In October 2021 I ran the ‘Wet’ Delirious West 200 miler. The Bibbulmun track was waterlogged in places and we had a great time running from Northcliffe to Albany. In February 2022 the race was back to its traditional starting date and we set off from Northcliffe albeit this time on an out and back course due to a forest fire restricting access to Albany. We would be running to Tree Tops and then turning around and racing back to Northcliffe. I had a new crew consisting of Marky Mark Lommers and the Wangster, Jeffrey Wang. Adam was reunited with old faithful himself Dav, the invisible crew that no one knew was there but he just goes about his business, ruthless.

As you can see from the image below, leaving my house, we were in good spirits as myself and Adam set about chasing down our double plugger trophy. (The first time you complete Delirious you are given a single plugger (flip flop to us Poms), when you return and complete Delirious for a second time you get the second plugger mounted on a nice wooden plaque, hence the double plugger trophy. Probably the most expensive two dollar plugger you will ever buy! )

We left for Northcliffe on Monday giving ourselves a few days to acclimatize before the race start on Wednesday. I had a great airBnB booked for a few days and we explored the area while always keeping our reason for being there in the back of our minds. The highlight of the two days was climbing the Gloucester Tree near Pemberton. Of the five of us the two pilots were DNF and refused to go further than a few metres off the ground albeit Adam claimed he was half way where we was about three rungs up, so funny. I had climbed the tree in October when Barts insisted I give it a go and boy it was scary but with all things familiarity breeds contempt and this time it was a piece of cake . All the boys, in my crew, enjoyed the challenge.

Driving around Pemberton and Nortcliffe there was Delirious crew and runners everywhere you looked, all nervously last minute carbo-loading or spending time huddled over Gaia examining the new course and planning sleep stops and race strategies. I’d ‘stickered’ up Dav’s Land Cruiser  and he proudly cruised the area.

After check-in on Tuesday and before race briefing is the race that stops a town, the Bogan crew race. Marky Mark was determined to win it in his budgies and he didn’t let us down. The two previous years the winner was rewarded with free entry to Delirious the following year but this year Shaun decided it would be a draw with all competitors given an equal chance of winning.  Unfortunately for Mark his name was not drawn out. He is still reigning Bogan champion and I hope to persuade him to defend his title next year. Truth be told he loves wearing his pink budgies.

Rod Donkersloot from Mind Focused Running had come down to support his three runners, myself, Michael and John. ( https://mindfocusedrunning.com/ ). I have used Rob’s program and have been unstoppable since, no more DNF’s for me. Training the mind is overlooked by the majority of runners and Rob has designed a course that is tailored to getting the best out of the most important asset you have as a runner. He’s sort of a more relaxed version of David Goggins without the swearing. ( https://davidgoggins.com/ ) I would recommend getting in touch with Rob if you are seriously thinking of running a 200 miler in the near future, he’s a sort of insurance policy for a good finish.

Right to the start of the race. Due to border closures there was a small and intimate starting lineup of light minded friends who all knew each other. Like a long training run with mates really. This will be the last time we see such a small line up so we all were enjoying the moment as we knew it would never happen again. In 2023 I’m predicting at least 100 starters, maybe more, with a load of out of state runners. Although this is not a bad thing I will miss the small field of friends. Starters included Jon Pendse , out to defend the title he won in 2019, Michael Hooker, a pre-race favourite, Bianca and Sue , the first mother and daughter combination to attempt a 200 miler ever. My old mate Hoppy who pipped me to the post the previous year, Charles and Trevor Bosveld who would be as competitive as ever , with each other mainly ! Veronika looking to put the previous years DNF behind her and of course Adam going for his double plugger.

The video below is a few kilometes into the race , well actually it’s not part of the race as its tradition to run the wrong way for a few kilometres as this is what happened on the first running of the event and now every year since the race takes the wrong turn as a nod to the original error.  Shaun Kaesler, the RD, loves these traditions. The race itself doesn’t really start until you head back to the start line which use to be a four kilometre loop but because of the out and back nature of the course this year was probably more like ten kilometres ? Gotta’ love traditions ?

