2017 Victorian 24hr Track Championships/Coburg 24hr

April 22-23, 2017

It’s been a while since my last blog (thanks Adam C for the reminder and perhaps the kick up the backside I deserve for not updating).  I have a large void to fill since the GNW 2015 and will get back to that very soon, but sorry Rocco that 2014 Six Foot Track race report has been erased from memory ;)

I chose this event for a select reason, to potentially qualify for the C2K (Coast to Kosci) 240km Ultra marathon held in December each year.  I was fortunate enough to be selected into that race in 2015 but an injury cut that dream short with about 4-5 weeks to go which was very disappointing to be honest but I was thankful to be selected and also very thankful that the race directors had enough time to find a replacement runner when I told them the sad news.

I say potentially qualify for a couple of reasons.  I won’t go into the full qualifying criteria, but you need to have run either (a) - both a 100 mile and 100km trail event in the most recent two years, or (b) – both a 100km trail event and competed in a 24 hour track event where you must complete 180km in that 24 hours.  Whether it is (a) or (b), you need to run one of the events in the year of selection. But even then you are not guaranteed of being picked, but you can say you have at least qualified.

As last year was basically written off by injuries for me or by a massive continuous cramping episode at UTA last year (something that I never want to experience ever again), it means I needed to cram two qualifiers in the one year. I still need a 100km trail event under my belt by late September – so I use that term potentially qualify seriously.

Why Coburg, Victoria when there is a Sydney event held in June each year ? Well, I actually gave this 24hour track running caper a go in 2015 at a Sri Chinmoy event held out at a chilly Leumeah in winter that year.  Looking back at my Strava account I did minimal training for that and I made the major mistake of sitting down for a rest in the freezing cold when my good NRG friends came out to support that Saturday night.  I felt I let those guys down in a big way and it taught me a few lessons.  Bottom line was I lasted only 12 hours, got to 108km which was great but I was done mentally and physically.  Getting back to Coburg…..I chose that as there was no chance of letting down any of my supporters this time as it was too far away for them to travel and cheer on and also because I kept the event under wraps to most !

Coburg has a great history of holding the 24 hour track running Championships for both the Australian titles and Victorian titles.  AURA held the 24hr event there for a quite a few years but this year Coburg was known as the Coburg 24hour but also doubled as the 2017 Victorian Championships.  Well known legends in the ultra running track community such as Yiannis Kouros and Cliff Young have raced at Coburg which is about 8km north of the Melbourne CBD.  As I was self supporting this race, I took the NRG Gazebo and along with all my other gear, flying was not an option so I hopped in the car Thursday evening, drove some 4 and half hours to Gundagai, stayed overnight then the other 5 hours was driving to Coburg (well Preston actually – as I was staying the Friday night which is about 8 mins to the track via the car).

I had a standard uncooked breakfast of cereal and toast on Saturday morning and arrived at the 400m standard synthetic athletics track at about 8am, two hours before the start.  I set up the gazebo in the main straight but near the home bend as space was at a premium it seemed as many Victorian runners and their crews were setting up.  A bit of early state rivalry but was all good fun as I met a few of the fellow runners.  There were two other events to begin at 10am, the 24hr Walk and the 100km elite run.  Only 3 runners entered or qualified for that elite event.  The runners and elite event were in lanes 1 and 2 for the events and the walkers were in lane 3 with the exception of one experienced and fast USA walker who joined us in lane 1 and pulled off a massive walk of 160km.

Onto explaining training and strategy for this event. 

I competed in the Tassie Trails Festival some 6 weeks ago and had clocked up good kms leading into that event.  I was increasing 10%-15% each week and maxing out at 95km.  I did some (not excessive) trail running and a few hill sessions for that event.  I was happy with my efforts during those grueling multi day events in Derby, TAS but always in the back of my mind was Coburg.  I stupidly ran a hilly tempo run some 4 days after that running festival and felt my left hamstring strain. Having it torn previously I knew it was probably a minor grade 1 strain but enough to put me off running for a good 7-10 days with good RICE (rest ice compress and elevate) techniques and I avoided any physio and let it rest.  It meant my time for Coburg was getting closer and I wanted to get some track running in to get my head in a prepared space for what was ahead of me.  Track running to me always involves fast intervals of 8x800ms, 6x1kms or a mix of different distances that a few NRG crew have taken part in with some delight on a chilly Wednesday winter morning.  I love track running, never did little athletics as a kid or competed in any way other than basic school cross country carnivals but strapping up the spikes and going hard around that 400m marked laneway is good hard fun.  This event at Coburg though meant no intervals for the time being and coupled with the hamstring scare, I ditched the hill work (down and up).

So my training was very much based on flat runs – flat as I can find which is hard to find around the lower north shore of Sydney.  I hunted out proper athletic tracks in Sydney with tartan/synthetic to train on, so trips to Narrabeen Sports Academy and Kensington were a regular thing. 15km, 20km, 30km sessions on various nights, keeping the pace constant (faster than what I would run in a 24hour event).  The idea was to get in a good head space and get used to doing….well…laps and laps of a 400m track.  I also introduced a strategy of running 2 laps and fast walking every third lap (the 2-1 strategy).  Rocco and I have discussed various strategies in the past and he recently completed a mammoth effort in Canberra some weeks ago with his own strategy that differed somewhat.  I worked out numbers on paper many times of what was required to achieve this 180km goal of mine to work. 

The strategy was in place for the day – run at least 42.2km at a comfortable rate (preferably 50km if feeling super comfortable) and then insert the 2-1 strategy. I factored in time for a small sleep and time at the trackside gazebo to get supplies.

