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A few weeks ago I ran 207km (128 miles) for the win at the Lighthorse Ultra in Perth. I’d been chasing the elusive 200 km club for a few years and finally made it. So is this me being the best I’ve ever been or have I moved the goal posts to make pb’s achievable while still slowing down ? According to an article by Matt Fitzgerald below the reason we slow is the spirit rather than the flesh that lets us down. Not being mentally tough enough to keep putting yourself through the pain of training to reach your peak.
I agree with Matt, personally I’ve found moving to the ultra world easier to train for than trying to keep to my marathon pb best. I still love my running but after 10 or more years of pushing myself in the pain box I decided years ago to slow down, smell the roses and go long. Start to try and enjoy the experience and surround myself with like minded people who run for the love of running, without the expectations of results. Of course running ultra marathons is still a painful experience but in a different way. I always equate pain management to a tap of running water. For a shorter distance the tap is fully open and you are in the pain box, big time. The longer the distance the less the tap is open , finally ending up dripping for a 200 miler. The pain is there but it’s a slow feeling that builds over time, where as with a 5k it’s on from the start ! You get the picture. I’m happy to take on events with ridiculous distances now, distances that I would have struggled to comprehend when the marathon was the Everest of running, now it’s not even a warm up.
So can I get back to sub 3 form, well we’ll find out in October as I have signed up for the Melbourne Marathon. Unfortunately I have a few races planned before Melbourne starting with the Kep V2 Ultra this Saturday , a 100km ( https://kepultrav2.com.au/ ) . Then in June another 200 miler ( https://unreasonableeast200miler.com.au/ ), August it’s my favourite back yard ultra, ( https://birdysbackyardultra.com.au/ ) and the two weeks before the Melbourne marathon I get to run the inaugural Front yard ultra in Adelaide ( https://nttdfrontyard.com.au/ ) Am I being greedy, probably. Is it good preparation , 100% not but I love competing and racing, as I said to Rob Donkersloot, him of Mind Focuse running ( https://mindfocusedrunning.com/ ) I’d rather race 10 times’ with mediocre performances than save myself for one or two races a year. At my age it’s about spending time with like minded people and the best way to do that is race.
So have I let myself down mentally and is this the wrong approach ? Depends on what your goal is of course. If I was still chasing marathon pb times then I am 100% going about it the wrong way but if my goal is to race as long, and often, as possible I’m doing what I need to do and truth be told enjoying it immensely. Best runner in the world, the one having the most fun.
Matt Fitzgerald is an acclaimed endurance sports coach, nutritionist, and author. His many books include The Endurance Diet, 80/20 Running, and How Bad Do You Want It?
On January, 22, 2020, five days after thirty-eight year old Sara Hall set a new American record of 1:07:15 for the half marathon, Women’s Running magazine published an article titled “Sara Hall Shares 7 Keys to Her Longevity of Excellence.” For your convenience, I have copied the article’s section headings, which neatly summarize Hall’s secrets, and pasted them here:
“Immersing herself in the love of running”
“Being relentlessly resilient”
“Embracing imperfection”
“Trusting and adapting in training”
“Keeping the faith”
“Focusing on a full life”
“Turning disappointment into teaching moments”
There’s a lot of wisdom packed in these few phrases, but do they constitute a complete recipe for “longevity of excellence”? Of course not, as I’m sure Hall herself would agree. One additional nugget of advice I would offer to aging endurance athletes is this: Assume nothing. By this I mean that you must not assume you will slow down, or your training capacity will decrease, as you get older. Just keep chugging along as though you are immune to the laws of nature that affect other aging athletes and see what happens.
I first heard this advice many years ago from Dave Scott, the legendary six-time Ironman world champion. When Scott was twenty-eight he told his girlfriend Linda Buchanan that he wanted to be even fitter at forty than he was then. Well, he got his wish. In 1994, three months shy of his forty-first birthday, Scott narrowly missed winning a seventh Ironman title, finishing a close second to thirty-year-old Greg Welch. “I didn’t feel like there were any boundaries,” Scott told me years later. “I was constantly reminded of how old I was, but those comments went in one ear and out the other.”
Psychologists have demonstrated that expectations of all kinds tend to be self-fulfilling. It’s not surprising, then, that athletes like Dave Scott, who performs as well after forty as they did before, tend to share a defiant attitude toward the aging process. Some even talk about aging as an advantage. “The more you age, the more you’re getting stronger,” said twenty-seven-time world record-breaker Haile Gebrselassie at a press conference before the 2010 New York City Marathon, when he was officially thirty-seven years old but probably closer to forty-one. “I still feel like age of twenty.” Alas, Gebrselassie wound up DNF’ing the next day, but three years later he was still winning major races, including the Vienna Half Marathon.
Let’s be clear: Age is more than just a number. It is an inexorable biological process ending in death. Athletes who extend their peak performance years into their forties by virtue of high expectations are not defying the laws of nature. If it were not physically possible to set an American record at thirty-eight, Sara Hall would not have done so. In continuing to improve as they approach middle age, the Sara Halls of the world are merely exploiting a possibility that exists in all of us.
This was shown in a recent study by researchers at Germany’s Martin Luther University. The purpose of the study was to identify differences in how older and younger athletes tolerate and recover from high-intensity interval training. Two groups of twelve well-trained cyclists and triathletes, one with an average age of twenty-four and the other with an average age of forty-seven, completed a series of HIIT sessions. During and after each workout, a variety of physiological measurements were taken in an effort to assess how stressful the interval set was for the individual and how quickly the athlete recovered. For example, the researchers looked at the rate at which lactate was cleared from the bloodstream during recovery intervals. They found no differences between the two groups in any of these measurements, leading them to conclude (in language so bloodlessly scientific it’s almost self-parodying), “[I]t seems that the trainability of the organism is maintained.”
Findings like this one suggest that, for athletes over forty who experience a marked decline in performance, the flesh is willing, but the spirit is weak. This was certainly Dave Scott’s take, as he explained in the above-referenced conversation: “I think it comes back to how hungry you are in your workouts and how intense you are in your workouts. I coach regular folks. I have thirty-year-old’s, forty-year-old’s, fifty-year-old’s, sixty-year-old’s. . . The intensity of the workouts drops off as people age. They allow it to.”
I’m no Dave Scott or Haile Gebrselassie or Sara Hall, but I am living proof that mere mortals too can extend their peak performance years into their forties if they let the chatter about age go in one ear and out the other. Having raced my first Ironman at thirty-one, I completed my fastest Ironman at forty-eight. Having raced my first marathon at twenty-eight, I completed my fastest marathon at forty-six. And having raced my first 10K at twelve, I completed my fastest one at forty-nine. I repeat: Assume nothing!
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The Lighthorse Ultra ( https://lighthorseultra.com.au/ ) is one of my favorite events for a number of reasons. Firstly its for a fantastic cause namely supporting those who have served to protect. The Ultra Series give free entry to any past or present servicemen or women who have served, which is bloody fantastic. Every year a few men and women from our armed forces come along and do the event in uniform some with backpacks, inspiring stuff. Next it’s a timed event so you’re racing for distance not time as such. This has the added bonus , or curse, of even standing still you are moving closer to the finish line, one second at a time. Next is the comradery of the event village which you pass through every two and half kilometres as well as seeing all the other runners on the loop. The number of runners changes during the event of course with the 24 hour runners starting at 3pm Saturday, the twelve hour runners starting at 3am Sunday morning, the 6 and 3 hour runners starting at 6am Sunday. So it starts quiet on Saturday afternoon, gets busy during the middle of the event and then dies down towards the final few hours. Either way the event village is a hub of load music, great smelling food and people doing their thing, be that sleeping, crewing or just bathing in the event.
Funnily enough the Lighthorse Ultra in 2019 was my first DNF , if you can actually DNF a timed event. I had entered the 12 hour , as there was no 24 hour at the time, and found myself racing with Jon Pendse who would run a top 5 Australian distance of over 140km . He totally cooked me and at around 30km I called it quits and scuttled off home, a broken man. The next morning I ran a controlled 35km from my house not realising I could have gone back to the event, ran the same distance and picked up a nice shiny medal and a respectable middle of the pack total. As it was my first timed event the concept was alien to me and I regret not staying for a nap in the car or returning the next morning. No worries, I have returned the last three years , for the 24 hour event, and podiumed every time. I learned from the experience and came back stronger and dealt with my demons. This is why I always say a DNF is so much better than a DNS as there is the opportunity to learn from you mistakes with a DNF. My only two other DNF’s are now my favourite races also , the Delirious West 200 miler ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) and the Feral Pig 100 Miler. ( https://feralpigultra.com.au/ ) Running is weird.
I nearly didn’t make the start line this year. My no2 Daughter, Charlotte, came down with suspected mastoiditis Friday evening and after a trip to the local hospital was kept in for the night with another night planned. So that was it, I asked Rob to inform the race director, on Saturday morning, I was a DNS and begrudgingly unpacked my bags and began planning my stay at home duties looking after my other two daughters, the two dogs and the two Guinea pigs. While also keeping abreast of the Charlotte situation of course. Around midday my Wife called and told me the hospital was letting them out at 6pm that day so I was free to go and run around in circles for 24 hours. So I had just over two hours to repack my bag and get to the start line, no pressure. I made it with about half-an-hour to go thankfully and was ready for the Last Post, a very emotional part of the race.
I managed to get a berth in the Mind Focused Running marquee ( https://mindfocusedrunning.com/ ) and take advantage of the racing guru that is Rob Donkersloot for crewing. Rob has a wealth of experience including crewing for Mick Thwaites when he podiumed at the Badwater Ultra, ( https://www.badwater.com/ ) which as the name suggests is probably the hardest ultra on the planet. If you want to improve the mental side of your running Rob is the man and trust me ultra running is all mental. !
So we were ready, I had a crew I could trust, some training under my belt since Herdy’s frontyard and COVID and I was feeling happy to actually make the start line after the drama of the last 24 hours. As the name suggests the race is all about the running community paying their respects to the men and women who have served, or are serving, our Country. Pre start there is a bugler who sounds the last post, a military tradition, the Last Post is the bugle call that signifies the end of the day’s activities. It is also sounded at military funerals to indicate that the soldier has gone to his final rest and at commemorative services such as ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day. It is very emotional and certainly puts things in perspective, gives you a mental edge to tackle what is ahead of you knowing what our servicemen and women gave up so we would be able to life our live safely and comfortably.
Frank Kaesler read the last paragraph of the poem by Laurence Binyon, ‘For the Fallen’, an ANZAC day tradition and then we’re off, lap one, 3pm Saturday afternoon.
The two previous years I had ran 192km and 196km, always falling short of the 200km mark. This was down to me only having a moving time of sub 20 hours (thankyou Strava, remember ‘Strava is life the rest is details’) , meaning I spent too long in the chair and not enough time running. Both these distances were good for a podium finish but the goal this time was entry into the elusive 200k club. This is the main reason Rob was brought into the team. His experience would get me the goal I was coveting, albeit it would come at a price.
