Recently we had the 6th running of the ‘runner versus train‘ Choo-Choo race. The concept is simple, you leave North Dandalup station then run 33k (35k?) over mostly trails to Serpentine station to catch the 10:21am train back to the start. The game is deciding how late you leave North Dandelup. Over the years the record for the latest departure time was around 7am but this year, due to part of the course being shut and thus 2k shorter,  we decided to try and break the sub 3 hours and leave at 7:22am.  It was Mark’s idea and although I was onboard Jeff was none the wiser to our plan having never ran the Choo-Choo before.  So we let the last few runners start their journey and held firm, waiting for 7:22am to come around.

Jeff was a tad confused when the last group left just after 7am and myself and Mark continued to pontificate and make no effort to move  away from the station. Eventually we let him in on our plan but he was less than excited, expecting a relaxed amble from one station to the next , stopping for selfies and rose smelling. He knew if we left at 7:22am it would be on for young and old and if you stopped there would be a good chance the train would be well gone when you eventually arrived at Serpentine Station. Of course he was in a catch 22 situation as the last group had left and he had no idea where he was going , so would need us for directions. There was much head shaking and grumbling but all this served to do  was to gee up myself and Mark , who then took great pleasure in talking up the challenge ahead. We can be a cruel lot us runners !

So at 7:22am precisely we set off for Serpentine Station, giving ourselves 2 hours and 59 minutes, assuming the train was on time.  From past experience I knew we could make the 35k version of the course in 3 hours, including a 5 minute drink stop. Having a nasty 2k loop taken out due to storm damage would probably give us 10 minutes , so we should have 10-20 minutes to play with. As I said earlier Jeff had not ran the Choo-Choo before , where as myself and Mark were old hands and knew what to expect.  As you can see from the graphic below the run starts with about 8k of serious hill,  as you rise onto the scarp. It then undulates, mostly uphill , until the 25k mark at which time it’s all guns blazing to the best finish ever !!  Knowing this is coming it allows you to do the numbers in your head factoring in the fast finish. Jeff did not have this prior knowledge and at every kilometre got more and more discouraged as our pace dropped due to the terrain ahead of us.  Again Mark and I did nothing to alleviate his angst and just kept on,  knowing we were on track but not divulging this to Jeffrey.

The run itself was pretty uneventful as we had the GPX of the route on Mark’s Garmin (what did we do before GPS watches ?) so the couple of time we wondered of course we were made aware by the watch and we turned around and continued on the right track.  Not having this would prove to be the undoing of a few runners because although the course is predominately on the Mundi Bindi bike trail  ( https://www.mundabiddi.org.au/ ) eventually you have to leave the trail and return to the road and ultimately the train station.  Some runners missed that turn and ended up in Jarrahdale , luckily the two runners in question where able to blag a lift to Serpentine and still made the train in time, after running over 40 kilometres, outstanding job ladies.  Some runners thought were less fortunate and my mate Adam was unable to make the train in time, missing it by nearly 10 minutes. He was given a left back to the start and had to endure a slow clap as he arrived , rightly so of course. He was eventually allowed to take food from the tukka table but there was grumblings of discontent from the runners who had completed the course, these was talk of banishing him to a separate part of the park, as I said earlier we are a cruel lot us runners .

You’ll notice in the image above no sign of Jeff, we had left him to his own devices about 5k from the finish as it was every man for himself at that stage and me and Mark fancied a Mocha before the train. Jeff did make the Serpentine Train station show below (far right) but was still smarting over the whole affair and will probably leave a lot earlier next year, a lesson learned.

The train ride itself is a bit of an anti-climax due to a number of factors. One, it takes an ‘as the crow flies ‘ approach  to travel between the two stations, funnily enough, and two, it is a lot quicker than us runners ! The journey itself takes about 12 minutes for the 18km or so distance. Thus you just about sit down , get comfy, before it time to get up again and leave the train, not even time for a cup of tea from the buffet (which was actually shut this year anyhow?)  No worries, we had organised for everyone to bring tukka for a post run debriefing because we all know that runners love talking about running as much as running.

I need to give a big shout out to Irwin Swinny who kick started the Choo-Choo this year after a leave of absence in 2019. He set up the Facebook page and, with his influence,  we had a record turn out. With Irwin’s help I feel this event can go from strength to strength with more and more people  experiencing the stress of racing a train. He has an excellent podcast, Stimulate Run,  that is well worth a visit ( https://anchor.fm/irwin-swinny ) ,you’ll be surprised who you can listen to.

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