Simon Patton enters 'hurt-locker' and comes out other side
“Quite a few people have said that if you think you are absolutely cooked, you’ve probably got another 40% of effort and drive to get whatever you're doing done."
When Simon Patton arrived at the end of the Routeburn Track on Monday he had just found out a lot more about himself.
It was the end of a remarkable journey. Patton had completed five Great Walks in five days.
The Rakiura Track, Humpridge Track, Milford Track, Kepler Track, and Routeburn Track.
All up, about 250km of running or tramping over five days.
The 37-year-old Invercargill man - who says he struggled to run 5km a few months ago - wanted to test what he could do if he put his mind to it.
He discovered he could endure a lot more than he probably previously thought.
“Quite a few people have said that if you think you are absolutely cooked, you’ve probably got another 40% of effort and drive to get whatever you're doing done.
“It’s definitely set myself up for a bit more self-belief in the future. Just believing in yourself.”
“It’s pretty amazing to know you can set a goal that big and achieve it, it was mentally pretty fulfilling.”
Logistically Patton says the assignment went by with few hiccups.
He started at the Rakiura Track at Stewart Island on Thursday and finished at the Routeburn Track on Monday.
Physically he says there were a few moments where he found himself in the “hurt-locker” and it very much became a mental game.
About halfway through the quest, he started to have troubles with a shin.
Through the help of some pain-killers, and a good dose of willpower, Patton pushed on.
He was aided by some moral support on the track as well.
Jess Hishon Knowles was there through the entire last three walks with Patton, while Richard Little joined for the finale on the Routeburn Track, providing further encouragement.
While he did have some niggles surface, he’s pleased he avoided any major injury, such as a rolled ankle, which could have derailed his plans.
“Having a rough estimation on my health tracker, it was about 310,000 steps over the five days. So, there were 310,000 opportunities to stuff yourself up.”
Patton admits it was an emotional sort of moment when he got to the finish at the Routeburn Track on Monday.
His parents were there with some bubbles and they had put together a makeshift finish line with ribbons and balloons.
On top of ticking off a personal goal, for Patton the adventure was also a chance to raise some money and awareness for Bowel Cancer New Zealand.
It is personal for him. He had lost his uncle, Peter Corkery, to bowel cancer as well as a close friend Mark Hills at the age of just 31.
Hills’ wife was also there to greet Patton at the finish of the Routeburn Track.
“She made the effort fly down from the North Island and be there at the finish line. I hadn’t seen her for a few years.”
Patton initially thought a $5000 fundraising target for the five tracks in five days made sense.
However, he’s been blown away by what has since transpired. As of Tuesday night, Patton had raised $23,700.
He’s humbled by the amount of support he has received and says the level of donations simply highlighted how many “good bastards” there are out there.
After knocking off over 250km in five days you’d think that warrants some rest.
But Patton was out hobbling around on Tuesday night playing twilight golf and was also looking forward to playing social cricket on Wednesday night.
He now has the Queenstown Marathon in his sights next month.
“I’ve never done a marathon before. You look at my statistics and it says I’ve done a marathon every day for five days, but it’s more of an endurance thing I’ve done.
“Doing the full marathon will be different event than what I’ve been through.”
Patton hopes he may have inspired someone to also test themselves.
He adds though it’s all relative, not everyone needs to be setting their sights on five Great Walks in five days.
“The big thing is not to compare yourself to other people,” Patton says.
“Everybody can be inspired by someone they know. The guy that can only walk to his letterbox will be inspired by the neighbour that can do the parkrun, and he’s inspired by the person who can do the half marathon, and he’s inspired by the ultra runner. It’s a domino effect.”
“It’s just maintaining that self-belief and knowing you are probably capable of more than you perceive yourself to be. That was probably the big learning curve for me.”
How can you not be inspired by what Patton has done? Both personally and for a great cause - Bowel Cancer New Zealand.
Legend.
Knowing simons parents and their sporting history and durability im sure he has lots more to show us.great effort simon.