Ultra Marathons
It is with a heavy heart I have to inform you that the Delirious West 200 Miler ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) has been postponed until October due to a 2 week snap lockdown after 10 months of COVID free restrictions. On the bright side I now get to run the race twice in the space of five months, October and then February 2022 to get the infamous ‘double plugger’ trophy. Always the optimist. Unfortunately I now find myself about as fit as I’ve been in many years with no races and a new addiction, trail running. Not a bad thing but the trails, the good ones, are at least an hour away so my runs now take two hours extra for the journey and also another hour for photos and just enjoying being on the trails, taking it all in so to speak. Thus a 3 hour trail run equates to about 6 hours of real (non-runners) time. As you can imagine No1 Wife and my many Daughters are none to impressed. It is lucky of course that No1 Wife has created her own social circle of friends after I started to hibernate and hide form a social life about 10 years ago. My many Daughters are now old enough to prefer time with their friends or electronic devices to spending it with Dad , so I’m onto a winner .
Right so Delirious is put back to October I now concentrate in my next race , the inaugural Herdy’s Frontyard, ( https://www.herdysfrontyard.com.au/ ) another last man standing event. I’ve been racing for over 20 years and without doubt the most fun I have ever had, with a bib on my chest, was Birdy’s backyard in August 2020, Herdy’s sister event. The concept is simple, it’s a 6.7k loop and you need to complete the loop and get back to the start line on the hour , every hour. The event continues until there is only runner left who then has to complete on their own to win, everybody else is a DNF ! It’s a brainchild of the great Gary Cantrell AKA Lazarus Lake, he of the Barkley Marathons fame. For a feel of the Barkley marathons watch this great Youtube video, inspiring stuff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDZdsqbcGTU
Birdy’s was really in the middle of nowhere around a beautiful lake so the scenery was stunning, if you search on birdys in the search option on the blog you’ll find a few posts with photos. Herdy’s frontyard is around a lake but this time it’s in the middle of Perth so there should be some spectators who will add to the atmosphere. I’m sure the organiser, Shaun Kaesler, will also have a few more ideas up his sleeve to make the event more memorable, which I hope includes at least one coffee van on 24 hour standby ! So for all Perth runners on Friday March 26th you need to get yourself down to Herdsman lake to either compete or spectate. There will be well over a hundred runners and with Birdy’s last two runners, Phil Gore and Michael Hooker, racing the event promises to go well into a second day and maybe even a third. Around the world these races have gone over 60 hours so you never know what to expect, of course in this instance it really does take two to tango as the winner can only run one more loop than the person who comes second, unfortunately.
For this type of event I highly recommend a massage gun, the running answer to eternal youth. If you haven’t got a massage gun you really are missing out. I use a gun from an Australian firm (made in China of course?) but, as with all things, you get what you pay for. In the 10-15 minutes you have at the end of each lap (assuming all goes well) you need to hydrate, get some nutrition, rest the legs and get on the ‘gun’. Worked for me last time when I was able to hit the magical 24 hours , which equates to just about 100 miles, give or take a few hundred metres apparently. For Hirdy’s I am going for broke, however long that may be ?
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The last race of the year is always one of my favourites, the 6 Inch Trail Ultra Marathon ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) takes place normally on the last Sunday before Christmas and it a perfect time to get together with good friends and enjoy one of the best trails in Western Australia. It takes part on the Mundi Bindi trail ( https://www.mundabiddi.org.au/ ) a long-distance, mostly off-road, cycling trail which runs for over 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from Mundaring to Albany. The completed Munda Biddi Trail opened end-to-end in April 2013 when it claimed the title of the longest continuous off-road cycling trail of its kind in the world. Once a year 47k of this trail is taken over by over 500 mad trail runners as they run from North Dandalup to Dwellingup.
The race starts at 4:30am to try and avoid the heat of the day because in WA, towards the end of December , you may be faced with a searing heat and this proved to be the case last year when the event was cancelled due to dangerous weather conditions. Luckily this year we had just about prefect conditions bar a slight headwind in some sections of the course but this proved to be cooling so not an issue. My game plan was to try and add to my eight sub4 hour finish times on my 11th time running this great event, the two times I had missed the 4 hour mark I had veered of course so was confident I could make this goal.
As the image above shows I was ready for the kick off with the sun just about to rise behind me lighting the way up the infamous Goldmine Hill start. This hill is steep and very long and has been the undoing of many a novice 6 inch trail runner. Mentally you need to be prepared for Goldmine because if you’re not expecting it your race can be over very quickly and it’s a long 45k if your legs have given up early. The first time I ever ran the 6 inch in 2018 this happened to me as myself and my running partner , Brett , had done no reconnaissance at all and didn’t even realise there was a Goldmine Hill. This was also in the daylight saving days so it was pretty dark. I remember thinking what had I let myself in for and would this hill ever end. Not a great start to the day and it got worse as we got lost early on and then staggered to the finish. Did I mention it was also seriously hot and humid ! I had such a bad day I tried to cancel my flights to the Comrades Marathon the following year as I was over ultra running. Funny how things work out, I did go to Comrades and ran a blinder and now, twelve years later, I’m still running the 6 inch and loving it.
An image above featuring one of my favourite Qantas Pilots, truth be told the only one I know, Adam and my Feral Pig buddy Dazza. Adam ran a great race scraping into the top 50 overall on the back of an injury interrupted build up. He’s running Delirious with me so this was a great confidence booster ahead of the big dance in February. (If anybody reading this fancies running a 200 miler in Western Australia then this is the race for you.. https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ . Epic!) Dazza was talking up a good time but unfortunately was undone by Goldmine Hill and his race was over before it began with a hamstring injury. He’s blaming Hokka’s and a law suit is forthcoming … He is not one to ever DNF though and struggled home in just over five hours which is a massive achievement when you have a goal so much quicker. Again he’s joining me in February and I’m sure it’ll be a different story then. Either way with Dazza there will be plenty of banter and a lot of laughing and swearing….
Right onto the race itself. I had set myself a goal of sub 4 and decided to go out with the third or four placed pack of runners and basically hang on for as long as possible. With experience I knew what to expect and the 6 inch really starts at the half way point initially and then the last 12k after the Escalator Hill. (As you can image any hill called the Escalator is a bad one !) I knew I was under done with no long runs in the last three months and although I was averaging well over 100k a week it was mostly flat bike paths, not idea preparation for trails. A tip here, run the terrain and elevation you are going to race on in training, not rocket science but often ignored. Runners get into a comfortable routine but no one improved in their comfort zone. ( Unless they are running Maffetone training of course but you would need to add serious distance to make up for the last of elevation. ? https://philmaffetone.com/method/ )
I executed the plan pretty well for the first 12k which is mainly downhill after the initial shock of Goldmine Hill. I was running with a group of 4-5 runners and comfortably keeping up. With hindsight maybe a tad too comfortable ? Either way I managed to get to the first aid station in a reasonable time and , at that point, I thought I was still in with a sub 4 finish. This all changed though when the half marathon runners set off a minute or two ahead of me at the 23k mark. In all previous years I have managed to run past their start with a good 5-10 minutes up my sleeve so I knew then I was in trouble. The traffic didn’t help and there was no ‘exploding‘ up the Conveyor Belt Hill , more like a ‘stagger‘ rather than the usual ‘swagger’… In past races I had taken a few names on this hill, which takes you to the highest part of the course, but this year I was struggling. Time to dig deep and hang on for 10k. About this time I met my friend Ben who I used as a yard stick for my pace, keeping him in my vision. I was also joined by Chris, another run under done but running well at that point and he pushed me along towards the climb ahead. At the bottom of the escalator I got a second wind and, as this part is an out and back, could see all the runners ahead of me. This spurred me on and before I knew it I was off the climb and into the last 12k of the race.
