My Journey to the Bruny Island Ultra Marathon

At the outset of this blog I want to express my deeper gratitude to and appreciation for my wonderful and beautiful wife Val who has supported me throughout my running career. She has been a tower of strength and encouragement, even if she now refers to me as “Old Man”. And for the Bruny run she was a marvellous support crew to supply me with what I wanted at each 2 km stage. She brought tears to my eyes at one point when she yelled out “You’re my hero” as she drove on to the next changeover point. The main reason I am running is her brother Bruce (and his wife Sue) who have encouraged me so much along the way. I was inspired to get back running when Bruce ran a Six Foot Marathon in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. Even though that is something I wanted to do when I read his account of the run I know that I will never be able to because my times would be too slow to qualify for an entry. Ben Brockman, exercise physiologist at PhysioTas, prepared a running plan for me so I would be prepared for my big day Megan, physiotherapist at PhysioTas, has been a great help in helping me recover from soreness. Then there has been the marvellous running community at Devonport as well as throughout Tasmania, and even some from the Mainland and overseas—just too many people to acknowledge individually. I have had emails, text messages, lots of hugs and words of encouragement. But a special mention to the five lovely ladies who formed part of the “We Run for Cupcakes” relay team who all came back after they had finished to run me up the steps to the Bruny Lighthouse. It was quite emotional that they would want to do that for me. What wonderful people they are.

The following is a progress account of the ups and downs I have had since Scottsdale:

Monday, 20^th August:

The Ultrain Rail Trail Run from Billycock Hill to Scottsdale left me feeling enthused to get stuck into preparing for the Bruny Island ultra marathon in December. So I took the plunge today and registered. The handicappers will certainly have fun with the recent times I gave them—half marathon in 1:58:57 and marathon in 6:01:21, but these are PB’s from my Garmin and not official times. I’m not going to have a lot of time to prepare for the hills of Bruny, especially when we are in Mt Magnet for 5 weeks and then Perth for another week in October-November, but I will try and get as many kms into my legs as I can in the next three months. I know it’s going to be tough. I’ve checked out the stats for the run and found that in places the gradient is a staggering 20%. To see how I pulled up after Scottsdale, I decided to run along the trails at Geilston Bay and managed 16.15 kms @ 7:33/k with an elevation gain of 351 metres and Strava gave me 3 PR’s along the way.

Sunday, 26^th August:

After a couple more 10k runs during the week at a reasonable pace following the Rail Trail Run, Val and I attended the inaugural Wynyard Foreshore parkrun, where I ran at 5:00/k. However, after the previous week I found myself fading over the last leg, especially on the sand. After church on Sunday we had a nibble lunch of cheese, avocado, strawberries and biscuits along with our cuppa. It was while I was eating that I decided I should have my long run today as Monday, my normal long run day, was heavily booked. I chose my course (my R4M+) which is around 13k, filled two water bottles with Staminade, grabbed some jelly babies and Hydralyte tablets and set off, telling Val that I was “going to run till I drop”. Setting off at a steady pace I was quite comfortable running, after a few slower kilometres, at around 6:20/k, which, though faster than I had planned, wasn’t pushing myself too much as I was envisaging doing a marathon distance. I wisely walked the steeper hills but towards the end of my second lap I could sense myself struggling a bit. I put it down to having a biggish week without any tapering in the lead up to such a long distance and so pulled the pin and didn’t go on. I wasn’t disappointed and don’t see it as a failure. At least I was still on track to run around 5 hours for a solo marathon distance. Thinking back over my supplies I realised that I had incorrectly prepared my Staminade in that I made it half strength. Maybe that helps to explain some unexpected cramping when I tried to get out of the bath.

Thursday, 30^th August:

For the last couple of solo runs I’ve been using the HRM app on my Garmin to gauge my pace. The other day I was running around 130 bpm, which had me around 6:20/k whereas today it was around 135 but I was running just under 6:00/k on the flat. I don’t understand that, but my heart rate was hovering on the warm up/easy pace and this is what I want to do to build endurance for Bruny. It’ll be interesting to see what Ben Brockman says when I see him next week about a running plan.

Wednesday, 5^th September:

I’ve been doing hill work prior to Moodie Monday and RunClub when I can get there. During these “The Need for Hills” runs I have been setting unintentional Strava segment PR’s, even though I thought I was running reasonably slowly by the HRM. I’ve been following up these solo hill runs with much faster ones while running with the group, and even though that might be around 5:30/k I’ve been able to do them reasonably comfortably. When I saw Ben this morning he gave me some additional exercises, on top of the ones I have already been given, specific to my running needs and I’m looking forward to the plan he will email me to help me to prepare not just for Bruny but for a number of longer races I hope to be able to compete in and complete next year. I’m even beginning to think that I would like to have a crack at doing a marathon in each state and territory while we are away. That will, however, mean a lot of juggling of routes and places for our trip.

Saturday, 8^th September:

Val and I opted to travel to Riverside for the Windsor Precinct parkrun this morning as that is the last of the current parkruns in Tasmania that we haven’t completed. Now we can join the Statesmen/Stateswomen Club until another new event commences. I was still sore from the last few days when I went for a warm up jog but found that I was running sub 6:00/k pace. It just felt so easy and so comfortable. It shows that my endurance and speed has increased over the years but the danger for me will be that in my longer runs I might fall into trap of starting too fast. I will need to keep a good eye on both the HRM and my times. Anyway I had a reasonable run on a great course that we would be happy to return to even though I faded a bit towards the end. This meant that I couldn’t quite catch the fellow in front of me, even though I could see myself gaining on him, and the one behind me overtook me in the last few hundred metres. I hate being overtaken towards the end, preferring to pass others.

Tuesday, 11^th September:

What a day this became. Even though yesterday was my normal long run day we were travelling from Devonport to Hobart to dog sit for 11 days. I ended up choosing to run from Geilston Bay along the Clarence Foreshore Trail but turning off at the Tasman Bridge to run along the Intercity Cycleway. As I have already written this up (http://roadrunner7310.blogspot.com/2018/09/my-second-ever-marathon.html) I will just mention that this was a longer run and a successful attempt to run a solo marathon after having pulled the pin on a couple of previous attempts. This netted me a 36:43 PB. So not only was I pleased with that effort but I want to run over the bridge again and do another long run along the Cycleway. But how long will it take me to recover from today’s effort? And, more importantly, will I be properly prepared for Bruny?

Monday, 17^th September:

Last night I received my personalised running plan from Ben Brockman at Physiotas that will help better prepare me for Bruny. He had scheduled me for an hour long run today but I had set my heart on running in the Meehan Range along the MTB and fire trails. The course I had mapped out was around 11k, so I knew that that would take me more than the hour. Strava and Garmin both gave me an elevation gain of 406 metres but I actually ran just over 12k because of the wrong turning I took up a private road (I couldn’t see the sign when I went up (literally) the road, but could when I turned around at the top and returned to the bottom). What a fabulous run with a very steep beginning and typical MTB sections! It was nowhere near as picturesque as Derby but I found it more challenging and would thoroughly recommend all those interested in trail running to give it a try. Obviously, not too many people have run it the way I did for I have the ninth and tenth fastest times worldwide on Strava for a couple of segments people have created. I want to come back and do this again and again. I found it good preparation for Bruny’s hills.

