July 16, 2021

BTU30 Race Recap

When I heard that the Brisbane Trail Ultra 30km would be a Spartan Trail World Championship event, I immediately signed up. I love racing in Queensland with its deep pool of trail talent and warm weather. Being on the Spartan Pro team and never having participated in a Spartan trail event before, this was the perfect opportunity to do both my first 30km race and first Spartan trail race at the same time.

As an aside, BTU is run by two female race directors who are passionate about developing the sport of trail running. They are doing an amazing job at increasing the participation of women in their races and trail running generally.

Training for BTU30

Thirty kilometres is a real stretch distance for me, with my previous longest race being 26km. The BTU course is very fast and runnable, with only 750m of vertical gain, and so not suited to the type of running I am naturally best at (steep, technical, mountainous, anything where normal running stride is compromised). The first 18km of the race is well graded fast trails and the last 12km is pavement. So not only was I training for a distance I had never raced before, I also had to train for running on road which is something I do not enjoy and usually avoid. I had also made it almost six months without an injury (after being continuously injured from May 2019 to December 2020) and so I was nervous to up the distance and introduce more running on hard and fast surfaces all at the same time.

After UTA I had seven weeks to train for this longer distance. Training remained relatively the same for me during the week, except with a higher percentage of flatter running. Weekends included some back to back long runs that looked like this:

1. 26km flatter run (408m vert) + 16km 800m vert mountain run

2. 3hr technical trails + 13km flatter run

3. 21km run with 5x8min hard uphill efforts (1,100m vert total) +21km flatter long run

4. 21km trail race (with a down week beforehand)

5. 27km 1,000m vert long run with hard uphill at 10km to simulate Red Hill uphill segment, and with 6km of flatter pavement at the end + 10km flatter trails with 5x600m efforts (peak training weekend)

6. 12km flat pavement with 3x10min efforts +21.2km 900m vert technical trail run

7. BTU30 race weekend.

As per usual with me, doing the training to prepare for the race is the easiest part. I was nervous about making the distance, the 3pm start time, the potentially hot weather (when you train in sub zero temperatures every day, 21 degrees is hot), and the long road section at the end. There was also uncertainty over whether the race would be on, and whether I would be able to travel from the ACT to Queensland to race due to the Covid-19 outbreak in Brisbane. As a result I didn’t do any tapering until the Tuesday before the race when it seemed more than likely I would be able to get to Brisbane to race. As luck would have it, the race went ahead and I made it to Brisbane to race.

Start line getting set up at Corra-Mulling Park

First trail of the race

Creek crossing close to start

First climb up Python Trail

Race day

The BTU30km didn’t start until 3pm so I had most of the day to worry about the race. I am usually sitting at a desk working at 3pm so it was a really strange time to run, let alone race. It also meant it was a race against the setting sun. Although headlights were part of the compulsory gear, navigating the city part of the course would be difficult at night, especially as this part of the course was sparsely marked, with quite a few places where you could take the wrong turn or miss a turn off.

The point to point course started at Corra-Mulling Park at the Gap. The only time I think I have done a point to point race before is the Hume & Hovell in 2018. The concept of running through the hills and towards Brisbane and finishing right in the heart of the CBD on the Brisbane River offers a fairly unique opportunity. Not many trail races like this are on offer, mainly because of the cost of all the police road closures and difficulties getting permits across multiple CBD council areas.

I did my warm up around the oval and onto the single trail, practising the creek crossing and trail section up to the road. On my return I heard several experienced looking runners complaining about how heavy the compulsory gear was. I thought that was strange, as the bulk of compulsory gear that would normally be required in a race like UTA wasn’t required here in a warmer climate (no thermal top, gloves, beanie or waterproof jacket). Then I realised that there were quite a few road runners entered in this event, which makes sense given there is 12km of road and most of the trails are smooth and fast. The men’s field was really stacked and included Vajin Armstrong (2021 UTA100 winner) Tom Brimelow (2021 UTA 50 winner) and Ben Duffus, just to name a couple off the top of my head. There were also plenty of strong female runners. I was aiming for a top five finish, as there were at least 6 ladies who had either previously beat me in races or looking at results on paper should be much quicker than me. The women’s field was highly competitive. The mens field was arguably more competitive than the UTA22. BTU is well on its way to establishing itself as one of the most competitive trail races in Australia, so if you are interested in racing against the best then this is a race you should put on your 2022 calendar.

It was really awesome to have my friend Robyn at the start line and also see fellow Spartan Pro team members Quinton Gill and Adrian Jannenga racing. Matt Moore was also hanging around the start. Usually at interstate trail races I barely know anyone, so it was a nice change to feel so supported.

