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The company Paul works for here in NZ usually has at least one team participate yearly in the Oxfam Walk here in NZ. There are two options for the walks: 50 km or 100 km. Paul thought it'd be a really neat thing to participate in and drummed up a lot of attention for it in the office so Graymont was able to put together three teams of four participants each to participate in the 100 km walk. It was the first year it'd be in the Whakatane area of NZ so it would be a great way to see a lot of a new area we hadn't been before. I was originally slotted in to be on a support team. Each team had a support team of 2 people who were responsible for meeting up at every checkpoint throughout the day and night to transport our extra gear, food, drinks, etc and give us some encouragement. Well about two months before the walk, I was in Taupo with Paul and some of his coworkers for the Huka Xstream swim and we were all talking at dinner about the walk and the team assignments. It was then decided that they could use another person so I'd be great to fill in the spot. I, of course, thought, sure 100 km? I just have to keep walking. I can do that. I've worked a 20 hour double shift before so I figured if I can do that, then I can walk nonstop for at least that long. I didn't really think that 100 km is 64 miles and that sure makes it seem longer. We had to do some fundraising for the team and thank you very much to those who contributed. It was really kind and I'm sure people are benefiting from your contribution in the form of clean drinking water and such. Thanks!
So the walk was a weekend or two after we returned from our Asia adventures where we did some walking, but I can't say we really did enough to train for 100 km of walking. The route wasn't just on roads in NZ, it consisted of some bush walks, walking on the sand, through farm fields, etc. I still figured I hiked up two mountains here, so the distance was a lot shorter but the terrain was more difficult so I thought I'd be able to give it a good shot. All three teams met up in the Whakatane area the day before so we could check-in and get a good night's sleep before being up for a long time the next day. We managed to find a hotel for everyone to stay in which wasn't easy because Whakatane isn't a huge city, there were a lot of participants that needed housing, and a lot of hotels in NZ are like motels with max of 10 rooms.
We woke up Saturday, bright and early, to get to the starting line for our 7 AM start. Of the three teams, one consisted of some younger physically fit guys and an experienced fit older man. This team went ahead and were designated as the fast group. The other two teams had the goal of sticking together to finish, but not with as much of an emphasis on speed. The weather for the weekend was not expected to be very cooperative, aka it was supposed to rain all Saturday and some on Sunday. I was feeling pretty good at the start even though the pace was a little faster than what I'm used to since I was definitely on the shorter side of the teams. The path to the first checkpoint consisted of walk through some bush which had some elevation changes, but then it ended with a walk along the beach/coastline of Whakatane. It was still dry and kind of sunny at this point, so it was a pretty view to get us through the first 12.2 km. At the first couple checkpoints and at the last one there were podiatry volunteers/students, physio volunteers/students, and our support crews. We didn't take too long of a stop at the first checkpoint because we were all feeling pretty good. Some people taped their feet and did some research about how to protect their feet for a 100 km trek. Some people were smart... I wasn't one of them. I thought, I've walked for a long time before and maybe got a hot spot or something, but never lost a toenail or got really bad blisters. (Foreshadowing)
Leg 2 was pretty flat the whole time with a distance of 16.1 km. The path continued along the sandy beach and came back on some local roads. The rain started during this portion and pretty much continued for the rest of the day. The rain definitely changed my outlook on the day. I had two pairs of hiking shoes that I've worn a couple times before and they're both waterproof. I stupidly forgot my tennis shoes back home so I didn't have that kind of comfortable lightweight shoe to walk in, but I don't think that would've helped that much, especially with the rain. I had my rain jacket, some fast drying pants, a hat, and my waterproof shoes on, but they weren't enough. The rain got to be so heavy that is just dripped down inside my shoes so it didn't matter that they were waterproof because the water was just sloshing inside of them anyway. Not very comfortable on the feet! I think I changed my shoes and socks at Checkpoint 2 because I might have felt a hot spot or two developing on my feet, but I thought dry feet and different shoes would help. Should've gone to podiatry! Man, I know a lot of people are not feet people and I can't say I really enjoy touching other people's feet but as a Nurse I saw quite a few unsightly feet and I could handle them...with gloves of course. Anyway, I could never do podiatry. I wonder how many people decided to change majors after that weekend. Just imagine seeing hundreds of wet, stinky feet that are pruny from being enveloped in water for hours on end and blisters, lots of blisters. Yuck! Sorry for that mental image!
