I’ve ran 49 marathons and 62 ultra marathons over the last twenty-four years. It all started in 2002 at the Perth Marathon when I decided on the day of the event, you could do that back in the day, no selling out in 30 seconds like these days, to run the race after spending the previous day surfing and eating junk food with no taper, actually no real training. I’d finished the Bussleton half iron-man a few weeks previous and decided that would be more than enough to get me through.  I decided, pre-race, I’d run a three hour thirty marathon, 5min/k average, no problem. Remember this before any social media websites targeting running, GPS watches, training programs unless you were virtually pro and Strava. Yes, people ran before Strava and didn’t share it with anyone, an unbelievable concept in the world we live in today! Anyhow it all went to plan until kilomete thirty-two, funny that, and then with no real nutrition at all over the whole event I bonked badly and staggered home in three hours and fifty-two minutes, still my slowest marathon.

For the next eighteen years I conquered all before me and never even came close to a DNF, why would you, albeit I was racing shorter distances and bar a couple of one hundred kilometre races I stayed marathon distance or shorter.  My first ‘proper‘ DNF was 2020, the Delirious West 200 miler. ( https://www.deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) In my defence I had picked up a bad case of man-flu after the Chevron City to Surf in August the previous year (my last sub 3 marathon, number 32) and I’d never really recovered.  I think before the event I’d ran less than one hundred kilometres in the two months prior, not ideal preparation.  I was going to pull out a week before but my barista mate Georges, who I’d been badgering to enter, entered. I had no choice but to go. I was uncrewed and totally unprepared, no training, no gear and no idea how to mentally prepare for a two-hundred-mile race.  On the day Georges and I ran far too quick and by midnight on the first day my quads were cooked. It was a mixture of no trail running, no poles and poor nutrition, this resulted in my tripping over a lot and Georges leaving me. At Mandalay aid station around two in the morning, I pulled the pin. ( https://www.runbkrun.com/2020/02/26/a-delirious-failure-part-one/ ) ( https://www.runbkrun.com/2020/03/07/delirious-fail-pt2/ )

With hindsight I was lucky to get so far. My quads had seized about thirty kilometres earlier and it was damage limitation to get to Mandalay.  So many rookie errors, so many. Headtorches brought because they were on special at Katmandu, which were not up the job and only carrying one with a second in a drop bag hundreds of kilometres away. Not carrying anywhere near enough food and rushing through aid stations like I was running a marathon. But, and it’s a big but, I loved the event. I understood what I needed was crew and training and I’d be good to go. I was determined to have my redemption.

In October 2021 I was back with crew, a good training block and the right mental attitude. There were moments of doubt but having a crew there made it so much easier to keep moving forward. I also ran most of the event, before he broke his ribs, with my good mate Adam Loughlan and this was another factor which made the whole event so much more enjoyable. Finishing and taming Delirious was absolutely life changing and I have returned every year since, aiming for finish number six this April. Why? Because Delirious is life, the rest is details.  A race this long allows you to go to places you just can’t go-to in normal life, it allows you to strip yourself bare and then rebuild yourself, you don’t get that in you little cubicle surrounded by work colleagues all doing the same thing.  With Delirious you are surrounded by likeminded people who just get it. 

I’ve written many posts on my Delirious Adventures so please feel free to while away a few hours reading them, you never know we may end up on the start line together one day.

For the last four years Marky Mark Lommers has crewed me and we have had the best time. Crewing is an integral part of a successful campaign, but you need the right sort of person. Mark knows when to push me, when to listen, when to motivate and when to disappear, it is a gift. He also cooks the best steak in the Southern hemisphere.

