Wild Workouts

🥵 Ultra Five-0: We Conquered the Huana Beast! ⛰️

What a day for the Jogsquad crew! We took on the inaugural Ultra Five-0 event in the beautiful, yet brutally challenging, Huana Range near Auckland, and we are absolutely buzzing (and sore!).
This was the first time this event has been run, and we definitely left our mark! Hi five to the 5 solo runners who tackled the full 50km and the 10 runners who formed the relay teams, crushing the 25km legs.
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The Course & The Struggle
The course threw everything at us: a tough mix of road, forest 4WD tracks, and single trail. But the real challenge? The Heat! 🔥
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It was hot as hell, and everyone suffered, pushing through the intense conditions. A special shout-out to our hydration efforts, many of us setting new PBs for water consumption! Seriously, we’ve never drunk so much water in a race!
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Highlights & Heroes
• The Aid Stations were GOLD! Huge thanks to the race organisers for the fantastic fuel options. JogSquad’s unanimous favourite fuel source? The Oranges! 🍊
• Quad Killer: Those steep downhill sections were absolutely brutal on the quads, making for an incredibly tough race. We’ll be walking backward for a week!
• Jogsquad Teamwork: Our crew was next-level awesome. Everyone pitched in, supported each other on and off the course, and kept the spirits high. That’s the Jogsquad way!
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Memories We’ll Cherish (and Recover From!)
This Ultra Five-0 will forever be remembered for:
1. 🥇🥈🥉 Massive congratulations to all our crew the placed this weekend, both team and individual 🙌🏻
2. ☀️ THE HEAT! (Seriously, it was that hot.)
3. 🏃‍♀️ Ange, running her running her longest distance 👏🏻👏🏻
4. 😂 Allana’s good stories that kept us entertained.
5. 🩳 The unforgettable blue shorts.
6. 📉 The Steep Downhills (that blew out our quads).
7. 🍸“Hey Margarita” 💃
8. ⛽️ I CANNOT have another gel 🤮💩
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Another awesome running trip in the books! Time to rest up, refuel, and maybe book a massage. So proud of everyone who took part!
I’m absolutely stuffed from a non stop weekend but all feeling like my cup is very much🥛full. I’m looking forward to the next adventure already 😄

Waikaremoana Great Walk

What a weekend on the Waikaremoana Great Walk! 🏞️
This track truly has it all – every twist and turn brought a new surprise. From the mud, rocks, roots to the sound of waterfalls and those panoramic views... unforgettable!
Our crew of 14 ladies navigated some fun water taxi logistics to tackle this beauty, with two start points to make it happen. Depending on the start point we did 36km - 45km. I was the last off the track at 7pm so it was a pretty decent day out.
The recent rain definitely kept us on our toes but the highlight included the Korokoro Falls (add that extra 3km!), the cute huts and the bluff lookout. Huge shoutout to the JogSquad for the incredible teamwork and support. Even with a minor setback, the camaraderie shone through. These moments with this amazing group of Wahine are what life's all about. 🥰

I have come away from the weekend feeling…physically tired but also energised and oh so grateful to be able to do these adventures.

Looking forward to our next one already 😃

Tokyo

Our last 2 nights In Japan. It was good to be back in Tokyo, the temperature had dropped to high 20’s so it was way more bearable. We were staying one stop from Shinjuku. Shinjuku at night was awesome! I was blown away with the big advertising screens.

Once again there were many highlights
✅ - Sky tree
✅ - Hoppy Street (yum, cheap food)
✅ - Sensō-ji Temple
✅ - Shopping (one of us went nuts!!)
✅ - Golden G*i

SkyTree was great. Yes we had already done the Tokyo tower at night but the SkyTree during the day truly gives you a sense of just how huge Tokyo is.