The gun literally went off at 10am and we were off….Lap 1 – well it went like this…..just kidding, this report is going to be far too long as it is !  I got to my marathon point in 4hrs 8 mins (a Six Foot Track qualifier – who knew !!) and felt very comfortable all during this time.  The field was obviously spread right around the track by this stage (in fact by about 4-5km) and I noticed people had their music on so saying g’day for a friendly chat was sometimes hard. 

It was partly cloudy day on Saturday but the sun was warm when it did shine and I was in a dark coloured running t-shirt so I was feeling a little warm.  My food and drink plans were crucial in this race and it has been drummed into me only recently in ultras that you need to eat, drink, be positive and move forward – a few of us NRGers who attended Tassie Trails know about this mantra.  So my food was to be consumed every 30 mins, 40-45 if I considered my last intake was excessive.  Intake of perhaps 200-250 calories per hour if possible was the aim. Gels have approx 100-110 calories to give you a guide.  I only used a few gels during the event and never actually opened any of my 10 Cliff shot block bars as I had other things such as bananas, noodles in a cup (just add boiling water supplied at the track), muffins, lollies, cliff bars (they are 260 calories and a good intake) and chocolate. That is not much you might think, but there was one secret intake I introduced and it was cooked haloumi on chia wraps. Yes, I cooked up some haloumi cheese the night before and wrapped them in a chia based thin wrap and cut into small pieces then wrapped in foil for the esky to keep fresh enough.  I would munch on one of these at feeding time and washed it down with drinks (the only thing the event supplied was cold water, boiling water, tea and coffee and the Gatorade – the canteen was open for buying other items).  I packed coke and sparkling mineral water in my esky to change the drink tastes up a bit.  I actually avoided tea and coffee but I did have a few electrolyte tablets to dissolve in my water.  I ended up making far too many toilet breaks during the event particular during the night, but it certainly meant I was drinking plenty !

During the late afternoon around 5pm, suddenly there was a downpour of rain that lasted 30-40 minutes.  It was belting down. I put on my rain jacket immediately and then decided to duck into the gazebo again shortly to avoid the heavy rain. A river was forming at the front of the entrance to the tent and water was coming in through the side and the roof (yes there has been a small hole in the NRG gazebo roof for quite some time I have been reliable told).  My backpack of dry clothes and change of running gear was getting wet and my chair was soaked and even some food and lollies got wet.  I shared the tent with Annabel Hepworth and Cassie Smith as they only had suitcases with them and no shelter – much needed during that downpour that is for sure.  During that brief break in the tent I tried to sort out what was dry and what wasn’t and organize my stuff a bit before heading back out.  I sat down in the wet chair for a minute or two at the most as I wanted to keep moving and busy.

The rain started to ease to a sprinkle – eventually and the track was still very much saturated with puddles for a good hour or two.  Organisers used shovels to clear the trackside drains and that helped.  It was getting dark now and the track lights had taken over.  My 2-1 strategy in full swing.  What I was noticing though were the self supported runners compared to the full crew supported runners.  Having crew support would have been awesome, saving time the obvious advantage.  I would have to go into my tent every time I needed something and hunt around for things – not ideal. Supported runners simply gave instructions each lap or two to have something ready and bang it was in their hands the very next lap.  Again, think about the time saved by all that.

Running track at night was good, I was used to it with all my training at Narrabeen and Kensington and I managed to withhold any headphones with my little iPod shuffle until 14 hours into the race can you believe (which was the witching hour at midnight!).  What do you think about in that time then? I can’t really recall now – thoughts go in and out your mind, you eventually chat to some fellow runners because they are sick of their music already.  My play list was 9hrs 35mins duration so the 14 hour mark seemed like a good time to let the music enter my mind.  I mentioned that I was going to the loo a lot with all the fluid intake and at least there was a trackside port-a-loo to save some time so that was filling up time but also costing me running time.  I didn’t really factor in all that time with my calculations – loo time and going into the tent all the time for electrolytes, food, etc, etc.  All this regular brief stoppages were infact impacting the strategy, and I was underestimating all of it.

Some calls to Tim, Robyn and Rocco kept the spirits up and I kept circling the track.  By about 1am the fog was certainly rolling in and it felt eerie in some sections of the track.  Music was kicking in though for me and I kept that 2-1 strategy going but the brief stoppages continued and was suddenly throwing my times and goals out after recalculating in my head.  I was under the assumption a 4 minute walking lap was possible all the time but it isn’t by this stage of the race.  A 4 minute lap is good when you are fresh and achievable but those 4 mins were now longer so I had to run the 2 laps thereafter.  By about 3am (17 hours in) the tiredness was setting in, my eyes getting glazy (I ran in the same contact lense all race and never changed into glasses as the rain drizzled in again during the night).  I kept the food and drink up regularly though and kept moving forward and had to be positive. Short of 180km was a failure in my thoughts now. 

