Sausage Diet Fails to Deliver on the Tarawera 102

Sausage Diet Fails to Deliver on the Tarawera 102

I enjoy eating sausages and I know that I eat more than the average sausage punter. Over the last six months I have been training for the Tarawera Ultra 102. One hundred and two kilometres of trail running through the bush and forestry trails between Kawerau and Rotorua.

The diet of sausages was consumed with ease. This part of the training was a breeze. Currently The Polish Sausage Company and the Gipps St Butcher are my favourite places to purchase sausages.

The miles and time in the legs was more challenging, I had been battling a knee niggle since early December. Through careful management I made it to the start line. The training over the last ten weeks was not great.

The alarm was set for 4am on the morning of the event and I headed off into the dark. I was hoping to avoid seeing a second sunrise and complete the 102 kilometres in around 20 hours.

Unfortunately, I recorded my first DNF (did not finish) in many, many decades of doing events. My knee was always suspect, and after 45k or so, it was getting rapidly worse. So, at over 50k I pulled the plug. Although it was the right thing to do, I was disappointed with my non finish.

The positives were; I did not get to see the second dawn, and I had a great weekend away with friends.

As I left Rotorua to drive back to Wellington. I stopped at Patrick’s Pies. This is an award winning pie shop that has won the Supreme NZ Pie Award eight times. I brought a mince and cheese pie, Supreme Pie Award winner in 2019 and 2003.

I thought this was a great pie. Pastry was excellent, light and puffy. The mince was well done and delectable. I would have preferred more cheese in the pie. There are a great selection of many flavours of pies in the shop, and a mince and cheese pie was great way to start the day.

The big questions are – Will I be back next year to complete unfinished business? Does the sausage diet work? Of course it does.