A gentle, easy jog before the Pigs fly!

Daniel has kindly offered to lead this gentle outing in his own running backyard, as there is the small matter of the Pigs Backyard Ultra this weekend. Meeting near the junction of McTaggart Street with Portabello Road (there is space to park just up McTaggart Street) - see location; Daniel will then steer you through his regular running haunts. Initially on road, before diverting onto an easement through a local farm, you emerge onto and head abruptly uphill on Camp Road/Track. It’s a decent grind up the track taking in the views that open out around you. Once back on the unsealed road, it is a short distance before crossing a fence and embarking on Smith-Larnach Track, including a wonderful descent (and short ascent) to Highcliff Road. Crossing the road, a short climb to Coffee Rock follows. There is then a gentle glide along and down to the base of the evening’s major ascent, throughout which you are able to view the impending steep, grassy slope. As you trudge/grind up to the summit of Hereweka, rejoice that Daniel hadn’t planned a challenging route. In the right conditions, it’s worth a stop on the summit to drink in the views (and grab a drink) before descending rapidly to Highcliff Road once more. Crossing the road for the final time, the descent follows Bacon Track and Road. For the uninitiated there is a Strava segment here, so watch out for Daniel’s injection of pace as he chases the crown 🤣. Once you’ve all recovered from the tempo section, it is back to that easy and gentle pace along the cyclepath back to your rides. No, not quite so simple, once more you head up Camp Road to retrace your earlier footsteps through the farm and down McTaggart Street to your cars. Make sure you take time to thank Daniel for his route planning before heading home to recover! It is around 11.5 km and some 600 metres of total ascent. Enjoy! I’m genuinely envious of you all! I’m also in need of future volunteers to lead outings and/or someone to take over the group permanently. Message the page if interested in either option! Thanks again to Daniel for leading this week’s outing.