Kepler: 'No-one gives a stuff about who's winning'

BY NATHAN BURDON

Some come in bandy-legged and bedraggled. Others find enough reserves to sprint across the line. They are dusty and muddy, maybe bloodied, but never broken.

They are the Kepler survivors.

Not the uber-athletes who cruise their way around the 60km mountain race in less than six hours; these are the everyday hackers whose goal is not the podium but the pride of finishing in anything less than 12 hours.

Peter Dunne has done 19 Kepler Challenges, only two fewer than Alexandra record-holder Murray Thomas who has missed only one of the previous 22 races.

Dunne, the sport development manager at Sport Southland, wasn't on the start line for today's race, which got under way at 6am.

He's having a hip operation in a few months' time but hopes to be back next year to collect his 20-year medal.

Completing the Kepler Challenge was as much about mental toughness as it was physical ability, he reckons.

"I did very little training the six or so years after I left Southland – it's all in the mind.

"Anyone who can run a half-marathon comfortably can do the Kepler Challenge because, unlike a half or a marathon on the road, where you are under pressure mentally to run as fast as you can and run all the way, with the Kepler you can pace yourself, you can walk, you can run."

Without question, the first half of the race was the defining period, particularly getting to the Luxmore huts, Dunne said.

"It just takes so much out of you early in the race. Anyone who's not fully fit it just drains your legs.

"You get to Luxmore and you are absolutely buggered and you wonder if you are going to be able to get (to the finish).

"There's a fair bit of climbing on the tops once you get past the Luxmore, so there's no respite. Once you get to the highest point, it becomes a wee bit easier."

Coming down the zig-zags after the alpine tops was another trap for the uninitiated because the jarring could badly affect a runner's legs.

"I remember the first year I just charged down there. I got to the bottom and I could hardly walk let alone run, and I was quite fit then, so you've got to be really careful. If you aren't really fit or are carrying a bit of weight, that can really kill you."

As with any extended periods of exercise, nutrition was vital.

Knowing your body was the key, Dunne said.

"Your body tells you. The difficulty is for people who are doing it the first time, they haven't got that experience to read the signs. You have to be really careful. You have to carry water between the drink stations, you have to drink plenty at the drink stations and keep the food up."

Finally getting back to the finish line at the Te Anau control gates was a superb experience, Dunne said.

"Anything like the Kepler, the Coast to Coast, the Ironman. No-one gives a stuff about who's winning. You talk about how your time compares to last year, you worry about catching the person in front of you and staying ahead of the person behind. That's the good thing."

Dunne said the sense of camaraderie among the competitors was another special facet of the race.

"If you run past someone who's walking you tell them to keep going. When you are down at that level, everyone goes through stages. You have bad patches and then all of a sudden you feel a lot better and then away you go again."

CHALLENGE FACTS

Starts: 6am today from Te Anau control gates. Race records: Men: Phil Costley 4:37.41 (2005). Women: Zelah Morrell 5:23.34 (2003). Luxmore Grunt: 27km race to Luxmore huts and back. Starts: 8am today. Race records: Men: Phil Costley 1:52.30 (2008). Women: Shireen Crumpton 2:04.18 (1998).

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