Two Bays
Ultra (56km Trail) 2014 : Mornington Peninsula (Victoria)
2014 has kicked off with an ultra, never thought I
would be saying that, maybe I have been chatting to a few NRG people (who shall
remain nameless) for too long. Early morning flight to Melbourne on the
Saturday meant that a group of us had time for some coffee, lunch and a brief
walk of the trail that was to be attempted the following day and finally the
pick -up of race bibs.
This event has the 28km or the ultra 56km option. It acts as a final chance qualifier for the
6ft track, so we had Lucinda, Kristian and Wilson under the microscope to
qualify. The 28km runners began their
journey at 7am from Dromana a seaside town and with the finish line at Cape
Schanck (CS). The 56km runners began 10
mins later, but starting from CS heading up to Dromana (taking a deviation away
from the 28km runners) to ring a bell and then make the journey back to the
Cape as the same way as the 28km runners.
Entering ultra races in the middle of summer can be a
lottery with the weather, but we were in luck with overcast skies and a cool
temperature of between 18-21 degrees for the morning and most of the race. Lucky, because the forecast was 40 degrees for
the following three days ! Az, Ian and
myself were the NRG runners in the 56km and I was somewhat feeling a little
pressure after Ian had entered us in the ‘teams’ event and all the talk of the
team doing well – I had slight reservations on my own part, having not run past
45km and certainly not in the fast league pace of my two other team mates.
CS was relatively busy at the 7am mark with around 230
eager runners in a joyful mood, most carrying their own water packs and
nutrition for the long haul ahead. I had studied the maps and the aid station
distances so I was stocked up with goodies to tackle the many hours of
potential carnage ahead. The horn blew
and Az was up the front from the get go and Ian and I were in a pack or so
behind, as we travelled single file through a slightly sandy based trail with
plenty of undulations and canopy during the first 5.5km until we crossed a
patrolled road with an aid station. Ian had moved well ahead by this time,
probably a little frustrated by the single file that was slowing him down
early. I was quite happy sticking around 5:40min/km pace early given the long
road ahead.
The course kept snaking around semi-open fields and
part canopy until we hit a section of sand based trail just before we
eventually joined the same trail (at the 16km mark) as the 28km runners (coming
in the opposite direction). The sand was
very difficult to run and I noticed the runners ahead were trying to run off
the track alongside ferns in an attempt to avoid sand but with little
luck. Certainly a hard slog and not easy
on the legs at this stage.
Once on the same trail as the 28km course, I was
looking out for other NRG’s who would have been coming the other way, but I
soon realised all our guys and gals were too fast for the runners I saw, so
they were well past this section. At the
21km mark, the course really begins the biggest climb of about 200m in the
space of the 3km as it works its way up to Arthurs Seat. I tried to run most of the trail hill and
succeeded with only a brief power walk here and there meant I could make some
inroads on the field. No doubt the NRG hills course can be thanked for that !
The view from near the top over the bay is really spectacular
seeing the turquoise water below and mixing this in with the single track trail
meant this was a very nice run ! As I
began the descent down the trail towards Dromana which included some steps, I
began seeing the leading runners in our race coming back up the trail towards
me. They looked comfortable and were flying. No surprise to see our very own Az
Roberts in 6th place at this stage and we gave each other some
encouragement before I then reached the small section of road descent prior to
the bell ringing turn around point of 28km.
Ian had already turned and was a good 1km-1.5km ahead and was looking
strong still.
I reached the bell, gave it a loud ring and spent a
good few minutes stocking up on some fruit and gels and coke and emptied the
full water bladder (as it was not functioning properly – some hose pressure
issues !!) refilled it and off I went.
It turns out the pressure issues came back after km or so, meaning I
then had to empty the bladder again to reduce the carrying weight and just
relied on the front two smaller soft water bottles to get me home by stopping
and refilling at each aid station coming back.
The climb back up the road hills and then the trail
hills was ok, some part running and part walking but once you reached the top
you could feel more comfortable of what was ahead and that was predominantly
down hills with minor undulations.