Sensō-ji Temple was awesome but everyone else in the world had decided to visit it on the same day. It was a good reminder to why we go early to these things!! Round the comer from the temple was Hoppy street, well known for cheap food & drinks. A lot of the places state you have to buy a drink & food per person & have a fee to sit there… still very cheep tho!

We made our way to the kitchen shopping street. This is a stretch of about 800m where both sides sell all things kitchen!!! Bowl, knives, chopsticks, sake cups…you name it and it’s here! We found some gems to bring back!

Golden G*i… it’s a must! Looks like some doggie back alley that you wouldn’t want to find yourself down… it’s full of 100s of tiny bars that seat between 6-8 people. They serve whiskey, beers (not craft!!), sake, a few wines, shochu and some spirits. They are so fun, very social, you can’t help but chat away to the person next to you as you are practically sitting on their lap 🤣

This was a great way to end our time away.
Japan you are amazing, till next time…

Osaka

This was a short and sweet stopover, less than 24hrs….

We dropped our bags at our accommodation and headed straight into the thick of it. After been on Miyajima island this was a bit of a shock again.. soooo many people. We walked around the Dotonbori District. You get lost in the busy streets. Food, gaming, shopping… it’s such a bustling area. The canal was super busy with boat cruises, and bars lined the side. We sat down for a drink, the table next to us were 2 kiwis (Taranaki & Auckland) of course!! One now lives here so it was interesting to get his take on all things Japanese.

The next morning we found a great coffee shop before checking out… this is where things came a little undone. We had decided to take our bags to the train station and use the lockers there, spend the day in Osaka sightseeing and then grab the Shinkansen 🚄 (bullet train) to Tokyo. There were absolutely no lockers left in the train station 😳. After mulling over our options we just jumped on the next train to Tokyo.
So I can’t say too much about Osaka but can tell you this…
Our confidence when going to buy things has grown & we don’t always use google translate, BIG mistake!! We grabbed what we thought was toothpaste but turns out was denture adhesive paste… Mel realised pretty fast there was something very wrong. I’m still laughing 3 days on 🤣

Also this was our last trip on the Shinkansen 🚄 (bullet train). I have been absolutely obsessed with the “voice” of the Shinkansen. Literally every time she speaks I shhh Mel!! Mel said it’s probably AI 🤖 so I looked into the voice… it’s a bloody Aussie!

Back to Tokyo we go…👏🏻

Miyajima island

This was epic!!!
We only had the night here so made the most of it.
✅ - Ryokan (traditional Japanese inn)
✅ - Mt Misen
✅ - Floating gate
✅ - Onsen
✅ - Local Brewery

We arrived on the island just before midday. Not sure if I have mentioned the heat in my prior post or not yet 🙄 but let me tell you… it was HOT! So we decided to head straight up Mt Misen. As soon as we got in the glass gondola we both realised this was a mistake 🥵… it was an instant hotbox, we were so uncomfortable. We were quick to get out at the top only to find we had to jump straight in another one… oh god!!
You have about a 30min walk up to the very top - this was awesome, great views up and down the coast line, a truly beautiful spot. We walked down, which was actually really nice as it was in the shade the whole way and took about 50mins.

We had a walk through the streets, filled with nice eateries, bars and shops. It was very busy but come 5pm everyone leaves to go back to the mainland and it’s very quiet.

We arrived at our Ryokan late arvo. We were shown to our room and given the low down on what to expect, how to dress, shown our gifts (handbag and socks for jandals), etc…
Dinner was 8 courses, it was traditional Japanese cuisine. This might be a good time to mention that Mel doesn’t eat fish… it was an interesting eating experience for her, to her credit she tried it all and managed to eat 90% of her meal. We had a Shochu (a Japanese hard liquor) for a night cap … I’m NOT a fan🤢 and won’t be trying that again.

We tried out an onsen after dinner, perfect place to do so however with the heat it was not pleasant and we did not last long! However good to experience it alone as it is quite a process!

