121 replies to this topic

[Beaver]

On the 24th of July 2010 Darrel (Ourimbah), Terry and I will be setting out to run from Yass, rediscovering the route of explorers Hamilton Hume and William Hovell and plan to reach Albury 440km and 6 days later.

This is how we will break it down:

Day 1.) Cooma Cottage Yass to Log Bridge Campsite - 80.2km
Day 2.) Log Bridge Campsite to Blowering Dam campsite - 72.1km (152.3km)
Day 3.) Blowering Dam campsite to Paddy's River Campsite - 76km (228.3km)
Day 4.) Paddy's River Campsite to Lankey's Creek Campsite - 90.65km (318.95km)
Day 5.) Lankey's Creek Campsite to Great Aussie Resort Wymah - 69.1km (388.05km)
Day 6.) Great Aussie Resort Wymah to Hovell Tree Albury - 50.4km (438.45km)

Darrel and Terry along with the usual suspects in tow have spent many days on the track planning and preparing in order to make sure this schedule is achievable.

Some pictures of the track can be found here:

Hume and Hovell Track - Pictures1

Hume and Hovell Track Pictures2

Over the past 12 months planning this run all three of us have been enthralled to read about the Hume and Hovell expedition and the truly remarkable efforts by these two great explorers.  If you would like to know more - check out:

Hume and Hovell Expedition  - wiki

John Chapman - summary

Hume and Hovell  - Lands Dept

An excellent summary of the life and times of Hamilton Hume and William Hovell can be found here:

Hamilton Hume bio

William Hovell bio

We will be expertly crewed by DJBleakman, Slowmaniac, Cliffold and Tookeen along with veteran crew members Kim and Rebecca.  

We will be spotcasting while running and will post the link before we leave so keep an eye out for that.

We will be updating here during the run as well as on our brand new website - ultra168.com:

24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, 168 hours to RUN

Warwick Hull - Hume and Hovell Walking Track Coordinator has been an excellent ambassador and he along with his team are keen to see us succeed and promote the track further.

We are looking forward to the challenge.

Andrew, Terry and Darrel

[Freesoul]

Awesome!
Go you good things!
Hope all the planning goes perfectly. Keep healthy etc.
I'll definately be tracking your progress.

[TrailTrash]

Wow.
What a challenge.

Cant wait to hear all about it.

Gav

[Crazy Diamond]

Wow. All the best with final prep and the event. Love your new website - great work!

[undercover brother]

nice one!

[Innes]

Looks incredible guys.
May try my hardest to get a leave pass for a couple days as would love to come down and run for at least a day.
photos are awesome.

Innes

[Ourimbah]

Innes, on Jun 25 2010, 03:42 PM, said:

Looks incredible guys.
May try my hardest to get a leave pass for a couple days as would love to come down and run for at least a day.
photos are awesome.

Innes

Don't try..........Lock it in we have a few options as far as transport to get you there and get you back.

NO "pussy stuff" I will try.Mr Hamilton Hume is calling your name.

[Brick]

Would you be happy for anybody to join you for a day or two running?
Looks superb guys, very jealous.

[Spud]

This will be such a great challenge, all the best fellas.
Have a great adventure, will be following with interest.

[Ourimbah]

Brick, on Jun 25 2010, 05:54 PM, said:

Would you be happy for anybody to join you for a day or two running?
Looks superb guys, very jealous.

Certainly,this is more about fun & adventure.We have already run all but the last 50-60km's,I think the first leg to Burrinjuck is a bit boring but the end of day one up to Wee Jasper is great.The 2nd & 3rd days are amazing and on the 3rd day we should be running through the wild brumbies again.The 4th is spectacular with climbs and views.The 5th day will be good fun and the last day could be a bit of road (boring).

[grimsey]

What a great adventure guys.Hope all goes well, Good luck and enjoy.

[run2work]

Good , no, very good adventure. I am inspired.

r2w

[RunBare]

What time are you leaving Yass on the first day? I could well be in Yass, and would like to wish you all a good trip in person

[Beaver]

RunBare, on Jun 25 2010, 09:17 PM, said:

What time are you leaving Yass on the first day?

2am - would be great to see you.

[Dutchie]

Sounds so exciting! Have fun!

Wishing you guys the best of luck.

We will be tracking your progress

[JustinS007]

Good luck guys.  A very special event indeed.

