This weekend is the race that I have ran the most in my running career, the infamous 6 inch trail ultra, ( https://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) 47km of beautiful trails on the (  https://mundabiddi.org.au/  ) Munda Biddi  trail, which runs over 1,000km from Kalamunda just outside Perth to Albany.  We are truly based in Perth with the Munda Biddi and the Bibulumun track , the running version.  ( https://www.bibbulmuntrack.org.au/ ) . I first ran this event in 2008 when it was an fat ass , i.e. no entry fee and you look after yourself. I hadn’t looked at the trail and there was no GPX file available, needless to say I got lost and finished swearing to never run the event again, actually I tried to cancel my Comrades entry for the following year, I was done with ultra running.  This seems to be a theme with races that I have either not enjoyed or DNF’d. The 6 inch, Feral and Delirious West  are probably my three favourite events where as they all destroyed me the first time I ran them, go figure ?

This year we have Myself, Adam, Mark, Scotty and Bartsy in the full while Rob continues his love affair with the easy option and is entering the three inch. The word on the street is the biggest and meanest hill has been bulldozed , the infamous escalator, which is a real pity as you hit this hill around the 35k mark and it has destroyed many runners over the years including my good mate Michael Kowal, who has never ran tails since.  Maybe this is the year for a good time ? Temperatures are looking good at the moment after a very hot period in the middle of the week.  Last year we were so lucky with temperatures that would have cancelled the event on the day before and the day after, it looks like we will be lucky again for 2024.

This event is special due to it’s proximity to Christmas, it’s a final long run with friends before the madness of the festive period really kicks into gear. The finish line of the 6 inch ultra is a special place to be, everybody has just finished their last race of the year (normally) and it’s a time to either reflect on the year while also looking forward to Christmas and the next challenge in 2025, in my case that’s 24 park Runs in 24 Hours , January 11th.  It’s also great to spend time with like minded people and because the event is in Dwellingup, a small rural town (village?) a few hours from Perth most people hang around for lunch afterwards, at the Dwelling pub.  (Which does a Chicken Schnitzel bigger than Bartsy!)

The post from last year , 2023.

The 6 Inch trail ultra marathon is one of those races that you keep going back too for a number of reasons. Number one is Dave , the RD, gives you a red spike for 6 finishers ( a trophy for twelve), two is the unique atmosphere of an event so close to Christmas and three is the trail itself, just incredible.  This year I was so close to missing out due to a hamstring tear but I was confident that I could finish after two good weeks of semi-reasonable training post a six week layoff.  I was prepared to roll the dice because it’s the 6 inch and it’s tradition. As I have said many times runners love traditions, it’s in our dna.

This year we had Rob driving again with Adam, Bart’s , Scotty and I running. Rob was also giving massage’s at the finish line as part of his work with the Tribe and Trail shop ( https://www.tribeandtrail.com.au/ ) and The Long Run physiotherapy ( https://www.thelongrunphysio.com/ ) .  If you’re a trail runner in Perth you need to look up both these businesses and get behind them.

Next on the tradition list of things to tick off was the stop at Baldivis BP garage and get a photo under the Truckers Lounge entrance. One day we might muster up enough courage to try and actually go into the Truckers Lounge but some things are better off unseen, for the moment we are happy enough with the photo outside. Maybe we’ll send in Bartsy next year , albeit I don’t think he’d ever come out ?

Moving down the traditions list next we have drive to the top of Goldmine Hill and take a photo. For those who don’t know Goldmine Hill is the first hill at the start of the 6 Inch and it’s a big one with some serious vert sections. Just the thing you don’t need at the start of a 47km ultra. This hill has broken a number of runners over the years making the next 45 or so kilometres unpleasant. Back in the day I use to run this as Dave put on a KOM trophy for the first male to the top, those days are long gone and this year I walked the first kilometre for a very pleasant eleven minutes  chatting to friends. With hindsight I could probably go a bit quicker next year but it was a nice change to amble into a race.

As you can see from the image below not all native animals survive on Goldmine Hill and this Kangaroo had seen better days.  As Australians know a rotting Kangaroo is not pleasant on the nose and this bad boy was no different. I’m sure quite a few runners would have put on a spurt while passing ‘skippy’.

