A very long post for a very long run....C2K!!!

When I first heard about the “Coast to Kosciuszko” run from some friends who suggested it to me, I thought it sounded totally crazy……a 240+km nonstop run that goes from sea level (ie the Coast) to the top of the highest mountain in Australia (ie Kosciuszko) that takes up the best part of a weekend….and then some.

The title of the event says it all....

I was gradually talked round into putting in an entry for consideration of a place…..they usually have over 100 applicants and only offer 50 places so all entries have to be vetted with qualifying runs etc. When I didn’t hear anything further about it, I presumed that I hadn’t been successful and so put it out of my mind. As it turned out, the organisers delayed their selection process but had decided not to bother letting potential runners know anything about that, as they expected everyone to follow their Instagram feed or something ((!!!!)).

A month later, friends who are on appropriate social media let me know that I was one of the lucky few that had been selected…..though I still remained far from convinced that it was really a run I wanted (or should) do, considering the discovery of my worsening bone problems. When someone told me that most people would jump at the opportunity and I may never have the chance again….and I learned that one guy walks almost all of the course and still makes the cutoffs (just) I thought I might as well give it a go….though I fully recognised that I wouldn’t be happy with myself if I walked it.

I’m not quite sure where the entry fee goes as there is no support provided en route, and so each runner has to persuade some of their lovely friends to give up a few days of their lives and come along and crew. Having not been in the country for that long, I found it hard to ask people to support me, so was very thankful when I few friends offered totally off their own bat, and eagerly took them up on their offers.

I ended up with a crew of 4 - Michael and Geordie (both of whom I have met through running since arriving here) drove down to the start line at Eden with me on the Thursday, whilst Julian (who has lived here for many years, but I knew through the bridge club in Cambridge way back when) & Jenna (his girlfriend who had just flown in to visit from NZ for the first time since the start of the year……what a romantic reunion….crewing a hot sweaty tired runner!!) came down on the Friday to sub in partway along the road as they both had to work on the Thursday.

My crew with the Kosci beers I gave them (Geordie, Michael, Julian and Jenna)

Unfortunately the evening meal and race briefing for runners and their crew was cancelled and so after a non event of a number pickup, we were left to our own devices for the evening…..which for me consisted of eating pasta, getting my food, drink and mandatory kit sorted for the morning and then turning my phone off before chilling out with Geordie and Michael over a few glasses of wine.

I needn’t have set an early morning alarm as the team staying in the cabin opposite us turned their car headlights on at 4am - and as they were directed right at the head of my bed, there was no danger of me staying asleep - so I had ample time for my coffee and porridge before we drove down to the start on Boydtown Beach at Twofold Bay.

We had to check on the beach prior to 5am and then there were some random photo opportunities and pre-race speeches (naughtily enough, my friend Katy and I used the speech time to have a good catchup). All too soon it was 5:30 and we were setting off. It was funny to see some people try to sprint up the soft sand and onto the trail leading back to the main road…..I set off at a walk but started jogging shortly afterwards. Having crossed the main road, everyone (even the leaders) ceased any pretence of running as we had to scramble up a  slope so steep that hands were needed in places!

On the beach :-)

With Geordie and Michael before setting off

It was lovely to start off by chatting to several different girls that I had never met before…..the joys of a nice slow sociable start knowing how far we had to go! We weren’t allowed to meet our support crews for the first 25k or so, but the race organisers had whittled down the 3 aid stations provided in previous years on this stretch to a single one before we’d even gone 4K. The people I was running near were amazed that I went over to the aid table, but I was all for getting my money’s-worth of jelly snakes even if I didn’t need (or really want) them……and I did manage to consume everything I picked up :-)

Starting on the sand....

The next stretch was a relatively long gradual climb uphill on a dirt road and although I started this section with one guy…..telling him all about the history of who both Kosciuszko and Strzelecki were….my steady uphill pace meant that I was soon running alone, though I did pass a few more guys along the way, so had brief chats. I’m never the best at running down hills, and hadn’t quite expected so many (steep) descents……but because I was chatting away to a fellow Scot (who now lives in Queensland), I realised that I’d run way too fast and my quads would certainly not thank me for it later!!!

I did really enjoy this section of the run as it was still cool in the early morning, and we were running up and down small inclines winding around through beautiful wooded areas with the sun gradually climbing up into the sky…..perfect….so although it was nice to chat to various people, I also enjoyed the peace and tranquility when running along on my own.

I saw Geordie out in the road looking for me as I ran into Towamba, and he asked what I needed and grabbed it from Michael to hand on to me as I passed. He was allowed to run about 50m with me to find out how I was and what I’d like and when….but I was very aware of him not running more than this as the road was flanked by everyone’s support crews as this was the first point that we were all allowed to rendezvous. I was more than slightly jealous of the onlookers and supporters as they were all eating bacon and egg rolls whilst supping on coffees that were for sale at the local village hall…..whereas all I got was my prepared bottles and snacks that I knew I could eat whilst running….not quite so appealing!

I saw the guys a few times after that….and after a few misunderstandings about which bottles I wanted when I asked for a specific one (I had different coloured bottles containing plain water or made up powder) we got pretty slick at Geordie handing me a bottle at the side of the road and then me placing it into Michael’s outstretched hand as he drove the car past me and further up the road (though when they handed me food, they got nothing back in return!!). I remember running past other runner’s crew and they asked me why I had such a big grin on my face……and I replied that it was “all about the cake” as I’d started eating my way through my banana bread by then and waved a piece in the air to show them!!

