Ultra-Trail Australia 2021 – recap
Ultra-Trail Australia (UTA) is the largest trail event in the Southern Hemisphere and the third largest in the world. I first heard about UTA when I started trail running in 2017. In 2019 I had an entry but missed out due to injury. In 2020 UTA was cancelled due to Covid-19. So it was with much relief that I finally got to race at UTA in 2021. Finally time to experience what everyone raves about.
UTA22 – 20km 900m vert (approx.)
The UTA22 started at 6:20am on the Friday morning. I drove to Katoomba after work on Thursday, just getting to registration in time and finally getting to the cabin I was staying in at 9:30pm. Had the worst case of not sleeping at all and ‘woke up’ at 4am to get ready to race. It was 3 degrees with a significant wind chill and so it was freezing and dark at the start line. Due to Covid-19 we had to check in to the warm up and start area and then could not leave. This meant we were all doing a warm up on a 30m stretch of grass. I was dreading the crowds, but the start ended up not being as crowded as I was expecting and it felt like a normal trail race. I think I had been expecting crowds akin to what you would get in the City to Surf.
The start line bent around to meet the road and already five people had stacked in on the ground. Narrowly avoiding the pile up, I ran onto the road and up the first hill. The first 5km was on the narrow neck fire trail, which meant you could easily run at your own pace and I was happy that I did not go out too hard. Entering the Golden Stairs descent I immediately came across two female runners basically bum scooting down the stairs. I overtook 4 females on the descent (and quite a few men), but it was frustrating because I could have descended much faster if I had been more aggressive on the overtaking. It is really difficult to know where the line is between maintaining trail etiquette and overtaking on technical descents in such a competitive race, especially with Covid-19 when we are told to social distance and overtaking on the Golden Stairs requires shoulder brushing at a minimum. After the race I talked to Quinton Gill (4th male) and he said he overtook 14 people on the descent and so I think that I could definitely err on the side of overtaking more people next time, especially as everyone on the course starting in Wave 1 is an experienced trail runner.
Start line at 5:30am
With Sarah-Jayne Miller (who came 4th woohoo!)
Road section – smiling but actually really dislike road sections in trail races.
Onto the flatter Federal Pass single trail, the speed picked up a bit but every time there was a technical section, everyone was walking. This was super frustrating and even more frustrating when we got to the landslide section. Eventually I scaled a side boulder to overtake a couple of times and then finally made it to some people running my pace. After the landslide the Federal Pass flattens out and there is a fast running section to the base of Furber Stairs. I am really not sure what happened but I mentally checked out from here. I think I was just so fatigued from all the racing and travel I had done in 2021 up to this point, but something I am thinking hard about to learn from. Finally I also had no one in front so I could run however I wanted. The next four kilometres I was really running long run pace and at the Giants Staircase pulled over so the people following me could pass (something I don’t normally do in a race – there was plenty of room for people to pass if they wanted). Despite being mentally checked out I was having fun, as this section is relatively muddy single trail through ferns. I also power hiked the first climb which really is something I would never do on that kind of gradient. Luckily race mode kicked in again when I got to the Fern Bower stairs and I was happy with that climb past numerous waterfalls. The section through to Leura Cascades and up I was also feeling strong and also having fun with the views, ferns and waterfalls. But when we got to the Cliff Drive road section again I mentally checked out again. Finally we entered the single trail on the Prince Henry Cliff track and I went back and forth with a couple of runners until the Three Sisters where I tried to get a gap but then had to stop and tie my shoelace. From Echo Point I did my best to pick up the pace and broke away from Caitlin Fowlds who was following me closely. It wasn’t until the final Furber Stairs climb that I managed to get more distance on Caitlyn and cross the finish line first maybe 15-30 seconds ahead in what I thought was 7th. However in the official results Caitlyn is shown as 7th and I am 8th, so it is possible she started right at the back of start group 1 (though I thought time goes off gun time). Anyway, whether I came 7th or 8th is irrelevant because I completely checked out for most of the race. I am really grateful that I had the opportunity to race UTA in 2021 on such an awesome course full of single trail, and am already raring for an opportunity to do better next time. I was surprised with how much I enjoyed the race despite it not going to plan for me. I was expecting crowds similar to what you get in the City to Surf, but that was not the case. There was plenty of room to enjoy the trails. I clocked just under 20km, not the 22.7km on the official course map. The finish approached very suddenly because I was expecting a couple of more kilometres. While I had checked out mentally anyway, if I have the opportunity to race UTA22 (should be UTA20) again, I will be pushing harder earlier. It was great to see some super quick finishing times in the top 3 and see some of my friends smash the course.
UTA951 – Stair race
It would have been really easy to pull out of the stair race. It is a 1.1km sprint up 951 stairs. I generally do mountain races that are 20+km and 2-3hrs in duration. Sprinting up stairs is very anaerobic and I can’t remember the last time I did an anaerobic running session (though I did tonnes of technical uphill and stair running to prepare for races in the first part of 2021). My Achilles tendon injury had also flared up after the UTA22 (unsurprising given the amount of stairs). The UTA951 is also invitational, so it is usually a very strong and small field where you can be very publicly exposed if not prepared. I decided to go through with the race because it would be a good chance to practice mental strength. Also if you sign up you should show up and race unless you have a legit excuse.
I spent about an hour doing Achilles rehab exercises on the Saturday morning. This led to me being slightly late to check in. Check in was not where I thought it would be, so my warm up ended up being jogging between places that might be the check in area. Eventually I checked in and sprinted to the Scenic Railway which is a train that descends at an 128% incline into the valley. Kind of like going on a big drop fun park ride before a race. Charlie Brooks was also running late and had also raced the day before (he came 2nd in the UTA22) so it was reassuring I wasn’t the only one struggling with the logistics of getting to the start line. Once we got to the base I was told I was the slowest seeded so would be starting first. Luckily I had decided to start my warm up on the stairs next to the Scenic Railway while waiting to get on as there was no time before the start.
The UTA951 usually incorporates a flat run up before the stairs but this year we started right at the foot of the stairs so the lack of warm up made it tough but by the top of the first set of bush stairs my heart rate was sufficiently high. After the initial stairs there is a flat part before the metal sets of stairs. I am still working out how to run up the metal staircase (due to the incline) so power hiked that part and used the hand rail for extra propulsion. Although I was pushing as hard as I could I really didn’t produce much lactic acid at all so was running at high threshold pace. If you want to do well at such a short race you need to train in the anaerobic zone. I was pushing hard but felt like any moment someone would pass. The idea is that the slowest seeded starts first and then the racers behind (starting at 20s intervals) pass so it is a close finish. No one passed and I made it to the finish. These short races are all good until you finish and then it is very, very painful. After a couple of minutes later though felt like I could go again. So I think in the future a better warm up and some occasional anerobic running could definitely help my time. I ended up coming 2nd female, with Suzy Walsham a world ahead. Hopefully next year they will bolster the female entries in the UTA951 to give athletes like Suzy more competition. I was talking to Chris Woolley after the race (4th male) and his advice is that if you want to do well in this race you need to practice anaerobic running which could look like 5x3min hard uphill efforts with complete rest in between. I am not sure if I would be keen to specifically train for this event, but Woolley’s view is that even when preparing for longer races I should incorporate anaerobic training once every fortnight. Something to think about. Super grateful for the opportunity to back up with another race and also take over a minute off my Furber Stairs PB.