As I have said before the pointy end of the 6 inch, the last 12k after the Escalator Hill, is where the race is won or lost. You can certainly haemorrhage time if your legs give out and this is where you are found out if you have not trained appropriately. Over the years I have had some great battles with myself over this last section and this year was to be no different. There is one nasty hill, some technical single trail and a lot of small gradients that sap your strength. I knew what was coming and was able to persuade my mind that my body was up the task, this was probably a tad optimistic but I remember what Goggins said about when you think you are totally done you are really only 40% of your actual available reserves. ( He probably used a few more F-bombs than that ! https://davidgoggins.com/ ) So with Goggins as my co-pilot I started to move through the field and push for the finish line.
I managed to finish in just under four hours and ten minutes for 22nd overall , 3rd in my age group and 4th female. (Disappointing not to make the podium but the beard always gives it away !) Given my training I was more than happy with the time and position and I had some great tussles along the way with good friends and new friends alike, thanks Ben and Chris for keeping me honest. As I said many times running is an honest sport, put in the hard yards and you’ll more often than not get your reward. I was missing my long trail runs and eventually I had to slow my pace to allow for this or risk blowing up early. Even though I didn’t get the finish time I had hoped for (my plan A) I had dug deep and got a good plan B time, actually this seems to be a recurring theme lately ? This tells me I need to go and hit the trails and run longer , more, not a bad situation to be in, just got to persuade No1 Wife this is the way forward.
Even managed to catch up with my good friend Jamal, who is probably the worst race pacer on the planet and although he knew he was under done always goes out far too fast and pays the piper on the second half. Caught him walking with less than 2k to go and we ran together to the finish. He let me nudge him out on the line but the sprint was for the crowd, trust me after a 47k trail run sprint finishes are not high on anybody’s agendas.
So that was it, 6 inch number #11 and one more to join the exclusive ‘foot long club‘ and earn my double spike trophy and also entry into the ‘foot long’ marquee. At the moment there are only two members, Jon (#13) and Nate (#15) , I’ll have my #12 in 2021 and we have big plans for the marquee and a plaques celebrating our longevity, I wonder if I can persuade Dave, the RD and Nate’s brother-in-law, to pay for it all ? For any runners in Oz, assuming the borders come down, you really need to come over and run this event it really is special. Make sure you come along and say g’day, you’ll find me in the ‘foot long marquee‘ ……..
When 6″ is not enough…..
As well as the 6 inch there is a tradition of runners running a 12″ version. This entails leaving the night before the event and running through the night to turn up at the start to then run back with the race. This was started by Simon Bonnick and has enticed a few runners over the years. Jon did the 12″ last year with Jimmy Brook and both then ran the Delirious West 200 miler, in the following February, with Jon winning and Jimmy claiming third. This year Jon wanted to up the ante and add another leg to the total, basically a 18″. He would leave at 4pm the day before the race, run from the start to the finish and then back to the start and return with race to the finish, a total of about 150k, give or take. I have video footage of the start below and also the point in the evening where he made it to the finish and picked up Rob, who was keen for a 12″ .
Unfortunately the boys got lost just before Goldmine Hill when they continued to follow the Mundi Bindi track rather than veer off down the hill to the start. This meant a 10k detour and by the time they go back to the start the race had left them and they were faced with an hour to make up. This proved too much and they both pulled the pin after Bart’s offered them a comfortable drive back to the finish in air conditioned heaven compared to another 50k run chasing the field. In truth Bart’s has alternative motives as he has run one more 6 inch than Jon and was injured so driving Jon back to the finish kept him one ahead, and bragging rights for another year. ! I’m sure the 18″ will be conquered next year , as long as Jon can avoid Bart’s and his offer of a lift !
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Next weekend I attempt my first 100 miler ultra, The Feral Pig Ultra. The race kicks off at midnight on Friday 7th November and if all goes well I’ll finish before midnight on the following day. Unlike a marathon where I can predict my finishing time with a minute or two accuracy with a 100 miler you’d be lucky to get it down to within 1-2 hours. ! With the added distance comes the added variables that can certainly change everything very quickly. add in navigating in the Australian bush and the heat of the day and it becomes a lottery as to whether you’ll finish at all. All you can do is train and train hard and hope , on the day, you also have the mental toughness to push through because in a race of this distance you will be asked questions you need to answer !
After the 24 Light Horse I’ve been lucky enough to string together a 7 week block of pretty consistent training which has physically prepared me for the challenge. Knowing I’ve put in the hard work has also helped my mental preparation as I know I’ve done the best I can in training and am now prepared to put it all on the line, when the time comes. More importantly I’ve enjoyed this training block and have added double days the last few weeks mainly because I’m just enjoying putting on the trainers and ‘getting out there‘.
In lock down it’s amazing how many races I have actually entered and I now have full calendar of events for the foreseeable future. This month is the Feral Pig 100 miler, December is the traditional 6 Inch Trail Ultra 48k(for the 11th time), January the Australian Day Ultra 100k, February The Delirious West 200 Miler, March, Herdy’s Front Yard Last Man Standing Ultra, May it’s back to the 24hr Lighthorse and then June over to South Australia for the Irrational South another 200 miler and then August it’s Birdy’s Last Man Standing Ultra. Add in the West Australian Marathon Club events and it looks like I’ll be sleeping with a bib on my chest.
I’m a big believer in distance, consistency and competing, get these things right and you’ll always perform at your best, unfortunately it’s a fine balancing act because get either of them wrong and your performance will suffer. You could also add in nutrition and hydration, both of which are overlooked when runners are training and racing , again ignore these at your peril. Who would have thought running was so complicated?
With distance performance improvements in running is virtually exponentially linked to this variable. If you run 50 km a week now and you start to run 100km a week you will improve, it’s that simple. This improvement will continue if you run 160km a week or more. Of course there is a ceiling of improvement and it’s not a linear improvement but up to a point improving at running is just doing it more, with the caveat of course of not getting injured and also making sure your diet reflects the increased work load. Of course there are all types of workouts that will add to the improvement but generally just running more does the job.
