Anstey Hill Race Recap
6 December 2020
Just a fortnight ago Adelaide was in lockdown. The Queensland borders closed so I could not attend the Spartan trifecta weekend on the Gold Coast, an event I had been preparing for since September. My back up event, True Grit in Adelaide was also cancelled. One race that was not cancelled was the first race of the Adelaide Trail Runners Summer Series – Anstey Hill. Somehow all the stars aligned, Adelaide got out of lock down and the event could go ahead. Happy days!
I entered the 21km course because it includes over 700m of elevation gain. Anstey Hill is on the northern end of the Adelaide foot hills and features wide and exposed fire trails and dry and rocky single trails. It is absolutely unforgiving during hot weather due to the lack of shade and the fact that the rocky trails seem to reflect that heat back at you. Luckily for us race morning was uncharacteristically cool.
I knew I was not going to be having any peak performances. This race fell on the highest hormone day for me which means my heart rate is usually 10bpm higher than normal. The chances of a race falling on the worst day of the month is about 3%. So fairly unlucky but this is the second time this year I have had a race on this day of the month, and so it is just something you learn to race with. The higher heart rate is significant and leads to higher breathing rate and energy expenditure. Tim helpfully commented after the race that I was breathing like darth vader the whole time. I figured there was no point tapering for this race and so I did a lot of leg strength and a fun steep vert session the week leading up. Basically I started the race with sore legs and a high heart rate, but I knew that would be the case, so no surprises there.
Start and finish chute
The long course used almost every single trail at Anstey Hill
The start chute was a bit chaotic because we had to break into two starting groups. Despite this chaos I did spot Sputnik with his camera walking to take photos of the start. I also chatted to Robyn Hansen who was also starting in the first wave. We set off into the first fire trail climb. It was fairly crowded but then we veered onto a technical and rocky single trail which helped thin out the crowd. At 2km we turned left to start up wildflower track is a long climb with 200m of vertical gain. Closer to the top of the climb Belinda overtook me, running really strongly. I continued at my pace (I was already creating some lactic acid in my legs due to the extra high heart rate). We topped out and started the single trail descent down some switchbacks before looping back around Kaurna track and then hammering the Ridgetop Track descent all the way down into the valley. The next four kilometres were a gradual climb out of the valley following the pipeline at a very runnable gradient. For me this was the hardest part of the race because it is a very long but very gradual climb, so you are running fast but you can see you still have a very long way to climb. I prefer steeper or single trail climbs where you cannot see what is in front. Ciara overtook me at this point (9km). I did not realise she was doing the medium course. That explained why she was even fresher and faster than normal. Tim was still running next to me which was very helpful because I was inclined to back off a bit as I was struggling trying to keep up normal race pace with such a high heart rate, but instead I maintained speed (and darth vader breathing). Normally I am a quiet breather and rarely hyperventilate or wheeze and so my breathing was probably particularly noticeable. I was pushing hard which is what I set out to do for the whole race.
The very start leading to the first firetrail climb.
Photo cred: Sputnik
Aerial shot of start
Photo cred: Scott Olver
Flat fire trail after the top of the pipeline. A lot of short and medium course runners on this part of the track.
Photo cred: Lachlan Miller
Me actually trying my hardest which is Tim’s cruising pace.
Photo cred: Scott Olver
At the top of the pipeline track there were some nice single trail switchbacks to link to the next firetrail section which was slightly more technical and undulated. We then came to the Christmas aid station which was decorated in tinsel and full of very enthusiastic volunteers dressed as elves who pointed us in the correct direction to complete the second pipeline lap. Before we got back to the pipeline we went down some single trail then looped back up Silver Mine Track. On the way back up I could see Ina heading down the single trail, though it was difficult to calculate how much time I had, so run slightly faster just in case. The loop went down Torture Hill (a short but very steep track) and then looped back to the pipeline track which I found easier than the first time around. There were so many short and medium racers on the course so a lot of people to ‘chase down’. At 17km we were back at the Christmas aid station and then took the turn off to complete the last 4.5km. The last 3km was such a treat because it was almost all on rocky single trail and it provided a great contrast to the rest of the race. Crossed the finish line with very tired legs and satisfied I had put in 100% of what I had on that day (2nd female 1hr 51min). I was mainly just happy with the opportunity to race a hilly course.
It was a great way to end the running year and spend some time with Adelaide’s awesome trail running community before I move back to Canberra over Christmas. The new owners of the Summer Series, Adelaide Trail Runners, did a fantastic job with the event and I highly recommend the other races in the series to anyone in Adelaide over summer.
One of the only flat parts of the course just before the finish line.
The last single trail descent of the long course.