99 replies to this topic

[PiledHigherq]

Just putting my hand up to say that I'm in.

Can't believe that we are a wqeek out and no threads?

PiledHigher

[laotze]

So am I, with RB RMC and another as yet non CR.  But too busy with Six Foot Track until now.

And also too scarred by Six Foot to contemplate twice as far, what ever the time it takes.

But, as you have started the ball rolling...BRING IT ON

[chilliman]

I'll be cheering a few of the teams on again friday evening along the trail  until Women on the Run come through, hoping to go sub15 this year. Go Girls !

Good luck too guys, I expect your team awiseman to be in close competition.

Teams can be followed here on the day as the event unfolds.

We also spotted Milsy from Paris Hilton and AI fame in training last weekend at Sassafras <_<

[Bandanna]

We're flying down from Sydney to take on the Mexicans  

16 hours is the aim (looking to take out the Banking Division), together with CR Seris who just ran Tokyo Marathon.

Don't have a clue what the Melbourne course is like (have done 6 Sydney Trailwalkers though).

Spoke to awiseman at the start of 6 FT on Saturday, I was under strict instructions from rest of the team to treat 6 FT as a training hit-out, so did a very leisurely 5:50 and no regrets - legs feel good.

Will be wearing CR Tri-top.

See ya all at the 7am start  

Team 162 ANZ Market Movers

[RMC]

Yeh as Awiseman said team 501 Ultra Runners is the one to follow. Feel free to donate funds. A leisurely 100k next Friday.

Edited by RMC, 15 March 2007 - 05:04 PM.

[rohan]

i'm crewing for the "sole sisters"..

aiming at 40-42hours. (which includes a stay in a b&b!)

[Magnus M]

Good luck Bandanna, RMC and awiseman but i think this is the team to follow.  Pity they mispelt my name.

Edited by Magnus M, 16 March 2007 - 08:22 AM.

[PiledHigherq]

For the record:

Team 32 How good is this? Target 14hrs

http://www2.oxfam.or...lbourne/team/32

[RMC]

Magnus M, on Mar 16 2007, 09:18 AM, said:

Good luck Bandanna, RMC and awiseman but i think this is the team to follow.  Pity they mispelt my name.

Magnus nice to see you teaming up with a couple of Western States 100 miler entrants in David and Scott.  

[pbig]

I'll be there, Team 533, Carsales.com.au - teamspace.

Sure is coming up quickly, weather looking ok at this stage...

Showers
18°C - 24°C
15°C - 23°C


... but the forecast has already changed 3 4 times since yesterday, so I'm not cheering too loudly just yet, especially with Thursday's forecast being 31C.

Good luck to all teams, see you out there.

[milov]

hey All,

anyone reading this thread and worried that they might miss out on the fun... our team of experienced trailwalkers is short one member! Anyone up for 15 hours?

milov

[seris]

Hey Bandanna, Glad you didn't go any faster at 6ft.. I was under STRICT instructions from one of our team members NOT to do it.... So you reckon we're in for 16 hours...... maybe you have a different weather website you can share with me. FRI  Showers Late. Mostly Cloudy. Warm. Humid. with a high of 30. Not quite the same as Tokyo (5 degrees C) last month, apart from rain..... Hope the trail is well signposted for us Sydneysiders? See you Thursday evening:drinks:

[Bandanna]

seris, on Mar 19 2007, 12:18 PM, said:

Hey Bandanna, Glad you didn't go any faster at 6ft.. I was under STRICT instructions from one of our team members NOT to do it.... So you reckon we're in for 16 hours...... maybe you have a different weather website you can share with me. FRI  Showers Late. Mostly Cloudy. Warm. Humid. with a high of 30. Not quite the same as Tokyo (5 degrees C) last month, apart from rain..... Hope the trail is well signposted for us Sydneysiders? See you Thursday evening:drinks:

Seris - I think it is Pat (our fearless team leader) who has boldly predicted a 16 hour finish for our team!

