Running 9:49:16 [3] 100.0 km (5:54 / km) +4300m 4:51 / km
TNF100 4th place in 9.49.16
I decided to enter this in late March after recovering pretty well and still having some fitness from the Cradle Mtn Run in Feb. I thought that this might be my chance to avenge the scars that this race left me with in 2011 and I was also keen to see how i'd go against a lot of the guys who had entered this race, its definitely the biggest ultra race in Australia.
My plan was to start a bit more conservatively than last time and try and finish strongly. I was probably in around 20th position once we got out of the streets of Leura and onto the singletrack. It was an awesome cold sunny day and the sun was shining on all the cliffs and it was great fun just cruising along taking in the views gradually catching and passing people in front. I didnt feel to great early on and was pretty sure I was going slower than last time which was a bit of a worry but i tried to just relax, drink through my bottle of perpetuem and stick to my plan. Going up golden staircase before the first checkpoint i walked quite a bit compared to last year but about 1/3 of the way up I caught sight of a big group with a lot of the big names which was a good boost.
At checkpoint 1 at the top of the golden staircase i was in 13th just at the back of this big group, i quickly filled two bottles of perpetuem had a drink of water and headed out along narrowneck. This is a pretty fast section with a lot of fireroad and i picked off a few of the guys ahead just going along at my own tempo although some of the others were going faster than me. I was by myself going down the ladders and ran pretty smoothly through the next section of singletrack which is good fun. I wasnt feeling particularly good at this stage but also no worse than early on either and by the time we got back on the fireroad a few more guys were in sight. I passed a couple of guys including Chris Truscott and then caught Mark Green and we ran together for a bit and had a bit of a chat which passed some time coming into checkpoint 2 where I saw Andrew Tuckey just leaving as I arrived and also heard that Ryan Sandes (the favourite) had pulled out.
We had a gear check at CP2 and then i filled another bottle of perpetuem and had a bit of water and endura as well before heading off on the ironpot ridge climb. I had made a concious decision not to push too hard on the really steep hills so walked up the steep climb here before getting into a good rhythm on the out and back singletrack which is great fun. This was a good chance to see how i was going as the leaders came past and it was good to see plenty of people not far in front and I worked out i was in 8th. The descent off here is very tough, very steep and basically no track which is hard on the feet. I tried to be smooth and conservative here and caught a few more guys through this section. Just as we came back out onto the fireroad I caught Andy Lee and got a cheer from the Ultra168 guys which was a good boost. This is where i had really suffered 2 years ago so was glad to still be feeeling fine although my stomach wasnt loving all the perpetuem I had been drinking. Up the big climb i got into an easy jog and passed Chris Wight and got sight of Andrew Tuckey as well which really made me feel like i was going well. This section seemed to go on forever two years ago when Grant and I were plodding along here but in no time I was at CP3 and ahead of the rough schedule I had made for Al.
Up to here I had been in quite a zone just monitoring how i was feeling, adjusting the pace and what/how much i was drinking and seeing Al and kids made me quite emotional and for some reason I just felt like crying. I dont know why this happened, the exact same thing happened two years ago at this point but maybe its just because you get snapped out of the zone you are in and realise what you are putting yourself through. Anyway Al was straight onto it at the CP, giving me a new drink and some powerade as I was mumbling away asking for stuff i didnt actually want. I drank some water and headed off pretty quickly chasing AT who was not far in front.
This next section is quite short and familiar as it is the start of the 6ft course. I got a real wakeup when i nearly trod on a snake here but jumped out of the way and got back into the groove on the climb. My plan was to run until the steep singletrack and steps where i caught sight of AT who was walking. I took this as my chance to get a break and walk as well. It was quite warm going up here out of the wind and hard work so it was nice to finally hit the top and have a quick chat with Andrew. He seemed to be struggling a bit on the rough singletrack here so i went past and was still feeling pretty much ok coming into CP4 at the pool in katoomba which was a good sign. Al did an awesome job filling my pack while i sat down and drank a powerade and some water and grabbed two more bottles or perpetuem for the longest toughest stage coming up, 24k with a big climb.
The first part of this stage is along the cliff top walk which is full of tourists so half the time was calling out that i was coming through, going down the giant staircase i had to wait a few times while tourists climbed out of the way. I was looking forward to the stairs to give my legs a break from running but they really made my legs feel like jelly so it was nice to be back on the singletrack. There were a lot of 50k runners coming the other way here which was a good distraction getting and giving a few cheers. Before the big drop down to kedumba i had tightened the shoes right up to try and stop my toes hitting the from of the shoes and this let me go pretty solidly down the hill. I was still feeling pretty good here and had s solid pace up the first climb that's about 200m elevation gain. I thought now was the time to push if i had any chance of catching the guys in front and probably put a bit too much into this first climb because when i started the big kedumba climb i really wasnt feeling so great. Anyway I tried to keep running but had to change to a walk on the steeper parts. I figured this would help for the next flatter section anyway. Close to the top there was another gear check where I got a cheer from Mounty and the word that I wasnt far from the top. Unfortunatey the climb seemed to go on for a lot longer and i was having to walk more and more but once i got onto the flat i could get going ok which was a good sign.
It was great to see Al and the kids again at CP4 and the ultra168 guys were there as well pumping me up that Vagin was only 2min in front. I knew id need some more water and perpetuem for this last section but set off from here pretty determined to have a crack at catching him. Going up the road i was going into the red a bit but thought it was now or never. Onto the rough downhill to the falls I really let it rip but as soon as we started going up the stairs on the other side my legs had nothing. The tv crew was here again and they reckoned Vagin wasnt far ahead. 1min later I could hear Andrew behind me and he rocketed up to me, i tried to hook onto the back of him but just couldnt manage the pace. This was at about 95km and I kept him in sight for the next few flatter km but once we hit the last 3km with a lot of stairs my legs just became jelly. I could hardly even walk up the stairs and was getting a bit out of control on the downhills. All i could think about was getting to the finish and stopping, I knocked back a bit more perpetuem which i had been a bit slack drinking and was maybe why i had such a low but it didnt help much. I checked the time and realised I was going to crack 10 hours which was my ideal goal and this was a good boost. It was such a relief to get up the last stairs and onto the golf course where i just managed to keep running up the gradual hill to the line which was a great relief.
It was so nice to just sit on the grass and not move and enjoy having cracked 10hours, i wasnt even really disappointed that i'd been pipped for 3rd, especially when Ezy pointed out that the prize was a free entry for next year. I think this was the best i've done in an ultra race and it felt like i'd got to another level even from the cradle race which is encouraging. Having said that i'm not too sure when or if i'll have another crack at one of these really long races. A big thanks to Al who was awesome dragging the kids round to every checkpoint to look after me during the race, i'm pretty sure there wouldnt have been too many other support crews managing 3kids by themselves!