25 replies to this topic

[RMC]

I am interested to know what your toughest distance race has been in Australia.

It may have been a race you found hard and others found easy. Lets say races over 10k. Would love to get some feedback from runners even if they have never run a marathon, ultra or mountain race.

For me so far it's ..
1. Melb marathon (my first one)
2. Warrumbungle marathon
3. 6 foot track marathon (almost hardest)
4. Maroondah Dam 50k
5. Traralgon king of the mountain 30k

I'm sure bogong to hotham and glasshouse will come up, but maybe a city marathon or a race nobody has heard of? Remember it's a distance race you have done over 10k. List a few if you wish and reasons if you want.

I listed Melb marathon (my first one) as I remember it well, head wind all the way and I had never run 42k ever before, almost DNF'd from the race 3-4 times, but did finish it.

[undercover brother]

1. glasshouse 100 mile 2003
2. mt mee 25km 2001
3. brisbane 84.4km 2002

number 1 needs little explaination.
the mt mee course is bloody hilly and it was a very hot day that year.
(looking forward to having a crack at the 50km this year).
brisbane ultra was nice and flat but the heavy rain made the mental thing quite tough in parts.
also wasn't very fit for number 3 - ran the ultra because i didn't want a slow marathon time.
waiting to do cradle and bogong-hotham.

[TRAVY]

Mansfield to Mt Buller 50km
Nail can hill 12ish km

[RMC]

Travy.
Where and when is "Nail can Hill"?

[TRAVY]

It is on in may.
2 ALBURY-WODONGA NAIL CAN HILL RUN
11.3km. Starts 10am from Lavington Panthers Club, Centaur Rd, Lavington, Albury, NSW 2641. Contact Norm McCann via email or website or (02) 6041-2412 (after business hours).
  See NSW CALENDAR

[RobR]

I ran a half marathon in February at West End in Brisbane with the Brisbane Road Runners, the temp was about 39 and the humidity was 98. It was a shocker. 10 minutes slower than my PB. More experienced runners than I agreed that it was tough. Thats my toughest.......so far. But Oh what a feeling when you endure and finish. The time really becomes secoundary.

[Mister G]

Has to be  Bogong-Hotham. Over 3200m vertical gain over 60km- most of that occurring in the first half- coupled with an aggressive halfway cutoff (ie you have to run the equivalent of a sub 5.00 6FT just to be allowed to proceed past the 32km checkpoint) and some fairly poor footing, especially in the second half- this race just does not let you go.

Difficult to compare it with Glasshouse, but Bogong is, mile for mile, much much touger. Glasshouse is tough just because it's so damn long, rather than anything inherently special about the course.

As against that, it's one of the most spectacular courses in Australia as well, and every Australian ultraruner should do it at some point in their career.

I rate Six Foot Track as tougher than most might. It's just "easy enough"  that most of us can race it hard (as opposed to Bogong, where most of us are just conerned with a finish and not with the competition) but "tough enough" that racing it is a very painful experience, especially if you don't pull it off correctly.

I ran the SAN 10K near Hornsby once. Now, THAT is a hilly 10K! Although I never ran the Berowra Bush Bash 10K while it was on....

[bear]

For me the hardest race was the gold coast marathon last year. For most people that would be one of the easier marathons, BUT on the Friday night before the marathon had a bad case of gastro. Spent Sat trying to recover, felt ok on the run till 29k....then BANG!!!!   very hard plodalong!.....but did finish  :)

[IDW]

I was going to put Bogong-Hotham first but then I remembered Sydney Trailwalker - the old course of 2002. And the supposedly easier, modified new course introduced in 2003 took us just as long - there was a section last year that took us nearly 3 hours in the dark to cover about 14 km. Its not approached as a competition by everyone but a lot of the teams are racing. I looked at my times for three hard events in recent years and worked out an average speed.

Sydney Trailwalker 100 km: 17h 5m: 5.88 km/h
Bogong-Hotham 60 km: 8h 57m: 6.66 km/h
Glasshouse Trail 161 km: 23h 47m: 6.78 km/h

So Trailwalker ranks as the hardest for me - and that seems right. From start to finish there are large sections of rough ground, creek crossings and rock steps where running is not possible.

IDW

[lebusqp]

Bogong - Hotham  :)  it's hard core trail running and i have genuinely raced it back in the 80s-no drink stations back then. in 87 i was 4th to 30k but then Rishworth pulled out. at 40k i found out Walters had pulled out and i was 2d and gaining on the leader. i never saw Hooper the leader but pushed on in the hope i'd catch him. i never did because he had also pulled out. i staggered across the road just before the finish and started running in the wrong direction. fortunately the finish marshall chased me and brought me back. i was not able to stand up for about 15mins after the race. only 3 finished that year from 16 starters. i remember it being pretty hot.

