On the 6th October I planned to run a 100 mile trail race. In the US and over-east trail running is a rapidly expanding displine for ultra marathoners. In America there are over a dozen 100 mile trail races and some even have waiting lists to get a run. In Australia there is the Glasshouse Mountains 100 miler and the Great North which has 11 bonus K's. However in WA trail running is a very low-key sport where we organise our own races and advertise them on the internet. This one was my baby and I designed the course so as to allow plenty of access for support crews and also regular opportunities to fill up hydration packs with water. When we ran a test event on the course last year it was agreed that the main loop was 66K. Thus 1K further than the 65K advertised due to a detour to the shop that we all agreed to take. Latest maps however showed the course was 61.3K plus a detour to the shop, making each lap 62K.
We started at 6am at Marrinup campgrounds. The first section of 4.65km to Dwelling just being a tack on to make up the 100 miles. Unfortunately the official map was well out on their distances. Running with a GPS, by 60 km I was aware that we had plenty of spare kms up our sleeve. The 65K loop mentioned on the website being much more accurate than the latest map.
This first section passed uneventfully. The main thing of note being that Michael was running much faster than planned. We had read each others’ race plans the night before. You can’t just go into a race like this cold. For starters, you need to consider what food you will eat. Whilst burning the equivalent of almost a week’s calories, most people find it very difficult to eat this much whilst running 161km.
My plan had been to run with Nathan practically the whole way. We would try and run 100km in 12 hours and then do plenty of walking during the night section to hopefully finish under 24 hours. Michael had each section planned out to the minute and if both timetables were successful he would overtake us about midnight. However, with Michael’s faster than anticipated pace we started out running together.
Leaving Dwellingup we had a series of mainly downhills leading to Nanga. Having recently finished a tougher 100 miler in 22.48 hours we decided to take Michael’s advice and walk the hills. This seemed somewhat slack, but walking is a part of ultra running and was inevitable at some stage. The decision to walk the hills gave us a mental and physical break every so often whilst also saving precious energy for the rest of the race.
Nanga was our first support stop where we would fill up with food and drink for the next section. I was practically right on time, with Nathan just behind and Michael behind him. Unfortunately my mum and Kate hadn’t shown up. I sat down beside the road. Michael had flown over from Sydney to do this race and now we had no support. I quickly devised an emergency plan. We would split up our food so that everyone had enough. At the top of the hill Nathan would ring on his mobile and get them to meet us further down the track. We’d started out along the track when Nathan announced that they’d arrived. I ran back to meet them and motioned for mum to drive towards us. It was a distressing moment, but I’ve realised that in ultras it’s the things that go wrong which make them memorable. (Like my headlamp debacles.)
Resupplied we walked up the steep hill out of Nanga, all back together again. By the time we hit a long road section Nathan had forged a small lead. I put in some effort to catch him and we ran together again. Shortly after Michael came past and we wondered what had happened to the race plan. He could be in line for an exceptionally fast time.
Back on trails at last, we ran through the bush wondering if we’d see Michael again before Sunday morning. Eventually we caught him and great timing too as he’d just missed a poorly marked turn. We ran together for about 5 km into the shop as Nathan mused he may have bitten off more than he could chew.
Having run a 100km trail race back in April I was keen to not waste too much time at the refuelling stations. I sent Nathan into the shop to buy us each a sausage roll while I filled our hydration packs. He meanwhile had some blisters to attend to. Michael was ready to go and it was time for the decision I’d been discussing with Nathan earlier. He suggested he was unlikely to finish and suggested I run with Michael. I thought it was the best option and walked down to Waroona Dam eating my sausage roll. Having finished eating I ran ahead to Michael who was walking whilst waiting for me to catch up. For the next few hours we walked and ran together. By the time we reached Willowdale Rd our distance ahead of scheduled had ballooned out to 4km. I made the decision to take the shortest route possible. I told Michael and meant to tell Kate to pass the message onto Nathan, but unfortunately I forgot. This meant skipping 1km detours to Bidjar Ngoulin hut on both laps as well as skipping the 700m detour to the shop on lap 2.
Meanwhile just as we arrived at Willowdale, Mark our night support, showed up. It was arranged that he would meet us 6km down the track at the next crossing. Already fully loaded for a potential 28km run back to Nanga I wished I had followed Michael’s lead and left my hydration pack with the support crew. It was at this stage that my shoulders started to feel the strain of carrying a pack too, but fortunately I was able to clip up my chest strap which made it much more comfortable. Without his pack Michael flew down the 6km section. I just tried to keep him in sight aware that he’d be taking a longer break up the road.