Consistency over time is another big hitter in the running world. By adding distance you’re normally also adding consistency , they go hand in hand , but it’s important to realise that running daily is far better than a long run Monday and then three days of no running before another long run Friday, you would be better splitting that total distance into 4-5 smaller runs but run daily, in my opinion. Personally I don’t like to have rest days but if you do I would recommend only one a week and make it before a harder run not a long run. The long run should normally be time on legs, so running on tired legs is normally ok.
Finally competing , nothing pushes you like having a bib on your chest and your heart threatening to explode through your rib cage ! Summed up by a classic Prefontaine quote below really. There’s nothing more to say.
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This is the second post detailing my attempt to redeem myself from my first DNF last April at the 12 hour Light Horse Ultra. (It’s worth reading this post first.. https://www.runbkrun.com/2020/09/09/time-to-go-long-on-a-very-short-course/ ) To add spice to the occasion I upgraded two weeks out from the 12 hour to the 24 hour on the back of a great run at the Birdy’s backyard Ultra ( https://www.runbkrun.com/2020/08/16/most-fun-you-will-ever-have-in-running-gear/ ) Sounds like a logical thing to do but you need to factor in a nasty achilles tear limiting my training, pre-event. As I always said logic does not come into a runners brain, ever ! Worse, an injured runner has more time on their hands and what’s the first thing they do, look for more events to enter, it’s a curse!
The event kicked off at 6pm and the plan was to run for 24 hours and finish at 6pm the following day. I had a few goals, as all ultra runners do which started with just being there at the finish (rather than scurrying off home in the dead of night like last year!) and then running a 100 mile total, with the ultimate goal being a 200 kilometre final distance (or better) I was as prepared as I could have been as the image below shows. I had my two bag of clothes including a sleeping bag, a small esky full of food, gu’s and drink and a cool bag with up and go milkshakes and various yoghurts. The largest bag was the reclining seat I used at Birdy’s , a life saver for the legs . With hindsight I had made the rookie error of selecting my youngest Daughter’s sleeping bag which was not built for the conditions I would face later than evening. I could have also maybe packed a small two man tent (or a large RV with a comfortable bed!) as when I needed to have a ‘power nap‘ I would be unable to due to the fear of falling into unconsciousness and never waking back up because of the freezing conditions. We will discuss this later in the post.
The race director has started this event to honour the men and women who have given their lives serving for their Country and this year he out did himself with exhibitions and also volunteers on horseback performing during the race. An outstanding effort I must say. We were also privileged to be a part of a rendition of the Last Post as the sun set , the ‘hairs on the back of your neck’ stand up type event.
So at 6pm we set off on what was to be my first of nearly 77 laps over the next 24 hours. I hadn’t really dialled in a race pace as such , it was to be a run at whatever pace I felt comfortable and adjust throughout the event. The most important thing was the hydration and nutrition as we all know an Ultra , of this duration, really is an eating and drinking competition with a bit of running thrown in ! It all comes down to it doesn’t matter how fast you are , if you run out of fuel you stop, ultra running is all about not running out of fuel , simple really.
Right to the race. The 2.5km loop itself is ran anti-clockwise for three hours and then we turn and run it clockwise, this is repeated 8 times. Funnily enough there was a difference and I preferred anti-clockwise. I moved along quite nicely for the first few hours concentrating on nutrition and stopping every two or three laps for a good feed. Given the distance I was hoping to achieve and the time I had up my sleeve these stops weren’t time critical but critical to me moving forward for the full 24 hours. I was probably stopping more times than I should have and maybe longer but I’d never ran 24 hours and it was better to still be running for the last few hours and make up time rather than hemorrhage it . In the back of my mind I had my Birdy’s experience where every 6.7k I was able to stop for 15-20 minutes. This made the final few laps at Birdy’s the fastest and I felt this format could work for the Light Horse.
I managed to stumble along until the witching hour, when you are at your weakest. For me it is the early morning when you have been running for 4-6 hours in the dark and you can’t see the morning light. This is when you are at your weakest and this is when the mental strength of running comes to the front. I was reminded of my previous post at this time, where I forecast a time when I would need my mental ‘Goggin’s’ strength, this was it. I decided the best way forward was some serious massage gun time and then a power nap. This is where I nearly came undone. As I mentioned earlier I had brought my Daughter’s sleeping bag which was not built for the elements and temperature I was facing. I had planned for a 1-2 hour power nap but just ended up shivering, alone in the dark, at my lowest. Luckily I had foreseen this and made my Wife give me a lift to the start and then take the car home, thus eliminating one exit point. This proved to be a good move as laying in that reclining chair , freezing, I would have found it so easy to take the easy option and bail, the same as last year. This year that option wasn’t there so I laid in my useless sleeping blanket wondering how long Uber would take if I could muster up the strength to stagger to the nearby road.
It got to about 3am , after 90 minutes of resting (and freezing) before I knew it was time to get running again and hopefully warm up or risk hyperthermia . So I left the comfort (?) of my reclining chair and off I went, into the dark. I couldn’t bring myself to shed my raincoat so ended up running in a thermal vest, running top, running jacket and a rain coat complete with a Georges beanie. I’d normally last about 10 seconds in this get-up but due to the freezing conditions I was able to run 3-4 laps before I needed to shed the rain coat. On the bright side I felt a lot better and actually managed to put in a few faster laps before the sun finally rose. Trust me when the sun comes up all is suddenly good with the world…
The only downside with the sun coming up of course if you have to start shedding clothes and look to keep cooler, rather than warmer. It was going to be a particularly warm spring day and a change of attire was called for. Bye bye thermal vest and beanie , hello singlet, short shorts and running cap. Initially the fresh morning temperatures were invigorating but that soon turned to annoying as the temperature rose, that’s running in Western Australia, you avoid the late mornings onwards due to the high temperatures. Another bonus at this time was the 12, 6, and 3 hour races starting. From a field of just over 70 for the big dance we were faced with another 250 or so runners, this made things more interesting as we all stumbled along the 2.5k loop together, some moving into the second half of their races but most just starting, full of life. This extra encouragement helped and I got my head down and just kept running. I never actually walked on the loop but my stops were becoming more frequent and longer and with the added incentive of company. I had managed to get through 12 hours and rack up around 98k which was behind schedule but I had ‘rested‘ for at least 3 hours of the 12 so was confident I could still hit the 200k total target.
With so many friends also now running the day passed pretty quickly but I was slowing and taking more breaks as we moved into the afternoon. After half way nutrition and hydration really become important as the body starts to eat all its fuel and you need to make sure to replace calories quickly. You can do this in various ways including real food like rice, pasta, bananas etc or carbo shots and gu’s and the like. Get this wrong and your race is over very quickly, remember what I said earlier ‘an ultra is an eating and drinking competition with running as a distraction’ . I have a pretty cast iron stomach , which is a must for an ultra runner, but I was starting to avoid the food I had planned to eat as I just couldn’t stomach it anymore. I made sure I was hydrated though and used my supply of Maurten drinks to keep me going. I highly recommend Maurten products, they just work. I was also lucky enough to be camped next to Jon who always brings enough for the whole race including so many drinking bottles I assumed they were communal. Jon remarked that each lap he saw his rubbish bin get fuller and his supplies deplete.
