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The Northface 100 - observations and lessons
Posted by
plu
,
21 May 2012
·
536 views
Hi all,
The Northface 100 2012
This time of the year I am normally getting ready for the SMH Half but due to the foot injury I was not competing. Also Jenny and 16g do the Relay for Life on the Saturday night. It was a good opportunity to checkout the Northface 100.
I did a bit of online research and contacted a few people online and decided to go to CP4 at the Katoomba Aquatic centre and then the plan was to go to the finish. I decided to go to CP5 instead at the Queen Victoria Hospital. This way I would see more runners in daylight hours.
My plan was to visit a friend, previous Principal, at Leura and then head to CP4 around midday to see the front runners. I was hoping to be more than a spectator by taking photos and filming runners as they came in. My specific purpose was to record what they do in transitions and to try and catch the atmosphere for those runners back in the back who don't see the pointy end and for those who just don't understand running.
It was a beautiful day. I had to make sure I had warm gear nearby because if I did not want to go back to the car as I would miss runners once at the CPs. Next time I will take more food and water because I got caught out on that front over the 7 hours I was watching.
Here are the videos of the checkpoints:
http://www.youtube.c...ns?feature=mhee
I am going to borrow an idea from Campbell Maffett. He watched the Melbourne Ironman and made some interesting observations about how ironman competitors do their thing and I wanted to do the same for this trail ultra. My comments and observations relate to the top 20 finishers coming in at 65 km after 6 -7hours of running and 98 km after 9-10 hours of running.
1. It can be hard for the support crew to arrive at the CPs in time to support their runners. They have to be strategic in their decisions and their movement.
2. In the evening runners and their crew have remember to put on the pack before your reflective vest. Crews managed this for their tired runners.
3. Having your own crew does make a difference as the official support gets hectic as more runners come in.
4. There is a real amateur media focus and the majority of runners just ignore he cameras and the filming. I suspect it does modify behavioural at checkpoints.
5. If you are going to use social media to report back you have to have a system. Next time I will bring a laptop because I filled my flip camera, I need a car charger for my phone and will charge it between check puts. Copy into the iPhone and iPads memory the hash tags #tnf100 #fb for a quick paste at the end of the message. The # is difficult to get to ont he phone. Tell your non running friends and followers there will be a lot of running tweets and status updates today.
6. A lot of the front runners do not each much food. I only saw one runner eating food of real substance except for bananas.
7. Learn how to drink sports drinks and red bulls in one swoop.
8. The majority of runners stay on their feet in CPs or at the very least squat.
9. Some runners left their packs on their back trusting their crew to empty and refill with the needed items. Some just run through and just grab a second pack. Others put the pack n the ground and crew hands swooped on pockets , filling bladders while the runners drank and had small portions of food.
Great experience,
cheers Plu
The Northface 100 2012
This time of the year I am normally getting ready for the SMH Half but due to the foot injury I was not competing. Also Jenny and 16g do the Relay for Life on the Saturday night. It was a good opportunity to checkout the Northface 100.
I did a bit of online research and contacted a few people online and decided to go to CP4 at the Katoomba Aquatic centre and then the plan was to go to the finish. I decided to go to CP5 instead at the Queen Victoria Hospital. This way I would see more runners in daylight hours.
My plan was to visit a friend, previous Principal, at Leura and then head to CP4 around midday to see the front runners. I was hoping to be more than a spectator by taking photos and filming runners as they came in. My specific purpose was to record what they do in transitions and to try and catch the atmosphere for those runners back in the back who don't see the pointy end and for those who just don't understand running.
It was a beautiful day. I had to make sure I had warm gear nearby because if I did not want to go back to the car as I would miss runners once at the CPs. Next time I will take more food and water because I got caught out on that front over the 7 hours I was watching.
Here are the videos of the checkpoints:
http://www.youtube.c...ns?feature=mhee
I am going to borrow an idea from Campbell Maffett. He watched the Melbourne Ironman and made some interesting observations about how ironman competitors do their thing and I wanted to do the same for this trail ultra. My comments and observations relate to the top 20 finishers coming in at 65 km after 6 -7hours of running and 98 km after 9-10 hours of running.
1. It can be hard for the support crew to arrive at the CPs in time to support their runners. They have to be strategic in their decisions and their movement.
2. In the evening runners and their crew have remember to put on the pack before your reflective vest. Crews managed this for their tired runners.
3. Having your own crew does make a difference as the official support gets hectic as more runners come in.
4. There is a real amateur media focus and the majority of runners just ignore he cameras and the filming. I suspect it does modify behavioural at checkpoints.
5. If you are going to use social media to report back you have to have a system. Next time I will bring a laptop because I filled my flip camera, I need a car charger for my phone and will charge it between check puts. Copy into the iPhone and iPads memory the hash tags #tnf100 #fb for a quick paste at the end of the message. The # is difficult to get to ont he phone. Tell your non running friends and followers there will be a lot of running tweets and status updates today.
6. A lot of the front runners do not each much food. I only saw one runner eating food of real substance except for bananas.
7. Learn how to drink sports drinks and red bulls in one swoop.
8. The majority of runners stay on their feet in CPs or at the very least squat.
9. Some runners left their packs on their back trusting their crew to empty and refill with the needed items. Some just run through and just grab a second pack. Others put the pack n the ground and crew hands swooped on pockets , filling bladders while the runners drank and had small portions of food.
Great experience,
cheers Plu