We arrived at the crossing, Zig Zag Rd, and Michael was about 100meteres in front. It was here that we were offered the luxury of chairs to sit in for the first time. Mark had been intending to run the first 50 mile lap until injury curtailed his plans just a week prior. He was living the event through us and made every effort to help us get safely to the finish.
Leaving Zig Zag Rd we had 21km without access until we reached Nanga campsite and halfway. Following Michael’s plan of just walking the hills we would be in for a long run as 9km was downhill before undulating towards our next stop. All the downhill running which I find most difficult started to wear me down and I was just holding on to Michael until, Bel, my wife, ran out to meet me about 75km. I’d almost given up on seeing her and told Michael so and immediately she came around the corner towards us. The 3 of us ran together for a little while before I let Michael go. I did hold some hope that I’d be able to catch him at Nanga when he rested. As Bel dropped back with me I shared how I had just been hanging on to Michael until she arrived and was not feeling that great. She offered to pray for me which I accepted. Very soon I felt fine. My aching feet didn’t hurt anymore and I was feeling a lot more positive. When we came out into the campsite I picked up the pace til Bel was struggling to hang on. Some smaller but steep hills I would have been walking 5 minutes earlier, I charged up as if they were flat. Maybe I could catch Michael after all and prevent each other getting lost between 108km and 121 km where the track was a little hard to follow in the dark.
I arrived at Nanga and sat in a chair for a quick rest. Michael was doing the same and it was obvious he wasn’t doing the best. Without warning he had a spew. His apparent issue was a lack of salt, but having already drunk about 4 powerades I shouldn’t be having the same problem. With friends and family gathering supplies for me I was able to sit with my daughter on my knee and eat rice crackers. After probably about 10 minutes I was keen to get going again. I asked Michael if he was ready to go. After trying to keep up with his frenetic pace in a pit-lane throughout the day it was now me raring to go. He decided he needed a toilet stop and I said I’d see him later that night.
Refuelled and rejuvenated I set out walking up the big hill in front of me. It was a good opportunity to drink another powerade too. I’d been persuaded to put some warmer clothes on and I’d grabbed my headlamp. The sun was going down during the next section and the real action would start. Once Michael got away Mark drove to the top of the hill to keep an eye on him during the next long bitumen section. When I first saw Mark he said I’d left 10 minutes before Michael. When I saw him again my lead was out to 12 minutes. I was told after the race that during this section my lead got down to just 1km.
As always I was keen to get back on the trail and off the road and I had about 10 minutes of daylight left. Trying to save my batteries for as long as possible, after negotiating some narrow trails I ran up the gravel road in the near dark looking out for the turn we had almost missed on the first lap. Eventually finding it I spat two little pools of water on the road, my marker to Michael not to miss this turn again. I turned on my headlamp to run down the trail to Waroona Dam. I was still feeling great when I ran into Kate and Nathan on a short road section before the shop. Nathan told me he’d pulled out at 86km or the end of lap one, he didn’t want to finish in the dark. But I was glad, I’d been worried Kate wouldn’t see me at the shop and she had all my food and ICE COFFEE.
I don’t often drink caffeine but I find that it helps so much in the later stages of an ultra. For the 100 miler I decided to wait until 100km before having any. With no detour to the shop on the second lap I’d asked Kate to buy me an iced coffee. She’s got me a 1L extra strong. During the next 10 hours I would drink that, two V black cans andd take 2 espresso energy gus – equivalent to another percolated coffee. When I finally made it back to the caravan park at about 7am, I was way too wired to go to sleep and with Kate we went out to follow Michael through the last 10km.
Not expecting to see Kate at the dam and having had quite at feed at Nanga, and developed a stitch, I’d changed my planned meal to stop to just caffeine and snacks. I would eat another toasted sandwich walking through the single track where I was worried about getting lost at about 116km. I sat drank my iced coffee and then was off. Kate was going to meet me before I headed bush again so I took the opportunity to run without my hydrations pack for 3km.