At 3pm Saturday the 80 or so 24 hour runners set off on lap 1, I needed to run 80 laps for 200km. At the start I sat towards the front of the pack and made sure I was relaxed keeping the heart rate and effort level down. The early stages are all about dialing in a pace you think you can maintain for long distances. There is no early race spurt for distance or even changes in pace throughout the event. If ever a race encapsulated the meme ‘the winner is the runner who slows the least‘ , this is it. Slow and steady.
The two previous years I had tried to sleep between the 2am and 5am, the witching hours as I call them. These are the hours when the body expects sleep, it can survive without sleep outside these hours but the 2-5 period it really wants to sleep , thus the witching hours. In longer distance ultras, say a 200 miler, I always get a least 2 hours and normally three between these hours and feel so much better for it, I may push through if it’s the last day but normally I will always sleep in between this period. For a 24 hour race sleep really is a luxury and not needed and Rob was here to make sure I didn’t falter. To this end he left before dinner to make sure he was back to keep an eye on me from late evening to the finish. I will admit to having a sneaky 10 minutes while he was away knowing I would be limited when he returned. Unfortunately with the timing chip on my ankle he knew where I was at all times and could see , when I hadn’t moved for 10 minutes, I was in the chair.
The first few hours were unremarkable , running wise , which is what you need at the start of a 24 hour race. If you suffer in the first 6 hours you are in for a very long day at the office. Luckily Jon Pendse was not running as I have been in that situation before chasing Jon when he ran his Australian record pace, believe me it ain’t fun ! Anyhow I digress, today was a lot easier and as we transitioned into a top change, bye bye singlet, as the temperature dropped and nightfall arrived I was feeling good.
I always find the first 50-90km of any race hard, be it a 200 miler , 100 miler or , in this case, a 24 hour race. After 90km I tend to get into a rhythm and you start to prepare mentally for the task ahead. This race was no different and I was allowed a 5 minute break at 60k and a 10 minute break at 85km. The 85km break was actually the 100km break early as I was suffering albeit Rob was not happy. At the time I was in the lead, much to Mick Francis’s ( https://www.facebook.com/MickFrancisCoaching/ ) disgust that I was horizontal in my chair at the time. Mick, or Mighty Mick, as he is known in the West is an Ultra Running God and now coaches in his retirement. When Mick ran 24 hour races he never left the track , or sat down, unless he was changing his clothing. Albeit this was probably in the early 1920’s and things have changes since then. Anyway I maintained my lead over Conor Quinn, who was second last year running 200km and my main rival, as another great runner Andy Wait had encountered ankle trouble and slept , for longer than he wanted. Third place was Neily Rae who was consistently lapping and would eventually finish with over 170km. He was running for his son Zane and did him proud, a gutsy run and a massive PB !
After 85km there was no rest for me really bar some food stops and changing clothing. Rob kept me on the straight and narrow and listened to my varied requests when I came round each lap and went about his business. If I needed Red Bull I would ask and then next lap it would appear, hot tea, pizza, orange juice , my list of requests was long and varied but each time Rob delivered. I’m certainly no Phil Gore when it comes to preparation and prefer just to have a ‘Rob’ , a sort of real time Phil Gore. As I have said before a good crew is paramount to success in an Ultra.
In an Ultra spanning over 24 hours or longer there are certain times that boost your moral and sunrise is one the the biggest. Once the sun rises the world as you know it changes dramatically. No longer are you staring at a small sphere of light ahead of you , continually moving towards darkness. A sunrise is so special but more so when you have been looking forward to it for hours and running continually though the night. Normally, well in Western Australia anyhow, there is the added benefit of heat which later during the day can become a hindrance to some. With my Delirious West training I have now acclimatized to the heat and actually prefer it, the hotter the better. Sunday would heat up but I had my neck scarf, thankyou Margie Hadley, and my arm coolers, thankyou Rob Collins. With Rob filling these with ice each lap I was unaffected by the heat and ploughed on, always running (shuffling) forward. As the image below shows I was now dressed in red for the finish and conditions were perfect. A beaut image captured by Marco Noe, a very talented photographer.
Sunday morning onwards was just about getting it done. I was ahead of target by about 7-8km’s at each of the turn arounds (the race changes direction every 3 hours) and had a good hour up my sleeve at the 12 hour mark. Rob kept me honest and I made a conscious effort to never walk while on the loop. Throughout the event I ran the loop and managed to keep this going the whole 24 hours, this was key to my ultimate success.
There are 7 turn arounds (where you change direction) and I treat each of these as a mini goal, in ultras you need to break it down into manageable goals rather than just concentrate on the finish which could be days away. I learnt this from my first attempt at the Delirious West where I remember running for 17 hours and realising that I probably had over 80 hours to go. That sort of mentality is a guarantee recipe for failure. Instead I should have been thinking about the next aid station, a 15-20km target and then hop from one aid station to the next until, voila, you’re home. A lesson learned from a DNF is invaluable and its the main reason a DNF is so much more productive than a DNS.
Racing for the win stopped a few hours before the end when Conor pulled the pin at 185km, happy and comfortable to grab second place and a hour or two relaxing in the chair. Of course Rob had other ideas for me but it was a relieve knowing the win was in the bag and then I was just racing myself to get to 200km and beyond. The early afternoon warmed up but every lap Rob added ice to my neckerchief and arm coolers and this was enough that the heat wasn’t a factor. I struggled with nutrition towards the end but the job was done and I had enough fuel to canter to the finish.
I hit the 200km target with about 45 minutes left and I was then allowed 5 minutes rest in the chair, the first time since 85km which seemed a lifetime ago. I could have stopped at 200k but actually enjoyed running nearly another three laps, just falling short at 207km. Mission accomplished. Could I have achieved this total without Rob ? Probably not, there were some dark times throughout the event and times when the chair was so inviting, just 5 minutes or maybe a tad longer. Thinking back to my two previous attempts I had spent so much more time pontificating but, and there’s always a but, I probably found the constant running so much more testing than running less but faster. To race a 24 hour and grab a total over 200km you can’t , or shouldn’t rest, but there may be a balance where some rest can help improve the overall average pace and thus get the same end result?
In the end the 24 hour runners set an Australian record for the largest number of runner to complete the 50km distance needed to be counted as an ultra in 24 hours. 76 runners completed the 50km or more and beat the old record, set by this event two years ago, by 19. Shaun Kaesler, the owner of the Ultras Series WA and SA ( https://ultraserieswa.com.au/ ) , would have been so proud of this years record turnout and also running with his Family including his Wife Sarah who ran a great race for a top 5 finish in the ladies event. Other notable runs were achieved by Mel Maisey who used some of her many, many volunteer credits and kept on going right to end to run a massive 60km, Gemma Gore who came so close to 100km on her first ultra, her longest run by over 70km, that is a serious PB! The second and third females are trained by Mick Francis and in the next tent to me so I saw them push themselves to massive totals, well done Cheri Savin and Ilze Roux. Jen Millum and Margie Hadley taking out the 24 and 12 hour events, these two just get the job done time and time again, pure ultra racing royalty. To me everybody who crosses the start line is a winner in this event, everybody, I may have already said that but it needs to be typed twice. I cannot express in words the feeling you get when you run the 24 hour event in the Lighthorse, you’ll just need to sign up next year and find out for yourselves, you won’t regret it but if you want some time in your chair best avoid Rob.
Couldn’t leave with a few tips for going long. Number one is fisiocrem, this stuff does exactly what it says it will do , namely rejuvenate your aching muscles in the short term, i.e. for the event, be that a 24 hour or multi-day. I have used fisiocrem for 200 milers, 100 milers and any distance over 50km where I would have time to apply the creme. It certainly saved the day at the Delirious West 200 miler ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) earlier in the year and didn’t let me down in the Lighthouse. A great product.
Another great product is Bix Hydration tablets. The three flavours are great tasting but more importantly easy on the stomach, which is so good when you are drinking a lot. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/en-au ) The owner and founder of this range , Vlad Ixel, knows a thing or two about ultra running. ( check out his YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCikqAT5S16931CQN_tC7EtQ )
To prevent chafing you need this product. It works. ( https://squirrelsnutbutter.com/ ) I can’t say too much more about this product. It helps you get to the finish line chafe free, which can be very, very important ! Actually forget can be, it is very important , as one who has suffered severe chafing in the never regions knows !
Right that it’s then. Never thought I was in the running for a win but will take it and, at 55 years old, not sure how many more I have coming my way but if this is the last one then so be it. I run these events to spend time with people I love, finishing at the pointy end is a privilege that I don’t take for granted and there were so many heroes on the course over the 24 hours, so many. In this event everybody is winner, everybody.
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With the Lighthorse Ultra 24 hour race ( https://lighthorseultra.com.au/ ) less than a week away its time to talk about tapering, every runners nightmare. I have found with age comes wisdom and now I embrace the taper before a race and adjust according to the event. My good friend Dave Kennedy, 6 Inch Trail Ultra race director ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) doesn’t believe in tapering for ultras and over time I have certainly ran more before a longer event albeit distance over pace, just ticking the legs over I suppose. I wouldn’t launch into tempo or threshold runs the week before an event but am quite happy to run every day at a relaxed pace and noting more than 10k.
Remember the number one rule of tapering, you can only do too much on the week before a race, never too little. So if you do nothing for the week you will not lose fitness. The only caveat is you probably need to adjust your diet and drop the calories at the start of the week before launching into a carboloading frenzy three days before the event. Another caveat, for ultras, the carboloading phase is probably not as necessary as there will most likely be a smorgasbord of tukka during the event, also weight isn’t as big an issue as say for a marathon runner. Ultra running really is the sport that keeps on giving.
From an old post of mine :-
For the 6 inch ultra marathon in December last year I experimented by not tapering nearly as much as I would for a marathon. On the week of the event I actually ran twice a day Monday through Thursday and only had 48 hours rest before the race. Admittedly all runs on race week were slow and easy but I still managed over 80km’s pre-race. On the day I felt great and ran a good race for a 7th place finish but more importantly I was 4th quickest over the second half of the race. I actually ran my first negative split for an ultra. The week before the ultra I had ran 140k so there really wasn’t a taper period to talk off. ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com )
Could this work for a marathon ? I don’t think so. The ultra is normally ran at a more subdued pace and although longer I feel not as testing as ‘racing’ a marathon. (Well ultras less than 100k, when you get above 100k I’m sure it becomes a tad more testing that a marathon. Once I run further than 100k I’ll confirm?) In an ultra the race pace normally decreases brings your overall cardio fitness in to play more than resting the legs a few weeks before. If you haven’t got the fitness a two week taper will not help, you’ll still be underdone. With a marathon, as the distance is less, you normally have the fitness required to finish the event, the tapering helps more by letting tired muscles recovery.
Also I feel running a good ultra is more dependent on the nutrition and hydration plan, get this right will benefit you so much more than a taper period. Again get this plan wrong and the taper will not save you. In an ultra any mistakes will be paid for, that is a certainty. In an ultra there is no where to hide.