While we were at dinner, our beds had been made up (ie mattress set up in the middle of the room!) so that was us sorted for the night.

Next morning was a quick trot around the island, getting some epic photos before the tourists arrived, breakfast which was another meal of too much fish for Mel’s liking especially at 8am, before it was the ferry back across to the mainland for our next destination.

Hiroshima
It was a 2 night stay here. It was little cramped as one day was taken up with a ride but we still managed to pack in a fair amount
✅ - Walking tour
✅ - 100km bike ride
✅ - Japanese pancakes (Okonomiyaki)
✅ - Good coffee
✅ - Shopping
✅ - Perfect running spot

The walking tour was just over 2hrs in 30 degree heat 🥵. First words out of our tour guide mouth “thankfully it’s cooler today”… I just about died!! The tour was great, a good mix of history and learning the protocol around what to do at temples/shrines. Our tour guide was so enthusiastic about the local baseball team we now have become followers of the Hiroshima Carp 🎣. It was great way to get in the sights.

We found a 5 star (thanks google) Japanese pancake place to eat. There was quite the queue, always a good sign! You need to be HUNGRY to eat a whole one but don’t you worry, we managed it. They make it in front of you on a big hot plate. I’d recommend not going with freshly washed hair as you definitely come away with that oily/fried smell.

We took a train an hour north to a town called Onomichi to cycle the Shimanami Kaido. We hired bikes from the Giant store, good to be on a bike that fit me!! Our mate at the store recommended we didn’t bike to the last bridge as it’s too far & you won’t make it back to the last ferry, we nodded & as soon as we left, I looked at Mel and said “we are getting to that last bridge”. She was like “of course we are Duck Patten, we didn’t come all this way to do a 1/2 arsed job!”. This was a fun day, it was road & cycle paths the whole way, easy to follow. The bridges were the main attraction and they were pretty grand! There were 8 bridges joining the islands with some points along the way reminding me of the Queen Charlotte Sounds. There were lots of little village/towns you passed through and of course vending machines everywhere so you could keep hydrated!! We didn’t pack cycle shorts, regretting that choice right now!!

The next morning was a run along the picturesque canals before catching the ferry to our next destination.

Kyoto

We had 4 nights here but could easily had a few more, lots to do! I feel like we may need to come back…
We arrived in Kyoto on a Friday, weekends are super busy with lots of visitors having a weekend away. It’s still not “ Tokyo busy“ though!!

Highlights were:
✅ - Shopping
✅ - The best temples
✅ - Hiring bikes
✅ - Good coffee shops
✅ - Kyoto tower
✅ - Local “pub” food
✅ - Gardens
✅ - Ring making at Ringram in Nishiki Markets
✅ - Seeing a weeding at a temple

We loved the Fushimi Inari Taisha (A thousand orange gates). We got there super early as it gets very crowded during the day, it’s a good little hike up to the top (loads of stairs!). The orange gates are very striking & were the definite highlight over the temple at the top. It was a little wet that day we so coming down a thousand steps a few people came a cropper… one just about taking Mel with him 😳

Hiring bikes was an absolute hit, although they were on the small side for me but perfect for Mel! We found a few gems that maybe we wouldn’t have if we had trained, playing around on the stepping stone, watching locals practice dancing beside the Kamno river, some gorgeous streets & a very cool little gin distillery. It’s a very cycle friendly city, set up very well with bike parks/lock ups everywhere and well marked cycle routes

Nishiki Markets are HUGE! Food, clothes shopping etc.. you can spend hrs here oh and Koè donuts 😋

Kinkaku-ji temple was another highlight, we arrived mid arvo so was super busy but even so everyone was polite and orderly that it didn’t feel crazy. The temple is amazing, made of gold so very grand and we got the added bonus of spotting a snake in the garden 🐍

Kyoto tower was also a bit of a highlight too, you really get a good idea of just how big Kyoto is (I had in my head a small town). I loved the view from the tower, we could spot places we had been and also where we wanted to go..

