Are we having fun yet?

Holland World 24HR Champs

It's not often you get to run for your country and this year's race my 3rd I was hoping for something big. My training had been better than ever and there was no doubt that I was fitter than ever. A few injury concerns had me worried in the last few weeks but a trip to Nicky Goodfellow for a massage, the physio and my sponsors at Falcon Chiro had me put back together and ready to run. Race day dawned wet and windy. I'm not sure I've ever written those words before. The one ultra I remember starting in the rain I didnt make it to halfway before pulling out. Anyway it would be the same for everyone and I was well prepared with full wet-weather gear. I decided to start in my long skins and would therefore possibly make it through the race without needing to change my bottom half (requiring the removal of shoes and a sit down). It was cold when we made it to the start and I quickly mixed up some drinks and got into my shoes and long sleeve top which I decided to wear under my Aussie uniform. Unfortunately with 15 minutes to go I was pushing it to get to the start, about 500m from our aid station tent, in time. I skipped the final toilet stop I was planning and resigned myself with the fact I would need to go in the first few laps. After a brilliant pep talk from captain John Pearson the Aussie team were go. However in the throng of 300 people we had lost Bernadette. Sure enough approaching the urinals about 3K in I did the inevitable and stopped for a toilet stop. The race organizers had employed a system of semi-private 4 man peeing poles. I was perhaps the first to use these unique contraptions and when the Aussie men past me whilst I was about my business I received a loud cheer. The race went virtually to plan during the first 6 hours. I would alternate between liquid and solid food every lap. My liquids alternated between Perpetuem and ginger beer and for the solids I started out on muesli bars before switching to alternating between half a gel and 4 Pringles about 3 hours in. Starting with ginger beer had my stomach feeling good and even confused Rolf, my crew man, as I told him I would probably ditch solid food for a few hours around this time. These races are run on your stomach so a sound stomach during my usual troublesome hours was a real confidence boost. However these races are also run on your legs and before I hit 6 hours spot on the required 63K my legs were feeling much worse than I would have liked in these early hours. I had hoped to save the painkillers for the 2nd half and was quite keen to avoid Neurofen all together unless requiring anti-inflammatories. The course which consisted of pavers for half of each 2.3K loop was beating my legs up. What was I to do? I wanted to pull out but that wasn't an option so I prayed. I decided just before 9 hours that some caffeine and my Ipod could get me through to until 1am and Panadol o'clock. Putting the Ipod on I lost a few minutes but the inspiration was immediate. I shed a few tears as I worshipped God to some great Christian tunes. I was so grateful to be out of pain and back in with a shot of 240K. My 2nd lap with the Ipod was my first lap under 12 minutes. I was flying and with my new wings and perhaps the effects of the caffeine I was no longer even hurting. And then the rain came. Looking at my lap times graph it is obvious when I put the Ipod on. There is a small valley of significantly quicker times. Looking at the graph though I can also see where I decided to take it off rather than risk drowning it. With walk and change breaks it's hard to see exactly how long I had it on, between 3 & 5 laps. Once it came off my times slowly started to blow out. I went through 100K in around 9:44, from memory about 5 minutes quicker than Wales where I ran my PB. The next couple of hours I soldiered on. Happy in the knowledge that I was still on track for 240K and knowing that when the rain stopped I could get my magic music back. Then I got my usual 12 hour split of 118K. I have now done it 3 times in a row. Throw in one fresh in a 12 hour and a 119 in the back half of Wales and I'm thoroughly sick of this number. I was despondent. Gone in my opinion was any chance of a 240K run my "C" goal and I couldn't get excited about running a negative split for even a tiny PB. Slower running because of my lack of inspiration had brought me back to my pain cave and it didn't even seem the team needed me with 3 Aussie men still in front of me and running well. With the rain pouring down after a few laps of run/walk I started walking. Normally I am very disciplined in a 24 and will only walk on my scheduled laps or times but I was spent. I no longer had a plan except waiting for the rain to stop. A few times I attempted to run feeling embarrassed at my pathetic effort but my rain hood pulled down on my head irritating my neck. I tried some Panadol and a caffeine tablet. It was little use. I walked in the rain grabbing a cup of soup from the aid station each lap to try and ward off hypothermia. Although I would've probably welcomed it at this stage I could sense that soon it might turn around. My despondency was such that I even ate some foods I would never normally touch in a race, sultanas and bananas. Their fibre and fructose, often my nemesis, could see me needing to make unwelcome toilet stops. Finally after 5 cups of soup and feeling quite thirsty from all the salt Allison got me running again. I think we did about 2 laps together before Ewan came past and I decided to pick up the pace and run with him. I managed a couple of laps before nature called and I was forced to let him go. Then came the moment that changed my race. When I arrived in Bergen op Zoom, where we had our accommodation 15K from the Steenbergen race course, I was wondering around trying to find where to commence my 3K walk to the Athlete's Village when I spotted a fit looking guy in a team USA tracksuit. We chatted for about 5 minutes whilst he waited for some teammates and I liked his enthusiasm. His name was Jon Olsen and as a member of the US 100K team the previous year he would be one to watch. Come race day Jon lapped me a number of times early on and I said Gday and one time suggested I might do a few laps with him later on. One time as he flew past I was in a world of pain and he cheekily asked if I was up for a few laps yet. I could barely force a smile in response but when he came past about 3:30am or 15.5 hours in I was ready. I quickly tacked on and suggested I take at least some of my allocated "few" laps with him now. I didn't think I would last long as he was leading and still running strong but I hoped to use him to drag me up to Ewan and help him through a rough patch. Almost immediately I was back at my early race pace of