The thing I always take away from Kepler is the Te Anau people- their spirit and the sheer will and guts of all the other competitors. Martin Lukes after 4 second places now has won the thing twice in a row. Costley got the record for the Grunt to go with his Kepler record.
But what really sticks in the head is the stories, the lady with cancer who gave her medal away to a committee member who was just starting her own cancer battle. The couple on their honeymoon, fortunately they finished together. Not sure about the rest of their 'holiday' though! The identical twins who finished together. The identical twins who finished an hour apart! The thousands of $$$ raised for the Te Anau community. The hospitality of Pete and Jane et al. The stories at the Moose that night. The Town of Silly Walks (aka The Kepler Shuffle). And on it goes- you have to see it to believe it!
Glenn nailed the crap out of me, but so he should have, with what he is training for in the Himalaya's soon! Hats off to Madman Marvin though, he took over an hour off his time from last year romping round in about 8 and a half hours. A Magnificent effort, I had him in my sights 2 hours along but ate his dust the rest of the day.
I was delighted to finish in 9hrs 17 mins- within around half an hour of last years time, and I certainly felt in better shape on the finish line, which was surprising given how the training went this year compared to last. Augurs well for sub 8hrs 30 in 2009!
No boring blurb this year, just a few pretty pics. Being the 5th time round I decided it was time I took a camera and got some nice pics to share, so here they are!
Hats off to Glenn for a fantastic run, and well done on getting the trophy that I'm going to win back in the next year or so... ;-)
Mulling around on the start line at 6am with 400 other mad men and women
One of these men purchased approximately half of Gore and two thirds of Mataura the previous day. Care to guess who?
Janes Office, the Murchison Mountains, and South Fiord below
The Kepler is a wonderful track. I'm pretty sure you could bike it....
There was just a wee dusting of snow the night before. Enough to make for cool crisp running and spectacular views
Everytime you hit the wall on this race (a regular feeling) you just need to look around to be re-energised.. This is the stunningly beautiful Iris Burn.
...And the best lake in NZ, Lake Manapouri
Yes....its a mirror on the sign! But such a welcome sign :)
....And that makes five successful Kepler's for Razor
Bye Bye to the Razor - Marvin Trophy...FOR NOW!!!!!
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