Redemption , Delirious West day 2…

09 November bigkevmatthews@gmail.com 0 Comment

Right I left you with myself and Adam at Broke Inlet Road, around 88k in. Last year I was broken by this point, excuse the pun, with the quads just about to seize up completely. It was dark and I was hungry, unprepared and unsupported, it was never going to end well and a few hours later I pulled the pin.

This year was a different story, I had had a great days running and my support crew had prepared a hearty dinner , change of shoes, clothes and had me up and about ready to face the next leg, which we knew would be dark and very wet ! Me and Adam set off into the darkness excited about what lay ahead albeit with a touch of trepidation knowing it would be a difficult 20k to my nemesis, Mandalay Beach. The two videos below show how wet it was !

Funnily enough Adam and I enjoyed this part of the course. Ok, it was incredibly wet but it was all part of the adventure that is Delirious, just walking 20k through ankle deep water in the middle of the night, where else would you rather be. Eventually we got to Mandalay and decided it was time for a break, it was late and we’d been on the go since 7am that morning. I’m not sure what time we left Mandalay but I know the next stage to Mount Clare was a slog, lots of sand, wind and hard climbs but again it was just ace because it was so hard and like nothing we had ran before. The wind made it more rugged, brutal but also it focused the mind. There was no one else around of course, just Adam and I and our head torches moving forward into the night with the waves crashing around us.

As Adam remarked I was now in uncharted territory after not making it out of Mandalay the previous year. It was a slog to Mount Clare and the climb to the aid station was more like an ascent rather than a run, the hill was steep and long and we both needed more time to recoup at the next aid station. Both of us fell into our reclining chairs, grabbed some food and then closed out eyes while being wrapped up in warm blankets by our crew. We both had about 15-20 minutes of quiet time before moving onto Warpole where we knew there was a sleep station and although it would mean sleeping in the day we had to take some time out.

We got to Warpole around 10am and decided we’d have a two hour sleep, there was beds, showers , toilets and we took advantage of all of these. I had a great two hours sleep and even got a massage from Myree before setting off to the next aid station, Giant Tingle Tree. It was wet and steep, that about sums it up. Beautiful scenery mind but testing conditions. Totally different to what had come before, which is what makes this event so special, each day has something different, terrain wise, to tackle.

I got to the Giant Tingle Tree to find my reliable support crew was running late which wasn’t a problem as it gave me an excuse to tuck into some great sausage rolls and a lovely cup of tea, with the obligatory three sugars (I am running an ultra!) Eventually my crew turned up, sheepishly, explaining they had been doing some business at a Marin farm of all places. These will feature later in this post but with Gary , head support crew, there’s always a funny story about to happen. Anyhow it was off into the sunset we went, next stop Treetop Walk. This section was hilly as but again stunning scenery albeit the weather was closing in with the darkness. The video below sums up the mood, we just went though 100 miles (160km), it was raining, getting dark and we were walking a steep 5km hill to the next aid station, joy.

This was the lowest point of the race for me. After the video above it really started to pelt down and funnily enough we couldn’t find any shelter in forest, we got soaked. By the time we made the Treetop Walk aid station we were cold, wet and very tired. From memory it was about 11pm and we had been running since 7AM the previous day with only two hours solid sleep, we were both goosed. Gary and Alex looked after me and I decided we try and get 90 minutes sleep, I retired to the car while Adam slept in his crews tent. Unfortunately the car passenger seat wouldn’t go down that far so I got no sleep but just sat there staring at the clock wondering what the hell I was doing here. It was seriously cold outside but I knew I had to get changed into some dry clothes and get back out there, into the night to the next aid station. It was difficult to get going but once we did it wasn’t that bad. The rain stopped and everything had a shine to it from the rain, it was a still night and as we were travelling back to the beach so it was mostly downhill.

Heading towards Conspicuous Beach, Thursday night / Friday morning.

Before we left we told the crew we would be taking a three hour sleep at the next aid station and get the swags ready. This was going to be a mini-sleep station, pajamas on , noise cancelling headphones, sleeping bag, swag and eye mask. We got into Conspicuous beach aid station about 2am with no sign of the crew but the aid station did the best food ever. I had two great hash browns and a great cup of tea, with three sugars, while Adam had the best cheese toasties he had ever had , ever. The food here really was exceptional.

When we found our crew , they had set up away from the aid station in a quieter location, we all got our heads down, runners and crew alike and set the alarm for 5am, first light Friday morning. This was to be a master stroke because we all awoke Friday morning totally refreshed and for me the race started that morning, it was time to move up the field as we were currently towards the back of the pack . You can’t over estimate what a good nights sleep will do for you in these events, we all crawled into our swags that evening but exploded out of them the next day, it was a chalk and cheese moment and from that moment on I never once thought about the possibility of not finishing, it was all about taking names and racing now.