Great North Walk 100 - 2013

Great North Walk 100 miler - 2013

This year’s race was always going to be an extra challenge for me given the crappy year I’ve had.
A chronic groin injury that would not let go until I found the right physio and a much unexpected pulmonary embolism in July pretty much wiped out any decent training for the first 8 months of the year. An eight day stay in hospital on anti-coagulant medication for the PE and my lungs started to clear up. I then took up a Pilates program to address some core weakness and together with a fair amount of bike riding and physio gradually got back out on the trails. Flash forward 4 months and I was on the start line at Teralba for my 8th attempt at the miler.
I love this race and as I lay in that hospital bed four months prior I really doubted I was going to make it this year. The race has fallen on my birthday most years and this year I would spend the second day of running welcoming in my 46th year on this planet. I had no real time goals and was certainly not going to touch my time of 25.02 from last year. This was about finishing but hopefully with a silver medal at the end (sub 30hrs)

 Start – CP1

The race started under cloudy muggy skies with the promise of rain at some stage. Indeed we were lucky it went ahead at all with a total fire ban declared for the area on the day. However race RD Dave together with the RFS assured us the threat of fires was further north of the course.

It was good to get going and after an amble along the road section we finally hit the dirt at Wakefield trackhead. I was mixing it up with repeat offenders Geoff and Nikolay along with Darren, taking it relatively easy on the climb up the Sugarloaf. There were plenty of uber zealous newbies flying off in the distance, many of whom would rue the decision. I had 2 ltrs of water on board figuring that would be sufficient for 4hrs to CP1, with Perpetuem in a 600m bottle providing liquid energy. Grant came flying by as we descended toward the road crossing at Heaton Gap, mentioning something about a rich pace. A few runners decided to stop at the petrol station to replenish their water supplies. I paused contemplating it but forged on instead. After the initial single-track climb to the fire trail with Nikolay, I got the trekking poles out and started what would be a tap tap tap up the climbs all day. Sweating profusely it was getting warmer and muggier by the second. It was one of those mornings when you knew we were in for a stinker.

I struggled through the rainforest section mentioning to Nikolay that I was working way harder than I should be. Patience was the key, just get through this difficult section and re-group at the CP. Nikolay and others started passing me as I purposely reined it in. I reached the CP in 3.54 feeling pretty shagged to be honest. Still it was done. Susannah was there and immediately sprung into action like a pro filling my bottles and offering food. I came into the race without crew and no pacer and as such was prepared for slower transition times. However with the help of old friends I was taken care of at each CP. Fully loaded and with the headspace reset I was on my way again.

CP1-CP2

It was really starting to warm up now and I was frequently switching between sips of Perpetuem and water every 10 mins or so in an effort to stay hydrated and energised. I was alone mostly for this leg with the occasional runner coming back to me, eventually reaching the wonderful descent to the valley floor with 3 runners ahead. As I crossed the stile to the road Jane greeted me with her ever present smile and some encouragement..nice. The next 6kms to the school were a jog/walk with a strong warm headwind at times. As I passed the Glenagra turn off I saw Kathy Mac already setting off for the tower, wow she was going strong, but would I see her later? Geoff and then Nikolay appeared as I approached the school and a welcome stop. I was weighed and was down 3.4kgs which rather surprised me, a fair percentage - almost 5% of my body weight. I downed a couple of cups of Heed and ate a tin of creamed rice along with some watermelon. Darren was laid out in a cot having run out of water but was confident of continuing. I asked one of the vollies to put some ice in a ziplock bag to place under my cap. A quick gear check and I was on my way again. As I left I looked around, there were bodies everywhere, a reminder of the ‘Mash’ scenes that was the hot GNW 2006.

CP2 –CP3

I walked for a while, actually pretty much until the turn off. Restocked and with full stomach I was not going to get into gastro stress. The sun was beating down now and the impending climb up to the communication tower was going to be a tough slog. On the lower reaches I came upon Dave E, Nikolay and another 2 runners sitting on a rock taking a breather before the vertical onslaught. I stopped momentarily but chose to forge on. What followed was a conga line of runners slowly clambering their way upwards, stopping every 20 metres or so to momentarily recover.

