November 19, 2022

Triple Top 2022

Just before 10am on Sunday 13 November 2022 a couple of hundred runners were dropped off at the Round Mountain carpark to start the traverse of Mt Claude, Mt Van Dyke and Mt Roland. Triple Top promotes itself as the most challenging mountain run in Australia and I had been wanting to do this race for years. I secured my entry for 2022 as soon as entries open (they sell out in under 2 hours most years). I was looking forward to some of the most technical terrain I had ever been on plus the legendary descent of ‘The Face Track’. What was different to what I was expecting in 2022 was the weather. As we exited the buses we were met with horizontal rain, 30km/hr wind gusts and temperatures hovering at 0. During the race 16mm of rain fell but this was on top of the rain already fallen made it the wettest trail outing Ive ever been in. Most races would be cancelled in these conditions, but Triple Top had arranged for SES checkpoints every 2-3km along the course. Many of the SES had set up first aid tents so that any casualties could shelter from the conditions before being evacuated.

Nice and warm inside the hall prior to the briefing and being bused out to the start line.

Everyone trying to stay warm prior to the start. (Photo source: Triple Top)

They kept the time between drop off and start to a few minutes so we didn’t all freeze to death before starting. I have never seen so many people wearing full length waterproof, buffs and gloves before running up a 20% incline to start a race. This was the first race I have done where I left my waterproof shell on the entire time (wearing it over my hydration vest to keep vest contents dry).

The first kilometre was up a well graded firetrail. We all got nice and warm. We then departed the firetrail to take on 17km of what I can only describe as the most continuous technical terrain I have ever been on. The single trail up to Mt Claude was mainly muddy and technical with the following two kilometres introducing some stream running. From this point almost the entire course was under water mainly at ankle height but often above knee. The types of water running were:

1. Still water pools coloured black with heath tannin such that you could not see what was beneath the surface whether it be rock or mud making every step a potential ankle roll gamble. I have never rolled my ankle in my life and didn’t during the race but I also have never seen so many other people roll their ankles. I have never seen water like this in my life. You really need to experience it in person to understand how it feels to not know where your foot is going every single step for kilometre after kilometre.

2. River running where there was so much water on the single trail it was like canyoning. At least with these sections the water was clear so you could see where your feet were landing. We were generally going against the flow of water so you were never scared of being swept forward, though there was sometimes the possibility of being swept backwards particularly if you lost footing at particular deep points.

3. Waterfall running where we were traversing up steep boulders and there was so much water flowing off the mountain that it felt like we were ascending a waterfall (climb from 6-7km towards Mt Van Dyke).

Warming up. This firetrail section was one of the only runnable parts of the course. (Photo source: Triple Top)

Such a relief to descend out of the weather and into the forest right at the end of the race. (Photo source: Triple Top)

The parts of the course not under water were either mud or rock. The mud was mainly below ankle depth but there were occasional mud pits which sucked your leg in up to the knee. We have these in Canberra but the frequency and the combination with other technical running during the race made them less laugh and more tear inducing. The rocks were all wet, and there were plenty of boulder scramble sections. I would have fricking loved this course in dry conditions, but overall with being unable to see my feet, being cold and having the diagonal rain in my eyes almost the whole race I cant say I was having a great time the whole race.

The descent from Mt Claude introduced some heath bashing, making the track really narrow and making it difficult to pass. This was probably the first scary technical section so I lost quite a bit of time before being able to overtake those more cautious on this descent. There was a really nice 400m of forest floor to run on before we started the climb up to Mt Van Dyke. I could tell from the elevation profile this climb was going to be steeper than Stockyard Spur in Namadgi National Park but not only was it steeper it consisted of scrambling up waist high boulders. There was also water streaming down though I later learned this was only a small volume of water. At about 10km we started running legit in a river such that I would have thought I was completely off course if not for the occasional piece of pink tape and occasional person. The rain eased a little bit for this section so my eyes stopped stinging and I could see the rocks a bit better. At 11 kilometres there was a crazy crossing of a fast flowing river/waterfall with no aids to cross. It was a race so I didn’t hesitate to forge across but there were a couple of people who stopped to observe it (probably the smarter option).

There was about a kilometre of boardwalk after some river running which was such a relief and meant we could warm up with some uninterrupted running. The boardwalk led to another very technical section of exposed rock with black tannin water and this is the part approaching Mt Roland where I was really really cold, my hamstring started to cramp and my peroneal tendons seized up near my ankles so I couldn’t flex my feet. I knew the descent started from kilometre 14 so just hung in there tripping my way through rocks and mud submerged under black water. At Mt Roland and many points along the was there are normally views but none during the race whatsoever.

Luckily before starting down ‘The Face’ scramble my hamstring warmed up a bit and was no longer cramping. The start of the descent was a 400m loss in 1km which is steep, but when you add in the fact you are descending boulders, some scree and some rock shales it is pretty sketchy. To my relief there was no waterfall so finally you could see where your feet were landing even if it was super technical. I was feeling a bit better at this point so overtook to be in position as second female then accelerated down the final 3.5km which had 500m of vertical loss. This part was through beautiful Tasmanian forest, protected a bit from the wind and with mossy logs, ferns and mud.

While I did finish as second female and I really did not have a great race. Being sick prior to the race and on race morning meant that the first 5km were terrible for me and I would say I was about in the middle of the runners on the course. By 5km my temperature might have improved as I started to feel a bit better and started to work through the field which continued for the rest of the race. By 14km I felt like I could actually push a little.

I was super grateful to be able to finish the whole course, as they had to divert many runners to the short course due to continually deteriorating conditions. I would love to give this race a crack again when I am well and in hopefully drier conditions. While it was an epic day to remember it is frustrating when you train for a race and then can’t even put anything like a good performance out there due to sickness.

Is Triple Top for you? Yes if:

· You would like something infinitely more technical than Buffalo Stampede courses

· You enjoy a long extremely technical descent to end a race

· You enjoy the gradient of Micks Track in Bright but wish it was twice as long and a bit more technical with more boulders and some scree chucked in for good measure.

Thank you Tasmania for the wild times. Tassie trails and weather are legit.