Grant Allerby [front] won the Kerikeri Striders 24-hour event, running 116.5km from 8am Saturday to 8am Sunday in May. Photo / Supplied
Grant Allerby [front] won the Kerikeri Striders 24-hour event, running 116.5km from 8am Saturday to 8am Sunday in May. Photo / Supplied
Kerikeri athlete Grant Allerby is no stranger to long-distance running, having run a number of gruelling 160km races over the last decade.
But running 193km over six days and climbing to elevations of up to 3800m – higher than Mount Cook - during the TransRockies Run in mountainous Colorado takes it to the next level.
Allerby left for the United States last Tuesday to get in 10 days of hiking in the mountains before the race begins on August 1.
He has been preparing for the race by doing training runs around his Totara North farm and the local gravel roads, aiming to do 60 to 100km each week.
Sometimes he goes further, "but it's a balancing act", he said.
"I go for a run, then have a hot bath for 30 minutes, I make it over 40 degrees and sit in there."
Allerby has a few "hundies" (100 mile/160 km runs] under his belt in New Zealand.
He's looking forward to tackling the epic journey from Buena Vista to Beaver Creek through the Colorado Rockies.
The route will take him and the other 200 international competitors over high mountain passes, creek crossings and rough terrain at elevations of 2300 to 3800 metres above sea level.
The race is split over six days, or stages, with each day running a set number of kilometres over different types of terrain such as dirt and gravel roads, paved roads and narrow trails.
Each night they'll stay in tent camps.
Kerikeri runner Grant Allerby is gearing up for the six-day TransRockies Run in mountainous Colorado. Photo / supplied
"It sounds like there's a fun vibe about it," Allerby said.
"I've done three days in a row and after that I'm pretty gassed, and that's not at altitude.
"This is next level, it's not one long push, it's getting up day after day, it's something I haven't done before."
The 61-year-old started running in his early 30s, coupled with stints of mountain biking.