7in7 Day Three: Motatapu Gold

Day three at the Motatapu Gold was a real turn around for Mal who was back on form after such a terrible run the day before. A long 14:50 day with 50.2 KM had lots of ups and downs (3375M) and great spirits from all runners. Overall, a fantastic day with great weather and support!

Mal’s thoughts for the day.

The early start offered great weather as we set off for the hardest day of the challenge. I was feeling great after such a bad day on day 2. The cloud offered cover for the first part of the day to then burn off to a clear blue sky and the temperatures started to climb. It seems that the unusually warm days has followed the 7in7 challenge this year! Overall i felt brilliant out there today and put it down to the excellent care from the Dr. Andrew Mcloud and fluid replacement. Dr. Mcloud also ran with the group today and offered support if need be.

Today i used walking poles for the first time and they made the steep climbs far more manageable and the descents more bearable. Due to the nature of Motatapu Gold, we walked a lot of the tracks at pace as they were very steep and challenging. With such steep climbs, four hours into the day a runner got into trouble and started to struggle. The spirit of the group once again came forward and “got” the runner though the day with each taking turns to carry their pack. This is the 7in7 spirit!

The long day offered 4 massive stand out climbs and descents with at least 35 river crossings! The 7in7 support crew (who we missed by 5 minutes!) dropped off supplies at Macetown where the group had a fantastic feast overlooking the mountains. Spirits were high and legs “ok” as we headed to the final descent from “Big Hill” that offered a 10km singletrack forest run to the finish where family and support crew were once again waiting. The kids who met us holding the 7in7 flags was an experience i’ll cherish.

What an epic and enjoyable day. Tomorrow we move on to the Wakatipu Wonderland. Currently we sit at more than $145,000!!!! Thank you!