The following section was the one I was most worried about getting lost in. There was about 1km of single track in fairly open bush and very few markers of the non-reflective variety. I made the decision well in advance to walk this part. As I t-ed onto a wider track, I revelled in the soft sand enjoying the change in surface. I knew I had a long uphill coming up so I ran all the way to it’s base. The night was dark with no moon at all. I’d run about 108km and as I walked up the hill I tried to remain focussed. I allowed myself a few quick looks at the stars but really wanted as much as possible to pretend it was daylight, which it was in the small glow of my headlamp. We’d taken 17 minutes to walk this hill earlier in the day so I timed my ascent again. I was happy with 19 minutes as I spent much of it drinking powerade and enjoying the rest.
The next few kms are downhill and I quickly began running again aiming to run all the way to the river below before having a snack and a walk. Once running again I was regularly encountering small hills. Whilst earlier we had been walking these I convinced myself that hills are easier in the dark because you can’t see how steep they are, so I kept running until a large hill leading up to the conveyor belt. I decided to have a gu to keep the energy levels up but still save room for a toasted sandwich not far ahead. As I walked up squeezing the contents into my mouth I found myself at the top already turning the corner. It was like the body was on auto pilot as I didn’t even know I’d reached the turn. Once again I cautiously walked the single track. I was now nearly at my next stop and very keen for a sit-down and some food. Arriving at Willowdale, however, I took my sandwich with me whilst walking through the last single track section before Nanga. I ran a few hundred metres carrying it until the road turned into a narrow track and I ate and walked. I finished it with some track to spare and then must have missed a turn because I came out on the Munda Biddi further south than I should have during the event. Fortunately I knew this place by the colour of the signs and was able to head back the right way. Finding the place I should have emerged I realised I’d only lost 200-metres. However, a little while later Michael was to run an extra 7km here and cost himself any chance of a win or sub 24 hour time.
I got back out to Willowdale Rd and had another short break. Was still feeling good and looking to have a proper break just before doing the 21K section with no access. Heading north from Willowdale Rd there is some single track and a long downhill section before another section along a gravel backroad. As I was running down the gravel road I started running more and more hills. Then Kate and Nathan appeared from in front when I was expecting to see them coming from behind. They were a little lost so I arranged to meet them at the next track crossing. I also used the oppportunity to save my headlamp for awhile and ran alongside the car while we were discussing our plans for the rest of the night.
At the crossing I had another quick sit down. Mark had suggested bringing some chairs earlier in the week and I had foolishly thought that I wouldn't be needing them as I was keeping rests to a minimum. Thankfully he had brought some along anyway. I'd since arranged to borrow one to go in Kaye's car as the gap between myself and Michael was now too large for the two cars to stay together. It was now only about 4K until Zig Zag Rd where I would be left in the dark by myself for the 21K run into Nanga. Sometime during the night I'd put thermals on over my skins and under my shirt. The wind blowing across the dam wall had been fierce and I'd even borrowed a jacket for the trip along it's length. In the bush it was alright because the trees blocked a lot of the wind, however whenever I stopped I would pull a jacket over myself to keep warm.
The course to Zig Zag Rd was all runable and I got there quite quickly. Meanwhile Michael appeared to be missing. Mark had called Nathan on his mobile and as soon as I was away heading to Nanga, Nathan was off to try and find him. I sat in the car because the wind was blowing down Zig Zag Rd. Nathan filled my bag with water to get through at least 3 hours. Then to go with all the snacks I had he stuffed two toasted sandwiches into my bag too. It was quite weighty but not too much trouble. I'd arrived at midnight and was away at 12.10am. I told them to meet me at Nanga at 3am and try and get their car in there so they could sleep by the track. The other option was to don all the warm clothes and walk the 500m in. If I was late or early this option wouldn't be much fun.
I'd left Zig Zag Rd keen to run until the top of the big hill. It was then 9K downhill and I'd give myself something to eat and psych myself up for the long descent. The climb to the top wasn't steep so I was able to run the whole way. After a short break I started running again but the extra impact of running downhill was making my light beam bounce all over the place. This in turn was making me dizzy and destroying my focus of trying to stay awake. I tried running a few times but 10 seconds was a big effort to maintain concentration. I decided that I would just powerwalk for awhile. Intially I made good pace. I knew that if I kept an eye out I would see the turn off to an overnight hut built along the track. This was almost exactly halfway to Nanga. When I arrived right on time I found a bank to sit on and closed my eyes for a short break. Resting the eyes can really help even just for a few seconds and I'd had a steely focus since the single-track about 108K just making sure I remained awake and didn't injure myself. I had something to eat and was aware that I'd probably be walking until Nanga.