Worth a mention… The toilets!!
Once again SOOOOO clean! No matter if it a popular tourist spots or at play ground! I do love how they play water full sounds to disguise your tinkle🤣

Kawaguchiko

This was our second stop on our Japan adventure. It was a nice change from the Tokyo craziness, a much slower pace and few people here.

We had Mt Fuji on our list to climb. We knew we were outside of the climbing season but they sometimes extend when weather is good. It was not the case. I did my research on this and you can climb outside of the climbing season but everyone we spoke to gave us a big arms crossed NO. Climbing over the barriers that said CLOSED didn’t seem like the best idea! Both days we were here it would have been perfect to summit, we are a little gutted… guess we will need to come back!

What we got up to:
✅ - Mt Fuji (5th station only)
✅ - Biked around lake Kawaguchi
✅ - Kachikachi Ropeway Gondola (awesome views over the lake, town and Mt Fuji)
✅ - A few bush treks
✅ - Laundromat
✅ - 7-Eleven (egg sandwiches!!)

Kawaguchiko was a little like Ohakune back home - in the off season it’s bit quiet with a number of shops and eateries closed. The positive to this was we always got a seat on any train/bus and there were no queues for anything. Also it was the local food places that are open so we had some great food.

Definitely worth a visit, you can easily do a day trip from Tokyo to get your shot of Fuji too 😄

Tokyo, what a place! We have absolutely loved it for the first 5 nights of our trip.

Yes it’s massive, yes there are more people than you can imagine but oh how kind and polite everyone is. Navigating train stations has been interesting but we haven’t gone wrong yet…

Some highlights have been…
✅ - Imperal Palace gardens
✅ - Tokyo tower
✅ - TeamLab planet
✅ - Shopping
✅ - Sake tour (Shibuya)
✅ - Running over the rainbow bridge
✅ - Whisky bar (seats 5 people…crazy cool)
✅ - Cocktail bar
✅ - Tokyo station (what a maze)
✅ - Shibuya crossing (sh*tballs 😳)
✅ - Food, food, food!

The Sake tour, we had a guide who knew all the “hot” spots, we went to the cutest bar you would never have known it existed. She gave us tips for the next few days and walked us through some busy local streets. I really loved how she took us past a boyband who were singing on the street and pointed out that these were good looking Japanese men, she then asked if we liked them and are there good looking men in NZ 🤣…

We found that nothing opens early so have started the day with a run which has been a good way to get a bit of sightseeing in and find our bearings. We have always managed to find a cute coffee shop at the end!

It’s been eventful thus far with nothing “bad” happening but…one morning I managed to set off the alarm in the loo, Mel was standing guard at the door and called out there is a man coming in… I’m like ummm NO no no, he walks in, I’m pulling up my pants, he’s then bowing, I’m now bowing… Mel yelling as the door has closed and she realised I’m locked in the loo with a strange man… it was all very confusing, hilarious and embarrassing 🙈. Moral of the story…Mel is not a good person to stand guard!

We are looking forward to the next part of our trip.

Tarawera 2024 👊🏻

What a day, what a team… 👏🏻

We had a seriously cool crew in Rotorua for the Tarawera event.
I do love this event, it has great energy and just some all round good trails!
This year we had a mix of 21km (actually 24km) & 50km (actually 53km) runners.
Everyone who lined up on that start line, finished…100% success rate...boom 👊🏻.
There might have been a few tumbles, rolled ankles, stitches, blisters and chaffing along the way but that’s trail running for ya! Some were celebrating their “first 50kms” or first “longest run ever”. Whatever we were each celebrating, we all did it with smiles on our faces and I’m so proud of what everyone has achieved. The training has paid off and everyone could walk again the next day!
To top it off, we had some awesome support which was well appreciated 👏🏻
Overall this is one of my favourite events and I know we will be back! Maybe all going longer next time, who knows…?

