Christina (a good friend from ye olde physics olympiad days back in 1997) had entered a team and I came along to help as support crew. As it turned out the support was needed!
We had a (relatively) small campervan that we had to drive to each checkpoint and await the team, then put out chairs, prepare whatever food they wanted, rub feet, pass clothes, and so forth. The legs they had to walk varied from 7 to 20 km. The weather was perfect for the event - sunny days and not too hot; although it was bitterly cold at night. But the walkers said as long as they were moving it wasn't too bad.
A welcome break for the walkers - the inside of the campervan was warm and cosy
During the night the team suffered a couple of casualties, with Kat and Mac having to pull out due to injury. They promptly claimed the back of the van and crashed - just as well I had had a couple of naps while waiting at some of the earlier checkpoints.
Driving the van was not as hard as I had feared. While there were some challenging bits, like driving down a steep grassy bank to get to checkpoint 2, and navigating at 3 am, it was pretty fun and I'd be happy to do it again. Cooking food was also pretty straightforward and the further on we got through the event the less people cared about what was on offer.
At checkpoint 7 our final two members had arrived just as dawn was breaking. The previous three legs had all been around 7.3 km and the first two of those hadn't caused any major issues, but the last one left them complaining. So they let me join them for the last leg. Half of this was through paddocks, and half along the lake front along the main drag into town. We put our team t-shirts on (that had been prepared earlier while waiting at the checkpoints) - bearing the team name, 'Are we dead yet?'
Walking through Taupo, 200 metres from the finish line.
Watching Christina and Marama cross the finish line was truly inspirational. Even though the last few steps were at the same pace and with the same hobbling action as the previous ten thousand, they were the most significant. Well done - it's a fantastic achievement.
The team at the finish line, 29 hrs 23 min after beginning the event.
(To donate to Christina's team, please click here.)
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