Sydney Trailwalker 26-28 May 2000
David Baldwin, Team Rogaine #134Firstly a big thank you to everyone who generously donated to help our team reach its pledge of $1000 for Community Aid Abroad. It is much appreciated.
Adrian and I finally got out of Canberra on Thursday night after a few delays and reached Paul and Diane's flat in Turramurra about 10 where a good pasta feed was laid out for a final carbo-load. We got an early start the next morning, picking up Bob, Paul's dad, who would be driving my car around as support crew. Diane would join him in the afternoon after working in the morning. Down to Weil Park in Hunter's Hill which was already a hive of activity. Nigel was travelling up from Melbourne overnight on the train and arrived shortly after us. We registered, lathered ourselves up with suncream and vaseline, then waited for the start at 10am, chatting. There were a few lean looking teams, including the legendary ghurkas from an elite British army unit of Nepalese nationals. The story had it that they sent the whole unit out on a 100km training run then picked the best 4! There were also 3 Sydney Striders teams, the Berowra Bush runners and a strong looking bunch of triathletes. Everyone was pumped for a big race.
The start was a typical mad rush. A short hill slowed people down initially, then it was off through the streets for a few km until we entered the Lane Cove National Park. The track had a few slippery sections and some board walks through the mangroves. The ghurkas had already cleared out, and we were cruising along amongst the first few teams, when I felt my quads starting to cramp. They bunched up fairly badly, and I dropped off the back of the team. As a couple of teams came past, I asked them to tell the others to wait for me. A couple of km further along we re-grouped, but my pace was still slow and about 10 teams had passed us. I was disappointed to be having problems so early, but knew that eventually my legs would loosen up, it just might take an hour or two. The same thing had happened in the Australian Rogaine Champs last year, and we went on to win the title.
Into the first checkpoint (~13km) in Lane Cove National Park, we were in such a hurry noone refilled their water bottles. We grabbed a jam sandwich and hurried off again into the bush. A few more teams passed us, by this stage we estimate we were in about 15th place. Another 5km on we started to catch up to these teams again. One group in blue KPMG shirts were already trying to push their slowest member along who seemed to be having some troubles. With 80km to go they were in for a tough time. Up through the "Step Track" was a lovely section of rainforest gully with cascades and ferns. The country was a wonderful mix of heath and forest and we moved between the sandstone plateau and valley. Apart from the occasional major road, we could have been quite remote from the city. A long steady climb alongside a creek loosened my legs up nicely, and we passed a few more teams. A steep climb led to CP2 at 27km, where again we grabbed some sandwiches, this time remembered to refill water, and hustled off again, passing another 3-4 teams who had stopped for a picnic.
Suburban streets led us to Hornsby Heights, and after some confusion with route finding we crossed Pennant Hills Rd and the railway. Back into the bush again, we meandered around through the forest until we reached CP3 at 34km in the Cherrybrook guide hall, catching a Sydney Striders team and leaving them behind as we passed through quickly. Back down into the forest, route finding was fairly straightforward, and we were mainly contouring through forest and gradually climbed to the valley side, skirting cliff tops and starting to get a few views at last. A long gradual descent through damp forest took us down to CP4 at about 40km. Diane had linked up with Bob at last, and we had our first taste of the mobile smorgasbord she had put together for us. We headed off towards Galston Gorge with ham and tomato sandwiches in our hands, passing another Striders team as we headed off. There was about 2 hours daylight remaining, so we'd have to keep the pace on to make Crosslands at 56km.
After a climb and descent to a beautiful sandstone gorge and creek crossing, we followed it a way then climbed high onto the ridge before a steep descent to the road crossing in Galston Gorge. The rough rocky descent slowed me a lot, my legs still very tender. We crossed the creek below the bridge and picked up the walking track following the creek down to Crosslands. It undulated along beneath a rainforest canopy, the gathering dusk reducing visibility quickly. In many places the ferns reached across the narrow footpad, which although mostly very smooth, had the occasional hole or branch to trip the unwary. Just on dark we reached the grassy camping area at Crosslands for CP5 at 56km where we grabbed our torches. Another quick but scrumptious feed had us heading off in pursuit of the triathlete team who were in 4th place. The ghurkas were 90 mins ahead, and the 2nd placed Striders team with 3 women and a guy was 30 mins ahead.
