December 2019
This post was going to be about my 11th 6 Inch Ultra Trail marathon ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) and another sub4 finish, unfortunately due to the extreme heat wave we have been suffering though this summer it was deemed too dangerous to run the event. The conditions in sunny Perth have been very sunny and the last few weeks has been a chore to continue to train for the 6 inch ultra. Many lunch time runs I have ‘showered‘ under a tap and staggered, rather than skipped, back to work where I soak in my own sweat in air conditioned heaven (must to my work colleagues disgust!) Unpleasant is an under statement and the heat is unrelenting , with three 40 degree days in a row before the Saturday when the race director, Dave Kennedy, made the right decision to cancel the event.
Unfortunately , or fortunately, my accomodation was brought and paid for, with no refunds, so as a group we decided to go to Dwellingup anyway and just run the Sunday morning, conditions permitting. Thus on Saturday afternoon Barts picked me and No2 Daughter, Hannah, up from City Beach and off we went , via a small detour at Como to pick up another friend of mine Amy. We arrived just in time for a Question and Answer with three elite ultra runners, who had obviously double booked because Dave let me and Jon on the top table with Barbara Fieberg, a previous winner of the event and an Australian representative at 12 and 24 hours. All me and Jon could offer was an AURA age group record (mine) and his unratified 5th longest distance at a 12 hour event earlier in the year. In our defence we are still very keen runners and can at least offer some advice, using experience as our guide.
After the Q&A Barts insisted we hot foot it to the pub, to beat the rush, and get some decent good old fashioned Australian county tukka at the local tavern. If you read my blog you’ll understand last year this same tavern scuppered the event for Jon, Bart’s, Mike and Mark as they indulged in the pub’s enormous portions. I did giggle to myself as I ate my small portion of pasta later in the evening without the 5-10kg weight gain all the lads put on due to their evening meals. Needless to say the next day the lads struggled up the numerous hills with the extra weight , while I skipped off into the distance, still giggling like a 10 year old boy after his first encounter with his Father’s Mayfair magazine. This year we could all enjoy our meal , bar Jon , who had decided that even though the event was cancelled, unofficially, he would run the course backwards in the dark and then return the next morning. Yep, you guessed it, the infamous 12 inch. ! Only attempted by a few mad ultra runners who would leave at 10pm the night before the event, they’d turn up at the start around 4am the next morning and then register for the main event, kicking off at 4:30am. This would give them 94km and some serious kudos of course. Jon decided to ignore the ban due to possible fire risk and off into the night he went while myself, Amy, Mark and Bart’s settled down for the 4th showing of Run Fat Boy Run armed with a good bottle of red.
So while we finished off the film, but not the bottle of red , we were running at 4:30am the next morning, Jon set off into the dark on his quest to obtain the 12 inches he had always wanted ( or that was what Bart’s had said , not sure what we meant ?) The next morning we did get up at 4:30am, much to my Daughters disgust!, and set off on to the trails and headed towards the escalator for a cheeky 24k out and back. Conditions were glorious , albeit it did start to heat up quite quickly and we all agreed it was still the right decision to cancel. The picture below doesn’t do justice to the conditions, as I have said many times before trial running , when the light is right, is magical.
Once we returned to the accomodation, we freshened up and then scuttled off to the Blue Wren Cafe for a good old fashioned large Cappuccino and bacon and egg toasted sandwich. While me and the boys tucked into our freshly made toasted sandwich’s Amy had a Strava segment to attend to (you do have Strava right ? http://www.strava.com ) She had stalked this segment from Perth and was determined to leave her mark in Dwellingup with a CR (Coarse Record). There was a double incentive as the current holder had initially followed Amy on Strava but then unfollowed her. This is unacceptable , apparently , and punishable by a good old fashioned Strava segment beating, bless her. Once Amy achieved her CR we regrouped and waited for Jon , who eventually turned up after running for well over 11 hours. He , along with one other , had become a member of a very select club of men who can say they have a 12 inch under their belt. (Please note, at the time of writing, no woman has got her hands on a 12 inch, although I suspect in the near future one may get her hands on Jon’s 12 inch , if they speak nicely to him or whisper sweet nothings in his ear, he likes that apparently?) I digress , as always.
All in all a great weekend , spent with friends (and no2 Daughter) with many happy memories added to the trail running database to be retrieved at random times over the next few years , with much laughter , and some obvious innuendos.
