The Six Foot Track

After the cancellation of last year's Six Foot Track marathon (well....technically it's an ultramarathon as it's 45km long), we were offered the chance to enter this year or defer our places to next year (without having to go via the entry lottery again).  I knew that I had a lot of other races/runs on so I would be very tired, hence my decision to defer to 2022. The deferral would also mean that I had the time (if I ever found the motivation) to go and familiarise myself more with the first few kms of the race.....the thought of which still scared the living daylights out of me (steep, rough, rocky, dark, wet, technical, narrow downhill with everyone pushing and jostling for places and trying to pass). 

The start of the 6 Foot Track

When the Covid-safe plan for the race came out and I saw there would be rolling starts rather than wave starts, I did think it was rather a shame that I wasn't going to be able to run it this year as a rolling start would surely mean less congestion and argy-bargy on that dreaded starting section. After a few wines with my friend Julie one evening about 3 weeks prior to the race, I somehow found myself talked into emailing the race directors and asking if it would by any chance be possible to gain a late entry, and then using it as a chance to recce the run/course and see if I wanted to try actually running it hard next year. The race directors kindly (or ?unfortunately, as I thought at the time) obliged, so I duly paid my money and arranged to go up for the weekend with my Trotter clubmates.

Always fun hanging out with the Trotters on the way up

Despite some people trying to claim otherwise, I stuck to my guns of having no intention of going out and trying to "compete" at the run - I was just there to enjoy the weekend in the Blue Mountains, catching up with various friends (drinks and cakes were consumed in abundance) and enjoying running in a different place. A condition of my late entry was that I was put into the seeded start of Wave 1. Unfortunately for me, this was the only subsection of the field to have a mass start rather than a rolling one, but they still told us that we would have to line up on crosses drawn on the ground 1.5m apart, so it didn't sound like there would be too much of a crush anyway.

One of our clubmates who wasn't competing had kindly offered to do lots of chauffeuring (which saved a lot of hassle and time getting to the start etc) and so he dropped the first group of us in the cool dawn light to walk to the start line. By the time we got there it was getting light, which was a relief as I hadn't wanted to have to wear a headtorch. There was minimal officiousness with the starting pens as it seemed like anyone could walk into the elite line up and say they were meant to be there. No-one seemed to line up on the crosses and move forward with social distancing, and as soon as the gun was fired, everyone seemed to head down the trail, so I found myself at the back of the pack before having crossed the line without even trying!

Starting off at the back with Bron

The initial forest road was steep and rough but vaguely runnable so people had spreadout by the time it narrowed into the singletrack rocky steps. I only actually caught and passed one person on the steps and the only person behind me was Neil (another Trotter) who declined to pass and instead explained the first part of the course to me as we descended. You'd have to be pretty confident (or mad) to go at significant pace down there as not only were the rocks wet and slippery, but there were also raised wooden edges in places, and the overhanging foliage made it rather dark. Neil reassured me that this stretch wasn't too long and that the rest of the route would be much more runnable, but I still breathed a sigh of relief when the path flattened out and widened up. I still hardly increased my pace as my legs were feeling rather heavy and leaden from all the exertions of the prior weekends, and so I watched Neil disappear off into the distance, along with several other runners who then shot past me.

After climbing up and down a stile off the dirt road, we headed back onto some lovely single track winding through grass and in and around some trees to cross a road at one place where people could come and cheer the runners on. Dave had driven down from the Central Coast early that morning to cheer all the Trotters on so it was lovely to see him there and hear that I looked (although I didn't feel it) nice and relaxed :-)

The next section was all single track but it flowed up and down over undulating grassland and creeks. There were a few steps, a couple of stiles and some short sharp climbs/descents, but it seemed much easier to relax into a rhythm and enjoy the running here. It clearly suited me far more than the earlier sections as I started to catch and pass a few people along the trail. People had warned me about getting stuck in a train of runners for the last few narrow windy kms along the upper riverbank to the crossing point, but I'd presumed that everyone would be well strung out by then. A few people from the Wave 1 (but not elite) start had already caught me along the way, but those that closed the gap in this section did seem rather desperate to get past - in fact one was so keen that he pushed me into the lady in front and it was all I could do to avoid falling over (whilst apologising to her if I'd then bumped into her). A lady I passed warned me that I had a leech on my leg which seemed unusual for this part of the route as it was much drier here.....but she was 100% correct (and not just jokingly trying to get me stop running) as it then came off to leave a nice bloody trail down to my ankle.