Top of Goldmine Hill photo, tick, we were moving down the tradition list at a great rate of knots now. The conditions were warmer than we expected but luckily these disappeared over night and , for the event, we had perfect race conditions.

After the traditional speech at the Forrest Centre by a panel of top runners it’s time to put on ‘Run Fat Boy Run’ and enjoy one of the funniest films we know with several scenes that just continue to raise a giggle.  We even brought our own version down as the one at the accommodation had seen better days and we were forced to watch a different film last year.  This did not go down well with the crew, remember, runners love tradition.

Post Run Fatboy Run we retreated to our room for the evening.  Somehow Barts had snagged the double bed while Scotty, Adam, Rob and I shared two bunk beds next door. Needless to say four nervous runners sharing a room is never going to end well and I don’t think any of us got more than an hours sleep, albeit Barts had set his alarm for 2:30am so we were never going to get eight hours ! Rob also didn’t help the situation by trying to watch the English Premiership on his new iphone with the volume turned up. Luckily the internet is a new thing in Dwellingup and not very reliable so he gave up quickly.

Next on the list is the traditional start photo of all the runners and then off we all go up Goldmine Hill and off to Dwellingup via the Munda Biddi trail ( https://mundabiddi.org.au/ )  Luckily we had our own cars at the finish line so drove to registration at the North Dandalup village hall before the short trip to the start line. Dave puts on buses to move the runners from the finish to the start as it’s a point to point event so it requires some logistical planning, we have always taken care of ourselves.  There are some funny stories about this but not for the general public, lets just say if you’re going to run a point to point race do not leave your car keys ,  parked at the finish, in a bag in the car parked at the start. !

The race itself was always going to be testing, it’s an ultra marathon after all. Add in the nearly thousand metres of vert over the distance and some hot temperatures and you’re in for a hard day at the office whatever happens.   I was coming into the event off a hamstring tear so in the previous ten weeks had only ran three of them and really only the previous week of any note, distance wise. I had actually unregistered myself with the RD but with a few good weeks of run/walking was happy to roll the dice and risk my hammy for another finish and time with the boys.  This was another reason for my eleven minute first kilometre, time spent socialising with friends rather than racing Goldmine Hill.

Eventually though I knew I had to kick on and left Barts and Scotty and worked my way through the field. I really had no idea how’d I go after my long lay off and injury. Initially I just wanted to finish, then it was finish under five hours and my top goal was break my time from last year, a personal worst time of four hours and forty eight minutes.  Without the good training base I really had no idea what to expect. Undaunted I set off in pursuit of the next runner infront of me and used this as motivation to maintain a good pace but not too good leading to a blow out.

I always break down this race into three sections. The first section is the first 23k to aid station one. You then have another 14k to aid station two at the top of the Escalator hill and then the final 10k sprint (?) to the finish.  I always enjoy the second half more than the first and post aid station one start to relax a bit knowing I have broken the back of the event. With the next aid station only 14k away it coms along a lot quicker then the first one and then it’s a ten kilometre section , albeit a nasty section, the the finish where you choose how much pain you want to endure. (Albeit sometimes this is worked out for you if the race has gone badly)

This year I was consistent the whole time, no walking bar the first kilometre and the Escalator Hill (which is unrunable) and just keep moving forward at a good pace but nothing that is going to lead to a blow out or hamstring damage.  As I said earlier I just kept chasing the runner infront of me, I’d pass them and then onto the next one.  This kept me honest and I really enjoyed moving through the field, chatting to a number of runners as I passed them.

As the Escalator Hill is an out and back section you get to see whose just infront of you and can use this as either motivation if you’re chasing someone or a reality check, come warning, if someone is chasing you.  As I  Neared the top of the Escalaor I was surprised to see Sarah and Adam coming down less than three hundred metres ahead of me. I had written off any chance of catching these guys as they had set off with the lead runners and both were targeting far quicker times than me.  Seeing them so close was all the motivation I needed to rush through the aid station and start my pursuit.