Early afternoon was probably my favourite part of the race where I had worked out the best way to keep moving at a reasonable pace while taking time to rehydrate and rest at the many rest stops. If I felt good I’d run past my chair, if I needed a break I’d sit down, ultra running is quite simple really, you’re either running or eating and drinking. I went through my next goal, the 100 miles, in a reasonable state and then this run became my longest run ever. Next target was 178k as this was the distance the early race leader, the legendary Michael Hooker, had blown his kidneys and been forced to abandon after 14 hours. This would also put me top 5 male which was another one of my goals for the race, a top 5 finish.
There was aso another race going on with Jon catching me after he had gone home for a few hours sleep earlier in the night. He had complained of a bad knee and hit the wall to such an extent he had contemplated pulling out. Instead he went home and had three hours good sleep in an electric blanket heated bed, a refreshing shower and some breakfast before returning and running like he had just started. I was two laps behind him when he left and probably 6-8 laps ahead when he came back. This became more and more important as runners ahead of me dropped out and I rose to the dizzy heights of second with three hours or so to go. Unfortunately I was unable to hold this position as, although I was still running, I was taking longer and longer breaks and my average pace was slowing, after 22 hours funny that ? In the end Jon got me with about 45 minutes to go and that was the last nail in the coffin. I managed one more lap to take out Shaun Kaeslers 190k, 24 hour record and I was done, with about half an hour left. Final total 92.55k and third male, 5th overall.
So what are the learnings from this race. It’s another tick in the box for my Delirious redemption training and also it’s a massive confidence booster as last year I DNF’d the 12 hour version of this race after three hours. To get to the same point this year , albeit at 7-8 hours in to the race, and NOT go home was massive and add this to my Birdy’s finish I am more confident of doing well at Delirious in February next year. Distance wise I could have done better but this was my first 24 hour race but looking at Strava (You do have Strava don’t you… http://www.strava.com ) I only ran for just less than 18 hours, (I had my Suunto on auto-pause so if I stopped running the watch would stop. ) That’s six hours of potential extra running time left out there. Next year I shall aim to take advantage of that extra time and break that 200k target.
Ultras test you and I mean test you. To quote Dean Karnazes ‘If you want to run a mile, run a mile. If you want to change your life, run a marathon. If you want to speak to God, run an ultra.’. In the image above I am making that call. ! On the plus side if you can keep running when every part of your body is telling you to stop it is an amazing achievement and one you can take forward into your everyday life. You can’t underestimate the power of mental toughness, look at Goggins ! ( https://davidgoggins.com/ I highly recommend some of his podcasts but be warned his language is colurful.) Ultra’s help you hone this skill , they teach you valuable lessons.
Next on the agenda, in November, is a good old fashioned point to point 100 miler, my first. The Feral Pig Ultra ( http://feralpigultra.com.au/ ) is meant to be a hard race with some serious elevation but it’ll be another box to tick before Delirious next year. Unlike my last two ultra’s this is a point to point trail run so I’ll expect lots of ‘Kev time‘ alone on the trails with some testing night time running. It’ll be as close to Delirious as I can muster pre-event so I need to finish it in a reasonable time and also feeling good at the end, remember Delirious is a 200 miler ! ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/race-information/ ) Right that’s me for this post, as with the subject this has been an ultra-post but I hope you’re enjoyed it as mush as I enjoyed the event. I’m with Dean when it comes to Ultra’s , where else in life do you get the opportunity to speak to the big fella and if you run far enough he just might answer !
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After speaking to my number one , and only subscriber, Mum, it seems the links to the videos didn’t come across in my last post; albeit they were available on the web. Anyhow I’ve added some Bogan Race footage which is well worth a viewing and also links to the videos if they don’t come across on this link with mobiles. Best way , if the videos don’t display is to pop along to the website and view them there. Thanks Mum.
Rather than write about the experience I thought I’d add some video. My Daughters both got GoPro’s for Christmas so I ‘borrowed’ one and recorded some footage throughout the day. What do they say a video tells a thousand words ? (Forgot to mention I put in a bit of a dent in No3 Daughters GoPro on one of my many stacks during the day, it’ll come back to haunt me no doubt !)
The day before the race is the smaller version of the Delirious called the Bogan race, the race that stops a town. Truth be told with Northcliffe it’s very difficult to tell when its stopped or started ? The race is a foot race holding a barrel after sculling beer along the way, in bogan fancy dress of course, sort of a beer mile on steroids. The first two videos are the Race Director explaining the rules and then the start of the race itself. ( https://vimeo.com/396639530 )
and the start of the bogan race, the race that stops a town….allegedly. ? ( https://vimeo.com/396642998 )
Right , back to the race, here’s the start. You’ll notice we actually deliberately go the wrong way as it’s tradition after last years navigational cock-up when the whole field went left when they should have gone right. Not a good start to a 200 mile race when you get lost in the first 1o metres ? It’s amazing any of them even found the finish line !! I was actually following Jen on this footage and we ran together for most fo the fist 70k before she dropped me and ran an amazing race to finish second female and top 5 finisher. I should have hung on for longer ! (https://vimeo.com/396109352 )
Next we are an hour or so into the race , still smiling . I think at this point we were top 10, mainly because everybody in front of us got lost. Discussing our breakfast which consisted of waffles with bacon, ice cream, poached eggs and lots of maple syrup. The joys of ultra running. With hindsight more bacon would have probably saved my race ? (https://vimeo.com/396110335 )
Fours hours in and still enjoying it, lots of walking and running, it was starting to heat up at this point, just before midday and after aid station 1. Certainly underestimated the distance between aid stations and this was eventually my downfall. Not enough nutrition or hydration early on led to the quads seizing up later in the race (around the 70k mark) and a long bus and train journey home for me. (in my race gear as my bag of clothes was at the finish line in Albany but that’s a post for another day !) I have said many times on this blog an ultra is really just an eating and drinking competition with running between aid station a secondary activity. Get the eating and drinking wrong and the engine runs out of fuel, when that happens it doesn’t matter what car you’re driving, you stop ! End of story! In an ultra a well fed diesel will always out perform a Porsche with an empty fuel tank ! ( https://vimeo.com/396112207 )
Four and half hours in and we’re starting to have second thoughts !!! Scenery is still awesome but I regret not putting on sunscreen around this time ! (https://vimeo.com/396113019 )
Around eight hours in and we’re both goosed ! Really hot at this point and some serious walking ! ( https://vimeo.com/396108801 )
Eight hours in and we’re starting to worry ! Realising we’re not even 10% into the race… oh dear.! (https://vimeo.com/396113815 )
This was after the 75k aid station, not happy , quads were locked solid. !! Around the 10 hour mark, still loving the scenery but dehydration and lack of nutrition was starting to take its toll. (https://vimeo.com/396109049 )
An hour later legs were good, pancakes and bacon finally kicked in. Probably around the 80 mark, eleven hours. ( https://vimeo.com/396114361 )
Sunset , feeling pretty good at this stage, 6k into the next aid station and had managed to put together a good 10k of running. Legs had recovered at this point but unfortunately I went through one more aid station before pulling the pin. Quads totally seized around the 100k mark and I stumbled into Mandelay , at 112k , in a sorry state. Rookie errors, namely not eating and drinking enough between aid stations and getting totally dehydrated due to the midday sun exposure with no suntan cream, what was I thinking. A couple of stacks on the last stage left me alone in the dark with a fading head torch, stumbling about lost. Running a race this distance is 90% mental and I gave myself so many reasons to stop but none to carry on. With hindsight a massage and a few hours sleep may have been enough to loosen off the quads but even the next day I found walking just about impossible and when you run a 200 miler the numbers can destroy you. I remember sitting in the chair at the last aid station , after running for 17 hours, totally goosed, thinking I still have over 230k to go. At that point it was very easy to pull the pin when I found it painful to walk 10 metres ! (https://vimeo.com/396114936 )
So what’s the lesson learnt here. The race itself is just awesome and I can’t wait to try again. To that end I have entered another 200 miler in June called the Irrational South , another Shaun Kaesler special, what could go wrong ? ( http://irrationalsouth200miler.com.au/ ) Entries are open for a few more months if you want to join me, and maybe even get on the GoPro footage ? I even persuaded Jon to join me (albeit it is now sponsored by Trail and Tribe https://www.tribeandtrail.com.au/ so gets free entry)! and I’m working on Georges, it wouldn’t be the same without him and his ‘white t-shirt”? The only fly in my 200 mile ointment is a nagging, niggly knee injury that has stopped me running since Delirious so it looks like I’ll be going in undercooked again, wouldn’t have it any other way !!! Giddy up.
