I can't actually really put my finger on why I decided to do the Australian Invitational 24 hour race in Canberra. I admit that in the past, I've vaguely wondered what it would be like to do such an event, but I've never gone beyond the wondering stage. This race was not much different to that if I'm honest as it was rather a last minute thing and I didn't exactly train for or target it. I'd been running around Sydney a fair amount since getting stuck in Australia, but nothing fast or "session-like", but I did wonder what my overall fitness was actually looking like. Someone mentioned the Canberra event to me, and it seemed like an ideal opportunity to give it a go.......there would be no pressure as no-one knew me (unlike the ultra scene in the UK), no-one knew I was doing it (including myself in a way, as it kept changing due to Coronavirus restrictions and so it was only when I got there the night before the race that I actually knew it was a "goer"!!), and it would be a long slow run so it didn't matter if I hadn't really done any sessions/fast running for months!
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Saying it how it is :-)
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I had been going to get some support from the crews of other friends who were running, and from one of the Australian IAU officials that I knew, but in the end they didn't go to the event, so it was just my friend Angus who came to crew for me. Other runners had much larger crews and so several of them offered to help me out so that Angus could take a break/get some rest as needed. As well as my crew being minimalistic, so was my plan....I was just going to start running and see how far I got as it is impossible to DNF a 24 hour race once you've crossed the starting line, it's just a cse of recording either a very smaller or a larger distance. My nutrition plan wasn't complicated either...I had water, electrolytes, red bull and coke in bottles, and a variety of food - mainly home-made banana bread, home-made chocolate chip cookies, jelly snakes, cheese, salt and vinegar crisps, bananas and various other bars, biscuits, gels, chocolates etc as I had no idea what I'd feel like eating (I was rather worried about not having access to a lot of the food I usually eat in long runs as you just can't get some things such as Chia Charge bars in Australia, but I'm generally not fussy as I just like eating :-) ).
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Yeay - I found my tent at the track!
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I went to see the track on arrival at Canberra, reassured myself that the run was actually happening the next day and introduced myself to the race director and timer. It was getting dark by then so just the right time to go eat pizza, watch a movie and generally try not to stress about what the morning (and afternoon...and night...) would bring!!
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Not the warmest place to hang out!
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The morning dawned crisp and clear.....well it was actually freezing if I'm honest as there was frost on the grass in both the caravan park and at the track. I realised how woefully unprepared I was when I saw all the other runners laying out their race plans and piles of organised nutrition and drinks with their multiple-person support crews. I, on the other hand, just put a couple of bottles and cans on my table along with a heap of bananas, crisps, chocolate, cheese and home made banana bread and choc chip cookies. Our small field (which was much reduced as some runners didn't want to risk travelling there in case they became stranded by the increasing Coronavirus restrictions) were given a pre-run briefing and then we were off. Some of the guys ran off at a decent pace but I admit to finding it all rather an anticlimax - Simone and I (as the only two females in the ACT event - 1 was running separately in Victoria - we were allowed to run together as the race rules allow you to run with someone of your own sex, but not with the guys as that could be construed as "pacing") jogged off chatting away, both wearing an awful lot of clothing (me - everything I owned/had with me - and Simone - a long down jacket, of which I was very envious!). It must have taken me a good hour to start to get the feeling back into my hands and feet.....and the other side effect of the cold was that it made you want to go to the toilet a lot (we had to leave the track for this, so I became very familiar with the taped section which ensured you left and rejoined the track at the same place).
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Simone and I (not looking the warmest) at the start
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The first few hours seemed to pass uneventfully (well, except for the fact that after an hour I was rather bored and wondered how on earth I'd manage to keep lapping the track fro another 23, especially as I'd set a "track distance/time PB" once I'd passed the 5K mark!!) as I watched the other runners and listened to the local radio that was blasting out of the track speakers. Some of the guys were running very fast and lapped me several times but others had a plan which included regular walk breaks so as time went on it became very hard to work out who was on what lap....not that it really mattered anyhow, as we still had so much time to go! I was rather jealous of the guys that could drop in and out of running together and chat for a while as they passed, as if I caught up to one of them, or one caught me, we had to keep moving past in case anyone claimed the "pacing" card!
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It definitely warmed up...
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We were meant to get hourly updates on positions and times, including for those running on a track in Victoria at the same time, but these were a bit sporadic, eg usually about 15-25 minutes after the hour, and nil from Victoria for the first 4 hours! As well as my meanders on and off the track to the toilet block, and my pondering over what food to take whenever I passed my table (I have to say that the banana bread was the business as it stayed nice and moist and so was easy to break up, eat and swallow whilst still running)....the great treat came as we approached the 4 hour mark and realised that.....joy.....we were going to have to change our running direction!!! Oh the excitement!!! It actually didn't happen exactly at the 4 hour point (which was such an emotional let-down) but at some point not long afterwards Martin (the timekeeper and race official) did tell us that next time we crossed the lap start/finish timing mat, we would have to round a cone a go back the other way. Interestingly, the only time you actually saw other runners face on was at these changes of direction as we were all turning at different times (and then the question was, if you overtake someone slower than yourself by running wide of them, what happens when you're going in opposite directions...but somehow we managed without mishaps :-) ).
