April 2021 – Monika Holmwood

April 2, 2021

Mt Buller skyrun race recap

Finally I got to race at Mt Buller! I entered the 22km race in 2020 but that was cancelled. I also visited Mt Buller for training and van life in December 2019. So I was pretty excited to do this race which would make it my first skyrun since April 2019. I was also scared because the forecast was 0-5 degrees, 40km/hr winds and rain/snow, and spent much of the week leading up to the race stressing about the weather. I had trained all summer in the Australian Alps, but that had mainly been in heatwave conditions. My shakeout run along the Delatite River at Mirimbah on the Saturday did not help allay my fears because it was absolutely pouring with rain and I was frozen solid just running for 30mins.

The 22km race did not start until 9am and so I packed up camp in Merrijig and drove to Mt Buller village just before the race. Pre-race breakfast was not ideal. I had soaked oats in milk overnight but they were bloody freezing so I ended up not eating them and just having a banana while driving up. It was 5 degrees at Mt Buller village and looked like it would not rain, so I wore long tights, and then opted to wear singlet, arm sleeves, a bit windy gloves and buff. Warming up in puffer jacket and then discarding right before start helped stay warm. We had to carry copious amounts of compulsory gear so I was satisfied I would be able to put on the thermal top and pants, waterproof jacket, waterproof pants, second pair of gloves and beanie if needed.

The race started through the village before veering off down a ski slope, along a firetrail and then joining a single trail following adjacent to Corn Hill Track. The descending was fast and after a short climb by Corn Hill we then descended steeply to Howqua Gap down Wooly Butt Spur (Wooly Butt is another name for the alpine ash). We passed Howqua Hut and began the climb up to Mt Stirling. This climb is on a 4WD track and is a mix of running and power hiking, with a 550m climb over 3.5km. My calves were killing me. I rarely run in full length tights and they just felt like they could not contract properly on the extended climbs being stuck in the tights. The tights were keeping my muscles warm though, so I don’t know if I regret wearing them or not.

I was running with the second (blue shirt – Ryan Claxton) and third men (red shirt – Conor Sugrue). Red shirt dropped off so I kept following blue shirt who was setting a good pace and was a similar height to me and was running and power hiking how I liked, so I was able to follow blue shirt all the way to the summit (how good are men for pacing?). Meanwhile red shirt had stopped to get out poles and overtook us so started the descent first. Descending Mt Stirling was awesome because the firetrail was runnable and not too technical. The main obstacles were 4wd vehicles coming up the track. At one point I had to jump off the trail and my left foot landed on a super pointy rock right on my plantar fascia, but the pain went away after a few kms. I got to the bottom fast but also not destroying my quads which later made me question whether I should have been running faster. On the descent I could see that the next female runner was about a kilometre away from the summit when I passed and so I had a fair lead. I had process goals for this race though (running fast and smooth, running downhills fast, and remaining calm when things go wrong – this is a B race so it is important that I practice skills I need for A races) and so continued at normal race pace.

Heading back up Wooly Butt Spur was a power hike. Joining the Corn Hill single trails I took the wrong single trail so had to backtrack, and again when we joined Corn Hill track, I stayed on the technical single trail rather than running on the firetrail when we were meant to crossover. The pink flags marking the course were there but intermittent. Anyway this added maybe 1min total to my time and it was a good reminder to concentrate. Before the village there was a nice 2km of runnable ascending on flowy single trail with views of Little Mt Buller. On this runnable section, blue shirt took off, so I was very much running the last 6km solo. I passed through the village at about 1:45 hours.

The 6km loop to Mt Buller summit starts with running up a ski slope. I love running off trail on tussocked grass, it is so alpine, but by this point I was super tired so I hiked some parts despite the gradient being not too bad. It was quite frustrating because I know I can run faster and would normally not hake to hike parts of such a low gradient ski slope. It was getting freezing as we approached the summit. I didn’t get my jacket out, but I did put beanie and arm sleeves on, meaning I had to walk for a minute while I did that. That kept me just warm enough on the windy and cloudy summit and the descent that followed. After descending the steeper part of Mt Buller, the trail winds around the other side of the mountain with views over Little Mount Buller and the Alpine National Park. Due to the rain, the single trail was eroded and a river, so this part was very wet. I was also overtaken by the first 45km male runner (they had started much earlier in the morning) who was absolutely flying down the last 3km. I had picked up the pace, but not as much as this guy. It was great to finish with the grassy descent down the ski slope (finished first female, 4th overall) and after catching breath I immediately walked to the van to change out of wet clothes. It was 7 degrees by this point, but with the wind and at that altitude, it was freezing.

Thank you Running Wild for putting on such a classic and challenging alpine run. I will definitely be looking to enter more Running Wild alpine races in the future. Next up is the Buffalo Stampede skyrun in two weeks, which is the national skyrunning short course championship.

22km podium results

Men

1. Brodie Nankervis 1.50

2. Conor Sugrue 2.17

3. Ryan Claxton 2.19

Women

1. Monika Holmwood 2.21

2. Louise Organ 2.49

3. Megan Allen-Creed 2.53