Perth 12 Hour Track Race
Day dawns bright and clear, not cool but an absence of warmth which has been our companion for the last week.
Race starts and we set off in a pack running about 5.30/k. Susannah Harvey-Jamieson drifts off the back. Nathan and I are in front with Steve and Dan just behind.
I’m cruising around having Endura every 30 minutes and food and water every 30 minutes, alternating so I’m taking something every 15 minutes.
All is well as 50K comes in 4.58. 5.15 is Endura time and I’m looking forward to sunscreen and a sit-down at 6 hours. 5.20 to 6 hours is 40 minutes not 10 minutes away. I was thinking it was 5.45 Endura time. I’m quite disappointed. It’s heating up, I’m still running but Nathan begins to establish a lead.
Dan is walking regularly now, support crew at his side. Steve has planned 20K in 2hrs then 8k/hr for 100K. I’ve had a chat with all except Susannah who has headphones on running her own race.
Mike arrives to lap score for me. Rolf has done a great job. Bernadette has been racing around keeping me cool which makes a big difference in this weather. It was hard work crewing. At one point Bernadette comments that she needs electrolytes just crewing
and she’s sweating after our 1 lap chat. The breeze is enough to keep me dry but when I stop each 2hrs to apply sunscreen I’m wet with perspiration.
Nathan stays just in front until lap 178. We planned to run together for the first 6hours but I haven’t seen him in ages. With similar running speeds and different nutrition arrangements when one of us stops we seem to stay half a lap apart.
Once the 6 hour starts my plan is to run with Rob. Unfortunately after he legs it to catch up with me I’m due to step off the track to apply sunscreen. When I get going again I quickly join Rob and he drags me up to 6 min k’s. After a while Jon joins us and we’re cruising around having a chat 3 wide. I’m on the inside so life is good. A good song comes on over the PA and the others oblige me by picking up the pace so we can hear it better. It doesn’t feel too bad going faster and having company the time goes quicker.
Around 7 hours I realize it’s cooling down. It may still be 35C but it’s only going to get cooler now. I’m taking on all the positive feed back I can get. I’m doing some singing when inspired, friends and strangers aren’t complaining. I’ve begun to really enjoy this track run. Most of my friends are here and I’m doing what I love. Also the sun will be going down soon and I can take my shirt off. I love running at night.
80K comes up in 8.20. I need to do 4 55 minute 10K’s. I end up doing 4 55 minute 9.6K’s. At 9 hours or 6pm the 3 hour gets underway. It’s still really hot. We’ve been playing guess how hot it is. My prediction was 35C at 3pm and dropping 1C every hour from then. The wind has died down. Official reading was calm at 8 & 9pm.
Bound for Glory the Angry Anderson song comes on over the PA and I’m sharing the joy of the lyric "as the pain made me strong". I’ve started filling my hat with ice and pouring ice cold water on myself. It feels great although the ice is a bit too cold in my hat. It’s great to think I won’t have to put sunscreen on again. About 5 pm I start pouring water on my arms as well, the UV should be low enough to keep my skin safe. I’m still doing good song fartlek and playing count the airplanes flying overhead, 18 is my final count, though I lose interest when I start to run faster.
With 2 hours to go I need 24.4K to reach 300 laps. It seems a bit tough but after my 12K win the weekend before I know I’ve got heaps of speed. I can always steal a few laps in the final dash for the line. I try and jump on the back of one of the 3 hour runners. Unfortunately he is going too fast and I only last 3 laps.
100k comes up in 10.22. 1.38 seems quick to run 20K at this stage. I’ve been discussing how long since we’ve peed with Dan. It’s been 3-4 hours. When I feel the urge with 80 minutes remaining I take this as a good sign. Renal failure has been averted. After my last walk lap I head to the toilets. When I emerge I feel like I might have blown my chance. I’ve only done 1 lap in the last 7 minutes. I take off my shirt so now I’m clad as I would be for a speed session. Off I go.
The rest of the race is pure running. No stops, no walks. Lap splits are all over the place as quick as 4 minutes a K as slow as 6.30/k with most around 5 min/k. I haven’t given up hope of 120K. As I hit 11 hours I need 13.2K and I’m going for it.
The numbers I’m given suggest I need 6.8k in the last half an hour but I’m trashed. I decide to just cruise until 20minutes to go. This cruising is around 2 min/lap but somehow with 19 minutes to go I still need 13 laps. I time 13 laps when I do tempo runs and my best is 19.13. It’s all over for 120k and I revise to 297 laps. My cruising now is slower and before long I have to up the ante to secure 296 laps. I pick it up needing to run just under 4min for the last 2 laps. I run 3.30 and almost steal 118.5 in the final sprint. 9 meters short but I’m happy and very nauseous all of a sudden.
Race starts and we set off in a pack running about 5.30/k. Susannah Harvey-Jamieson drifts off the back. Nathan and I are in front with Steve and Dan just behind.
I’m cruising around having Endura every 30 minutes and food and water every 30 minutes, alternating so I’m taking something every 15 minutes.
All is well as 50K comes in 4.58. 5.15 is Endura time and I’m looking forward to sunscreen and a sit-down at 6 hours. 5.20 to 6 hours is 40 minutes not 10 minutes away. I was thinking it was 5.45 Endura time. I’m quite disappointed. It’s heating up, I’m still running but Nathan begins to establish a lead.
