The day before...

Roaring Stag Lodge - Cow Creek Hut - 2hrs

Before long I was up the top of Cow Saddle and happy to see the tin cow on the tree... in the flesh!  A quick photo, and I was running down to the Waingawa river to check in to Cow Creek Hut.

I arrived at at Cow Creek Hut at 7:30am and decided I'd try and crack into the first wrap of doom for the day ... it did not go well! I've never had issues with stomaching food on big missions like this, but on this day I had real digestion issues, and that continued for the rest of the day. I had a good 5 minute break at Cow Creek and was able to get a bit of food down, before I was off to do the leg I had been dreading the most of the day...

Cow Creek - Mitre Flats - 1 hr 40

The Waingawa river track is littered with tributaries that mean you spend most of the time going down into creeks, and climbing out the other side.  It gets old pretty quick! After 1hr 40, I arrived at Mitre flats and decided I should re-tape my feet that were getting a bit uncomfortable, and put my Inreach in clear view of the sky for a couple of minutes to make sure I got a few tracking points out to those who were following along, and so Dad could time his arrival to Pig Flat!

For all the up and down of the Waingawa track, it is simply stunning when you get a glimpse of the pristine river. It's on the pack rafting list!

Mitire Flats - Atiwhakatu Hut (Barton explosion) 2hrs

The Barton explosion... where I got handed my first arse kicking for the day due to my inability to digest food coming to bite me.

After taking 5 at Mitre Flats Hut, and taping up my feet, I refilled my bottles in Mitre Stream before jumping across and up the Barton Track.

The Barton Track is very similar to its cruel sibling 'Cone Saddle track.' It goes up a few hundred vertical metres, then across one stream, traverses a bit, across another stream, and up to the saddle. Two peas in a pod. On the last climb to the Baldy Saddle, I hit a wall; my stomach was finally grumbling at me 6 hours in, so I was finally able to sit down to force a wrap down. I bounced back pretty quick from this power-stop , and was able to get a good pace up to the saddle. Before I knew it, I was running down the other side to Atiwhakatu Hut!

Descending down to the Atiwhakatu stream is a quick job, with only 100 vertical meters of descent I was down at the stream in no time, running along the valley to the hut. This dragged on and on and on ... but eventually the Atiwhakatu hut/palace revealed itself and I took a much needed 5 minute break and chewed the fat with a couple of trampers who were the first (awake) people I'd seen all day!

I met another trail runner who had just run up to Jumbo hut, I offered that he could join me to Pig Flat. He jumped on the train and it was great to have company for a little bit. We ran together till the junction and then he decided he'd take it a bit slower going up the river ridge track. I was feeling great after a good stretch of the legs on the Tararua highway, and I made good time up to Pig Flat. I also had the added motivation of getting to Pig Flat as my Dad was going to meet me at the Totara Flats/Gentle Annie junction.

Sure enough, Dad was waiting for me at the junction with a smile on his dial, and handed out a much needed high five as I stumbled onto the bench to have a rest and re-tape my feet.

I was set on doing this adventure unsupported, which meant Dad couldn't give me anything, or take anything from me, so he just watched me tape up my gross looking feet that were starting to blister, and I gave him a brief recap of the day. I think it sounded a bit like 'The Ruamahanga was epic, but the Barton was a killer!'

Seeing Dad had been a huge motivation for the first half ... now the next time I would see him would be with the rest of my family at the Kaitoke Carpark of Glory.

I sent a text to a few people who were following along to give them an enjoyment factor update which was sitting around a solid 7/10, and made my way down to Totara flats, where it all started to fall apart.

Heading down to Totara flats was going to be my time to shine ... in my head anyway. In practice... kaboom went the knees! I usually move really well on technical descents and love flying over routes ... however, 9 hrs in, it was not the case, and both my knees started to go so running downhill was no longer an option. Despite my legs feeling great, my knees were now taking the load. Until this point, I was on spilts for a 15hr time, but that was quickly scratched and I was back on to my original goal of a sub-17. I knew I had a long way to go on bad knees with the biggest climb, and the longest valley to come ... but this is what I had signed up for. The thought briefly went through my mind of having to call it a day and walking out from the Waiohine gorge, but I was determined to get to the Carpark of Glory and put this thing to bed!

I arrived at Totara Flats Hut and made some small talk with the tramper who had just arrived. The usual joke "oh, you're not carrying much," "where have you come from," then they usually do a double take when I say 'Putara...'