Funnily enough we had been talking about the race a few years ago when Scotty has passed Adam with two kilometres to go and gave him a pat on the backside as he did. Could I catch him and join this exclusive club ? This was all the motivation I needed, it was on like Donkey Kong.  These sort of silly thoughts are sometimes all you need to switch through the gears and any thoughts of just finishing go out the window as the competitive juices start to flow.  I caught Sarah on the next hill and ploughed on to eventually catch Adam with two kilometres to go, perfect pacing and timing, I couldn’t have been happier. Another tradition has now started, someone needs to catch Adam at two kilometers from the finish and give him a tap on the backside.  If that someone is reading this please let me know the details, in 2024 Adam better watch his butt , remember now it’s tradition.

After passing Adam on the final section of four kilometres or so,  of slightly uphill , undulating , single track I bumped into Mr. TRC himself Sam Simsek, running his first three inch trails half marathon.  Had to stop for a selfie with this legend as The Running Centre and Sam in particular have supported me for many years.  ( https://therunningcentre.com.au/ )  Again runners in Perth get behind these guys, they are legends. It was then time to race to the finish and put number fourteen to bed, a raging success as I finish in just over four hours and thirty five minutes, thirteen minutes quicker than last year. I have Sam to thank for putting me into a pair of Hoka Mach X shoes which were brilliant for the terrain, although not a trail shoe the carbon plate protected my foot and the extra bounce helped keep my hammy in check.  The trail itself is very runable and this explains the quicker finishing times of the top runners and also the domination of road runners over the years.

I nailed the race with a no-expectation attitude and was never hurting too much, there were periods of self doubt as there are in any ultra but these are followed by periods of feeling great. Keeping on top of the hydration and nutrition also helped and it really was just about the perfect day. Even now as I type this race report the next day I’m looking forward to number fifteen in twelve months time, it’s tradition.

Finally we had the final two traditions to tick off the list, one is the finishers shot with all the runners at the finish line and finally the shot of all runners who completed  the event in their new Six Inch Ultra tops. I must compliment Dave on this years tops, they are very good and I love the colour, very cool. Once we completed these it was off to the pub for a great lunch and the journey home, mission accomplished for 2023.  I think this is now another tradition as the normal venue , the Blue Wren , upset us on Saturday by shutting early, we’re a fickle bunch runners.

So that’s Ultra marathon number 46 which now matches my number of marathons I have completed , giving me a total of 92 events, eight more to go for the the one hundred marathons or longer total. If I have a good year in 2024 maybe I can reach the total at this event next year, that would be cool making the event even more special. Either way I’ll get to that elusive number sooner rather than later, why wouldn’t you ?

Next on the radar is either the Australian Day Ultra ( https://australiadayultra.com/ ) or the 24 parkruns in 24 hours ? ( https://ultraseries.com.au/24-parkruns-in-24-hours/ ) before the big one in February , the Delirious West 200 miler. ( https://www.deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) , now that is a tradition.

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.

The 6 inch post from 2022 with links to many more :-

Running is all  about traditions , runners love doing the same thing over and over. That may be training routines, entering the same races or just spending time with friends going to the same location for runs. After a while all these routines turn into traditions, and then they have to be adhered to, it’s tradition. The 6 inch ultra trail marathon  ( https://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) is one of many traditions that the lads and I love to adhere to, albeit it use to be a family tradition (yes, you can involve the family) but the kids all grew up and no longer wanted to spend time with old runners. We took that on the chin and just stopped inviting them, it had now morphed into a lads weekend away. (I say ‘lads’ in the broadest sense of the word, our average age is well over fifty these days. It’s lucky Michael Kowal is still scarred by the escalator on his one and only 6 inch attempt a few years back or the average age would be in the sixties!)

