“Most people know the Perhams Road, Titi Road and other four-wheel drive tracks, for example, but they don’t realise you can go run through the bush as well. None of the trails [are] marked. A lot of them have been made by mountain bikers or motorcyclists and, of course, the original ones were made by loggers.”
One of the special areas is the “Karapoti rata”.
“It’s the largest northern rata in the world and is one of the three largest New Zealand native trees in the world. There are no tracks. You have to know where it is. Someone posted the GPS co-ordinates, so I found my way through. There are a lot of tracks around, so you have to work your way through. The tree is in really good nick. Its age is estimated to be between 1500 and 2000 years. It’s massive.”
To help other runners and walkers branch out a bit more, Crilley has created a Facebook page called Kāpiti Trampers & Adventure Walkers.
“I called it Adventure Walkers because there are tracks where we have to climb up a cliff, slide down a bank, or wade through creeks.”
He’s keen for the page to become a place of discussion as well as a springboard for group trips, either running or walking, to the various trails.
“There are walks you can do which take two hours, or runs that can take six hours.”
Looking down to Transmission Gully.
Safety is always a top priority when Crilley ventures into the great outdoors.
His running pack includes a personal locator beacon, first aid kit, raincoat, long-sleeve thermal top, and food and drink.
“[...] Where I go will depend on how much fluid I take. I’ve drunk from all the creeks over there and I’m still alive. But there’s nothing on the mountains.”
Crilley was a runner in his younger days, but broke his left knee when he was 16, so took up other pursuits.
But about 10 years ago, he “got talked into doing an obstacle run” at Mackays Crossing.
“It was only about 5 kilometres, but up and over, and crawling through stuff. I got through that, but while I was there, the Xterra people shoved a flyer under my windscreen wiper in the carpark. I had never heard of Xterra, so I went out and did an Xterra trail run a few weeks later in Karori.
He was surprised to complete the seven-kilometre trail run and find that his knee was fine.
Crilley, who has been a tramper for years, started doing various other events and longer trail runs.
“I built myself up and then entered the Coast To Coast in 2015, and last year I did the Tarawera Ultramarathon 100km.”
Tarawera was a tough experience. He started out well and had covered 65 kilometres in 10 hours, but then disaster struck. His dodgy knee gave out. He could have pulled out, but decided to persevere, and limped over the finish line in a time of 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Crilley, whose knee is back in good shape, has finished his book Weekend Warriors.
“It’s an introduction to trail running for newbies.”
