Athlete
Starting from Falls Creek, the 100 mile Alpine Challenge course ascends Victoria’s two highest mountains, Mt Bogong (1,986m) and Mt Feathertop (1,922m) as well as Mt Hotham, Mt McKay, Spion Kopje and Mt Nelse. The Alpine Challenge also has 100, 60, 42, 16 and 10 …
Uncertainty was the number one theme of 2021. Just when we thought COVID-19 was behind us, the Delta strain took hold in Australia, bringing with it further uncertainty and lockdowns. This was on top of the uncertainty of 2020 and brought with it an underlying …
The Great Southern Endurance Run (GSER) has built a reputation for being the most epic mountain race in Australia. Prior to 2021, the event was held biannually, originally starting from Bright, but then changing to a Harrietville start. The 100 mile, 50mile and 28km courses all start with a 1,500m climb up North West Spur to Mt Feathertop. The 100 mile course then continues along some of the most technical, spectacular and remote parts of the Australian Alps, going out all the way to the Viking. The most recent iterations of GSER have had some bad vibes, with some racers feeling a bit unsupported and disgruntled (not me, but going off comments from previous competitors). Cue 2021 and GSER has come back as an annual event with Matt and Megan from Ultra Endurance running a completely refreshed iteration of the race. While I have always had an eye on GSER I never had the opportunity to race it because it always fell right in the middle of Spartan championship racing season. I was looking for a post-Covid end of lockdown celebration race and was so excited when Victoria opened its borders to the ACT just in time.
Preparing for GSER
Mt Feathertop is one of Australia’s only legit mountains. Standing at 1,898m above sea level, it is Victoria’s second highest mountain, complete with jagged rocky ridgelines, and a summit that makes you feel like you are at the top of Australia (much more so than Mt Kosciusko does). While most of Australia’s highest mountains are conical or part of high plains, Mt Feathertop is a conversion of steep and jagged ridgelines reminiscent of European mountains. If you slip or trip on a rock above the tree line in this terrain you are guaranteed to slice open part of your body, because the rocks are that pointy and unforgiving. In bad weather you can easily die from exposure in the Mt Feathertop area. There is no shelter into this treeless landscape and you can easily be blown off the ridge before you can make it to the shelter of a hut. In 2018 I had been up Mt Feathertop in bad weather only to have to turn around 1km from the summit and then barely finding the track down Bungalow Spur in thick cloud and rain. I didn’t even see Federation Hut and had kept going along the Razorback before realising I must have gone by. This experienced scared me. As it should. You should not attempt to go up a mountain with a snow storm forecast, particularly by yourself. In November, at the end of shoulder season, ordinarily exposure to the sun and dehydration will be your worst enemy in the alps. So I had been doing a lot of purposeful running in the middle of unshaded firetrails to practice for that exposure.
I entered GSER on 31 October 2021, 13 days before the race when it was clear I could get to Victoria and back without having to quarantine. I thought I had left it last minute – but I subsequently learned that Lucy Clark had entered the night before – so she trumps me. I had been doing a higher volume of running during lockdown. However, I had then started off season where I was working on flat speed development (a weakness of mine). The point of the training block was to let my body recover from the high volume of the previous ten months, and improve my speed before starting to build volume and fitness in December for races in March 2022. I was running only four times a week with each session focused on quality (2xZ4/5, 1xZ3, 1 easy run), but I knew with the high volume of training I had done during lockdown I would be fine to complete the race and have fun. Two weeks before the race I did one long run with 1,300m of vert in 21km on technical mountain terrain, but that was it in terms of specific training. Except that one long run my ‘long runs’ had been capped at 80mins for the off season.
The race directors Matt and Megan were very careful about mountain safety. You have to qualify for GSER either by completing a race of similar distance and vertical gain or by providing your training to prove you can do the run. Matt and Megan also took compulsory gear seriously (appropriate given the circumstances). I packed and weighed my vest the week before and it weighed 6.5kg.
The weather and the consequences
Instead of the hot and exposed conditions I had expected, the forecast was for 10-20mm of rain with snow storms and -2 at Mt Feathertop, with 25km/hr winds. No one likes a hypothermic trail race. Yes, I have run on snow a total of seven times this year. I often run on mountains above 1,700m. But I would never even attempt to go out in those kinds of conditions. I had already had my hypothermic race of the year at Mt Buller Skyrun and wasn’t looking forward to another similar experience.
The 100 and 50mile courses were re-routed to do 6 and 3 laps respectively of the 28km course. Sounds sensible, but this meant that these racers were completing the NW Spur (1,462m vert) multiple times. NW Spur is widely regarded as the toughest vertical kilometre in Australia, being steeper and longer than Hannelss Spur in Kosciusko NP (apparently – though after doing it I still think Hannels is more technical and longer – but they must be close). Imagine signing up to do an out and back course only to be told you are doing loops of the most difficult part of the course. The 100 milers started at 7am on the Friday and they weathered the worst storm over night. Several of the racers had to warm up at Federation Hut under supervision of the medical team for hours before being warm enough to continue down Bungalow Spur. By Saturday morning the course was completely saturated, making the single trails which makes up 23km of the 28km course even more muddy and technical.
