The 2024 Tarawera 100 miler (162.5km) was my fourth Tarawera miler and one of my toughest. It was an extra early 2am wake up as the course now started at Kawerau which was about an hour out of Rotorua. Even then, I knew 2am was pushing it for a 4am start but I couldn’t bring myself to waking up any earlier. I’d had a pretty busy week at work and to top it off, I’d developed shingles three days prior. Medical knowledge is a double-edged sword. Whilst it’s good to be able to self-diagnose, I knew that in order to get shingles, you needed to be immunocompromised. Or in non-medical terms – run dow ..read more

“Every mile is magic”. That’s what they say at Run Disney. So I say the words out loud hoping my legs would hear them. It’s 5.30am and I’m lining up with 12 000 other participants at the start of the Walt Disney World Marathon. It also happens to be my fourth start line in four days having entered the Dopey Challenge. The Dopey Challenge consists of a 5km, 10km, half marathon, and marathon on consecutive days so all the 3.45am wake ups is starting to take its toll. Not to mention the ‘active recovery’ of up to 15 000 steps/day whilst enjoying the Disney World theme parks in between runs. “Ever ..read more

Queenstown Marathon was a bit of a spontaneous last minute thing. Everything seemed to align. It was a long weekend, accommodation was sorted, and family was able to look after our kids for a couple of days. So my wife and I hopped into the car and made the 6 hour trip from Christchurch to Queenstown on Friday morning (Canterbury Anniversary Day). The last time I ran Queenstown Marathon it was 2014 so it had been a while between runs. Come Saturday morning, I caught an early 6.45am shuttle to the start line at Millbrook Resort. It was a cold November morning and I joined the rest of the 1800 p ..read more

I’d never done the Hawke’s Bay Marathon before as it’s normally in May which is usually a busy running month for me. However, due to Cyclone Gabrielle, the event was postponed to August so I was keen to experience it whilst also visiting family in the Hawke’s Bay. My cousin Mary and her birmen cat Gertie had kindly agreed to host us in Havelock North which was a 20 minute drive from Napier. I would do the marathon, Courtney the half marathon, and Millie and Poppi would do the 2.2km kids run. As much as I tried to encourage Mary and the rest of the Hawke’s Bay Molloy clan to join us, it seemed ..read more

Oh man, it’s been a stressful month! For most of winter, I’ve left for work in the dark only to return home in the dark again. Stuck in my office chair all day (I really need to explore that standing desk), my back is sore and it feels like I’m losing my hair. Hence, I was really looking forward to running the Taupo Marathon to have a break from it all. It’s just after 12 noon on Friday and I’m running to the airport. My morning clinic was slightly longer than desired so I’m pushing time to make my 12.50pm flight to Rotorua. It seems like I’m the only person running towards the airport. Anothe ..read more

Here we go again. Having participated in the Mt Difficulty Ascent 44km ‘adventure run’ in 2019 and 2021, this year would be my third running of the event. It’s without a doubt one of the harder ‘runs’ you can do. The race director likens it to more of an ‘extreme mountain mission’ as there’s as much hiking and climbing (literally) as there is running. It’s the morning of the race and Esther and Pete have just left the house for the start line at Mt Difficulty Winery. It’s 7.30am and I’m sitting on my bed reading the pre-race briefing whilst waiting for Dr Andrew Stanley to finish toileting for ..read more

100 marathons – A reflection If someone told you that you’d run a hundred marathons one day, would you believe them? Of course not! Yet somehow, I’ve reached this milestone. I ran my first marathon just before my 21st birthday in 2003. Back then I was a 3rd year medical student who played rugby but never ran long distances. No one in my family were distance runners and the only running I did was to keep fit for rugby. My flat mate at the time, Carl, suggested that we should run a marathon “for a laugh”. So (whilst laughing) we both entered and then subsequently trained for the Dunedin Marathon ..read more

Fast forward another week and this time I’m at the Ultra Trail Australia (UTA) start line with Dr Andrew Stanley in Katoomba, the Blue Mountains, NSW. I’d originally entered the UTA in 2020 but covid intervened and flooding/landslides affected the rescheduled 2022 event so this start line was three years in the making. The first time I did the UTA was in 2015 (then called the North Face 100) and at the time it was one of the hardest events I’d ever done. I then returned in 2016 and 2017 but hadn’t done it since and hence my recollection of the course was slightly hazy. I remember the event bei ..read more

I hadn’t planned to do the Rotorua Marathon this year as I’d entered the Ultra Trail Australia (UTA) 100km which was one week after Rotorua. However, when I got wind that one of my cousins was hoping to run his first road marathon at Rotorua, I felt obliged to support him. When two more of my cousins also decided to do their first marathon at Rotorua, I was committed and locked in. Flights were booked and the entry fee was paid. I was hoping that my family’s ‘moment of inspiration’ would be followed by ‘months of dedication’. After all, three months was plenty of time to prepare for a first ma ..read more

Prelude – Courtney is picking up my registration pack for the Mt Oxford Odyssey Mountain Marathon. Courtney: “Number 149, Courtney Molloy for the 33km and number 36, John Molloy for the marathon.” Crew member: “John Molloy, is that Dr John Molloy? He’s done this event a few times hasn’t he?” Courtney: “Yes, and he’s doing the Christchurch Marathon the next day too.” Crew member: “What’s wrong with him?” Courtney: “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask him when you see him yourself?” Contrary to popular belief. There is nothing wrong with me. After spending a whole week confined to my 3x5m office whi ..read more