Three Volcanoes Run

Today I had an awesome long run - I summitted three volcanoes!

Auckland CBD from Mt Eden summit

First I ran up Mt Eden which is one of my regular routes, but it is only 7km return from my house so it isn't a long one.  There is a long spiral road that gradually ascends the mountain so you can get a real consistent pace going up.  I usually come down via one of the trails that wind their way down through the grassy tree-lined slopes.

Always at the top I play tourist and stop to take in the 360* view, and lately I've found myself thinking about knocking another volcano or two off.  It must have been the runner's high you get after a climb, because today I did!  I headed east toward two of the volcanoes in the photo below.

Mt Hobson on the left, and Mt St John on the right (the small tree covered mount, not the one in the far centre which is miles off!)

I weaved my way through Epsom streets to Mt St John Ave, where I asked another runner how to access the top.  I'm glad I did because I wouldn't have found it otherwise!  At the end of Belvedere Street lies these steep pitted old steps:

... which gradually taper off to a gate, with a rewarding view of the crater - and look, a crater rim track waiting just for people like us!

I loved running along this little track - even though Mt St John isn't that high, the views are awesome.  A kind lady at the top offered to take my photo with the crater in the background, and you can just see the gate at my elbow:

There were views back to Mt Eden where I had come from, great views of One Tree Hill, and Mt Hobson loomed so close that I decided I had to run up there too!

Mt Eden from Mt St John

Mt Hobson from Mt St John

Although it looked close, I had to practically circumnavigate Mt Hobson to find an access track!  I finally found one off Remuera Road, and guess what - it went up:

and up:

and up:

and up:

You get that many photos because that's about how many times I stopped to walk!

Puffing proof I made it to the trig station at the top!

I zig-zagged down a grassy slope among quite a few cows (and cowpats!) towards Remuera Road and Newmarket, where I realised that I could actually add another volcano to the day's tally if I ran through the Domain.  So of course I did:

It would be cheating to claim I ascended this fourth volcano too, as the elevation of the crater rim is only a few metres! But it is still technically a volcano, and I snapped this pic down in the crater which is currently a cricket ground.

I carried a small water bottle on this run hoping to refill it at some water fountains along the way, but found none!  Luckily I had tucked $5 into my skirt before I left, so at the Domain I bought some lovely ice cold water from a cafe and ran home with new found energy along the city streets.  I had been running for over 2 hours, my longest run ever, but I had been taking it easy and was amazed how good I felt towards the end - I definitely could have gone further.  One day I will!