Was it Pete who told you not to do 6 Foot? Bet you were chomping at the bit though, it was a perfect day for a nice run out there in the Mountains. Well done the both of you on running Tokyo.

Don't know much about Melbourne weather. Apparently 4 seasons in a day is not unusual.....

As to sign-posting and map reading, I will be following in your footsteps, as it is common knowledge I am navigationally challenged. Only just now discovered where the start is  

See you at the airport on Thursday.

[PiledHigherq]

Weather update!

Friday        Change developing.                     Min 21    Max 33
Saturday      Few showers.                           Min 17    Max 24
Sunday        Becoming fine.                         Min 13    Max 21

Not the ideal day Friday for the runners!

[courtlylove]

I'm crewing for a colleague from work and his team, so I'll look out for all the other CRs on the day to cheer you on. I'll wear my CR cap, as the team have bought me a Trailwalker top to wear.

CL

[chilliman]

courtlylove, on Mar 19 2007, 10:04 PM, said:

the team have bought me a Trailwalker top to wear.

Blasphemy   May see you out there CL

Edited by chilliman, 20 March 2007 - 12:00 PM.

[Greg]

Good luck Melb Trailwalkers. All going well you'll be back in your own beds by midnight on Friday :-)

I am not doing Syd TW in 07
I am not doing Syd TW in 07
I am not doing Syd TW in 07

May you all finish with your team in tact, physically and mentally, and more importantly as friends.

One step at a time.

[PiledHigherq]

PiledHigherq, on Mar 18 2007, 10:39 PM, said:

Weather update!

Friday        Change developing.                     Min 21    Max 33
Saturday      Few showers.                           Min 17    Max 24
Sunday        Becoming fine.                         Min 13    Max 21

Not the ideal day Friday for the runners!

Friday        Cool change later.                     Min 21    Max 33
Saturday      Few showers.                           Min 17    Max 21
Sunday        Becoming fine.                         Min 13    Max 21

Updated!

[Ultraphil]

Good luck to all. hope the weather stays good!

[Jogger]

I have renamed the thread - this is the SIXTH Melbourne 07 thread !

[laotze]

I liked the old name; it didn't have that flavour of wanting to dominate like the six foot threads.

[Bailey]

Good Luck to all of you.  I have stuck my hand up to volunteer on this event and will be at the finish line from midnight at Friday to 9am Saturday morning printing and handing out certificates to the all of you great achievers and then on marshall duty at checkpoint 8 between 11am to 4pm on Saturday.  It does not leave much room for sleep or rest so I could possibly be as wary as all you competitors but will be there to cheer anyone and everyone on.

[PiledHigherq]

awiseman, on Mar 20 2007, 03:04 AM, said:

I liked the old name; it didn't have that flavour of wanting to dominate like the six foot threads.

Maybe we would have stayed on the front page if we had called it:

Trailwalker Mel 07 - the 6ft thread!

[milov]

Greg, on Mar 19 2007, 09:47 PM, said:

Good luck Melb Trailwalkers. All going well you'll be back in your own beds by midnight on Friday :-)

I am not doing Syd TW in 07
I am not doing Syd TW in 07
I am not doing Syd TW in 07

May you all finish with your team in tact, physically and mentally, and more importantly as friends.

One step at a time.

Sounds like someone who is going to do Syd TW in 07

[RMC]

The weather will certainly play a big part in Friday and the weekends trailwalker.

Fri - rain developing - 21c to 33c
Sat - rain - 17c to 21c

Looks like it will be a wet and sticky one !

[RMC]

Here's some of the Melbourne Trailwalker teams which have coolrunners in them. The 100k run starts 7am Friday for about a third of the field.

Team#
501 - RMC, RB, Awiseman
32   - Piledhigherq
253 - Magnus, chefsontherun
162 - Bandanna, Seris
533 - pbig
179 - milov, kelvin, ack

[ack]

I don't believe it!!!

They've cut out the best bit!

Due to the total fire ban they have cut out the section between CP3 and CP4. Now its pretty much an 88.5km downhill race......