I think it was just after 3am when my left foot around the top of the ankle became very sore and I could not run on it. It felt very sore to touch the bone and didn’t have positive thoughts at that moment.  I replaced the run laps with walk laps for the time being thinking I still had some comfort zone here to make it work out by giving my feet a rest from running.  Then my right hamstring felt tight so I was copping it from all sides! I went into the tent and changed shoes and took off a pair of socks (as I was wearing two pairs – Injinji toe socks as a first layer and a thinnish layer of running socks over the top).  Maybe the extra thickness and pressure of the socks and the shoes being tied a little tight might have caused the soreness – I don’t know I was simply trying to search for an answer.  But it seemed to help just a little but the task of 180km was getting very tight now and I was getting worried.  The continuous walking laps had to stop and I had to push again on the 2-1 strategy.  Getting started on the run after the walk lap was so physically hard but it had to be done and the pain had to be sucked up.  I did this and by about 160km in (the 100 mile mark) I started feeling more positive especially as day was breaking and the light was re-appearing.  I recall putting some hot laps of low 2mins for about 6 laps in a row without stopping to get ahead of schedule and ahead of the game.  Looking back on it now, perhaps I could have kept it going with the faster running for a tiny bit more at that stage, but I decided to be safe and put the 2-1 strategy back in place and ease off the run pace.  Probably a wise move as there was still 2 hours to go and anything could go wrong and I might need the energy for a last minute dash for the finish line.  

By about 9am I comfortably knew that I could slow the walking down to 5-6min laps and have enough time to conquer the goal.  I still threw in some slow running laps at around 3min 30 seconds in the next half hour and bang on 9:30am the magical lap number 450 was reached for my 180km.  I sort of wanted to yell out with joy under the timing arch but Donna Urquhart (she won the ladies event) had just completed 500 laps literally a few strides in front of me so I left the cheers for her and I began slowly walking the next lap and calling some friends to break the awesome news of goal accomplished.  It was a very slow lap, like a formula one driver doing a victory lap – except I wasn’t waiving to anyone in the crowd ;(  . I then sat down in my chair and put my feet up but realised I should perhaps try and walk another lap or two to make it a touch over 180km. Getting up was so hard and sore on my legs and feet and I think I completed the next 439 metres in the slowest time ever recorded.

 

I was fortunate enough to grab 3^rd place in the Men’s event and a massive congrats to John Yoon 564 laps and Justin Scholtz 507 laps for taking 1^st and 2^nd respectively.  John was amazing to watch in the last 8 hours, it appeared he was getting faster each hour and was kind giving out encouragement.  I finished about 21 laps ahead of the next male runner but the placing didn’t bother me during the event, it was simply about the 180km.  The presentation was a nice casual ceremony and I must thank some Coburg Harriers Athletics volunteers for help packing up the gazebo when I was in no condition to do so.

So mission completed and a very chuffed person.  Oh and I did not cramp – maybe the haloumi helped ;)

Post race it felt as though I had completed a GNW trail miler and lots of extras to be honest.  Perhaps the mental side of things of running around laps 452 times in 24 hours can play with your mind.

A quick summary of what did and didn’t work for me and do’s and dont’s perhaps:

Did/Do’s

·        When driving, break the journey up by an overnight stay, especially a 850km trip like Melbourne.

·        Have a crew.  The winning male and female had teams of 2-3 helping all the time. The 2^nd male had a full time crew member. The time it saves you is immense.

·        Have an enclosed tent or gazebo – keeps you dry (drier) and warmer.

·        Tape your toes and/or use foot balm. I taped my big toes using Second Skin and a medical fabric tape and also taped my middle toes.  Then lathered the whole feet including the taped toes with Striderm foot balm. No real blisters.

·        Eat, Drink, Move Forward and be Positive

·        Get your food options varied as possible – something unique worked for me

·        Chat to the runners and introduce yourself either on course or just before a track race, you will see them many times during the event so best to strike up a good accord.

·        Have a plan and strategy for these types of events and stick to it as close as possible

Didn’t/Dont’s

·        Attempt this self supported. See second point of Do’s above.

·        Attempt to drive soon after the event. My 8 minute journey to my accommodation Sunday post event was cosmic.

·        Attempt to drive back 850km the next day (alone). I am not sure whether the 24hr event or the drive back was tougher.

·        Sleep.  That is a didn’t not really a don’t.  Time got caught short for napping and to be honest if I stayed still for that long, I seriously doubt that I would have got back out there.

Third Male Finisher with 180.839km

Headphones on so definitely after midnight and a spinkle of rain

Shaun Moore, myself and George M with three hours to go

Slowest walking lap on record. Justin is in the background (2nd male finisher)

My swollen feet/ankles, still like that a few days on !

That's not me but a walker in the fog.

September 12-13 2015 The GNW !

Great North Walk100s (GNW) : 175km (108.7 miles), 12-13 September 2015

Well, two weeks elapsed since the Southern Highlands Challenge (SHC) trail race of 50km and now it was time for the big one. The one where the training was aimed at on a physical but most importantly the mental level.

Let’s take a backward step briefly why I entered this event – put simply, a beer at the pub with my good pal Rocco who was entering the 100miler for unfinished business, a check of the date of the event that worked for me and suddenly I was in a handshake that meant I was in.  Yes, that group again, the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) group.  It didn’t take long for the good word to spread around the station and soon there were people within Northside Running Group (NRG) falling over themselves to enter.  

 

Back to the weekend.  In total NRG had 14 runners competing in either the 100miler (lets get it straight, its 108.7miles and those last 8.7 miles are some of the toughest I will ever experience) or the 100km (actually 104km).  Hopefully I have all current NRG members covered here but we had Kath Carty and Ann Preston in the 100km sprint as some call it, whilst in the miler there was Rocco, Chantelle, Tim, Robyn, Geoff, Joe, Adam D, Marty, Jen, Dave Madden, Tanya and myself lined up for the event at 6am on the Saturday morning. To my knowledge all mentioned stayed overnight the Friday near the start line at Teralba on Lake Macquarie to make transportation and sleep (if you could manage more than say 4 hours out of pure nerves and excitement) easier and the hauling of checkpoint bags to the start line.