The loneliness of the long-distance runner

Without really realising it, I’d somehow moved into second place in the ladies’ race and some of my Trotter club mates (there to support other runners) told me that I wasn’t actually that far behind the leading lady. I was shocked at this as I knew her credentials and expected her to be way off in the distance….but then again, we had really only just started!! I was worried that I’d totally overcooked it already as although I felt comfortable, I went through the marathon distance in just over 3.5 hours and I was definitely starting to feel the heat of the day. The boys were great at reacting to this, handing me a change of top when I wanted to change into a lighter vest, and stopping more frequently to give me water, which I started pouring over myself as well as drinking (hence why we had to make sure when I was getting water and when electrolytes!!).

The first “mandatory checkpoint” was at Rocky Hall, which was about 50K into the run. Although described as a mandatory checkpoint, the “checking in” simply consisted of your crew texting the time that you ran through it to the race organisers…..which wasn’t exactly easy given there was no phone signal on a lot of the course. I actually couldn’t see the boys when I came into Rocky Hall and so presumed that they had gone slightly further up the road to wait for me there. I was a tad unimpressed by this as I was hot, hungry and thirsty and very envious when I saw Amy (the leading lady) being handed pieces of watermelon. I waved to another Trotter there supporting a friend of his, and so he then filmed me running past him and sent the footage back to the Trotters on the Central Coast!

I spent the next wee while desperately seeking out the boys’ car and was rather surprised when they drove up behind me. It turned out that they had been at Rocky Hall but had been parked behind someone else (hence me not spotting them) and hadn’t been expecting me that soon so had had their heads buried in the boot of the car sorting things out and missed me running past. When they saw people that had been quite a long way behind me running through, they asked one of them if they’d seen me….and then realised that I must be long gone…..and so chased me up the road!

Definitely starting to heat up.....

It wasn’t far from where they found me to the start of “Big Jack”. This is a climb of almost 7k at an average gradient of 7.7% so with the best will in the world, I wasn’t going to be running up it. The gravel road is very narrow and twists up the hill through trees, so support vehicles were not allowed to stop anywhere…..hence each runner was allowed to be accompanied by one member for their support crew who could “mule” for them. Michael drew the short straw of coming with me (though I think he actually volunteered for the role) whilst Geordie had to drive up in one of the official car convoys (of which I wasn’t a fan as the cars waited haphazardly in the road at the bottom of the hill forcing me to weave around them all!).

I ran tiny segments but mainly walked and used the break to eat some proper food (ie sandwiches and wraps I’d made earlier) and get a decent amount of drink into me. I have never used poles when running (or walking) but I did have some pole envy as Amy and her “mule” powered past me with her using hers very effectively (she seemed to run/walk with ease up the steep incline, whereas my legs were protesting rather loudly!). When another car convoy came past, I got some encouragement from Damon, another Kirribilli Runner I know who was there supporting a good friend of his, but my only response was to tell him how much I was craving a good ice cream (we had been told that the forecast was for 20 degrees and overcast skies, but it got up to 38 degrees and there was hardly a cloud in the sky!!!).

The tarmac resumed at the top of Big Jack

Geordie was going to come down the hill to join us, but he wasn’t allowed to do so, but he was there at the top with some sunscreen for me to try to apply to my neck and arms as I ran past. Michael had to stop at the top of the hill and so I was back on my own again…..literally….as Amy was miles out of sight ahead of me and there was no-one close behind. When I passed Damon’s car he asked if I had been serious about the ice cream as he had some Super Doopers in the car…..I would have fallen down at his knees for one, but luckily that wasn’t necessary (as I doubt that I would have been able to get up again) as he kindly gave one to Geordie to pass onto me….and it was as amazing as I’d thought it would be.

The run into Cathcart wasn’t much fun as it was along the side of a road into a strong headwind, but an added bonus of having slightly closed down a gap on a runner in front was that his support crew donated me the ice cream they’d bought him at the Cathcart shop, but that he’d refused!! I was due to have a crew changeover with Julian and Jenna joining us at Cathcart, but unfortunately I think I got there abut an hour earlier than we’d expected so luckily Geordie and Michael were happy (!) to carry on with me. I was rather glad of this as we’d established a good routine of them giving me water and snacks (with extra water to wet my hat/pour over my head) at regular intervals, and then me handing empties back into their outstretched hands as they drove past shortly afterwards. 

I really needed that support at this point in time, as I wasn’t exactly in my “happy place” If anyone had been near me, they might have be subjected to hearing rather a few swearwords coming out of my mouth as my head was telling me that I f***ing hated running, I hated the sun, I hated the heat, I hated the flies….and so on. I felt like I was running through a scene from something like “Little House on the Prairie” as I could see no evidence of civilisation……just an endless winding dirt road through hot sunny grassland under a hot clear blue sky, only broken up by the odd cattle grid to negotiate. The guys were meeting me more often than we’d originally thought (due to the heat and sun) but it still felt like ages between the times when I saw them. One of the race medics drove past me and commented that I must have had about half a kilo of flies hitching a lift on my hat, and I replied that the other half kilo seemed to be between my glasses and my eyes as they were everywhere and were not even slightly concerned by me flapping and swatting at them!

Crew swopover time :-) 

My crew swopover happened at the second main road crossing of the day. At the first one a marshal made me run a gratuitous extra couple of feet round a cone before I could cross the road, and at this one the marshal wasn’t quite sure what he was meant to be doing, so he made me stop and stand still whilst he walked out into the road to check that there was noting coming in either direction, before I could cross. Michael and Geordie explained to Julian and Jenna how they’d been “handling” me before driving off for a well-earned break (and cold beers in the pub at Dalgety…….I was sooooo jealous!). That section of the route was probably the most scary as it involved running down the side of a highway with no footpath/verge as trucks lumbered past…no wonder a few people dropped out there! After a couple of false starts, Julian and Jenna also established a nice routine with Julian standing at the side of the road offering me a bag of goodies and then Jenna catching my rejects when she picked him back up and drove past.