Beaver, on Jun 25 2010, 02:15 PM, said:

On the 24th of July 2010 Darrel (Ourimbah), Terry and I will be setting out to run from Yass, rediscovering the route of explorers Hamilton Hume and William Hovell and plan to reach Albury 440km and 6 days later.

We are looking forward to the challenge.

Andrew, Terry and Darrel

[RunBare]

Beaver, on Jun 26 2010, 01:43 PM, said:

2am - would be great to see you.

   hmmmm wonder if the boys would mind getting to footy a bit early that morning....

[trailpuddin]

Sounds like a top adventure and look forward to tracking your progress.  In the interests of all things technological any chance of some web cam footage?  Between the spot tracker and webcam footage I need never again leave home to go on an adventure.  Much less tiring.

Kirrily

[Martin Dugdale]

trailpuddin, on Jun 28 2010, 09:09 PM, said:

Sounds like a top adventure and look forward to tracking your progress.  In the interests of all things technological any chance of some web cam footage?  Between the spot tracker and webcam footage I need never again leave home to go on an adventure.  Much less tiring.

Kirrily

I don't believe that,  Mother Duck we are awaiting your next adventure and hopefully I will be race fit by then

[dino]

Wow!   what a great adventure, this trail caught my attention when I first came to Canberra, I remember thinking it would be a great run.


All the best, I will be following closely


Dino

[Dutchie]

Thinking of going down and supporting/crewing for you guys for a few days mid week.
May see you on the trail.

Dutchie

[bmac]

Looks like will be an amazing week, looking forward to hearing the stories and seeing some great pictures and dreaming of running some of it - maybe one day

[Ourimbah]

trailpuddin, on Jun 28 2010, 09:09 PM, said:

Sounds like a top adventure and look forward to tracking your progress.  In the interests of all things technological any chance of some web cam footage?  Between the spot tracker and webcam footage I need never again leave home to go on an adventure.  Much less tiring.

Kirrily

I wouldn't be able to bend over far enough to zoom in on Terry.

[Martin Dugdale]

Ourimbah, on Jun 29 2010, 07:53 PM, said:

I wouldn't be able to bend over far enough to zoom in on Terry.

my guess is you are going to get payback for that, and I want to be a fly on the wall when it happens oh bald one

[Ourimbah]

Martin Dugdale, on Jun 29 2010, 08:25 PM, said:

my guess is you are going to get payback for that, and I want to be a fly on the wall when it happens oh bald one

Nice one Martin.

[trailpuddin]

Ourimbah, on Jun 29 2010, 07:53 PM, said:

I wouldn't be able to bend over far enough to zoom in on Terry.

I'm not sure it will be a case of bending over when Terry is likely to be just a spec on the horizon ahead of you.

I found out last night that I am apparently taking holidays from 24th July.  I pitched the idea of a nice relaxing time somewhere between Yass and Albury and got the death glare to kill all others.  Conversation dropped. Looks like we're heading to northern NSW.

[TheRidler]

Best wishes to all running this one. Hope the weather is kind and you have a great journey. Look forward to reading some reports.

PS don't forget to put your GNW entry in on Monday, i'm sure you'll pass an internet cafe somewhere (ho ho)

Ridler

[Beaver]

GPS Tracking Link - SPOT casting

The link above will allow you to track us from 2am Saturday.

Very keen to get going on this one.

[Whippet Man]

Have a good one guys. Enjoy the journey.
Look forward to following your progress.

[trailpuddin]

As of tomorrow I'm out of range of any technology for the next week so just want to wish you all well.  Have a safe and fun filled journey...oh and try to get some sleep!

Kirrily

[RunBare]

Good luck guys!  I'm heading from Yass to Albury tomorrow, but in a car, with 4 kids.  Your adventure sounds a lot more like fun

I look forward to following your progress and hearing all about it.

[Ponkey]

Good luck to you and your crew, cant wait to hear how you go.

[Martin Dugdale]

Jokes aside, have fun and stay safe. all the best and I want to hear all about it, on the way and on your return. full reports please

[EverReadyBunny]

Have a great time guys.
I look forward to checking spot and seeing you all moving forward.
Eat plenty, stay warm, keep running and use up all your short jokes

[Spud]

I'll be watching with interest, have a blast guys!

[Nickelass]

EverReadyBunny, on Jul 22 2010, 08:44 PM, said:

..... use up all your short jokes

Fat chance of that !

Have a blast guys.

[Brick]

Have fun boy's, and a full report is necessary with heaps of photos.

[Beaver]

One of the crew will be doing an interview with Macca in the mornings on ABC radio around 9am this Sunday.

