BTU110k Saturday Oct 3 2020 5:30am. Recap from Coach Andy.
This is my race recap. I’ve highlighted the things that stand out for me from the day. A lot goes on in 12 hours of running. I need to add a huge thank you to the event organisers and volunteers from among others the Bunya Belles and Bunyaville Trail Runners, Springfield Runners Group, Brisbane Trail Runners and Riverside runners.
I live less than 2km from the start of this event. A luxury that meant I could sleep a little longer and get to the start just in time to pick up my GPS tracker and get weighed in. Ok lets go:
Weigh in: an ultra-running safety thing. We are to be weighed again at the 44k checkpoint and can’t have lost more than 3% body weight or put on weight or we will have to stay at the checkpoint until they decide we are fit to continue. I’m worried about losing too much weight as I sweat a lot. Starting weight 72kg.
A short wait until the start. 50 entrants in the 110k race, starting in waves of 5-10 due to coronavirus so it’s a small group on the line. We do the usual start line sizing up. I recognise Hayley Teale the favourite (and eventual winner) for the women’s race, Tom Brimelow who I’ve raced before and expect to be my main competition and Alec a guy who joined us for an interval session at RunCo back in June/July.
Out too fast: We’re off - a quick lap of a field and then onto a little rocky single trail. We clear out to just a group of 3 quite quickly. Tom, me and a guy named Shaun. Tom and I chat while Shaun leads us through the first section of relatively flat trail around the Enoggera Reservoir. We’re rolling quite fast but all feeling good, we have no excuses for what this costs us later, like rookie marathoners who come out of taper and feel amazing for the first 10k only to completely crash at 35k of a 42.2. We’re all a little to blame, I don’t know Shaun, but he lead’s and we follow, he’s flowing down the hills, looking relaxed. We walk the steep hills –but I am jogging a lot while Tom tries to be sensible and hike. We head towards checkpoint 1 (13km) as a group, Tom has a quick stop and leaves Shaun and I fluffing around, I wonder if we’ll see him again or if he’s just gapped us for the first and last time.
Waterstop 1. I’m running low on water already and hanging to refill my bottles. I come across a random camper who for some reason has a flag up next to their tent. I think this must be the waterstop, but all they seem to have is a kettle on a table and no one is around. Do I “knock” on the tent? Quick decision and I’m off running again. Luckily the real waterstop is another few km along the trail.
Ryan Crawford: I come back up to Tom and as he continues his sensible hiking of the hills I move into the lead. Its not long before we start to reel in the 100 milers who started half an hour ahead of us. I recognise Ryan Crawford prerace favourite (check out his story Ryan Crawford on Run Queensland or google him). This guy has quickly become a legend due to racing everything that’s going and running 40km + a day in training. He’s not having a great day today though, I pay some quick respects, he tells me he’s not feeling it and will just enjoy the day out to focus on his next big event in a couple of weeks. You’ve got to respect someone who is prepared to push the limits so far.
Mount Jolly’s (wee stop): We run a couple of little loops around Mount Jolly’s look out. Gillian who has been training with RunCo is there, it’s great to see the familiar face and get some encouragement. I’m looking out for Tom and Shaun as I run the loops and spot Tom not far behind, but no sign of Shaun. The course runs right past a toilet block, so I pop in for a wee! (important details as I’m very happy with the well-placed course). Onwards to checkpoint 2.
Checkpoint 2 (44km) weigh in: I’m slightly ahead of schedule as I approach checkpoint 2 so it’s a relief to get a toot from Paulie (my wife) and the kids in the car as I come out onto the road. They’ll get to the checkpoint just in time to see me and give me a cheer as I head out on the next leg. At the checkpoint I weigh in just under 70kg which puts me pretty close to 3% but I’m told that I’m ok to go. Yes!! Refill bottles, grab gels and bars, cram a banana and go.
Detour: Heading back up the road I see an arrow and think it’s weird that it’s pointing down what looks like a big driveway… but that’s where it points so that’s where I go. I get a few hundred metres down and have the sense to check my watch navigation… wrong way! I turn back and power up to the corner, this has cost me 3 or 4 minutes and in the context of the race Tom could be in front of me by now, there’s no way to know.
Strava segment owner: Another looping section and I see a figure up ahead that I’d been expecting as Shona (event organiser) mentioned he would be out today. I recognise him from his Strava profile pic as he has commented on my runs. He’s a segment owner – which for non Strava users is someone who is very proud of the course records they have on the app and doesn’t like to lose them. No threat today I think to myself.
Township break: It’s not long until I reach township break, the steepest descent on the course. It’s a long rocky slippery section that needs to be respected. They’ve put ropes in for us today to help but it is still so steep and slippery I’m extra careful and slow. As I descend I pass a man who is out training on his hiking poles and ask him if he has seen anyone in the race, he tells me he has seen a couple of people – am I behind? I’m a little skeptical but have to assume that one is Tom. I know the other isn’t Shaun because I’d seen him not long before on a loop. I survive the descent and begin to crawl up the other side when Tom comes flashing down the slope behind me! 1) He’s behind! 2) He got down that a lot quicker than I did. We’re back together but he’s wrecked his toenails.
Shoes: At this point I realise that we’re in a similar boat with our shoes and not in a good way. We both happen to be wearing the Nike Terra Kiger 6 that we’d both picked up for a bargain on sale from the Nike website. Great trail shoes but not the best forefoot cushioning, something we really needed in a race with around 4000m of descending. At least I knew that every time my feet and quads were jarring as I went downhill I wasn’t alone.
Looking over my shoulder: Tom doesn’t quite catch me as I come out the other side of Township break and this turns out to be the last time I see him. Of course I’m certain he is just behind me the whole race. So certain I spend the next 60kms constantly looking over my shoulder on long stretches of trail, trying to see where he is. It never occurs to me to get out my phone and check where he is on the live tracker. I just assume he is there.