A long hot lonely road

The two of them got me through what seemed like a very long section of dusty gravel roads, cattle grids, climbs and descents and endless plains (well, I guess there’s a reason they call that region the “High Plains”), but at least it meant that I had passed the 100K point and then the halfway mark. Soon after that I also passed Amy and moved into the lead in the “ladies’ race”. It felt as if her crew had been timing the gap between us as when she was ahead of me, they would wait for me to come into sight before driving off to catch her up, and when I was ahead of her they would drive up to where I was before waiting for her. Maybe I imagined it, but it didn’t bother me, as I just wanted to get to the finish myself and knew that whatever anyone else did was up to them, be they ahead or behind me…..you can only run your own race!

Passing Amy

It was actually lovely to run as evening descended as the temperature cooled and the sun sank lower and lower in the sky. I was starting to wonder how far I’d get before needing to put on my high-viz top and head torch……as initially I thought that I was just about at Dalgety, but the road was misleading as although I thought I was on the run down towards the hall (and pub!!!) I still had another hill to climb first. Michael and Geordie drove past just before dark to see where I was…..they must have recognised my running style as my head was hidden from view as I tried to wrestle myself into a warmer top and high viz vest without having to stop running. 

Running off into the sunset

At precisely 8:30pm (as per the rules…..as we did check with a race volunteer that was fortuitously driving past just then…..and who did promise me that she would ask them to supply me with G&Ts at Dalgety village hall) Geordie was booted out of the car to start running with me, as from that point onwards I was allowed 1 “running companion” and so the guys had agreed to alternate between themselves through the night, whilst Jenna drove ahead and got some sleep so she could be fresh for the morning driving stint.

As you enter Dalgety there are signposts pointing both right and left, both indicating a road to Jindabyne. I was so glad to be turning left as this was the shorter route, but this was mitigated via the fact it meant I had to ascend the Beloka Range of hills. That was still a long way away and so I put it out of my mind and thankfully ran into Dalgety Hall. I was the first person to enter after dark and so my head torch surprised the crews sitting there, and me being female also caught them by surprise, as when I asked where the toilets were, I was directed to the men’s. Having found the ladies, it was hard to make myself stand up again after sitting down, but the reward for doing so was that I got to wash my face in the sinks there. Unfortunately there were no G&Ts to be had (ha….false promises!!) and I was still too hot to want the pumpkin soup on offer (I usually love pumpkin soup), but the crusty bread and proper butter was like manna from heaven and so Geordie stocked up on several more rolls and butter to take on the road for me.

It seemed very dark when we left Dalgety but the temperature was much more pleasant. Geordie kept feeding me the crusty rolls as we pooled along the road which was very much appreciated. We had been gradually climbing (with some undulations) since Dalgety. But then Michael had the job of coming up the Bloke Range with me. We kept thinking that we’d started the steep climb, only to run downhill for another short stretch before the road kicked up again. Once we started the actual 5K “climb”, we certainly knew about it as the average elevation rise was 6.4% to a high point of 1171m. Support cars were not allowed to stop on this climb either, but I wasn’t entirely sure as to why, as the road was tarred and much wider then Big Jack and there was even a parking bay partway up!

We had another funny incident further along the road towards Jindabyne as I was relying on my crew to tell me about any junctions coming up. Geordie was back with me on the road and as he is not known for his navigation skills, he asked the car to stay near us at junctions rather than just motor ahead to Jindabyne. They informed us from the car that we had a roundabout coming up at which we must turn right into Jindy, but then suddenly Jono (who was driving Amy’s support camper van) pulled up alongside us and told us that we should go straight on across the roundabout. We thought he was playing with us, jokingly sending me the wrong way so that Amy could move back into the lead, but when I did try turning right at said roundabout, it turned out that Jono had been right as the right turn took me down a private road into an accommodation complex (and the right turn was at a T-junction 500m behind the roundabout)!!

I had thought that when the guys said I just had to turn right to run down into Jindabyne, that I was almost there….but no, there was more than 5K to go to reach the built-up area, and it started with yet another uphill stretch. There was nowhere to run except in the road but luckily it was well after midnight and so there was no traffic……I would say that there were no cars on the roads at all, but unfortunately the one that we did see, didn’t like us much, and decided to speed up and head straight towards us (despite our head torches and reflective high viz clothing) meaning that we had to jump off the road and into the long grass to avoid being mown down!!! Nice……but it certainly woke me up!

My crew enjoying the night!

Surprisingly, for a run where you have to provide your own vehicle support, the route into Jindabyne was one that the car could not follow me on. It was described as a 1km run along a bike path beside the lake, which sounded pleasant enough….but as it turned out, it was several kms of undulating bike path complete with turns and speed bumps, which weren’t that easy to see by the light of a little head torch (bought the week beforehand from ALDI!). Even more bizarre was the fact that the bike path ended in the middle of a caravan park with no obvious marking or signposts so I had to wind my way round caravans in the dark trying to work out how to get back to the main road to meet my crew at the next mandatory check-in point.

I had hoped to be leaving Jindabyne just before dawn as I was told that it was a magical scene to see the sun rising over the lake as you looked back on the road behind you, but unfortunately (!) as was way ahead of this schedule as I passed through  and on down to the Thredbo River at about 1:30am. It was a long slog up from the river into the National Park, and I swear that if I closed my eyes, I could fall asleep whilst still walking, but Julian now took his turn walking and running with me, so there was new chat to keep me awake. I was quite cold at this point in time, so had put a down jacket on and was wearing a beanie and gloves…..not usual Australian running attire I know, but at least the cold meant I kept moving…..and it was rather encouraging to still overtake the odd person along the way.