45km
1744 elevation
8hrs 55mins
What a day!
The Northern circuit is typically 2-3 nights but you can do in a day fitness permitting.
First section was the Mangatepopo track. This runs between Whakapapa village and Mangatepopo Hutt (9km). It’s starts on a well groomed track, then into a forest. The forrest is short lived & you are quickly in the tussock. This was by far the hardest section of the circuit. It was muddy & rutted out, you had to watch every step.
Second section is Mangatepopo to Oturere hut (12km), 7kms on the ever so popular Tongariro Crossing. We went from seeing 4-5 people to +400 people!! The track is well groomed & you can run to the start of the stair climb but due to the amount of people on the crossing it was very stop/start. We hiked up the “Devils staircase” and took in some great views. At the top is a huge flat section, it’s very sparse but beautiful. We continued to the top, took a few quick pics then started the decent down the scree slope. From here it was few pics of the beautiful Lakes and then a sharp right turn that takes you off the Tongariro crossing.
A quick lunch stop at Oturere Hut & we were on our way… The third section is from Oturere to Waihohonu Hut (8km). This section is easy, sandy and very open. We were enjoying life, literally 2mins later I went down hard! Rolled my ankle and hit the deck on my hands and knees… it was one of those OH S**T moments… we could be in trouble here! We got the first aid kit out, strapped up the foot & off we went. I was OK on the flat but steep ups/downs or stairs sucked! We got to the next hut but it was slow going.
Section four is Waihohonu to Whakapapa, this is 15km & the easiest section of this circuit. There are a few undulations & the track is in great condition. You are between Mt Ruapehu & Mt Ngauruhoe… it’s pretty spectacular!
Even with the rolled ankle I really enjoyed this circuit. The views are amazing & the ever changing landscape keeps you interested. Would totally recommend!
Every time we do an adventure we learn something… my learnings for this one:
1. Take poles, even one set between two
2. Double check your first aid kit in case someone has used the painkillers!😩

25km
1480 elevation
6hrs
Not sure if it’s coz this is my home town or doing it with a friend I haven’t seen in ages but hands down one of my favourite adventures.
Pouakai circuit is tramped over 1-2 nights.
We started a few kms below North Egmont visitor’s centre at Kaiauai Car Park. The Ram track feels pretty hard as you are not yet warm but after 2km it feels easier. You join up with the Holly Hutt track, this slides across the mountain & you get some great views across the Taranaki district. The track is well groomed so was an easy run to Holly Hutt. From here the track goes down & across a big swamp. Looking down, it looks postcard worthy with a back drop of green hills. You cross on board walks & then have a short climb up to the Pouakai track. From here you have the option to do an out and back to the Pouakai trig. We started to do this but after 10mins or so realised it was going to add 90mins to our day and we were on a time restriction so the decision was made to leave for another day.
We set off towards the Tarn (the famous reflective tarn that looks amazing on instagram). Both Mel and I have seen it but Matt hadn’t. You come over a small rise & you can see it in the distance… you get some pretty cool pictures near it but from a distance it doesn’t look like much. I think Matt words were… “I have puddles on my farm that are bigger “😂
After the obligatory photo we kept on moving, we were getting peckish & I knew the perfect lunch spot. Mel asked how long till the stop… I pointed it out out (top of Henry Peak), I got a death stare from Mel & a “Absolutely not” from Matt so we sat in the middle of the track for our sandwiches.
Henry Peak is a sharp climb with some steep stairs like ladders. The cloud had come in a little but we still got some great views for the top. From here is a steep & long down… it goes on and it’s a killer on the knees. After a while you are back in the bush & have a slight technical track with a few swing bridges & undulations.
I totally recommend this circuit. The views are incredible & the track is ever changing.
I’ll remember this one for the good banter, countless laughs and thinking you can see Holly Hutt when you CANT Matt!