For this race I was down in the South Island, 60km west of Christchurch, close to Arthur's Pass National Park.

Mindful of my previous exertions and struggles at the Kauri Run I decided to take it easier at the start of this 21km race.

Cutting across farmed fields and paddocks the route begins with a steady 4km climb up to the summit of Flagpole Hill. This was fell running in the sense that I knew it; steady steps, walk fast, run a bit then walk a bit. From around 10th position I gradually gained on those ahead and by the summit I was in 3rd. A quick stop at the drinks station and a glance at the awesome views before heading off down a 4WD track into the forest plantation. The backdrop to this race were the mountainous and snow-capped Southern Alps stretched upwards of 5000ft. These Alps run almost the entire length of the South Island and provide some fantastic trekking possibilities.

Pushing hard we thundered down the track and onto an immense floodplain with its gently meandering river. At a marked turning the route headed for an omminously narrow gorge cutting through the landscape. Sure enough, there was no path only the river and a rough 4WD track braided through the rocky chasm. For the next half an hour or so the route crosses the stream a dozen times. It was quite exhilirating to charge through the waters a foot deep or so. By now I had moved into second place and for the final 5km thought my position was safe; I couldn't see anyone behind as I looked back up the river and checked again as I entered the forest tracks. But it wasn't to be, almost out of nowhere I was overtaken by someone with a lot of energy left in his tank!

Still, I was pretty stoked to get 3rd place and a $75 (30 pound) sports voucher!