Researching tapering and ultras on the web and there are stories advocating no tapering and setting PB’s while others advocate a 3 week steep taper and lean more towards relaxing rather than stressing about the event. All have their pro’s and con’s and as with all things running there’s no one shoe fits all. It really depends on the runner and also their experience and fitness. The more experienced runner with a good foundation of distance training under their belt will be more likely to be able to go into an event without tapering. They will not need the confidence boost that comes from a good taper as much as someone with less experience. Remember a good taper will also aid confidence and going into any race this is important, anything that helps put you in a positive mindset is welcome and needs to be embraced,
Of course if you have any niggling injuries an enforced taper may be called for. When this happens there is nothing you can do about it, just sit back and smell the roses concentrating on things you can influence like carboloading. Now carboloading, that is a whole new post and one I shall tackle next. Until then enjoy this article below by Ian Torrence which highlights ‘peaking’ rather than tapering as a benefit, pre-ultra. Ian is part of the Greg McMillan stable of writers so has a wealth of knowledge and experience to call upon. (Please note I do not advocate the Joe Kulak method of peaking described below but as you can see in the photo below my friend Jon is convinced it works… ?)
The final weeks before an event are the toughest to get right. The common notion that all hard work must cease and inactivity must ensue is incorrect. It’s also foolhardy to continue amassing mileage and tough workouts as race day nears in hopes of improving fitness. Depending on your approach to this all-important time period, you may be left feeling lethargic or simply exhausted. A runner with the proper peak will feel rejuvenated and ready to go on race day.
Greg McMillan, my mentor, has devised a set of rules to live by as race day approaches. Greg explains, “By studying peak performance research – both physiological as well as psychological – as opposed to just the tapering research, I’ve been able to dial in how to truly peak on race day. It works for all athletes no matter where you find yourself in the pack come race day.” By placing Greg’s simple and effective system into context, let’s get you prepared for your next ultra.
1. Do not drop running volume drastically
Though there are some that prefer three weeks to peak, two weeks seems to be the most popular choice. During the first week of a peak, drop the length of each run by 10 to 20 minutes. The week before your event, drop volume by 20 to 30 minutes per run. I recommend that ultrarunners limit their last long run(s), done a week before the key event, to 90 easy minutes (regardless of the distance of the event). This is enough to give you that long run feeling, but short enough that muscle recovery and glycogen-storage continue. Light, non-impact cross training can be done in lieu of runs, but only if you are used to those forms of exercise.
2. Keep the routine
Run, eat, sleep, work, and socialize when you do normally. Your body and mind have achieved stasis over the past few months of training. Keep them both happy and the keel even. Now is not the time to experiment with new workouts, forms of exercise, foods, and social events. Use the extra time not spent running for sleeping and sticking to “safe” hobbies.
3. Keep the intensity and build confidence
Before the 2007 JFK 50 Mile, I had an exchange with fellow competitor Andy Mason. Nine days before the race, he completed a round of very quick mile repeats on the track; his last quality workout before the race. I knew he was fit and feeling confident. That year, Andy finished in the top ten.
Though most ultrarunners do not need to perform a tough round of mile repeats before their next race, they might consider doing some sort of confidence-building workout 10 days to two weeks out from their event. This workout, however, should be in tune with recent training. Running a 30-mile training run or time trialing up and down Hope Pass (like the author) a few days before a race is neither smart nor beneficial. A moderate length workout that you’re familiar with, that is aerobically challenging, allows for adequate recovery before race day, and demonstrates your fitness should be the order of the day. If you don’t routinely perform hard hill, stamina-building, fartlek, or fast finish workouts then this is not the time to start. Maintain your current training and follow the guidelines for reduction in mileage as mentioned above.
Now is also the time to reflect on all of the training you’ve done thus far. Remember that you’ve done the work necessary to get you to the finish line.
4. Stick to the original race plan and have fun
No one starts a race without a goal. Whether it be to keep your Grand Slam hopes alive, finish your first ultra, or win the event outright, don’t lose sight of why you’re out there. Be deliberate in your actions and calculate each move you make on the race course. Run your own race and enjoy the time you’re having on the trail or road. Greg McMillan sums this up perfectly, “Let’s face it. Most of us aren’t going for an Olympic gold medal here. We are simply enjoying the challenge of doing our best. There is no real pressure, so quit putting so much on yourself. We run for fun, and you should remember that. Have fun!”
PEAKING FOR MULTIPLE RACES
What if you’re gearing up for several important races that are separated by a few weeks or less? The Grand Slam of Ultrarunning, as well as others of that genre, and several race series like the NorCal and SoCal Ultra Grand Prix are perfect examples. In essence, you are recovering and peaking in unison between events. There are two ways to approach situations like this:
1. Reverse taper
This is like returning from injury. Gradually and slowly increase the length of your post-race easy runs and avoid fast and difficult workouts. You won’t reach your normal training level, but you’ll satisfy the need for a few runs before your next event.
2. The Joe Kulak Method
When I asked Joe Kulak what he did between each of his four 2003 Grand Slam record- setting 100-mile races, he quipped, “I sat on the couch and drank beer.” If beer is not your drink of choice, water works just as well. The reality is that you can’t gain fitness in the two or three weeks between long ultras. Recovery will be your best “workout” while preparing for your next event.
My last marathon was 2019, the Perth City to Surf marathon finishing in 2 hours 55 minutes, this was my 45th marathon, my 32nd sub three marathon and number 29 in a row sub 3. Remember for runners it is all about numbers. Looking at my running spreadsheet, you have a running spreadsheet right? You never know if one day Garmin Connect or Strava may just disappear and Zombies will rule the world, when this happens at least I’ll have my running history on my spreadsheet. Anyhow as always I digress, I have only ran four marathons since 2017 so have decided that I need to run one more sub three hour marathon this year. Luckily a few of my running buddies are sub 3 virgins, imagine that ? Rob, Adam, Scotty and Jeffrey have all yet to run sub 3 and the boys have been putting in some hard yards on a Tuesday morning running track, Rob has even got a coach and is following a program.
As the image above shows I use to be a show-pony , back in the day, and while never the fastest marathon runner I was able to spend some time at the pointy end and managed to run 2 hours 41 minutes three times. This was also before the carbon plate shows that give you 4-5% performance enhancement for a mere $340. If they’d be around in my day I’d have broken the two forty barrier I’m sure but it was not to be and I got old and found ultra running. Check out the video below, with hindsight this video is so funny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQEVoI7tQtY&t=166s
Right here they are, the rules I abide to and will help you achieve your goal when it comes to running marathons, or any distance really. I’ll spend time on each in more detail but for the moment I’ve set them out in a list below.
- Run Further. Add distance, not speed.
- Run Faster. This is about adding pace after you have got your foundation after rule 1.
- Don’t get injured. This is the hardest rule to obey as you always want to do more of rule 1 and 2 which can result in an injury. (I even hate typing the word!)
- Nutrition, nutrition and nutrition… Did I mention nutrition. It’s all about the proper fuel.
- Weight. So important, use to believe because I ran 100k+ a week I could eat what I wanted. Not true.
- Baseline, document and evaluate everything. If it isn’t on www.strava.com it didn’t happen. Once you set a goal you have to be able to know how far you have come to achieving this, small steps but constant feedback. So buy a Garmin and start recording , everything !!!
- Sleep. So underestimated but the bodies way of refuelling and preparing for the next day of running. Common sense but so often ignored.
- Consistency. No point running 100k one week and then nothing. Marathon fitness is built up over time and this works hand in hand with rule number 1.
- It’s all in the mind. After 32k a marathon is down to mental strength and the ability to persuade your body you can still perform at your desired pace without falling to fatigue, which is the minds way of protecting itself. Never underestimate the power of the mind in long distance racing.
Feel I should be able to find 1 more rule. It’s always 10 rules right ? I wonder what happened over the years to all good rules number 11 which never made the cut.
- Run Further. Add distance, not speed. My weekly average has steadily increased year on year with this year being the first I will break the 100k a week average for the year. In 2012 I was injured with a nasty calf knot, that I didn’t treat, which explains the delta compared to the previous year. 2014 my training had plateaued which is why I turned to Raf ( http://www.therunningcentre.com.au ) to train me in 2105 where my distance increased by 10%. I have taken this training forward and will probably increase another 10% this year. Distance first, everything else comes once the ‘foundation of distance’ has been achieved.
- Run Faster. This is about adding pace after you have got your foundation after rule 1. 2011 was a break out year for me after 3-4 years of building a good running base. I had ran 3 Comrades campaigns in 2008-2010 ( http://www.comrades.com ) so my distance foundation was well and truly complete. In 2011 every time I put on a bib I was confident of a pb. It was a wonderful year. Unfortunately in 2012 I had a nasty injury which set me back but towards the end of the year I was able to train consistently again and in 2013 I was again rewarded with a magical year of running.
- Don’t get injured. This is the hardest rule to obey as you always want to do more of rule 1 and 2 which can result in an injury. (I even hate typing the word!) In 2012 I succumbed to a calf knot which took me out for over a month. I struggled to recover from this and as you can see from the table I only ran 3 pb’s for the year compared to 13 the previous year and 10 the following year when I recovered. If this doesn’t back up this rule nothing does.! Don’t get injured, so easy to type but in reality one of the hardest thing for a runner to do, period.
- Nutrition, nutrition and nutrition… Did I mention nutrition. It’s all about the proper fuel. So underestimated by so many runners. The number of times I hear the old ‘I run xxx kilometres a week so I can eat what I want’ . Not true, imagine putting low grade fuel in a Porsche, eventually the head gasket blows and you are faced with a serious bill, not to mention a misfiring engine. The human body is a finely tuned machine and should be treated as such, we all know what is good food and what is bad (normally the nice tasting stuff!), avoid the bad and put in the good, easy really. (bar the odd Yelo muffin of course, we are after all only human.) I’ll be exploring nutrition more next year when I have one more go at a sub 2hr 40minutes marathon.
- Weight. So important, use to believe because I ran 100k+ a week I could eat what I wanted. Not true. This is another golden rule so often ignored. Runners can run so much faster is they hit their racing weight rather than a running weight. My go to man , Matt Fitzgerald, when it comes to everything running even has a website dedicated to this. ( http://www.racingweight.com/ ) If Matt has a website dedicated to this subject it must be important.
- Baseline, document and evaluate everything. If it isn’t on www.strava.com it didn’t happen. Once you set a goal you have to be able to know how far you have come to achieving this, small steps but constant feedback. So buy a Garmin and start recording , everything !!! Contentious subject here. I’m a Strava addict and I know it but the purest will be horrified. You need a baseline to see improvement, set new goals and realize your goals. Buy a Garmin and to quote a small clothing company ‘just do it’.
- Sleep. So underestimated but the bodies way of refuelling and preparing for the next day of running. Common sense but so often ignored. Sometimes the most obvious, common sense tips are the ones ignored. Sleep is when your body repairs itself, the more sleep the more repairs can be completed. It really is that easy, go to bed and dream about running.