The miler course ends at beautiful Patonga Beach with a cut off time of 36 hours so that meant a strict 6pm Sunday finish was required for a well-earned medal.  A time under 30 hours got you a silver medal, for the insanely fast people a gold medal awaits for a sub 24-hour time.  Lets put it into perspective, we are talking about some of the toughest terrain out there for trails with an elevation profile of over 6,000m climbing and 6,000m descending (many of it technical).

We all lined up in a horizontal line across the park with out high viz vests on covering our running packs (we were about to run on road for a good 6km) and the bell rang to signal the start of an amazing adventure.  Tall Geoff took an early lead for memory down the park straight and a few of us settled back in the field chatting to one another half scared, half excited of the many hours ahead.

I managed to run with Tim for the first few kms, with Rocco and Chantelle a tiny gap in front of us then with Robyn slightly ahead of them.  Melissa Robertson who was gunning for a record female GNW time was within 5m of Robyn it seemed for that first road section so it was interesting watching the early games take shape. 

Personally, I didn’t have time goals. I wanted to finish the event within cut-off (to perhaps qualify for something special), had NO race plan going into this whatsoever (perhaps that helped) so I wasn’t sure where I should be in the field at the early stages of the race as I know the ‘kids’ as I call them (Rocco, Tim, Robyn and Chantelle) had set time goals and plans and splits and worked out Pythagoras Theorem pre-race as they lived and breathed GNW training on course for 4 months now.

It turned out by the time we hit the trail section of mixed single track and fire trail undulations that the kids and I were grouped together and a quality runner by the name of Dave Graham happened to be running near us and provided some words of wisdom on the early pacing and boy was he right in the end!

We got to the Heaton Gap BP service station at around 15.7km I think to find the water tap and fully load up the water storage in our packs.  I was carrying a 1.5L capacity on the back and 2x500ml on the front.  In went the endurolyte tablets into the front water holders for salt and magnesium supplies and I was off crossing the road ready for the climb of the Heaton Gap hill that I had heard so much about but never had done before.  At this point we saw tall Geoff still out near the front-runners and Kath Carty alongside dominating the 100k early. We also saw Rob Mattingly here and he has completed 3 milers previously.

The climb was tough but not brutal even though the sun was getting higher in the sky, enough to make you go for that extra sip of liquid.  Post climb done and time for some gradual ascending fire trail before the downhill fire trail section for a few kms.  At this stage Robyn and I were marginally in front of Rocco, Tim and Chantelle, but once we hit the technical down single track, I as expected dropped back a little that allowed the dynamic couple of T&L to run together, then I, with R&C close behind as I could hear their chatter right through the forest.  Wonderful forest too, technical, did I say slippery (well for me anyway as people will know green rocks and myself make an entertaining time together) trail winding and undulating for many kms.  R&C soon went past me and then I knew the race was taking shape as planned for these four runners as they had the time goals set.

Once the technical trail bit finished I was so relieved as I am so slow at it, more so through lack of confidence and past experiences of nasty falls.  I try and use it to my advantage however as it stores up energy for the flatter sections of the course. Once the fire trail section came up again, I managed to catch R&C (but I think they were holding back and waiting for me a little I must say) and the three of us ran into CP1 where Sally the crew superstar had everything ready and was filling our water bottles and offering assistance.

Chantelle left CP1 first then Rocco then I.  Rocco said I would catch up with him in a few minutes basing his theory on Tarawera (NZ) fire trail history, but today was not to be and that was the last time I was within 50m on the proper course order. CP1 to CP2 goes on and on for runnable fire trail but certainly has ups and downs. Tim and Rocco kept saying I was going to eat up this section but in my mind staying within a comfort zone was crucial at this part of the event as it was going to get hot soon in the more exposed areas to come. So I kept my sizeable distance behind all these kids of at least a km or two (maybe even 3 or 4) but I note after looking at the Strava software post run today, Miss Chantelle took a wrong turn and had to do a sizeable out and back to rejoin the course proper. The order stayed the same for a long time before Robyn went ahead then from what I can analyse, Rocco caught Tim and ran with him for a while and then past him eventually.  

The fire trail was ending and about to join single track when I could feel the heat beginning and also my old pal the adductor cramps decided to make an appearance.  It occurred every time I got to some steps where you had to climb over wire fences. They started instantly. I then saw two ladies run past me and I am sure one of them was Susan Keith who ended up winning the ladies miler event. A bloke by the name of Phil who finished a few minutes ahead of me at SHC 50km two weeks ago caught up to me and we ran a good few kms together.  We took a small wrong turn around a campsite but it looped back around so we figured we didn’t lose too much ground there and the trail then turned to more single track where a tree had fallen across the path and we were a little unsure of where to go but found our direction eventually.  At about this time, I realised I had lost my sunglasses that were perched on my cap.  Every now and then I would take off my cap, squirt some water from my hand held bottle on my head and neck to cool down, but something must have went silly in my brain not realising my sunnies would go flying off each time I did that. Anyway, it meant many hours ahead in bright conditions without eye protection, oh well, it happens! 

