"Sunday Runs"

The Trotters arrange a few Sunday runs which are really more like social events as you can choose to start early or with the main group, and run as fast or as slowly as you like, and there are aid stations provided along the way with fruit, lollies (sweets to the Brits) and water/coke. As it happened, there were two arranged for early January, a week apart, which involved running a lap around Brisbane Water, but the first one was clockwise on the roads, and the second one was anticlockwise and more on trails. As long as the club organisers knew about it, people could start and stop at different points along the route - so that if you only had a narrow time window, or if you just wanted to run a shorter distance, then you were still able to take part. 

Some of the girls wanted to start earlier and run slower but a 5am kick-off was plenty early enough for me, especially as I was picking up my friend Katie to go there as we'd agreed to run the whole way together as it was to be here longest run since 2013 (ie since starting her family). We met another friend Jackie at the start area (only just spotting each other in the darkness) and then panicked because the nearby toilets were still locked for the night. Finding something open for that last minute "panic-pee" meant that we missed the group start and so headed off just the three of us. We decided that we didn't need headtorches as there was enough light along the main road, and sure enough, it didn't take long for the dawn light to be on us. We started straight up a hill by the side of the main road, but there was little traffic at that time on a Sunday morning so it felt quiet enough. We felt that we'd only just gotten started when we got to the first aid station but as we were about to run on, Brian (who was manning it) chastised us that he'd got out of bed early especially for us, so we took a drink and I grabbed some jelly snakes despite the fact that they were rather sticky due to the damp air. 

The route was rather hillier than I'd expected and I was finding it harder than I expected to keep up the pace that Jackie was setting, but she does say that she always goes off rather too fast. Still, it was lovely to be able to chat (or "gasp" on the hills) as we trotted along. I wouldn't have wanted to run that route later in the day as there were places with no footpath and a minimal verge blocked with overhanging bushes....which felt rather unsafe when it was on the inside of a tight corner....but luckily Jackie knew the road well and would warn us in advance when we needed to drop into single file and hug the edges.

With Katie and Jackie

We must have started further behind the main group than we thought....or else they were all going along at some fair pace....as we didn't see anyone else out running for ages. Eventually Julie came into sight ahead of us, and we finally caught her up at the next aid station (where Katie discovered the joys of coke to give you a boost on a long run). We had wondered why we hadn't yet seen Monika (who was out on her bike supporting us all as she is only just coming back from an injury so felt the distance was too much for her as yet), but it turned out that Julie hadn't realised we were behind her so had sent Mon ahead to look for us. 

After running across a grassy playing field with Julie we were back onto the main road that rings Brisbane Water - Jackie reassured Katie that we'd covered most of the hills already but we were just approaching a "little kick-up". All I can say is that if that was a little kick up, then I dread to see what Jackie would refer to as a "hill", as the climb dragged on and on, and on rounding a corner we still weren't at the top!! Having finally gone "over the top" I did remember how much I'd struggled to cycle up it when going the other way, and thought that a cyclist I saw pushing their bike definitely had the better idea. Unfortunately, as "the cyclist" came closer we saw that there were actually two people walking up towards us, and one of them was our friend Max who'd had to pull out of the run due to a flare-up of an old groin injury - which was gutting for him, as he was also only just getting back into it. 

On the bike path

Soon after that Mon finally found us, having been sent forward and backwards along the road with noone really knowing exactly where we were. She updated us on how the girls were doing further up the road - 2 of them had stuck together and one was running ahead, and then offered us various delicacies from the assorted buffet she was carrying on her bike. I am now a big fan of a "popper" (what the Aussies call a carton of juice) on the run - as you can pierce the foil with the tip of the straw and then squeeze it to drink as you carry on running, without spilling it everywhere - bonus! As we had a travelling support crew for a little way, we just waved and continued rather than stopping at the next aid station (it might've been too tempting for Jackie not to go home if we had done so, as it was just along the road from her house). 

We completed the final section of verge running (ie no footpaths) and reassured Katie that she'd broken the back of the run, both in terms of being over halfway in distance and having done almost all of the hills (a fact that was backed up by the fact that we took a detour off the main road to cut out the steepest hill in this section....and visit another aid station with watermelon - yeay!!). That was about the point when we switched over from Jackie's "home turf" to my "home turf" and I could describe every bit of the upcoming route in detail as we were within a couple of kms of my house.  

