Long-distance runners are part of something bigger
In the darkness of a Sunday morning, a realisation hits me. I’m standing at the start line of the Auckland Marathon, surrounded by hundreds of others.
Even so, those moments before the starting gun goes can be lonely, lost in your own thoughts about how much training you’ve done, wondering if you’ve done enough, wondering what you’ll be like when (if) you make it to the finish line.
But as I look around – and hear the buzz – it hits me that I’m part of something much bigger than myself. When I run like this, I’m part of a movement. I’m part of an outpouring of emotion and energy.
It makes me feel connected to the world.
This is what the best races do. They are a celebration of spirit, of joy, of effort.
And there are plenty like that. In the past year, I’ve been lucky to run at a few – the Kepler Challenge, which brings the whole Te A¯ nau community together to support the endeavours of those who take on the race itself; the Rotorua Marathon, the iconic Kiwi road marathon that brims with history; the WUU2K, a Wellington ultra event that combines tough trails with capital charm; the North Shore
Marathon, which was hit by thunderstorms this year but, with its mix of sand, grass and road, somehow makes it fun; and the Riverhead Rampage, which is essentially a school fundraiser, but is about the best bangfor-buck you’ll find in a trail race.
Next year, I’m heading back to a race that I’m sweet on, the Tarawera Ultra. There’s something about Tarawera. When you stand on the start line, you fear your heart might burst as it swells with pride and excitement.
On the Dirt Church Radio podcast the past few weeks, we’ve caught up with three people who’ve been deeply involved with Tarawera for years, race director Tim Day,
and Kerry Suter and Ali Pottinger, who are behind the Squadrun coaching group.
Suter ran the first race in 2009, when just 67 people were on the startline. ‘‘[Race founder Paul] Charteris said ‘I think I can link the trails from Rotorua to Kawerau’,’’ says Suter. ‘‘And I thought that sounds insane – I want to do that.’’
He kept coming back and watched it grow.
‘‘I fell in love with the culture. ‘‘In 2012, we were boasting about how massive Tarawera was with 300 people running an ultra.’’
Next year, there will be 2000 competitors – plenty of them coached by Suter and Pottinger.
Day is keenly aware that the spirit of the race is not to be messed with. He got involved by running it one year and then started helping organise it.
‘‘Tarawera holds a very special place in a lot of people’s hearts,’’ says Day. He describes it as ‘‘the big friendly’’ – and I can’t disagree.
Tarawera was my first trail ultra, in 2013. It was the toughest run I’d ever done. And I was hooked.
There’s a special spirit that surrounds the event. On the years I’m not there, I know I’m missing out.
I guess that realisation I had at the Auckland Marathon is that thing about being part of something bigger than yourself.
In that race, it helped that standing alongside me, waiting for the gun to go, was my older boy, Marc, about to run his second marathon. He’d set himself a target and it was my job to make sure he hit it.
We ran side by side the whole way and, as we crossed the finish line together, my pride was in him, for him, for what he’d achieved.
They say long distance running is lonely, but if you look for the connections and you’re open to the joy all around you, you’ll never be alone. You’re part of something special.