race support crew, family, and friends - Craig and Wanphen, Mum, and Jem – who did so much for me on race day and in the days leading up to the race.
Bring on The DUAL.