- Consistency. No point running 100k one week and then nothing. Marathon fitness is built up over time and this works hand in hand with rule number 1. I feel the figures from my running log back this up. I’ve steadily increased the duration consistently year in, year out (bar injury) and have reaped the rewards with 2016 being my fastest year yet as I move towards my
fifthsixth decade. (Thanks Dave Kennedy) Running is all about getting out there on a regular basis again and again and again. Time on feet initially and then add pace before targeting certain distance with different run types, most important thinkg to note though is always consistently putting on the trainers and just running. ‘If you build it they will come’ type approach, keep running, build the foundation and the personal records will come. (This also works for baseball pitches apparently.) - It’s all in the mind. After 32k a marathon is down to mental strength and the ability to persuade your body you can still perform at your desired pace without falling to fatigue, which is the minds way of protecting itself. Never underestimate the power of the mind in long distance racing. Finally another massive part of running, the Noakes ‘central governor’. I’ve talked about this at length in various posts on this site. With experience I believe I can mentally finish a marathon stronger now then when I first started. I know what to expect and to this end can persuade my old friend fatigue to stay away for longer allowing me to achieve better finishing times. The mind is such an important part of running and needs to be trained as much as the body. When you race a marathon you will spend time in the ‘pain box’, the runner who can spend the most time in this little box of joy, before opening the door and embracing the old enemy fatigue, will run the fastest. I spoke to Steve Moneghetti after the Perth Marathon this year after he ran the 3hr30min bus and asked him how the professional athletes are so much faster than us recreational runners. His answer surprised me as he replied that a professional runner can stand more pain and this gives them the advantage need to push through and achieve the faster times. Again turning off the ‘central governor’ and spending more time in the ‘pain box’ avoiding fatigue and thus not slowing down. Common sense really, thanks Steve.
The article below was written by Reid Coolsaet a top ranked marathoner in Canada. At the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon last September his time was 2:11:23 – the fastest by a Canadian in 24 years. Reid spent time in Kenya at Iten, the breeding ground for running superstars. The article is good in that it emphasises all the things I talk about on this blog. As I have said many, many times running is not rocket science, just common sense really and lots of hard work. To run faster you need to look at the people who are running the fastest and learn from them, try to be more like them. The main points (for the lazy readers amongst you who won’t finish this post!) are consistency, train hard, rest hard, soft surfaces, group training, proper warm up, nutrition and Hakuna matata
Kenyan distance runners have been dominating the world scene for more than 30 years. Just last month, a Kenyan, Mary Keitany, was the first woman to break one hour and six minutes in the half-marathon when she set the world record at 1:05:50. Last year, Kenyan men won four of the five world major marathons and lay claim to 60 of the top 100 ranked marathoners.
An astonishing 239 Kenyans broke two hours and fifteen minutes last year in the marathon. (By contrast, Canada had three under the same time – and that was a good year for us.) Factor in the population of the two countries (Kenya, 39 million, Canada, 34 million), and it’s evident just how excellent the East African country is at producing world-class distance runners.
As a marathoner, I wanted to observe first-hand how these great athletes were training and living. For one month this winter, I went to Iten, Kenya, and immersed myself in the culture of Kenyan running. Iten is a small town of 4,000, about 300 kilometres northwest of the capital, Nairobi, and is home to many of the world’s best distance runners and hundreds more who make a living winning road race purses.
It’s not a coincidence that the rural town sits about 2,400 metres (about 8,000 feet) above sea level where athletes benefit from training in thin air. I soon learned, however, that there are many other reasons why Kenyan runners dominate. Here are some tips that all runners can incorporate into their training in order to run like a Kenyan.
Consistency. Running – a lot – is the key to distance running, and the Kenyans are no exception when it comes to logging many kilometres day in, day out. Most of the runners I met run at least twice a day but some run up to three times. If you can squeeze a few more kilometres into your week, without compromising quality, you will reap the benefits.
Train hard. The motto “train hard, win easy” is exemplified by Kenyan runners. If you want to run hard come race day, it’s best to prepare with some sort of speed session (intervals, fartlek, tempo) one to three times a week to get used to the specific effort of your race pace.
Rest hard. After bouts of hard training it is vital that the body has time to repair and recover for the next training session. Kenyan runners incorporate naps into their days and get to bed early. Plus, they don’t run hard all the time; most people would be surprised on how slow they run their recovery runs. Make sure you’re not running hard every day and take it easy the day or two after a hard run.
Soft surfaces. Running on dirt trails rather than pavement is much easier on the body. When I was in Iten, all of my running was on trails and dirt roads (of course, this is easy to do when there is only one paved road in the area). Seek out soft surfaces for most of your running, and your body will thank you.
Group training. Seeing a Kenyan run alone is the exception to the norm. Kenyans run in groups during speed sessions as well as their easy runs. Running with a group can provide that extra push during hard runs and it can help keep the easy runs leisurely with chit-chat. Many running stores offer group runs if your friends are too lazy to join you.
Proper warm-up. Many times while I was running with Kenyans I was surprised how slowly they would start off. It’s best to ease into your runs, and it is especially important to do some easy jogging before any type of speed session or race.
Nutrition. In Iten, a 100-mile diet would seem absurdly long. Kenyans eat fresh food that usually comes from small-scale farms in their region. Ugali (a cornmeal dish) is their staple carbohydrate of choice and is served with beef or chicken stew and veggies. It’s important to replenish carbohydrates and protein soon after a run and get the proper fuel into your body.
Hakuna matata. The Lion King popularized the Swahili phrase “hakuna matata” which, loosely, translates to “no worries.” Kenyans keep stress to a minimum by embracing hakuna matata in their everyday lives. It’s important to leave stress behind to allow your body to perform at its best, and sometimes the best way to relieve stress is to head out the door for a run.
Throughout my month in Kenya, I gained fitness, but more importantly, I came away motivated and inspired. To test out my fitness I went to Belgium to compete in a 10-kilometre cross-country race where I surprised myself with a fifth-place finish; the rest of the top eight were African. Training with the best runners and taking advantage of altitude training allowed me to perform much better.
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I had always wanted to run 48 hours at Herdy’s to make up for running 47 hours in 2021 and missing that one lap mainly down to being totally and utterly spent and delirious enough not to realise how important that one extra lap would have been. I promised myself that I would make right in 2022 but over the year put this on the back burner as I had so many other races to conquer and adventures to have. The biggest one of these adventures was of course the Delirious West 200 miler ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) and I got to run this event twice in five months due to a COVID postponement, this of course was a double edged sword as the second time was a mere five weeks before Herdys. Unfortunately this was ultimately to be my undoing.
For Delirious 2022 I had put it all on the line, big time, to break sub 70 hours. It was one of those races when you decide that you will do whatever it takes to get the result you aspire to. In this case it was the carrot of a gold buckle which Shaun Kaesler has decided was available for breaking 70 hours. About halfway through the event it was on and I left nothing on the course eventually finishing in 68 hours and change. As well as a gold buckle I ran a 15 hour PB, achieved a fourth place finish but had to pay a serious price, long term, which only really showed itself at Hirdy’s in the first night and onwards. We’ll get to that later in the piece but lets start at the beginning and work our way there.
The image above is the runners village all set up just before the start, the calm before the storm. The race starts at 4pm which is good for those runners who find running through the night difficult because you get to the head torch quickly and have company , in this case lots of company, to help you through the witching hours. (2am onwards) I believe this starting time is easier to get to 24 hours compared to a morning start when you hit the night tired and are more likely to drop out. If you can get through the night in this scenario the run to the 24 hour mark is all daylight and. in my view, easier, albeit 24 hours is still 24 hours and funnily enough the number of people who make this milestone doesn’t seem to vary greatly.
Shaun Kaesler is always thinking up new ideas to spice up events and this year there was Viking drummers who joined us in a Viking Clap before the first lap. All 266 entrants clapping along with the drums, it made for an invigorating and unforgettable start, albeit towards the end the runners were flagging, we’re no known for our upper body strength. So off we all went for lap one, 266 runners of which 265 would DNF and Phil Gore would win.
Only myself , Adam and Rob had entered this year. My performance last year inspired a lot of the boys not to enter, not sure if that was the state I was in towards the end or they just didn’t want to race this event. ? Rob had entered a year previous but was now on a struct training regime with Matt Smith so was only allowed to run 42km. He is very anal when it comes to his training , and most things actually, so did his 6 laps and then a few extra kilometers to get his 42km before disappearing off home for a shower. He did come back and crew for a few hours which helped as the first night was so humid it made thinking difficult !
The image above must have been a few hours in as its daylight but you can see even early on in the event myself and Adam are certainly being tested. You can’t see how humid it was and this just got worse as the night wore on. On the bright side we were finishing in good time so we had the option for a good 10 minute rest in the Wanderer recliner , after fist getting our hydration and nutrition. Backyard tip , get elastic shoelaces, made slipping the trainers off between laps seemless, highly recommend these bad boys. Thank you Phil Gore for the tip and TRC for supplying them. ( https://therunningcentre.com.au/ )
If there is ever an image which sums up the first night this is it. Both myself and Adam dripping in sweat, absolutely buggered and both wondering what we have let ourselves in for. The legs had nothing, destroyed by Delirious five weeks earlier, and the conditions were brutal, really brutal. Perth is normally a dry heat so when we are struck down with high humidity we aren’t prepared and boy do we suffer. The only saving grace was it wasn’t that cold in the evening albeit you could feel a chill once you stopped running as started to sweat a river. Listen people, backyard ultras are brutal events when you are behind the eight ball, brutal. I love the quote from Gary Cantrell ( Lazarus Lake) the inventor of the format, he summed it up beautifully when he said ‘backyard ultras are easy until they ain’t. ‘ Worryingly this one started hard.
Myself and Adam soldered on though the night, I think that’s the best way to describe it. We both made cut off easily enough and that gave us a good ten minutes to whine to each other about how hard this was and why did we ever think this was a good idea so soon after Delirious. In our defence all Delirious runners were struggling and, together with Veronika, we were the last three standing and the only three three to make it through the night. Finely the sun did poke its head over the horizon and suddenly the world was a better place. I’ve always said if you can get to sunrise you’ll find another 6-8 hours without really trying, the sunlight just makes it happen. This proved to be the case and all of a sudden I had my second wind. Unfortunately Adam and Veronika weren’t so lucky and still found the going tough. They decided to pull the pin together on lap 18, a bloody ripper of an effort given what had gone before. Alone with my thoughts it was on with the After Shokz headphones and time to grind out the laps. What a difference the light made and I soon found myself finishing around the 41 minute mark, giving me plenty of time to recuperate, hydrate and get some nutrition in me, the world was a better place.
The first goal in a backyard ultra for me is the 24 hour mark. In the four previous backyard ultras I have run I have always made 24 hours, minimum. Once Adam dropped out I cruised to this goal feeling pretty good, a complete contrast to the first few hours of the event where I was struggling, big time. This is ultra running, there are good times and there are bad times. A good runner understands both and adapts accordingly. These are the things Rob Donkersloot has taught me and if you are keen to improve as an ultra runner I highly recommend you get in touch with him. ( https://mindfocusedrunning.com/ ) Mention my name and he’ll charge you full price.