Tuesday, 9^th October:

The best laid plans of mice and men do go astray from time to time. But for me time for proper preparation is running out. Following my training plan, the first couple of weeks went well, but then I hit the wall. Having just finished my six months at the little church in Hobart I had two good days running before my body succumbed to the man flu and I couldn’t do much at all. By this time we were in Perth, WA for a couple of days (no running included) before we began the long drive north to Mt Magnet for the five weeks we were to help out at the little church there. We stopped at Moora overnight so we could compete in their parkrun. But the flu had taken its toll on my body. A few young kids took off like streaked lightening and led the way for a lap and a half of the grassy oval before hitting the gravel. I was close on their heels but, inadvertently cutting a corner, I surged to the lead with my head imagining that I would be able to finish first. After all, the previous week at Montrose Foreshore parkrun I ran 23:30 for my last outing in the 65-69 age category. As I slowly increased the distance between myself and those behind I felt good. But as I made the U-turn to return to the start for the second loop I began to feel myself slowing down. And the second placed runner was gaining. By the time I had made 2 km he passed me and I struggled to maintain my pace. Each kilometre became progressively slower. I achieved a time of 25:59, which still gave me the age grade record for the day and the 70-74 age category record by just over 2 minutes. But I missed that coveted first place. Oh, well. When we arrived in Mt Magnet that afternoon the heat was oppressive and it was only the second month of spring. At least we will be leaving here at the beginning of November so these Tasmanians won’t have to face the full brunt of summer. My first run was today, doing yesterday’s run that I postponed because I hadn’t fully recovered. At least I felt good enough to give it a bit of a go. I wasn’t able to get away as early as I had hoped, but 6.15 am was a reasonable start. At least the temperature was only 17^o rather than the 30^o when I would normally run. However, it felt hot for this Tasmanian who is more used to cooler climes. At least the win, a tailwind at that as I ran the outward leg, was cooling. But coming back was a different story as I battled the variable wind and negotiated the return incline that I had anticipated to be a fast decline. Oh, well! At least the temperatures here should help me if Bruny is a hot day, though the humidity here today was around 5%. Not sure that Bruny will be that low. So this is my running world for the next four weeks and I’ll make the most of these conditions, knowing that I will need much more in the way of fluids than I normally drink on long runs. Yesterday we saw a middle-aged man out jogging and today I saw a young female, so I’m not the only one around. But there were no Strava segments, so I decided to create some to measure myself by. I did one after yesterday’s walk and made it in such a way that no one would think of running in that manner, but today I found I was only fourth in the males for the Two Big Zeros (though 2 females have also run it), a massive 2:00 behind the fastest. I did feel hard done by when I checked their results (between 1-5 years ago) and found that they had done my segment in a different fashion but were still credited with having done it the way I designed it. Doesn’t matter, as it is more for me to see how I am improving.

Monday, 10^th October:

Today, being my specific hill day, I drove up the road to Warramboo Hill Lookout where I parked the car. Apart from the mullock heaps created by the mines, the area is reasonably flat. Oh, there are inclines but these aren’t as challenging as the hills that I need to train on. I was hoping to be able to run to the top where the communication towers are, but I couldn’t find the track up. So I contented myself with jogging downhill to the tourist road, doing a U-turn and then heading back up to the carpark. But there were two other “roads” (rough 4WD tracks in reality) so I took the left one, only to find that it headed downhill to meet the road I’d just run up. So it was back to the tourist road with another U-turn so I could return to the car. This time I took the right one until it ended in a small turn around loop that lead me back to the carpark. This was going to be my new Strava segment: Starting at the car and heading along the right track to the loop, back to the car, down the hill, do the U-turn and return to the car. By the time I had done that three times I had had enough for the morning, my lungs not being so good today. Anyway, I’d run 11k with an elevation of 240 metres. So I’ll get some weekly hills for the month we are here, even if they’re not as steep as I would like.

Monday, 15^th October:

I think I’ve come to the point of taking my Monday long run out along the Tourist Road that passes Warramboo Hill Lookout, the Mother and Child Grave and the Amphitheatre. After Warramboo Hill the road becomes gravel—mud after rain—and it is fairly deserted. Wednesdays will be Warramboo Hill; Thursday and Friday out along the Sandstone Road; and Saturday I can do some laps around the school oval or the Race Club.

Wednesday, 17^th October:

Today I made a big mistake, though it wasn’t costly in any way. Last night I made up my drinks to take with me this morning so I could have one at the end of my hill session and another at the end of my version of RunClub. However, I left them in the fridge and didn’t realise it until I was almost at the parking area of the lookout. I had planned to do four hill loops, but stopped at the end of three, which gave me 157 metres of elevation and my new course record slashed 2:37 off my previous best. Maybe next week I’ll manage an extra loop, but I might need to reconsider what pace I run it. It turns out that my average time was almost a minute faster per kilometre than when I did these hills last week. Maybe that explains the lack of desire to do another loop. Well, there was nothing to drink so I wandered the carpark for a bit before heading downhill as I started my version of RunClub. I wasn’t sure how I would go but I was soon able to settle into a reasonable pace. By now the wind was picking up, which meant that it didn’t feel so hot. By the time I was running back up Warramboo Hill to finish this run I was running into a 40 kph headwind up a 40 metre incline over 600 metres. I found that to be the hardest part of today’s run, especially now, at 8 am, as it was already 24^o.

Wednesday, 24^th October:

There have been a few days recently when I just haven’t felt like running at all. I’ve felt as flat as the proverbial tack. But I’ve gone out because I had to, otherwise I’d be nowhere near ready for Bruny—and that’s my immediate goal. I must admit, though, that once I start running (perhaps after the first kilometre) that I feel fine and enjoy the run. Next Wednesday the temperature is predicted to hit 39^o, so I will really need to have an early start. My hills today went really well. Not only did I manage the extra loop today but I also had my two fastest times over that 2.5k segment.