To get a feel for the event I recommend trawling through my blog to get some old posts , I’ve attached a few links here. This will help with the post I’m about to recount.

https://www.runbkrun.com/2020/12/23/6-inch-race-report-warning-contains-images-of-trail-runners/

https://www.runbkrun.com/2020/12/13/its-that-time-of-the-year-6-inches-of-fun-fun-fun/

https://www.runbkrun.com/2018/12/17/middle-of-december-6-inch-time/

https://www.runbkrun.com/2016/12/19/sometimes-6-inches-is-enough/

https://www.runbkrun.com/2016/11/14/look-busy-the-6-inch-is-coming/

Right now you’ve caught up with the history of this event it time to way lyrical about the 2022 edition. Due to various reasons we have a small starting line up this year. We lost Marky ‘Mark’ Lommers to a twisted ankle, Adam to gastro, Bart’s to a family holiday he had to take in Noosa and Scotty to long term injury. This left Jeffrey , Jon and I to toe the line at the start with Rob (poorly achilleas)  again driving us to the start Sunday morning at some ungodly hour. (Remember it’s a point to point and we stay at the finish) After I persuaded Jeffrey to drive (remember we lost Adam to gastro and apparently if he can’t go to the event his 7 seater Prado can’t go either, a tad selfish me thinks!) we were off , high noon on Saturday, the day before the event. Jon would be joining us down there as he loves to hoon in his BMW and would prefer to do it alone apparently, less eye witnesses is probably safer for all concerned.

Right back to tradition, for this lads trip there are a few. First we always stay at the Jarrah Forest lodge , Jon always books the family room , and pays, thereby ensuring he gets the double bed (being the smallest) while the other room is shared with the lads (there’s two bunk beds). This room has the benefit of air conditioning in both rooms. I always stay in room 16 , a single room with a bunk,  the farthest from the toilet block. This has no air conditioning, actually just a bunk bed, you get that prisoner cell block H feeling about the place.  It’s clean and that’s all we need for one night. We use to go the pub the night but the meal portions are so large that it affected the running performances the following day. Bart’s was still eating his chicken parmi post race Sunday afternoon. I was above this of course and always take my own meal for the Saturday night, it’s tradition.

My favourite tradition is watching run fatboy run after bib collection on Saturday evening, we must have seen this movie at least five times but it still gets the same laughs in the same places, so good. Due to the set up at the lodge it can take anywhere from 15 minutes to nearly an hour to get the video working. There is an amp, a switcher box, a projector , at least two DVD players and cables everywhere. Things were looking good this year when Jon got the DVD talking to the TV, with the right input, in a matter of minutes but , as is tradition, things didn’t go that smoothly and the DVD had been played to death, literally. It was finished so after a brief interlude we selected another DVD, Will Ferrel in Semi Pro which , although not a run fayboy run, was a pretty good alternative.  Never fear thought we have ordered Run FatBoy Run on DVD so will be watching it next year and we will bring all our own equipment !

Post DVD the boys scuttle off to their luxurious, for Dwellingup remember the town has a population of population 524, family room complete with air conditioning while I hit my jail cell, alarms set for 3am. This year I was lucky enough to have a very keen runner next door to me (?) who had set their alarm for 2am as they were catching the bus. Great, I get to get up an hour or so earlier than planned. It gets better, I was also next door to a snorer and the walls are paper thing, it felt like we were in the same bed ! When you hear someone snoring you cannot unhear it. Let’s just say I was sleep depraved while I ate my weetbix and drank my cup of sweet tea in the communal kitchen at 2:15am. Not ideal but I’m a big believer in it’s the night before the night before which is the important time to sleep, anything on the evening before the event is a bonus.  Once the boys rose, an hour or so after me, we all got into the car as planned at 3:45am for the twenty minutes or so drive to the start and check in. The drive to the start is always a tad worrying as Kangaroo’s aren’t car friendly and if we were to hit a roo it wouldn’t end well for any of us. Luckily we didn’t see any albiet last year we’re sure Bart’s killed a bandicoot on the way to the start, something he still denies.

As the image below shows we were last to arrive at the pre-race check in but we have a car so the drive to the start was only a few minutes away and we arrived with minutes so spare, more than enough. Unfortunately we were carrying a goody-pack for my mate Tristan who was running the 12 inch. This is another tradition of runners running from the finish to the start the night before (47km) and then leaving with the race at 4:30am and returning for the medal, another 47km; hence the name 12 inch.  We managed to get Tristan his drop bag albeit a few minutes from the start, sorry buddy, it obviously wasn’t a problem as he ran the 12 inch in around 13 hours.