I followed Bron down to the river (and was followed myself by Neil as I'd just passed him again), and then worried about being so close behind her as she had been touted as one of the potential race winners, but there was little I could do about that as we seemed to be moving at a remarkably similar pace. The river itself was a bit of a shock to the system, as people had warned me that I would definitely get my feet (and possibly my knees) wet and had given me various differing bits of advice about avoiding getting too much gravel in my shoes, and whether it was worth sitting down to take them off and empty them out etc. The race organisers have a rope strung across the river, but the guys all told me that they'd never used it when they'd run the race. 

Although it was a rather hot day, there had been a lot of rain in the preceding week and the river was way deeper than we expected - above nipple height for me and some of the shorter girls said that they couldn't reach the bottom and had to swim/haul themselves along using the rope (I did the latter as the current was also rather strong and swept me off my feet!!). I was rather glad that I hadn't opened the packets of sweets I had in my pockets as they would have become disgusting and sticky after such a soaking. The cold water was actually quite refreshing and although I couldn't be bothered to check my sodden shoes for gravel on the far side, I did visit the aid station on the far side for a very welcome drink of water.

After the crossing, the trail became a long uphill forestry road and although I started running along it, I slowed to a very relieved walk once I caught back up to Bron. She told me not to pace myself off her as she had run up there "in training" but was now hiking it, but I told her that I was more than happy to walk and chat a bit. I tried to run the flatter sections and walk the steeper ones - and now that I was totally soaking wet anyway, I didn't mind that the small "creeks" people would usually skip across were actually almost knee deep (on two occasions I scooped the water up over my head from them anyway!). I was feeling rather empty and tired so chomped away on my sweets whilst walking and marvelled at those ladies I could see ahead of me as they were actually running up the hill - respect to them as I couldn't manage it! 

There were some very welcome aid stations at the top of the hills (you got it - that long drag certainly wasn't the only climb!) and although they only had water and whole bananas, my walking pace meant that I had plenty of time to get my cup out of my pocket for them to fill it up. Although I know my walk was slower than the ladies ahead of me were running, when they walked or when I ran, I would close back up on them, and so passed a couple of them on the more runnable sections (though it did become a bit of a to and fro saga as we climbed and descended and then climbed and descended again).

The boys had suggested breaking the run up into three sections in my head, but I needed to break those sections down into smaller segments to keep myself motivated. They had told me that it was important not to exhaust myself on the hills so that I still had the legs to "run" the Black Ranges - I couldn't have gone faster up the hills even if I'd wanted to, but it was a nice relief  to be back running again and continue gradually moving up the field. I figured that I must've passed 10-15 ladies during the event so hoped that I had made it into the top 10 (which would mean avoiding the lottery to enter the 2022 event) and just had to maintain that all the way to the finish. That sounded easier than it was, as my run became a walk again on several occasions, but luckily no ladies seemed to be moving up faster than me so I felt safe if exhausted.

Desperately trying to to cramp up and fall down the hill!!!

Covid rules meant that there were few people out on course to cheer us on, but there was one spot about 10K from the finish where some could gather and it was lovely to recognise a friendly face or two (from previous races I've done over here) who then gave me personal encouragement. The last 10K still had a few stings in its tail - one being the aptly named "F*** You Hill".......just when you thought that you had done all of the climbing, you rounded a corner and hit another steep incline, and the unconscious exclamation most runners emitted led to the name. One thing that did help me get up here, was spotting a guy from my club just ahead of he - he is well known for starting off way too fast and blowing up, and clearly today was no exception. I tried to encourage him and get him to work with me so that we would both get to the finish in a respectable state, but he did not seem up for that at all so I just carried on at my own pace (as it turned out he had been 25 minutes ahead of me at the river crossing, yet finished a good 25 minutes behind me at the end which I confess gave me a private cheer as he is well known for thinking - and stating -  that "girls" aren't as good as "boys"!!).

Cheering my clubmates on from the side of the course later in the day...

I popped out of the bush and crossed the final road thinking that I must be almost there, but the road marshal told me that I still had 7K to go and so I nearly lost the will to live! That 7K was a long one as the single track climbed up and down (yes, including steps) alongside the road for some distance before turning away from it again and leading us uphill again. I might have been swearing at the uphill, but the descent from it was way worse - steep, narrow, rough and rocky as we had to descend all the way down into the valley towards the Jenolan Caves.

An aid station manned by some lovely Rural Fire Service men (in uniform!) broke it up, but it was even steeper after that point. They cheered me on and shocked me by telling me that I was the leading lady, and tried to encourage me by telling me what the distance to the finish was (unfortunately they work in kms and I run in miles so the positivity might have been lost in translation). I was so happy to get to the bottom of the descent in one piece and staggered up the next few metres of rocky climb just as a photographer jumped out from behind a rock....typical, just when I was walking so I forced myself to run again. I don't remember ever properly cramping up in a race before but it so nearly happened just after I passed him and so I thought I was going to fall down the last slope. Luckily for my pride I managed to stay on my feet, as some Trotter clubmates were sitting at the bottom ready to take photos and cheer us on. One of them congratulated me and told me that I just had a short easy road run to the finish from there......music to my ears!!