Monday, 29^th October:

Today’s temperature for Mt Magnet was predicted to reach 36^o so I had the alarm set for 5.00 am to make an early start. As it turned out I didn’t need the alarm for I was up before time and had the kettle on for our three mugs of tea. I was away a bit after 6.00 am and tried to settle into my easy pace. However, it didn’t go according to plan. Even though I was still feeling a bit sore I commenced at 6.49/k and, apart from three kilometre splits that was my slowest split for the morning. No matter how often I tried to slow down it just didn’t happen. A hiker died in the heat the other day so Val was justifiably concerned about my long run in today’s conditions. Thus I made the decision to run to the end of the bitumen near the mill because there would be traffic on that road and double back until I was halfway into my time and then turn around and repeat what I had already done. I sipped my water quite frequently and had jellies every couple of kilometres as well. I tried to run on the bitumen, though the traffic around today meant I was frequently on the gravel, meaning my feet slid on the ground with each step. I gagged a bit on one fly, which I think I ended up swallowing. With about an hour to run I started to forget about my pace and just ran. I was getting too fast for this type of run but just couldn’t be bothered trying to slow down. It was too much of a mental effort to keep focusing on that—so I just continued to run by how I felt and thinking how this pace was going to be bad, very bad for my upcoming 50k and Bruny. As my pace continued to increase the heat was building up—28^o by the time I completed the run—radiating from the bitumen but I preferred that to the slipperiness of the loose gravel or fine sand (where the water settles beside the road after it rains) which I avoided as much as possible, except for when a vehicle was heading towards me. Then the sun began to sting, even though the UV index was only 4 at that time of the morning. My head was spinning a bit. I began to imagine myself collapsing or just sitting down propped up by a sign until someone stopped to come to my aid. However, I kept my fluids up and went through 500 mls of Staminade as well as much of my straight water—all of which was now warm for the sun had been beating down upon my back. Even up the hill towards the home straight my pace was much faster than I wanted, even with a 24 kmh head wind. When the wind gusted it didn’t feel quite so hot, but when it calmed down it felt like the blast from a furnace. So I plodded on and made it home safely—with a new distance PB for the 2 hr 30 GADP, though this was unintended as I am just trying to get long, slow runs under my belt. The whole run felt like I had a stone in my right shoe, just like I had the other day. It wasn’t till I arrived home and examined the shoe that I found a small piece of rigid plastic had embedded itself in the sole of my shoe and been pushed up to stick into my foot. My next long run, 50k, is due next Monday but we will be travelling down the Perth so I have rescheduled it for the following Thursday doing 10 laps of Canning River parkrun.

Wednesday, 31^st October:

Today was my last day for Warramboo Hill so I decided on trying 5 loops this week. Unfortunately, on my third loop I inadvertently hit the stop button on my Garmin. Before I knew what had happened it had saved the run to that point—fortunately it was saved and not deleted. I decided as a farewell to Mt Magnet that I would try my hardest on the last loop, which resulted in a 60 second course record. So I was pleased with that effort. It meant, however, that I faded badly on my RunClub 20 Out/20 Back. It was 28^o when I finished the run and even at around 8.30 am I could feel the sun’s bite stinging my legs as I ran. I had left my fluids in the car for these 40 minutes and was regretting that decision as I could feel that heat beginning to affect me. Anyway I made it safely back to the car for the short trip back to the manse where we are staying.

Thursday, 1^st November:

It’s just one month to Bruny and today’s 16k run along Sandstone Road wasn’t what I had planned. I found it impossible to get my time down to the 7:00/k that I want, no matter how hard I tried. So I just gave up and ran, with my average for today’s run being 6:26/k. Grrr!

Saturday, 3^rd November:

The couple of times I was awake last night I questioned whether I would even bother to attempt to run the Two Big Zeros segment on Strava. After all, my hips and legs were still a bit sore from yesterday’s attempt. Yesterday I was pleased to take 31 seconds off my previous attempt at that segment which meant I had the third fastest time and had been hoping to get the crown. But that will have to go by the board—unless we happen to come back another time. Today’s run was my last at Mt Magnet and I went out along Lennonville Road. As I ran I noticed lots of wiggly lines crossing the road—wiggly lines that looked like snakes had been crossing it. I kept a look out in case any decided to cross the road but I didn’t see any at all, for which I was thankful. I still couldn’t get my timing right and each kilometre was under the 7:00/k that I want to commence with for my two long runs in the next four weeks. My next run is planned to be 50k and I will run that along the Jurien Bay foreshore when we are there for a couple of nights on our way south to Perth. Hopefully we get there early enough on Monday afternoon to check out where I will be running before I actually start.

Tuesday, 6^th November:

Well, I completed my first 50k run, smashing my marathon PB by 29:19 in the process of achieving a sub 5hr marathon time, which is something I have aimed at for a long time. A more detailed review of this run can be found at http://roadrunner7310.blogspot.com/2018/11/last-big-run-before-bruny.html

Sunday, 18^th November:

As I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow about a growth on the side of my face I decided to do tomorrow’s run today in case he has to cut it out. I planned to run some loops around Pig Island while Val walked. Unfortunately, as I was coming to the end of my fourth loop, having run the third loop quickly and setting a new segment PB in the process, I found Val on the ground, having just tripped over a stone. She was a bit of a mess so I decided to cut the run short and take her home so she could have a shower and rest up. Val insisted that I complete my run, so I headed out along the Bike Track. As I did so, I meditated upon the fact that some of my running friends had just smashed out impressive PB’s in the Point to Pinnacle—and some of these I have run with previously. But now I wouldn’t be able to keep up with them. Then it struck me—I’m now 70, old enough to be the father of some of them, and so can’t improve to the extent that these friends can. Perhaps I need some new running buddies who are slower like I am.

Wednesday, 21^st November:

It’s just over a week before Bruny and I needed facial surgery for a cancerous tumour that had grown very quickly over the last few weeks. Thanks to a cancelled appointment I was able to get in this afternoon and have it removed. I talked to the doctor about Bruny and he said that I was free to run—and that I could start anytime I liked. However, I did walk with Val at RunClub tonight as the biggest problem was my eye. Having had to take such a large piece that was about halfway between the ear and the eye meant that the skin was stretched for the stitches and I couldn’t close it at all. The pain wasn’t too bad as I could endure it, but Val is going to have to remove the stitches after I run Bruny. So it will be back to training tomorrow to see how I am going with it.

Wednesday, 28^th November:

Well, after holding a missions meeting at our place we left home at about 2.30 pm, planning to make Oatlands for the evening. We stopped at Hill Street IGA in Longford for some supplies for the week and then made out way south. As the Midland Highway upgrade was still in progress it was a slow trip, so we decided to camp at Campbell Town instead, planning to have an early start to catch the Bruny Island ferry at Kettering at the earliest time possible. We had a walk around town, which I found very difficult. My legs were aching, leaving me to question how I will go on Saturday. If Val could outplace me up the little inclines around Campbell Town, what will I be like on the real hills at Bruny. Maybe I’ve caused all this by getting ahead of myself. Being competitive I’ve done a bit more than Ben had me down for so I could make greater progress for Run Down Under with the aim of going up the leader board. We’ll have another little walk tomorrow after we set up camp. Hopefully by then I will be feeling better.

Saturday, 1^st December:

We arrived on Bruny on Thursday afternoon and, having set up the caravan in the low cost self contained camping ground that is part of the Bruny Landscaping Supplies property, we drove to Dennes Point to inspect the route that we would have to navigate on Saturday. And that first hill is not going to be easy. We drove the whole of the course, detouring into Adventure Bay to get fuel, so we would know what to expect. While we couldn’t see the changeover spots where Val could park the car so I could be supplied with what I needed, we at least had a better idea of the lay of the land.