As I walked on my light started to get less and less effective. Despite having spare batteries and a spare headlamp it didn't really occur to me to change either. By the time I eventually reached the bottom of the hill I was using the bushes on the edge of the track to help me make my way. The leaf litter showed a much better reflection than the track which was quite dark in spots.
I was aware that there were plenty of pot holes on the track near Nanga and despite trying to avoid these I stumbled on at least two I didn't see. Around this time I stopped to get something to eat. As I looked down at my headlamp beam it started to fade. "There go my batteries" I thought, then I also felt myself falling backwards. " Hang On", I told my body, "You can rest tommorrow". I had a coffee bar I had been carrying around with me and made sure I stayed focussed. Michael would be the next person along here and he was now over 2 hours behind. Not a good time to pass out. Eventuallly the undulating hills ceased which was a sign that we were almost at Nanga. As I walked on I spotted headlights coming my way. This was either a crazy 4 wheel driver or Nathan coming looking for me. I was delighted that it was Nathan and walked on whilst waiting for him to turn around. When he caught up again I arranged for him to drive behind while I started running again. It was now 4am and the 3 hour rest had done me good. I ran all the way into Nanga and then Nathan set up a chair for me while I re-fuelled on water and food. I had my last V and was aware that it would be light before I arrived in Dwellingup.
When Nathan had arrived I'd taken my headlamp off and given it to him to carry. It wasn't until I saw the dull beam that it became obvious that it was the batteries that were at fault. In fact the event out-lasted many a battery. Michael eventually finished using his third GPS as the batteries had given out on the others. I put Nathan's headlamp on and was delighted with the result. I asked for a lift up to the toilet about 500m away. As we were driving I reflected that it was a little disappointing that I'd probably now go through 100 miles in 24.20. While I was getting organised though a thought materialised, "I could normally do this easily", as I thought about the 12.5K to the new 100 mile point.
We ran into Mark as we returned to the track. I was glad that Michael was still going strong but was now also anxious that I needed to get going, my lead was out to 3 hours with Michael getting lost.
As the run from Nanga to Dwellingup is basically uphill I knew there wouldn't be time for walking the hills. My plan was to give myself a couple of minutes warm-up and then just go for it. As I ran towards the footbridge a dog barked at me from the campsite. I hoped very much that it was tied up and thought about when I last camped out here I had left my dog off until he just barked too much and I'd let him sleep in the car. Once past the dog I let my thoughts hone in on the run at hand. 12.5K in 1.37 was the task in front of me. The new headlamp was an inspiration with it's bright, wide beam and I took advantage powering up the gradual incline. As the hills steepened I kept running hard. The pace wasn't fast so I had no breathing difficulties and my legs had long ceased hurting. I felt like I was going 5 min/K, maybe faster. The track was tight with bushes coming in from each side. It wasn't too narrow but resmebled a finishing chute. I raced up and down little hills for what seemed like forever, I was enjoying it though, loving it in fact. I raced through a fork in the tracks. I knew I had to stay left so I didn't even slow down, eventually I saw a confirmation arrow. Coming through this section a few months previously I been keenly watching out for termite mounds. Now I knew they grew in the middle of the track so I just stayed to one side.
Soon I was out on the river road. Hours (well almost a day) earlier this section had been stunning, now there was just a hint of morning in the sky and I had no time to enjoy the view anyway. I remembered this section being hilly but fairly short. A quick glance at the watch said I was on track. I'd told Nathan to meet me at the next road in one hour but I really wanted to be quicker if I was to go sub 24. As I raced on the road just wouldn't arrive. At last I found myself running up a large hill. This had to be it as the road crossing was atop a hill. I pushed up and the hill got steeper and longer. Soon I was thinking this was a joke, I've never run up a hill this bad despite having done this section 3 times previous. Near the top I spotted an arrow. What a relief, I thought I would have to make my own way out to the road.
I ran down towards Nathan's car taking my bumbag off as I went. I was lightening up for the last ~5K to the 100 mile mark. Then I would have 4.5K to the finish but this didn't worry me I could do that as slow as I liked. Asleep in the car, I woke Nathan up. I then asked him to pop the boot. Fumbling around for a coffee gu to get me through to the finish I gave up and took my hydration pack off. There was one in there somewhere. I chucked handfuls of things into my food box, "There it was". I refastened my pack and said goodbye. As I ran I sucked out the coffee flavoured gu. 1K downhill to rest and then a long uphill before I started the trail to the finish. I manged to run the whole hill finding out later from the map that it is 1.45K. After a false alarm I spotted the track crossing. It was light now. I still had my headlamp on but as I crossed the road I turned it off.