Dan is walking regularly now, support crew at his side. Steve has planned 20K in 2hrs then 8k/hr for 100K. I’ve had a chat with all except Susannah who has headphones on running her own race.
Mike arrives to lap score for me. Rolf has done a great job. Bernadette has been racing around keeping me cool which makes a big difference in this weather. It was hard work crewing. At one point Bernadette comments that she needs electrolytes just crewing
and she’s sweating after our 1 lap chat. The breeze is enough to keep me dry but when I stop each 2hrs to apply sunscreen I’m wet with perspiration.
Nathan stays just in front until lap 178. We planned to run together for the first 6hours but I haven’t seen him in ages. With similar running speeds and different nutrition arrangements when one of us stops we seem to stay half a lap apart.
Once the 6 hour starts my plan is to run with Rob. Unfortunately after he legs it to catch up with me I’m due to step off the track to apply sunscreen. When I get going again I quickly join Rob and he drags me up to 6 min k’s. After a while Jon joins us and we’re cruising around having a chat 3 wide. I’m on the inside so life is good. A good song comes on over the PA and the others oblige me by picking up the pace so we can hear it better. It doesn’t feel too bad going faster and having company the time goes quicker.
Around 7 hours I realize it’s cooling down. It may still be 35C but it’s only going to get cooler now. I’m taking on all the positive feed back I can get. I’m doing some singing when inspired, friends and strangers aren’t complaining. I’ve begun to really enjoy this track run. Most of my friends are here and I’m doing what I love. Also the sun will be going down soon and I can take my shirt off. I love running at night.
80K comes up in 8.20. I need to do 4 55 minute 10K’s. I end up doing 4 55 minute 9.6K’s. At 9 hours or 6pm the 3 hour gets underway. It’s still really hot. We’ve been playing guess how hot it is. My prediction was 35C at 3pm and dropping 1C every hour from then. The wind has died down. Official reading was calm at 8 & 9pm.
Bound for Glory the Angry Anderson song comes on over the PA and I’m sharing the joy of the lyric "as the pain made me strong". I’ve started filling my hat with ice and pouring ice cold water on myself. It feels great although the ice is a bit too cold in my hat. It’s great to think I won’t have to put sunscreen on again. About 5 pm I start pouring water on my arms as well, the UV should be low enough to keep my skin safe. I’m still doing good song fartlek and playing count the airplanes flying overhead, 18 is my final count, though I lose interest when I start to run faster.
With 2 hours to go I need 24.4K to reach 300 laps. It seems a bit tough but after my 12K win the weekend before I know I’ve got heaps of speed. I can always steal a few laps in the final dash for the line. I try and jump on the back of one of the 3 hour runners. Unfortunately he is going too fast and I only last 3 laps.
100k comes up in 10.22. 1.38 seems quick to run 20K at this stage. I’ve been discussing how long since we’ve peed with Dan. It’s been 3-4 hours. When I feel the urge with 80 minutes remaining I take this as a good sign. Renal failure has been averted. After my last walk lap I head to the toilets. When I emerge I feel like I might have blown my chance. I’ve only done 1 lap in the last 7 minutes. I take off my shirt so now I’m clad as I would be for a speed session. Off I go.
The rest of the race is pure running. No stops, no walks. Lap splits are all over the place as quick as 4 minutes a K as slow as 6.30/k with most around 5 min/k. I haven’t given up hope of 120K. As I hit 11 hours I need 13.2K and I’m going for it.
The numbers I’m given suggest I need 6.8k in the last half an hour but I’m trashed. I decide to just cruise until 20minutes to go. This cruising is around 2 min/lap but somehow with 19 minutes to go I still need 13 laps. I time 13 laps when I do tempo runs and my best is 19.13. It’s all over for 120k and I revise to 297 laps. My cruising now is slower and before long I have to up the ante to secure 296 laps. I pick it up needing to run just under 4min for the last 2 laps. I run 3.30 and almost steal 118.5 in the final sprint. 9 meters short but I’m happy and very nauseous all of a sudden.
posted by dave at 5:54 AM
1 Comments:
Congratulations on an outstanding effort that day. Knew when we saw that result from you and also Nathans 112km that big things were on offer for you both if you can keep the momentum going forward from here. Maybe the Waterous 20 hour effort contributed to this result a bit, or maybe it was more to do with training close to the event, whatever it is, keep doing whatever you were doing before this event, it was working!!!
Enjoyed doing a few laps with you and Rob. Sure was hot that day, first few hours was a struggle to survive for us soft ones in the 6 hour. I think your singing would benefit from some vocal training. Bound for glory is a good song, and was awesome to have tunes like that pumping out as we ran. I'm famous I finally got a mention on offroadwa! yay!
More paragraph breaks and maybe a photo or two would make this a more pleasurable reading experience.
Incredible race, well done Nathan!, Incredible result from yourself. Bernadette and Rolf showed what they could do. Having Susannah HJ there was awesome, and the 35 degrees clearly helped her successful Badwater finish later in the year!!! No 120k this time, but its there for the taking in 2011/2012 maybe...Sure is under a major airport flight path there...
Congratulations,what can you do in 2011!
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