On Friday we turned up at the CWA Hall at 11.30 am to get my bib, but there was no one there. Thus we went for a drive down to the historic Quarantine Station and spent a wonderful time exploring part of the site. I would thoroughly recommend it as a place to visit. After a couple of hours there we returned to the CWA Hall to find it was now open. In we went, only to be asked if I was Steve. As the Old Man in the solo run I wasn’t missed. Picking up the bib and some advertising material we headed back to the van for lunch, before heading down to Alonnah for a coffee. Imagine our delight when, in finding a toilet, we saw the name of friends of ours on the garage over the road who had been part of the Montrose congregation when we were there. We had a wonderful time with them and are going back for dinner on Sunday. Back at the van we set our alarms for 2:00 am, so I could be up early enough for breakfast (4 Weet Bix, 1 white dinner roll with honey and 3 mugs of tea). I slept reasonably well, even though I went to bed when it was still light—but it certainly wasn’t enough sleep for someone who had been so tired for the last few days.

Leaving the van at 3:45 am we drove north to Dennes Point, having to take the long way around for the safety of those runners and their support crew who were starting from 4:00 am onwards. I arrived at the registration desk just prior to 4:30 am and was immediately allowed to set off. As it was dark I had my head torch; and as it was cold I had my Runphoria jacket. I had decided to carry my Salomon vest with a few supplies in it in case I needed something in between the changeover points. It was a wise decision, as I was also able to carry my phone and thus take some photos. The first 2 kms was all up hill, and I had made the decision previously to walk the hills, and that was a wise decision because it meant I shouldn’t hit the wall. Power walking up them I was pretty close to the times I had extrapolated from one person’s run of the few years ago. Ahead of me, around the corner and at a higher altitude two runners were silhouetted against the sky. If only I had my camera, for it would have been a magical shot. But I was in the dark as to the times I was aiming to run after those first 2 kms because I had dropped my zip lock bag with the times in the car, and Val couldn’t find them until after I had done about 20 kms. In hindsight I think the misplacing of that timesheet was good as I ran the first half marathon distance about 30 minutes faster than I had planned. After 2 kms I handed Val my jacket as I was warming up and head torch as it was light enough by that stage for me to see. The sky was alive with colour catching the clouds. How beautiful that was especially as I was also able to look down on Storm Bay. As I continued to make my way along the gravel road to the main road cars where coming down—windows wound down with people, both known and unknown, shouting encouragement as they drove past. It was something I discovered the whole way to the lighthouse—people, most of them complete strangers and many who were not even part of the run, were yelling encouragement to me to keep on as they drove either north or south. It was a continuous refrain that was heart warming. And as runners overtook me in the latter stages most of them had encouraging words to say. Matthew offered me some of his watermelon; Dick Crotty jumped out of his car to give me a couple of barley sugars to suck (I wondered whether I should take them from a complete stranger in case they were laced with dope, but as I didn't run any faster I realised that there was no speed in them). My legs continued to get sorer and sorer—but the position of the soreness changed. My biggest worry was the pain shooting through my right knee every time I landed on that foot and the soreness behind the left knee. But there was nothing that could be done about that. As I passed through the first half marathon I was pleased with how I was running—yes, it was faster than I was aiming for and I was far ahead of my planned time but it felt comfortable. I began to work out possible finish times. If I could keep this up then I might even finish an hour ahead of schedule. And so I pressed on, every so often slowing down for a time to run or walk beside people I was overtaking. Even though it was a race there is such great camaraderie amongst most of the runners/walkers who just want to encourage others. As I continued on, other parts of my legs and feet were finding the going tough, but I endeavoured to maintain the best pace I could. Then I was drawing close to the marathon distance. I knew it would not be a person best, but I would settle for a second fastest marathon time, as I did not want to cause myself the problems I did when I did the 50 kms in WA. There I had pushed myself to get under 5:00:00 for the marathon distance, on a relatively flat course, and was immediately reduced to walking the rest of the way. Sense and sensibility was required today. And then it began to hit me. I was finding the going getting tougher. But I had been setting a cracking pace, far faster than was wise, but I told myself that it was too late to worry about that now so I kept pushing myself as best as I could for an Old Man! If only I could maintain the gap between what I had aimed for and what I was doing I wasn’t going to worry too much—at least not yet. It would be just too bad if the last few kms took their toll on my actual times. My shoulders began to droop; my back was beginning to ache from my drooping shoulders. And yet encouragement continued to come both from support crew waiting for their runners and from runners overtaking me. Comments like “You are awesome” or “You’re such an inspiration” continued to buoy me along. I often thought of all those who had sent me messages and texts in the days leading up to today as they told me that they knew I could do it. I felt that if I gave up at any stage then I would be such a disappointment to them—though I reality that would not be the case. It was just how I was beginning to think. At one stage Sally came by and we ran together for a while until the hills slowed me down. She lifted me spirits and I found myself running at around 6:10/k, so I knew that I still had in me for the final leg. Then it was Courtney with whom I ran for a while before I increased my pace. Such lovely ladies. All this time I was wondering where Ben Brockman and the Cupcake Ladies were. Just thinking of them spurred me on as I wanted to get as close to the end as possible before they sailed past. As the remaining kilometres passed under my feet I was slowing down, especially on the hills. I re-evaluated me finishing time, as, at this rate, I would now finish well outside of 8:30:00. It was increasingly difficult to power walk the hills, though I did try with limited success. The Cupcake Ladies caught me and they were just so wonderful. Words of encouragement abounded. As I drew nearer the end I somehow found an incredible boost in that I upped the pace quite dramatically and thought that maybe, just maybe, I could still come in under 8:30:00. It was such a joy to round the corner and see the Lighthouse atop the hill. Not far to go now. I strode along as fast as I could until that hill confronted me; until the steep path was in front of me. But there were the Cupcake Ladies who, having finished their relay, had come back to run that last little bit with me. Even as I write this tears are welling up in my eyes. Oh, how wonderful they were to think of me. Struggling up the path who should overtake me but Gabby Wilson, who took out third place in the women’s section. The Cupcake Ladies got me to the top and embraced me. I could hardly stand. I needed to lean against the Lighthouse so I didn’t fall over. I was able to sit down on a rock for a while before we headed off, rather gingerly at first, to the car and then to the Bruny Hotel for the formal presentations. This year there was a new award—the Dick Crotty Encouragement Award—which Dick was called on to present to the winner, which turned out to be me. Wow! Later, just before we were leaving, he came over to us for some photos and to encourage me. Getting up and down off the picnic blanket was hard, as was climbing the caravan steps but I would do it all over again—definitely not tomorrow as I will need a few days to recover.

At times, especially towards the end my mind was blank as I just put one foot in front of the other. I was running on auto pilot and there is much about today that has escaped me. But this is an account of what I remember. For those who have read this I hope that it has been helpful. Maybe, just maybe, it could encourage you to give Bruny a try as part of a relay team or even a solo effort.