A couple of kms along the Berowra river led to Lyrebird creek and a crossing over a long bouncy log bridge. We followed the creek up along a treacherously slippery track, before tackling the climb to Mt Kuring-gai head on. At one stage we saw the lights on 3rd placed Berowra Bushies ahead, and we finally started pulling away from the triathletes on the steep climb up a sealed fire trail. Over the highway and freeway we pulled into CP6 at 63km just as the Berowra team were leaving. A quick turnaround saw us in hot pursuit, munching on some jacket spuds and spinach and cheese bread as we went. A few blocks of suburban streets led to the Mt Kuring-gai trail which cruised across a plateau for a while before a steep descent to the water near Appletree Bay. As we started the descent, a lone runner supporting the Berowra team came by. Since they were locals they had many helpers along the way, and this guy was carrying a back pack of food and water for them.
Down at the water, we turned left along the rough track. Paul was having trouble with his glasses fogging up, and it was hard to maintain a jog with so many obstacles. There were 3 inlets to traverse along this section before the climb to Berowra. At the first we saw the Bushies on the far side, and as we reached that point, looked back to see our pursuers' lights. After the next bay the chasing lights were nowhere to be seen, and we thought we'd made a little time on the team ahead as we reached the third. Each bay necessitated a creek crossing, clambering over slippery boulders in the dark. The tide was down and many oyster shells covered the rocks along the shore. A couple of power boats motored past in the dark and we finally reached the end of the inlet leading to the climb, passing a rusting boat wreck in the shallows. An eroded track following a pipeline led up the creek, then a series of switchbacks which we steadily climbed, finally crossing the freeway and a few blocks through Berowra to CP7 at 72km. Another quick feed, but the Bushies gave us the slip again. The 2nd placed girls team had been reeled in to 10 mins now though, so perhaps 2nd place would be within our reach after all.
The next leg had a descent through the streets, many of which I jogged backwards to save my legs. At one point the others had disappeared so far ahead I had no idea where they'd gone. Adrian popped out of a side street though and we were soon on our way again along a contouring fire trail. The streamers marking the trail were fairly erratic, many having been torn down or stolen. After a while we passed a sign marking "Crosslands 3.8km" - in the last 25km or so we were only about 1km further down the Berowra river than a few hours ago! The map came in handy to work out a turn off onto a walking trail again, which eventually led over a ridge to a steep descent. Our hopes were raised when we heard female voices ahead, but they turned out to be two women supporting the Bushies team, who'd been left behind when they could no longer keep up! The descent slowed me again, and we finally reached CP8 at 78km at Berowra Waters. The women's team were still 10 mins ahead, so we'd made no time at all on them. The bushies however seemed to be content to stop and chat, so we cruised off along the river bank leaving them behind.
We had high hopes of making time on 2nd place. This leg was mostly up, and on rough trails which favoured us. As we started the climb, I took the lead and we poured on the pace, running most of the hill except for rocky outcrops which had to be climbed on loops embedded in the rock. We reached the plateau and I kept the pace on through the narrow track in the heathy scrub. As we started to descend into a deep gully, suddenly we saw lights just ahead. We'd caught them at last! We stayed together for the descent, then our team powered off ahead up the hill. 2nd place would be ours! On across the plateau our spirits were high. We reached a fire trail and had some momentary confusion. The streamers led onwards, but a rough hand-drawn sign indicated CP9 to the right, but there were no obvious streamers. Adrian looked at the map and advised that it showed the track hitting the road only a couple of hundred metres along from the checkpoint, so we headed on along the track, passing a sign saying "Cowan 1km". After a while we popped out onto the road, just after midnight, near the Cowan railway station. The place was deserted. A few minutes consulting the map and looking around led us to the conclusion the checkpoint was 1km back along the road. We'd stuffed up! We ran back along the road out of town and found the turnoff the the bushfire shed and CP9 at 86km. The girls had already been through 7 mins ago. Nigel said he'd seen them on the track below as we came along the road.
