Rakiura

Two weekends ago I competed in the Dunedin Three Peaks footrace, which traverses Mt. Flagstaff, Swampy Summit, and Mt. Cargill. I finished the approximately 29 km course in 2:27:32, in fifth place in the overall men's category (a few masters and one woman also beat me). The weather was perfect, with sunny skies and cool temperatures. Some sections of the course required some semi-bush-bashing. Overall it was a great introduction to mountain running and a very enjoyable event.

Last weekend I traveled to Stewart Island with Emma, a friend from the biochemistry department. We rented a car and took the ferry across, then walked the Rakiura Track, a 3-day 36 km hike over rolling terrain and through pretty native bush. Emma discovered that she is not super keen on tramping or long rough boat rides, but we still had a pretty good time. Here are some pictures:



I depart New Zealand next Thursday, May 6! In August I will begin in the MD/PhD program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Gettin Folded Wit It

The latest high-impact project from my bench:

Getting Folded Wit It

Writing, Running, and Board Games

I've morphed into 80% writing mode in the lab, working toward submission of my masters thesis a few days before I depart New Zealand on May 6. I've found that while it's easy to become motivated to do lab work every day, I don't really feel like writing very often. Fortunately the writing is interspersed with demonstrating procedures to Sam, the honors student who will be continuing the DnaK/Hsp70 project in the lab, and making plans for single molecule FRET experiments later this month. I'm also working on a lab website. Most labs at the University of Otago don't have their own website, but these days websites are essential tools for recruiting students and postdocs and disseminating information to collaborators and the public. The only half-decent web design program we have access to is iWeb, which is not nearly as good as Adobe Dreamweaver but will still get the job done.

For several months now I've been running 4 days a week on steep trails around Dunedin in preparation for the 3 Peaks Run in two weeks. This race goes over 3x 700+ meter mountains: Flagstaff, Swampy Summit, and Mt. Cargill.
http://www.leithharriers.com/threepeaks.html
I'm also hoping to have time for one last adventure before I leave--to the Rakiura Track on Stewart Island, one of the most remote places on the planet and possibly the farthest south I'll ever venture.

The past two weekends the lab has had social events. First we had a board games evening at my flat, featuring Wabbit Wampage and Robo Rally. It was Earth Hour that evening, so at 8:30 pm we turned off the lights and put some candles in beer bottles. My flat is on a hill and you can see some of the city from the window, but we were disappointed when there was no decrease in city lights during Earth Hour. This weekend we went to Sigurd's house for a potluck. It was a perfect sunny and calm day, so we just sat out on the patio eating chicken pot pie, lasagna, roast chicken, salad, and pavlova all afternoon.

Last week I gave my last presentation to the lab, which I've posted here. It was also the world premiere of "Gettin Folded Wit It," which will be posted on YouTube shortly.