The girls were starting to tire now so I was starting to check my running....it's funny how it happens but you naturally seems to pick up the pace when you're near home, and to be fair, the area around where I live is as flat as a pancake and so the pace naturally picks up. I could see that Katie was finding it tougher so I tried to be a good tour guide and point things out en route, and give her little targets to aim for, eg the end of the WoyWoy parkrun course, the boat wharf, my rellies' house (we waved up at the deck as we ran along the road below). Jackie's plan was to meet her husband at the 30K mark and stop there....and though she kept telling us to go on ahead, we stuck together until the exact 30K point, whereupon she stopped dead and said she'd walk to where he'd parked up round the corner.  

Katie and I running into the finish

Fair play to Katie - although she was tired, she didn't stop running at all from there to the finish, though she did stop talking. We passed a couple of runners who'd started earlier than us, and got some jelly snakes and cheers from Marg at the final aid station which spurred her on for a wee bit. Poor Katie - she had offered for me to go on ahead as I was full of beans, but there was no way I wasn't going to finish with her, so unfortunately she had to put up with my chatter and urging her on all the way back to where we'd started. It must've worked as she finished with a big smile on her face....and only just behind the fastest 3 ladies on the day - awesome work!!! 

The 5:20 chicks afterwards :-)

The next weekend was the Brisbane Water Bush Bash - which was a longer distance (and harder work) as it involved the trails around Brisbane Water and went in an anticlockwise direction. This time, I was running alone as the other girls dropped out of the event for various reasons. It was actually really fun to start as a group (yes....at 5am again!!) as it was like a Coast to Kosci reunion - 4 of us had run it this year and there were also 2 there that had been part of people's support crews. Although the sun was not yet up, we'd decided against carrying head torches and so were rather glad that the first 5 or so kms was along the cycle path round the lake (the exact route - in reverse - that we'd run to finish on the previous Sunday).  

Dawn by the water at Point Clare

When we got to Point Clare we headed away from the water and straight up a steep climb (including lots of steps) into the bush and up to the ridgeline "Koolewong fire trail".  The reward for this climb was some amazing views as the sun came up......and it didn't seem like too hard a run so far as we stopped so many times for photo and "comfort" breaks. It was quite funny to run along chatting to Jochan (who is fondly known as the skinniest pastry chef in Sydney) and then see it dawn on him (after about an hour) that I had also been at C2K, as I hadn't realised that he hadn't recognised me :-) I hadn't been up on that trail for months and months and it wasn't quite as rough and ready as I'd remembered, as the really steep dirt track that kept being washed away in heavy rains had been concreted over. It was still crazily steep to descend, but just slightly safer underfoot!

On Meditation Rock above Koolewong

Unfortunately the bit of the run that I was dreading was the terrifying descent back down to the waterfront by Spike Milligan bridge. There's a reason the Strava segment is called "slip 'n' slide" - not only is the gradient ridiculous, but the rocks/gravel underfoot is dangerously loose. The usual male vs female descent happened as the guys disengaged their brains and shot down it, whilst I was much more delicate with my girlie arms flailing and my overwhelming need to hug trees to prevent a significant injury! At least the flat cycle path we rejoined at the bottom meant I could then catch up again, so we all ran into the first "aid station" at WoyWoy together again, and competed over who could eat the most jelly snakes and lollies (clearly I won!!!). 

You have to love a "group runfie"!

One of the guys didn't want to stop and chat with the rest of us so he carried straight on from Woy Woy on his own but the rest of us set off in our little pack again and soon caught him up. I lost the guys as we all had different places of choice for our next toilet break and so really wasn't sure if they were ahead or behind me. I decided to just run my own pace and see what happened as I guess that I am more used to running alone than with company, but as I crossed over the Rip Bridge and headed towards the next fire trail (a climb so steep that I was walking again!) I couldn't see anyone either ahead or behind me - "No Man's Land"! 

By the time I got to the next aid station, I had passed a couple of others who'd started at WoyWoy as they didn't want to do the whole loop and they told me that they hadn't seen anyone else on the road which surprised me....and made me slightly anxious as that aid station was the limit of my knowledge of the route. There was some lovely watermelon at the aid station so I wolfed it down and then set off again "down the track" as instructed....only to be called back as it was "not that track". It turns out that they'd set up slightly off the route so you had to double back on yourself before heading along a beautiful section of trail that undulated through the trees (the only negative point about this section was that the cicadas were so loud I worried that I might actually go deaf!!!).  

