With the paddle done the next mission was to complete the C2C. A 33km mountain run over Goat's pass next to Arthur's pass. After waiting for Tim from the previous day's paddle pulled out i was left doing to do it by myself. This was good in a way as I got to sleep in (after the night at the pub with the Germans/Dutch/Swiss/Irish backpackers). I only made it to the start by 1pm. With light rain falling I was looking at the map and busy sh1tting myself to put it mildly. To call this a run is an understatement. There's no path, just boulder hoping, tussock jumping and over 30 river crossing (which you hope isn't in flood!), add in an alpine ascent of 100m snow capped mountains and just 40km from the Ocean. I packed all the stuff I could fit into my smallest pack, ate a sandwich and still hadn't committed to starting. A car with kayak on top (always a good sign) pulled up and three people jumped out ready for running! Without a second thought I went over introduced myself and asked if they minded if I joined them. When two of them replied in foreign accents and the other one said his name was Richard I started shitting myself again. This wasn't a group of weekend warriors it was last years race winner taking two other professional adventure racers (from Sweden and Boulder, Colorado) on the run. To cut a long story (Run) short it actually went quite well I kept up fine (with some gritted teeth and ignoring the HR monitor) . The run is awesome, luckily not much straight running more boulder hoping, which I have been practising since I could walk (Thanks Mum and Dad!) . Ended up camping with them all at the end of the run after an excellent chicken sandwich at Arthur's pass. A good day!
The Boulders start off small and get bigger...
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