May 15, 2025 | runbkrun

Delirious West 200 miler 2025

15 May bigkevmatthews@gmail.com 0 Comment

I’ve written four posts on the actual event so I thought I’d write one post detailing how I thought it went and my plans for next year, there’s always a ‘next year‘ right ?

A brief recap of my Delirious West career thus far. I DNF’d in 2020 sitting in Felix’s car at two in the morning at Mandelay aid station , about 112k into the event, with seized quads and mentally broken. Although it didn’t end well I was hooked and if my quads hadn’t locked up would have continued to the finish. Ok, I was totally unprepared with little or no training in the preceding three months and no support crew. Add in limited drop bags and no experience of tackling an event of this magnitude and it was always going to end in failure. The only positive was I loved the fist day , bar the DNF, and was now desperate to return and slay the beast that was Delirious.

Northcliffe Hotel, Tuesday evening. 2025

The image below is when the quads seized due to lack of any real nutrition and hydration, at Pinjara aid station. (about seventy kilometres into the event) The pancakes , and bacon , swimming in maple syrup, helped me to the next aid station, Broke Road, before they seized again on the road to Mandelay; I think that’s a song right ? What could have been if I had eaten and drank properly, and also maybe trained ?

Pingerup aid station and my hamstrings seized solid. DNF 2020.

Due to COVID I was forced to wait over 20 months before I retackled Delirious in October 2021, the wet year, with my good mates Adam, Bartsy and a focused crew, Gazza and Alex. Adam and I ran for most of the event together and with Gazza and Alex supporting me I was primed for success. I finished in the top 10 in just over 80 hours. Finishing was all that I could have hoped for and so much more, it really is life changing and I was locked in for 2022 and my double plugger.

2022 was the out and back year due to fire damage on the course. Basic really, start in Northcliffe , run halfway and then return to Northcliffe. I had a great run with Adam again initially and finished like a train to claim fourth place and a 68 hour finish time. This got me my double plugger trophy. This was also the first year of Marky Mark Lommers crewing for me , with Jeffrey helping, and he kept the high standards I was use to post Gazza and Alex.

Surrounded by legends as I pick up my double plugger.

2023 was back to the original course and I had another great run finishing second , my only podium, and getting my first boot. Finished in just over 72 hours from memory.

A thorn between two roses, the Race Directors Ian and Michelle.

2024 was the ‘hot year‘ with temperatures over forty degrees for the first few days, luckily I was heat acclimatised after spending most of the previous month on the bibbulmun track in the Perth hills. Another top 10 finish eventually coming in just over 74 hours.

2024, the hot year and boy , it was hot !

2025 and another course deviation due to fire damage again , this time at the start of the event. This time we started around the halfway mark, ran towards the start, turned around and then ran to the finish. Another top ten finish and just over 72 hours.

Finish number five with the lovely Darlene Dale , Scotty and Susan .

So that’s five finishes and five top ten placings, it has been everything I have hoped for and so , so much more. The quote on the latest medal ‘ Where fear comes to die and belief reigns supreme’ sums the event up. Shaun Kaesler , the owner of Ultra Series WA/SA has created such a special event. ( https://www.ultraseries.com.au/ ) and one that all runners, volunteers and race directors loves with a passion. It really is the event that keeps you coming back for more, year after year. It transcends running and is more about community and a shared passion for all things ultra running.

Right that’s the history of the event and here’s the website if you fancy joining me next year ? ( https://www.deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) Lets get to the good, bad and the ugly of this beast.

We’ll start with the good.

Food. The food gets better and better every year and volunteers return year on year and tweak their menu’s (yes, you get menu’s!!) . This year was absolutely epic and I was totally blown away by the quality of the tukka. I’m never sure if it’s just the fact you’re so hungry and sleep deprived that the food just tastes better or the volunteers are all master chefs? I know this year there were a couple of professional chefs but aid station on aid station provided , in my view, restaurant quality food. I also had my own personal chef in Marky Mark Lommers, my crew, who brings his spaghetti bolognaise and steak and onions to the party on Wednesday and Thursday night, which are both incredible. This year I ate more from the aid stations and tried to avoid sugary treats and gu’s. So the biscuits, chocolates and snakes got dumped for bacon, eggs , hash browns , burritos , bean curry, chicken dishes and soup. This had the benefit of not eating between aid stations, I was full, and just concentrating on hydration and salt tablets. This worked really well and I had no stomach issues.