The plan for this race was to finish under five hours, not walk, bar the monster hills,  enjoy the event and keep Jeffrey behind me to keep my 20 year or so winning streak. Jeffrey is now over 60 and running very well, he came close to pipping me to the post in Melbourne in October and had been training well since with Bart’s preparing him for battle. My running had been down the toilet since September due to over training (or over racing?) and niggles including tight hamstrings and a probable tear under my right knee. Weekly I was getting dropped at the Yelo Thursday morning gathering and my training runs in the hills had all been thirty minutes or so longer than last year.  The smart money was on Jeffrey for this one. Jon was expecting another sub four hour finish but a nasty cough had me questioning his optimism.

The 6 inch starts with Goldmine hill, a beast of a hill that has destroyed many a runners dreams. If you’re not prepared it can derail you very early in the piece, trust me if you are goosed after two kilometres the next 46 or so are challenging.  This year me and Jeffrey decided to walk most of the hill with the masses, saving our running legs for the beating that was ahead. It was quite nice to enjoy the hill for a change,  although I say ‘enjoy’ in the broadest sense of the word.?  We summited full of beans and changed up through the gears cruising along in a group of about ten of us, mainly women surprisingly ? The event itself is held on the mundi biddi trail, a thousand kilometre offroad bike trail from Perth to Albany, so pretty good running. David Kennedy, the Race Director, reckons you can add about an hour to your marathon time to get an estimated finish time, he’s probably right.

The 6 inch has an aid station at 23 kilometres and then again at the top of the escalator hill, around 35 kilometres. There is also one with four kilometres to go but when you’re that close why would you stop?  I ran with Jeffrey until the first aid station where he complained of a sore knee and walked into the aid station.  This was my chance and , as all good friends do , when I sensed weakness I pounced or in this case left him.  That was the last I would see of Jeffrey , or so I thought. My confidence was knocked  by Mick Francis, the aid station captain, who mentioned I was limping and he’d  pull me out if he was RD.  A tad harsh I thought as I thought I was going ok ?

After aid station one there is another large climb to the highest part of the course, the 3 inch version of the Goldmine Hill I suppose. I half walked and ran this and took a few more positions as I started to warm up, after twenty years in Western Australia I’m now half lizard and love the heat.  Once I get to the highest part I tend to flick over into finish mode and chase down the back end of the half runners and fellow full runners. As I mentioned at the start of this report this race was about finishing and having fun, as much as that is possible. I was feeling good enough to up the pace and started to move through the field albeit nothing to previous years but nice to be moving up the field none the less.

I climbed the escalator hill to the second aid station, filled my bottles and then started the last ten kilometres to the finish. It was here Jeffrey reappeared and all of a sudden my relaxed cruise to the finish changed to a very stressful run being chased by a motivated Jeffrey Wang.  I managed to maintain the pace for the final ten kilometres and with the experience of twelve previous finishes I knew when you push and when to hang on.  It wasn’t easy or pretty but I managed to finish in four hours and forty eight minutes and change. My new personal worse by thirty minutes but mission accomplished, sometimes it’s the journey that’s important not the time taken to complete it. As you can see from the smile below I was stoked.

All that was left to do was the traditional esky photo, if you know, you know, don’t judge me. Thanks Nathan Fawkes for supplying the ice shower, may add this to the tradition for the esky photo, always keen to add more traditions ?

One final tradition is all the boys (and driver) who completed the course to put on their finishers shirts and get a photo. I have so many of these and enjoy looking back at all the lads aging gracefully and back in the day we’d even have a few kinds with us, they are all far too cool to have their photos taken with us these days of course.  A small gathering this year but I’m confident there will be a bigger group in 2023.

So that’s it for 2022, what a great year, ten ultra marathons and one marathon , I’ve been busy with over two thousand kilometres racing with a bib on my chest and another three thousand kilometres training. 6 inch number thirteen completed and I can’t wait until I;m back at the bottom of Goldmine Hill facing another 47 kilometres of the munda biddi trail , sleep depraved but excited about what lays ahead, why wouldn’t you, after all , it’s tradition.

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Big shout out to fisiocrem , this product is just incredible for tired and aching legs. I use it daily and have noticed a vast improvement in recovery.

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/)

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