The race
Warming up I was surprised that although it was drizzling a little it was humid and 10 degrees. How pleasant. I was wearing shorts and a singlet at the start line and Megan came over to make sure I had all my gear in my pack. We were instructed to put on all our compulsory gear prior to leaving the tree line and at the very latest at MUMC hut. At the start line I was talking to this Dad and his 13 year old son who were doing the 28km together. Pretty impressive for a 13 year old to take on this course. I also talked to Justin Hiatt who would be starting the 50 mile race one hour after we started. I joked that I needed to get to the finish before he overtook me on his first lap.
The 28km distance had more females than men entered. This is a credit to Matt and Megan who really pushed female participation in the race, including by featuring women of GSER in their Instagram stories. All women received a women of GSER buff for free which was pretty cool. They even had a Women of GSER Spirit Award for showing strength, determination and support of others (awarded to Belle Campbell). Great to see women being so supported and supportive of each other.
The start was fast, as the first 5km goes along the sealed bike path that links Harrietville from Bright. Ran the first kilometre in 4 mins, then slowed a little, as I was really conscious I had not trained for this distance or this race, but I had been training on flat surfaces so there was a risk I would push this section too hard. So instead I ran controlled and talked to Katie Eisenhauer (who is from Jindabyne – I was pretty sure I had met her before – anyway we were talking). This is really uncharacteristic of me. I don’t normally chat to people during races because I am at close to lactate threshold, but at least I could tell I was running at a controlled exertion level. Kelli Emmerson was running up ahead. On reaching the ‘big trout’ outside Mountain Fresh Salmon Farm, we turned right up the Stony Creek Rd firetrail and finally onto the North West Spur track. The next 2.5km were a steady uphill following the fern lined creek. The creek was flush with water from the rain, the single trail damp underfoot and there were raindrops dripping in heavy globes onto our heads. There was a volunteer directing people across the river. You could cross the river or go a bit to the side to a log crossing. I went across the river as it appeared only ankle deep, saving time and also overtaking a couple of people. The trail then got muddier, thinner and off camber following the creek line some more. It was obvious that the race directors had cut away some of the blackberry bushes hanging over the trail, as these lesser used trails in the alps are normally much more overgrown. At this point local runner Jess Short and Katie came up behind me. Jess passed. We then went down a short but technical muddy section and back up again losing Katie. I learned that Jess is good at technical terrain both uphill and down and Katie is fast on the flat and uphill but not at technical downhill. Then out of nowhere Shivonne Sieber powered by, floating up the steep vert. She must have had a conservative start because I had not seen her at all until then (about 7km in). I talked to her after the race and she also crossed the river to save time rather than going to the log crossing. It was great to see such strong ladies on the climb. I was happy with my offseason climbing speed but I wasn’t pushing anywhere close to threshold which is what I would normally do on an uphill powerhike. I would like to say this is because I was having fun and this is the offseason, but the reality was more that I didn’t trust my body to make the distance being so underprepared for it. In retrospect this was a mistake. My body was totally fine and I should have trusted that meant I could push hard despite the lack of specific preparation. I should have been pushing hard uphill which is actually my strength and then being more conservative on the downhill if needed.
NW Spur did not disappoint. It got muddier and steeper as it went. You could see from the slide marks that it was not just me who was occasionally losing footing. I was in such a good mind set. So far there had not been heavy rain. It was warm and humid. I had already consumed two gels. My legs were strong. Towards the top of the steep climb I was following this guy in a purple waterproof. The track turned into a slightly gentler gradient and we emerged past out of Mountain Ash country into snow gum country. Just prior I had to stop and get out my waterproof jacket. My jacket has tight cuffs and fits tight. This enhances the ability of the fabric to do its job with breathability and also is lighter as I am not carrying excess fabric. But it also means I have to take off my pack and my watch to put it on. Next time I get a new waterproof I will have be investing in a bigger jacket that can go over my pack and doesn’t require me to take off my watch. I probably spend at least five mins during the race stopping for clothing changes. You have no idea how jealous I was of the people who simply reached into their packs without stopping and draped their waterproof over their shoulders and continued running. I want to be more like them.
