Entries for one of the best trail races in WA opened this week and of course me and the boys all entered immediately. ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com ) The race itself is on Sunday December 16th , 2018 and this will be the 14th running, I think, and it’ll be my 10th time. (In a row if you don’t mind. Only Nate ‘Dog’ Fawkes has run all races with Jon “Trailblazer” Phillips  second with 12 finishes..) This race is a perfect end to the year and sets you up for a long Xmas break before the Australia Day Ultra in January. We always stay the night ,or weekend, of the race at Dwellingup which is such a beautiful place and the race itself is a feast of trail running. I have written posts on my last two races , probably worth a read…. https://www.runbkrun.com/2016/12/19/sometimes-6-inches-is-enough/ and https://www.runbkrun.com/2017/12/18/its-not-a-good-trail-race-unless-you-get-lost/ There’s probably more on the blog, just type in “6 inch” in the search dialog box.  Anyhow if you live in WA , or even Australia, you need to run this race, trust me it is that good. So many good memories over the years, well mostly good, I do tend to get lost on a regular basis but that’s trail running I suppose.

I think the photo below was 2015, Jon was made to wear pink arm bands after falling in the only puddle on the whole course the previous year. He out did himself later in the race by falling in a ‘rut’ up the ‘escalator’ hill, it was big enough he had space to lay down for a rest as Michael ‘Barts’ Barton jumped over him. The following year he was forced to wear some rock climbing rope as punishment for his latest misdemeanour. Also in the photo is Jon ‘trailblazer’ Phillips giving us his best ‘blue steel’ stare. Jon has finished 12 times, a try WA running icon.

In 2016 I grew the biggest beard I could for the race in an attempt to be more”trail ready”, it didn’t help as I think I got lost even with two Garmin watches. No worries, the 6 inch is more than just a finishing time, it’s a trail running , life changing, experience. More about the journey than the destination.