"Just an easy road run down to the finish...."

I turned 90 degrees and went over the bump that had kept Caves House hidden from view, and realised how much he'd deceived me. It was almost no horizontal distance to the finish but it was still a long way below me, and the path involved many hairpin bends (with useful handrails so I could stabilise myself and swing round them) and cobbles underfoot. I finally rounded the last corner, pelted down the steps and turned  to cross the line - I'd done it.....one of the slowest winning times in history I'm sure, but I'd made it in one piece! It was so lovely to be greeted by my aforementioned chauffeuring clubmate (hugging not allowed due to social distancing etc), and not have to think about how to get back to the car, the camping shower (basically a container with a shower attachment), a change of clothes, food and beer! 

Wow - a tape to cross!!

So happy to have made it in one piece!

As it turned out, the car park was right next to where our other clubmates had been sitting, so once I'd changed out of my wet clothes and shoes, I could go round and sit in the sun (with a beer) and cheer everyone else in......what a great friendly, supportive, all inclusive club the Trotters are....and I loved having another weekend away with them, so here's to many more!!!

The heaviest trophy ever....which I then had to hand back :-) 

Port Mac RunFest

After some “longer” runs it was suddenly back to shorter faster (well, that’s the idea anyway) races, kicking off with the 5000m for my other club (Mingara) at the NSW Country Championships. This is an annual competition for the “country” clubs, ie excluding all those who run in Sydney, and this year Mingara was hosting it so they wanted as many club members as possible to show their support. The longest event available was the 5000m track race and so although I hated the thought of it….the very idea of a “short” track race, the fact that the oldest age group eligible was 40-49 years, and the fact that it was being held on a Friday evening (officially 730pm but in fact we didn’t start until 8pm!!)….I figured I should get over it and represent the club.

With clubmate Tara after the 5000m

As it happened, it wasn’t (quite) as bad as I thought it would be, as the lateness of the event meant that some people had gone home, and although there weren’t very many women competing , all ages and sexes were combined together so it was easy to hide/lose yourself in the field. As usual, I started at the back (after hating the fact that they lined us all up on the line in numerical order so I couldn’t slot in behind the others) but eased my way into it and then just kept on going at that pace. The race announcements were rather confusing as they kept giving us splits and predicted times for the leading men (who were very speedy and on track record pace, lapping most of us at least a couple of times), and all they said whenever I crossed the finish/lap line was what my age was!!! Nice!!! I tried to tune that out and focus on the cheers/support from some friends who were in the stands offering much-needed encouragement! I could hear them announcing the “leading female” but what they failed to mention was that she was the leading female in the U20s race as I actually managed to lap her as I ran into the line. Not my fastest time, but it was an age group record for the club and I did take out the ladies’ win and score some vital points for the club!

Drinks and snacks pre-3K

The weekend afterwards was a Trotters’/girls’ weekend away as we had all entered the Port Macquarie Running Festival in one of its various forms. I traveled up with my friends Jackie and Monika (and Mon’ daughter Ash) as we were going to go out and stay with Mon’s parents on the Saturday night. We got to Port nice and early on the Saturday afternoon and registered for the Grand Slam of races - the Breakwall Buster Port Treble consisting of a half marathon, a 10K and a 5K on the Sunday morning, and a 3K for the indigenous foundation on the Saturday afternoon. After some food and a beer, we met Mon’s dad who was going to do the 3K with us. All3 of us girls had said that we were going to walk it, but we ended up having to run just to keep up with him (despite him running in sandals as he doesn’t own any joggers!!!). Luckily Ash joined us on the way back so we had a lovely time swinging her along the course and encouraging her by waving Koala Lou just ahead of her - it was so lovely to see Ash grinning at her Trotters “fans” on the run in, and proudly wearing her mum’s medal afterwards!

Mon's dad and his Trotter harem!

After a nice evening out in Wauchope (Mon’s dad was a chef - result!!!) including marshmallows toasted over the fire, we headed back to Port in the early morning to meet up with several other Trotters. Some were “just” doing the HM, some the 10K, but there was a large group of us doing the “Treble” and so we had a separate baggage area that we could go into as we would need to change our bibs and eat/drink between the events.

Ash and Koala-Lou joining us in the 3K :-) 

The starts were in self-seeded waves so the girls waved me off in the first one (they were going in the next one) and I was off. We started with people dashing headlong across some grass and then onto tarmac to start the first of three 7K laps along the the breakwall and a couple of roads/paths. As the laps were mainly just out and back, there were bollards set up to keep people clear of each other as they headed in different directions, but at first people were running both sides of them just to avoid congestion and settle into a pace. 

