High Five-O Challenge
Home Alone on Roy's Peak
High Five-O Challenge / 25.02.2015
The latest blog from Mal Law's High Five-O Challenge covers day 18, when he was on plan B, helping his injured knee recover and benefitting from a little time alone on familiar territory, Roy's Peak, near his home town of Wanaka.
It might strike you as completely out of character when you think of the man who dreamt up this challenge but Mal has decided to be sensible.
Knowing that, with his current knee issue, it would be unwise and even irresponsible to attempt the original two-day journey through Aspiring National Park to bag Tyndall and Mt Cunningham, he settled for Plan B: two local peaks within short driving distance of his home in Wanaka, with a whole lot of physio in between to see if we can finally get this knee sorted and I can start blogging about something other than his constant pain.
While the support runners set off on the big overnight trip across the mountains, Mal went to visit an old friend: Roy's Peak.
"It was a very different day to any other before in the challenge. I guess I've done so much of my training on my own and so much running on my own over the years that I'd almost forgotten what it was like to be out there by myself and it is a very nice thing to do," he said.
While the last 17 days have been all about sharing the outdoors and connecting with other likeminded people, today was about spending time on his own and taking notice of his surroundings. Mal finds that running on his own (or hiking, as it was the case up to the peak today) helps him unwind and get into a better space in his head.
"I really need the support and encouragement of people around me but I am, by nature, more of an introvert and I'm generally very happy in my own company. It was a bit of a break from the responsibility of being chief nutter."
Had this been unfamiliar ground in a remote area, Mal would certainly have enlisted the help of fellow trail lovers. Out there up Roy's Peak, following the footsteps he'd carved up those hills so many times while planning this challenge, he felt comfortable on his own. While the opportunity to have some time on his own during the High Five-0 didn't come up for the best reasons, he knew how to make the most of it.
At the top, with the clouds coming in and the temperature dropping, he thought of the group of runners out there on their way to the Tyndall summit. "Gosh, I hope they're ok."
It was neat to think about how the challenge had split into two ways today, with Mal in his red shirt and makeshift flag at the summit of Roy's Peak and a team of red shirts bagging Tyndall, all for the same cause.
"They were literally carrying the flag for the challenge. Six of them out there battling a big day. My day was really just to satisfy my own desire to keep the streak going and bag 50 peaks."
While he would much rather have done the overnight trip with the group, there was no doubt in his mind that he'd made the only right decision. "The problem with the overnight trip is that even if I'd been injury-free, it was always going to be a 12-hour+ day in remote dangerous terrain. Going up there with an injury was a recipe for disaster and irresponsible. If my knee played up, I'd be putting the whole group at risk and we'd be going into the night. It could well have resulted in an emergency evacuation so, really I had no choice."
And then came the really good bit – the bit I've been dying to tell you about since I typed "It might strike you as completely..." up there: Mal came down from the summit (a proper 1300m summit, no little hill) without any pain.
I know, he was as surprised as you are. "I started the downhill thinking 'I hope this isn't going to hurt too much'. Then the further I went, the more I thought 'this isn't too bad'. I thought the pain would come soon but then it never went from discomfort to pain. My mood lifted. I think we may be turning a corner here."
About freaking time.
Progress so far:
539kms run
30,298 metres climbed
152h56 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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