Chantelle then had caught up to me and went flying past as we headed for Congewai Rd (a hard packed, exposed and light coloured dirt road that seemed to go for ages in the heat). High viz vests went back on here as per the rules and I managed to pick up the pace as per usual on road or anything not technical and caught two runners and then Chantelle as I poured water on her head a little to cool her down.  Eventually I was just about into CP2 when I saw Rocco and Robyn come down the hill and heading in the direction towards me as they had already been and gone from CP2. They were looking comfy and Tim was apparently just in CP2 at that moment.  It was so hot at this stage and I called for ice and anything to cool me down. I took a seat for a good 15-20 mins, Sally did everything for me with the help of Ali and Kathy Madden too. Thanks so much! I refueled fluids and tried to eat something although it was hard in the heat, took an extra 500ml of water + the hand held for cooling heads and body temps for the trip ahead. Sally got my gear checked and Tim and I went, although I probably delayed Tim a few minutes whilst I laboured around to make sure I had everything ready.

Tim started to feel the heat quickly as we set off and was not feeling his normal self. We saw Joe and then Adam D as we were about 800m out of CP2.  The sun was blazing now; no wind and plenty of exposed wide road and fire trail sections.  Tim and I were slowing somewhat as we thought let’s just take it easy in the heat and don’t cook ourselves here. Whilst I was feeling a lot better than Tim, I started getting cramps on and off. I kept taking (actually chewing, as swallowing was not happening for me in the heat) salt tablets each 40 mins but it was not helping the cramps.  So we were both sort of nursing each other in this early section from CP2 to CP3.  My cramps then disappeared for a while and it was sort of lucky as it meant I could keep a watchful eye on Tim as he looked a bit pale and really wasn’t enjoying the section here with the massive climb up the communications tower hill. It is a beast and in the heat its torture. Tim sat down to rest a few times and we were trying to cool the body temp down with water on head and neck and staying hydrated where we could with rationing water as this section was over 30km without water in the hottest part of the day with a fair bit of elevation to tackle. Once we climbed to the top we rested for a bit and saw Ann fly past looking so cheerful and elated to finish that climb it appeared.

The fire trail section that followed was certainly runnable but Tim was in no condition to run all of it so we kept the shuffle on and walk on procedure for many kms. Again this tactic might have helped us both in the long run as it was the heat of the day and going too hard here would mean disaster. Water supplies were beginning to drop away for me anyway so it was by luck that a rainwater tank on the side of the fire trail further on still had water left in it.  Some say not to drink it as it may have unclean supply but I tested it quickly and it was cold and fresh enough so I cooled the body temp down first then restocked my hand held as it could be used for tipping on my head and I added to my front pack supplies by about 500ml worth just incase it was not totally safe to drink all of it. Strange theory, but my brain may have not been functioning at all levels by now.

The big descent was next through a farm yard (with cows in the paddock) and then the massive climb up past where the old unmanned official water stop would have been about 65km into the race (although I swear it was 70km+ on both our Garmins!).  It was again tough for both of us but we got to the top and onto to some fire trails although Tim was still nowhere near 100% but by this stage it was at least cooling down and all of a sudden I saw the familiar figure of Chantelle up ahead waving out and yelling something at me. It appeared she again went the wrong way and stayed on the main fire trail road instead of cutting in diagonally right.  So a quick hello and she was off yet again ahead of us. 

Tim began chatting a bit and I could tell perhaps the cooler weather was helping him and the pace picked up.  We kept up a good rate all the way towards the CP3 Basin really when it was getting dark and head torches were almost required and it was right on 5:30pm, so that meant 11hrs 30 mins on the course so far.  He drank water from the creek although I wasn’t having a crack at that, as I doubted the purity of said water. We then saw Rocco heading towards us so he was well and truly out of CP3 beginning the next stage.  We were heading into CP3 (out and back) with about 2km still to cover before a rest and restock. Rocco said Robyn must have got lost as she was not in the checkpoint yet and he tried calling her but the lack of signal prevented that. So that created some worry amongst us all.  Tim and I saw Chantelle just as we were coming into CP3 and we also saw Ann travelling well.

The super crew were at it again and there was warm pumpkin soup on offer. This recharged us to a certain degree and I was managing to eat more here as it was much cooler and headlights were required now.  Adam D came in not long after so he was going really well and he literally spent 3-5 mins against our 20mins in the CP. We left together and then saw Joe as he was coming in and then a wonderful moment when we saw Robyn come in and it was great to see her after hearing how many extra lonely kms off the course she had done.  Tim was great supporting here and encouragement was given to keep forging on and I think we all knew that she would be catching up with all of us very soon! 

This out and back section was good because we saw a few other familiar faces coming towards us, Dave, Ngaire and Rob again. I was feeling comfortable still and knew the next section of the course from a past training run (thanks Geoff on the training organising this year – champion effort) so the tempo was nice through the technical and fire trail sections.  Eventually the main fire trail bit ended and Tim and I entered the last technical section before the 10km of road into Yarramalong.  I had discussed with Tim all along in the last few sections that I would attempt to run this road section hard to give me some breathing space at the checkpoint for a longer break and to even have a head start for the technical down sections coming up that is so obviously a weakness for me.  

As it turns out, my Garmin appeared to be playing up (we had a charger on our Garmins now from CP3 to CP4 but they were in our running packs and not on the wrists.  But all I know is that road section I ran hard for a good 8km-9km at a decent pace.  I know you think you are running fast but perhaps blinded by the fact you have already run 94km, but yes I had no doubt that I was putting the foot down.  I passed quite a few people here and they all said I was dashing for the finish in the 100km but no; it was my dash for the CP4 break and make up time.  Whilst I was in CP3 and on the road section my mind amazingly could calculate what I could achieve here if I was smart about it.  A sub 32 hour and dare I say it, a sub 30 hour was possible even after what Tim and I went through from CP2 to 94km.  So I got into CP4 (saw Chantelle and Ruthie briefly as they were 500m already out heading towards the CP5 direction) and sat down. It was like head quarters here with the finisher banner for the 100km up and people everywhere and photos being taken.  Kathy Carty had blitzed the female field in the 100km. Super runner you are Kath! Ann had gotten 4^th, what a sensational result for her!  All pacers were here for the NRG 100 miler runners. Gillian my pacer was ready to go but I wanted a good 20mins here to restock my pack, take out contact lenses, put on glasses, buff, eat, drink and be ready for the unknown.  She reminded me not to spend too long here and get cold.  Wise words.