3pm Saturday , the 24 hour club, 100 miles, albeit you had to complete the lap. All the runners did and then quite a few dropped out. Two of my favourite runners where in that group, Jen Millum and Margie Hadley. Both experienced nutritional issues throughout the race and in an ultra , eventually, when the fuel runs out the engine stops. Both these ladies would have gone on to bigger totals and deserved so much more but this event is brutal, I’m sure I’ve mentioned that a few times and any issue, no matter how small, can be a race finisher. With nutrition it really is a black art, sometimes you can eat anything and all is good other races your stomach just doesn’t play ball and over time this is compounded until you have to withdraw. No amount of training can account for nutrition or hydration deficiencies on the day, you will eventually stop. I’m confident both ladies will be back stronger at Birdy’s in August.
The second night and my lap times started to increase due to a combination of the dark and fatigue. I found myself running alone while the rest of the runners had either paired up or split into run/walk strategies where I would pass them and then they’d do the same to me before they’d walk again and I’d go past them , you get the picture. I sort of always ran, in the broadest sense of the word, so it became a tad annoying when you catch runners only for them to then overtake you before they’d start walking and the whole process repeated. If I was feeling better I would have ran quicker to avoid all contact but I was slowing lap by lap and with hindsight should have probably joined one of the walk/run group, even only for company.
One of the benefit of the night is the last few kilometres of the lap , a trail section through what can only be described as Sleepy Hollow. Incredibly creepy in the dark but beautiful in the light and when the sunsets it becomes inspiring. There was a full moon for the event and I was so looking forward to some serious night time hallucinations on the second evening. Not to be though as it was cloudy so the moon was hidden and for some reason this year I had no hallucinations, albeit I was probably on the cusp at 35 hours, another few would have done it. No worries, there’s always Birdy’s. Some runners hallucinate and some don’t , I have had some great visions over the years and they have all been positive, by that I mean not scary, maybe one day that will change? I think its down to what you’re thinking about at the time or just before but don’t quote e on that , I’m not an expert on the subject. Anyhow backyard ultras are great places to enjoy hallucinations due to lack of sleep, think of them as a bonus for running enough laps to make it possible ? Maybe next year I’ll watch ‘the legend of sleepy hollow‘ a few times before the race, should make for an interesting second night ?
The image above is the same location in the daylight, chalk and cheese really. If you get a good sunset it really is a magical place albeit only for the one lap, then it’s back to sleepy hollow mode and you need to look out for headless horseman, with an attitude.
Right as always I have digressed from the race itself. I’m now slowing , around the 30 hour mark and running laps alone with about 7-8 other runners still racing. My crew is doing their best to keep my spirits up but they’re fighting a losing battle. Special mention must go out to Rob Donkersloot who makes several trips to a local 24 hour IGA stores to find me pasta and orange juice and also Michael Hooker who goes home and brings back some wicked homemade soup. I’m not really a soup fan , must to my Wife’s disgust as she is Scottish and they are brought up on the stuff. Michael makes a mean soup though and I may be converted. Also Mark Lommers who is already around at the pointy end and like Rob is a calming influence in the chaos that is a backyard ultra.
The last four laps were a struggle, funny that. My times increased which led to less recovery and eventually more fatigue. On lap 33 my head torch battery gave out and it took me a few minutes to change it. This resulted in me finishing over 58 minutes and change leaving no time for any recovery, straight from the finish chute to the start chute. Mentally I was then done and I knew I was never going to make cut off on lap 35. I struggled around and finished three minutes past the hour, race over.
Thinking back to last year it was at this time the rest of the runners left me and Phil (lap 33 it came down to just the two of us?) and I was very close to pulling out but was unable to after being left in the assist position. Could I have pulled another 2021 Herdy’s finish put of the fire this year ? I’m not sure ? I was certainly better prepared last year , no Delirious in my legs, and conditions were better , nowhere near as humid. Also I think mentally I had dropped the ball for this race before I had even started. Somewhere over the last year that one lap I craved had become less important as more and more races were tackled. Ultimately I wasn’t prepared to dig deep enough to get through the last hours of darkness. I’m actually ok with this, you can’t destroy yourself every race, sometimes you need to do enough and this year I did enough. I was on a group chat with Rob and the rest of the Mindful running group after this event and summed this up by stating I’d rather run 10 mediocre races than one 50 lap backyard ultra. This is because for me I love the competing more than achieving your possible best. This is why I don’t cherry pick events and miss others, at my age I have done that racing marathons for many years. Now I just enjoy races where the main goal is to finish or go as long as possible, time is secondary. It’s more about spending time with like minded people, doing what we love, and for me its the competing now rather than chasing podiums.
So that was it, 34 laps completed and a DNF on lap 35, my first cut off missed which is a positive of sorts. Again I have learnt so much from this experience and will take these new learnings into Birdy’s backyard ultra in August and then the two Adelaide backyard ultras later in the year. I still love the format and it’s the only one where I can still hope to be near the pointy end , at least for a few more. With other goals ahead of me this year I’m excited about the racing calendar and I still have finding that one lap high on my priority list, at least for this year.
A big kudos to some seriously amazing results over the weekend. Jess Smith grabbing a new Australian Women’s record finishing 41 laps, Chris Martin finishing 39 laps before an ankle injury ended his run, Chetan Sadhana running 49 laps and the third longest of any Australian runner and finally Phil Gore winning his fourth backyard ultra in a row and finishing on 50 laps, one short of the Australian record. I am so excited to watch Phil next year at the World Championships in the States, to see how far he really can go.
Finally a huge thankyou to all the volunteers and staff at Tribe and Trail and Ultra Series WA who put on these events. ( https://ultraserieswa.com.au/ ) As I always say us runners have it easy, the real hard work is done by the volunteers and I salute you. Another hugely successful event , thankyou so much. Also Bix hydration for keeping me going ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ ), love the Bix range of electrolyte tablets. Fisciocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com/ ) for when the quads were needing some fisciocrem magic, this never fails to deliver and it a must for any distance event. The Running Centre for supplying all my running needs. ( https://therunningcentre.com.au/ ) and finally Squirrel Nut Butter ( https://squirrelsnutbutter.com/ ), you know what this is used for and it works, enough said.
Right, that’s Herdy’s frontyard ultra done and dusted for another year I had to work very hard, as usual, and got what I deserved in terms of distance. With Delirious on the cards again next year I now know what to expect at Herdy’s and will prepare myself better for the challenge. Look out Herdy’s , in 2023 I’m finally running that one lap I need.
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Sometimes you use stuff that just feel like it works. Pillar Performance have produced one such range of products. ( https://pillarperformance.com.au/)
The range was founded by Damien Fitzpatrick, a recently retired NSW Waratah which was largely developed in response to the injury challenges Damien faced in his career and the gap he recognised in the market when it came to purposefully formulated micronutrition.
Fitzpatrick’s career was unfortunately better known for the torrid run of injuries he faced, featuring three ACL tears which left his knee highly compromised. Turning to micronutrition – particularly fish oil – was a necessity to prolong his career, avoiding the harmful impacts of long-term anti-inflammatory use. In the twilight of his playing days, Fitzpatrick went about working with some of the sharpest minds in nutritional science and elite sport to develop the PILLAR range.
I used the Magnesium powder and certainly noticed a difference in my recovery, post run. I didn’t feel the build up of fatigue as I increased my training load getting ready for the Delirious West 200 miler in February this year. ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) The proof was in the pudding of course and I managed a negative split in the race , fishing stronger than when I started. A 15 hour PB, yep that’s right 15 hour PB, 68 hours and change , gold buckle run and a 4th place. Of course I can’t say hand on heart it was all down to Pillar products but I certainly trained better with them and the end result was beyond my expectations.
Another product I love is Modex. ( https://www.modexnatural.com/ ) . As with Pillar this is all good, natural ingredients that let you do what you love to do, for longer. I used Modex while training for the Light Horse 24 hour ultra and felt better for it, finishing third clocking up nearly 200 km. As with Pillar I felt it helped me combat the build up of fatigue that all runners sort of get use to, well it seems with these products we don’t have to any more.
My last product is Italian so it must be good.. ( https://humantecar.com/ ) The spray is very good and the bandages are bloody brilliant. I love these products. I know Tribe and Trail sell them but otherwise get them online. Again lots of scientific stuff on the website to get your teeth into but I think these ace !
With all of these products I recommend you go to their websites and do your own research. All I can say is they all do exactly what they said they would and I continue to use all three products.
Note: I was given free samples of each of these but continue to use them at my cost, maybe that’s their marketing strategy ? Well it works…
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The last Sunday before Christmas is traditionally the date for the running of the 6 inch ultra marathon in Dwellingup. ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) Coming when it does, so close to Christmas, it is just a great time to catch up with good friends before the silly season kicks off and a last chance for a long run before the New Year. Dwellingup itself is a beautiful country town with a local pub that serves great food and just has a wonderful feel and vibe. The town must triple in volume for the weekend of the event and it’s the sort of event where everybody knows everybody and it just works, location, timing and people, a trifecta of good. The boys, and Amy, look forward to it and have done for the last 10 years plus. We always stay at the same location, watch the same video before the race on Saturday night (Run Fatboy Run) and then enjoy the post race entertainment which normally involves a good barbi and/or lunch at the Blue Wren café or the pub, both great options.
Over the years there have been some great stories , most of which are captured or documented on this blog. I’ve had some great runs, some not so great runs normally involving me getting lost but most of all it’s just a great way to end the running year. Dave Kennedy, the Race Director, has just come up with the perfect course, and it is just about perfect, at the perfect time, you get the idea.
The race itself is also sponsored by, among others, the Running Centre ( https://therunningcentre.com.au/ ) so Friday night myself and Barts ambled down to pick up our bibs. As you can see below I was lucky to score the number 1 this year as it was my 12th start and this gave me entry into a small club of two others runners who have completed twelve 6 inch trail ultra marathons, Jon ‘Trail Blazer’ Phillips and Nathan Fawkes. Dave gives out low numbers for the runners who have the most finishes and Barts , like myself, is a long term supporter. He was stoked to get a single digit bib number , made even more special as Jon Pendse has a two digit version.
We normally drive down to Dwellingup early Saturday morning so we can spend the day exploring the local area. Barts will always find a new place to explore and this time was no different. As it tradition with Barts we got lost after visiting the ex-Prisoner of War camp, one of his favourite go-to landmarks. We than travelled off road to another trail loop and yet again nearly found ourselves aimlessly wandering about the Australian outback. As with all things this weekend it’s tradition.
The highlight of this magical mystery tour was a green tree, literally a green tree. We found this worthy of a photo and some classic blue steel stares. Adam is trying hard enough but I don’t think Rob has seen Zoolander ?
