Knee surgery opens up adventure racing for shock-jock runner

Dominic Harvey. Photo / Greg Bowker

Dominic Harvey is a shock-jock on The Edge's Morning-Madhouse radio show with his wife Jay-Jay Feeney and Mike Puru. The 39-year-old has become famous for not shying away from a controversial joke or stunt. He has the same attitude towards running and a challenge. The big-talking breakfast host next weekend makes his adventure race debut in the Routeburn Classic.

What is your running background and some of your highlights?
I am just your standard weekend warrior marathon runner. I've done 10 marathons. My highlight was last year's Boston marathon which you have to run a qualifying time to enter. My best time is 3 hours 14 minutes but I still hold out hope for one day breaking the 3 hour mark.

What has inspired you to take on the Routeburn Classic?

Last year I experienced some knee trouble that just refused to come right even after an extended break from running. After trying physiotherapy, rest and acupuncture I resorted to surgery to remove a piece of torn cartilage. After that I would need to spend a bit less time on the concrete and a bit more time on trails if I was going to continue running long distances. The strategy is working well so far - the knees are both great!

What have you heard about the Routeburn Track?

I have two friends who ran it on different years. One said it was absolutely stunning, some of the most breathtakingly beautiful views they've ever seen. The other said the visibility was so low she never got to see anything but white mist and a few metres in front.

This run is a real test (the track climbs to 1127m above sea level), what training have you done for that?

I have done my usual marathon training mixed in with lots of trail runs and hills. My longest training run was 35km last weekend. I have clocked a lot of miles around Cornwall Park and One Tree Hill. And I ran 'The Dual' 21km run on Rangitoto and Motutapu in March. That event was a real eye opener and made me realise just how much more difficult off-road running is to the road stuff.