108km was the furthest I had done before (on a 400m running track, not trail), so records ere about to be shattered by this GNW.  Off we went, freezing at first, looking for gloves in my pack, contemplating thermal gear, but we trotted some and then walked up the road hill and went right onto the Bumble Hill track.  It was shuffle on, walk fast off for a long while here, getting used to the conditions again after a good break at CP4.  We both had done this part of the course before at night so navigation was generally good with no wrong turns even though there were doubtful moments as always.  Always trust your pacer, especially when you are 16hrs into your race.  Speaking of which, I originally told Gillian to be ready to run at perhaps 10:30pm so that meant a 104km in 16hr30mins so it turned out I was in CP4 an hour early, which was a bonus.  A 10:30pm start meant I had ample time to make 36 hours and the cut off.

After the foggy dirt road sections and previous single track we made the first big climb up, then Dead Horse Creek, Ourimbah Creek and then the descent down on technical trails. My left knee on the inner part was in some pain with all the descending causing serious pressure.  It slowed me down to a walk all the way through this section.  The lights and noise of Tim, Sam Rossington (his pacer), Robyn (yes she made an amazing comeback as predicted) and her pacer Luke Nuttall descended upon us and they jumped ahead and were walking quickly through the technical bits. I tried to keep up; it was a struggle on the downs but ok on the flats and good on the climbs as the pressure on the knee was not as hard.  We got out of the last big climb up and finally onto my preferred terrain at the time, road with some incline.  So I think I may have been a little unsocial here but I didn’t really stick with our newly found 4 NRG members on the course and decided to take advantage of this runnable section when it wasn’t painful to do so. Gillian kept the pace going too so we sped into CP5 at Somersby.  A reasonably quick stop here at 3am in the morning (yes that last section was 5hrs I think) and off we went, getting the speed early on the road section before the technical trail started again.  This time I went a little quicker on the trail knowing the course before and perhaps getting confidence again.  We heard voices behind and saw the lights so we knew that Tim and Robyn were close again.  So I decided to push harder on the trail now.  I was constantly working out what I needed to be sub 30 hours.  If I got to CP6 by 6:45am I should have enough as it was my thinking that you could even walk the last 25km from CP6 to finish in 5 hours.  Lucky I didn’t rely on that false research and thoughts, as you will read on.

So pushing harder on more technical bits I got confidence and I passed Chantelle and Ruthie mid-way through the section I think.  I really was trying hard here to get as much time on the runners behind me now as I heard how technical CP6 could be and both Gillian and I had never set foot on that last 25km.  So the 6:45am target suddenly became 5:45am as I pushed and pushed.  Gillian was still powering through loving it all I think!  My head light battery blinked out and I quickly replaced it and off we went.  I got to the famous Mooney Mooney Creek crossing where I have slipped and fallen in 3 out of 3 times.  The creek was very dry but Gillian did her best attempt to get me to fall again telling me to go all the way around the left only to not sight a trail on the other side so I was forced to go all the way right over more moss laden rocks. Anyway, I survived the crossing and didn’t fall, in fact I can proudly say I didn’t have one complete fall all race.  Can you believe that?

Into CP6 we arrived and for memory the time was 5:45am. Dawn time. Yawn time too. Like the feeling of partying all night and getting home when everyone is waking up for the day. Facilities break required (and another on course to follow, too much information I know), contact lenses back in (after 4 attempts using the car rear vision mirror to see), more soup, food and coke this time and change of singlet into NRG colours, visor and off we go. It was about 6:02am when we left. During the break the NRG team of T&R then Chantelle came in. Orla took over pacing for Ruthie and Robyn was away first followed by myself then Tim and Chantelle.  It didn't take more than 3km for me to be overtaken by all. Technical trails had started and I was running like a zombie. Tiredness setting in. Energy depleted but still moving I grimaced at each rock ascent and descent, the knee really in pain.

This continued for so long. The sun was out and warning up with no wind. Exposing rocks to move across and it was getting uncomfortable. This is where Gillian became brilliant and kept me on track with my new goal of sub 30hrs.  I was getting quiet, perhaps a little grumpy. I ate a little had some caffeine but it wasn’t helping.  I began questioning the course, why are we climbing more when the beach is at sea level. But Gillian kept to the maps, the advice and directed me like a General.

I was looking forward to anything flat as I could at least shuffle. Fire trails that were previously runnable became a slow jog and a walk uphill.  The technical rocks up and down were nothing faster than a crawl.  So I kept an eye on the Garmin and was trying to work out if 30hrs was possible still and I know Gillian was a little concerned too about that so we pushed in areas where we could to make up for the walking time.  Eventually we crossed Patonga Rd and civilisation then the road up to the Trigg Rock and it was all downhill technical from here.  I could hear the bell ring on the beach every few minutes meaning someone had just finished.  I could see the sand and water lapping the beach and began to get a little teary inside I must admit. Finishing this event was just about to occur, something extraordinary.  We ran across the sand creek, zig zagged across the car park back onto the beach area before the cheers of the NRG crew could be heard. Again just an emotional time. I kissed the post in 29hrs 15mins so had plenty of time in the end.  Silver medal was placed around my neck by Dave the race Director and now I am member of the GNW miler club.