The Trotters pre-RunFest

I loved running in my Trotters vest as it led to lots of support en route (and not just from other Trotters!!) and it meant that I could easily spot club mates up ahead or going the other way once we started turning back on ourselves and even lapping each other. People commented on the fact that I got stronger as the race progressed and even ran a “negative split” but I don’t think that this was actually the case, it just appeared to be so, due to how fast others started - and the heat of the day definitely caught most of us rather unawares and so everyone slowed down. I wasn’t sure how much my head was “in the game” as I wanted to stop on several occasions, especially as the aid stations, but I did manage to reel in a couple of ladies and finish in 3rd position in a much faster time than I’d anticipated. The winners of both male and female races looked amazing……as if they were just out for an easy morning jog, but I consoled myself with the fact that they weren’t backing up and doing the Treble (though I doubt I could have run faster even if the HM was my “target” race) - and full marks goes to my club mate Mark who set a 2 minute PB finishing 3rd in the men’s race!

The Trotter "Treble" girls

The format of the event was that the HM started at 7am, the 10K at 9am and the 5K at 10am, so the amount of rest you got in between events (if doing them all) was related to how fast you completed them. I had a bit of a gap after the HM so it gave me time for a drink and a snack and then, having not actually spotted the portaloos in the Treble enclosure, I wandered off in search of a toilet. I found it so hard to get my legs moving again after stopping, that a few people asked me if I was OK, and if I needed a wheelchair or a medic, so I did wonder how on earth I would manage to run again.

It didn't feel too bad in the first lap

I cheered the girls in, we changed our numbers, and then I headed back to the start for my wave of the 10K. This time we had 2 laps of 5K to run (which meant they’d taken out the only real decline and incline that had been in the extra part of the HM loop) but as we started along the exact same route as before we were mingling in with HM runners who still had their final lap to go. 

It definitely got harder as the laps passed

It did take me more than the initial grass stretch until I felt like I could actually run properly, but then I realised that I actually felt OK going out again. As it turned out (talking to everyone else afterwards, we all felt exactly the same) this “running euphoria” was rather short-lived as by the time I’d run 3K, I suddenly found myself wondering how on earth I was going to get round the next 7.

By the time you lapped people it
was hard to work out who was racing who

By the time I started the second lap )how I wished that there had only been the one), I was really feeling the heat (and the exhaustion). I caught the girls in second and third place twice but on each occasion, I thought I was risking much more serious heat issues so decided to take shirt walking breaks at the aid stations whilst drinking water and pouring it over my head (and so they overtook me on both occasions). As it happens I closed back up on them again into the finish and was just a couple of seconds behind them, having been a good 20s behind after 5K, but the breaks clearly paid off (though at the time I just thought that was being mentally weak whenever I walked) as the girl that came in second ended up having a couple of drips as soon as she finished and being carted off by the medics, poor lass! Then again,  respect to her as I just cannot push myself that hard!

The 10K was definitely less "fun"!!

After the 10K, they said that they would delay the start of the 5K by 10 minutes as the course was getting so crowded with people going in various directions at various speeds in various different races, but suddenly I heard them say that a lot of the Treble runners were starting to cramp up and so they were setting them off there and then. Luckily it was chip timed as I was too stiff to get across to the start line for the off, but I had worked out that I had a good lead on the next lady in the Treble anyway so if she managed to make up that deficit over 5K then she deserved to beat me anyway!

Jackie, Mon and myself with our bling!!

A cyclist drew alongside me and asked if I was the leading lady in the Treble and then started cycling in front of me, saying that she’d clear a path through some of the runners still participating in earlier events. This sounded good in principle but I did warn her that I was probably running a lot slower than she would have expected. Soon after that she disappeared off, as the “actual 5K runners” had started and she was going to cycle with their leaders….which was fine with me, as then I could have some walking/drinking/pouring water over myself breaks without feeling too guilty (not that anything would have stopped me having them by then anyway). 

The Trotter "survivors" photo!

It was nice to still be getting support en route and see my club mates out running, as whenever I saw someone I knew (and when I saw the lady chasing me down in the Treble) it did push me back into running from walking….and I finally made it back home to the finish hot and bothered, but happy :-) After a lot to drink, much ice on my head and neck, and a couple of bags of lollies, I cheered the other Trotters in - everyone did amazingly, but special respect goes to Mon who had just had several months out with a stress fracture but managed to complete all 36K of the Treble mainly on cross training, and on such a hot sunny day too! What a fab weekend it was!!!

Not a bad interlocking bling haul from the weekend :-)