The Choo Choo run has been going for around 10 years, a Simon Coates idea,  but its been more of an underground run until last year when Irwin Swinny put out the word and the runners came, in droves. This year was no different and what a turn out.  When we arrived at North Dandelup train station it looked like a car park at a mall in Christmas, cars everywhere. I have no idea what the locals thought, I reckon we doubled the population of Dandelup that morning ! (Funnily enough I have no idea why the station is called North Dandelup, trust me there’s no South, West or East Dandalup, it really is a one horse town and probably a pit pony at that !)

The image above is not the passenger train returning to Perth but an commercial train, probably mining,  with about 100 carriages, estimated ! It was starting to get light before the last carriage passed us. In Australia we do big trains ! Great selfie by Mark to capture the image by the way.

This year we aired on side of caution and decided we were all nowhere near our fitness levels of last year so left just past 7am , giving us just over 3 hours for the 33k trail run. In our defence it had been raining for like weeks and the trail was going to be soft underfoot. No record breaking times this year and this seemed to be the case for all runners, it wasn’t a case of racing a train more like running between two train stations comfortably. This will need to be addressed next year with fines for arriving too early at Serpentine, maybe arriving 10 minutes or more before the train will attract some form of forfeit !

We were the last to leave and had a good group consisting of myself, Mark, Cedric, Tom, Mitch and ultra Jon. (I say ultra Jon as this is the bigger,  and happier,  version of marathon Jon, who is lighter and always grumpy!)  The group set off at a good pace and this was to continue for the whole journey.

The start of the journey is a 6-7k uphill climb as you move from the bottom of the scarp to the top. This is mainly on road and being in the country you will be taking your live in your hands as country drivers make Lewis Hamilton look pedestrian.  I suspect most of them are returning home from a ‘quiet night‘  , which probably involves drinking their own body weight in spirits ! You need to be very wary and always have an exit plan which would normally be a quick dive into the nearest field ! I was feeling brave so took a photo as the sun rose over the scarp, as always the photo never does the scene justice.

We continued on at a good pace until we had the compulsory photo at around 26k, you’ll see the same shot in all my posts on the Choo Choo runs, we are stickler’s for tradition. (or just boring as my many Daughters would say?)   Funny story at this point, in the first few years of the Choo Choo Simon Coates use to leave water here but one year we turned up and it had been stolen ! What are the odds,  on a Sunday morning,  someone driving by and spotting bottles of water hidden in the undergrowth and then taking them ? ! Only in the country…

After the compulsory water stop (if there is any water?) it’s probably the best running part of the route before the drop off the scarp which is worth the attendance fee alone. If you have anything left in the legs that drop into Serpentine is a thing of natural beauty. By the time I arrived at the top of the hill I was goosed so stumbled down at just over 4min/k pace, the guys had left me in their wake and were recording low 3min/k’s , at the end of a three hour run ! This more than makes up for the morning climb up the scarp three hours earlier risking life and limb with the Sunday Formula One drivers !

After a slightly hair raising run from the bottom of the scarp to Serpentine via the local main road it was time to regroup for the compulsory Serpentine General Store photo before ambling to the train station.  As you can see a lot of very happy runners, refueled on chocolate milk, crisps and just about anything with carbs or sugar. Albeit we had to leave some space for the post tukka get together at North Dandalup Station, it’s tradition.

Next to the train station where we had another traditional photo before boarding the 10:21 train to North Dandalup, late as always by about 10 minutes.  Next year I may factor in this 10 minute buffer and really make a big effort at leaving very, very late, albeit I’ll probably drop a car at the station in case I miss the train as there is no way I’m missing the post run food smorgasbord.! It’s basically the previous shot but at a train station rather than outside a deli.

Finally the best photo of the day by a country mile, Transperth had reserved one of the two carriages for out 9-10  minute journey from Serpentine to North Dandalup, how good was that !!! Gold , you couldn’t make that up !! It was the coolest 10 or so minutes of the whole day, imagine that you’re own train carriage with your friend , priceless !  I reckon next year we could be in trouble as I’m not sure they’ll put on another carriage for us runners but you never know unless you join up and see for yourselves. Keep an eye out on facebook and an ear to the ground and be part of the coolest free trail run globally…Choo Choo 2022 ! All aboard….

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