Eventually we reached the fence line skirting the tower and made straight for the water tank tap. A few well spent minutes cooling off before trotting off down the firetrail. Hard to get going again but these were free kms, with some reasonable running to be had. We yo-yo’ed our way along the Bar Trail. Near the end of the firetrail we came upon Andy Du Bois who laid up at the side of the trail and in some distress. Antoniya was with him and after some phone exchanges with the RD, Dave E decided to stop and help him down to the road in the valley to get out. After we were reassured he was going to be ok, I took off and enjoyed the descent into the Watagan Creek valley, stopping to douse my cap in the cool water. The climb on the other side was a grind again but went by reasonably quickly. The unmanned water stop was perfectly timed with my water running out. I topped up as Rob arrived unaware of the water stop. He was most grateful.

Nikki came flying by a short time later having being held up by Dave’s pace as he struggled. I wished her well and shouted ‘see you on the beach’. I enjoyed the run down into the Basin with some energy coming back as the temps began to cool off. I saw Damien and Kathy on their way back to the Basin turnoff. The reception at the CP was great, plenty of vollies about and with no leeches a happy bunch. Paul and Diane were there as they have the past few years and quickly set about helping me get out of there asap. I downed another creamed rice while Di fetched me a black coffee…bliss. My alarm beeped reminding me to take my warfarin medication, and within 6 minutes I was fully stocked and out of the Basin.

CP3-CP4

Again I chose to walk the first km or so as I tried to digest the contents of my stomach. A few runners were making their way into the Basin as I negotiated the single-track to the turnoff. Rob was with me now; we had been close most of the day. His first time at GNW and debut 100kms, he chose a wise strategy of hooking up with runners who knew the trail. Before long we were winding our way out of the Basin and happily trotting along at a reasonable pace down Kingtree Ridge Rd. I had hoped to make it to the trailhead at Cedar Brush before getting the lights out but we ran out of daylight just before the drop into the final section to the road. I scampered along with Rob following closely. Somewhere along the heavily leaf littered single-track I clipped something with my right leg and then tripping with my trailing left foot. Before I knew it I was flat on my stomach arms out stretched to break my fall. Normally I wouldn’t stress too much about the odd spill but I was acutely aware that I couldn’t really afford to have bad stack cutting myself or banging my head whilst on blood thinners. A quick check and brush off, no apparent damage apart from a sore rib cage where the bottle in my Salomon pack dug in upon impact (note to self – order some of those Salomon soft flasks!). No claret just some fine scratches on my knee, I got lucky. We hit the road and got the reflective vests out. A long boring stretch of road normally, this time I had some good company to while the kms away. With about 2kms to go Rob took off to finish nicely in 3rd position in under 16hrs.

The CP was rather relaxed, a quick weigh in, up on last check, all good. I sat down and with the help of Jess, Gill and the vollies, changed my top, gps watch and shoes and was soon off into the night sans pacer.

CP4-CP5

Before I reached Bumble Hill Rd I was joined by another GNW virgin (Samuel Weir) who after introducing himself went on to tell me he was dubious about the navigation on this next section and wanted to buddy up so I could show him the way. He also wanted to avail of my Ayup headlamp light switching his own light off to conserve battery power? We stayed together for the first few kms but I was actually holding him back and to be honest not comfortable with him on my heels. I ushered him on and was left to enjoy the rest of the night by myself. As I re-entered the bush off Cherry lane (the trailhead even had a vollie this year showing the way) I was acutely aware of a faint track intersection that had caused a few runners problems last year. It was a lot more obvious this year which way to go, probably due to the number of runners doing training runs in the lead up to the race. Every few kms I would see Sammy’s head lamp off in the distance, he wasn’t putting much time into me and later as I found out had added quite a few extra kms. I put some music on for the wee hours of the morning and with the help of a Red Bull back at Yarra kept the sleep monsters at bay.