[undercover brother]

good luck guys.
the heat will be bearable.
the rain refreshing.
but no uphills? how could they be so cruel?

[Black Hole]

ack, on Mar 22 2007, 06:38 PM, said:

I don't believe it!!!

They've cut out the best bit!

Due to the total fire ban they have cut out the section between CP3 and CP4. Now its pretty much an 88.5km downhill race......

Don't think you could call it a race ....more like a schamozzle !

Teams will be able to spend as much time as they like getting car lifted from CP3 to CP4 with the clocks stopped whilst in transit.
I reckon you should go home have a nice bath/massage come back when the cool change hits ! .... ofcourse you'll have no idea where you are placed in the event though!

[Pasty]

Makes you wonder whether they have this event at the "right" time.
Last year it was blizzards shortening the race, this year it is a Total Fire Ban.

The dissapointment of many teams last year will be repeated again unfortunately.

[chilliman]

An update has just come through here.

Current top 20 teams at 12:42

 1242.png   128.38K   26 downloads

Edited by chilliman, 23 March 2007 - 11:46 AM.

[chilliman]

Top 20 at 14:50

Go Women on the Run, up to 10th now, not far behind Kelvin, Milov and Ack. Magnus still in 2nd. Boy must be a warm one out there, currently 36 degrees.

 1450.png   132.61K   28 downloads

[plu]

I just heard that one of Bandana's team members has pulled out - PT.

Sounds like it is a hot one.

PLu

[Pasty]

Good effort from Groin Sprains - Damon Goerke finished the Keen 5 day Adventure race on Saturday and he is out racing again today.  

From memory it was about this hot in 2005?  I can vividly remember lying on the side of the Warburton Trail as my training partner ran past me - and then I passed him a few hours later while he was lying beside the trail.

I am sure there will be some stories to tell - there seems to be a lot of people pulling out in the top few teams.

[Kelvin]

Damned hard day, very hot, and then very wet going to the last checkpoint.
Reckon the beer at Checkpoint 7 & 8 were just what i wanted, as we by necessity spent alot of time at some checkpoints i swear i have never eaten so much during one race (something like 10 slices of bread, 3 mars bars, 4 Gus  2 apples and 2 packets of chips).
Have had a shower and feel i should be out there again, but instead will drive to somewhere year Albury and head on to Coffs tomorrow (Hope the Nike Frees Dry for Red Rocks !!!),
Kelvin

[Becky O]

Just checked the results. How cool is it that a team of girls took out first place. Well done to Bandana's team who finished in 18th place.

[ack]

Kelvin, on Mar 23 2007, 11:19 PM, said:

i swear i have never eaten so much during one race (something like 10 slices of bread, 3 mars bars, 4 Gus  2 apples and 2 packets of chips).

Kelvin, you forgot to add the Ice cream on the way to CP8.

It was good to have you and Milov on the team. Sorry you guys had to be slowed down so much later in the event by Jun's leg cramps and my dodgey stomach....

It was the first time I had done a long race at such a high temperature. Someone was saying it got to 36 degrees!

I also noticed that we got bumped down one place by a 10AM start team!

[RMC]

Certainly was a tough event given the 37 deg temps. For me I became dehydrated after about checkpoint 2 and then it was a battle to regain fluid intake. I soldiered on until the rain came around 7pm not long before checkpoint 8 (80k). That last 9k section was not nice in the wet given the steep hills and mud but actually it was the best I felt for the entire race. I certainly seemed to come good in the cooler weather.

All 4 of us in team "ultrarunners" finished (adjusted time of a bit under 16hrs). The result placing is a bit out given not all 4 team members finished in lots of teams. I think I've worked out we came about 17th place of the teams where all 4 finished.

[ack]

And I have just been told that we were 5th to finish as a complete team.

Interesting the results summary doesn't show that. You only find out when you look at each team individually.

That also puts Groin Sprains second as a complete team....

