Survival Mode on Dun Mountain - Day 5 of High Five-O Challenge

High Five-O Blog / 14.02.2015

During the first week of the Partners Life High Five-O Challenge Mal Law got off to a good start, but illness has made progress harder as this report from Day 5 explains.

Count yourself lucky that this is a written post and not an audio clip of Mal narrating his day conquering Dun Mountain or you'd be listening to an eight minute recording of coughing and throat clearing and then some more coughing. It's okay, I'm here to translate.

Mal set off on the run a bit nervous. The day before had been difficult, involved a late finish and his chest infection had got a lot worse.

He felt surprisingly good for the first hour running. It was a beautiful trail along the river, he tells me, not holding back the smile. He'd heard that the track was quite rough and technical but nothing like what he'd experienced the day before.

Paced by the support runners, Mal got to the base of the big climb within three and a half hours. There, they stopped to stock up on food. "The weather was gorgeous. There were these swing bridges along these amazingly pools of clear water. It was stunning," he recalls.
From then on, things got a bit rougher. "I knew the climb was going to be hard because of my chest. It was miserably hard."

Mal and the support runners had 4km of non-stop uphill to get to the hut. "In my mind, it seemed like a little Everest," he says. "Halfway up, I was a mess of coughing, throbbing head and just feeling really crap. I gave my pack to Barry and he carried it up the hill and that was the help I needed to make the next couple of kilometres of uphill just about bearable."

When they got to the top, Mal was at his worse. Unable to breathe and fighting long coughing fits, he had to sit down and try to regroup.

"I remember going up the hill and wondering if it'd be possible to get a 4wd to the peak or a helicopter ride down. I was in a pretty dark place going up that hill. I wanted to get the peak but I was wondering if that'd be an easy way to get evacuated and miss the downhill."

The peak itself was not exactly spectacular. It wasn't really a peak in the traditional sense, with the pointy bit and all that stuff you imagine when you think of a mountain top. But it was certainly interesting, "almost like being in Arizona", with all the tussocks and big sandy boulders. The views were gobsmacking.

Beyond the hut, the terrain flattened a bit and Mal managed to gather the strength to pull himself off the dark place. The saddle offered amazing views which helped get him in a much better mood.

"I was told it'd be downhill all the way from the saddle by Kimble, one of the support runners. I told him: 'I tell you what, Kimble: $1 for each uphill on the way down'. I reckon he owes me about 25 bucks."

The optimistic estimates about the finish didn't help much and Mal dove down once again to the dark place and ended up having a tough finish. "When the estimates didn't materialize, stuff got a bit dark".

"Today was all about survival and getting through and hope that I'm feeling better tomorrow," he says. "For the most part it was quite pleasant. I was with a good bunch and they were quite chatty but that bit up the hill was the darkest I've had so far. I'm just glad I survived it and didn't take any easy option to get out of there."

Now that he's 10% done with the challenge, he is starting to learn a few lessons from all of it. I ask him about his big lesson from today. "Maybe don't run 50 marathons in 50 days?" suggests Sally, who's just next to us preparing Mal's hot lemon drink. "Yeah, that's a good one," he says. He tries to laugh and the laughter turns into another coughing fit. I think we're done talking for today.

Progress so far:

205.15 kms run
10,443 metres climbed
50h01 total time on feet

Mal is attempting the most audacious feat of endurance ever attempted on New Zealand soil - running 50 mountain marathons & climbing 50 peaks in just 50 days!

He and his support runners are aiming to raise at least $400,000 for the Mental Health Foundation NZ.

To follow his epic journey & see more photos visit https://www.facebook.com/high50challenge

To donate online go to Mal's fundraising page http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/MalcolmLaw/
Or you can text GOMAL to 2446 to donate $3 to the Mental Health Foundation

Made possible by the generous support of Partners Life, without whom none of this would be happening.

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