As I had gone through Jindabyne a lot earlier than planned, Jenna was still sleeping so we thought it kinder to let her get more rest and so the 3 guys swopped in and out of the car depending on when they wanted some fresh air and exercise, and when they were bored of my whinging and wanted some rest (so much rest that I actually had to knock on the car window and wake them up at one point!). Running through dawn gave me a lift, as did ticking off the various ski resorts as I progressed up the valley, starting with the wonderfully names “Smiggins Holes”.

Jenna drove by and stopped to see me into Perisher which was another mandatory check-in point for the race. I would say that passing through Perisher is rather a non-event out of ski season, as everything is closed and boarded up…..and the only living beings seemed to be my crew standing by the car. What made it stand out in my memory was that we finally had phone signal and so Geordie got a group call from the Trotter girls who were on their Saturday morning run. It was lovely to hear them all and draw support from them, as I’d felt that I was rather “over” running by then. I was having such a good chat to them that Geordie had to actually get me off the phone and make me continue on my way. 

From there is was just under 10K up to Charlotte’s Pass and the guys were really good about keeping me moving on up the road, as when we hit steeper sections and I slowed to a walk, we’d set mini targets of a landmark where I would stop and walk, and anther one of where I’d start running again. The guys had told me that I was well under course record time, but that as the weather had been closing in, they’d heard talk of the course being shortened to the “inclement weather” version, which means that we would have been stopped at Charlotte’s Pass (at about 1800m and 222K into the “run”). As much as I wanted to be at the finish, I really didn’t want the course to be shortened as that would mean that I had no chance of setting a record. 

It was getting colder and windier all the time, but although I had tights and capris with me, I did not want to change out of my shorts, as I knew that if I sat down and took my shoes off to change, then I would be very unlikely to get up again, and certainly not put my shoes on again! Instead I “rugged up” my top half with a jacket, buff and gloves and the car went ahead to get our “mandatory summit kit” checked by the race crew at Charlotte’s Pass. Luckily for me, you were allowed to have as many of your crew as wanted to come with you on the final 18K, and they were allowed to carry my mandatory kit as well as theirs. I thought that there would be a medical check before I started this final push, but after a brief hello etc, I was waved onto the trail.

Slogging up Kosci

The trail is initially suitable for mountain bikes as it undulated along the hillside and so I was able to keep running, and my crew had to chase me down. As we then descended to cross the Snowy River we cheered on the leading man and his team coming back up from it towards the finish (the last 18K was an out and back section). After that it was a much steeper climb up towards the “summit ridge”……when I say ridge, it’s not exactly what Europeans would call a ridge, but it was steep enough for my tired legs to be glad of a walk rather than a run. Charlotte’s Pass to the summit and back is a popular day walk and so there were markers for me to count off every km, and we passed several other people out enjoying the bracing air (wearing rather more clothes than my little shorts!!). The second man was pushing hard as he and his team descended but I didn’t think he had any chance of making up the gap to the leader (and, in fact, his time from Perisher to the Finish was only 7 seconds quicker than mine despite the speed of his descent).

The path seemed to wind round and round (but always into a strong headwind) and never actually get to the summit, but we finally made it….and my crew asked some other tourists if they would mind waiting for their photo opportunities whilst they took a picture of me by the Strelecki Monument at 2228m elevation (they then sent it to race HQ as a check-in time). I decided that there was no way I would be doing much running in that final 9k back to Charlotte’s Pass as the ground was rather rough, I was so tired that I felt like I could hardly pick my feet up, and my eyes were playing up due to the wind, the cold, tiredness and the length of time I’d had my lenses in, that I was finding it quite hard to see clearly. 

The Strelecki Monument

I surprised myself by being able to run more of the descent than I’d thought I could, albeit at a snail’s pace, but by the time I got back to the mountain bike path, I was so cold that I told Geordie and Julian that I needed to run properly to warm up (Michael had gone ahead to warn Jenna of our imminent arrival and take a finisher’s photo for me). In the end I put rather a lot of distance into them over the last couple of kms that I had time to finish, chat to a few people, find the toilets and still get back to see them across the line (supporting them as they’d supported me!).

The Finish!!

The finish was also a total anti-climax as although everyone had a tape to cross, that was about it…no fanfare, no finisher’s medal, no food or drink and no shelter. I would have liked to stay around and support other runners, but it was just cold and I wanted to get us all some coffee etc (and it turns out that the nearest place to get a simple cup of coffee was almost 50K back down the road in Jindabyne……I have no idea why the organisers didn’t arrange something like a simple coffee cart at the finish as they’d have done a roaring trade…..or even just an urn of hot water!!). 

Showing how underdressed I was compared

to everyone else at Charlotte's Pass!!!

It seemed like a lifetime ago that I’d been on the beach in Eden telling people the history of who Kosciuszko and Strelecki were, wondering whether I’d actually make it all the way there and how many days of my life I’d lose doing so, so it didn’t really sink in that I’d finished 3rd overall in one of the top 20 times for the event, taking an hour and 45minutes off the ladies’ record….but what I did realise was that no matter how good or bad the organisation of a race is, what makes it, is your friends ad how selflessly and tirelessly they support you…..I didn’t do the race, WE did it and I can’t thank them all enough!!!

With my crew the morning after by Lake Jindy

The alumni of C2K 2020

Shoalhaven Summit

I had been thinking about running the new Shoalhaven Summit 55K race as it was one of the ones suggested suggested when the 6 Foot Track was cancelled way back in March, but unfortunately it was also delayed a couple of times due to Covid-19 restrictions. Unfortunately the final date that they moved it to was just a week before another big run I had entered, so I didn't think it would be a sensible thing to do in any way!