Well it looks liker my old mate Jon Pendse is keen to give back to the running community and has offered free coaching, mentoring to all and sundry. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn from one of Perth’s best known, and loved, local running legend. I have had the honour of running with Jon since 2008 when I first encountered him at the Bunbury marathon and then realised we both worked in the same building in Perth. After introducing ourselves in the mens changing rooms (?) we started a relationship that is going as strong today as when we first started on our journey over ten years ago. Rereading that please note that was a running relationship , I’m happily married (according to my current Wife!) and Jon was happily married but is now even happier single. (and running a lot quicker, go figure?)
Back in the day Jon was the target for all us St. Georges Terrace Running Club runners to aim for. He was the quickest runner at all distances and I spent 4-5 years admiring his form as he strutted off into the distance on many occasions, it was around 2011 I think the first time I pipped him to the finish line at the City to Surf. We had run together for the first 41k and then it was on for young and old for the final 1k sprint. I think my long legs gave me the edge as we both sprinted for the finish. Happy days.. I’ve managed to keep Jon in check up until this year when he has once again found the fire ( and got divorced, coincidence I don’t think so !) and just maxed out his running distance. The payback has been instant as he has won numerous marathons , ultra marathons and even set a top 10 Australian record distance in timed races over 12 hours.
So for any runner in the Perth area if you want to be coached by a running legend get in touch , his email is :jpendse@tpg.com.au He may even share his running spreadsheet which has to be seen to be believed ! (He is an accountant by trade funnily enough!)
In less than two weeks I take on the 6 inch trail ultra marathon ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) for the 11th time and will aim to try and improve my number of sub4 finishes from 8 to 9. Please note on both occasions I failed to go ‘sub 4’ I got lost but with any trail ultra that is a risk you take, although I seem to suffer more than most?
The last couple of months I have been building to this event and have been gradually increasing the time on legs but neglecting speed work and this has come back to bite me in both my last 10k races. Early November I ran a 37:36 at the John Gilmour track 10k and last Sunday I went slower at the Fremantle 10k, 37:56. The first time , on the track , was excusable as it was the last race I needed to win the WAMC age group 55-55 category but the time did sting. I was determined to go better and the Fremantle 10k gave me that opportunity. As with the previous 10k I started well enough but was unable to hold the pace and had to work very hard to keep sub 38 minutes , saved by a last minute sprint. A 15 second plus difference from kilometre 1 to kilometre’s 7-9 is not ideal pacing, you should be looking to hold the same pace throughout with maybe a faster last kilometre to account for the ‘kick’ finish. In my defence I was going slow enough that a ‘kick’ finish was achieved , albeit a very small ‘baby kick’?
Every race teaches you something and the last two have taught me I need to add pace to at least two of my weekly runs. I’m planning a Mona Fartlek at least once a week and then maybe a 10k tempo/threshold to try and bring my 10k time back under 36 minutes (as a minimum) next year. Of course this will have to wait as I have the trail ultra in a few weeks and then the Australia Day Ultra in January ( http://australiadayultra.com/ ) before the Delirious ( http://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) in February, all ultra’s. !
I’ve written a few posts over the years on the 6 inch..probably worth a recap…
There’s more, just type in ‘6 inch’ in the search bar and you’ll find many, many amusing posts on this race and that’s the point of the 6 inch. It comes at the end of year, a few days before Christmas , where the finishing time is not important (as long as it’s under 4 hours). It’s more about the boys having a night away from our families and just being boys again, albeit for one night only. The experience of driving down Saturday , staying over Saturday night and watching ‘Run Fat Boy Run’ (an absolute classic film which all runners need to watch!) , running with some great friends on the Sunday morning and then a final get together to recount stories from the day, great times. It really is a special event and one all trail runners need to run sometime in their career.
So have I done enough over the last few months to guarantee a sub 4 finish ? I’d say at the moment I’m 50-50, conditions will dictate the final finish time I feel. Perfect conditions I got a chance, too hot and it’ll be a closer run thing. Either way I have a date with an esky at the finish so if I finish ahead of you I’d be careful where you choose your post race drink. It’s another great 6 inch tradition apparently. I’m excited about my 11th time taking on the 6 inch and hope to continue the tradition for many years to come, finishing sub 4 may not be on the cards for many more years but either way I know my old mate Mr.Esky will always be there to greet me at the end and that’s enough to keep me coming back for more. (and watching Run Fat Boy Run with the boys, again you all need to watch that film!)