If anyone knows how to record this for us that would be great.

[TallGeoff]

Best of luck guys.  Hope that you enjoy it.

Edited by TallGeoff, 23 July 2010 - 08:18 PM.

[Whippet Man]

They look like they are moving well. And have the spot set on redial:
here

Go team!  

[EverReadyBunny]

Cool Whippet.
They seem to be moving well. Does Spot show how many Km's they have covered as I couldn't see that ? I could see they started before 2am. Its a long day.

[TooKeen]

EverReadyBunny, on Jul 24 2010, 01:08 PM, said:

Cool Whippet.
They seem to be moving well. Does Spot show how many Km's they have covered as I couldn't see that ? I could see they started before 2am. Its a long day.

Just spoke to TooKeen who ran today and is crewing tomorrow and he says "Extened first leg today, all going well revised finished target tomorrow of 184km of 440km.  Also that they are staying in Tumut tomorrow and will update all then"  

These guys are inspiring and slightly crazy!

Mrs TooKeen

[Dutchie]

Just heard from Dan B and the boys are 40-50km ahead of themselves and going great guns.
I'm heading off to crew for them tmw.

[otisr]

Dutchie, on Jul 25 2010, 07:49 PM, said:

Just heard from Dan B and the boys are 40-50km ahead of themselves and going great guns.
I'm heading off to crew for them tmw.

Fantastic running.  How do they do it?  is it cold out there, and what is the terrian like ?  I am looking foward to some great reports and some photos.  Well done team.

Have great crewing Dutchie - wish i could get the time to what the boys and you are doing.  That is a very nice part of NSw down there.  Brings back many memories.

[Whippet Man]

Love your work boys.

[buzzlightyear]

Whippet Man, on Jul 25 2010, 10:53 PM, said:

Love your work boys.

Hear Hear!!

[djbleakman]

Hey all, back from the Hume and Hovell (Human Hobble) track last night. Boys stayed over in Tumut and the good news is that they're well ahead of schedule as you can probably see from the spot tracker. The plan was 80kms on the first day, but they travelled very well and decided to push on a further 10kms to try and make a dent in the 90km day on day 4. The reality is that they're pretty much making every day a 90km day it seems.

They finished last night with 96kms under the belt and I think the plan is to have more of the same again today to really break the back of it. The great news is that they're all in fantastic spirits and the big man (Darrel) has done an amazing job organising this, from running through to making sure all the crew stops are in perfect coordination. Too Keen and I had a top day crewing yesterday and managed to get a nice 20km out and back to meet them just outside Tumut (where they were meant to stop yesterday), and saw them push on down the lake there, where we met them about 7pm last night. It's a fantastic spot, with an abundance of roo's and a beautiful lake to boot.

True to form, Darrel is revelling in the 3am starts, just as much as his crew are too It's a great track to run on too. The first 30kms or so is unsealed road, but there is also some beautiful single file stuff along some of the Dams, and then tough running through some paddocks where cow dodging and sheep bothering seem to be the norm . The boys had a very tough start to Day 2 with a 3am kickoff and temps of a couple of degrees below zero, along with some stream crossings, but you can tell they're loving every minute of it. The plan was to run this in 6 days, but I think the plan might be going out the window, so I wouldn't be surprised if they completed it with something that had a 4 point something as the finishing tally. We'll see how they go. Today will be a big test of whether that prediction comes true. If they crack out another 90km day today, then the big hard stuff is done.

Will see if I can get some further updates later today. Also, we couldnt get onto Macca yesterday morning, got through right at the end, but was too late, so the plan is to try and get on next weekend when they return home all fresh!

Edited by djbleakman, 26 July 2010 - 09:08 AM.

[Spud]

Great stuff team, thanks for the update Dan.

[Whippet Man]

Thanks Dan.
Never mind all that running: 3am? That's just nuts. What time are they stopping each night?
Good to hear it's all going to plan or in fact ahead of plan.  

[djbleakman]

Day 1 they stopped around 4:30pm. Yesterday was a bit later at 6:45pm, but a tougher day - the first 37kms section was a brut.

Then it's back to the accomodation, sort out stuff for the next day, get some scram down and then straight to bed for a couple of hours. On day one I had the honour of a grinning Darrel waking me up at 12:55am, excatly 2.5 hours after I went to bed and a 300km drive down to Yass... gotta love them Coasties...

Edited by djbleakman, 26 July 2010 - 09:13 AM.