Spartan Picton Beast 2019 Race Recap
Initially I wasn’t going to write a race report for the Picton Beast because I was injured, was in a lot of physical pain during and after the race, and could not perform well. But after a week had passed I wanted to write a report because the course had the best design I had ever experienced and in different circumstances I would have been smiling the whole race. Picton was also the final race of the 2019 National Series, and Beasts always have a few twists above and beyond that in the Sprint and Super distances.
Course review
The Picton Beast had probably the best course design I had ever seen at an OCR event. The hills were used to their maximum potential. Instead of predictably following a firetrail up and down, the first few kilometres were almost exclusively off trail in deep grass. There was also techy descending off-camber which tested ankle mobility, tendons and technique.
In Australian Beasts there are always a few mental challenges over and above what is normal in a Spartan Race. At Picton, elite racers had to carry the sandbag from the first cargo net crawl to the sandbag course then carry the sandbag around the course. There was also an extremely steep bucket carry that descending down to and up from the creek, an 8 foot wall on an uphill late in the race, and most psychologically difficult of all, 5 cargo net crawls in a row. The scaffolding monkey bars were also staggered at different heights, though there are definitely ways Spartan could make the monkeys and multi rig harder. Overall, I was very impressed by Spartan’s course design. The last four kilometres went up, across and around the same two hills, which made it feel as though you were about to enter festival area and finish at any time. There were about three or four more hills than I expected, so this is was good twisted psychological design. Strategically put right at the end was the rolling trenches and the deepest water crossing of the race, which could cause havoc for anyone who was experiencing any type of muscle cramping at this point.
The course marking was fantastic, with the key intersections so clearly marked that even when extremely fatigued it was clear where to go. The course marshals and volunteers were all very well briefed and increase with professionalism every race.
Lead up to Picton
After Buffalo Stampede I developed peroneal tendonitis and heel pain in my left foot which meant the two weeks prior to Picton I only ran very short distances and almost all of my preparation was cross training. The week before Picton, my right foot also developed a peroneal tendon and heel problem. I was lucky and the resting, cross training and physio treatment meant that I could run on the flat with minimal pain by the time it was time to race. I wasn’t really ready for racing or steep hills, but timing in life is not always perfect, and I was happy to be running and cleared to race. In addition to the tendons, the night before the race, I sliced the top of my big toe getting into the Airbnb shower. The cut was really deep and it took an hour of constant pressure to stop the bleeding. It hurt like crazy and throbbed in any shoe. I secured it for the race by using superglue to pin down the skin flap and taping.
The race
The race started on time with minimal fuss, which I appreciated, as the last couple of races had been delayed and every minute waiting in the start chute is an extra minute to place seeds of doubt in the mind. The first two kilometres went up and down steep and techy but shorter hills and I was coming first but only by a short distance. I started to think that maybe my feet would be fine and maybe I would be able to race normally. There was congestion at the first cargo net crawl which was frustrating, but at least the course had been designed so we could run quite a bit before the crawl obstacle. After the cargo net crawl there was about 500m to the sandbag carry but instead of running to the sandbag carry containers to start the carry, elite racers picked up the sandbag after the cargo net and carried the sandbag to the start of the sandbag carry hill that all racers carried the sandbag up. I was overtaken by two girls here and both my peroneal tendons were immediately painful upon walking up the hill. Although I was running on the flat with my own bodyweight before the race, I had no time to build up to hills and get my body ready for carrying the additional weight of the sandbag and carries. The hill and carry really set them the pain in my feet off.
I could not land my feet properly because of the tendon pain, meaning I could not engage my glutes properly and relied more on other muscles like my calves that I don’t ordinarily place so much pressure on. After about another kilometre I had rolled my ankle and my other ankle had been smashed by a rock so I stopped after the slip wall to check and also rearrange my running vest because my water was leaking. I rarely if ever roll my ankle so this was probably from being unable to run properly. Stopping took a couple of minutes and I was passed by a few other girls. I decided to continue because that was really the only option. To qualify for World Championships in 2019 you need to place top 10 in the National Series and the only way to do that is to complete all three races. If I pulled out of the race, my only other option would be to compete in the Asia Pacific Championships, where top 4 qualify for the World Championships, but at the time I thought the championships would be in Beijing in August which would be 32 degrees and 80% humidity, which is almost impossible to train for during Winter where I live in Canberra. So I continued, and luckily the pain did not get worse, my race improved, and after I had become used to my feet I could run at a moderate pace. If the race had been shorter, there is no way I would have been able to get to the pace required for a solid finish.
The next obstacle was Olympus which I failed and then did burpees. At this point I think I was coming approximately 7th or 8th female. There was lots of running after this and not particularly steep which helped so I could make up time, as I could run with less pain on the flat. After this point I was happy with how I raced except I just couldn’t quite get running fast enough with my improvised foot placement, particularly on the descents because that was the most painful. When I caught up to 3rd at about 15km I would overtake on the uphills and then get caught up on the descents, but I was doing as best I could with foot situation. Close to the end was the 8 foot wall and then rolling ditches, plate drag, swim and then A frame before the finish. At the 8 foot wall my calves were cramping, I think because I hadn’t been able to land on my feet properly so was using my calves a lot more than I normally do when I run. Strangely, Spartan had decided to put a wooden block to assist females over the 8 foot wall, which made the obstacle much easier than normal. I would have had trouble without that block because I could not approach as fast as I usually do to get enough momentum to grab the top of the wall.
The rolling ditches were almost impossible to get out of because both my calves kept cramping. People nearby all asked me if I needed help, but as we are all aware, elites cannot receive any outside assistance or they will be DQd. Not surprisingly I was overtaken here so 4th near the finish line. Then in the swim I was also cramping so I just couldn’t catch 3rd who then finished 20s in front. Despite the frustration and pain, I was really happy to finish and know that I can trust myself to get it done when needed. I think two years ago this race would have been a DNF for me, so it is good to know I am getting mentally tougher. In an ideal world we would never race when injured. It is not something I recommend to anyone, but sometimes if you really want to qualify for something or achieve a goal, racing when injured is required. When races don’t go to plan we learn so much about ourselves. I think I have done enough of this learning for now, and hope next race will be much smoother.
I really hope there is another Beast at Picton in the future because the course was fantastic and if I had been able to run properly I would have had a fun time on course. Anyone who completed the Beast here should be incredibly proud of themselves.