GNW 100 Mile Race

What a weekend! Now that I’ve come down from a huge weekend of bush running and U2 concerts, I’ll add a few comments.

Thanks firstly to Dave Byrnes and the Terrigal Trotters for yet another well-organised GNW100s. I’m sure this event will be a huge challenge for any aspiring ultra runners in the future, it was a tough run over two hot days.
Sandwiching it between two U2 concerts made for a top weekend! J

With regard to the safety of runners, I found the course notes and race information with maps, race booklet, crew info etc second to none. There might still be a bit of ambiguity in sections but for the most part the course instructions are excellent and as the RD stated before the start, not all intersections are listed. It definitely helps to acquaint yourself with the course beforehand. The issue of water drops; taking on this run requires a fair amount of planning and preparation. The weather forecast was for hot conditions, so an extra litre of water was always going to help, again runners entering these type of events should be well prepared. There is a duty of care responsibility for the RD; I believe this was covered more than adequately. Ultimately we do not enter an event of this magnitude fully expecting safety nets, we are responsible for our own safety!

My race went well, deciding to run with mates and stick together turned out to be a blessing given the conditions, having an extra pair of eyes or two always recommended on a course of this nature. Although we lost Tim along the way, Whippet and I stayed together the entire run and helped each other finish under the cut. 35hrs plus on the feet a new experience for me, one I’m sure will help with C2K in a few weeks time. I believe this course is certainly doable by athletes other than runners, ie-rogainers, orienteers, adventure racing athletes with 24hr race experience etc. I looked at it as a long hike and approached it that way, mixing in lots of walking, plenty of food and drink. It was tough on the second day when the sun started beating down on us again but with 3.5 ltrs plus of water each we never ran dry. The unmanned water dumps were perfect and dropping down onto Patonga beach a fitting way to finish this epic run with a wonderful reception awaiting us too.

Well done all who toed the start line, lots of familiar faces and a few new ones too.
Thanks to the volunteers and our crew of TopCat and Chub, excellent job guys.

I’ll post a more detailed report when I find the time.

Oh and how good was our spot at the U2 concert on Monday?