Dec 27, 2023
Okay, let's talk about love. It makes us do some crazy stuff. It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from; love will make you do things you never thought of. On this occasion, I agreed to run 55K in a single day. Before this, my long was a solid 21K that I ran by accident. For more on that, you can view this post here. But for some reason, love, I decided I could impress my impressive lady by taking this on.
Trailcutter and I had been embarking on a long road trip to the South Island of New Zealand when, as normal here, the weather set our plans back. So, to compensate and have some fun for a few days, she suggested we go and run one of New Zealand's Great Walks, the Paparoa track. The track is the newest of the great walks. Since it lies on the West Coast of South Island, there can be, at times, notoriously bad weather. However, it was perfect for the time we could be there. Overcast with moderate temps.
At the north end of the Paparoa track, there is a campsite on Punakaiki Beach where you can crash for the night and then get a shuttle from the campsite owners (managers?) to the start of the track. However, since we were going at the last minute, the entire campsite was packed when we called. The managers found some room for us to set up a tent for the night and a spot on their shuttle in the morning. If you plan to follow in our footsteps, plan better than we did. We got lucky as the campsite fills quickly in high season.
Dec 28, 2023
After getting to the trailhead early using the shuttle, we chatted briefly with some cyclists and did warm-up exercises before running 55K back to the campsite.
While warming up, it started to sink in. I could hear the fear in my thoughts, shouting, " Oh dang, what am I doing? I am about to run an ultra marathon, and I have never run a marathon." But the shuttle had left, and I was committed to our journey. The only way back now was a 55K run to a burger and a bed.
The first section of the Paparoa track had a nice meandering pace through some lush forest. I did my best to take it slow and soak in the sites. There were plenty of creek crossings and some waterfalls to take in, so I paid as much attention to everything else as possible. Trailcutter has done these long runs multiple other times, so she was off to the races. Since I had no idea how to pace myself on this long jog, I got frustrated trying to keep up with her. So, eventually, I just set my own pace and committed to it.
The main hill starts at around 7km into the track if you are running from the south and is the most significant amount of elevation gain for the entire day. By the time we headed up the main hill leading to the ridge where most of the track was, I was quickly heading for burning myself out.
Once I reached the first hut, I was sweating and feeling like I had bitten off more than I could chew. Trailcutter had to talk me down from my frustration, bless her heart, or I might have just sat down and waited for someone to carry me out. After getting me calmed down and ready to work towards the finish line, we set ourselves a decent pace and worked toward the second hut.
Once I reached the first hut, I was sweating and feeling like I had bitten off more than I could chew. Trailcutter had to talk me down from my frustration, bless her heart, or I might have just sat down and waited for someone to carry me out. After getting me calmed down and ready to work towards the finish line, we set ourselves a decent pace and worked toward the second hut.
Like all the great walks in New Zealand, ample huts are available for people to camp in. However, the thing I most liked about the Paparoa track, probably because I was running it, is that the huts are spaced 10km apart. I feel like some blessed DOC employee out there knew I would be running this one day and thought, "Hey, let's give him equal chunks to keep his mind happy." Out of all the difficulty that running 55K came with, knowing that my next break is just another 10K was what made it tolerable.
The Paparoa Track has an incredible ocean view, and the surrounding hills are a striking green color, but the view does not change much. Once up on the main ridge of the Paparoa track, it lightly undulates for about 25K but feels rather unremarkable. In fact, after finishing, both Trailcutter and I agreed that spending the usual three days walking it that most people take would be mind-numbing. It is hard to see why this is one of the Great Walks when others like the Milford Track are eye candy from start to finish.
Once we reached the third hut at the end of the ridge and started our descent, I believe I felt my first-ever runner's high. Despite having been starting to falter for the previous 5K, I suddenly felt like I could take on the whole thing again. For the next 10K, I kept an excellent pace while we worked back downhill and toward the end of the track.
After that, the last 5K became an absolute nightmare for me. I learned how much lactic acid hurts when it builds up. I could barely move my legs and, in all truth, had to walk the last 3K or so because I could not get my legs to pick up anymore. But somehow, I did it. I ran a 50 K. Never again.
07:27 | 
17:34
TEMP: 48 ℉
WIND: 2 mph
RAIN: 0 mm
SNOW: 0 mm