However, I did still get to experience the event, as my friend Simone decided to enter it, and so I offered to go down and support her for the weekend. We were going to head down on Friday as soon as I finished work as the race started fairly early on the Saturday morning, but at least that meant we would be able to get back home on the Saturday night. Another friend of Simone's (Julie) also decided to join us so it became a nice girls'' trip away, as we stopped for dinner and a drink en route.

Outside help was not allowed during the race, so I offered to volunteer for the organisers whilst the girls were running, as there were shorter distance events starting a bit later on so they needed people to help with car parking and registration as well as being able to drive people out to swop volunteers at aid stations. I had a brief thought of running the shortest distance on offer (13K) whilst there, but it was due to start at 1:30pm and I thought that the girls might be finishing around 2pm so I didn't want to risk missing them coming in, and hence dismissed it.

With Julie and Simone
before they headed off

The forecast for the weekend looked rather horrendous as there was a heatwave coming through the area, but the decision was made that the event would still go ahead, but that start times would come forward. This meant a 4am alarm for us, as Simone and Julie were now running at 6am instead of 7, and I was volunteering on registration from 5am....the coffee van in the field was a godsend (when he finally got set up!!!). I waved them off and then carried on dishing out starter packs and hoodies to those taking part in the 40K, the 23K and the 3K races who were all due to go if within half an hour of each other. As the girls weren't going to be back for ages - and there was no further volunteering to do at that point, I decided to run the 13K after all - as it was now starting at 7:30am rather than 1:30pm.

I didn't want to tire myself out or end up completely dehydrated and so "racing" was not the order of the day, but as soon as I started I realised that there was no danger of that! It was sooooo hot, and soooo humid....and we started straight up a rather steep hill, which seemed to go on and on. I took it nice and steady and managed to keep "running" of sorts all the way to the top, passing a couple of people but watching others move away ahead of me. Once I finally reached the "crest" there was a lovely view down the other side, and as I knew that enforced "braking" would be worse for my quads, I just let myself go down the hill. There was a water stop at the bottom, but I didn't think I really needed to use it as I'd only gone a few KMs, but I regretted that later. 

The race leaders were far out of sight, but I had overtaken a youngish looking lass (Paige, aged 20) and another young lad on the descent. It got slightly confusing after that as we started to catch up with the tailenders on the 23K race who had set off 30minutes ahead of us. There was another steep descent down to a creek but we'd been warned that the ford was rather slippery due to moss and that the stepping stones were safer, so a funny change of stride was involved in getting to the far side, especially as I was now stuck behind one of the aforementioned tailenders. The climb back up from the creek was my first walk of the run, but as the gradient lessened, I did then manage to run all the way to the 13K turnaround point.

Simone's car was feeling the heat!

For some reason the way back seemed an awful lot harder....but maybe that was because I was hotter and more dehydrated by then.....but I found it much harder to keep running. I reminded myself that I had nothing to prove and so "allowed myself" (not that I could have done much else) lots of walking breaks. I found myself doing a dance on the stepping stones with a runner coming the other way - backwards and forward trying to work out who who step off first - and then did detour via the aid station to take on water before starting the climb back up and over again. 

I decided that I would walk up most of the hill, with the occasional short running break when it was less steep, so Paige soon flew back past me and disappeared out of sight as she powered up it. The young lad I mentioned earlier was an interesting study in odd run tactics as he seemed to run past me up the inclines yet walk the flats and so I'd overtake him again - though again he disappeared off ahead of me as that last hill climb was over a kilometre long. By the time I reached the top there was no-one in sight either in front or behind, and so you would think that the logical thing for me to do would have been to just meander down it gently. My brain had other ideas, as I just wanted it over and done with, and to get top the finish as soon as possible, and so I powered down it (randomly taking a Strava crown in the process) even though my legs felt like they'd buckle at any minute.

2nd lady and 1st in age group :-)

At the bottom of the hill, I came across the young lad again - his tactics had unfortunately gotten the better of him in the heat of the day, as he was having to be helped to the finish field, which was so close....just a few hundred metres down a rough single path into the field (I reckoned that would catch a few people out in the longer events...trying to pick up your feet on such a rough surface when you were knackered). I felt so sorry for him, but he was definitely the worse for wear.

As for my own run, I'd closed up a lot on Paige down the hill but she needn't have worried about me catching her as there was still a good 30seconds in it......but I was still so hot and bothered at the end that I needed lots of cold water and coke before I could even think about the scones that were on offer! Unfortunately Simone had also suffered in the heat and pulled out after 20K, but Julie ran/walked the whole distance, and so I did several more hours of volunteer duties as we waited for her return.

Presenting Julie with her
finishers' medal!

All in all it was a fun girlie trip away, but I;m not sure that any of us did ourselves any favours by running in those conditions.....and my quads were sore for days from that long hard descent....but all self-inflicted so I ask for no sympathy!

NSW Club Champs - argh!!!!

I am not sure if I have a reputation for not wanting to let people down, for being a glutton for punishment, or just for being an idiot....but whatever it is, when someone pulled out of the NSW Club Championships last minute (ie less than 2 days pre-event), guess who was asked to step in??!!!

It's not as if I had nothing on that day, but as usual, I ended up agreeing as I didn't want there to be an incomplete team at the event...and I had secretly hoped that they would let me compete in the Masters' Race rather than the Open one. Although I have now run three track races (a 5000m, an hour event and the 24 hour event), this one was even more out of my comfort zone as it was the 1500m race (which is a shorter distance than I would usually run as a warm-up!!). As I was only entered in the Saturday race on the Thursday night I didn't really have too much time to dwell on it - and although I was assured that it "didn't matter how I did as long as I had fun and enjoyed it", I can't help the fact that I get nervous before any timed run, even a parkrun!