[laotze]

The people who sponsored me certainly got their money's worth.  It was supposed to be 100 kilometres, but because it was a day of total fire ban one 11.5 section was closed, so we only had to cover 88.5 kilometres.  It was without doubt the hardest run, possibly the hardest physical demands I've ever endured.

To start with, the night before, the minimum overnight temperature was 24.5 degrees.  Then on the day the maximum temperature in Melbourne was 37.5.  When we started at 7 am, at Jell's park in Waverley it was already 27 and humid.  The course went from there along a valley East, and then over hills to Belgrave, then down to Ferntree Gully (then the missing section, thank God, because it was the biggest climbs - or so I thought.)  We then ran from Olinda to Sylvan in the Yarra valley, and then along the Yarra Valley rail trail to Warburton.  Then...well, I'll come to the then later.

There were over 500 teams in all, some intent on running, some prepared to walk, even camp along the way, and take a couple of days to finish.

The course consisted of ten stages (reduced to nine) and as a team event the team had to check in together at each checkpoint.  Without four members of the team there you could not check in and keep going as a team.  My team comprised Rob Boyce, (RB)an an experienced ultra runner (24 and 48 hour events and off road ultras also.  He is training for the Western States 100 (miles) in the Sierra Nevadas in California.)  Paul Ban, who did the Comrades 90 kilometres the year before last) Richard McCormack (RMC) who also has a lot of ultra experience and is aiming for Western states also, and me. Who has never run beyond 68 kilometres before.

Our aim was to finish in under 13 hours.

Unfortunately Richard had hydration problems early, and by checkpoint 3 he was doing it hard.  The day got hotter, it becaume a reall struggle for all of us, and we got slower and slower.  I was determined to run as much of it as I could - and some hills just weren't runnable, and there was galloping ahead as we had to check in as a team at each checkpoint.  There were other teams on the trail, and I'd pass some of them, and then they'd pass us, and then after the next checkpoint I'd pass them again.  We started off up towards a top ten finish, but gradually slipped back down the field. Banadanna's team was around about where we were for quite a while, but slipped ahead eventually, I think.   We'd even seen Kelvin early, and Magnus, but off course they were over the hills and far awy before too long.

However, the attrition rate climbed, and team after team lost one or two runners.  Although Richard was struggling, he kept going, so we were still intact at the eighth and last checkpoint before the finish.  Frankly, it was a remarkable effort as he must have felt a lot worse than I did, and I did not feel too flash at all.

There had been a forecast for a late cold front and rain, but aside from a bit of wind, it stayed hot until after 6.30 in the evening.  By now it was gathering dusk.  So we put on our headlights and prepared for the darkness.

Then came the rain.  Great torrents of it.  Thunderous showers that soaked us through.  Poor Richard was still heading towards checkpoint 8, while we were there, able to shelter, but knowing the last section was going to be wet, and possibly cold.  By this stage Rob had developed blisters on his heels and ruthlessly piercing them he strapped them up and kept going.  I was in remarkably good shape (or so I thought)  I was still running most of each section, and aside from the nail on my big toe, that had been jammed into the toe of my shoe on the downhills (and was turning a lighter shade of purple) and some mildly developing blisters or bruises on my heels, I felt sort of ok.   But not a lot of energy left in the tank, and my legs were getting rather tired, and my stomach felt like I'd consumed an echidna whole.

So, the theory was that after the last check point, team effort aside, it was every man for himself.  I headed out along the railtrail towards Warburton, in the rain, and dark, headlight bobbing up and down.  I knew Rob had been running and walking so I thought if I ran all the way to Warburton I could open up a gap and then hold him off on the last six kilometre section over Little Billie Mountain and down to the finish.  To my surprise, he also ran all the way and at the foot of Little Billie, he was right with me.

And Paul had slipped away from the last checkpoint and was in front of us. I don't know who named Little Billie, but I'd hate to see Big Billie.  The trail was a slippery narrow track climbing interminably up towards the stars.  The trail was now marked by little glow sticks, that you could see from about fifty metres away.  Each one appeared to be the top, but as you approached it, there appeared another one even higher.