about 5:30/k. It actually felt ok too. After 3 or 4 laps I caught Ewan who was having some problems in the tent. I told Jon I hoped to see him soon and went back to run/walking, directionless without someone to run with. After a couple of hours of up and mainly down laps Jon came past again. I was now feeling strong and quickly realised I now had the ability to stay with him for awhile. The rain had finally stopped and as we ran a series of quick laps I started to warm up. Jon needed a pit-stop and I took advantage by surging ahead racing into the tent and quickly removing my waterproof pants. I emerged just in time to join him and we were away again. After about an hour this stint I fell off the back wishing Jon luck as he continued to increase his race lead. Between 20 and 22 hours I was very up and down running some fast laps and some slow ones. When I took a walk break at this stage rather than losing 30 seconds as I did in the first few hours I was losing 3 minutes plus even though I was usually walking the same section as earlier. I had increased my revised goal from 200K to 210K. Whilst I was running with Jon I had even mentioned pushing on for 220,but I didnt think I could push that hard for that long. I was enjoying belting out songs singing along to my Ipod and also having chats to my friends from previous years. There was a lot of carnage on the course. The brutal conditions taking their toll. I had another run with Jon but he was now tired and conversation was difficult. I spent some time with him and fellow American Harvey telling them about the dangers of drop bears. Then with little fanfare I started pushing the pace. Initially I was hoping to get 210K in the bag so that I could enjoy the last hour. At 22 hours though I was worried. 220 was too close to ignore. What's more though it would take my biggest 2 hours of the race to get there. I resolved to just run. I could re-assess with an hour to go and hopefully just cruise in to 210. With little over an hour to the finish though I was given a rude shock. Stopping for a brief pit-stop Bernadette roared past. I saw her in the distance and as we approached the timing mat the scoreboard informed me she was now less than a lap behind and obviously finishing fast. I was going to get beaten by plenty of girls but this was personal. Bernadette is a friend and we both live in WA. First West Aussie was up for grabs. As I chased her down I went through 5 laps to go to get to 220K. I had 65 minutes. Even when I was running with Jon most of our laps were outside 13 minutes. I dropped a 13:18. Quick but not quick enough. It was time to fly. To an endless soundtrack of great songs I gradually whittled my times down to sub 12 minutes. My last 2 full laps being my fastest of the whole race. I didnt ease up even when it looked like I had it in the bag for 3 reasons. Firstly I couldn't believe I had made such a mockery of what seemed like an impossible challenge at the time. Secondly I needed a few extra metres for the 220, at one stage I thought this would be as much as 300m, another 1.5 minutes of solid running and third I was actually enjoying myself. As I grabbed my number stick and a small Aussie flag for my last lap I celebrated a little losing 1 second on lap 94 my fastest of the race. I crossed for number 95 waving my flag and still hopeful of getting a bonus K and 221. I celebrated down the tunnel of supporters and crew at the feeding station, turning off my Ipod to lap up the atmosphere. I didnt really want to stop I was just getting going. I kept my strong pace going after the feeding zone and was keeping a look out for the 1K marker hoping to hit 221. However my maths was a bit ambitious. Having required an extra 160m after my last lap to get 220K I was never going to get there. Finally the countdown started I kept up my current pace of about 5min/k. The gun went off and I dropped my number. It bounced forward 2 metres with momentum but I retrieved it and took it back. I was very happy I had done 220 after so many hours of pain and walking. My nearest competitor a Russian girl I met at drug testing broke down and cried. She knew no English but I congratulated her anyway. Just 40m up the road I spotted my friend Torill from Sweden. Torill has run all but the first of the 10 World 24 hour championships. She had had a great race. I asked her what distance she had done. She had just passed 220K. She had beaten me by 38 metres. Post race I felt good but almost instantly cold. I wasnt sure if we were to leave our numbers or wait for our partial lap to be measured. After a few minutes another competitor said it would be ok to go so I started heading back. I ran into Rolf and Bernadette congratulating Bernadette and thanking Rolf for his help before stealing the coat off his back. Such is the selfless nature of crew. (He did have another jacket underneath though so it was ok) I made it back to the crew area feeling good with a can of non-alcoholic beer in hand I had been given whilst walking back. I had a few chips and thought about a sleep to prevent my inevitable post race vomit. It was too cold though and we were heading back to our hotel straight away. I took the front seat knowing I wouldn't make it back. Sure enough before we had left town I was leaning out of the window emptying my guts. A job well done. Without my help as the 4th Aussie and a non-scorer the Australian men's team took 7th place with our biggest ever team distance at the World Champs for the 2nd year in a row. Mal did a huge PB for 1st Aussie and Jon also ran a PB to lead the team with distinction. Ewan was our 3rd scorer and had a very tough last 10 hours after looking set for something special before the rain hit. Our women's team can all hold their heads high. Bernadette was on track for much more but her 216 was a big Pb still. Sharon has fought back from years of injuries to once again top 200K and Allison was consistent as ever clocking 193K and another qualifier. In summary what can I say? As I said on facebook it was a race of incredible highs and lows. I have run another qualifier but with the number of quality athletes getting interested in 24 hour running my place on the team isn't guaranteed. I could and many would give myself a theoretical extra 10K having faced the conditions that we did, however I know that there is plenty more I am capable of. I would be reluctant to call it quits without hitting the magical 240K mark or sub 6min/k having been so close early in my career, but I dont want to think about going around again next year at this stage. I have focused so long and intensely on this for too long. I will attach a link to a graph of my erratic lap times. Reading this I was able to pinpoint where I was up and down and it helped me put cause and effect together.