As it was, my Saturday was rather busy - starting with a Trotters Saturday morning run, then coffee with the girls before going back to Marg's house for a shower and brunch (it was nice to catchup after her 3000m run on the Tuesday night). After that I had to go back to Terrigal for a GP education day of lectures about diabetes and asthma/COPD, both of which I felt I needed to know more about as they are chronic disease with nurse-led management in the UK, but here in Australia everything is GP-led so an update in my knowledge was definitely overdue! The morning lectures ran over by a long way...partly due to long presentations, and partly due to people asking questions which had effectively already been answered, but they'd lost concentration due to hunger or something. This meant that lunch was late and I was overhungry and so went back for thirds before being chased back into the lecture hall. I came to regret this later when on the train (well 3 trains actually) down to Sydney as I felt rather nauseated and unwell ......though with hindsight, I think it was probably more due to nerves than overeating :-) 

If you're going to run on a track, make sure it's a good one!

I wasn't going to be allowed to run with the Masters but had to take part in the Open race....with girls young enough to be my daughters! There were 18 entrants so we were all going off together no matter what our predicted times were, and I was so worried that I was either going to fall flat on my face or be lapped. If you're going to make a daft track debut, then it's worth doing it somewhere memorable....so despite my secret hopes or transport disruption, I managed to make all the right connections and found myself outside Sydney's Olympic Park station looking for the track. I made it (the loudspeaker in the stadium did help to guide me there), sourced a club vest (Go Mingara!!), attached numbers front and back and went off for a warm up jog outside with my friend Simone (another distance runner out of her comfort zone - as she had competed in the Masters' 100m race earlier). Then I headed round to the registration area and watched longingly as the Masters men and women set off for their 1500m event.

Go Mingara!

I felt like I was surrounded by university students in crop tops and running knickers, wearing spikes and doing strange warm ups, drills and run-throughs....and must have looked so out of place in my vest, shorts and trainers! In order to stop myself stressing any more than was absolutely necessary I left them all to their weird leg swings and jogged round the outside of the track, making it back just in time to be handed my race numbers. This showed my track naivety even more, as I had thought that wearing a number on my front and back would have been enough, but we also had to attach further numbers to each hip (just quietly, the 16 safety pins we were each now wearing might have doubled the weight of some of the other girls :-) )!

Chasing young girls in crop tops!!

All too soon, we had to line up (luckily, as number 14, I was near to the outside of the track so knew I wouldn't get trampled) and were off. Thankfully my knees didn't completely seize up, but I was still plum last by the time we got to the 50m mark, as there is no way I could keep up with the blistering pace everyone else set off at, even for a few metres. I like to "ease into it", ie I'm a slow starter, but by the time we'd reached the 100m I had caught back up and even slipped by one or two runners. From then on in, it was a case of keeping going as fast as I could (admittedly not that fast) and trying to reel in a few other ladies that had started too fast and couldn't maintain their pace (or so I hoped). I admit that I cannot remember much of the race itself, so there was no longer any time for thoughts of nervousness. As the race was 3.75 laps, the clock at the finish line meant nothing to me whenever I passed it, but I could hear the commentator giving lap splits for the leading pack and it sounded like an amazing pace. I was vaguely aware of the Mingara ladies who'd run in the Masters race cheering me on when I passed them but I tried to simply focus on the runners in front of me. This tactic seemed to work as I passed a couple of ladies on every lap, and although I'm sure the leading ladies were approaching the finish line whilst I still had a good 200m to run, it was as if we weren't really in the same event!

Chasing down the home straight...

I dug in round the final bend and tried to push away from the corner and go for the line. I would say that I'd finally warmed up by then and was into my stride, but I think that the reality is just that I faded less than others, as although I closed down a big gap in the home straight and pipped a girl by 0.2s on the line, I was practically falling over myself as I couldn't move my feet as fast as I wanted to, so I really thought I was going to end up nose diving onto the track....the aim was just to get to the line before it happened!

Caught her...on the line!!

I ended up finishing in 9th place in a time of 5:00.7 which is much faster than I thought I'd do, considering my poor preparation, and the uni girl that finished one position ahead of me almost made my day by saying to me "You're really 35? WOW!" - I didn't have the heart to say that I was almost 10 years older than that! I was even less worried about having finished half way down the field when our "team manager" described my finishing position as having "2xWorld Championship representatives ahead of her, 1xJunior World Championship X-Country representative, with the other 5 a minimum of 20years younger"! Not bad for an old distance runner!!

With Simone post-relay!

My next event wasn't quite as dramatic as it was more of a comedy show. One of the ladies in the Masters' 4x100m relay team wasn't feeling well, so before cooling down, I subbed into her place. Another first for me - a track relay race, never mind a track 100m run, albeit on a bend! I was on leg 3 and was told that our leg 2 runner was a sprinter so I was rather stressed about the speed that she might be coming into the box to hand over to me (Simone had given me some brief coaching about which side of the lane I should be on and which hand to hold out for the baton). I thought I'd judged it well enough, giving myself longer to get up to pace than the girls in the neighbouring lanes as they were "proper" relay runners, but just as I got going my Leg 2 runner shouted at me to stop running. Her ankle felt like it was seizing up and she couldn't pick up the pace for the last few metres. It became a "ministry of silly handovers" but at least I didn't do the British 100m relay error of dropping the baton. I then had to try to pick up some pace and get round the corner to hand on to Simone  - and although she powered away down the home straight, we weren't exactly going to make the podium! Still, it was a fun evening and great to experience it with a good friend and even make some new ones along the way! A great novel experience but I really do think that I should stick to distance running in the future though!!