Towards the top of the hill it started to hurt. I'd been running as fast as I could for an hour now on top of my 149K warm-up. Hitting the last section of bush trail I was aware there was a big hill to come. If my memory was right I had some time up my sleeve now so I walked up. It was super steep but only about 300m long. I ran on for a bit and there was another twin peak. I ran some and then stopped to walk. All this walking wasn't good for the nerves. I was starting to worry I wouldn't get there in time. As the top approached I got going again. Steep down and then steep up was the pattern the next 3K would follow. The uphills were starting to hurt but the descents were worse as the pounding increased through sore joints and muscles. I ploughed onward nevertheless. I could almost feel the finish now. Finally there it was the flat straight leading to Linto road, the place I had fallen running in the dark a few months back. I looked at my watch "23.50" it said, I was a sub 24 hour 100 mile runner. I even thought I could crawl from here, but didn't need to. As I ran up to the road I felt victorious but unfortunately Kate and Nathan were asleep and didn't witness it. I banged on the car and saluted my performance. Nathan bounced out and congratulated me. He grabbed a camera to take the happy snap but unfortunately couldn't get it to work. Eventually figuring the thing out he asked me to run back and retrace my steps. "Don't worry" I said. I still had 4.5K to go and was keen to finish.
As soon as I hit the road I stopped to a walk. This was the place I'd worked out was 100 miles and I'd made it there in 23.51:07. Heading towards Dwellingup along Linto Rd there is a long and steep climb. I'd promised myself I could walk this and I did, but as soon as I started walking my feet began complaining very loudly. I walked the hill grimacing with almost every step. Nathan drove past telling me he'd see me at the next road. That was only a K ahead and I now thought I wouldn't mind a quick sit-down before finishing. After almost 15 minutes of slow walking, much uphill, I was looking on River Rd, but there was no Nathan. "Oh well I thought", "this is how you're supposed to feel at the end of a 100 miler", "not how I'd felt for the last 75K". I walked on. The next crossing was 2.5K. The pain had become so intense now I was almost grinding my teeth. I had nothing to take my mind off it now. I had no food, it was all in the car. I tried to run, it couldn't hurt anymore. It just didn't feel right so I stopped and continued my death march. It was still satisfying though, this was how I expected to feel at this stage anyway.
As I approached the last hill, 1K long, the rural numbering system began and so I timed myself to check my walking pace. I was just quicker than 4K/hour which was suprisingly quick compared to how slow it felt. Up at Pinjarra/Williams Rd Kate and Nathan were parked and waiting. By now I'd decided all I wanted was my pack of cherries. Apparently they have a natural muscle-pain reliever so I started eating. Within a few minutes the pain had eased so maybe they worked or maybe my body just quit sending pain signals as they weren't stopping me. It was now just 1 flat K to the finish. I thought about running but decided to just enjoy it eating my cherries.
I walked into Dwellingup Caravan Park and as I approached the pole which was the finishing line Nathan took about 3 or 4 photos, obviously making up for the missed shot at the 100 mile mark. Total time was 24.54.11.
Michael finally finished in 27.20. His 173K was a little too much for him as his achilles reacted angrily in the last few K. We sat around together the 5 of us, Nathan, Kate, Mark, Michael and myself and shared some stories from the night. What a race. I had only wanted to do "one" before playing footy again next year, but I couldn't imagine not doing another now, it was too much fun.
In the week leading up to the race I had memorised 4 verses from the Bible to help me through, for no particular reason other than because I was thinking about the race and the bible happened to be opened in front of me. I think this last verse sums up my feelings about the race the best:
"everyone who is called by my name" - As CHRIST-ians we are given God's name because we belong to him in very much the same way as a wife takes on her husbands name.
"whom I created for my glory" - God created me with the physical and mental desire and ability to run 100 miles in a day. In doing so I believe I reflect his glory and the greatness of his favourite creation - humans.
"whom I formed and made." - Here he repeats his involvement in our creation for the 2nd & 3rd time. He obviously takes a keen interest and I think enjoys running along with you.