Finally the MUMC hut came into view. I had not expected it to be on such an exposed shoulder. The hut is unusual, kind of shaped like a small observatory. Anyway, straight on we could see the towering Mt Feathertop with its jagged ridgeline. I love this part of mountain runs when you get above the tree line. It is so freeing. Except now we were facing pretty gusty winds and rocky and muddy terrain. After a short descent there was another steep climb before the track evened out to skirt around Feathertop to the shoulder. By now I realised I had a lot left in my legs and really regretted not pushing harder on the climb. I accelerated, overtaking purple jacket guy who I had been following for some time and starting the descent to Federation Hut. I decided to stop at Federation Hut to fill a soft flask but this probably was completely unnecessary. I should have spent that time taking off my waterproof jacket and retying my laces to reduce foot slide when descending. Instead I started the 10km descent down Bungalow Spur. Although the gradient is beautiful, the single trail was pretty chopped up and muddy and pretty technical in the first part. I knew I wouldn’t catch Kelli Emmerson (who finished first in 3:05) or Shivonne (who finished second in 3:06) but I if I really pushed it I thought I might catch Jess. Within two kilometres I had overtaken Jess. I told her to come with me as we might catch second place. Nothing like helping push the pace by working together. After about another kilometre of fast descending I had to stop and take off my jacket (remove pack, remove watch, stash jacket, put on watch, put on pack). In this time Jess overtook me. Then I overtook her again. I could really feel the friction blister on my right foot pad now but managed to make up time on Jess and was at least 500m away when we went past the photographer at a small creek crossing. Emerging off Bungalow Spur track I just had to stop to tighten my right shoe to help with the blister pain. Stopping on the down hill is such a big no because the time you lose in momentum is exponential to what you lose stopping on an uphill or flat. If I had tightened my shoes and stashed my jacket at federation hut I would have saved 2-3mins which is a lot on a downhill. Anyway after crossing the bridge and passing the finish line there was a flat 2km on the pavement. My blister was excruciating at this point. Luckily I had the guy I met on the descent (Jordan O’Neill) to follow and I got to the turn-around cone. Jordan has his whole family cheering and because I was close behind I also caught those vibes. Made it to the finish line with a little bit in the tank (3:15) but also so grateful for this celebration of surviving lockdown, and this opportunity to finally experience NW Spur.
More than the race
I will be getting a bit personal now, so you can stop reading if you are not into that. This marks over ten months of being injury free after two years of continuous injuries. The previous two years there is no way my body would have withstood a 28km mountain race, let alone doing such a race in the offseason without a proper build or taper. The fact my legs coped surprisingly well is a testament to what you can do when you are healthy and strong. It is also a testament to all of the rehab and single leg strength training I have done multiple times a week the whole year. A strong body can do so much. The race gave me so much confidence that I can now really push hard in races without worrying my body is going to fall apart, and it is such a relief. I had doubted many times I would ever get back to this point. Just shows if you make some changes to training, nutrition and training load and prioritise your health, it will return. If I can do a race like this during off season when I have been running only four times a week, this gives me so much confidence with what I can do after the summer pre-season build. It was also such a relief to have so much fun during a race. I know this was probably related to the fact I was not redlining like I normally would, but it has been a long time since I have run a race over 20km where my thoughts have been predominantly positive and I did not seriously contemplate pulling out of the race. All the work I have been doing to change the thought processes in my head during lockdown have actually started to pay off. So keen to continue the journey.
Shoutouts to:
· my family in Adelaide for taking lots of panicked phone calls about potentially dying in a snow storm and listening to me complain about the weight of the compulsory gear
· Lisa Aldo for the last minute advice about how to better pack my gear in my vest to prevent bouncing and make it more comfortable (this made a huge difference)
· Caine Warburton who helped me with my very short taper and shoe selection despite not officially coaching me anymore
· Race directors Matt and Megan for reviving this beauty of a race and genuinely caring about the safety of runners
· Endurance Medical Servicers who provided support not only in the festival area but also had several team members stationed at Federation Hut. They had to trek it up Bungalow Spur with all their first aid gear. I am sure it weighed a lot more than the 6kg of compulsory gear the runners were carrying.
· All the 100 milers who were out overnight in the worst conditions, and who had to complete six laps of the most gruelling course – that mental toughness is inspiring.
· Justin Hiatt for creating such good trial vibes on the Friday and Saturday and then going to win the 50 miles in a pretty inspiring way. Canberra represent.
· All the women who raced, and in particular all the women in the 28km – it is pretty rare in a trail race of this distance and difficulty for the number of female starters to outnumber the men.
Justin Hiatt, winner of the 50 miler, coming in to transition after his second lap.
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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.
Finish line – photo taken in daylight morning after race
Views from Kangaroo Point – morning after race
BTU30 presentations
2nd place trophy
Finisher’s medal and souvenir singlet
Terrain: mountain and off trail, also rides well on smoother trails and small sections of road Heel to toe drop: 5mm Stack height: 22.5-17.5mm Lug depth: 5mm (my estimate) Weight: 245g (size 8.5US women) Kilometres on shoe at time of review: 480km mainly on mountains …
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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.
Introduction The UTA22 course is a completely different and fresh course in 2021. Heavy on the single trail and technical running it will favour pure trail runners. The old course was a point to point predominantly on firetrail except the single trail on Federal Pass …