 

After returning to the start line and then moving towards the halfway point at Tree Tops myself and Adam were full of the joys of spring, it really was perfect conditions and we got our heads down and just enjoyed being on the trails, amongst friends. I always find the first day and night the hardest and particularly the fist 50k or so to Dog Road.  Once I get to Dog Road I pick up my poles and its pretty good running all the way to Mandelay where we would have our first sleep. I always find waking from a good sleep, albeit two to three hours, and you are reenergised for the day ahead. You can then repeat the process and,  voila, before you know it you’re at the finish line.  Myself and Adam ran alone for most of the day and maintained a steady pace,  we were passed by Sergio early in the day and he went on to win the event running a massive PB. Bar Sergio we maintained our position in the field , cocooned in the top 10 until we met Veronika late in the day just outside Mandelay. Helping Veronika into Mandelay probably cost us a few positions but you can’t go past a lady in distress albeit she recovered extremely well in Mandelay and left hours before us !

Next couple of videos is myself and Adam running towards , and entering, the first aid station. As always a few kilometres further than anticipated. Running between aid stations is how you break down a 200 miler, it really is an eating and drinking competition with running between aid stations an after thought.  Rather than one 200 mile distance you break it down into twenty 20k or so distances and then leap frog from one to the next until you finish. This way the furthest you ever have to run is the 20k or so between an aid station, small manageable steps.  Focus on the next aid station , get there, reset and go again. When you get really tired grab a few hours sleep and just continue until someone tells you to stop, usually at the finish line.

 

The first aid station, Chesapeake West , came and went pretty quick, no time even for a cup of tea. Had a few biscuits and some sandwiches from memory but it was a hurried affair which is ridiculous as we’re running a race that will take 3-4 days.  Later in the event you tend to slow down but at the first aid station it is hard to relax and just take your time. As we were leaving another group of runners turned up and this just added to our anxiety, ridiculous I know but early on it feels like a race, later in the event it becomes an adventure as the field thins out and you are happy for company. Everybody was full of beans and the early aid stations have a carnival like atmosphere, the volunteers are eager to help any way they can and everybody is feeling great, good times had by all.

The next two videos show Adam and I moving towards Dog Road where we would meet the crew for the first time, grab some food and them continue towards the first sleep stop at Mandelay.  Conditions were still perfect with some good shade protecting us from the midday sun. It was great to meet the boys at Dog Road and we would then run through Pingerup and Brooke Inlet Road aid stations before reaching Mandelay in the early hours of Thursday morning for the first sleep stop. We would start our sleep around the top ten but due to crew error, no one set the alarm, we had a longer than planned sleep and woke to find we’d been relegated to just about last spot, albeit with a sleep stop up our sleeves. This wasn’t an issue as we would leap frog runners as they slept at Warpole later in the day of course. Albeit all our fans (?) would have been dismayed at our position in the field when they logged on to dot watch Thursday morning.

 

 

 

At Dog Road with both crews, boys sorted us out with some tukka and we grabbed our poles. Last year ,the wet year, the course was different to Brooke Inlet Road. It was a really good downhill section that seemed to go on forever, unfortunately this year it was back to the original course and was mainly uphill, go figure?  Me and Adam basically complained all the way to Pingerup where we were met by the lovely Simone and her husband Heath who provided great pancakes, a Delirious tradition. As I said earlier I always find the first 50k the hardest, enjoyable but also testing. After Dog Road I find it becomes easier and Pingerup and Brooke Inlet Road tend to arrive quickly before a sleep at Mandelay.

Video below is 79k in after Pingerup, looks like I had bacon and eggs, not sure that’s true. I must have had pancakes?

 

On a side note my good friend Jon Pendse, a previous champion, twisted an ankle in the first few kilometres. He managed to get to the first aid station in top three but then got lost and managed to arrive at the next aid station the wrong way. He was told to return to the first aid station and come back the right way. Unfortunately when he tried to do this his ankle blew up and his race was run. Thus when I arrived at the second aid station there was Jon , leg up in the air, beer in hand , smile on his face. It was a shame because Jon is a very accomplished ultra runner and although he’s been concentrating on marathons lately he would have been a good threat for at least a podium.

A great photo of Mark, Dav and Jeff on some downtime, of which there is a lot apparently. My crew destroyed a slab of VB allegedly and then some, while always obeying the Western Australia drink driving thresholds. The one comment from Mark about the actual race was a telling one ‘I didn’t realise how much you ran‘.  I’m not sure what he was expecting in a 200 mile race but to the untrained eye there is a lot of walking but when you see it close up there is also a sh*t load of running !

The image below show Heath and Simone feeding me I assuming pancakes at the Pingerup aid station. I’m sure it was pancakes? Love these guys.