I caught Paul going up here, and Rob caught us both.  We reached the top of the hill together and Rob said there was just one more shortish climb then a steep descent to the finish.  By this stage I could still manage a shuffling run on flat ground, but not up hill.  And the 'short climb' turned out to be bigger than Little Billie, and up a newly graded fire road.  Did I mention it was raining?  The fire road was mud, about five centimetres deep, over the top of clay.  In no time each foot looked like chocolate muffin and weighed about five kilograms.  Each step was up, back or sideways, slip. slide, stumble, stagger on.  Although it was raining, it had not cooled down as much as I'd have liked.  Still humid and oppressive.

Rob pulled away.  Paul fell behind.  I had to stop to rest.  A lovely big stump appeared, so I sat on it for a minute to recover my breath.  And before I knew it, I was having a little nap.    I know, I was letting my sponsors down, sleeping on the job, but it was only perhaps fifteen seconds, although I felt as if I could have easily just lie down in the mud and slept until morning.  But I didn't.  I got going again, up and up and up.  Until at last, the trail went down.

And down like a cliff - slipping, sliding, stumbling down now, my big toe nail screaming in pain, my heels shrieking every time they hit a stone, or a stick, or hard ground. I finally got a glimpse of the finish, about a kilometre away.   I looked at my watch - we had been on the track for nearly fifteen hours!  Perhaps with a super effort I got finish under fifteen hours.  I forgot the pain and hurtled down the slope.  The track now ran down a wide clearing in the bush, grassy on the sides, but still slippery stoney mud on the track.  I opted for the grassy slope on the left.  Then there was a cyclone wire fence across the open clearing.  The glow sticks wend down the right side, but I was over on the left.  There was a gate - locked.  But with my last dregs of energy I climbed over it and dropped to my feet on the other side.  Agony!  But off I went again fast, cutting across the open clearing towards the glowsticks on the right.  Only about fifty metres to the bottom.

Then; Wham!  My shins hit something that pulled my up dead - or rather pulled my feet up dead, and I went flying forward, crashed to earth, and thought I'd broken both legs.    I shone my headlight back and there running across the clearing was a row of low posts with a cable slung between them.  I looked at my shins - blood and mud now.  But I could stand up.  I could even hobble.  I got to the flat ground.  Then I discovered that to get to the finish I had to deviate right and run virtually half way around a football oval.

I ran then; knowing a sub fifteen hour finish was out of the question, but just wanting to finish.  And I did, at 15 hours 6 minutes.  there was Chilliman greeting the CRs and taking photos.

Rob had got under fifteen hours, and Paul was about 20 minutes behind me.  Richard came in about forty minutes later and finally as a team we checked in.  Under sixteen hours.

I tried a beer, but could only drink half.  Then I started to shiver.  Time to get wrapped up, and head for Home, via Jell's park to drop Paul and Richard back to their cars.  I got back to home at about 2 am.  So I had been up at five o'clock, running/walking for fifteen hours, and awake , except for fifteen seconds, for 21 hours.

It is now Saturday, and I've slept, eaten, and I heading back to bed.

I don't think I'll do this one again.

However, it was a great experience, and the atmosphere was terrific.  All those volunteers, and other teams - cheerful, supportive, friendly.  and for a good cause.

Maybe, when I recover, and there is guarantee that it won't be so hot...

[chilliman]

Becky O, on Mar 24 2007, 09:04 AM, said:

How cool is it that a team of girls took out first place.

Yep top effort by the Divas !
For the record Magnus and Dave (Maui Jims) were held at check point 8 for 45mins as they were down to 2 team members running in 1st. They were allowed to run on with the girls to the finish and let them take line honours as the first  team of 4.


Nice report Awiseman, and a top effort by all who ran in that heat !

It will be interesting seeing the resorted results as there were quite a few incomplete teams finishing in the top 30 that I saw last night.