Some of the Mingara "girls" :-) 

Pacing a Champ!

 Unlike many "senior" runners I don't come from a track background, but when my friend Marg (Margaret) asked me to pace her for her attempt at the NSW >70s 3000m record, how could I say "No"? As Marg said, not wanting to take anything away from the lady that held the previous record, it was a relatively easy target for her to aim for, as it stood at over 24 minutes, and she was hoping to run about 16:30.  My big fear was getting the pace wrong and so being more of a hindrance than a help - mainly because everybody in Australia runs in kilometres (and so their pace is mins/k) whereas I'm still a miles girl! Luckily for Marg, I did manage to alter my watch at lunchtime so that it recorded and showed me kms so by the time I drove up to the track after work, we were all good to go. The weather was perfect as it was cooling off and there was a gentle breeze, but nothing much, and still some nice dappled sunlight

With Marg

She didn't want to do too much of a warm-up so we jogged a few laps and made sure that everything was set up with the time-keepers and officials. Marg had already checked with the governing body that a pacemaker was allowed, and I agreed with the race official that once people started to lap us, I would duck behind (or move out of the way) to avoid others having to run round both of us. I rechecked Marg's desired pace (and hence what lap splits to listen out fo)r and we took our place at the back of the field. A short briefing, some good luck wishes, a recap of race rules and we were off - with the speedsters streaking away from us, which was actually quite nice so that we could settle into our desired pace, though our start position did mean we had to run an extra couple of metres so I was glad that she wasn't trying to break the record by just a couple of seconds!!

Concentrating on my pacing duties

When I say "settle", I think the adrenaline had gotten to Marg as she took off like a bat out of hell and we were belting along way faster than planned. It was all I could do to drag her back to slightly faster than her anticipated pace over that first lap (I'm sure she got sick of me telling her to slow down and hold back though I did secretly hope we could settle at under the 5:30s she'd originally suggested as I thought she definitely had it in her to hold it there). From there on in it was a dream running with her, though I don't think that I've ever looked at my watch so much in a race. I did have to keep my wits about me as I was constantly checking both our pace, counting laps and looking out for other runners. I would try to ensure we were going the right speed before I ducked behind when runners came past and then got us back onto it when I came back alongside Marg. Later on, I actually found it easier to move really wide and let runners come between us, as then I could keep up the motivation/forward momentum.

Definitely the most I've looked at my watch during a run!

We went through the first km quicker than planned, but even allowing for some slight fade, I was hopeful that she would break the 16 minute barrier. I counted down the laps for her and took note of the km splits. We were still going at a decent pace when side by side though it tended to drop when I ducked behind, hence my choice to move wide and keep in sight later on. Whilst jogging earlier, we had joked about the 800m race on the track being a warm up distance for us, so with 2 laps to go, I reminded her Marg that we just had a warmup to go!! The penultimate lap is like the penultimate rep of a session - ie the time when you really need to focus in and stick with it as the last one always happens more easily due to the end being in sight. I was constantly coaching/nagging on that lap - postural things such as keeping relaxed with the shoulders down, working the arms etc - and also sticking with constant pace checks.....luckily Marg was giving it her all so couldn't spare the energy to tell me to shut up!!!

The champ!!! xx

A couple of other girls ran just ahead of us on our final lap as part of their cool down, but Marg remained cool, calm and collected down the back straight. We started to think about the finish and that sub-16 time around the final bend and then she powered away from the corner focusing on the finish line picking up the pace with every stride. I ran wide to ensure that her husband could film her crossing the line and to make sure that I stopped my watch at the exact moment she finished, just in case there was a timing fail. Luckily my watch and the clock agreed.....it was a brilliant new record of 15:51...she absolutely smashed it, and so I can't wait to go out this weekend and help her celebrate as it was an honour to witness her run firsthand

I'll pace again if I can earn more home-made banana bread

Double Trouble :-)

Terrigal Trotters and Mingara Athletics were due to be cohosting an evening of track racing which was actually 2 events in 1, both of which were Central Coast Championship Events - a 10,000m race and the hour championships. I wanted to take part, if only to support the clubs and the event, especially "in the time of Covid", but I really couldn't decide which to aim for. My friends were telling me to go for the record in whichever event I chose but in my usual underconfident way, I was not convinced that I could do it.

The overall 10,000m record for ladies dated back to 1991 and was 38:26 but the LV40 time was 40:38, whilst the one hour ladies record (set in 2010) was 14.296 km. I know that in mass participation track race, finish times are generally slower than in a road event because, although they are almost completely flat, you do end up running a lot further than the "official" distance as you have to pass so many people so many times (and I always seem to be doing my passing on corners as I'm not experienced enough on a track to judge this properly), so although I was pretty hopeful that I was running well enough to set a new LV40 10,000m record, I didn't think I'd manage the overall time (my time in the last club 10K TT 10 days previously was 38:38). In the end I decided to run the 10,000m but keep going afterwards as a cool down and set what distance I managed to record in the hour.

On race day, my friend Skye came and picked me up after work as I still had no car of my own....and I really did not feel up for any run at all. I thought it was just due to a headache from a long day at work, and some nausea from overeating cakes, but it probably a lot down to nerves - as I know I put pressure myself whenever I race, and I did feel that I was going to let the girls down (as they all wanted me to go for a new Central Coast record). So much for a quiet run under the radar - they had the biggest turnout they'd ever had at the event....by miles!!! Not only were there the two events previously mentioned, but there was also the opportunity to enter the 10,000m as a 2-person relay team (it was up to the team members who ran what distance and how often they swopped, so some did 400m, some 800m and some family combos did random distances) or as a race walker. There seemed to be a few fast-looking younger ladies (in crop tops and racing knickers) around so that just added to my unease.