All was going well to the 40km mark where the course
took the 56km runners onto the section where the 28km runners had previously
deviated off. I was thankful of this as
it meant I could avoid the sand running coming home ! Well I guess things could
not get two comfortable because once my Garmin clocked 42km I felt some minor
cramps beginning to form in the adductors.
I managed to survive Fitzroy Falls (42km) a few months ago without
getting them so I guess they were due back !
So here I began to just try and walk a little with long slow strides to
perhaps stretch the muscles and relax them.
A timely unmanned water stop had also arrived and after stopping here
and shuffling forward for about 500m, I noticed a runner in discomfort. He was
complaining of very painful hips and was saying he was a little dizzy so I
stopped to assist along with a few other runners who had caught up, by cooling
him down and allowing him to sit and relax whilst he recovered somewhat (his
team mate was not too far behind who would keep him company). Turns out a few others further along the
trail were suffering (vomiting) as it got a bit warmer.
The section from 42km to about 50km is awesome trail.
Single track gently downhill and snaking through the bush and ferns. Unfortunately I could not stride out and hit
the accelerator. I had the energy but just knew what would cause those muscles
to seize up again ! Frustrating it was…but I still managed a decent enough
speed through here where I reached the final aid point at Boneo Rd at the
50.5km part of the race. Thank goodness
for that aid point as my water was empty and I stocked up for the final small
leg home and was encouraged greatly by the volunteers here. They really did
such a fantastic job out there and made the run very enjoyable. Kudos to them
and the race organisers !
Homeward bound and felt good despite not striding
out. Got to the 53km marker and some
down stairs were being tackled and I could see some upstairs on the other side
of a small creek when the adductors really cramped up and I had to stop. Runners came past so I moved over to the side
and tried to stretch the legs somehow. Agony. Thoughts were all over the place,
“TNF50 re-visited…how am I going to get out of here…..Furber stairs for the
TNF100 finish (you wish !!)….etc, etc. Tried
to walk each step slowly but with no success.
Then I thought I would give walking backwards a go – yes, walking
backwards up the steps. I was still in some
discomfort and I am sure it looked weird as runners passed, but I did manage to
reach the summit of the stairs slowly.
Legs were marginally better, so I began a very slow shuffle forwards at
about 6:30min/km pace until I finally saw the CS lighthouse and knew I was
almost there. I managed to accelerate a
little more in the final km where I could hear Steve B cheer out load and the
many other NRG runners who had waited there patiently to see me finally cross
the line. A huge thanks to all of you for hanging around and the support.
In summary, very happy to complete my longest run and
race ever and really enjoyed the course, particularly the last 28km. Results of NRG are below. Not sure on the final result in the Men’s
56km teams as yet.
56km
Az Roberts (9th Mens All Ages, 9th
overall) 4:56:32
Ian Lochrin (24th
Mens All Ages, 27th overall) 5:20:42
Doug Richardson (47th
Mens All Ages, 51st overall) 5:44:48
NRG Team 16:02:02
(not sure on result but last year’s winners time was 16:05:20)
28km
Pat Hallinan 2:21:35
Suzi Heaton 2:35:24
Wilson Tjoa 2:37:13*
Simon Rogers 2:39:15
Doug Gordon 2:43:42
Mariza Gordon 2:46:36
Gillian Russell 2:47:25
Steve Bruggeman 2:48:52
Althea Kannane 2:57:50
Lu Rigby 3:04:01*
Kristian Wynn 3:16:11*
Leigh Reynolds (race bib timing malfunction – well
under 3 hours I hear)
*now qualified for 6ft Track !
Cheers,
Doug.
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| The 56km NRG Team (Ian, Az and Doug) |
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| Az Ringing the Bell at half way |
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| Ian powering to the 28km turn |
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| Gee, glad thats over ! |
Thanks to Lucinda, Suzi and event photographers for the snaps !