Onto Leg 3. So we had completed 28.3 km up to this point which is the equivalent of 17.5 miles. I think this was the longest distance I've walked in a day and I was getting sore. More sore than I thought I'd be that early on, but I trekked on. Leg 3 was 15 km long, but had some steeper elevation changes and the rain continued to pour. There were two sections where there was a massive puddle and there was no way to walk around it so the only option was to go through it. Paul was amazing and carried me across one. Another grown man made the young teen volunteer piggyback him across it. What a jerk. Granted, wet feet all day isn't pleasant either, but it wasn't the volunteers fault! My new dry socks and shoes were soaked within like 10 minutes of putting them on so that ended up being a waste of time. When we came to the second large deep puddle I put on my big girl pants and just walked through it even though Paul was keen to piggyback me across again. I figured my feet were already wet, so they couldn't get much worse. Wrong again! By the time we got to Checkpoint 3, it was in the afternoon and we had traversed 43.3 km/26.9 miles. So I had completed my first marathon, woohoo! BUT I wasn't even halfway completed! I was really wishing we were doing the 50 km route instead. I was feeling really rough and my enthusiasm and naive positive outlook were trashed along with my feet. I didn't really have open blisters, but I had some hot spots that were painful even though the podiatrists couldn't see what to wrap up. We took a longer stop here because a lot of the teammates got their feet looked at and got some muscles stretched out. I thought the podiatrist did a good enough job wrapping up my feet to provide cushion, but I shouldn't have been going with "good enough." I should've been aiming for great, but I'm really not one to complain about someone not doing a good enough job so I settled. Silly me! I tried stretching out my legs which were really sore as well. I could barely walk and our support team were angels and brought me food and socks. I sound pathetic, but a lot of people were feeling the effects of the day, not just me! My right calf was really tight and I couldn't really stretch it enough. Also my hips were getting really sore so I saw the physios (Physical Therapy) for some assistance. They tried massaging my legs and hips and gave me some stretches to try and loosen things up. They were very nice and helpful, but unfortunately I was past the point where it'd help enough. I really wanted to stop at this point, but Paul and my teammates encouraged me to continues. I really wanted to make it to the halfway point at least, as well. I just felt so bad for holding up the rest of the team because we had to check into each point together for safety reasons and everything, but I trucked on.
During Leg 4, the two teams eventually separated because I was going too slow. It was down to the team of Paul, Mike, Vaughn, and myself. Vaughn had completed the walk the prior year, but the rest of us were first timers. Leg 4 was 14.5 km with an increased difficulty rating. It consisted of mainly bush walks with quite a few uphill/downhills and some farm fields. The rain continued and it was getting dark so we put on our headlamps. The rain changed into storms (thunder and lightning) which are pretty rare in my experience, but of course one would happen when we're out in the middle of nowhere, on a hill, carrying hiking poles. No one got struck by lightning, so we're all good, but I was a little anxious during that part. My pain continued, but I was fighting through it. We saw an emergency vehicle come and pick someone up on the path, but the rain and mud was making it difficult for emergency vehicles to get everywhere. We made it to the 50 km mark and that was fun for a minute, but then we had to push on. We stumbled into Checkpoint 4 to find a field (it was at the Ngati Awa Airstrip), but there wasn't much field there, just a big mudpit. After walking in the rain for a couple hours since the prior checkpoint, I was looking forward to getting someplace dry and warm, but there was just a big white tent that wasn't really safe from the rain or mud. I felt happy to have made it, but getting to that checkpoint to just be greeted with more mud, I was just over it. We got in around 11 PM or so and I just couldn't continue. I'd walked 57.8 km/35.9 miles and I just couldn't continue. I figured what was the point of trying to push myself for one more checkpoint when I knew I couldn't finish because my legs and feet were feeling destroyed, and I really didn't want to hold the rest of the team back. Walking 100 km is long enough, but to have to go at a slower pace than able, that's just worse. My teammates were supportive in saying they'd stick with me if I wanted to go, but I had to quit. Paul is usually one that never complains about feeling sore and is able to tramp all day and stay positive, but he developed this really bad pain in his ankle and it was actually quite swollen and it really limited his mobility. So together, we made the decision to quit and our support team drove us back to the hotel to sleep. Mike and Vaughn had to find another team to walk with, because each team had to be at least 3-4 people. We bid them good luck and farewell and said we'd see them at the finish!
It was disappointing to not finish, but the conditions just sucked and I had just found out I was pregnant and didn't think it'd be best to push myself past a breaking point. Sleep felt amazing! Around 6 AM, a guy from the fast team arrived to the hotel after finishing. He shared a room with us so we kind of woke up and asked how things went. He said a couple people wanted to pull out at the last checkpoint, but the team captain made them finish so a lot of them were feeling really rough, but they finished! Around 8 AM or so, Paul and I woke up because our support team had to get back home, so we had to take over as support for our last two teammates. We caught up with them at Checkpoint 6, the last one before the finish, and gave them some snacks and encouragement. They were looking pretty good for having walked 88 km and being up for 24+ hours straight! I think I looked worse walking than they did! The good thing is it had dried up pretty much after midnight so the weather conditions had improved. Paul and I learned that although the weather improved, the ground conditions were still rotten, and we had picked a good time to ditch out. Leg 5, the one after we dropped out, was the hardest portion of the walk with some really steep parts. One or two parts were so steep that people couldn't even walk down it because of the grade and the mud so people just sat on their but and slid down. Sounds alright, but when soaking wet you don't want to be covered in mud, too. They were real go-getters!
So we met Mike and Vaughn at the end and gave them some beers we bought so they could celebrate. They ended up finishing around 1 PM, I think, and it was getting hot and sunny for the end of the walk. I got teary eyed watching the teams finishing together. It's like watching the last finishers at the Ironman, it's just so cool to see that strength and then their relief to be done. After relaxing a bit at the end, we headed back to the hotel and saw the second team finishers. Some people took some naps, then Paul, Mike, and I headed back home with a stop in Rotorua for dinner and Mike treated himself to a hot pool to relax his muscles.
All in all, it was a great experience even though I couldn't make it to the end and I was still proud of myself for making it as far as I did. So shout out to the support teams, volunteers/organizers, participants, and finishers because they were amazing! Now for next year...NOT!
https://www.oxfamtrailwalker.org.nz/preparation/trail-info/leg-1 : Information about the Legs and the website for Oxfam Trailwalker 2016 NZ
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