After crossing the main road and starting the steep descent down into Little Valley, the map on my watch appeared to make little sense so I got out my good old fashioned paper maps to work out which way to go (and wanted to say "I told you so" to everyone who'd laughed at me at the start for being old fashioned and having proper printed maps with me). I found the right turning but was slightly put off by a man walking up the trail who commented that he didn't know how I'd get out at the bottom as a local resident had blocked off the trail, for reasons only known to him. Luckily, some other kind locals had made a tiny single track trail through the bush and placed a plank over a creek so there was a detour available, but when I finally came out onto a paved road, I did have to consult my maps again to make sure that I was still heading in the right direction (as it can be very disorienting to follow a tiny winding trail in thick bush). 

The road section that followed seemed long and hot but I knew that I wasn't too far away from Kincumber, where my friend Monika was going to jump in and join me for the last 17kms or so. Unfortunately I still had a couple of wrong turnings to take before then - one on a minor road meaning I took a tour of the sewage plant, and one heading the wrong way on some muddy trail - maps to the rescue again, even if they were getting rather bedraggled and dogeared by this time. I couldn't have been running too badly though as I still hadn't seen another soul...and even Monika wasn't waiting where I expected her to be, though I admit that could easily have been me getting the meeting location wrong. A few minutes later a familiar car drove by and I spotted Mon in the passenger seat waving, so they pulled over she jumped out, handed me some food and carried on with me....honestly, I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd done a commando roll out of the car and then started running....though I would have spoilt it by almost immediately starting to walk up the long hill :-) 

Reunited with Mon, my running buddy xx

It was so nice to be running with Mon again (she's recovering from a stress fracture so has had to have some time off) as I think that we run at a fairly similar pace (though I was very conscious of it being painfully slow for her as I was rather tired/hot/over it by this point). We "climbed" Kincumber Mountain, arriving at the aid station just at the volunteers got there. One lady said that if we hung around for a while she'd get things out for us, but I had enough treats in my back so was happy to wait just long enough for them to get the water out for a refill of my flasks and then carry on. Unfortunately neither Mon nor I really knew the way on the multiple crisscrossing trails on the mountain, and it was really hard to work out which way to go from the maps, so we probably added an extra km or so in by missing a hairpin junction and then having to work our way back along tiny mountain bike trails. We passed another couple of Trotters who were also unsure of the turnings so it was reassuring to note that being geographically challenged is a common trait.  

After popping back out into residential streets I was so happy to be on the "run for home" even though there was probably still more than 10K to go. It was really hot and humid and so not that conducive to enjoying the running any more, but areas of shade made a massive difference, so I just focussed on getting to the next trail section (Rumbalara). The streets became more familiar as we got into usual "Saturday Trotter Run" territory, though I did wonder how much extra we'd added on when we caught back up to the same couple that we'd passed on Kincumber Mountain (it turns out that they'd taken a different wrong turning and actually cut several kms off their run!).  

Getting to the high point in Rumbalara

The final road (and then trail) climb into Rumbalara was a big effort, but once we'd topped out it was so nice to start running again knowing that all the tough sections were beyond us. Monika commented on how well I was still moving, but I think I'd just perked up a lot as I could almost smell the food and drinks at the finish. "Almost" was the operative word as the final section was a lot longer (and had many more steps) than I'd remembered, but we finally came back out into downtown Gosford and "sprinted" down the hill to the park where I'd started all those hours ago. Having finished, I could now appreciate what a brilliant morning of running I'd had, and the added bonus to finishing over an hour in front of the next guys, was that I could eat and drink all the food and drink provided to my heart's content!!

Yummmmmm to the finish food!

Beyond the Black Stump

“Beyond the Black Stump” is a phrase that I’ve heard (along with “Out Woop Woop” etc ) to mean “in the remote outback” so when I heard of a New Year’s Day run with the same name, I was intrigued. I gathered that it had been a staple run on the calendar for many years and so there was usually a decent crew of runners heading down from the Central Coast to do it, along with many Sydneysiders. 

Beyond the Black Stump Route

For various reasons, many of the usual suspects decided not to run it this year, so there was a much smaller presence than usual, not helped by the fact that people were starting at various times, depending on how long they thought the run would take them (though I guess the fact that people started at various different times does fit with Covid precautions). 

A few people I knew were setting off at 6am but that seemed far too early for the 1st of January (especially as it was a rather drizzly day so there was no pressure to get back before it got too hot and sunny) so there were just 5 of us that headed off from Berowra Community Hall at 7am. 

