Hi guys, haven't posted for a long time but after reading
Andrew Taylors report on this race though I would add my
own. Great to see so many of the usual suspects still here
;-) Happy St Patrick's Day !!
This was my 3rd 6-foot track and without doubt my best so
far. My day started off with a short 30 minute ride to the
race start, thanks to Mister G's mum (Gayle's) hospitality.
Grabbed my bib and chip and bought the obligatory singlet
(excellent quality this year, made from coolmax material).
Time for a chat with some faces from last year and new faces
this year. We were revved up.
I started in the second wave and tried to get a good
position to Nellies Glen, unfortunately as soon as we got
there we slowed to a walk. The descent is beautiful through
the rain forest, wonderful smells from the overnight rain.
However it takes an eternity to get down to the bottom and
my first split to Megalong Valley road looks unlikely.
I manage to get into a pack of guys running at a comfortable
but brisk pace and make it to the road crossing in 49
minutes, great a minute under projected split. The trail
from here passes through some lovely open farmland through
the valley floor and then climbs slightly before the descent
to the Cox's River. I am running well here watching my every
step along the narrow single file trail down to the river.
Last year I managed to trip and fall over twice here!! Good
pace gets me to the river crossing in
1:30, bang on split time. I take my shoes off and wade
across the cool river. A quick Kodak moment, then on with
the shoes.
The next section from here 15.5km to 26km (Pluviometer) is a
bloody big hill with a drop in the middle (Mini Saddle) and
a few more creek crossings. My race plan was to power walk
these steep ascents and run the flat bits. I had done quite
a bit of hill training in the months leading up to race day
and was feeling great on the ascents passing lots of runners
along the way.
I got to the Pluviometer aid station and started took in
some food, watermelon, banana and jelly snakes along with
sports drink. Aid station strategy thus far was 1 cup of
water and 1 cup of sports drink. Gu on the hour too. So I
was getting plenty of electrolyte and carbs in.
The section from 26km to 36km is slightly undulating but for
me the hardest part of the course. It's here where you're
mind starts to wander and it's easy to lose concentration
and slow down. I managed to run most of the trail here but
must confess I walked some of the inclines too. After a bit
of a dull patch mentally I started to perk up, must have
been the coke at the last aid station ;-)
Got to the Caves road intersection (38km) 2 minutes outside
split (oh by the way my splits were for a projected 5 hr
finish). I thought this will be tough as I knew what lay
ahead. I started to cramp in both calves and my left hammie,
something that has never happened to me before. I slowed
down, stopped and stretched both calves. Feeling a bit
better I made off for the final 3km descent down to the
Caves house. This is a very steep fire trail full of loose
stones and rocks making footing treacherous to say the
least. The trail was graded however and to my mind better
than previous years. My legs were pretty stuffed by now but
somehow the noises emanating from the finish line below
really psyched me up.
I started passing a few more runners on the descent and when
I hit the concrete pavers on the last 200 metres I sprinted
to the line finishing in
1:1:1. A huge PB by 20 minutes on last year and a big smile
on my face too.
I was elated for the rest of the day and together with some
mates cheered in the rest of the runners right up to very
last one. Watching some of these runners finishing with
cramps, cuts, bruises and some with swollen twisted ankles
was awesome. This was the highlight of the day for me. 70+
year old runners finishing to the roars of the crowd,
inspiring stuff.
Feeling heaps better today, 4 days after and already
looking forward to next year and a sub 5hr finish!
Thanks for reading,
Phil Murphy.