The 100-mile quest begins where you find inspiration
When you reach the end of something you’ve strived for for a long time, you often don’t think back to the start. That’s certainly true of races – once you hit that finish line, you’re often just relieved you’re there. The start seems irrelevant.
But, weirdly, when I finished the longest race of my life recently, I couldn’t help but think of where it began.
But where does the journey of 100 miles really begin?
I was at the Tarawera Ultra, in Rotorua, exhausted and yet exhilarated after almost 29 hours of running. At events like that, race staff will make sure you’re OK, then lead you into a tent to sit, eat and drink, get changed into warm clothes (the body temperature plummets once you stop), and reunite you with your family.
As I sat there, zoned out for a few minutes, my mind wandered.
Technically, the start had been at 4am the previous day, when about 300 of us lined up at the stunning Te Puia geothermal field, setting off through the steam of the Po¯ hutu geyser – is there a more magical race start anywhere in the world?
But any experienced runner will tell you a race doesn’t start until deep into the distance.
For the marathon, Olympic medallist and Kiwi legend Barry Magee once told me it didn’t begin until 32 kilometres – until then you were only getting yourself prepared for the last 10km home.
In a 100-mile (165km) race, friends told me it didn’t really begin until 100km. How could that possibly be true?