THE DUAL

From the beauty of the alpine tussock and high country rivers of the Motatapu event in the south, to the stunning island sanctuaries of Motutapu and Rangitoto in the Hauraki Gulf. The last few weeks have certainly dished up some epic places to race!!

Last weekend it was the Partners Life ‘Dual’ Motutapu-Rangitoto Traverse. This event offers a number of walking, running, mountain biking, and triathlon events, along with the incredible and unique opportunity to explore the Motutapu and Rangitoto Islands. The event is now in it’s 6^th year and this year raised around $30,000 for the Motutapu Restoration Trust; an organisation doing incredible things for the flora and fauna on the island. If that’s not a good reason to fork out an entry fee, I don’t know what is!

Around 2100 competitors and supporters made the journey over to the island this year; a potential logistical nightmare, that was handled with an incredible level of professionalism by the event organisers, all whilst respecting the history and fragility of the events incredible setting.

As for my day on the island, here’s how it went down:

4.30am wake up to get to the ferry before 6am! I sat on the deck of the ferry and watched the city lights drift away as we made our way over to the island.

As we walked from the ferry to the race area in Home Bay we began to see first light, it was going to be a beautiful day! Setting up transition as the sun began to rise was a great way to get excited and in the zone for the adventure ahead.

This was followed by getting a welcoming onto the Island by the local iwi and a race briefing, before testing the water.

Race started bang on 8am. Sneaking a spot up the front left before the gun went off was key ensuring I didn’t get caught up in too much of a brawl at the beginning of the swim. By the second lap of the 1km swim, the field had spread and I was able to get into a good rhythm.

As I exited the water and ran up the beach I looked at my watch, it just turned over 14mins - about the time I was aiming for, sweet.

Through T1 and on to the bike and we headed off up the gravel road. There were a couple of decent climbs on the bike, with rewarding views at the top. After reaching the furthest point on the course from the start, we made our way  back around the island along a pretty flat and fast track.

The last climb on the ride was on farmland and was pretty bumpy and tricky to ride over. Here I felt as though I was beginning to fade slightly and was over taken by two men who seemed to just glide past me over the rugged farmland!

Reaching the final decent I was pretty happy I had made it there without any falls and was beginning to feel pretty good about myself. Bad move! My arms were pretty tired from being jolted around so much, and I had to really concentrate to keep my hands from slipping of the grips. Unfortunately, with literally 20m of downhill left in the ride, I hit a large hole. Next thing I knew I was launching through the air, much like superman, over my handle bars. Luckily the fall didn’t hurt too much at the time, and after stretching out a bit of cramp, I was able to get back up and on my bike – feeling a little silly.

Into T2 and I had many cheers from the supporters. I could hear people saying “oh look, a girl! Go girl!” From this I figured there must not have been many girls go past before me (turns out there were none). The run was quite hilly and hot with the midmorning sun beaming down. Reaching the last aid station I stopped briefly to get a good drink and while doing so, the volunteers told me I was first girl to go through, awesome!

                         

I bounded off in excitement, with only around 2kms to go. Crossing the line first female overall was such a rewarding feeling. Totally stoked.

Thank you to all the event organisers and the enthusiastic volunteers! And special thanks to my Coach Brendon and all my training buddies at the club who continue to push and inspire me. What a cool sport this is!

For more information on the event, see www.thedual.co.nz

For more information on the incredible work of the Motutapu Restoration Trust, see www.motutapu.org.nz