High Five-O Challenge
Losing the Battle to Win the War
Challenge High Five-O / 19.02.2015
For Day 11, Mal was back in familiar ground. He's run up Breast Hill a few times before and had even slept the night back in his own bed in Wanaka. The trail is very runnable at the top, non-technical and surrounded by the fantastic scenery you think of when you think of the region.
What had all the ingredients to be one of the best days of the challenge turned out to be another one for the ranking of the most painful days.
In the end, Mal - who despite evidence to the contrary, is apparently only human – had to bail.
His left knee continues to put him through excruciating pain with every step and running wasn't even a possibility.
Once he had bagged the peak and started the descent, he had pretty much made his mind up about cutting the distance short for the day. "We had the Mazda up on the ridge as a water aid station anyway so I saved myself a very painful downhill."
You don't even need to know Mal that well to know how torn he was about having to make that decision.
"It wasn't easy but I had a lot of the day to dwell on it and came to the realisation that what really matters to me is to bag the 50 peaks. If that means that the distance covered falls short of the 50 marathons than that is the price I pay. I can only do what my body allows me to do," he says.
Time is a huge consideration when taking on a challenge like this. Mal knows that having to walk so much of the trail (all of it on days like today) means that he risks being late finishing and starting the next one.
Sitting on his couch in Wanaka, after a session with the physio, he says he has finally resigned himself to the fact that he will come in short of 50 marathons but accepts that his main mission is to bag the 50 peaks in 50 days (hopefully with a fair bit more running in there).
"This is my fallback option. I always knew it was but I didn't think I'd be exercising it this early in the piece. It's hard because I want to stick with the original objectives but if I can knock off all of 50 peaks, run the majority of the distance and still do all the other things that this project is about in terms of raising money for the Mental Health Foundation and promoting time in the outdoors as a worthwhile pursuit, then I'm happy. I can live with that." His voice is a bit more fragile compared to all other days before and he speaks as if he's still trying to convince himself that it's okay, with every word.
"It's been a really tough day for me, mentally, having to let go of the original dream."
So what's really going on? Well, unfortunately, the answer isn't that simple. Mal's muscles are basically one biomechanical mess – and it doesn't help that he continues to abuse them for hours and hours on a daily basis. He tells me about how he's got some extra advice from the physio about how to manage it and how he's going to start taking some heavier painkillers. Then he tells me the "heavier painkillers" are supermarket-bought Nurofen and I almost want to laugh because this man is redefining hardcore with every step.
(And it's not even as if Mal finishes his days and goes into full recovery mode, unless this is some sort of weird masochist recovery strategy I've never heard of which involves helping pack up gazebos, sometimes getting in and out of vans to open gates and sleeping for hours in the back of a campervan through windy roads to the next start line.)
Now, back on his couch, he tells me how weird it is to be sitting there. "It's kind of hard because all the comforts are here and I have to leave straight away. It'd almost be easier in some ways not to come here. But tomorrow night is in a mountain hut, my second home," he says, and there's that smile again.
We try to talk about happier things. The day was sponsored by Richard and Jill Paxman, his parents-in-law (a bit of a birthday gift to their daughter Sally). Mal ran with a small group of local Wanaka runners and loved the first three hours of climbing up to the peak. "It was a bit of a homecoming," he says. "I felt really good going up. I'm still amazed at how energetic and strong my legs feel going up the hills, now that I can breathe again. I feel like I can go uphill all day." The flat bits and the descents are, however, a very different story. "We had stupendous views from the top but, the moment we left the summit and we were on what is a very easy and runnable farm track, I just could not run. Even walking was very painful."
Mal wasn't even the only one in pain. One of the support runners, Glen Thurston, had broken his collarbone just days before and still showed up for the run, with his arm in a sling. He was initially "only" going to go to the top, then changed his mind and decided to do the whole thing. We joked about how this was a Cripples Cup run but, really, it was a run with the toughest people you can find out there (if I ever have to put my arm in a sling, the only marathons I'll be doing will involve DVDs and a whole lot of wine).
Mal knew a painful descent from the peak was a real possibility so that stopped his brain from going into a really dark place about it. It's about losing the battle to win the war. "I've got to swallow my pride and accept it. It's hard but it's better than not making it to the top of the peaks. I want to be out there climbing 50 peaks, 50 days in a row."
This challenge has many goals and Mal knows he's only falling short of his own personal ones, the ones tied up with his ego. "Of course it hurts but I have less trouble letting go of those than falling short of the fundraising target or any of the other goals related to raising awareness about mental health issues," he says. "In the big picture, the goals tied to my ego aren't that important."
He might have a very painful knee and a pretty bruised ego, but Mal is ready to take on another peak.
Progress so far:
397 kms run
20,889 metres climbed
106h16 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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