We were seriously fired up now, and ran strongly back into Cowan and over the railway. The next section was a mixed bag. Rough trails with some climbs in the early stages, then mainly descending fire trails for about 5km to finish. If we passed the girls early, we would have to work hard to hold onto the lead since they were strong on open fire trails and I would be slow on the descents. A long rough descent from the freeway crossing led to Jerusalem Bay. I was well off the back, but used the fresh batteries I'd replaced at the last CP and the high beam on my headtorch to minimise my disadvantage. As we started the climb back up to the plateau we caught the girls again, and gained a few hundred metres. Paul's glasses were fogging up again due to humidity from a passing shower which had fortunately blown away. Another rough descent and climb. I decided to forge ahead as best I could to minimise the disadvantage of the descents for me. Paul would easily catch up again on the fire trail. I started to tire a little on the climb, but a banana and good slug of sports drink fixed that. Reaching the trail a sign indicated "Brooklyn 6km". I upped the pace and we ran off along the ridge, not slowing for the occasional short climb and trying not to slow for the descents. Finally we were overlooking the freeway bridge across Broken Bay, and the fire trail descended in earnest. Shortly we turned off onto a steep goat track down to a creek. No lights to be seen behind. Past a camping spot and back onto fire trails, we met a couple of supporters of the girls team who told us it was about 2km to go. We ran off up the steady climb, trying to look as strong as possible. The trail continued to climb before the lights of Brooklyn were seen a long way below us, and at last the trail headed down. It was a steep descent, but some sealed sections meant it was possible for me to go backwards without too much difficulty. Another goat track led us at last to the road into Brooklyn.
The streamers were now replaced with glowsticks. Into town we went, expecting a community hall as the finish. The glowsticks led further on, and we passed closed shops and left town along the shore passing a few more supporters and some campers. Out onto the point, we were puzzled we still hadn't seen the end. Paul was suddenly caught with some gut problems, and headed for the bushes. Maybe we'd get caught with our pants down! We walked on slowly waiting for Paul to catch up, and rounded the point, finally seeing the floodlit finish ahead. Paul joined us again and we jogged into the finish, coming in at 16:55, just before 3am. The ghurkas had finished in 14:30! As we waited for our certificates, the lights of the following team rounded the point, and they ran in on 16:59 for a strong finish. It had been an awesome battle for the minor placings, and we'd been lucky to avoid the irony of a team of rogainers going down due to navigational difficulties!
Diane and Bob had done a fantastic job supporting us, and made sure we had a good feed and drink and rugged up before we drove off back into town. After a shower we were all tucked up in bed by 5am and slept until 9:30. At 10 we were surprised by a knock on the door and found a Salvo collecting for the Red Shield appeal! It was strange to be finished, warm and comfortable, albeit fairly sore while most of the teams were still on the track and many would not finish until the next day. It was only Saturday morning, and we had the whole weekend ahead of us, in contrast to the usual sorry story of dragging ourselves off to work on a Monday morning! Diane cooked up a fantastic breakfast of pancakes, and we finally headed off our separate ways about lunchtime. The drive back to Canberra was through bitter winds with sleet and occasional snow. I hoped the conditions were much better for those still out on the course, many of whom would be going on into Saturday night or even the next morning.
A big thanks to CAA for having the vision to organize such an event, to those who set and marked the course - a huge job in itself, to the army cadets and others in the aid stations, the police who looked after the road crossings, and to all the teams and supporters who turned out for such a great event. Congratulations all!