Rather than write about the experience I thought I’d add some video. My Daughters both got GoPro’s for Christmas so I ‘borrowed’ one and recorded some footage throughout the day. What do they say a video tells a thousand words ?
First offering is the start. You’ll notice we actually deliberately go the wrong way as it’s tradition after last years navigational cock-up when the whole field went left when they should have gone right. Not a good start to a 200 mile race when you get lost in the first 1o metres ? It’s amazing any of them even found the finish line !! I was actually following Jen on this footage and we ran together for most fo the fist 70k before she dropped me and ran an amazing race to finish second female and top 5 finisher. I should have hung on for longer ! (https://vimeo.com/396109352 )
Next we are an hour or so into the race , still smiling . I think at this point we were top 10, mainly because everybody in front of us got lost. Discussing our breakfast which consisted of waffles with bacon, ice cream, poached eggs and lots of maple syrup. The joys of ultra running. (https://vimeo.com/396110335 )
Fours hours in and still enjoying it, lots of walking and running, it was starting to heat up at this point, just before midday and after aid station 1. Certainly underestimated the distance between aid stations. ( https://vimeo.com/396112207 )
Four and half hours in and we’re starting to have second thoughts !!! Scenery is still awesome but I regret not putting on sunscreen around this time ! (https://vimeo.com/396113019 )
Around eight hours in and we’re both goosed ! Really hot at this point and some serious walking ! ( https://vimeo.com/396108801 )
Eight hours in and we’re starting to worry ! Realising we’re not even 10% into the race… oh dear.! (https://vimeo.com/396113815 )
This was after the 75k aid station, not happy , quads were locked solid. !! Around the 10 hour mark, still loving the scenery but dehydration and lack of nutrition was starting to take its toll. (https://vimeo.com/396109049 )
An hour later legs were good, pancakes and bacon finally kicked in. Probably around the 80 mark, eleven hours. ( https://vimeo.com/396114361 )
Sunset , feeling pretty good at this stage, 6k into the next aid station and had managed to put together a good 10k of running. Legs had recovered at this point but unfortunately I went through one more aid station before pulling the pin. (https://vimeo.com/396114936 )
After little training for 2020 I took on the 350k (218 Mile) Delirious West Ultra, it was never going to end well truth be told. As regular followers of my blog (Mum?) will know I have struggled with my running mojo since August last year, actually probably longer. I managed a few reasonable results last year but overall I was struggling with form and motivation. This culminated in a total of 108k for 2020 up to the race, ( 7 weeks of running!) I’d normally call this total ‘Thursday‘ , so I knew the Delirious West Ultra would be a big ask. ( http://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) On the Monday of the race I was lucky enough to get a lift down to Northcliffe from Perth with the Race director, his right hand woman, Mel, and three other runners. We had a convoy ! After stopping at a KFC because Shaun, the RD, loves his bucket , Donnybrook for a pie (in the local bakery we found a pie-pizza, that’s right a pie with a pizza topping ! Genius ! ) a Woolworths in Manjimup , where Shaun dropped nearly $3000 getting food for the 22 aid stations !! (there was a lot of food, my running buddy Georges reckoned he put on 5 kilograms after finishing the race !) we eventually made it to Northcliffe late afternoon Monday. The race itself runs on the Bibbulmun track from Northcliffe to Albany, through some of the best scenery WA has to offer, apparently. ( https://www.bibbulmuntrack.org.au/ for anyone living and running in WA you need to get on this track !)
Right , Northcliffe is about 347km from Perth and about as country as you can get ! The hotel doubles as the pub, convention centre, holiday park and generally the catalyst of everything social in the town. The pubs landlord, Duncan , and landlady, Helen, are true blue Aussi’s who, if you cut them , would bleed green and gold. ! Such wonderful hosts and perfect for the event, they embrace the Delirious and for that few days in February become a runners dream location. The only downside to their wonderful establishment though is the rooms are a tad basic and my room, number 3, was right above the bar. On Monday night it felt like I was with Shazza as she dominated the pool table ! Luckily it was all quite Tuesday when I had ear plugs at the ready incase Shazza returned to kick some more pool table ass. The food at the pub is outstanding, steak on Monday , pasta on Tuesday and waffles both days, you got to love ultra running where you really can eat what you want this close to the event, no worrying about putting on a few pounds when you’re running over 200 miles. What a difference to running a marathon where you’re calorie counting weeks before the event and you spend more time on the scales than with your family. Ultra running really is the event that keeps on giving, one waffle at a time.
To show you how small Northcliffe is I had attached a photo of the train station, is that not the smallest train station EVER !! I’m assuming thee platform is for first class and the rest have to stand behind the painted line, brilliant.
Northcliffe train station, standing room only apparently?
Last year , it’s inaugural one, there was just over 30 runners for the event, this year that number doubled to over 60 starters and 15 , or so , defers to next year. Next year I’m sure it will sell out early and maybe even before it goes out to the public if Shaun offers entries to past runners and volunteers. I’m hoping that I’m on the list of past runners albeit a past starter rather than finisher as I’m going back 100% ! (with a full support crew , pacers , poles , better legs and a decent head torch!) Anyhow as you can see from the photo the start is epic , surrounded by like minded, nervous runners who are about to challenge themselves like never before and have an adventure of a lifetime . (or in my case DNF horribly about a third of the way in !) Its a wonderful place to be.