On the inside I’m smiling.. doing what I do best, eat ! With my good mate Charles.

Sleep I slept for three hours Wednesday night (@ Mandelay) , three hours Thursday night (@ Peaceful bay) , an hour Friday evening (@ Lowlands) and maybe twenty minutes at Cosy Corner, finishing the event early Saturday afternoon. This strategy was just about perfect and the sleep at Peaceful Bay was probably one of the best three hours sleep in my swag ever. The hour at Lowlands was also special because I was so tired and hallucinating coming into the aid station. Mark put a blanket on me, in my reclining chair and I was off to the land of nod double quick. I was not impressed with Mark waking me an hour later and forcing me into the night albeit with good company thanks to my mate Bradley. Overall just under eight hours for the three days was enough that I wasn’t ever overly tired and didn’t even need to take my Nodoz tablets. Sleeping in a swag, when you are shattered, is just a great place to be and at Mandelay we had the added bonus of sprinkling rain , which added to the magic of sleeping in a swag, in a carpark, at three in the morning.

Another stunning sunset on the Bibbulmun.

The Bibbulmun track. ( https://www.bibbulmuntrack.org.au/ ) We are so blessed in Perth having this world class trail running from Perth city to Albany, over 1,000 kilometres of ever changing trails running through forests, beaches, fields, outback towns and everything in-between. This year the trail was in great condition , bar the bit we couldn’t run because of fire damage of course. Every year I’m blown away by the beauty that is offered me as I move through the event. The best bit is the trail takes you far from civilisation and you get to experience parts of Western Australia seen by very few people. You really are ‘out there’ alone bar a few runners who may be running close to your time., it is cleansing. Never underestimate how alive this event makes you feel, being totally vulnerable to the elements is invigorating.

Everybody is invested with getting you to the finish line. Matt looking like a stunned bunny. (far right in orange) and Suki desperately trying to find compulsory gear..

Everybody at the event. You can not underestimate how invested everybody is in getting you to the finish line, be that your crew, volunteers, medics, race directors , aid station helpers and even the general public. Everybody just wants to help you get to that finish line in Albany. It is truly humbling to watch these people who you may not even know do whatever they can to move you forward, truly humbling. You really are surrounded by the best people all with one goal in mind, helping you finish. It’s probably the one time people actually listen to me and better still do what I ask, within reason. This alone is worth the entry fee, forget the running bit.

You get to ride on a jet ski. I mean, c’mon, how many ultra events around the world involve a jet ski ? Admittedly it’s a short ride, about twenty seconds but at night it’s still pretty damn cool. Back in the day we use to wade over this river crossing after Peaceful Bay and if you came across it at night and a full tide it could get pretty deep and intimidating. Shaun found a group of local jet ski owners who help across now albeit as low tide you can easily walk over. The both times I’ve used the jet ski has been in the dark and the water looks amazing as you skim over at a good rate of knots.

Sunsets , Sunrises and all in between. You will experience some incredible sunrises and sunsets , that is a given. You look forward to a sunrise after a long night cocooned in a small circle of your headtorch’s beam, while at the same time a sunset can give you relief from the heat of the day. Each special in their own unique way. Night running is also liberating, the sounds of the day disappear as the nocturnal creatures go about their business and the calm of the night allows you to drift away and just be present with your surroundings. Running late into the day and through the night is something we don’t normally do and because of that you can embrace it.

Now the bad…

There’s no point sugar coating this, a 200 miler is bloody hard, there I said it. I know sometimes I wax lyrical about how life changing the event is and all the positives of course but you need to understand that sometime during the event you are going to regret your life decisions. The image below is me at Broke road, about 90 kilometres into the race, just before sunset after running for most part of the day, with a couple of hard sections ahead of me until I get to sleep. My head is in my hands as I find the first day the hardest as your body is not yet use to the constant running and effort needed for this. Day two and three it does get easier, although I use the word ‘easier’ in the broadest sense of the word, maybe ‘less hard‘ is a better analogy? I actually love this photo because it sums up the whole event for me, Mark is going about his business while I contemplate what’s ahead of me. After so many years together we both know what’s expected of us.