Last Big Run Before Bruny

Yesterday's long run of 50k was rescheduled for today as we spent yesterday travelling from Mt Magnet to Jurien Bay, where the temperatures are often 10 degrees cooler. So I was rather pleased that I could run here rather than at Mt Magnet. However, last night I started to get a bit apprehensive about such a long run. I know that I have completed two marathon distance runs, along with a couple of aborted attempts. However, this was going to be an extra 8k on top of that. To make matters worse, I didn't sleep too well last night. Both hips were a bit sore for some reason so sleeping on my side, which is my preferred position, was rather uncomfortable. Having been awake for a while I got up at 4.40 am and helped myself to two bowls of Nutra Grain and then three mugs of tea. During the time I was up and getting myself ready it rained twice, but the heaviest fall was expected later in the morning when I would be on the track. As usual I loaded up my Salomon with two litres of water (bore water at that), 1 litre of Staminade, 10 gels and numerous jellies.

I would be running the Turquoise Way Path that wanders 12k south and 1.5k north from the jetty. I decided that I would run north to start (there are three toilets in the general area if I needed one) and then a double run over the southern pathway. I settled into a comfortable pace, which was, by the way, faster than I wanted to run. But that seems to be usual for me. I start faster than my ability to maintain that pace. I was running on bitumen which was good in that I wouldn't have to worry about my feet slipping on loose gravel, as was the case in so much of my running at Mt Magnet. However, by the end of my run both heels were a bit sore. At the end of the northern section I did a U-turn and started on my way back with the coastal scrub on my right concealing the beautiful coastline that I would follow for the basic entirety of today's run. Before I arrived back at the start I was able to pop into the toilet - three mugs of tea does affect this old man's bladder.

I hadn't gone far along the southern section when I spotted a stumpy-tailed lizard on the path licking up water from this morning's earlier rain. There were clouds around but no rain at the moment. That was expected at about 8.00 am. As I continued to plod southwards, maintaining an easy pace I started to forget about trying to keep it down to around 7:00/k. That seemed, at this stage, just too slow and it felt far easier to run at the pace I was at, even if it was a bit up and down at times.

After 9k I reached what the map described as a steep section of the track, though I didn't find it steep at all in comparison to what I have been running in other places. But steep, as I found out later, is relative to what one has already completed and how the legs are feeling. Anyway, I sailed up and over the hills as the track ran through sand dunes some of which were covered with scrub while there were also patches of sand in classic dune shape.

I had continued to delight in the sounds of the birds darting here and there, as well as a hairy centipede and may other insects crawling along the track. In all I spotted three stumpy-tailed lizards, two of which were sunning themselves on the path, making a great invitation to any raptor that might be overhead. They were great company. All the time I kept an eye out, as best I could from under the brim of my Legionnaire's cap, for any slithery snake who might just be crossing in front of me. But there were none to be seen. But there was one amazing sight. Most long competitive runs have sweepers, sometimes carrying a broom, whose role is to pull people out of the race if they are going too slowly to make the distance within the cutoff time. Ahead of me, working his way up the hill, was a sweeper who was literally sweeping debris from off the path. So I was able to pass The Sweeper. 😃 A little bit later, at the 13k mark I felt a few drops of rain, but it didn't last. Even though the temperature wasn't expected to get above 20 it felt quite hot, so rain would have brought me a welcome relief - even more of a relief than the cooling headwinds, which impeded my progress.

Towards the end of the outward 12k, during which I had faced headwinds of varying strength, I came to the river, blocked by the beach, that was a welcome sight. And while I hadn't stopped to read all of them, there were numerous signs about the history of the place - the history of the aboriginal people and the early Europeans who forever changed the landscape as they sought to bring it under their control. There were also many shelter sheds put up so people could pause for refreshments of whatever sort they had brought with them. Then the track ended at another shelter shed, which I ran around and began the 12k back to the start. This time, however, the wind was behind me and helped me on my way.

The next part of the run was fairly uneventful, though I did take a wrong turn towards the end.  With only kilometres left to the turn I looked up and spied lots of sand dunes, but a closer inspection revealed that they were the roofs of houses glistening in the sun. At about 25k there was Val, starting to take photos of me. At this stage I was still running reasonably strongly. I reached the start, having run 27k, turned around and began the last 24k. I had a couple of slow sections as I refilled one of my flexible bottles and then stopped for more sunscreen when I caught up with Val who had brought it with her for me to reapply. Another video of me running to be posted on Facebook was made. By now I was starting to tire a bit but, checking my times, I could see that I was reasonably ahead of my best time for a solo marathon run. How good it would be if I could better that time. So I kept up my pace as best I could.

This time the steep section of the path did feel a bit steeper, but up it I went. At around 36k it began to rain and I appreciated the cooling affect it brought. But it was short-lived, not even being enough to completely cover the path. Oh well. It had obviously skirted around where I was. My legs were feeling the pain as I rounded the shed at the end of the path. I was still on track for a good marathon time so I kept the pace up, not really caring that I would have another 9k to run after finishing the marathon distance. When I hit the magic distance I knew that I had bettered my previous best by somewhere around 20 minutes. But I would have to wait until I arrived back at the cabin to find out by how much I had surpassed that time. I had been feeling nauseous for some time and put it down to the frequent drinking of Staminade, the jellies and gels - my use of gels was a bit of a disaster though. I had initially planned to take one every 5k, but I hadn't been doing so and now that my stomach wasn't feeling too good I had stopped using them. This probably wasn't a good idea as I now began to struggle to maintain any sort of pace as I tired badly. I frequently had to walk up hills. And then when I jogged in between these walking periods my right knee had shooting pains. It became harder and harder to run and, like the Man from Snowy River's pony, I now could scarcely raise a trot. But on I continued for there was no way in which I could pull out as I would still have to get home. So I did the best I could and continued on with very slow kilometres. At least I was getting closer to the end. I knew I would finish, but I also knew that I wouldn't finish well.

And then the doubts arose in my mind. If I was finding this flattish course hard to complete how would I handle Bruny? Maybe it was stupid of me to consider running such a tough course. But as I've already entered I will just have to give it my best shot and if I get disqualified because I'm running too slowly to make the cut-off time of 10 hours, so be it. And why did I even consider entering Gone Nuts 50k in March, just one week after the Derby half marathon I plan to enter? My abilities are nowhere near as good as my dreams. So maybe I should limit myself in the future to shorter runs - like the half marathon distance which I know I can now cover quite easily.

With my legs screaming with each step I took - apart from walking - I passed the 50k mark but there was still 1k left before I crossed the finish line. So I sent Val a message to say that I needed a ginger beer and a coffee. Indeed, I had been hanging out for a coffee for the last 15k or so. Now I could have one. There was Val again, taking another video and shouting out instructions to relax my shoulders - but my back was sore, my shoulders were sore and I just didn't have the energy to keep good form. With the line in sight I upped my pace the best I could. The worst thing I did then was to sit down as I struggled to get up. Sore as I was I still felt far better than I had after the 2017 Derby Half Marathon where I could barely move at all.