The photo below shows the race winner , Jon far left, who ran the race of his life. Destroyed the field on the first day, destroyed himself on the second and then came good to battle to victory on day four , before driving to the local parkrun and running the 5k. He has gone down in folklore for that trust me ! Will anyone ever repeat that ? I’m not sure but I’m pretty sure there’s a few people (myself included) who will try next year, the Delirious +5 !!! You have to finish before 7am on Saturday morning to make the Albany parkrun by 8am. Jon did it hard , with Peter Duff as his support crew driving his white BMW sports car through some seriously dirty outback roads, needless to say it was the colour of George’s shirt at the end of the adventure. Next to Jon you have my barista Georges. He, or his son Ben, make me and my Wife our morning coffee most weekdays. Over the last year I had been trying to persuade him to enter the race and he relented on the last day. Georges is recovering from shoulder and knee surgery a few months ago and, like myself , was undertrained .A cortisone a few days before the event got him through and he revelled in the adventure. I haven’t told him we’re going back next year, me to try and get into the Delirious +5 club and Georges for his double plugger, plenty of time for that and plenty of coffee to drink discussing it.
To my left in the photo is my good friend Amy who had been suffering , pre-race , with shortness of breath and also a tight calf. Unfortunately a few kilometres into the race the tight calf turned into a calf tear and although she stumbled on there was no way you can run 350k with a tear, impossible. Things went from bad to worse after Amy stopped as her calf swelled up and lots of blood blotches started to show up , as the calf continued to swell. The medic called an ambulance and off to Albany hospital Amy was whisked, rapidly. Turned out she had blood clots in her lungs , which explained the shortness of breath, and both her calfs. She is one tough mother though and already talking up next year. My goal is to try and recreate this photo at the start in 2021 and also at the finish……
The course is well marked and up to 112k you shouldn’t get lost, assuming you have a good head torch and the course on your watch . After that I don’t know as I was on a bus home to Perth, tail between my legs.
Theres a tradition , after one year, at the Delirious where you actually deliberately turn the wrong way 100metres into the race and run for about a kilometre before turning back. This was because last year this actually happened and most of the runners ran around 5k the wrong way before realising their mistake and returning,. Imagine the spectators watching all 30+ runners disappear running North instead of South and then, 20 minutes later, seeing them all come charging back and go the right way, priceless ! Shaun decided that because of this from now on all starters run the wrong way for a couple of kilometres, I suppose when you going to run 350k and extra couple should not be beyond you ? There was lots of giggling going on during the detour and the track, truth be told, was awesome. (I had actually walked that part of the track the day before believing I was going the right way myself, it’s easily done.)
The start of the race is biblical, you are full of beans and if you see a photographer you have to strike a pose. In the image below me and Georges are moving freely though the field, loving every step and excited about the journey ahead. This my favourite part of any ultra, well this and the finish, the hundred of kilometres in between can get a bit tedious ? I jest of course, in an ultra you really can enjoy the whole journey and still avoid the pain box if you have trained well and make the right nutrition and hydration choices along the way. Remember an ultra really is an eating and drinking competition, with running between aid stations.
More fun and games below, about 100 meters from the last photo, at this rate it’ll take weeks to get to the end , not days ! Can’t avoid a camera though, it’s be rude !
Right that’s it for Delirious part one.. I need a break and I’ll leave you with the image that will start the story tomorrow… some races are so long they need two posts !!
On the 27th April I ran my first DNF at the 12hour Lighthouse ultra and it has taken me this long to even think about typing a post on the experience, well over a month. This is a post I thought I’d be writing many years from now and never envisaged penning this particular post so soon in my young (?) career. Right some background to the event. The Lighthouse is a 2.5k loop that starts at midnight and continues through to midday, as 12 hour events do of course. The plan was to podium at minimum and maybe even sneak a win, this , with hindsight , was to be my undoing..
I have said many, many times that marathon and ultra running , actually any distance racing , is to a large proportion a mental struggle with oneself. If you haven’t questioned yourself in a race you ain’t running fast enough. The human body can go so much faster than we allow it but the safety barriers, we put in place to protect it, prevents us from reaching our true potential. Training allows us to move those barriers and thus we run faster. Trust in your training is a mantra I live by and better training always equals faster racing. I believe this is because we have persuaded the mind (the main instrument in protecting the body) that we can run that little bit faster and not do too much damage. This is why better training equates to faster racing, simple really.
Coming into the 12hour ultra I was unprepared mentally. I questioned the reason for the event even upto driving to the start line, not a good idea. The previous two weeks I had moved house and this had mentally , and physically, exhausted me, not ideal preparation. Also this was to be my first ‘time rather than distance race‘ where the idea is to run as far as possible in a given timeframe, again not a good sign. The few days before the event my running had been substandard with my heart rate higher than it should have been given the pace, another sign I ignored and this culminated in a nasty cold after the event. Typing this I’m surprised I actually lasted as long as I did.
Right , lets cut to the chase and describe the race. I arrived tired, remember it starts at midnight which is way past my bedtime, and set up my esky full of drink bottles and Gu’s. Jon joined me and we decided to go off around the 5min/k pace and try and hold this for the 12 hours. Simple really but when we started Jon found another gear and we were motoring along at around the 4:40min/k pace and leaving the rest of the field behind very quickly. This should had been a sign to me that this was too fast as there was some great running experience behind us, and along way behind us. I tried my best to calm Jon down but he was having the run of his life and I was hanging on for dear life, a situation which could not go on.
To add to my tale of woes I was struck down with toilet issues and had to make an unscheduled toilet stop at 18k. This was also an excuse to let Jon go on his merry way and give me some respite from the relentless pace. The only downside to this pitstop was it was totally dark in the toilet cubicle as I was using Jon’s headlamp when we raced, sitting behind him. So here I was, just before 2am, rummaging around in a dark toilet cubicle questioning why I was there and not even thinking about the 9-10 hours ahead of me. Eventually I did the ‘paperwork’ and started on my merry way , alone. As you can see from the image below I did manage to hold 5min/k for around 7 kilometres before another unscheduled stop, this was now becoming an issue.
Jon lapped me around this time and all thoughts of a podium were well and truly finished. I managed another 6k before my third, and final, toilet stop and trust me I was now in a world of pain. Pace was steadily decreasing while the heart rate was rising, not good indicators so early in the event. The final straw when when we changed direction at 3 hours, turning back to the finish line I knew I could not continue for another 9 hours, as it was the I was lucky to make another 9 minutes. So at 3:19:22 into the 12 hour event I packed up my gear and stumbled off into the night to drive home to bed, destroyed. I must admit it was long and lonely drive home but it was the right decision at the time but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, big time. Getting home around four in the morning one of the dogs had decided not to wait for their scheduled toilet stop and left me a nice coming home present on the tiled floor of the kitchen, things really couldn’t have got any worse as I cleaned up their ‘gift’, it seemed to be a recurring theme of the night !
