Before you dive into the 2024 recap , if you’re new to this blog, it’s a good idea to read the previous three years tales of woe.  Gives you an idea of what’s coming.

2021 Recap :-  https://www.runbkrun.com/2021/05/08/lighthorse-24-ultra-lest-we-forget/

2022 Recap :- https://www.runbkrun.com/2022/04/30/lighthorse-ultra-24-hours-2022/

2023 Recap :- https://www.runbkrun.com/2023/05/06/once-more-into-the-breech-lighthorse-24-hour-ultra-race-2023-recap/

The Lighthorse Ultra is a timed event giving runners a 1, 3, 6, 12, or 24 hour option. There’s even an hour dog race which is pretty unique. I first ran this event in 2019 when the 12 hour was the longest option., this didn’t end well as I was in marathon mode and after just over three hours had enough and scuttled home.  I had no concept of a timed event or even the 3am kick off time. Lesson learned.  I came back in 2020 for the first 24 hour option and grabbed third place, I was hooked.

The 24 hour option came onboard in 2020 and I’ve ran every one. This would be my fifth time and the goal was just over 200km to reach the 1,000km mark for the five years. ( Previous years I had ran 192 (3rd) , 187 (3rd) , 207 (1st) , 206 (2nd)  ; albeit I lost 3 laps (around 7.5km in 2021 when I ran without my timing chip, rookie error!)

The only fly in my ointment was I had started the moving house process the previous Monday and Tuesday and continued for most of the week before the event, not ideal. To make matters worse I had a removal truck hired for the day after the event. ( Post event I worked a 15 hour day moving house, in hindsight not one of my best ideas ! )

I had nabbed a spot in the Mind Focused Running tent again. ( https://mindfocusedrunning.com/ ) If you need help with your mental approach to running reach out to Rob Donkersloot, he will toughen you up, or make you enjoy the process rather than stressing out on unachievable goals.  I worked with Rob a few years ago and have never looked back, he teaches what most coaches ignore, the mental approach to enjoying your running. This tent is full of like minded runners enjoying plying their trade, albeit high as kites on No Doz.

Looking at my splits on Strava (You are on Strava right ? https://www.strava.com/dashboard ) I was going great guns for the first forty seven  kilometres but then started to fade with a twenty minute break , funnily enough. Personably I feel the weeks activities moving house had come back to haunt me and this was not unexpected. (To be fair I didn’t set the house move date but it was a rookie error not to move it a week either way.) There’s no sugar coating this, the event hurt and I had to dig deeper than previous years with my end goal reducing on the hour. First a win and over 207km. then a podium. then anything over a miler ( 162km) and finally top five.

This is the mind games you play , giving yourself easy outs, the trick is to not accept these options and keep heading towards your original goals or better, one loop at a time. Think Goggins 40/60 rule, when he reckons you have 60% more available to you when you are completely done. The mind keeps this to protect you. If you can tap into this extra energy you can achieve so much more.  ( https://youtu.be/ocIWBpT-AGc )  Alternatively the Tim Noakes ‘Governor‘ theory which is very similar.  ( https://thenoakesfoundation.org/prof-tim-noakes/ ) albeit Tim seems to have upset a few people lately. Tim’s book ‘ the Lore of running’ is the bible of all things running albeit it you need to keep in mind it was written over fifty years ago now and some of his comments would be inflammatory now, in the nicest possible way.

This event breaks you, there is no getting away from this but that is the point of ultra running. A good ultra allows you to find out things about yourself you can’t in normal life. At two or three in the morning when you’re about 100km in and totally fatigued the easy thing is to stop and sit down in your chair, put on a warm jacket and just stop. This event differs from a backyard ultra where you can sit down but are restricted by the need to be up and about at the start line on the hour. At Lighthorse , as it’s a timed event, you can just sit down and stop while still moving towards the finish line, the clock is always ticking.  There is a ‘way out’ where you can ‘go easy‘ on yourself,  you need to avoid the chair , this is how Lighthouse differs from most ultras. The event village is a hive of activity in the day and a shining light in the evening, day or night the urge to sit down and relax is so tempting, must be strong, avoid the chair. This is where Rob Donkersloot comes in handy, he doesn’t even have to say anything, just a disapproving glance is enough to get you moving and scurrying off onto another loop.

The village comes alive at night. Each year the gazebos are decorated more brightly than the previous year as crews learn from experience and update their facilities. It can make it hard running past barbeques and gas heaters as you scuttle off into the dark while everybody is having a great time in the ‘party village’!   In the day they have shade and cool drinks as you scurry from shadow to shadow out on the course in the heat of the day doing your best to avoid the sauna that is the sun, turned up to ten.

The course itself is a 2.6km loop and is has a bit of everything , concrete, crushed limestones, a wooden footbridge and some nice pot holes to keep you on your feet, or off them, at various times through the loop. Every three hours we change direction which is actually a good thing albeit I have a favourite direction, anti-clockwise.  Clockwise is harder as you have to run up the concrete path which seems to drag on where as the opposite direction you get to stumble down it but have to run up the crushed concrete path outside the event village.  There’s not a lot in it truth be told.