Some massive results for NRG in the miler. Rocco was 7^th overall in sub 26hrs. Brilliant run and dedication paid off with his disciplined training. Well deserved.  Tim and Robyn well under 29hrs. Tim produced an amazing comeback from where he was at 55km.  Robyn was 2^nd female and considering the lost time and extra kms covered, which is amazing. World class. Chantelle 3^rd female not that far behind Robyn and not forgetting she got lost twice!

Geoff was next in after Chantelle then myself then Adam Darwin who had a 3hr+ PB. Great result.  Joe got lost too and covered many extra kms and finished strongly.  Dave Madden also well within cut-off.  Jen and Marty finished together both with or had recent injuries on limited training leading up to this weekend.  Such determination and strength within.  Tanya called it a day at CP5 but to be fair had been suffering with illness prior race and during race and I heard was going to race the 100km rather than the miler. She had nothing to prove having already completed the gruelling UTMB in France last year.

To conclude, a massive thanks to the support crew as mentioned, the volunteers at checkpoints, the NRG crowd support that turned up at Patonga on Sunday morning, to Gillian for the awesome pacing effort and to all the NRG pacers, your efforts are really appreciated by all the runners.

So what next……Coast to Kosci sounds nice, Adam C, you still need a pacer ?

Most of the NRG crew a few minutes before race start.

Southern Highlands Challenge (SHC) : 50km, 30 August 2015

This event appealed to me from the beginning of the year for a number of reasons.  Firstly it is run in the Wingello State Forest in the Southern Highlands of NSW and I was lucky enough to complete in the Wingello Trail Classic in 2013 & 2014 a trail event (no longer held) over about 25km.  Blog post from last year is here: http://runforclaritydoug.blogspot.com.au/2014_06_01_archive.html

This SHC event is in its second year and is held on that same Wingello course for the first 25km and I still rate that section of the course as one of the true and best trail tracks there are around.  It’s not overly technical like parts of GNW and TNF or from what I hear some other crazy races like Buffalo Stampede, Glow Worm and Hounslow, but for a very fast runnable trail with loads of single track, creek crossings, switchbacks inclines and declines, it gets my vote every time.

Organised by April Palmarlee and with Keith Hong assisting, you know the logistics are spot on and a crowd will be attracted to such an event.  That certainly applied here as Kathy Madden, Ruth and I drove into the Wingello Forest on Sunday morning to see the cars building up Sydney peak hour style on the dirt roads.  We managed to park a fair way from the HQ of the event but got there with about 10 minutes to spare before the scheduled 7am start.  Bag drop, amenities and then ready to go in the slightly chilly conditions (not as bad as -6 with wind-chill in June last year) we wandered over to the red and black start line. 

This SHC race day consisted of 5 events.  (a) Green : Children’s 1km dash (Dave Madden and the little champion Andres were entering this one), (b) Blue : 6km sprint on fire trail, (c) Yellow : 19km on undulating fire trail, (d) Red : 25km on mainly single track, (e) Black : 50km (Red, Yellow and Blue trails combined in that order). 

At the start area, I caught up with Suzi and Danny W and Samantha.  Orla and Leigh were also competing but I didn’t get to see them at the start as I was up near the front line waiting for the gun to go.  Just prior I was chatting to Phil Balnave whom some of our fellow NRGers know recently, as he has been competing in many races, running in bucket hat, sandals (flip flop Phil’s) and even casual shirt and casual shorts ! Amazingly fast runner though, so I said to him looks like Dave Byrne (winner of Six Foot last year and former World Junior track runner) is not showing up so you (Phil!) should be good for the win.  Famous last words as Dave turned up a minute or so later and April did the right thing by delaying the start by nearly 10 mins as there would have been many runners still parking cars and getting to the start line by 7am.

Gun went off and the lead runners were taking off sharply, particularly those in the shorter red race.  The ultra and red runners started together as both events cover the same course before the ultra-competitors make a detour at the finish line to go on their merry way for 25km of further fun.  Danny and Suzi breezed past on the early fire trail bit before we entered the single track of switch backs and it followed this type of terrain for a while mixing it up with brief fire trail section every now and then. 

I hadn’t put a lot of thought earlier on how to run this event but I was trained up very well and had done plenty of speed work along with long runs (in readiness for the GNW…oh I’m shivering just typing those three letters now!).  So at the start line I said its time to go reasonably hard and try and hang on.  As I had done the red course twice before, I knew what to expect and hence I felt I was in my comfort zone the whole way of that course.  Probably running at about 85% effort, the course allows you to recover in some sections.  I moved through some of the field in the red course section, it was mainly the red runners I had passed but possibly one or two ultra-runners.  I knew Dave Byrne, Phil and a few others would be way too fast for me so I tried to hold my position in that particular race.  It was hard to ascertain exactly where I was in terms of positions during that first red course.  I caught up with Danny on one of the hill climbs after about 16km and he was doing well after recent illness and a mountain bike crash.  A couple of kms later I surprisingly passed Jo Brischetto who I thought was the second female at the time (assuming Suzi was out in front for the NRG girls in the red race).  I wanted to maintain my pace to get to the 25km mark, refuel with water there at the checkpoint and do a quick wardrobe change (thermal top to be removed then replace with race singlet and bib).  The red runners end their race at that point under the finish arch whilst the ultra-runners went left and headed out on the fire trails and dirt roads.  I approached the checkpoint and was told I was in 4^th  spot overall for the ultra, but I thought I might have been a spot or two lower than that.  Turns out I was right as the splits had me at 6^th I later found out. I then started to question maybe I shouldn’t have gone out that hard but it was too late to worry about that.