After Pingerup the run to Brooke Inlet Road is one of my favourites, great running and beautiful scenery which you run through just before sunset so the light is spectacular. As you saw on the video earlier in this post although you really are alone at this part of the course albeit in my case I had Adam as company for the first day. The three times I have ran Delirious we have always had glorious conditions and this part of the course has never let me down, who doesn’t love a sunset in the middle of nowhere with a good mate.

 

After Brooke Inlet Road night comes in quickly and the 20k run to Mandelay is always done in the dark. In the previous Delirious this was twenty kilometres of ankle deep water which was so much fun as it was unrunable. This year Adam and I put on the headphones and moved through the track knowing we had a sleep stop in Mandelay. All was going to plan until we came across Veronika about ten kilometes in to the stage having issues with her head torch. We stopped to help her and all was going well until a small insect decided to embed itself in Adam’s eye and started to bite him. This was extremely painful and Veronika offered her assistance, being a well respected Doctor apparently.  With some vigour she swiped a tissue across Adam’s eye removing the insect but also nearly removing Adam’s eye. She did admit to maybe being a tad more aggressive than normal but location and conditions dictated this approach, apparently. I’m not sure Adam appreciated this aggressive style and I’ve not seen a man in so much pain for a long time, albeit I was slightly amused at the situation but Adam was not happy. The things you see on the trail.

Veronika was struggling and we walked her into Mandelay as well as keeping her vertical on the last few steps. We left her to retire to our sleep stations while she promised to get some rest. Her rest was a tad shorter than ours though. We woke to light outside our swags which was not a good sign, we had told our crew to wake us before sunrise so we could eat and get ready and leave just before the sunrise, light meant we had over slept. In fact we really had over slept, over three hours sleep and we left Mandelay as the back of the pack came through the aid station. No more top 10, we were probably only three or four of the back albeit we were very well rested. Veronika had stayed at Mandelay for a matter of minutes claiming she couldn’t sleep and we had now given her a few hours advantage.

 

I did manage to get this image as we left Mandelay so it wasn’t that late in the morning, the crew did get us out just after sunrise and off we went to Mount Clare. This is a hard twenty plus distance which drains you, plenty of rises and eventually you have to get to the top of Mount Clare , which as the names suggests will involve a climb.

On the bright side there are some extremely great views from Mandelay to Mount Clare albeit its still bloody hard running. You skirt the coast for half the route before heading inland and starting the climb to Mount Clare.  I left Adam at this point and made my way to Mount Clare alone. I was feeling good and decided that I would run my own race and if Adam caught up that would be good but there was no point either of us trying to change our pace to suit the other runner, on a 200 miler it just doesn’t work. I did bump into Adam as I left Mount Clare and then again as I left Warpole but after that I only saw him as I returned from Tree Tops and then at the finish.  The previous year I had ran with Adam to the last day when he had to slow due to a fractured rib and we were hoping we could run together for the whole event this time. It is always better to run with company if you can but this year I would run alone from the point I left Adam bar one stage from Warpole where I was joined by Charles and his pacer Laura.

After I left Adam I ran to Mount Clare, quick pit stop and then through to Warpole, which is mainly downhill, coming of anything with a ‘Mount’ in the title you’d expect a downhill I suppose. I had a quick shower at Warpole and then started towards Tingle Tree before reaching the halfway point at Tree Tops. All of this running was in perfect conditions, warm but not hot and I was cooled at each aid station with plenty of ice and hydration, I was running well at this point and arrived at Tree Tops in the late afternoon just in time for a great steak, cup of tea and some mint slices, perfect evening meal.  Over the last few aid stations I had made up a number of places and leaving Tree Tops was probably back in the top 10. Our sleep strategy was starting to make a difference and I decided to try and get back to Mount Clare for one more sleep.

I put on the after burners and passed a number of runners coming back from Tree Tops, as they moved towards Tree Tops. I had Sergio, Michael Hooker , Trevor and Charles Bosveld and Sharene ahead of me, not bad as I was probably nearly last coming out of Mandelay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The video shows me leaving Tree Tops, 180km in, about 7pm Thursday night. Plan is to get to Mount Clare at 2am for a sleep.

 

Day three, 225km in , just leaving Mount Clare heading towards Mandelay. 130km to the finish, can I do it in one day ? In the video I was not interested but as the day went on and with my crew pushing me I did make a run for a sub 70 hour finish and the infamous gold buckle.