So what to take from this tale of woe. For me it highlighted how mentally unprepared I was for the race but, more importantly, how badly I had started , setting unrealistic goals that in the end destroyed me. Being my first time over distance race I should had prepared myself for the long haul and setting off at 100k pace, when I was not in the form to do so, was always going to end in failure. With hindsight, and this is so easy to type, I could have taken an hour to compose myself and got back out there, hell I could have gone for a 6 hour sleep and still ran for another 3 hours ! The possibilities were endless with the nine hours I had left in the event but in the end I did nothing and just sculked off home, a beaten man. Could I have carried on ? It’s a question I ask myself on a regular basis and I truely believe I couldn’t at the time. Three in the morning suffering from sleep depravation, toilet ‘challenges’ and a heart rate rising quickly, I was in no condition to continue, yep, stopping was the only answer but it could have been so different. Will I go back next year ? Hell yeah, for redemption and to prove to myself I can give the 12 hour a good tilt.
What will I do differently ? Just about everything. I’ll mentally prepare myself for a start, really want to finish and finish strong. The pace will be dialled in early and it’ll be sustainable. Jon will be running the 24 hour version so I can stay away from his suicidal pacing and finally I’ll avoid my home cooking as No1 Wife will be home, so no toilet stops ? I’m really looking forward to it, truth be told, but of course there are plenty of other fish to fry before I return to the LightHorse next year.
Confidence wise , mine took a beating of course. My first ever DNF hit me very hard, it’s taken me weeks to even think about typing this post. On the bright side I have taken so much from this , I will never take on an event unprepared and always give the ultra events the respect they deserve, not just turn up and think it’s may right to finish and finish high up the field and strong. In ultra running nothing can be taken for granted and just assuming you are going to go well on past performances is threat with danger. The only thing that semi-guarantee’s results is training, trust in your training not historical data from past experiences.
From the Sciene of Ultra website this paragraph sums up the while DNF thing for me .. https://www.scienceofultra.com/blog/zion100k
They say that the opposite of love is not hate, but rather indifference. That is exactly what I was experiencing. I was completely indifferent to the event. I didn’t love it or hate it, I just had no interest at all, indifference. I asked myself whether this was just frustration; it was not. I had been replaying all the times I’ve heard people say they regretted dropping out of a race and that their advice is to just walk if possible…finish it. But, finishing was not part of my reason for entering the race. I’ve completed 100k races before, with nearly twice the elevation change. I had nothing to prove with finishing. I knew I could finish and that held no absolutely no meaning to me. So, I dropped out.
I was totally indifferent to the event at three hours, I was not enjoying myself and the thought of another 9 hours filled me with dread. It was this I suppose which in the end made my decision for me. I was not in the race to finish but to podium or at least finish high up the field, when this started to slip away (when I DNF’d I was sitting 6th) the race held nothing for me.
‘You learn more from your failure than you do from your success‘, is that true, maybe. I have certainly spent more timing thinking about what happened and working on ways to make sure they never happen again, so from that point of view you do take more from failure. To sum up how early I pulled the pin on the race I ran 33k the next day at 4:37min/k pace , comfortably. Mentally I was in a better place and the legs felt great, imagine that after a 37k race I was running a quick long run faster than race pace. What a difference a day makes, or even a goodies night sleep. I’ve managed to string together a semi-reasonable few weeks which culminated in a 35:38 10k last week and this is a confidence booster with the Rottnest Marathon in two weeks. I certainly feel a lot better going into a race and distance I know and love and there will be no mental challenges on Rotto. (Bar the normal marathon ones of course?) The goal is to run sub 3 for the 7th time and set a new record which I currently share with Mark Page. ( The two of us have six sub3 Rottnest Marathon Finishes). For those of you who don’t know Mark Page has finished Comrades second on two occasions, which is a pretty big deal. He was a pretty handy runner in his time and set numerous records so to go one better than Mark will be a massive honour. Looking at my training I’m in with a shout and I’ll certainly give it my all.
I found a great article from Nic Errol, originally from Perth funnily enough, on his first DNF, far superior to mine. Worth a read people… https://nicerrol.com/2018/02/26/live-and-learn-anatomy-of-a-dnf/
Right it was good to get that post out of the way and I can continue to motivate rather than depress people. With what I have learnt from this race I hope to avoid writing ‘My second DNF’ for a very, very long time, remember I’m at the beginning of my career and time is my friend… yours in running…
Last week I spent most of my time watching 40 or so dots move along a map from Northcliffe to Great Southern Distillery Company, Albany, on the Bibbulmum track, a distance of nearly 350km’s. ( http://deliriouswest200miler.com.au ) The race started at Wednesday 7am and there was a 104 hour cut-off, yep you read that right, 104 hours !! There was a sweeper but it looked like he was more a pacer than a sweeper and the few people that did drop out where not ‘swept up‘ but chose to bail on their own terms for a number of very valid reasons. The scenery was stunning running along the West Australian coastline and the elevation was brutal, chuck in some serious heat and you have all the ingredients for a life changing experience. I was so close to entering so many times pre-event and in the end decided discretion was the better part of valour , at least for 2018 anyway. Watching the dots move along my screen (there was live tracking via a competitor and their ‘spot’ which was compulsory) I was very envious and regretted my decision but consoled myself with the knowledge that 2020 would be even bigger and maybe the 100 cap could be nudged, which meant more competitors and better racing.
Ultra running in WA is going through a bit of a boom at the moment with the Shaun Kaesler inspired Ultra Series WA ( http://ultraserieswa.com.au ) , the Perth Trail Series ( http://www.perthtrailseries.com.au ) as well as Ron McGlinns Australia Day Ultra ( http://australiadayultra.com ) and Dave Kennedy’s various events including the 6 inch ultra ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com ) ; there would probably be an ultra a month available if you were mad enough to take them all on. Of course the Delirious West is a step up from all of these events being over double the distance of the longest alternative but the stepping stone races are now available and you can work yourself up from 25k (from the Perth Trail Series) through the distances to the 335k (335k is an estimate; the final distance of the Delirious West will probably change annually on Shaun Kaesler’s whim; with the number probably always going up !) ) Delirious West main course.
Ultra running has some benefits as I have mentioned before in a post below, the main one being people are impressed by the longer you take and the distance. This means if you were to finish last you get more kudos than the eventual winner. Ultra’s really are the events that just keep giving…
Running has become more and more popular , not seen since the days of the Sony Walkman revolution of the early eighties when for the first time you could run with music. (To the young generation amongst us we used a thing called a ‘tape’, analog not digital music. ) People new to running inevitably join a running club or run with more experienced friends and before they know it they’ve signed up for their first race. This is a good thing as I believe you never push yourself as much as when the competitive juices start to flow with a racing bib on your chest. One thing leads to another and before too long you’ve entered your first half or full marathon.