My most recent memory of this bridge was flowing down the river in my kayak after we'd just paddled the Upper Waiohine river a few years ago... I could have really done with a kayak from here on out!

Totara Flats - Cone Hut - 2hr 45

The flats! I'd looked forward to these... but by the time I got here, my knees and blisters weren't making things easy. I grovelled my way along the flats, took the low river route and found myself at Makaka Creek, ready to hype myself up for the big climb ahead. 

Getting up to Cone Saddle was surprisingly easy. All day I'd really enjoyed the consistent climbs (maybe apart from Barton) as I could just settle into a nice rhythm, get the heart rate up and grind it out and make good time. It was when I got into the descents I felt like I aged 50 years and the knees were giving me some honest feedback.

I arrived at Cone Hut as the forecasted rain was setting in. The two young lads staying there were relieved to hear that I wasn't staying the night in the little 4 person hut.

My blisters were killing me, and the tape wasn't doing the trick. So I took a couple minutes to insert some used gels between my socks and feet to decrease the rubbing. This surprisingly worked a treat and I was momentarily proud of my ingenuity... but eventually they started to rub as well, and it became an ensemble of pain between the feet and the knees. 

Cone Hut - Kaitoke - 3hr 25

From Cone Hut to Tutuwai Hut, I knew this was a really fast section, and I had run it in the past in under 20 minutes, so I knew I could cover some ground here. I was really frustrated that the reason I was slowing down was because of my blisters more than anything else. This had never been an issue for me before, and I'm always pretty onto it with managing hot spots and nipping them in the bud before they turn into anything. I ran on frustration all the way to Tutuwai and made good time, but I also ripped a couple of big blisters open on the soles of my feet amongst all the excitement.

I ambled through the valley, and eventually crossed the swing bridge, meaning I was about to hit the highway to Smiths Creek Shelter which I had run many times. I went straight past the shelter, and the next checkpoint was the bottom of the Puffer Saddle climb. Once I got here at 16hrs 10, I knew I'd make it under 17 hours. I power-climbed up to the saddle, passing a few trampers who looked like they'd had a big day, and I was over the other side, with eyes on my old work place. 

The clouds were dark, the rain had stopped but I knew it was coming in for round two before long. The descent down the Puffer Saddle track was brutal. The knees were screaming at me, to which I would occasionally scream back ... and all I could think about was my family waiting for me at the finish line, with that cold beer I'd requested.

The final sign is at the top of the last descent. With steep steps and clay being the worst combo for the knees to finish on, I stumbled my way home, running into the Carpark Of Glory at 16 hours and 53 minutes. I had done it. 

The Tararua S-K Valleys in a single push, under 24 hours, the goal was achieved!

I tapped the sign, stopped the watch, had a bit of a moment, and gave sweaty hugs all round to my Brother, Mum and Dad. Seeing them was the highlight of the day, hands down!

With a Parrotdog Hazy IPA in-hand, in the Carpark of Glory with my family, having completed the hardest physical test I've ever put myself through, I was content.

The SK Valleys gave me everything I was looking for. I have certainly put my body through hard things before, big tramps, big runs, big bikes, big swims, sunk myself deep in races over the years, but as I found out.. this shit is just different. It's a whole different level of mental and physical warfare that I was playing with, all mixed with being on my own, in an isolating and challenging environment that really had me asking questions of whether I could keep going, and fighting the temptation to bail out at an earlier road end.

A huge thanks to my Dad for being my support crew and driving me up to Putara, as well as providing some halfway motivation on the Gentle Annie track. And of course my Mum and brother for coming out at 9pm to the finish line to share that moment with me, as well as putting up with me for the next few days on the couch not being good for much on Christmas day!

Thanks to Kyle for the pro tips leading up to the day, and inspiring me to do it in the first place, Chris for following along on the tracker for the day and creating such an incredible community around Tararua adventuring, and the wider BSR crew for getting out there and doing epic things. I've been a silent admirer for the last couple of years of the Wellington Big Sunday Run Group, and reading people's trip reports, facebook posts and watching videos, has definitely lit the fire in me to get my teeth into this type of personal challenge.

I've joked about the Tarns SK over the last few days, threatening to my family that I'll do it next summer before Christmas again, but as days go on I've realised it's not a joke... I'm already sold on the dream to go under 24hrs on the Tarns route... Uh oh.. here we go again.

-Pete