Reflections: The last 9k were pretty tough on my body. I must learn to start far more slowly. At Bruny a number of others are also starting at around 4.30 am so hopefully I will have a better starting pace. I know that I have definitely improved over the years and when I recover from today's run I hope to keep on with what I am doing at the moment. I am grateful to my wonderfully supportive wife, Val, and to Ben Brockman who has drawn up my running plan. I've basically been able to keep to it, even with our having had to travel to Mt Magnet for these last five weeks. Oh, an my marathon time was a PR of 29:19. I was pleased with that, but at Bruny that will not be a mark I should even consider.

My Second Ever Marathon

Though yesterday was my scheduled long run day I wasn't able to run at home because we were travelling south to dog sit while their owners are away on a cruise. I was down to run a marathon distance according to the generic running plan I have adapted and roughly follow. Anyway, today was the new day for this run, which would also show what I was up to in regards to the Bruny Island ultra marathon in two month's time.

I looked at two possibilities - the first being the Clarence Foreshore Trail and the other starting with the Foreshore Trail but running over the Tasman Bridge and then making up the difference by running along the Intercity Cycleway on the western side of the River Derwent. I stocked up with 2 litres of water, 2x500 mls of Staminade (proper strength this time), 6 gels to be consumed after every 6k, two protein bars for 15k and 30k and a packet of jelly babies for use at every 2k. I'm sure that I've learnt my lesson from previous fiascoes and will take each of these at the appropriate time. I also had a tube of Hydralyte tablets to suck when needed, even though the instructions say not to put them into the mouth.

Being super confident of my ability I was planning on covering the distance in just under 5 hours, which would give me a PB of over an hour from my only ever marathon that was on 5 December 2016 when I accompanied the Run4Mind girls as they did the first of their 14 marathons in 15 days in Tassie to raise money and awareness of mental health issues.

By the time I started it was after 10.00 am and it was going to be a hot day by Tasmanian standards. I chose the bridge run and set off down the steep hill to the Foreshore Trail near the Geilston Bay Yacht Club. It wasn't long before I was running along the river on my favourite surface - trail, but this wouldn't last long as most of the run would be on concrete. YUK! Being a long run I decided to run by pace rather than the HRM and tried to keep it down to no more than 6:20/k, but this wasn't always easy in the beginning stages of the run. I also made the decision to walk hills/inclines so as not to push myself too hard. I kept to the predetermined intake of fluids, gels and jellies.

When I reached the Tasman Bridge I changed my plan and run up and over it instead of walking up. At this point it didn't seem to be causing me any difficulties and I plodded on. There was a strong wind blowing down the river, which was quite refreshing in the warmth of the day. At the end of the bridge, and I can now say that I have run the Bridge (though not the official race version which starts and end in different places to my run) I headed left to the beginning/end of the Intercity Cycleway (depending from where one commences). Turning round it struck me - it really struck me. It was wind and as I headed to the northern suburbs it seemed to become a ferocious gale impeding my progress. In spite of this I was still able to hold my form and pace. Cyclists shot past. There was one other solitary runner who was going far faster than I was. And I did pass quite a number of walkers enjoying their walks. Travelling along the now decommissioned railway line and passing the remnants of numerous railway stations I had to frequently stop and give way to traffic on the many roads that crossed the Cycleway.

I kept counting how far I had been and what was left, breaking it up into manageable slots. Not only was that wind giving me a battering but the Cycleway appeared to be an all uphill incline as I passed suburb after suburb. The good thing about that would be that the return would be all downhill. As I neared the halfway turning point I was beginning to tire, though I was still well under the time I needed to finish in less than 5 hours. As I turned I realised that I was about 6 minutes under the time I needed, so everything was going according to plan. And it meant that I had now completed about a third of Bruny, even though it was a very, very flat third.

Now for the easy part of this run, or so I thought for that ferocious gale had now become a gentle breeze that really didn't help me much at all and the track wasn't all downhill after all. It had inclines that I hadn't noticed on the way northward. At around 26k I thought I was getting a cramp on the inner right thigh and I was getting tired. My shoulders slumped and my head dropped as I lost my form. My pace began to vary greatly and I envied the way in which cyclists tore passed my with great ease. I was beginning to walk more than I should have and it wasn't long before I had lost that 6 minute advantage. I kept adjusting my thinking as to how much longer I would take and even if I had to slow down and lose 15 minutes I would still have a very good time for me. My feet were swelling; they were getting sorer from pounding the concrete; and I was beginning to feel physically sick. At around 30k it was time for my second protein bar but this time I sat down to slowly eat it. My goal was to finish the distance and not pull the pin on this run, no matter how much it hurt. And so I stood up and began to plod on, finding that there were many times I was dragging my heels on the concrete, especially my right heel, because I wasn't lifting my feet properly. In my tiredness I began to neglect my regulated fluid and gel inputs.

Gradually, more slowly than the northward run, the different suburbs passed by and I crossed more and more roads. Some of these were busy and required a prolonged stop until there was no traffic coming. Every time this happened I was finding it harder to get started again, but start again I did. By the time I reached the brilliant blue surface of the hockey centre the wind was coming off the water and the coolness was a welcome change to the heat that had been beating down upon me. Then it was under the Tasman Bridge again to reach the turn around point near the Cenotaph and I knew that I was getting closer to completing the run. I would not give up now. Not on your life would I!!!

I became a little bit disoriented in getting off the Cycleway and onto the bridge again but when I did I was in for a real shock. That ferocious gale that was a headwind when I headed north but had become a gentle breeze as I headed south had now become a massive cyclone. Running up and over the bridge the River Derwent was a mass of whitecaps and I had to take my cap off so I didn't lose it onto the road surface. The little two-masted sailing ship on the river below me was struggling to make much headway into the wind. The noise of the wind howling through the bridge railing sounded like being behind the roar of a jet engine. The steel sheeting that forms the walkway for the bridge hummed in the wind and I could feel them vibrating as my feet landed on them. It was impossible to run in a straight line up and over the bridge. I had to lean towards my left but every time I passed something thicker that blocked the wind I veered quickly towards the rail. In one spot I almost hit it because I hadn't compensated for the momentary loss of the wind. Once I was off the bridge I could put my cap back on and continue. I was now almost at the end. Just over a parkrun to go as I counted down each kilometre passing under my feet.

Back onto the trail surface gave me a lift because it wasn't far to go. I could see the yachts moored at Geilston Bay. Rounding a bend there was the finish, but my finish was going to be up Dumbarton Doozy, a steepish Strava segmented I created. What a way to finish when I was as tired as I was! I jogged to the bottom of the hill and was forced to a slow walk to the top. And through my mind went the words of "The Man from Snowy River" whose pony, after the dramatic chase through the hills, could hardly raise a trot. That was me as I came to the end - I could hardly raise a trot. But I had done it, and just to make sure I ran to 42.5 kms. I'd hate for Strava to shortchange my run and not recognise it as a marathon distance even though Garmin did!

I'm sore. I guess I will be for a couple of days but I'm not as sore as after my first Derby half marathon when I could hardly even hobble.

