Sydney Trailwalker - Survival Of The Fittest
by Kevin Tiller
May 1999The following is a brief report on a new event on the Sydney ultrarunning scene, an ideal way to seduce unsuspecting runners into the sport, in a relatively "safe" environment [it is a cultural thing, unlike the USA, but many people may attempt a 50km trail run but almost no-one steps up to 80km and few venture into the night..].
The Sydney Trailwaker is a fundraiser for Community Aid Abroad that goes from Hunters Hill, a posh harbourside area, to Brooklyn, a northern outpost, on the wildest meanest most roundabout route it is possible to find. Most of the the track is a single-file type thing with lots of rocks, boulders, tree roots, creek crossings etc - but basically following the Great North Walk. There were numerous briefing sessions beforehand where the dangers of snakes, spiders, dehydration and just plain getting lost were covered. [Numerous people get themselves lost for 3 or 4 days at a time on the wilder parts of the course with alarming regularity]. They would allow 100 teams to enter - on condition that each team raised $1000 each. It seemed to attract the same crowd as the Walk on Want, a 10km walk through the city streets. I think some of these people had a rude shock !! Entrants run as a team of 4, entering and leaving all aid stations together. Although one person may drop out and 3 can finish, only teams of 4 are eligible for awards. The event started in Hong Kong some 15 years ago and I believe that there is also a UK version now, run along the South Downs Way.
It started 10am Friday morning and has a 48 hour cut off. I had entered with a team of Sydney Striders [myself, Mike Ward, Martin Fryer and Keith White]. The day was bright and sunny with no clouds in sight. We had estimated some finishing times, and when we would hit certain checkpoints. Martin had a set of estimates and I had a set of "slow" estimates [22hr] as well as some "fast" ones [15hr]. The White's offspring, Olly, was following by car and would use these to time when he had to be at the next stop. We set off at a steady pace, after a few words from Bryce Courtenay [the author, a Sydney Strider and some-time Ultrarunner]. Alex Hamill, also a Strider, fired the starting gun [Striders influence on Sydney distance running reaches far & wide]. We were was pretty much on pace with our slow times even though many other teams went off sprinting. Through Lane Cove [12km], Thornleigh [25km], Cherrybrook, Rosemead/Hornsby [40km]. Although we were still on our "slow" pace, it actually felt quite fast, and on target for a 22hour finish. The next leg - Rosemead to Crosslands, was a big one and would lead us into the dark. We had estimated being at Galston Gorge by night and we were pretty much spot on - jogging down a firetrail in the half light just before the Gorge, and finally getting out our torches just before the big downhill. The army had a few squaddies watching this difficult part of the course and had christmas tree lights / sort of thing shining the way.
It was OK running in the dark, and we were feeling pretty OK still, finally coming into Crosslands just overtaking another team. We were running in 7th/8th or so for most of the day, and were slowly picking up teams. Here we met up with Malcolm Satchell, another Strider. After some noodles and more substantial food [a hot potato and pitta bread] we set off to Mt Kuringai, a scant 6km away but probably a couple of hours - there was much darkness and uphill here, and a few "dodgy" creek crossings.
At Mt Kuringgai we were met by the Hanson family and Graham Willis. Also this is where Olly handed over the reins of the support vehicle to Margaret White. The leg from Mt Kuringai to Berowra, only 10km, proved to be a bridge too far for me. The track was beautfiul in the full moon, but very rocky and very slow. My pace had dropped to almost nothing and I was suffering from ?bum-crack-rash or something like that. I was a sorry sight. I finally eased in to the Berowra checkpoint at 1am, and I think the other 3 had quite an easy trot over that leg, although we were all suffering from the duration of the run so far. I think I was half asleep here - even when running along. We checked out quickly and moved down a couple of streets to my house, some 500metres away, and just 20metres off track.
I finally pulled the pin here at the 72km mark [ermm..40 miles + ?], feeling that I was too slow for the team and would only prolong the duration of their run by hours and hours. We filled them up with soup and hot coffee and kicked them out. Apparently they made good progress to Berowra Waters [hour and a half] - takes almost that long in the daylight when fresh and the same to Cowan - which has numerous rock climbs along the way - holding torches in their mouth as they climb up. I hear they struggled on the leg from Jerusalem Bay to Brooklyn but made 22:51 for 6th finish, running the last km or two in a quick "road" pace. 100 teams signed up and 90 started so that was excellent.
Maybe if it was a solo event I would have continued. Would I have quit if I didn't run past my house ? now that's a tough question. But I will be back next year for a finish for sure.
Stats on the run from Martin Fryer
| Checkpoint/Total Distance | Predicted IN time (Fryer) | Actual IN | Actual OUT | Rest time | Distance of leg | Time Taken (h/min) | Av. Pace (km/h) |
| Start: Weil Park Hunter's Hill | - | - | 10:00 | - | - | - | - |
| #1: Lane Cove 13.5K | 12:00 | 11:26 | 11:32 | 6:06 | 13.5K | 1:26 | 9.42 |
| #2: Thornleigh 25K | 14:00 | 13:34 | 13:51 | 16:17 | 11.5K | 2:02 | 5.66 |
| #3: Cherrybrook 32K | 15:00 | 14:51 | 15:01 | 10:04 | 7K | 1:00 | 7.00 |
| #4: Rosemead 40.5K | 16:30 | 16:04 | 16:22 | 18:31 | 8.5K | 1:03 | 8.10 |
| #5: Crosslands 56K | 20:00 | 19:26 | 19:52 | 25:59 | 15.5K | 3:03 | 5.08 |
| #6: Mt Kuringai 62.5K | 23:00 | 21:34 | 21:50 | 15:49 | 6.5K | 1:42 | 3.82 |
| #7: Berowra 72K | 2:00 | 0:47 | 0:51 | 4:26 | 9.5K | 2:57 | 3.22 |
| Tiller's residence 73.2K | - | 1:09 | 2:08 | 59:40 | 1.2K | 0:18 | 4.00 |
| #8: Berowra Waters 78.7K | 5:00 | 3:36 | 3:46 | 10:30 | 5.5K | 1:28 | 2.23 |
| #9: Cowan 86.7K | 6:30 | 5:52 | 6:06 | 14:31 | 8K | 2:06 | 3.81 |
| Finish: Brooklyn 100K | 8:30 | 8:54 | - | - | 13.3K | 2:47 | 4.78 |
- Made it to just before Galston Gorge by dark (17:30) - about 47K in daylight in 7.5 hours = average day pace (Friday) of ~ 6.27 km/h
- Light enough to stop using torches at approx. 89K (~06:20)- about 42K in the dark in 12.83 h = average night pace of 3.27 km/h
- After dawn covered 11K in ~2.73 h = average day pace (Saturday) of 4.02 km/h
- The 22:54 total time was comprised of 19 h 52 min of run/walk plus 3 h 2 min of total checkpoint rest time.
- Average km/h for whole race (100km/22.9 h) was 4.37 km/h
