The Alps 2 Ocean Ultra stage race is a first for New Zealand. A seven day, 316 kilometre journey from the base of Aoraki/Mt Cook, to the finish in Oamaru on the east coast of the South Island.
The race took place over seven days in late February and early March. Three James Kuegler Coaching athletes, Sue Hardy, Lynda Watson and Nicole Smyth took on the challenge. I sat down with Sue Hardy for a short conversation regarding the inaugural event.
The race took place over seven days in late February and early March. Three James Kuegler Coaching athletes, Sue Hardy, Lynda Watson and Nicole Smyth took on the challenge. I sat down with Sue Hardy for a short conversation regarding the inaugural event.
Sue, who is a veteran of the Jungle Marathon (an infamous stage race in Brazil) described the event as “amazing and full of surprises”. Amazing in that the Alps 2 Ocean had beautiful scenery at every turn, however deceptively tough as it’s undulating, net elevation loss and surface of mainly crushed gravel bike paths and roads were hard going because “It was all so runnable, and therefore in my mind, there was no excuse to stop”. Having all this runnable terrain proved its own challenge for Sue, who is used typically used to more technical racing. Rather than being easier per se, than “proper trail” the cumulative fatigue of days of “proper running” took their toll. Sue highlighted that there were segments on trail and climbs thrown in that broke the routine of the long straights throughout the race. Sue described the long downhill section at night at the end of the 90 kilometre stage on day 3 as the most challenging physical challenge of the seven days.
“I came into the preparation for the Alps 2 Ocean Ultra with training for the 106 mile Great Southern Endurance Run under my belt. The GSER was a completely different type of race, very mountainous. All the hill training I had done and strength that I had developed left me in good stead going into Alps 2 Oceans.” Sue had another advantage going into the Alps 2 Oceans, she had experience with multi day races in the past, and although the Jungle Marathon was literally and figuratively worlds away from Alps 2 Ocean, having completed a difficult multi day event in challenging conditions gave Sue a psychological advantage.
“I came into the preparation for the Alps 2 Ocean Ultra with training for the 106 mile Great Southern Endurance Run under my belt. The GSER was a completely different type of race, very mountainous. All the hill training I had done and strength that I had developed left me in good stead going into Alps 2 Oceans.” Sue had another advantage going into the Alps 2 Oceans, she had experience with multi day races in the past, and although the Jungle Marathon was literally and figuratively worlds away from Alps 2 Ocean, having completed a difficult multi day event in challenging conditions gave Sue a psychological advantage.
Photo courtesy of Alps 2 Ocean Ultra.
“I cross trained with boot camp and tennis, ran, and did lots of long back to back hikes to prepare myself for the stress of consecutive days of running, but looking back, I should have trained more on a flatter platform, like hiking to Hamilton and back (laughs)... but next time I would have done a more traditional marathon build up for this race”. Certainly a training program that focuses on a mix of long days, short efforts and varied intensities is beneficial for any event, and especially for a week long event like Alps 2 Ocean where the build up of both physical and mental wear can be ruinous at later stages in the event.
In comparison to Sue’s experience in the Jungle’s of Brazil, the Alps 2 Ocean must have seemed relatively luxurious. “We had a helicopter ride on day one, that was a surprise, there was a jet boat back to camp on day 5, ice-cream on our rest day, which we fell upon like gannets. We even had a wine tasting on the penultimate day, which was so good.” This race was exceptionally well organised, and I was so impressed with that. I would recommend the Alps 2 Ocean ultra to anyone”.
In comparison to Sue’s experience in the Jungle’s of Brazil, the Alps 2 Ocean must have seemed relatively luxurious. “We had a helicopter ride on day one, that was a surprise, there was a jet boat back to camp on day 5, ice-cream on our rest day, which we fell upon like gannets. We even had a wine tasting on the penultimate day, which was so good.” This race was exceptionally well organised, and I was so impressed with that. I would recommend the Alps 2 Ocean ultra to anyone”.
Photo courtesy of Alps 2 Ocean Ultra.