[RMC]

Lebusqp.
Sounds like a monster, good story.

Bear.
Also was sick the day before the gold coast marathon last year and had a shocker, I remember running the first 30k and walking the last 12k. Almost took the same length of time. Luckily it was flat and nice weather or would have been a DNF for sure.

Travy.
Was Nail can Hill the one Steve Moneghetti ran the race record in last year?

Who has got some more tough ones?

[TRAVY]

RMC

Yes it is.
It now clashes with puffing billy. so I have only done nail can twice, a few years ago now. I prefer puffing billy.

[Uncle Dave]

One of the toughest in recent memory for me was the Shoalhaven King of the Mountain.

Not as tough, mile for mile as some of the above races mentioned, like 6FT or Bogon-Hotham - it's 32km from Cambewarra Public School, via bitchumen and mainly dirt road of good quality, through to Kangaroo Valley.

It's undulating most of the way, bookended with a fairly flattish first and last couple km. The major hill (mountain) is at about the 25km mark, and while not easy after 25km of running, not comparable to mini mini or pluvi.

However, I raced it the week after doing the Gold Coast 100, and paid the price in the latter stages, feeling like I was in that nightmare where you're running from some sort of evil monster, and your legs feel like lead. In this case the evil monster was Damien Tancred (who is actually a really top bloke compared to most evil monsters   :)   ) who passed me with about 1km to go, and ended my dreams of being King for a day!

Seriously though, a highly recommended run, although I anticipate I won't feel much better during it this year, as I'm considering doing the Gold Coast marathon the week before!

Cheers,

Dave

[Pasty]

Though I haven't raced all these events, I'll have a guess.  Conditions can make a huge difference between comfort and painful races though.

1. Bogong-Hotham 60k
   I've been over the courses of these event a few times, and for sheer elevation gain, remoteness, harsh alpine conditions, minimal aid stations, difficult trail conditions, a very tough cutoff and low entrant numbers, B-H would be the toughest in my mind.
   
   
2. Cradle Mountain Trail run 85km
   Cradle Mtn trail run would have the harsh alpine conditions, remoteness, minimal aid stations (1), low entrant numbers and not quite as tough cutoff, though probably better trail (when dry!) and much less elevation gain/loss even though it is longer.
   
   
3. Trailwalker Melbourne 100k
   TW Melbourne is longer still, but lots of flat, lots of aid, good trail, lots of entrants and not that much elevation change.
   
   
4. Six Foot Track marathon 45k
   Lots of elevation change (though it is a downhill course), lots of aid, lots of other entrants around you for comradarie and reasonably good trail.
   

[Mister G]

I've said to a few people that Cradle Mountain is not especially difficult (might sound strange seeing as I have a DNF there)- I think a lot of people expect something with extreme elevation change like Bogong, whereas this is just not the case. None of the three major climbs at Cradle Mountain (Cradle Plateau, Pelion Gap and Du Cane Gap) are in the same league as the hills at Bogong, let alone 6FT.

It is, however, very slow, because of all the tree roots and mud on the course.

The most difficult thing about Cradle Mountain would probably be the weather. Much of the course is above 900m ASL, so it's usually raining hard with driving winds and the odd threat of snow- except when it's baking hot.

I'd rate a solid 6FT a more uncomfortable experience than Cradle Mountain, assuming you're prepared for the weather extremes you get down there in the Tasmanian high country.

I might give this some thought and type up a ranking list later on.

[Kelvin]

I'd have to say Bogong to Hotham by far of the one's i've done. Too many others rely upon the weather to make them genuinely hard.
Reckon second hardest i've ever done (and a long way below Bogong to Hotham) would have been the year Royal National Park was 50 Miles (1992), nothing like running over a beach in full heat at about 60 K mark !!.
Certainly the sheer distance of Glasshouse 100 makes it tough (and a couple of hard steep climbs - the goat track springs to mind), but the weather is what usually makes it even harder.
Personally have found some of the really cold ones worst (particularly remember Bathurst Marathon and Man From Snowy River Marathon at Cooma), and some of the windiest spring to mind (Melbourne with a headwind and that aforementioned Traralgon King of The Mountain with a wind blowing everywhere !).
Six Foot Track always feels really hard while you are out there but after 4 days or so the body tends to be back to normal (calves hamstrings and all) and you almost forget the pain, suppose the simple fact is it is short enough to really push yourself the whole way whereas in longer races you have a chance to slow down and give yourself a rest, probably why i enjoy Ultras more than marathons and my pressure upon my self for sub 3 hour !!.  
Sydney Trailwalker in 2002 personally seemed a relatively easy course but the heavy rain (and a suss ankle for me) made it feel much harder for me than it probably was.
Certainly this years Melbourne Trailwalker looks harder than last years (just about starting to wish i was in it this year the more i read !!), as i remember struggling up Donna Buang last year in daylight and only 60 K's in my legs can only imagine what it will be like as the last 10 K's.
Alice Springs Marathon (run it in 1992), is another one that i remember for it's weather induced toughness. With a 6AM start and pretty close to zero temperature by the time i was finished it was in the 20's, the sun gets really warm really fast, faster than the body acclimatised.
Sure i can think of more, but a little torture at a time is best !!
Kelvin  ;)