But the real question is how will I manage Bruny. In less than three months I'm due to run the solo event from north to south, a distance of 64 kms. At least I won't have to weigh myself down with my Salomon running pack as Val will be my support crew. That will save me carrying around 4 kg of supplies.

Rail Trail Run & Ride

Anzac Day is the time when I can wear replica medals of those given to my Pop, who was a member of the 7^th Field Ambulance which landed at Gallipoli in August 1915. He wrote home about being unscathed in a mortar attack, while mates on either side of him were killed. However, he was invalided home having been injured in a shrapnel blast. Declared medically unfit he was discharged on 6^th October, 1916. While that meant he was spared death or serious injury, many of his comrades paid the ultimate sacrifice both at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. However, the long term consequences of his time at Gallipoli, and the medical condition that led to his discharge, meant that life was not easy for either his wife or his family.

I also have the five medals belonging to my Dad who was a POW in Changi and on the Burma-Thai Railroad. As a result of his experiences he was pensioned off before he turned 60 with what we now call PTSD. It wasn’t easy for him when his best mate died on the railway—in fact he said that he was the one who should have died. Like Pop, Dad suffered life-long trauma from his war experience so that life wasn’t easy as we grew up.

My experiences are so different from theirs. I’m grateful that I have never had to go through what they and millions of others have had to, and what so many are going through even now in war-torn countries. However, over the years, I have been involved with people who have experienced the depth of depression; who have attempted suicide; and I have had to conduct funeral services for some who have taken their own lives as a result of depression—and it’s the families left behind who struggle with why they did it.

One of the side effects of being a minister is the enormous amount of stress I have faced in the difficult situations of dealing with people who have been going through grief. While I was fortunate to only have one child’s funeral to take, I have had so many funerals for people who have suffered with cancer and other incurable/debilitating illnesses that have claimed their lives. I don’t know if you can imagine what it is like to be sharing with a family at a funeral in the afternoon and then within a couple of hours to be sharing in a wedding rehearsal the night before the couple’s big day. To grieve with one family and then immediately rejoice with another is not necessarily an easy thing to do. And when I began to bury several members of one family I knew and loved within months of each other; and when great friends, younger than myself, were dying it took its toll and so I retired knowing that I was suffering from emotional burnout/exhaustion. That was almost 5 years ago now—and I still haven’t gotten over the affects of those 40 years before retirement and the almost 5 years since retirement of continuing to be with people in difficult situations.

On 30^th May I woke up one morning feeling, for no known reason, as flat as a tack. I could hardly get out of my own way. What lifted me that day was that I registered for the Rail Trail Run and Ride at Scottsdale in August. Because I needed to be in Hobart for the Sunday to take two services at the little church I am helping out I was only able to enter the 28 km run—I would have loved the challenge of the 56 km from Scottsdale to Billycock Hill and return but that would have put impossible time constraints upon us for the Sunday. As it turned out I would not have been able to physically prepare myself for that distance anyway.

Having upped my training with too much intensity I found myself with leg soreness—too much high intensity work and not enough long slow runs. I found myself picking up the pace on longer runs—on one 25 km run I set a course PB of over 12 minutes. In my competitiveness I want to keep setting PB’s before my age does start to weary me and slow me down. So this is a post of my preparation for the Scottsdale run.

In the same week that I ran that fast 25K I ran a slower 26.7K with a young lady for her 26^th birthday. What a great present for herself—but Val wouldn’t let me run 70K for my 70^th birthday later this year as it would get in the way of finishing my six months with the church in Hobart and having to be in WA the following Sunday to help a little isolated country church for five weeks.

And yet, for four weeks in a row at four different parkruns I set massive PB’s. I know that I have to slow down and not push myself too hard if I want to be ready for Scottsdale. By the beginning of June I was experiencing quite a bit of hip and back soreness. It didn’t help jarring myself on a RunClub outing when I couldn’t see in front of myself in the dark footpath down Nixon Street. At least it has meant some extra walking with the desire to run more slowly and with that extra walking the pain subsided.

By the following week I was struggling on my longer runs so much so that I seriously considered abandoning my plans for the Bruny Island ultra marathon. Fortunately, I shared my thoughts on a Facebook post and had so many encouraging replies from friends that I decided to re-evaluate that decision and go for it. But as I looked over my training plan I began to wonder whether it would be adequate to get me over the line. My plan was to try and have my longer, slower runs at around 6:10-6:15/k with only one fast run per week using a modified version of the 80/20 pattern and to have every fifth week as an easy week. My thinking was to try and use parkrun as my fast run but that would be well under the 20% of my total weekly distance. Towards the end of June I was scheduled for a half marathon distance run. So what happened? I ran my first sub 2 hour and I thought I was going slowly until I checked my time at the turn around point. Seeing how far I was in front I decided to see if I could break that barrier. At least I now know that I can.

At least I am continuing to enjoy running. On a couple of occasions I have run the Tasmanian Trail from Railton to Sheffield and return with friends and found that to be really helpful. What was great about the second of these runs is that we went past Sheffield until we had completed 15 kms and then turned back, meaning that I had run more than the Scottsdale Rail Trail Run and Ride. But my longer runs are usually solo because of the pace at which I am running them. That’s not as good as running with someone else but it is the way it is taking place at the moment.

At the end of July I planned to run three 10k laps around Devonport but stopped after the second as it was dark, windy and wet. The next morning I woke with a pain in the left knee, but I couldn’t remember having hurt it at all. Not thinking too much about it I set off the following Wednesday for RunClub but could only hobble down there and so didn’t run with the others. Now I was reduced to walking, and I began to wonder whether I would be able to compete at Scottsdale after all. I found I could power walk but not raise a jog. So all my preparation with longer runs was thrown out of the window. After a couple of weeks I did some extremely slow jogging while Val was taking photos and suffered no ill-effects. So it was walking interspersed with jogging until one afternoon when we went to Port Sorrel for a Freedom parkrun. In it I reverted to my default pace of around 5:40/k for a double run over the parkrun course.

The next afternoon I had a physio appointment and as I entered her room I explained that I could be there under false pretences. I explained everything I had been doing since my injury and she tested out my knee, finally declaring that there was no structural damage and that I could run the following Saturday as I had planned. I didn’t do much running at all in the days preceding Scottsdale as the settlement on our house in Glenorchy was for that Friday—not the following Friday as we had thought. There was a rushed trip to Hobart to help our daughter pack and move to her brother’s house in preparation for moving overseas for language study. That involved trips to the City Mission, the Tip Shop and the tip. As a result I developed hip soreness. Again I was having second thoughts about Bruny, for I just couldn’t see how I could get in the preparation I would need for it.

On the Friday we drove up to Scottsdale to the Bed & Breakfast we had booked. My plan was to take it easy and definitely start at the very back of the pack so as not to get caught up in the excitement and run too fast. I drove Val around to some of the early spots where she could photograph the 56k runners before going back to the Scottsdale Station to catch the bus to Billycock Hill, from where the 28k run commenced. My hips were still sore. Would they hold up? Thoughts flashed through my mind as to what would happen. At least the threatened rain hadn’t appeared and the sun was shining. What a great day for a run.