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Actually seeing another runner's face as we turned
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Angus told me (as I passed him at some point) that he was going to go into town to get some lunch, but I didn't think much of this as I'd asked some of the other guys' support crews if they minded helping me out on occasion so that he could take a break, and they said that would be fine, he just had to ask/let them know. I wasn't sure who he'd asked on this occasion as there was nobody around my tent area at all so I had to try to get my own food and drink, but luckily I still had enough left on the table that it wasn't too onerous!
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Round and round we went...
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In total contrast to the freezing morning, it was now rather hot running in the direct sunshine, and again I was jealous of the guys....but this time it was because they could just strip off and run topless, whereas I was stuck with leggings and crop top though I did discard my t-shirt (as I confess that I really didn't care who saw me!!). As the afternoon wore on, we started to get the occasional update from Victoria, and we changed directions again.....and the lads started laughing at me as I took my mind off running by singing along to songs I recognised on the radio (obviously they were just jealous that I knew more of the words to all the Taylor Swift songs than they did!!). There was a news bulletin every hour, and as your could hear the speakers from everywhere on the track, I swear I heard more news (and not just about coronavirus) during that run than in the whole month preceding it!!!
By this point I had gone through a banana eating phase (as a change from banana bread) as they seemed to taste nicer when it was hotter, so Angus asked me if I thought I'd like any more later on as if so, he could go and get some. I thanked him and said that I might appreciate some more later on in the evening/night, but it turned out that he decided to go and get some there and then without telling me....and again without asking anyone to help out in his place. When I didn't see him for a few laps, I presumed he gone off to use the bathrooms or the microwave/kettle that was by the track for crew to use, but he seemed to be taking a very long time and I couldn't see him anywhere. By this point the sun was starting to go down and it was getting a lot colder and so I had to try and find my previously discarded T-shirt somewhere within the tent myself. After seeing my comedic helpless shenanigans, some of a neighbouring support crew came to my aid and handed me some of my food and drinks for the next few laps. I have to admit to being fairly unimpressed with my crewman abandoning me for over 90 minutes without letting me know or asking anyone else to help out - and I was probably slightly stroppy when he returned :-(
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Clearly not winning any fashion contests!
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Even though I think that I eat a lot compared to others, I clearly wasn't eating enough as I really noticed how much more tired I was feeling after the gap in regular nutrition. It can be both a blessing and hindrance to be able to see your lap split every time you come round the track, as I felt a bit despondent watching mine drop off....but then as soon as I ate a cookie I could see that I was right back onto my previous metronomic pace (and after seeing this happen a couple of times, I worked out that I needed to eat as soon as I started to feel the slightest dip in energy).
It got lonelier after nightfall (though the track was well lit) as a couple of people had faded and some had even dropped out, but I set myself little targets to motivate myself to keep going. The first one was the Scottish 12 hour record. It was a bit of a saga trying to get the go ahead for this, as I had to check the distance with someone back in Scotland - and as it turned out, I knew more about the actual number than he did, so I had to practically dictate texts to poor Angus every time I ran past him. Then we had to get the proper permission from Martin the race timer/official....and he wasn't happy that I hadn't told him about it beforehand. However, before we started the run, I had no idea if I would even make 6 hours, never mind 12 hours and never in my wildest dreams would I be nearing the distance of National Records. In order for a record to be verified and approved later, someone has to video it, and someone impartial had to place a block down wherever I was on the track when the 12 hour horn went (ie it couldn't be me!). Angus offered to place my block for me and I cheekily asked him if he would be able to keep up.....well, it wasn't quite that cheeky a comment as it turns out, as he videoed it whilst another runner (crewing one of the other lads) was my "blockplacer". When I knew there were only a few seconds to go to the 12 hour mark, I really tried to pick up the pace, and you can actually hear the other guy swearing on the video as he tried to run alongside me :-) I don't think I really knew exactly how far I'd run as when we ran round the track in a clockwise direction (as opposed to the usual anticlockwise direction) we couldn't see the board showing our distances and splits, so I didn't really need to push so hard at the end as I added almost 3.5K to the previous record!