The race started and the elite men started very hard. I was behind running at what I thought was just below a 20km race pace. Being my first 30km I wasn’t really sure how fast to start, but being so fresh from the taper (which was short because of the uncertainty as to whether I’d race but also quite an extreme cut in load) I think I probably started a bit too hard even though it felt within comfortably hard at the time. After the loop of the oval and crossing the creek, the single trail went up to meet the road where we had some pavement running before climbing up the Python Track. Despite the flat first 2km I was still leading the women and so started the first big climb of the day (260m) at a pace slightly slower than I would be racing in a 20km. I couldn’t see what any of the women behind me were doing, but it was later clear that many (including Cecilia) powerhiked some of the climb. By the time we crested the top and crossed the road, it was clear I had probably started a bit fast. From here, the race followed Mt Coot-tha flowy trails. While the trails undulated, it was always a fast and flat surface. This should have been the part that I ran hard, rather than the climb beforehand. At 5km I had a gel and at 6km Cecilia Mattas passed me. This really helped me as I have a running crush on Cecilia. She is fun, positive, a very strong runner, and paces herself really well. So I followed right behind her, and eventually we descended the 2.6km on Mahogany Trail to JC Slaughter Falls check point. The JC Slaughter Falls check point was on a downhill so we went through fast, but I saw Robyn as I went through.

Cycle trail along Brisbane River (photo taken after I finished the race!)

Kangaroo Point stairs

I had planned to take the climb up Pinnacle Trail hard and then hang on for the rest of the trail section. However, I had already burned that match on the Python Trail (not planned) and Cecilia was power hiking this climb. Given she is far more experienced at long distances than me I changed plan and copied Cecilia, powerhiking when she did and running when she did. She was far smoother at power hiking than me (I wouldn’t normally powerhike that gradient) so she got some distance on me. I used this time to crack open some Skratch lab chews. These chews are the caffeinated ones (which I had never tried). After a few tries I finally opened the packet and ate three. I almost immediately felt sick so stopped eating them. By this point we were at the top of the climb and I needed to go to the toilet. Cecilia took off fast as I was struggling with life. All of the trails were fast and flowy so I was burning through carbohydrate super quickly. After a descent into Simpson Falls and a climb out, we came to Samuel Griffith Drive where I thought there would be a toilet. There was none so I continued across the road and consumed a gel while I ran down the Maculata single trail. The gel sat fine being the brand and flavour I always use, but I still felt a bit sick from the caffeinated chews. I had been running by myself for a while now, only occasionally seeing 100km runners which were quickly passed due to the pace difference.

From here I managed to pick it up a bit, completing the loop around Kulgan Circuit strongly before starting the road section of the race. The first part of the road section involved a short uphill which was quite steep and I powerhiked part followed by a small amount of trail which included a steep descent back to suburbia. Back on the road at the 20km mark I really needed the toilet and water, but there had been nothing since JC Slaughter Falls which I did not stop at. This next part was mainly paved path which wound through parks and parkways before a climb up a hilly road (Northam Ave) and straight into a long and gradual pavement running descent down Latrobe Terrace to Suncorp Stadium. This was a super busy thoroughfare with multiple street side restaurants, people on the pavement, and busy street crossings (some of which were staffed by police, others free for all). This was a really unusual experience for me, I rarely have to interact with anyone on my runs or navigate any traffic, let alone dodge hundreds of people on a footpath and cross major roads while racing. At Suncorp Stadium mercifully there was a water station so I could refill a flask. I also found a toilet a bit off course. I probably lost 2-3mins here but I really needed to stop.

The sun was setting rapidly now and it was getting a little bit difficult to see, but what was the most difficult was navigating the course. There were not many course markings and a couple of times I had to slow down or retrace my steps to stay on the course. I was so grateful I had downloaded the GPX file onto my watch beforehand as I really needed it at this point. The road running descent had destroyed by calves and with 5km to go I was getting small cramps and my calves were so locked up they were useless. My number one goal was to finish the race so I ran as fast as I could without cramping which was not a fast pace at all. At least by this point I was on the Brisbane River so just had to follow the bike trail until we crossed the Goodwill Bridge. From here there were so many pedestrians and people on electric scooters. I also knew that any gap I had made on the trails was fast being eaten up by my slow pace on the road section. Eventually I made it to the foot of the Kangaroo Point stairs. Before the stairs there was an out and back so I could see there was another female fairly close behind. I took the stairs as fast as I could which was half power hike and half run and then picked it up for the loop of the Amphitheatre Parkland to run through the Red Bull arch in a time of 2:45. Robyn was waiting for me and I was just so grateful to have finished my first 30km race.

Being constantly injured in 2019 and 2020 I had really lost any confidence my body could race longer distances. I not only survived a very solid training block for BTU but finished the race in second and also didn’t sustain any injuries from the race. This has really helped my confidence which has been at subzero levels recently. Cecilia finished 6mins in front of me and I finished 42s in front of Dominque Ferguson (managed to get a few seconds on her in the stair climb at the end). This race has really taught me how important pacing is. It is pretty difficult to pace yourself without having raced the distance before, so looking forward to working on that in my next longer race.

Thank you BTU for such a great event and I am looking forward to CPDTU in August.