My marathon ‘show pony’ friends often remark how easy these events must be and consider ultra marathons beneath them, more hiking than running is their go-to comment, but they don’t understand the effort needed to just keep moving after days of racing, not hours and minutes, days. The Bibbulmun track is also hard to run on sometimes, as it’s built for walkers , so you’ll come across sections where hiking is all you can do. Throw in a few hills , and there’s a lot of them, and before you know it you’re making three to four kilometres an hour, at good effort. A twenty kilometre section can take four hours plus and that’s working hard, on the road it would be well under two hours. Mandelay to Mount Clare is a particularly bad section and it comes at you at a particularly bad part of the day, late into the evening on day one. This year I stopped at Mandelay and slept for three hours and this made a big differences as I ran to Mount Clare in the early morning , just before sunrise, rested. I then continued and didn’t stop until Peaceful Bay late on the second day, this strategy worked well compared to making Mount Clare without stopping and coming into the aid station like an extra from the walking dead…. Sleep strategy is very important in this event.

A 200 miler is bloody hard, even with a personal chef.

and finally the ugly.

Is there an ugly? I’m not sure , the event is hard but that’s what you sign up for surely. I suppose my DNF year was ugly. Physically underdone coming into the event and mentally nowhere near where I needed to be. Delirious West is an event that demands respect and will seek out any weaknesses and expose them. In 2020 I was loving the event until Pinjara aid station when my quads just seized up, this continued to Broke Road and then finally a death march to Mandelay and my only DNF. I’m reminded of this ever time I pass the hut a few kilometres out from Mandelay. It’s from here I rang my Wife with tales of woe around midnight on the first night. Funnily enough this year I rang her from the same location at a similar time , due to the out and back nature of the course, but with no intention of quitting, these days it’s never an option, period.

Some people would consider a ‘shoey‘ at the finish line ugly, I look forward to it albeit the beer at the last aid station can be a challenge, that is ugly.

Drinking beer from your trail shoe, ugly ? Maybe, I think it adds flavour personally.

Right, that’s it for Delirious West 2025 , another rip-roaring event that delivered in spades and then some. Plans for 2026, I’m in , of course I am and will be until I can’t make cut off. Warwick Crapper will join me of course and I hope next year he takes part in the bogan run, I was a tad embarrassed this year when he put training for the Gold Coast marathon ahead of bogan run glory ?

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Big shout out to fisiocrem , this product is just incredible for tired and aching legs. I use it daily and have noticed a vast improvement in recovery.

Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ ) The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products) can be difficult to digest later in the event. From the website :-

As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority.

In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance.

In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born.

BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work!

BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!

What can I say about HumanTecar, ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !

Fractel ( https://fractel.com.au/ ) have your performance headgear covered. I love the colours and the functionality of these hats, I guarantee there is one model you’ll fall in love with.

Shokz headphones, let you keep in touch with the world around while losing yourself in quality tunes or podcasts. ( https://shokz.com.au/ )

T8 running apparel is the best you can get, second to none. Designed for the ultra humid Hong Kong conditions the owners live in. It is light and does away with any chaffing worries. T8 is the name given to the highest typhoon warning in Honk Kong, storms and typhoons with gusts exceeding 180kph, which explains the branding. ( https://t8.run/)

Altra supply the best trail shoes on the planet, in my opinion, and none better than the Olympus five. Do yourself a favour and buy a pair. ( https://www.altrarunning.com.au/ )

https://www.osprey.com/au/en/category/hydration/trail-running/ Osprey Australia have come onboard and are supplying me with two running backpacks and travelling luggage for the Run Britannia adventure. I particularly like their running backpacks and am excited to test them over the event. I’ll be using the Duro 6 and the Duro 1.5 backpacks.

Excited to have Coros onboard who have supplied me with the new Apex 2 Pro GPS watch. I already owned the Apex 2 and was stoked when Coros reached out and offered me an upgrade. Even more battery life, can you believe 75 hours using GPS, wow! The watch itself is awesome, so light and well made. The watch is paired with a incredible application to keep track of all your stats, and runners love stats ! . ( https://coros.net.au/ )