The next lap was rather a slow plodge but I didn't stop and soon got moving again as the Scottish 100 mile record (set in 2012) was now in sight. There was a lot less "sprinting for the line" involved in this one as I took just over an hour off that record, but as I found out later, I was agonisingly close to the British record set way back in about 1990, and if I'd only have known about it a few laps earlier, I might have given it a go! I had a bit of a lull after that....in terms of goals and in terms of running. I was still trying to keep eating as much as possible but it has now been pouring with rain for several hours and the track was strewn with deep puddles. Although I'd put a waterproof jacket on over my T-shirt, it was rather thin and soon soaked through....as were my shoes and socks, making them feel rather heavy. Still, the banana bread and choc chip cookies kept powering me on and I kept ticking off those laps. By this point (although I didn't really know what was going on in Victoria), I was leading the ACT race....but I think that was probably more to do with other people having bad spells or pulling out, than by anything special from me, as i just kept ticking along at more or less the same pace. Apart from my brief sit downs at the toilet/hunting for my t-shirt or food, I hadn't stopped running since we'd started all those hours ago. I had wondered what people thought about when they did one of these events...and even now, I still can't tell you. Being next door to a stadium when there was a game on was a distraction for an hour or two, but mainly it was the music and news that helped me out, especially in the dark hours of the night....and I can only apologise to everyone who heard my singing (if you can call it that!!)!!!
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Nighttime splashes
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Crossing the 200K mark was an even bigger thing for me, as this was also videoed and the video included two stopwatches showing the exact same time as I crossed the line - and this was because I had not only managed to break the Scottish record, but also take just over 7 minutes off the British best time for the distance, which was set by my good friend Eleanor Robinson way back in 1990!! I finished the next lap and then finally let myself walk for the first time in 19 hours! This walking break wasn't just because I was rather tired by now, but mainly because I was just soooo cold and wet and wanted some "proper" food for a change. I'd prewarned Angus a lap earlier that I really wanted a pot noodle and so I thankfully took it off him and slowed to a walk. OK, so a pot noodle might not be a gourmet meal, but it was the best pot noodle that I'd ever tasted and I even drank all the extra liquid in that pot (yummy.....warm and salty) whilst walking round that 400m. I'd made myself keep walking whilst eating as I knew that if I stopped, then I would have no desire to start up again, but unfortunately I still just couldn't get back to running. My hamstring started to cramp up from the cold and wet whenever I tried to break into anything resembling a run.....and I was straight back to more of a shuffle (I guess they don't call it the "ultrashuffle" for nothing!!).
I have no idea how I made it through those final 5 hours - I thought it would get better as the sun came up......but there was no sun as the rain was relentless. My feet were so wet....as was the rest of me....and I was so cold, tired and sore. I guess that, in hindsight, this is when a good experienced crew really comes into its own - as what I needed to do was get some warm dry clothes on, and get some good food and fluids into me. Unfortunately I did none of this.......I carried on just wearing my thin waterproof and T-shirt, with heavy waterlogged shoes rubbing away at my poor feet - though actually the timing band on my ankle was causing more problems as it had become sodden and heavy and I ended up with bad tendonitis fo the ankle for a few weeks afterwards. My hands were too cold for me to grab food and feed myself properly and I think I just gave up trying (Angus had nodded off and though I was later told that I should have woken him up and been demanding, I just felt guilty that he was that tired and so didn't want to disturb his sleep). One of the other guys made it to the 200K mark and was then practically carried home by his support crew whilst another just kept miserably walking round the track through the wet. Joe was the only person who seemed to be doing really well at this stage (possibly as he had been fed some false information about how far the Victorian participants had run by his coach who was also the race timer/adjudicator - hmmm...is that a conflict on interest?) wearing warm dry clothes, and with some food and caffeine in him, he was flying compared to the rest of us. It was great to watch him really going for it, despite it meaning that he passed me as overall race leader in the last half hour of the event! Looking at how strong he was, he definitely deserved to pass me.....even if I had been able to move at anything faster than a crawl (unfortunately this was exactly the point when a news crew started filming us.....so I didn't look my finest in my national TV debut!!).
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Rugged up with the RD at the presentation afterwards!
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The clock seemed to tick at a slower and slower speed but finally we were into the last 10 minutes. I dug deep to find some strength to pick it up for my last couple of laps, as this little lift in pace meant I covered slightly more distance, moving me into 5th position in the British All-Time 24 hour rankings, and 2nd All-Time in the track 24 hour rankings (and adding another 3.5K to the Scottish record). Again, as I was setting a record, someone had to witness and film my finish and someone else had to place my block on the track. Then it was all over....and although the TV crew wanted to interview me, all I wanted was to get warm and dry. I was so cold by this point that Simone's crew (she dropped out after 12 hours but they'd come back to cheer us on for the final hour) had to undress me, sit me down on a chair in the trackside shower, and dress me again before I could start functioning again. Not exactly conditions I'd wish on anyone, but how can I complain when I set 4 Scottish and 1 British record in my debut 24 hour race? Now, I never need do another one!!
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Joe & Jo - clearly the winning name :-)
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