It was still coolish even though the thermal came off but I was running with a head buff and gloves so it was comfortable enough.  I don’t think I was drinking enough fluid even though it was cool, but one thing I know I hadn’t done was eat enough to the 25km point.  I think I had about 3 pieces of a Cliff Shot Block by the checkpoint.  Given I was running at a reasonable hard effort in race mode, I found it difficult to eat but I tried to snack on a muesli bar and have a further piece or two of Shot Block during the next 4-5kms.  I knew in the back of my mind I wasn’t eating enough but I felt trying to stomach it all in was very hard. 

The ultra-runners were now on the Yellow Trail that consisted of 19km of undulating fire trail.  We dropped some 100-150m in elevation and then of course had to climb back out.  At about 30km a nature break called and then as I began the ascent up the trail, a youngish runner by the name of Jason caught up with me and we had a chat as we were slowly ascending.  It was his first trail ultra but he had done Canberra 50km on road in 3hr50mins so I knew he had some talent there.  He skipped ahead and we got to the top of the climb for the next aid station where I was out of water but I had just tried to consume a gel so water was high on the want list to wash it down.  I stopped at the station and asked which container had water in it as both had Tailwind stickers on them.  The attendants said none, as they were both full of Tailwind.  That took me by surprise and I was a bit annoyed - since when do you have an aid station with no water but a calorie substance instead.  Anyway, I have had Tailwind before so I took some to refill the front pack bladder and looking back I should have been thankful as my calorie intake was almost non-existent to that point and combining the Tailwind as a liquid was probably what I needed anyway. 

The trail kept undulating but it seemed to be going up more than down and we got to some exposed areas where the forest had been cut down.  The sun was out but not very warm so I tried to keep the pace going but the legs were getting rather stiff and heavy.  Two more runners passed me about here and I just hoped that the gap would not widen too much with those runners.  Then at around 35km, the fire trail turns into more like a farm dirt road passing some homesteads.  A gradual hill climb was in front of me, when as always around this point in a race, the adductor leg muscles cramped up.  So I went into immediate remedy or shut down mode and began to walk backwards up the incline.  This occurred for close to a km but surprising the pace of that km was still around 7mins per km, so I had to be happy with that.

When the rise was completed I turned in a forward facing direction and took off again but cautiously now as I knew any faster running would end in further cramp issues and maybe a DNF.  Of course the usual demons enter your mind at this stage, stupid GNW – who are you kidding, let’s just stick to the 25km-30km races hey! Yeah, good idea Doug.

I got closer to the 40km mark and started to feel slightly better and saw a friend of mine, Michelle marshalling on the course and then Gavin Evans a km or two further on.  Gav told me to run faster and I told him to go somewhere.  Finally I got to the HQ area for the second checkpoint which meant 44km gone and 6km to go.  I was out of water so I refilled, again I couldn’t eat but the cheers from the NRG crowd of Orla, Ruth, Suzi, Danny and Leigh were loud and gave you an instant pick up – thanks troops, always appreciated and welcome !

So the last 6km was on more fire trails but less undulations.  2km into the Blue Course, and a mountain biker comes up to me and said I was about to be ambushed by the blue runners.  I looked back and saw a pack of very fast runners coming towards me and sort of expected Brendan Davies to be leading the bunch but then I remembered Marty Dent (recently retired Olympian) was entered in the 6km and he flew past me in no time.  Then current national athlete Victoria Mitchell was only just behind him.  They were motoring.  So the last 4km I was battling it out with the blue runners and it sort of helped you get through the final stages as they had fresh legs and were fast.  I probably quickened up a little there but I know that pace couldn’t be maintained any further than the 50km as I crossed the line feeling like those leg cramps would have started again any second now.  So I crossed the line in 4hr 31min 23sec.  Very happy with that and maintained 9^th overall in those final 15km.

Kathy Madden did a super job finishing as the 3^rd female and inside the Top 20 overall. Well done Kath, thoroughly deserved for all your hard work and the Ultra168 website got it right when they mentioned you were one of the runners to potentially podium.

Samantha did a fine job with a 5^th female result but I think she was in a bit of pain during the run I hear so no doubt she would have caused some rumblings up the leader board on a good day.  Leigh pulled out of the ultra at the completion of the red course but it was good to see him have a go, back into it after some time off.

In the red run (25km), Suzi got 2^nd, a fantastic result.  I thought she had first position but I don’t think either one of us saw Emma Rilen (fiancé of Dave Byrne) take off from the beginning.  Ruth continues to excel in these trail races and finished 5^th female (Top 20 overall), nice work and Orla was only two spots behind as 7^th female. Danny was 15^th home overall, great work in his comeback.

Now a couple of weeks tapering before the torment of GNW100miler (apparently 109) begins!

Strava Profile of the Ultra

Kath Madden 3rd Female in the Ultra

44km mark

Suzi 2nd female in 25km Event

Jo Brischetto and Suzi battling it out 

Ruthie amongst the forest 

Samantha

The warriors Kath and Orla

Leigh with the bright gloves !

Danny (right) on the charge 

Canberra Marathon April 2015

To be posted soon......….

Time 3:17:something……disappointed was going for 3:12 and to qualify for Boston given the heartbreak of missing out by nine seconds last year ………to be continued