Invariably this distance is conquered and you’ve informed all your friends via Facebook and normally your work colleagues via daily updates on your progress. The problem arises though when the marathon doesn’t seem to cut it for kudos like it use to. In the office there seems to be quite a few marathoners and worse most are faster than you. You start to get compared to John in accounts who ran sub3 or even Sheila in Purchasing who ran has ran 10 marathons while juggling family commitments and a busy career. So these days to get some real kudos it’s time to take this running to the next level, the ultra-marathon.
The ultra has the added benefit of the slower you run the more kudos you get, where as the marathon is, these days, about not only completing it but also setting a good time. Non runners are getting use to people telling them they’ve ran a marathon and have responded asking how long they took. Again they are wise to what they consider a good time and if you reply ‘4 hours’ they look at you with pity and ask ‘what went wrong’? Not so with the ultra-marathon. Because it is still not mainstream a non runner has no idea what a good or bad time is for an ultra and even if they did the distance can be varied to confuse them. Remember an ultra is anything longer than a marathon distance, it can be 42.3k upwards.
The ultra gets even better, they tend to be in far flung locations and have pretty serious titles, again earning kudos points. How good does an ‘ultra-marathon in Death Valley‘ sound. Death valley, c’mon, if that doesn’t get serious kudos around the drink fountain nothing will. Ok, Sheila from Purchasing has ran 10 marathons but she’s never ran an ultra-marathon in Death Valley. They have no idea where Death Valley is or even what an ultra-marathon is but who cares, you are now the running god in the office, someone who wouldn’t waste their time with silly ‘girl distance’ like marathons. The universe is realigned and you can ‘strut’ around the office yet gain.
The only downside to this new running adventure is the office folk then look to you for more and more longer distances and/or exotic locations. After your first ultra you can never repeat that distance as non-runners , although initially impressed , soon become impervious to distance running unless there is a serious upgrade or the location adds some spice. e.g. The Marathon Des Sable ( http://www.marathondessables.com/en/), the toughest footrace on Earth. ! ( ..On Earth? are they saying there’s a tougher footrace not on earth, the Moon 100k maybe? Now that would be worth talking about !??)
A word of warning of course, you may come across the non runner who knows a thing or two about ultra-running and while you strut around the office sprouting off about a 100k race on the local trails, basking in the adulation of the finance department, they walk past and grunt it was ‘no Marathon Des Sables’. Instantly your credibility is destroyed and you sneak off back to your desk plotting your next adventure.
So to sum up, an ultra marathon may fill the void in the office kudos states. It has the benefit of still being relatively hardcore, in the view of the uneducated, allows you to focus on distance and not time (to counter that nasty sub3 runner in Accounts) and even allows you to slow down and take your time as the longer you take will actually earn more brownie points. I won’t even start to mention the extra equipment you get to buy and use on ultra-marathons. The wardrobe options are endless and include camelbacks, gators, water belts and my mate Mark’s favourite, a cappuccino machine. ! (He doesn’t actually bring along a cappuccino machine but he wore a water belt once that had so many accessories he might as well have!) This can become more of a hindrance than a help as I always remember feeling my mate TB’s camelback at the end of the 6 inch ultra-marathon ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com ) and it must have weighted 10k; and that was at the END of the race not the beginning !!
The 6 inch is a good example of the small step up needed from the marathon distance. Remember anything longer than a marathon is classed an ultra. The 6 inch is 46k (assuming you don’t get lost, which I have on a number of occasions!), so for that extra 4k you get to shoot down Sheila in Purchasing as you’ve ran an ultra-marathon and ,as everybody knows , so much harder than the silly marathon…
So lookout Sheila, we’re coming for you ?
Am I mad enough to tackle the Delirious West in 2020 ? Hell yeah, I’m gutted I missed the inaugural running but I’m certainly looking to get to the start line next year. As soon as entries open I’m in, the only fly in the possible Delirious West ointment is the possibility that it will the same weekend as Daughter No2’s ball, I’m sure she’ll understand, eventually and the best bit is I have Daughter no3’s ball to go to assuming I don’t run the Delirious in 2025 ? (I am a creature of habit as I missed Daughter No1’s graduation meal when I was running the Rottnest Marathon!)
In WA at the moment we are blessed with a smorgasbord of ultra events put on by the Ultra Series WA ( http://ultraserieswa.com.au ) as well as the famous 6 inch ultra in December, ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com ) Dave Kennedy’s year ending event of choice. Looking at the Ultra Series WA website I found there’s also a four race Forest WA series as well as the races listed below. !! Thats 11 ultra events before you start to factor in the Perth Trails Series. ( http://www.perthtrailseries.com.au ) These guys have 17 events over the year, so now we’ve got nearly got 30 trail/ultra races in WA including a track ultra. How did this happen ? Five years ago WA was a desert of ultra running with the only oasis being the 6 inch ultra, which was in its infancy. Bernadette Benson then started the Trail Series but it was also in its infancy. There was the famous Hoka OneOne Kep Ultra which in my opinion had the possibility of becoming as big as the 6 inch is now but for the powers that be not granting the clearances needed. Rob Donkersloot ( http://whywalkwhen.com/ ) was another trailblazer of race directing in WA but his time was cut short by red tape !…
Now we are the shining light of ultra and trail racing in Australia and this was certainly the case when two of the biggest names in ultra racing, globally, have just entered the newest, and longest, WA ultra in its inaugural year.
The Delirious West is another brain child of Shaun Kaesler, the godfather of WA Ultra running. ( http://deliriouswest200miler.com.au ) A 200 mile (and then a few extra as Shaun is famous for adding on ‘free miles’, bless him!) trail run on the world famous Bibbulum track. To quote the webpage :
It is finally here!! After more than 18 months of planning, we are beaming with pride to welcome you all to Australia’s first annual point to point 200 Mile Trail event.
The Delirious W.E.S.T. is run almost entirely on the Bibbulmun Track in the South West and Great Southern regions of Western Australia from the old logging settlement of Northcliffe, to the Historic port city of Albany.
The event will take place from Wed 20 February with a 7am start time and with a 104hr cut off, runners will have until 3pm Sunday 24 February to make their way to the finish line at the Great Southern Distillery Company in Albany.
The Delirious will traverse you through some of the most remarkable forests, unforgiving coastal scrub, stunning beaches, water crossings and some of nature’s finest landscapes along the World Famous Bibbulmun track. Although not the vert of many of the other World’s great 200 Milers, don’t be fooled by its charming elevation profile as the Aussie landscape can be unrelenting in its punishment of unsuspecting victims!
So who is crossing the pond to come to this new event, well the one and only Catra Corbett for one and her bestie Candice Burt, ultra runner and race director of the ‘Triple Crown’ of ultra running. A prettier version of Shaun Kaesler in my opinion, sorry Shaun but it’s true. With these two already lined up for the event next February you are going to get some worldwide attention and I’m sure the 100 spots will start selling fast so I’d recommend start thinking about this bad-boy of an event sooner rather than later. I may even take the plunge myself, just got to persuade No1 Wife to let me spend four figures on a race entry!!
