Although I started my New Zealand journey in Christchurch, I mostly spent my time there building up my fitness with runs along the beach and short sections of trail. For my first 'proper' trail run, I knew I wanted it to be something really special and unforgettable. After much deliberation as always, I decided my debut trail run in this incredible country would be at Lake Tekapo, which is well known for its vivid blue waters and lupins which flower along the lake edge during the spring. I'd missed lupin season, but this picturesque spot was simply perfect to break myself in gently to trail running in New Zealand.
After looking at the many trails in the area, I settled on the Mt John summit trail, which seemed to have decent elevation and most importantly, incredible views over the lake. As I set up camp at the lakes edge, I was already excited to wake up the following morning and start running some of these incredible trails. For my first night in my new van, I had a surprisingly solid nights sleep and woke up fresh and ready to hit the trail. After chats with several campers, too many cups of coffee and covering myself in factor 50, I was ready to hit the trail before the heat of the mid-day sun arrived.
Keen to get going, I picked up my pace, with a gentle flat section of trail at the foot of the lake, perfect to get the body warm and ready for the climbing part of the trail. Thankfully as the climbing started, it was through a dense, shady pine forest, which was beautiful in itself, but provided already much needed shade from the beating sun above. After climbing for 10 minutes or so, I could already see glimpses of the vivid blue lake from above and I was eager to climb higher, to be rewarded with even more spectacular vistas of this jaw dropping landscape.
After 20 minutes, 2km in and with the majority of the climb under my belt, the trees parted to reveal incredible views of the surrounding mountains in the distance. Mount Cook which lies in the neighbouring valley is not quite visible from this point, but there were still plenty of incredible snow capped mountains in the higher altitudes, proudly standing in this incredible, wild landscape.
Climbing further, the summit was now visible. The gradient eased and with that came rougher and more exciting terrain. Always eager to reach the highest point of the route, I picked up my pace and was rewarded with 360 degree views all around me and a birds eye view of the vivid blue lake below. This was truly a breathtaking moment, with rugged mountains standing tall, surrounding the still, vibrant lake. The colour of the lake in real life simply doesn't seem real. I slowed my pace to fully absorb and feel this moment.
The next part of the trail was a pure gem, with flatter elevation and a narrower, fun trail which traversed along the peak, giving an exceptional view of the lake below and mountains all around. I picked up my pace, weaving along the trail whilst taking in the views which I still couldn't quite believe were in front of me. Everything really looked like a perfect painting or a magical scene from a movie.
The trail started to dip, into a wild, untamed section with tussock surrounding the trail, giving a proper wild west feel. The downhill was a fun decent, with these wider trails making it easy to increase the pace, before a gentle climb to reveal the glistening blue lake once more.
Starting to accelerate down the final decent, I had to pinch myself several times to believe I was really here - living what I'd dreamed of and seeing what I was seeing. Running steeply downhill towards the lake, for the first time months I felt that I was truly running wild and living my vision of running in beautiful, remote and untamed parts of the world. This was exactly the kind of place I envisaged running, which I first created this blog.
The last stretch of the run was a fun and forgiving section, which hugged the banks of the lake. I slowed my pace once more to level my heart rate, enjoy the views for the final stretch of the run and savour the moment. The fresh and cool waters were too inviting, that I had to stop several times and dip my toes in the crystal clear waters of the lake.
Arriving back at my camp spot, although feeling hot, sweaty and a bit drained from the run, I was on a complete high after the incredible journey, views and scenery I'd just witnessed. This trail was truly a perfect first choice; it was exciting, rugged, yet runnable with nothing too sketchy. The elevation according to my watch was just shy of 300m, and the length of the route was just over 8km. My pace definitely didn't break any records, but as my first trail run of the trip, I simply wanted to enjoy the scenery and move as fast as my body saw fit. Although I started the route mid-way on a Saturday morning at the end of the summer season, I pretty much had the trail to myself, except for some friendly hikers who kindly took my photo at the summit.
If you're looking for a fun, diverse and stunningly beautiful trail run in New Zealand, you won't go far wrong by choosing this incredible route in Tekapo.