Running the 24 hour event you get to experience a sunset and a sunrise, and everything in-between.  The sunset comes on quickly as it’s a three o’clock start where as the sunrise is a long wait after eleven hours of darkness. When it comes it also brings along the coldest part of the day but you embrace this as you know the heat is coming close behind.

So back to the race, previously I had enjoyed a twenty minute snooze at 47 km while I was leading the event. I was beginning to feel the fatigue of a house move earlier in race week so decided to drop down a few gears and I managed to maintain a relative consistent pace until 109km when I have another thirty minute rest.  I always split the race into twelve hours and aim for a 100km split, twice. This year I ran 105km for the first twelve which left me 95km for the second twelve. I promised myself a rest post halfway and at 109km I delivered on that promise, would have been around 3am.  It wasn’t enough and fifteen kilometres later I was exhausted and rather than stumble on I treated myself to a good hour in the chair. I’m not sure if I slept, I think I did but it was at an ideal time, probably between 5am and 6am, part of the witching hours as I call them (anytime between midnight and 5am you are at your lowest, your body is not use to exercise in this period, it craves what it knows, sleep)  The best thing about starting again post-snooze was the sunrise was imminent and with the sunrise comes a mental boost that is always enough to see me to the 3pm finish.

This year we were treated to another beaut’ sunrise and also the six and three hour runners at 6am. (The twelve hour runners joined us at 3am they’d finish at the same time as the 24 hour runners)  So it became suddenly very busy on the loop with four formats running together. This also spurred you on albeit you were being lapped by the shorter distance runners who were running much quicker.

After my long ‘power nap‘ I was surprised to still be in third place with my good friend Chris Martin one lap down and young Jack Brown  three or four behind him. I wasn’t confident I could hold off Chris but continued to move around the course avoiding the chair. At this point I was aiming for the miler distance as a minimum and then I’d try and hold third place. When I eventually reached the miler distance I checked the real time lap counter and was surprised I had moved to second place after Conor Quinn had left the course, peeing blood apparently.  (Please note he hadn’t left the course peeing blood, he was peeing blood in the toilet and then decided to go home, in case you had an image of a runner leaving the course peeing red liquid on everybody as he did so. ) This gave me the impetus I needed, I could smell as second place finish and the pressure of a podium finish suddenly became a lot less , given I had a place buffer,  or so I thought.  A few laps later I again checked my position and noticed Chris and Jack were in hot pursuit. I had four hours to go and plenty of running ahead it would seem, game on.

The last four hours was hard work but I found a second wind and managed to grind out the laps at a reasonabel pace, with an hour to go I was four laps ahead of Chris and Jack and four laps behind Callum Mason, in first place, my job was done. All I needed to do now was keep lapping and try to get to 190km. I managed to get to 190.1km in the end, good enough for second place and my fifth 24 hour podium, I was stoked.

So that was it for 2024, second place and a 190km final total. Not my best, not my worst, a very reasonable effort given my fatigued legs from the start. This one really hurt though and even now, a few weeks after, I’m still not 100% sure I’ll enter again next year. This event just takes too much out of me and I’m not sue I can put myself in the pain cave again for so long and so bloody deep ! It’s a race compared to a 200 miler or even a point to point 100 miler, which are more adventures. I enjoy adventures , not sure about these timed events, albeit I put pressure on myself to achieve lofty goals but that’s just me I suppose. To be noted I’ve said the same thing on the previous four occasions I’ve ran this beast of an event and by Christmas forgotten how painful the event was and entered. You know what they say about old dogs and tricks, I’m not sure I can learn new ones…

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’ !

 

Fractel ( https://fractel.com.au/ ) have your performance headgear covered. I love the colours and the functionality of these hats, I guarantee there is one model you’ll fall in love with.

Shokz headphones, let you keep in touch with the world around while losing yourself in quality tunes or podcasts. ( https://shokz.com.au/ )

T8 running apparel is the best you can get, second to none. Designed for the ultra humid Hong Kong conditions the owners live in.  It is light and does away with any chaffing worries. T8 is the name given to the highest typhoon warning in Honk Kong,  storms and typhoons with gusts exceeding 180kph, which explains the branding. ( https://t8.run/)

Altra supply the best trail shoes on the planet, in my opinion, and none better than the Olympus five. Do yourself a favour and buy a pair. ( https://www.altrarunning.com.au/ )

https://www.osprey.com/au/en/category/hydration/trail-running/ Osprey Australia have come onboard and are supplying me with two running backpacks and travelling luggage for the Run Britannia adventure. I particularly like their running backpacks and am excited to test them over the event. I’ll be using the Duro 6 and the Duro 1.5 backpacks.

Excited to have Coros onboard who have supplied me with the new Apex 2 Pro GPS watch. I already owned the Apex 2 and was stoked when Coros reached out and offered me an upgrade. Even more battery life, can you believe 75 hours using GPS, wow! The watch itself is awesome, so light and well made. The watch is paired with a incredible application to keep track of all your stats, and runners love stats ! .  ( https://coros.net.au/ )

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