Two Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team members are currently high up on the honors board for Auckland’s iconic Hillary Trail’s fastest completion times. The Hillary Trail is  normally a self-guided four day tramp through 77km of native forest and along the wild coast of the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park. It connects various park tracks and basic backcountry campgrounds. The trail captures Sir Edmund Hillary’s sense of adventure and introduces the hardy to the joys of overnight camping and remote trails.
In recent years the trail has become a popular one-day challenge, with trail runners competing for fastest times. In April, 2013 Vajin Armstrong completed the fastest ever unsupported solo run in 8 hrs 47 minutes. Fellow SCMT runner Nelson Myers-Daly, a 20 year old Aucklander, set the third fastest time just weeks ago with a great time of 9 hours, 33 minutes.
The Hillary Trail website notes: “The Trail epitomises the sense of adventure and personal achievement that Ed Hillary himself championed and was renowned for. It is not a walk in the park – but a chance for well-prepared trampers to experience the diverse, and often challenging west coast. The ARC hopes that creating an opportunity like this, in close proximity to urban Auckland, will inspire Aucklanders to get outdoors and experience the wilderness that exists on their own doorstep.â€
 Challenge
All your insurmountable obstacles.
You are bound to succeed.
– Sri Chinmoy [1]
Vajin has won the famed Kepler Challenge race in New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park three consecutive times as well as many international trail races. An inspiring video of his races can be seen at: You tube
For further information on the Hillary Trail visit:
[1] Sri Chinmoy, Twenty-Seven Thousand Aspiration-Plants, Part 259, Agni Press, 1998