Great stuff by:
Magnus and Dave on a training run in 10:50
pbig's team finishing with (2) runners in 12:42 with pbig pulling out but running the last leg.
Kelvin, Ack, Milov and Jun (4) finishing in 13:16
Bandana and Seris` team with (3) in 13:58
Women on the run CR cankles finishing (4) in 14:11
RB, awiseman, RMC, Paul in 15:47

Nice to meet you briefly Bandana coming into CP8, we will have to talk chilli's some more

Will upload a few photo's on monday.

[Ultraphil]

well done Awiseman. Sounds like it was tough!

Do the Divas have any previous ultra experience? Hope there was an AURA Rep at the finish to give them a membership form?  

[laotze]

Ultraphil, on Mar 24 2007, 08:03 PM, said:

well done Awiseman. Sounds like it was tough!

Do the Divas have any previous ultra experience? Hope there was an AURA Rep at the finish to give them a membership form?  

Thanks Phil.

Go on the Trailwalker website and click on the team.  I think you'll recognize at least one of the names of the Divas as a well peformed ultra runner.  And now they all are.

[Maggot]

"Great stuff by:
Magnus and Dave on a training run in 10:50
pbig's team finishing with (2) runners in 12:42 with pbig pulling out but running the last leg.
Kelvin, Ack, Milov and Jun (4) finishing in 13:16
Bandana and Seris` team with (3) in 13:58
Women on the run CR cankles finishing (4) in 14:11
RB, awiseman, RMC, Paul in 15:47"

My team 'Running Upstream' came in 8th in 12:51 behind pbig's team, although we lost a runner at Silvan Dam due to cramps caused by the heat.
I agree there should be some form of acknowledgement in the results for teams bringing it home with all four team members intact. Still, with the extreme conditions yesterday, even finishing solo would have been a fair effort.

[Ultraphil]

Thanks Awiseman for pointing me in the right direction!

[rohan]

sole sisters (wife's team) came in 505th.

lots more teams than usual pulled out. (about 50 but the figures are rubbery at the moment)

glad they took 10hrs off the trail over the first night. (stayed at a B& missed a lot of the rain, which enable an inexperienced team to finish in reasonable condition.

whole thing overshadowed by a call one of them received in the middle of the night. her 12yo son had died. naturally she pulled out.

what can you do. what can you say.

[Ultraphil]

Well done to your wife Rohan.

[RMC]

Nice report Awiseman. You guys looked like you were doing it easy, didn't realise how difficult you found it. Just goes to show the strengths of different runners, I came good when the sun went down, which gives me a bit more confidence going into Western States.

Looks like we WON the Over 40 age group by just 3 minutes. Category results here. Lucky I passed a few teams in the last hour !

[nicwiltor1]

hey well donw to all involved.
Just wondering whether anyone else goe readings of 12.5k for the first stage.
I used my 305 and most of the remaining checkpoints were OK or very close to the mark. The first was well out and a few that I spoke to on the trail had similar redings. One also spoke to TW staff leading up to the event and they basically told him their measuring was accurate...
Bummer about the kokoda section also.
oh well next year.

[Bandanna]

It sure was a tough day at the office.

As a Sydney work team from ANZ, we had never seen the track before, and just had to rely on the Trailwalker terrain map to judge a time we could do.  Based on our previous Sydney Trailwalker times, a 16-hour finish seemed reasonable, and a sub-14-hour  finish seemed a possibility.

We started off at a steady pace. Kelvin whizzed past early on, and that was the last I saw of him. Greeted Magnus a few km before the first CP, and heard from him that he was running Canberra in a few weeks time.

Was the first leg only 10.5km? My Garmin read 12.65km. For the rest of the trail the Garmin read the distance between the CPs quite accurately, so am inclined to think that the course is a tad longer than 100km.

Coming out of the first checkpoint at around 8:15am the temperature had risen by a fair bit, with a dry wind. I was hanging on to the back of the other 3, who were running smoothly. I felt my body temperature rising, my skin felt dry, and it was relief to come across a duck pond. Without hesitation I plunged in, and dipped my head underneath the cold refreshing water. That felt so good, though I think the ducks were not too impressed that I had taken over their turf    

We made it to CP 2 in a pretty good time, but I had to say that I was feeling drained. Drank copious amount of water and Gatorade at the CP, also refuelled with a Red Bull, Gu, a banana, an apple and a Mars bar. That helped.  
  