My last post this year is worth a read: https://www.runbkrun.com/2025/05/15/delirious-west-200-miler-2025/

This next DNF isn’t technically a DNF as it was a 12-hour timed event, so if you start you actually haven’t DNF’d ? The Lighthorse Ultra ( https://lighthorseultra.com.au/  ) was originally a 12-hour event and has since morphed/added a 24-hour option. In 2019 I had just moved house, alone as Karen and the girls were in the UK.  I had been sick earlier in the year and my running times had suffered albeit I was still running thirty-five minutes ten kilometres and sub eight minutes half. I had never run a looped timed event, and a midnight start was another first. I started with my mate Jon Pendse who would go and set a course record, and I was going way too quick. After thirty-seven kilometres, around three in the morning I was cooked, taxi for Matthews.  Funnily enough the next morning I ran a thirty three kilometre long run, with hindsight I could have returned to the event and continued on for a reasonable total?

A similar story to Delirious really, no experience of the event format with little or no specific training and no preparation.  Since then though I have run the twenty-four hour event five times and podiumed every time. (3rd, 3rd, 1st, 2nd, 2nd.) It is another one of my favorite events with the two kilometre looped course keeping all the runners together and an event village bustling with life, laughter and determination. What a difference to the first time I rocked up and found myself in a dark place literally, a Portaloo funnily enough, when my head torch died.  Since then, it’s probably my best event for podiums, go figure. Albeit this year I didn’t run it as it was moved to later in the year and I was fatigued post Cape to Cape miler and, although I love the event, it does take a lot out of me, (who would have thought running two hundred kilometres in twenty-four hours would do that? )  and I needed to be at the top of my game to do it justice.  This year is the last running of this event so it would be good to add to my five podiums?

Next is the final DNF I consider a mental ‘cop out’ the infamous Feral Pig 100 miler. ( https://www.feralpigultra.com.au/?s=2026 ) I took on the Feral Pig in 2020 and failed at the one hundred and thirty kilomotre mark when you have to go through the start finish area back out on the trail and complete the hardest loop of the event. Again, little trail running and no experience of the distance, I was paranoid of getting lost, as I hadn’t really run the course, so stayed with slower runners who were walking when I could have been running.  This meant I was on the course for longer than I really needed to be and when I got back to the start finish line my quads had suffered a similar fate to Delirious earlier in the year.  Again, the distance had beaten me, funnily enough (well not that funny at the time?) I had reached a similar distance to my Delirious DNF.  Was this my limit? I remember trying to sneak off home and Shaun Kaesler, the RD, got hold and me and forced me out into dark saying how could I finish Delirious if I couldn’t finish Feral. Sound logic but the legs were gone. I scuttled home a beaten man.

I returned the following year and nailed the Feal Pig, take that porky. I stormed through the start finish area and destroyed the ‘death loop’  finishing in twenty seven hours. Truth be told the last three finishes have been slightly longer and each time I vow never to return mainly due to the midnight start and the sheer brutality of the event. Similar to the Lighthorse Ultra it just takes so much out of me, you start to move into that territory of pushing your body past the safe zone and when you’re as close to sixty as me you really have to understand the risks involved in doing this. For the moment it’s a risk I’m willing to take but I haven’t entered for Feral 2026 and this may be a sign that it could be time for me and Mr.Pig to part company, with me 4-1 up.

My final DNF is by far the most surprising. This year I was running the 6 inch trail ultra for the sixteenth time, on the bounce. ( https://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) Unfortunately I picked up a bad case of ‘gasto‘ (I think?) the night before and lost half my body weight on the toilet the morning of the race.  I was in a quandary? Do I start knowing there was a good chance I wouldn’t finish or do I DNS (Do Not Start?)  This was a damned if you do, damned if you don’t moment, and the only time in over one hundred and twelve race starts I felt really crook.  In the end I decided t give it a try but by eighteen kilometres in I was only ahead of the sweeper by a few hundred metres, I was never going to make cut off.  There was a small chance I could have got in under cut off but what was the point of a eight-hour finish, considering last year I was ninth finishing just over four hours.  I made the right call as importantly I really wasn’t having fun, my body had let me down and mentally I really didn’t see the need to finish. It’s different to the other three DNF’s in that I have ran the course many times (fifteen finishes including many top ten placing and one second place) and never did I think a DNF was an option, assuming I was healthy. I don’t really consider this a mental DNF, this was purely physical.

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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/)

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