 

 

 

Mount Clare to Mandelay is brutal, there is no other word. I started this leg in great spirits after a good three hour sleep but ended up destroyed on Mandelay beach twenty one or so kilometres later. It just seemed to go on forever and you were always so close to the ocean before taking a right turn away from the beach and heading inland, on numerous occasions. Add in some humidity, elevation and  trails that needed your 100% concentration and you have a monster of a leg. On the way out it wasn’t half as bad I’m sure but the video below show how destroyed I was coming into Mandelay.  Watching the video I forgot about the March Flies eating me alive on the beach, so funny.

 

 

I’m glad to report that after arriving at Mandelay the sun came out , and unfortunately so did Mark’s ping budgies, and after a twenty minute nap under a towel I was ready for the final push to the finish line. Rob Donkersloot , he of Mind Focused Running,  ( https://mindfocusedrunning.com/ ) was here as was my good mate Shannon Dale.  Between the two of them , with my crew, they got me ready for the next stage of the race, a pleasant leg to Brooke Inlet Road and then Pingerup.  By this time the sun has started to warm things up which is not a bad thing as I love the heat and have no issues with hotter temperatures. I skipped away from Mandelay ready to enjoy the next leg but I had underestimated the heat and the leg to Brooke Inlet Road soon became a struggle with little or no shade.

When I eventually bumped into Mark a kilometre out from the aid station I was well and truly frazzled.  Rob had made his way to the aid station and again with the help of my crew I was rehydrated, fed and set on my way to Pingerup which is a no-crew aid station. I made sure I had enough hydration after my earlier error of judgment and this leg was about as good as I could have hoped.  Quick plug for fisiocrem  as my quads were suffering pre-Brooke Inlet aid station , probably due to hydration issues, so I smothered my legs with the product. Thirty minutes later and they’re feeling a lot better and luckily they also had some fisiocrem at Pingerup so my legs got another dose of this magical cream.

I was currently running 6th overall with Trevor and Sharene the nearest competitors albeit probably a hour or so ahead. Emma and her family fed and watered me and I was off on my way towards Dog Road which was a great running leg with a good bit of downhill and a great surface for picking up some time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The part of the course was the only part I remember hallucinating and I put that down to a good sleep strategy.  I was convinced I saw two runners ahead of me while I was answering a call of nature and made a big effort to run them down only to find when I reached the top of the ridge no one there. This happened twice more which showed I was sub-consciously thinking of catching Sharene ahead of me and I did eventually catch her at Dog Road,  as I entered she was getting ready to leave with her pacer.  It’s funny the games your mind plays when you are sleep deprived. I find things I have been thinking about will eventually end up as hallucinations later in the day. Personally I don’t mind hallucinations as they have never been anything that has derailed my race an,  truth be told,  they’re pretty cool. I’ve had some pretty good ones over the years normally on backyard ultras in the second night when you are totally sleep depraved of course.

 

At Dog Road it was decision time. The plan was always to finish Saturday aiming for a PB and a midday finish. At Dog Road I had the opportunity to run through the night and finish around 3AM, a massive PB and a Gold Buckle run. (sub 70 hours)  This would mean running the last 50km or so at a reasonable rate and also finishing to a crowd of maybe three or four maximum. Option two was a good three hours sleep at Chesapeake East or West and then finishing in the daylight , running the last leg in beautiful sunshine finishing in front of a large crowd, a PB but no gold buckle. It was always going to be option one of course.  Pacers would have been nice at this point as the last 50km was running through difficult terrain with trees down over the path and also navigational challenges due to fatigue and the general nature of the course.  Add in the stress of trying to make a certain time and it needed to be a seriously good finish.

 

So its was on like Donkey Kong, my gold buckle fast finish. I passed Sharene between Dog Road and Chesapeake East and after a short stop moved on into the night towards the last aid station , Chesapeake West. I knew this would be a stressful last 50km but I made the decision to chase the buckle and it was time to pay the piper. While continually checking Gaia ( https://www.gaiagps.com/ ) I managed to stay on track and after clambering my way to the last aid station was met for the last time by my trusty crew and a great bunch of volunteers who fed me some seriously good eggs from memory.  Trevor Bosveld was an hour ahead but according to the volunteers not travelling that well. I wasn’t bothered really but there was a small chance I’d catch him if I put a hurry on, this was all I needed. I loaded up the best of Taylor Swift on the after shokz headphones (you must have a pair of these head phones ( https://shokz.com/ ) ) and off I stumbled into the night for the last time.