The 15.5km from CP2 to CP3 was surreal, it was so hot, people were saying mid to high 30's. My mind kept on wondering back to the Great North 100 miler last November, when I pulled out suffering from heat exhaustion and cramps. I again was at the back of the other 3, gamely trying to keep up with their steady pace. I didn't want to disappoint the rest of the team by slowing them down, and I was thinking to myself I should perhaps pull out. However, it was Seris who suggested to me I should use her Coolrunning visor, which she had in the support car. That proved to be a huge blessing. In future races, Bandanna will also be wearing a CR visor   !!

As mentioned earlier, CP3 to CP4 was cancelled due to the total fire ban in place. We were driven to the start of CP4 by our support crew, and in the car I gobbled 2x creamed rice, a bread roll, 2x salt tablets, a magnesium tablet, a Gu, some more fruit and a mars bar. Also I drank a litre of water and a Red Bull. Felt in 7th heaven when we started off, and was able to run strongly down the hills, infact was waiting for the others to catch up to me.

It was at this point that Seris' husband Peter, a very experienced runner, suddenly announced he was going to pull out at the next CP. That caught all of us by surprise, I think the betting had been on me who would be pulling the pin. When Peter made his announcement, I came close to doing a sympathy pull-out, but realising that the next CP was only 5km, I decided that if the remaining two team members would still have me tag along, then I would continue.  I couldn't persuade Pete to hang in there, he was spent.  Pat and Seris were great, they encouraged me to keep going. I just plodded along, never keeping them out of my sight, they dragged me on quite magnificently.  Seris was an absolute machine out on the track, always cheerful and smiling.

Just before the Warburton trail started, we ducked into a milk-bar, to buy a coke, lemonade and an icecream. The Warburton trail was endless, an old railway line. I tried to emulate Bill Thompson, powerwalking the whole way. Seris and Pat would jog past me, then walk, I would catch up with them, they would then jog, and so on. It seemed to work, no teams were passing us, and we managed to pass a number of other teams. At some stage on the Warburton trail we came across Awiseman, RB and RMC, who looked as if he had thrown in the towel. Congratulations Richard for gutsing it out to the finish, fantastic effort, I had you down and out.  Further on the track we were surprised to see a truck handing out 1.5L bottles of water to the runners, and I drank one whole bottle with ease.

By the time we reached CP 8, it was time for us to put on the headlamps. Said hello to Chilliman, good to know there is another lover of chillies out there  . He mentioned that Kelvin and his team were only a few places ahead of us. I drank a Red Bull, had another creamed rice, and knowing that we were only 9.5km to the finish, was pumped up with adrenaline.

We ran the first 3km out of CP8 strongly, before the first of the two big climbs. It had started raining by now, and the trail was slippery and very treacherous. Pat first skidded, and I landed on my bum not long afterwards, covered in thick mud. Our shoes had no grip in the mud, and we were sliding and cursing. Seris on the other hand was a princess, and managed to stay pristinely clean.

That last 900m hill was a monster, but I climbed it strongly, and waited for the other two at the top. Still managed to slip and slide twice, the last 20m before the finish.  A great sense of relief, and we celebrated our achievement with a bottle of chilled champagne   

Our gun time was 14:59, and 13:58 hours adjusted because of the loss of the one checkpoint. Quite happy with that and a 17th place overall. Felt sorry for the many teams still battling the elements behind us; with the heavy rain that night, the last section must have been particularly appalling.

Many thanks to our support team of Al and Dan, they met us at every checkpoint with a ready smile and supplies. And to my fellow team members Pat, Peter and Seris, without you the going would have been so much harder.

Canberra marathon in 3 weeks....... ?

Edited by Bandanna, 25 March 2007 - 09:13 PM.