As I mentioned earlier we always get the same accommodation and it is , shall we say, functional. You certainly get to feel what a POW would have felt like , which is quite fitting after the POW camp tour earlier in the day. There are 7 of these and a little tip , don’t get the one nearest the toilet , for various reasons. I was the furthest away from the offending area and had Barts in the room next to me, albeit the walls are paper thin and I received a text asking what time I was intending on going to bed, cheeky bugger ! Around 10pm I finally prepared my race uniform for the 10th time and settled down, much to Barts annoyance of course.
The race starts at 4:30am and we stay at the finish so there is a 20-25 minute drive to the start. This year Rob was designated driver and we all piled into Bart’s Prada and off we went. Bar Barts killing a bandicoot the journey to the start was uneventful, pretty eventful for the bandicoot family of course, shame. We arrived with plenty of time, checked in and then drove the short distance to the start, after first emptying most of mine and Adam’s drink bottles onto the carpet of the car, again much to Barts annoyance.
The race this year went to plan. I wanted to try and finish as close to four hours as possible but more importantly enjoy the event rather than flog myself to within an inch of my life, which I have done on multiple occasions at this event. I found myself running with Shane Johnstone , he of Delirious West 200 miler 2021 winner and record holder, who had also decided this was about finishing, not finishing time. Unfortunately I started to really enjoy this new found freedom of just finishing and found myself hemorrhaging positions as I moved back down the pack. When Adam and Matt went past me I knew I would have to make more of an effort as both these guys were targeting times much slower than mine. Thus about halfway I put my foot down and cruised to the finish in a top 20 position and just over four hours, mission accomplished.
Of course I can’t write a post on the 6 inch ultra trail marathon without a shot of me struggling up the escalator. You hit this bad boy of a hill at around 35km and it has ended the race of many 6 inch runners, Mike Kowal is a notable ‘I’ll never go back‘ runner who lost his trail mojo on this hill. We should actually erect a plaque to that affect and maybe put down flowers each time we run it, funnily enough that would be a good tradition as Michael loves his flowers ! As you can see by the size of the ruts it is unrunable and also smaller runners have been known to fall into the larger ruts and lay there waiting for help to get out, Jon Pendse is one of those albeit his cries for help were ignored by Barts who seized the chance to leave him there and step on ! It is a race…
So here is the shot of the day, thanks Rob. Me finishing my twelfth 6 inch ultra thirteen years after my first (it was cancelled one year due to a fire risk/warning) In that time it has grown from a free fat-ass event with less than twenty runners to a quote of 350 runners, which sells out annually, complete with all the bling and memorabilia. It has been a privilege to be a part of this event and watch it grow and if you have never ran it you need to put that right , sooner rather than later.
Another tradition, not to everyone’s liking, is the BK in the Esky shot. This was started on a particularly hot day many years ago and although it upsets a few people you can’t argue with a tradition, can you ? I remember a few years ago I left my head in there too long and got ice burns, I never knew this was a thing !
So to finish off a perfect weekend Dave presented me with my trophy for finishing twelve 6 inch ultras and I look forward to my gold spike for twenty four, or eighteen ? All in all another great adventure with the boys and Amy, and I’m already looking forward to getting lost with Barts next year and of course Run FatBoy Run Saturday night, why wouldn’y you ?
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I had a free entry for the inaugural Hysterical Carnage backyard ultra gifted me by Shaun Kaesler, the pied piper of the Ultra Series WA and SA ( https://ultraserieswa.com.au/ ) . At the time I was on a high from my 47 laps at Herdys frontyard ultra and gladly accepted the chance to go again. Unfortunately in the mean time the Delirious West 200 miler had been moved to October, due to a COVID outbreak, and the Feral Pig 100 miler was two week before Hysterical. Running Hysterical was now going to be a big ask.
The first race of this trifecta was the Delirious West 200 miler in October. I finished this bad boy of a race in 83 hours but more importantly loved nearly every minute of it and recovered quickly. This allowed to me to run the infamous Feral Pig 100 miler five weeks later. Luckily for me the temperature on the day for the Feral was perfect as in the past it had even been shortened due to extreme heat. This year was about as good as it gets and I poled the whole distance finishing in a respectable 27 hours, well respectable for me as I had DNF’d the previous year. Albeit I have unfinished business with the race as they give out buckles for under 26 hour finishers, I will be back in 2022 for my buckle !
Feral is a hard 100 miler, lots of elevation and heat (usually) and the thought of running a backyard ultra two weeks later did not fill me with joy, more trepidation. Truth be told I had thoughts of quietly ignoring Hysterical, into the too hard basket, but Shaun was not giving up and if you know Shaun you’ll know he’s not one for giving up. He eventually badgered me into booking tickets and before I knew it I was in Adelaide with no2 Daughter Charlotte.
On the plane I was doubting my ability to pull this one off. A 200 miler and a 100 miler in the previous six weeks had left my legs begging for rest but instead I had decided the best thing would be a backyard ultra with thoughts of running deep into the event. Actually Shaun had decided for me, with hindsight. No drama’s, this is what I love and backyard ultra’s are my passion , they give us older runners a platform to compete where normal running events have taken this platform away many years ago. Backyard ultras , as with longer distance ultra races, are as much mental preparation , and preparation in general, than physical conditioning. Of course you need to be physically ready for the challenge but a strong mental attitude is worth more in the longer distance races, giving us older runners a level playing field.
There was a four man WA team for the event. Myself, Phil Gore (the current Australian record holder for backyard ultras) , Renton Hanson and Cheton Sadhana. We also a great support crew comprising Gemma, Phil’s Wife, and one of the UltraSeries WA most illustrious staff members Emma Luscombe. These two were absolutely bloody awesome by the way. We wanted for nothing and I suspect we all went deep into the competition due to their ability to take us in at the end of each lap, broken, and return us to the start line fed, watered and reinvigorated. The WA gazebo was the ‘place to be‘ so to speak and the banter was top level, as well as the tea making skills. Thankyou ladies.
Right the course. It starts with a hill that must be so close to being called a wall, it’s unreal. I walked it in the dark the night before the race with Charlotte and must admit to being a tad intimidated. Funnily enough on the day it’s actually a relief as you know you can’t run it and it’s a nice relaxed start to the loop while also giving you some elevation, which then leads on to more downhill than up for the rest of the 6.7km loop. After the hill you have a kilometre or two of good running before hitting a road which then leads to another incline where you can walk for about 500 metres. The rest of the loop is all running. These two walks are perfectly timed to break up the course but also allow you to come in with a good amount of time at the village if you feel you need it. There’s a nice single track in there as well as a swamp , of sorts, and some good running along the river which is scenic enough to let your mind wander while you enjoy the views. All in all I loved the course and it’s faster than Birdy’s backyard (especially this year with all the mud !) but not as fast as Herdy’s Frontyard, albeit Herdy’s is totally flat and I feel the elevation in Hysterical actually works in your favour breaking up the wear and tear on your leg muscles. The great course , combined with the perfect weather conditions, made the whole event about as good as you could wish for.
The first day passed with any major issues. Gemma and Emma looked after myself and the rest of the WA team and we all just enjoyed the event and meeting new people and making new friends. That’s a thing with backyard ultras , no one is in a real hurry and you get to see everybody back at the start every hour. For a social butterfly like myself it is the prefect event, hell you even get time to dance in between eating and drinking. As this was the inaugural race and with COVID lurking around Australia there wasn’t a massive field so runners soon started to disappear and by 24 hours we were left nine runners. Making 24 hours (100 miles) is the first goal, it’s then 36 hours (150 miles) and finally 48 hours (200 miles). These milestones keep you focused in between dancing, eating and running.
By the time we hit the second night you often found yourself alone with your thoughts and this is one of my favourite times in backyard ultras. You know what you have to do and you just drift away on the course while reconnecting with people in the aid station for 10-15 minutes , every hour. A frantic pit stop involving changing clothes, attending to any injures/niggles , drinking and eating as much as you can stomach, the odd dance and then off you go again, into the abyss alone. It really is a special time in an backyard event, the ‘me time‘ as I call it. It’s not for everyone of course but for me I crave this time and as much as I’m a ‘people person‘ I can still function with me, myself , I.. so to speak. Hysterical has a wonderful ‘swamp’ section that is short enough to just give you a taste of loneness but not too long as you would feel isolated. Running through sunset and sunrise in the swamp was magical with the added bonus of darkness surrounding you late in the evening and encouraging you to drift away with your thoughts or pod cast / music if you so desire.
The 200 kilometre club, the magnificent seven, we managed to get three of the four WA runners into this select group.
We were blessed with perfect conditions during the event with even some light drizzle on the second day to cool you down. Different conditions are good as they allow you to focus on something other than the constant fatigue that you will be experiencing in these events. In a backyard ultra change is good and also an excuse to change your clothing. This is backyard tip 101, always pack more running attire than you think you will need , you’ll be surprised how good a complete change of clothing makes you feel, certainly good enough for a few more laps and this is all about making those’ few more laps‘. Around November in Loxton there is the capability to be very hot and I wonder, if this is the case next year, what that will do for the distances completed, heat is not a backyard ultra runners friend, or any running event truth be told ?
Renton had ran a event PB and was very happy with his effort, as were all of us. He came back and help crew later in the day, team WA. The magnificent seven at 30 laps soon shrank to a all WA trio at 36 laps. Myself, Phil and Cheton managed to reach the next big milestone in a backyard ultra, 150 miles, 36 laps. We were all running comfortable enough but Cheton was having recurring issues with his knee which he had injured per-event. He decided discretion was the better part of valor and pulled the pin at the start of lap 37, mission accomplished. Cheton is young, very mentally strong and will be a force to be reckoned with in these events. He has the right relaxed attitude you need to be successful at backyard ultras, just go about your business quietly and efficiently. Actually the complete opposite of me, I suppose the are many ways to skin a cat ? ( How many of us have tested that theory and not been caught or done jail time , I wonder?)
So lap 37 and it’s down to me and Phil, Herdy’s frontyard ultra all over again. This time though there were a few other issues to be taken into account. Number one I had my youngest daughter with me and I had promised her we’d go and see Adelaide the next day, I’d also promised her I’d pull the pin 13 hours earlier. To her credit she did say she was ready to forego Adelaide and would let me continue but I did feel a tad guilty dragging her to Loxton so she could sit by herself for three days while I ran around enjoying myself. (I say enjoying myself in the broadest sense of the words?) Number two I was only two weeks from finishing the Feral Pig 100 miler, a brutal, and I mean brutal, 100 miler and as such I had no right to be anywhere near the pointy end of this event. Mentally I reckoned I could pull the pin at 37 laps and finish second , or assist, or run through the night and the outcome would be the same. Basically a backyard ultra with Phil Gore is everybody runs as far as they can and then Phil does one more lap and wins ! Number three it was dark, there was no one around and I faced the prospect of a long, lonely night with hallucinations already kicking in. Would I make a PB, probably not and I was more focused on Herdy’s in March to achieve the one extra lap I needed. Add all of these up and it was time to pull the pin and let Phil run the last lap alone. We discussed this on lap 37 and to mark the last lap wore each others tops, me and Phil have spent a lot of time together and I admire him immensely. He is a world class athlete with a bright future and anything I can do to help him along the way I will. Me, I’m just an old bugger who runs a lot, it is fitting that Phil takes the win, his third in 2021.