Attrition. It’s getting hot, really hot. I’ve been drinking Gatorade and eating every 30 minutes, alternating gels and bars but my stomach is starting to rebel after 50km or so. I’m getting little side stitches and doing a lot of burping. Forcing burps is a great strategy for relieving the stitch and slightly more acceptable than farting when you’re in a race with other people. But it’s getting hard to eat. My quads are hurting as well now so the long descents that should be perfect for making up time are worse than the hills. It’s become a battle and I have the word “Attrition” coming into my head, followed by “Survive” and “Just Finish”. Its somewhere in this section between Mount Nebo and Gold Creek Reservoir that I realise I’d be helpless to race if Tom or anyone else came past. I’d just have to watch them go.
Full body cramp? Gold Creek Checkpoint 6 (71km): I am so happy to see the reservoir and I know that Paulie and the kids will be there because I am far from early. Paulie tells me afterwards she was a bit worried because I was early for CP2 and then late for this one. I tell her I’m just going to try and finish and not worry about the race. Her response: “Nah you’ve got this! You’ll be fine” which jolts me slightly because she doesn’t sound worried at all. It is so so good to see them. The kids have cheerleader pom-poms and come out to run next to me for 200 metres which is good for my spirit. I get a bag of ice from Paulie and put it under my hat… sooo nice!! I reload my gels and bars including some different ones from the aid table to try and get some variety. While I’m doing this a guy is screaming like he’s been stabbed behind me. One of the volunteers tells me that it is cramp... apparently full body convulsions or something along those lines, I’m in great shape compared to him. No time to hang around – Tom could be just behind me!
Counting down the Ks. Salt: The next checkpoint is 20km away. By this stage I’ve started counting down the Ks to the finish. The problem is when you’re looking at over 40km to go it’s not very helpful. At 30km to go I know I can finish – it might take a long time but I’ll get there. The pain and fatigue have stabilised now to constant but manageable… I’m eating a lot less – just running on energy stores mostly and caffeine. I start getting into my salt tablets at this stage to ward off cramps – these are probably one of my best additions to the nutrition plan. The mental battle is still going strong… as I fatigue I find myself walking on flat sections and immediately thinking “you can’t walk here Tom will catch you!” but walking none the less. Its between these two checkpoints that I decide to take off my singlet. Another great choice as the breeze is constant and feels amazing.
Kokoda: I’ve been dreading a section called the Kokoda track having been up and down it in training runs. It connects the Gap Creek section with Mount Coot-tha. It is brutally steep and very cruel to have at 80+ kms into a race, thanks Cora and Shona. As I approach the base I catch up with a runner in the 60km event and say “here we go!”. He is from out of town and oblivious to what is just ahead. We hit the steep slopes and ascended together, passing another poor 60km runner suffering from calf cramps halfway up with no place to go but the rest of the way up. I offer some salt which I think reminds him to eat his own salt that he has on him. My out of town friend and I reach the top together, congratulate each other and I carry on knowing that the worst climb of the day is done and it is mostly downhill from here.
Shoe change: I’ve made the last checkpoint! 91km down 20km to go. I scull half a Red Bull, poor cold water all over myself load up a few more gels and most importantly change into some Nike Pegasus Turbo 2’s with over 600km of wear in them that are half a size bigger than the Kigers. They feel great, cushioned but not unstable due to the amount of wear and less crammed. I’m pretty happy with myself and this shoe choice. Paulie and the kids are there again as well as friends Paul (RunCo coach) and Chris. Familiar faces are good. The volunteers at this one are full of beans. I get moving as quickly as I can, taking a slight wrong turn as I leave and once again being saved by the watch navigation. Is Tom just behind me? I don’t ask and no one tells me.
Goals: I’d set 3 goals for myself going into the event:
1) Finish,
2) Top 3,
3) Win.
I’m starting to think about winning now. I’m confident I’ll achieve goal 1 and 2 but I know that if someone runs past me, I won’t be able to do anything because I have been on my limit for 6 hours. Once again, I find myself walking on flat sections and looking over my shoulder. I have no idea that Tom is a good 30 – 40 minutes behind by this point. “Keep running and you might actually win!”
Lost Singlet: It’s in this last section of trail that I drop my singlet. I’m stuffing around with water bottles and salt tablets and the next thing I notice my singlet has fallen out of my pocket. It’s a precious new RunCo singlet but I don’t know how far back it is and in my mind I can’t afford to go back searching for it. I’m also cramping badly in my calves and every time I trip over a rock it is triggered. I figure someone will find it and it will be good marketing for RunCo. I don’t expect Gillian, who I mentioned earlier to message me a photo of it the next day after she finds it out on the trail! Amazing.
You’re going to win: Finally I break out onto the road section and it’s about 10km to go. I’m rolling a little better now ticking the kms over in the Peg turbos starting to enjoy it just a little. The roads are busy with a football game on at Suncorp Stadium but its pretty plain sailing down to Milton and onto the river. I catch another 60km runner, he is walking on a flat section and so I give him a “nearly there”. 2 minutes later he passes me walking (suffering from nasty stomach cramps) and returns the favour with a cheeky “nearly there”. Deep breaths, stretch out my stomach, it works. With 3km to go I finally let myself have the win. I’ve been in front for a good 60-70km but its only now that I believe I won’t be caught and can stop looking back.
I’ve won. I run through the big Red Bull arch and the finish line tape and take the win. Wired, exhausted, in disbelief I’m met by Paulie and the kids + Chris and Paul and the helpful volunteers. I crash into a chair stunned, winner BTU110k 2020.
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