Cape Brett

The Wangamumu Wonder is the short course of the Cape Brett Challenge, a coastal run held in April each year. The Wangamumu Wonder starts at Rawhiti and runs out to Wangamumu Harbour then loops back to Oke Bay, with 1000m climb. The Cape Brett Challenge is the same as the short course but runs out to Cape Brett and back aswell as the Wangamumu loop. The first 6km are on gravel road with the rest of each course on the Cape Brett Walkways Tracks.

This year I ran the Wangamumu Wonder for the fourth time. In previous years I had won the Junior Mens category and this year was my first competing in Open Men, and I hoped to take it out.

In previous years I had gone fast out of the start only to be caught up when I got to the big hills so my strategy this time was to race the other competitors. I didn't push it as my goal was to beat all the others not to get the record. This year the pace was slow out of the start. I sat about 50m behind the leader and averaged 130 heart rate for the first 6km. I found it very relaxing and a great chance to check out your competitors. By the time we got to the entrance to the track a group of me and 2 other lead by approximately 70m. As the hills started I sat behind the other two and tried to get a measure of what their strengths were. I knew there was a large downhill approaching (down into Wangamumu Bay) and I decided to make my move here and drop them quite early in the race. I came to the last slight uphill and went for it, I never run up a hill so fast! I then increased my stride on the long downhill. By the time I got to the beach I looked back up the slope and I had a reasonable lead, to me it looked like 200m but I might've over estimated. From then I just relaxed into the race, using my energy on the uphills and making sure I caught my breath on the downhills before extending my stride. It was a great feeling leading the race for the majority of the way, something I've never done before. I also couldn't think of a better place to do it as the views as you run around the bays are amazing.

The last section of the course is along a short piece of gravel road from Oke Bay to Rawhiti. I found some more energy as the local kids cheered for me and pulled off a bit of a sprint finish, achieving my goal.

All in all it was a great event. Held at a great place, with great people and great prizes.

I'll be back next year to chase down the open mens record!