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I don’t think this post was forwarded to my email subscribers, both of you !! So reposted just in case…
In 2020 I DNF’d the Feral Pig, I got back to the start line, around 126km, but couldn’t muster the energy for the final 36k loop knowing how hard it is. I had trained well enough for the Feral but for some reason on the day I just wasn’t feeling it, I had a lift to the start which at least made me start the event. If I had driven myself I think I may have side stepped the bus to the start line and kept on walking to my car and snuck off home as a DNS. As it was I ended up begrudgingly sitting in the bus regretting my decision and not enjoying the journey as every minute this bus drove south I knew I had to run back, and the bus takes a long time to get to the start, trust me. Anyhow during the day I managed to keep moving forward but after a change of clothes at the start line I just couldn’t envisage completing the DNF loop (as I call it) and so pulled the pin, albeit after completing a twenty minute first kilometre, due to navigation issues.
Funnily enough on the bus this year I sat to next to a young runner , Cameron, who I would run with for most of the event, go figure, I digress. The start really is 40+ runners in the dark forest waiting for midnight to start. Shaun Kaesler was running this year, the owner of Ultra Series WA (and SA) ( https://ultraserieswa.com.au/ ) and he got us all in a big circle , turned off all our headlamps and gave us a rousing speech to get us in the right frame of mind for the challenge ahead. I’ll give Shaun his due he really is the pied piper of ultra running in WA, he can inspire the uninspired and make the impossible seem possible, and he does on a regular basis. I hope this pre-start huddle becomes a tradition , which is what normally happens with Shaun, and many runners will be able to feel the togetherness we all felt that night. Looking up at the stars was humbling and to share this with so many like minded people, special, very special.
To make this event even more challenging I had finished the Delirious West 200 miler ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) only 4 weeks previous so the legs would not be fully recovered. To counter this I decided to use poles from the start and really just enjoy the experience, with time a secondary consideration, this was my final redemption run.
Due to a rookie error I actually started the event 2-3 minutes after everybody else, I had forgot to acquire a GPS on my Coros so had to wait a few minutes before I could start running, if it’s not on Strava it didn’t happen ! Anyhow me and the tail runner eventually started and I moved through the field before bumping into Sergio, Andy and Cam and we formed a group which would stay together for most of the day, bar Sergio who stopped for a sleep and then flew past us about 50k later. Darlene joined us for a few hours before she stopped for some water while we continued on to the first aid station, Sullivan Rocks, at around the 42k mark. This sums up the Feral, the first aid station is marathon distance into the race, after a midnight start, brutal, like the terrain.
Andy, Cam and I spent most of Saturday morning and day together, the three of us rolling through the aid stations and with Andy’s amazing sense of direction never worrying about getting lost, that man really is talented. It makes such a difference running with company and the banter make the miles disappear. For the most part Andy set a perfect pace but if he dropped off I would sneak to the front to keep him honest. Cam was always happy to continue sandwiched between us with a infectious smile. It was Cam’s first 100 miler and he absolutely aced it , that young man has a great ultra running career ahead of him . Andy goes ok as well, just like a finely tuned white diesel van who also doubled as a great source of snickers. The three of us had a great time.
Due to the remoteness of the event there are minimal aid stations for the fist half of the race. Sullivan Rocks is the first at 41.5k then Brookton Highway at 73.5k. After that they are a tad more frequent, Mount Dale carpark ,86.2k, Beraking Campsite, 97.3k, Allen Road bridge 113.4k before returning to the start before the DNF loop at 126.6k. On the DNF loop you have an aid station at the Camel farm you pass through twice (135k and 154.7k) before the last outlying aid station at Kalamunda (144.8k). There are a smattering of drink stops scattered in there as well. This made the event challenging, unlike a 200 miler which feels like an adventure , with better food, the 100 miler feels like a race.
The major selling point of the Feral Pig 100 miler is the scenery and the remoteness of the event. As I said earlier there are few aid stations until well over half way and you start at midnight, a baptism of fire really. By the time you stagger into the first aid station at Sullivan rocks your normally pretty well goosed , before starting back up the granite hill to complete the rest of the event, about another 120km. As with all ultras you go though good and bad times and getting to Brookton Highway is a massive confidence booster. The food here is normally (actually always!) very , very good as Shannon Dale and his tribe provide it. This year was no different, my staple ultra diet of pancakes and bacon was more than enough to raise the spirts and I explored out of this aid station. Well maybe exploded is an over statement, stumbled more like. My quads had started to play up but the food helped and I was able to get into some sort of groove a few kilometres later, cocooned in the Feral train being ably led by Andy.
We caught up with Shaun Kaesler, pre-Brookton Highway, and we all came in together. Pre-aid station we had got into a group of 6-7 runners and the banter flowed while the kilometres melted away before us. The running conditions were just about perfect for November in WA, by this I mean it wasn’t stinking hot which is the norm for that time of year. 2021 will be known for being ‘the cold year‘, albeit it was still probably 22-25 degrees celsius. Shaun went past us later in the day like a scolded cat but I was confident I’d see him again giving his training program is minimal at best, mainly due to the nature of his day job !
Funnily enough what broke up the Feral train was a glib remark from Andy about the possibility of a buckle if you finished quicker then 26 hours. This was just past Allen Road and we had an hour or two of daylight left. As soon as a buckle was mentioned my race changed, all of a sudden finishing was no longer the number one objective, it became something I had no idea even existed a few minutes earlier. Doing some mental math I reckoned I had a chance of a buckle if I put my foot down. We were on part of the bib track I knew very well and was confident I could back to the start quickly. I couldn’t persuade the rest of the Feral train to join me so I set off alone. As I said I have ran from the Perth Discovery Centre to Allen Road and back on numerous times training for the Delirious West 200 miler earlier in the year ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) so was more than happy to tackle it alone, with night falling.
I actually made it back to the start at 8pm and refueled on noodles quickly, ordered at the Allen Road aid station, before setting off into the dark to tackle the DNF (or Death Loop). At this stage I was confident I had more than enough time to make my buckle but I underestimated what was to come and trust me I knew it would be difficult , just not as difficult as it turned out to be.
Fueled on noodles I had my second wind and left the Perth Discovery Centre cock-a-hoop , looking forward to my buckle which at this stage was in the bag as far as I was concerned. I have 6 hours to run just over 30k, how easy would that be. I knew the loop would be hard but 6 hours and I was feeling pretty good, what could go wrong. The night got even better when I caught up with Shaun and his beautiful Wife, and pacer , Sarah five or so kilometres later. Unfortunately for Shaun the chickens had come home to roost and he was paying the piper , big time. He was moving forward but he was in for a long night and he knew it, that’s the Feral though , one minute you think you have tamed the beast and then it comes back to bite you. After I left him and Sarah and continued into the night I wondered what lay ahead for me.
What eventually killed my buckle quest was the next aid station, the Camel Farm. I had arrived feeling quite good having left Shaun in my wake and asked the vollies the distance to the turn around at Kalamunda. In my mind it was a 7-8k stretch but I was informed 9.8k, this destroyed me as I had underestimated the distance for the DNF loop. In my mind is was nearer 32k rather than the 38k it actually was, although the extra 6k doesn’t seem a lot typing this post , at the time it was devastating. My buckle virtually disappeared at that moment and all I could see were chickens coming home to roost and a silly little bloke playing a pipe. As well as the extra 6k it was the terrain ahead of me that would finally break my buckle quest.
The run from the Camel Farm aid station to Kalamunda included two really hard climbs that are virtually unrunable. Add in 24 hours of running before even starting these two climbs and you have the recipe for disaster. The only thing that probably stops runners actually DNF’ing on this loop is you are so close to the finish you just get your head down, adopt the fetal position and take your punishment in the pain box. The climbs were brutal and I use that word a lot for this race but there is no better description. I was alone now and after staggering into the Kalamunda aid station didn’t have much left in the tank for the return to the start. My good friend Shannon Dale was there, him of the pancakes and bacon at Brookton Highway, and he served up some seriously good potatoes which hit the mark, and a cup of sweet tea, my go to drink of choice towards the end of an ultra.
Fed and watered I was unceremoniously kicked out the aid station and I stumbled into the night on the return journey , back to the two climbs but now in reverse. On the way back I bumped into Shaun and Sarah and he hadn’t improved, infact if you could picture death warmed up this would have been Shaun, it wasn’t his best look but he still finished, with minimal training but serious mental strength. Good on ‘ya Shaun. Next I bumped into Andy who was just ahead of Cam (and pacers) , the Feral train, with both runners getting it done and they would finish together.
A highlight of this section of the course was my headlamp dying suddenly, with no moon when it’s dark it’s really dark. I thumbled for my iphone to give me some light so I could change headlamps. Note: always have a backup headlamp, always ! I was helped by another runner and then off I went again, alone into the night. At this point I was approaching my second night of no sleep so was starting to hallucinate. This is an added benefit of ultra running, get to your second night of no sleep and there is a good chance you’ll get to see all sorts of weird stuff, makes the event worthwhile ! I find the second night of an ultra is where the hallucinations begin, (assuming you don’t sleep) and thus far they have always been quite cool, I suppose it would depend on your mindset ?
Into the Camel Farm aid station for another cup of tea and some fruit before the final stage to the start , which would now also be the finish. There were numerous runners coming the other way and I didn’t envy their task ahead but all of them finished. I did bump into Chemie Banger (Jamie), who was running the 100k, but he was happy for me to carry on at my pace.
From the Perth Discovery Centre you cross over the Mundaring Dam , or around it if the dam was shut , which funnily enough at 2am it was ! This meant a lot of stairs which hurt both ways trust me. The dam is a lonely place at 2am with only Kangaroos for company setting off the security lights. I actually got lost running into the Discovery Centre, second guessing the Bib track signs and convincing myself they were wrong, of course they weren’t. Frustrating doesn’t sum up that feeling after nearly 100 miles of knowing you’re a few kilometers from the finish but which direction..? After some back tracking and checking on the GPS software, (thankyou https://www.gaiagps.com/ ) I eventually stumbled into the finish to a rapturous reception from both people still up at just past 3am in the morning. (Note to self, even finish a lot quicker or a lot slower next time, at least in daylight)!
A big shout out to some of the runners who hadn’t even left the Discovery Centre when I finished. These runners were going to run through a second night and finish in daylight. To get to the start line after nearly 30 hours of running and then facing the DNF (Death loop) is absolutely top drawer in the mental toughness stakes. I was sitting opposite John Cooke as he prepared to go out into the dark and take on his demons after DNF’ing the previous year, what an incredible effort. John, like myself, subscribe to Rob Donkersloot and his Mind Focused Running program. I can’t recommend this program enough and his results speak for themselve. ( https://mindfocusedrunning.com/ ) In ultra’s the back of the pack runner is the real hero , in my book !
