Going Running

Why My Life Is Nuts: Some friends and I decided that it would be fun to run Routeburn. No big deal.

Who? Paul, Liz, Mackenzie, Tim, Mike, Kristen, and I

What? Routeburn Track

Where? Fiordland National Park/Mount Aspiring National Park

When? Saturday, April 24th 2010

How? That is a very good question

Why? No clue, it kinda just seemed like a good idea :)

Routeburn Track is 32 kilometers (about 20ish miles) long. Also, it's not a loop... you can start at this place called the Divide and end at Routeburn Shelter, or you can start at Routeburn Shelter and end at the Divide. So this was Our Basic Plan:

1. Drive up to Fiordlands National Park (near the Divide) Friday.

2. Camp someplace near the Divide

3. Wake up super early and Group 1 would be dropped off at the Divide at about 6am to start their run.

4. Group 2 would then drive 5 more hours to Routeburn Shelter, ditch the car, and start their run at approximately 11am. Cool beans.

5. Eventually Group 1 and Group 2 would cross paths, say hey, exchange hugs/high-fives, etc. YAY

6. Group 1 would finish at Routeburn Shelter (around 1pm, maybe 2pm), drive back to the Divide and pick up Group 2. Everything would be sweet as, and then we would all chill and relax and cruise home Sunday.

And This Is What Really Happened:

- On Saturday, we woke up super early and our car battery was dead... and it had started to sprinkle.

- We eventually found someone with jumper cables and ended up at the Divide around 9:30am. - Paul, Liz, Mackenzie, and I started our run and Mike, Tim, and Kristen headed out to Routeburn Shelter.

- 16 waterfalls, 12 kilometers, and 1 hour and 45 minutes later, Mackenzie got hypothermia.

- We had stopped to fill up our water and stretch at Mackenzie Hut (kinda ironic/weird coincidence) and our Mackenzie was freezing, getting dizzy, and turning blue. Oh Shoot, This Is Not Good.

- Our New Mission: First, make sure Mackenzie was okay. Second, stop Tim and Mike from running Routeburn (because the weather was meant to get worse - heavier rain, freezing conditions, probably snow - and we did not want them to get stuck at the top of the mountain because that would just be a bad situation).

- Sidenote: Evan (the warden at Mackenzie Hut) is the nicest person alive. He helped us get our Mackenzie warmed up, He gave all of us hot drinks and snacks and then he gave us some old lost-and-found clothing so that we could stay warmer and drier. SO NICE

- The New Plan: Mackenzie and I were going to run back to the Divide and get a ride to Queenstown. Paul (who goes on random 30-mile runs around the peninsula just for kicks) and Liz (our triathlete) were going to run the rest of Routeburn, find Mike and Tim along the trail, tell them what's up, get Kristen (who was just doing an out-and-back run from Routeburn Shelter), and then all of them were going to drive to Queenstown and met up with us.

- We were very successful with this new plan because, at 7:50pm Saturday night, Paul found Mackenzie (alive and well) and I sitting in front of the fireplace at Nomads (a hostel in Queenstown) and we all were reunited YESSSSSSSSSS :) :)

Other Happenings:

- We found out that there was a race being held on at Routeburn Track on the same day that we had planned to run it for fun. (Mackenzie and I got a ride to Queenstown with some of the race officials so that worked out really really well.)

- Paul and Liz finished counting waterfalls - there are 38 waterfalls on Routeburn Track :) :)

- Mackenzie and I met a woman from Huntington Beach who has run the Western States 100. She looks like she's in her seventies and she ran a 50 mile race last weekend and was just doing the Routeburn race just for kicks. Pretty Flippin INTENSE. (She was recovering from a leg injury, so with the crazy weather and not wanting to risk further injury, she decided to turn back and not run the whole thing.)

- On our way to Queenstown, we stopped in Te Anau for restrooms and snacks... And so I was walking into this cafe and the automatic sliding doors shut on me. Yep, that's right, I'm the girl who got stuck in the automatic sliding doors. Sweet Life.

As weird as this might sound, I have to say... Saturday was pretty fun. Pretty Nuts/Bizarre/Random, but really fun... like running Routeburn was REALLY REALLY FUN. Running in the rain + trail running + Great Walk + friends = super fun good times... It wasn't that hard/bad at all and we were all feeling pretty good and talking and having a good time (except obviously Mackenzie who was blue and all). Liz (who had never even walked Routeburn before and had got to run the whole thing in one day) and Paul ran about 20 miles, Mackenzie and I ran 15 miles, and Tim and Mike ran about 11 miles. Mackenzie got all better which was WONDERFUL and we had fun running back to the Divide and journeying to Queenstown together.

Yesterday was Anzac Day. We stopped in this place called Arrowtown on the way back to Dunedin and it totally reminded me of Colorado (particularly Aspen) in the fall because the trees were all brown and orange and SO YELLOW :) and it was all very very pretty. Made it back to Dunedin all in one piece, got some groceries (chips and salsa for dinner = man, sooo good), hung out with some friends, etc. Right now, it's Monday and I have a paper to write (big surprise) but life is quite good.