As I hit the trail skirting Ourimbah Creek a light appeared from behind. I didn’t know who might be behind me as I didn’t get any info at the last CP. As the lone light approached from behind I realised it was Sammy. He had taken a wrong turn and was now on an adrenaline rush in an effort to make up for lost time. He asked how the navigation was from that point, to which I replied just follow the trail, watch the intersection for a marker, straight forward really. He would get it wrong again a few kms later! I made good work of the final climb into Somersby and was feeling rather good, feet were happier in the Bondis with more room in the toe box and my legs were still cooperating. At the checkpoint Karl helped restock my pack as I downed my final Redbull. His runner Antoniya was moving through the field apparently and was not more than 15 minutes behind me. I left the CP feeling charged up for a good leg to Mooney Mooney.

CP5- CP6

I arrived at the Silvester’s Rd turnoff and looked back momentarily for any lights in the distance, nothing. Ran a good stretch down to the trailhead and then got the poles working for me again. They had been such a help, with tired legs I could climb well enough and on the big boulder drop descents they took the weight of my aching legs/joints. My shoulders however were killing me, as I clearly hadn’t put enough training miles in reacquainting myself with them.

I yo’yed with Sammy along here as he continued to find ways to get lost. I told him to stick to the trail along the creek. I was fully expecting to be visited by the sleep monsters somewhere on this leg but they never came thankfully. The trail to Mooney Creek was its usual rocky self but my Bondis were making light work of the uneven terrain. I had switched to eating more gels through the night, giving the stomach a break. The caffeine therein was no doubt helping keep me alert and awake. Before long dawn broke and along with it the usual noticeable step up in energy arrived. The crossing at Mooney creek was negotiated in the early morning light, a change from previous years where I would be through here in the wee hours of the morning following glow sticks.

The fact that I was down a few hours on my time from last year didn’t bother me at all. Given the year I have had, and the conditions and subsequent high attrition rate, a finish this year was what is was all about.
The hum of the M1 motorway could be heard before long signalling the last few kms of this leg. Once at the Mooney CP, again the vollies were fantastic looking after the weary runner.

CP6-Finish

Sammy was still at the CP when I arrived but got a head start on me as I sat down to munch on some breakfast (watermelon and coffee). I removed my reflective vest and stowed it away in my pack along with my lights. Home stretch now and I had 6hrs to finish under 30hrs. I rose from the chair and made tracks along Piles Creek, a rather beautiful stretch to the footbridge and then the climb out. Got the poles working again and set about breaking this final section down. It’s a toughie and along with the first section 24hrs ago, the toughest of the race. The constant up and down, rock hopping and clambering on tired legs means slow progress. I was in a happy space though despite the weariness, I knew I had this one in the bag barring an accident. I followed the footprints in the sandy sections thinking Brendan would be finished and tucked up in bed hours ago, little did I know he was also to succumb to the worst attrition rate in the race’s history with only 31% of the milers finishing! It started to drizzle about half way through this section and I loved it, adding to the diversity of this race with 37°C one day, cold and wet the next.

My ribcage had been throbbing for the past few hours after my spill during the night. I now had to stop periodically in order to rest it as swinging my arm whilst running was hurting. I was later to find out that I had in fact broken a rib; in fact I am still recovering from that now, 2 weeks later. I shuffled on up to Patonga drive where Nikki’s crew (Dave’s dad) was waiting. He informed me that Nikki was not far behind; I was surprised thinking she was still in front of me. I must have passed her through the night somewhere? I looked at my watch and realised if I got a shake on I could break 29hrs. With that I found new energy and ran the whole way to the Trig station. There was a TV camera crew taking some footage. Cresting the final climb before the descent to the beach is always a nice feeling, all downhill from here and that golden sand waits. The magical moment soon arrived and I heard the cowbell go off in the distance. There was a smattering of trotters, family and friends there as I reached the GNW pole/finish line and proceeded to snog it. The ever reliable Dave Byrnes was there as always to present me with my silver medal, 28.54 and miler finish number 8 in the bag.

Stoked. Dog was also among the finish line brigade, there to congratulate and present me with a bottle of VB for quick recovery purposes ;) Nice one, cheers buddy, hope we see you there next year!
So a very pleasing result in the end and one of my most rewarding under the circumstances. Well done to all who dared to toe the line and as ever to Dave and the Terrigal Trotters for making this indulgence possible. The change to September next year will take away that ‘hot run’ edge and I expect we may never see such a high attrition rate again. Either way I plan to be there once again, lining up for the best miler in the country.

 

Spud.