Those of us that wished to have a distance recorded for the hour were called over so that they could explain to us how to drop our sandbags at the end, and then everyone taking part was introduced to "their" lapcounter, though we were also wearing chips as we had to cross a timing mat at the start/finish of every lap. We were told that we would be set off in small waves but it actually appeared that we would all go together, though with the faster guys at the front. In the end, the start was delayed by about 45 minutes as the set up of the timing mats and screens happened a lot later than planned, but finally we were corralled behind the start line. I started next to some of the girls who were running first in their relay team, and near another couple of guys who had planned on running sub 40 minutes.

And they're off....

Unsurprisingly, most of the field (and certainly all of those around me) set off at a faster than me, but after 100m or so, I settled into my stride. It was an "interesting" race to run, as I think that I run at a fairly steady pace - nothing dramatic but I don't set off fast and fade as others do. For me, this means that I have to really work on my head game, as it's very easy to start to stress and panic when it appears that everyone is running away from you and stretching out the gaps. Surprisingly enough, once I got into the run, it didn't feel too bad at all and I started to catch people up and ease my way past them. I'm not so good at race tactics, as I am aware that the best plan is to pass people in the straights to avoid running wide round the corners, but I find that I just tend to go at one pace, and so pass people whenever I catch up to them, and hence probably run way further than in an ideal world! 

It was very odd to be in the same event as race walkers as they needed a much wider berth due to their arm/elbow action, especially when they were two abreast, but it was nice to see so many people of all ages getting out there and competing in whatever discipline they chose to do.  It did make for a very crowded track and it caused some confusion with counting laps and people getting "the bell" for their last lap at different times. Each lap counter was officially looking after a maximum of 3 athletes as this was considered to be a manageable number on a well-lit track, but unfortunately my lap counter (although lovely) was also wanting to follow her husband's run and so would go over and chat to his lap counter to see how he was getting on. This meant that I had to keep track of my own number of laps and actually tell her how many I'd done at one point as she asked me when I ran past!!!

I felt that I was running a fairly even pace and passing more and more people as the race went on, though I admit that although I was managing to keep track of my own laps, I kind of lost the ability to compute where other people were in the race and what lap they were all on. I knew that a couple of guys were on the same lap as me and so focussed on reeling them in, but I was aware that I'd lapped some others several times. The relay runners rather added to the confusion as you'd sometimes pass one member of a team and then the next time it might be their partner or them again, as they could run any distance they wanted before swopping over. I knew that my friends Simone and Monika were on the same lap but slightly ahead of me as Simone had started much faster than I had done, but they were always in sight. However, I had lapped Skye and her team mate, but I wasn't sure how many times.

With Simone and Monika after
they set the relay record!

I glanced at my watch as well as the race clock when I knew that I only had 1 more lap to run for the 10,000m and realised that unless something dramatic happened on that lap, then I was on for a good time and would be well under the overall record for the event - and so shouted at my lap timer that it was my last lap. I knew there was confusion around the number of laps as she'd not been following me that closely so I made sure to take note of the guys I passed on those final couple of laps and figured that the chip timing would sort it all out, as you cannot go off  a watch as easily as we would all have run way more than 10,000m with all the overtaking.  It was rather strange to be "going for the line" but know that you're not really going full out for it as you're going to carry on running. I couldn't help picking up the pace slightly as I looked at the clock and realised that I was going to duck under the 37 minute mark, which I haven't done for several years and then ease back a bit over the line, but me carrying on running did make people think that I hadn't yet finished that event. Although I was moving a bit slower than before, I was still passing both runners and walkers and so (unsurprisingly) people thought that I was still going for a 10,000m time and cheered me down the home straight again....and were surprised that I still didn't stop. 

The problem with having run the 10,000m faster than I'd thought I would, was that I then had longer to keep going to get to the hour mark but actually the time seemed to pass much quicker than I thought it would, as the track became emptier and emptier as more and more people achieved their 10,000m distance (though unfortunately a lot fell short by multiples of 400m due to some dodgy lap counting). We had been briefed before the race that we would need to pick up a bag of gravel as we neared the hour mark so that we could drop it where we finished when the time ran out, but they kept trying to hand me mine from about 50 minutes onwards. I knew that my laps were taking under 2 minutes, so I kept waving my bag aside as I wasn't keen to run with it in my hand for longer than I had to, but eventually I gave in to the pressure to take it and so carried it for the last few laps. I wasn't 100% sure of the record distance in my head but was pretty confident that I had passed it with time to spare, but kept going as if you're going to set a new record, then you might as well set one that's as good as you can do at the time rather than just stop as soon as you've done it (I did find it slightly odd that people expected me to do this!).

2 Events = 2 Trophies :-) 

Everybody was so lovely at cheering me on, both runners who'd finished and lap counters who'd finished lap counting. In the end I was just hanging out for the final whistle and kept thinking that I must have missed it when over at the far side of the track. Simone ran towards me on the infield and she kept me honest as I knew then to keep going to the bitter end - but I was so glad to stop, drop the bag, catch my breath and then do a nice cool down lap with the girls. As it turned out, those final few metres were sooooo important as it meant that I actually just pipped the distance of one of my new clubmates from when he took out the male win in the previous year (the male winner this year also set a new record!)....I could say "if only I'd known how close it was I'd have tried to push on more" but then again I could have pushed a bit earlier and  totally blown up, so was just happy with the race as it was. Not a bad way to spend an evening - running with friends....especially as we all got cake afterwards (to celebrate a 70th birthday...and I got double the amount as I'd done 2 races.....magic!!!) before Skye and I debriefed (ie gossiped) all the way home!