[RMC]

Just to be clear on my original post. I was after a few stories where runners have run a tough race which they have competed in rather than a perceived tough race.

Nearly everyone would perceive running an ultra tougher than say a half marathon, but it's a runners story which is fascinating to read on a tough race.

Mr G.
Would like to see that ranking list of tough races you have done.

[ralph]

Whilst I cannot compare my races to the ultra distances from some of the others, there is one race that really hurts me.

Mount Macedon Classic- 10km last weekend.

Going up, there is not enough oxygen and the climb seems to be relentless.
Coming down feels like your body is being pounded by a sledge hammer. My hips and hamstrings hurt 100 more usual from the downhill bolt to the finish line.

For the past 2 years I said I will never run it again as I find it tougher than a marathon.

Nothing compared to the ultras but it's the race that pushes me furthest out of my comfort zone.

[weary]

The one that sticks in my mind is the which I ran in 2001 (my account is here).

The 2000m of altitude loss over the 54km course played absolute havoc with my legs. It was quite a traumatic experience, which is painful thinking about, even now.

adw

[diabetic]

Brindabella Classic!

[Mister G]

Ah, in terms of individual race efforts... the  Katoomba-Mittagong  really was tough. Completely self supported, some very nasty hills (I still wake up in the middle of the night after flashbacks of Mt Wanganderry Rd)... and after 115km it suddenly got competitive. I finished my first 100 mile four weeks later having DNFd twice previously. After K-M the mental barriers had been broken down.

I agree Sydney Trailwalker 2002 was pretty arduous. It started raining at the start and never stopped. And the last 22km of the "old" Sydney TW course was very unpleasant. I didn't run the 2003 event on the "new" course but did run the new sections in training. I rate the old course as harder. From Berowra onwards my feet started to deteriorate, as the skin had macerated from the rain and I hadn't worked out how to tape them at that stage. I've got a report  here.

My two  Twelve Foot Tracks  were pretty tough for different reasons. The debut run in 2001 I ran by myself pretty much for the last 60km, a fair bit of that in the darkness. I'd never run solo at night in the bush before. Mentally pretty hard. I distinctly rememeber getting to the top of Pinnacle Hill on the return leg and seeing the Herrmannator's and the Machine's torches making their way up Nellies Glen Rd several km away. I nearly burst into tears.

In 2002 I'd run two marathons in the previous two weeks, but not trained due to injury for three weeks before that. So I was tired at the start and could hardly eat a thing all day. When I got back to the support vehicle at Megalong Valley Rd (82km- after doing it very hard on the climb from Coxs River up to Pinnacle Hill) I was so tired I couldn't stand up straight, just leaned against the car with my hands on my knees. Ross Yates passed me a bottle of orange juice and I sculled over a litre of it- I needed some sugar that badly!

RMC, I'll post up a list later on. The (old) Sydney Trailwalker course would rate fairly highly I'd think....

[RMC]

Kelvin.
You have certainly covered a few tough ones. But aren't you leaving out one of your toughest?
What about the Simpson Desert race you did a few years back. Wasn't it over 300kms?
I remember you saying the flies were terrible. And didn't you have to wear a net? Want to enlighten the readers here.

  

quote:

---

From Mr G. ..making their way up Nellies Glen Rd several km away. I nearly burst into tears.  

---

Were you nearly in tears because they were so far away or you could see the finish and the climb ahead? Or was it just so painful?

[Mister G]

It was from relief- I realised I actually wasn't alone out there in the middle of bloody nowhere on a winter night!

[sorbak]

I would have to rate the Triple Top Run in Tasmania as my hardest race, only 18k but very hard.  Read about it in the latest Runners World.

[ourimbar]

the hardest race i have been in,IS LIFE,but thats another story......regards paul  :unsure:    :unsure:    :unsure:    :angry:

[lebusqp]

You seem to be winning that one these days Paul  ;)