The very start of the route winds through hilly undulating streets - and we did take the odd wrong turn or two, but luckily, one the of the men running was a local guy and so he kept us right, and so we soon got onto the muddy firetrail through Berowra Bushland Park. After a few kms we turned onto the single track of the Great North Walk route which ducked up and down, weaving round trees, rocks and various slopes but did give us some nice views out over the creek to our left. We were heading to the ferry at Berowra Waters, but the trail was one of those deceptively windy ones, so that everytime you got a glimpse of where you were going to and thought that you were almost there, you'd weave away from it again :-) 

The ferry is an interesting ride as it runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (with a 2 hour down period every month for maintenance) and is free. The creek is only about 200m across, but the ferry runs on demand for cars and so you are never sure whether you will have to wait until you are actually there by the water's edge. Two of the guys were "just" doing the 15K run option so they didn't cross the creek but carried on along the circular route back to Berowra, but the other 3 of us enjoyed the views (such as they were on such a grey day) as we rode over. 

On the ferry going over

During the first section of the run, I had found that I had to run relatively hard to keep up with the guys (why do men always start their runs fast and fade later? testosterone or something?) but once we got off the ferry we had over 3km of constant uphill on a sealed road, and roles became reversed as I had to consciously hold back as I could hear them puffing and panting so that we could all run together. There was no pavement and no grass verge but luckily there was also almost no traffic.

 

As we neared the top of the climb, we passed some ladies walk/running up it who'd started a good half an hour ahead of us, and then some of the 6am starters pounded past making the most of the long downhill back to the ferry! After turning off the main road, we ran along the tarmac until it ran out and turned into another firetrail....and then just carried on along said firetrail, until we left all signs of civilisation again and were back in the bush. 

This 4km of firetrail seemed a lot further as there were some rather steep descents interspersed with flatter sections and a couple of small climbs, but the run was broken up by greeting all the runners we now met coming the other way. There was no way to get lost as the trail just carried on with almost no branching until it finished at the "Ruined Castle of Calabash" - which is not exactly much of a castle by European standards!!! 

The official turnaround is by touching any part of the ruin (so we clearly had to go to the furthest part) and then we returned to the ferry by the same route we'd just come. It was a slightly less sociable run back up the firetrail as although Jay and I were running and chatting together, Darren (who'd started by leading the way and setting the pace from Berowra) now kept dropping back, so we waited for him at the top of each incline. I thought that he might pick up his pace once we reached the flat tarmac again but I still ended up waiting to check that everything was OK when we reached the main road again. 

Touching the "ruined castle"!

I knew we'd be able to all catch up as we waited for the ferry at the bottom so I let my legs go on the long downhill run there which was quite fun. The only issue was the lack of pavement and the blind corners. Each time I thought I must be rounding the last corner down to the ferry/cafe, another one appeared, but luckily there were few bikes out and even fewer cars, so I could enjoy the tranquility of the empty round and the beauty of all the overhanging trees. 

Although it was starting to drizzle, it was also rather humid so we refilled out waterbottles once we were off the ferry and then turned the opposite direction to the way from which we'd come earlier. The paved road became a bush track (again part of the Great North Walk) but by this time there were more people out stretching their legs and wishing each other Happy New Year. One lady surprised me by telling me that I "looked amazing" after I wished them well for 2021, which was lovely to hear, but I suspect far from the truth!! 

The single track then turned away from the creek up some steps and into a very steep climb (hands were necessary to haul yourself up in places). For Jay and I it was like the blind leading the blind, as neither of us had run here before and Darren had dropped back again. We figured that although we were winding back and forth, we must be going in the right direction as we hadn't spotted any turnoffs, and once we crested the ridge, we did descend down to a creek and then climb up the other side again, as the route description had promised. 

We knew that we must "avoid following the Great North Walk" turning to the left towards Cowan but that was about as much of a clue as we had as to where to go. Luckily we started to catch up with more of the early runners and so this reassured us that we were going in the right direction. On reaching the top of the second climb, I appeared to have also lost Jay, but by this time it was actually raining and so I just wanted to get back to Berowra as I knew there would be shelter there so that I could wait for the others to finish. 

Refuelling at Pie in The Sky

The run finished with rather a long section on road, but a lady we'd chatted to on the ferry (who actually remembered seeing me finishing C2K as she was out walking there with her husband!!) drove past me and reassured me that I was going the right way. When I got back to the Community Hall, there were several other Terrigal Trotters hanging around and chatting there as they'd been part of the early contingent, so although it was nice to catch up with them, we started to get rather cold and so, as soon as the others had finished, we all drove to Pie in The Sky for very welcome hot pies and coffee. We all agreed that it was a great way to start the year!