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 :-)