So I finished in just over 27 hours, it was then straight to the warm showers, into a pair of warm pajamas’ and an onesie sleeping bag and to the front seat of my car, took me about ten seconds to fall into a deep sleep.
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In 2020 I DNF’d the Feral Pig, I got back to the start line, around 126km, but couldn’t muster the energy for the final 36k loop knowing how hard it is. I had trained well enough for the Feral but for some reason on the day I just wasn’t feeling it, I had a lift to the start which at least made me start the event. If I had driven myself I think I may have side stepped the bus to the start line and kept on walking to my car and snuck off home as a DNS. As it was I ended up begrudgingly sitting in the bus regretting my decision and not enjoying the journey as every minute this bus drove south I knew I had to run back, and the bus takes a long time to get to the start, trust me. Anyhow during the day I managed to keep moving forward but after a change of clothes at the start line I just couldn’t envisage completing the DNF loop (as I call it) and so pulled the pin, albeit after completing a twenty minute first kilometre, due to navigation issues.
Funnily enough on the bus this year I sat to next to a young runner , Cameron, who I would run with for most of the event, go figure, I digress. The start really is 40+ runners in the dark forest waiting for midnight to start. Shaun Kaesler was running this year, the owner of Ultra Series WA (and SA) ( https://ultraserieswa.com.au/ ) and he got us all in a big circle , turned off all our headlamps and gave us a rousing speech to get us in the right frame of mind for the challenge ahead. I’ll give Shaun his due he really is the pied piper of ultra running in WA, he can inspire the uninspired and make the impossible seem possible, and he does on a regular basis. I hope this pre-start huddle becomes a tradition , which is what normally happens with Shaun, and many runners will be able to feel the togetherness we all felt that night. Looking up at the stars was humbling and to share this with so many like minded people, special, very special.
To make this event even more challenging I had finished the Delirious West 200 miler ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) only 4 weeks previous so the legs would not be fully recovered. To counter this I decided to use poles from the start and really just enjoy the experience, with time a secondary consideration, this was my final redemption run.
Due to a rookie error I actually started the event 2-3 minutes after everybody else, I had forgot to acquire a GPS on my Coros so had to wait a few minutes before I could start running, if it’s not on Strava it didn’t happen ! Anyhow me and the tail runner eventually started and I moved through the field before bumping into Sergio, Andy and Cam and we formed a group which would stay together for most of the day, bar Sergio who stopped for a sleep and then flew past us about 50k later. Darlene joined us for a few hours before she stopped for some water while we continued on to the first aid station, Sullivan Rocks, at around the 42k mark. This sums up the Feral, the first aid station is marathon distance into the race, after a midnight start, brutal, like the terrain.
Andy, Cam and I spent most of Saturday morning and day together, the three of us rolling through the aid stations and with Andy’s amazing sense of direction never worrying about getting lost, that man really is talented. It makes such a difference running with company and the banter make the miles disappear. For the most part Andy set a perfect pace but if he dropped off I would sneak to the front to keep him honest. Cam was always happy to continue sandwiched between us with a infectious smile. It was Cam’s first 100 miler and he absolutely aced it , that young man has a great ultra running career ahead of him . Andy goes ok as well, just like a finely tuned white diesel van who also doubled as a great source of snickers. The three of us had a great time.
Due to the remoteness of the event there are minimal aid stations for the fist half of the race. Sullivan Rocks is the first at 41.5k then Brookton Highway at 73.5k. After that they are a tad more frequent, Mount Dale carpark ,86.2k, Beraking Campsite, 97.3k, Allen Road bridge 113.4k before returning to the start before the DNF loop at 126.6k. On the DNF loop you have an aid station at the Camel farm you pass through twice (135k and 154.7k) before the last outlying aid station at Kalamunda (144.8k). There are a smattering of drink stops scattered in there as well. This made the event challenging, unlike a 200 miler which feels like an adventure , with better food, the 100 miler feels like a race.
The major selling point of the Feral Pig 100 miler is the scenery and the remoteness of the event. As I said earlier there are few aid stations until well over half way and you start at midnight, a baptism of fire really. By the time you stagger into the first aid station at Sullivan rocks your normally pretty well goosed , before starting back up the granite hill to complete the rest of the event, about another 120km. As with all ultras you go though good and bad times and getting to Brookton Highway is a massive confidence booster. The food here is normally (actually always!) very , very good as Shannon Dale and his tribe provide it. This year was no different, my staple ultra diet of pancakes and bacon was more than enough to raise the spirts and I explored out of this aid station. Well maybe exploded is an over statement, stumbled more like. My quads had started to play up but the food helped and I was able to get into some sort of groove a few kilometres later, cocooned in the Feral train being ably led by Andy.
We caught up with Shaun Kaesler, pre-Brookton Highway, and we all came in together. Pre-aid station we had got into a group of 6-7 runners and the banter flowed while the kilometres melted away before us. The running conditions were just about perfect for November in WA, by this I mean it wasn’t stinking hot which is the norm for that time of year. 2021 will be known for being ‘the cold year‘, albeit it was still probably 22-25 degrees celsius. Shaun went past us later in the day like a scolded cat but I was confident I’d see him again giving his training program is minimal at best, mainly due to the nature of his day job !
Funnily enough what broke up the Feral train was a glib remark from Andy about the possibility of a buckle if you finished quicker then 26 hours. This was just past Allen Road and we had an hour or two of daylight left. As soon as a buckle was mentioned my race changed, all of a sudden finishing was no longer the number one objective, it became something I had no idea even existed a few minutes earlier. Doing some mental math I reckoned I had a chance of a buckle if I put my foot down. We were on part of the bib track I knew very well and was confident I could back to the start quickly. I couldn’t persuade the rest of the Feral train to join me so I set off alone. As I said I have ran from the Perth Discovery Centre to Allen Road and back on numerous times training for the Delirious West 200 miler earlier in the year ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) so was more than happy to tackle it alone, with night falling.
I actually made it back to the start at 8pm and refueled on noodles quickly, ordered at the Allen Road aid station, before setting off into the dark to tackle the DNF (or Death Loop). At this stage I was confident I had more than enough time to make my buckle but I underestimated what was to come and trust me I knew it would be difficult , just not as difficult as it turned out to be.
Fueled on noodles I had my second wind and left the Perth Discovery Centre cock-a-hoop , looking forward to my buckle which at this stage was in the bag as far as I was concerned. I have 6 hours to run just over 30k, how easy would that be. I knew the loop would be hard but 6 hours and I was feeling pretty good, what could go wrong. The night got even better when I caught up with Shaun and his beautiful Wife, and pacer , Sarah five or so kilometres later. Unfortunately for Shaun the chickens had come home to roost and he was paying the piper , big time. He was moving forward but he was in for a long night and he knew it, that’s the Feral though , one minute you think you have tamed the beast and then it comes back to bite you. After I left him and Sarah and continued into the night I wondered what lay ahead for me.
What eventually killed my buckle quest was the next aid station, the Camel Farm. I had arrived feeling quite good having left Shaun in my wake and asked the vollies the distance to the turn around at Kalamunda. In my mind it was a 7-8k stretch but I was informed 9.8k, this destroyed me as I had underestimated the distance for the DNF loop. In my mind is was nearer 32k rather than the 38k it actually was, although the extra 6k doesn’t seem a lot typing this post , at the time it was devastating. My buckle virtually disappeared at that moment and all I could see were chickens coming home to roost and a silly little bloke playing a pipe. As well as the extra 6k it was the terrain ahead of me that would finally break my buckle quest.
The run from the Camel Farm aid station to Kalamunda included two really hard climbs that are virtually unrunable. Add in 24 hours of running before even starting these two climbs and you have the recipe for disaster. The only thing that probably stops runners actually DNF’ing on this loop is you are so close to the finish you just get your head down, adopt the fetal position and take your punishment in the pain box. The climbs were brutal and I use that word a lot for this race but there is no better description. I was alone now and after staggering into the Kalamunda aid station didn’t have much left in the tank for the return to the start. My good friend Shannon Dale was there, him of the pancakes and bacon at Brookton Highway, and he served up some seriously good potatoes which hit the mark, and a cup of sweet tea, my go to drink of choice towards the end of an ultra.
Fed and watered I was unceremoniously kicked out the aid station and I stumbled into the night on the return journey , back to the two climbs but now in reverse. On the way back I bumped into Shaun and Sarah and he hadn’t improved, infact if you could picture death warmed up this would have been Shaun, it wasn’t his best look but he still finished, with minimal training but serious mental strength. Good on ‘ya Shaun. Next I bumped into Andy who was just ahead of Cam (and pacers) , the Feral train, with both runners getting it done and they would finish together.
A highlight of this section of the course was my headlamp dying suddenly, with no moon when it’s dark it’s really dark. I thumbled for my iphone to give me some light so I could change headlamps. Note: always have a backup headlamp, always ! I was helped by another runner and then off I went again, alone into the night. At this point I was approaching my second night of no sleep so was starting to hallucinate. This is an added benefit of ultra running, get to your second night of no sleep and there is a good chance you’ll get to see all sorts of weird stuff, makes the event worthwhile ! I find the second night of an ultra is where the hallucinations begin, (assuming you don’t sleep) and thus far they have always been quite cool, I suppose it would depend on your mindset ?
Into the Camel Farm aid station for another cup of tea and some fruit before the final stage to the start , which would now also be the finish. There were numerous runners coming the other way and I didn’t envy their task ahead but all of them finished. I did bump into Chemie Banger (Jamie), who was running the 100k, but he was happy for me to carry on at my pace.
From the Perth Discovery Centre you cross over the Mundaring Dam , or around it if the dam was shut , which funnily enough at 2am it was ! This meant a lot of stairs which hurt both ways trust me. The dam is a lonely place at 2am with only Kangaroos for company setting off the security lights. I actually got lost running into the Discovery Centre, second guessing the Bib track signs and convincing myself they were wrong, of course they weren’t. Frustrating doesn’t sum up that feeling after nearly 100 miles of knowing you’re a few kilometers from the finish but which direction..? After some back tracking and checking on the GPS software, (thankyou https://www.gaiagps.com/ ) I eventually stumbled into the finish to a rapturous reception from both people still up at just past 3am in the morning. (Note to self, even finish a lot quicker or a lot slower next time, at least in daylight)!
A big shout out to some of the runners who hadn’t even left the Discovery Centre when I finished. These runners were going to run through a second night and finish in daylight. To get to the start line after nearly 30 hours of running and then facing the DNF (Death loop) is absolutely top drawer in the mental toughness stakes. I was sitting opposite John Cooke as he prepared to go out into the dark and take on his demons after DNF’ing the previous year, what an incredible effort. John, like myself, subscribe to Rob Donkersloot and his Mind Focused Running program. I can’t recommend this program enough and his results speak for themselve. ( https://mindfocusedrunning.com/ ) In ultra’s the back of the pack runner is the real hero , in my book !
So I finished in just over 27 hours, it was then straight to the warm showers, into a pair of warm pajamas’ and an onesie sleeping bag and to the front seat of my car, took me about ten seconds to fall into a deep sleep.
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