To add to my anxiety I’d probably forgotten to fully charge my head torch in all the commotion and only had one spare lithium battery for my second head torch, it’s only 24km what could go wrong ? With this on my mind I started to increase the pace , more out of necessity now with every minute possibly being my last with a head torch. I wondered how far I could run using the iphone torch as my main source of illumination, probably not very fast or very far !

This was my second 200 miler , completed, and as with the first I was probably fresher at the end than the beginning. As I said earlier the first 50km are the hardest for me and the last 50km had now turned into a threshold run albeit at ultra threshold pace around 6-7min/k. Taking into account the running obstacles and the elevation this was moving trust me.  I kept this suicide pace until I bumped into Trevor and his pacer about 5km from the finish. Now as I mentioned earlier Trevor was suffering and I had just clawed back an hour in around twenty kilometres. Give Trev his due he’s a stubborn bugger and was not going to give up fourth place without a fight.  I passed him but he hung on tenuously until we both ended up on the main road lost. This was a funny situation , myself, Trev and his pacer, looked like three gunslingers,  all looking at each other waiting to see who blinked first. In the end we all ran off together once we found the trail and I left the two of them. Now as I mentioned earlier my number one head torch had died about 10km in the leg which left me on my spare, after I left Trevor the torch decided to stop, not at the ideal moment truth be told. I was now in total darkness and I knew if Trev saw me he’d get a second wind and continue to chase me. I searched in my backpack for my spare lithium battery under the light of my iphone, found it, changed it and was off like a scolded cat. No sign of Trev so I settled into a quick but not suicidal pace to the finish which I knew was about three kilometres away.

 

I started to look for my crew as I neared the finish as we had agreed to run in together but all I saw were some of Trevor’s family who looked none too pleased to see me, funny that ? I crossed the line as expected with just Heath, Jeff and a very drunk Jon Pendse there to greet me. It was nearly three in the morning and in my crews defence I was over an hour earlier than anticipated and a drunk Jon was very annoying, in the nicest possible way. He had forced Jeff to take shelter in the car and Mark had made himself fall sleep to avoid drunk Jon.

 

In Jon’s defence , although very drunk , he did manage to take this photo of me finishing. A better effort than my sleeping crew. !

After fighting off Jon I asked were my swag was as I was desperate for sleep. Both my crew looked at each other and admitted to not making up the swag expecting me much later. They scurried off into the night to finish the job and I hobbled  to meet them holding Jon at bay. Once the swag was made up I fell into it and a deep sleep waking only when the sunlight pierced my swag and Sharene finished.

I manged to sneak into the Northcliffe hotel for the best shower ever and then waited around for Veronika and Adam to finish, please note they finished in that order albeit Adam was smiling while Veronika had broken down a few kilometres from the finish and it was not her greatest hour, that’s a 200 miler for you ! She had survived for so long with no sleep that at the last minute her mind and body let go , literally. She finished in second place so the sacrifice was so worth it, what a woman. Adam, just slept too much and enjoyed himself while being looked by Dav, a sort of business class run while Veronika was in the cheap seats ! There will be some serious racing next year between these two.

 

So here is the photo I had dreamt about since DNF’ing my first attempt at Delirious in 2019. The double plugger trophy , surrounded by people I love for what they bring to the sport and a sub 70 hour finish, over the moon. That’s a thing with running, set yourself a goal, do the hard work and you will get your reward. That double plugger is a constant reminder of two years of so much laughter, tears, high and lows , great training runs in beautiful trails with like minded people and also the love you feel at these events with the volunteers and crew all joining you in your goal. It really is so special and that’s what keep me coming back to these events, the people involved.  I cherish this photo.

My final image is the class of 2022 minus a few runners who left pre-presentations. We’ll never see such a small group of legends running Delirious and it’s so special that we all know each other and what we have all been through. I was honoured to be part of this small field and I know we all share a bond that you will only understand if you take on the beast that is the Delirious West 200 miler.  So , are you up for it ? If so I’ll see you on the stating line in February 2023 because wild horses couldn’t keep me away.

 

Finally some products that helped me through the race and should be in your drop bags or backpack for all 200 milers… fisiocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ) is just bloody brilliant and does exactly what it says it does , it just gets the major muscle groups moving again. I use this extensively towards the end of the race when my quads are hammered.  It really makes a difference and allows me to move back through the gears towards the end of an event when most runners are stumbling home.

 

Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ )  The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products)  can be difficult to digest later in the event.  From the website :-

As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority. 

In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance. 

In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born. 

BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work! 

BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!

What can I say about HumanTecar,  ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !

 

 

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