After the announcements I made my way to the tail of the field, fulfilling that commitment I had made to myself to start slowly. After a short distance I checked my pace and it was around 7.00/k, so I wasn’t taking off too fast and it was still well under the 4 hours I had thought I should aim for carrying my injuries. Settling into an easy pace beside Susan I began to pass other runners while the main bunch quickly disappeared around the bends and out of sight. Following the old rail line we had a short incline that was flanked by the damp trees and ferns. Pools of water were scattered along the track; mist was rising as the sun was filtering through the trees and the breath of other runners was condensing in the cold air. Such beauty. I looked at my Garmin after a couple of kms and let out a groan for I was running at sub 6.00/k! By now we had started to decline as the trail wound its way through the bush. “Oh, well, I’ll just keep going as best as I can and see how I pull up” had become my new guide. And so the kilometres passed beneath the feet. It was a great trail to run on—easy on the feet and not too hard on the old legs even though my hips were still causing me a bit of trouble.

After stopping a number of times for photos I lost sight of Susan but I was gaining on other runners. But every time I stopped for more photos they overtook me. And so it became a challenge for me to edge closer to them as best I could until I could leave them behind. I wasn’t tying anything too drastic to catch others—just slowly edging towards them, staying with them for a chat before slowly drawing away. I spent a fair bit of time with one fellow, who just happened to be the vice president of the Launceston and North East Railway Society, meaning we spent a lot of time chatting about their plans. As we closed in on Tonganah there was the strange sign that read “Steep Descent”—but it could not have been part of the original rail line. Old railway spikes and other assorted rusty bits of the old line were embedded in the trail was we continued on our merry way. Runners fell behind as I tried to stay in contact with this fellow and a couple of young women who had overtaken me when I stopped for photos of daffodils (I had to climb an embankment for them) at an old railway station site (now replaced with a modern shelter shed for the convenience of trail travellers).

Running through Tonganah we crossed the Tasman Highway and I was confronted with two obstacles. The first was that the track, for the next 7.5k to the finish, was a steady incline and I don’t run inclines very well. The second was that the surface of the trail was not firmly compacted gravel/dirt but larger stones that I could feel through my trail shoes. It was here that I thought road shoes would be a better option—indeed, if I run this section again it would be with road shoes for that extra cushioning. I could see runners in front of me and I tried to up my effort on this incline. To my amazement I ever so slowly began to reel them in. We passed old workshops and torn up railway lines lying beside the trail and then it was over the highway again. I kept an eye on the distance signs—and was excited to see how little there was left to complete.

When the remaining distance was down to a parkrun I knew my time had come. I could see five runners dotted along the trail in front of me. This was it. I was close to the end now. My knee was still in good condition with no soreness. The muscles around it and in the quads was another matter, but it was only a parkrun left so I decided to put in a last ditch effort to try and catch them. Am I competitive? Yes! But I was still enjoying the run and finding that it wasn’t too hard on the old legs. As I passed each one I slowed down to run a bit with them, trying to encourage them where I could. Running through a cutting the Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoos shrieked out their encouragement for me to not slacken—well, they did in my imagination though in reality they are just noisy blighters. My only concern with them was that they might drop a half eaten pine cone on my poor old head. Listening intently, could I hear someone racing up behind me? In my stubbornness I just could not let someone pass me at this point so I pushed on and, at a couple of convenient spots, turned around to check—but there was no one that close.

Over the final street and onto the grass I sprinted to the finish line as best I could, being encouraged by Susan who took a video of me (what a strange running style I have) and by Val who was yelling out “Come on, old man!” Well, that’s what it sounded like from a distance. Crossing the line to encouraging cheers and clapping I received a big bear hug from Gosso and congratulations from the other Devonport crew who were hanging around. And I completed the run in a time of 2:39:51, far faster than I had anticipated or even expected.

My next thought was for my friends still out on the trail. Wondering how they were faring I commenced my usual cool down, which means running others home. Bronty, a 56k runner, was fairly close so I ran alongside of him to the line. I tried to go back for Danika and Lisa but my legs wouldn’t cooperate. They were so sore that I could hardly raise a trot. So I stopped and had something to drink and nibble. When they finally entered the home straight I, sadly, couldn’t accompany them to the line as my legs had begun to stiffen up. That was a bit of a downer as I think the later runners should be applauded and encouraged and cheered on just as much as the leaders, for they, like the top runners, have put in a sterling effort which needs to be recognised. Too often there is hardly anyone left to cheer on the tailenders when they finish—it did help that Val took over 3,000 photos of people on the two longer runs and that she was staying till the sweeper crossed the line.

Reflections on 10 Years as a Jogger

My first memories of running were at the Westmead (NSW) Primary School Athletics Carnival, where I won every 100 yard race for my age group—except for the Grand Final.

My next memory was perhaps 1962, which was my second year at Parramatta High School. The Zone cross country championships were coming up and we all had to run cross country so teams could be chosen to represent our school. I hated the idea of having to run so I deliberately chose to start in a lower age group, which was the first wave sent off. This went totally unnoticed by staff and fellow students and I finished among the leading group of my age group, meaning I was chosen to represent the school even though I had cheated. It’s not something I am proud of as I look back, even though I represented the school as best I could in my correct age division.

For some reason, in 1965, I took up running around Parramatta Park after school and in that year I not only made the Zone Athletics Carnival but ran well enough to compete in the NSW Combined High School carnival where I placed 10^th in the final of the 1 mile—this time without cheating. I continued running for another 5 more years, even representing NSW against ACT in the steeplechase, finishing 4^th, which was also last place.

There were a couple of times over the intervening years where I started jogging again but it didn’t last long.

Then, in March 2008, I was inspired by my brother-in-law who ran the Six Foot Marathon--day dreaming of how I could successfully run that course. With advice and encouragement from both Bruce and his wife, Sue, I have kept on jogging ever since with only a couple of times out with some minor injury concerns. I started my current jogging career at a time when I couldn’t even keep up with Val when we went for a walk together—especially if it was up a slight hill. At times my breathing was so bad that I took three efforts to mow our dead flat block of land, which is only 660 sq. metres. An asthma specialist gave me a lung function test and the report was that a third of my lungs were dead. Thus I struggle for breath while I run and, just like a steam train, I can be clearly heard by those around me—and if my name was "William" I would certainly be a "Puffing Billy" so loud is my laboured breathing. And while my breathing will always be poor my general health has improved and I have lost around 15 kg, while still eating too much of the wrong foods when I get the craving for something sweet.

I commenced with just a couple of kms at a time and gradually built up. Perhaps I started too strongly by wanting to run every day, just as I had done in my teens. I was advised to keep it simple with just a few days a week and only slowly increase the distance by no more than 10% per week with every fourth week half the distance run the previous week, though currently I am having an easier week every fifth week. I can still see the day and recall the enthusiasm I experienced when I actually ran 8 kms in fractionally under 48:00—that was 8 kms at an average pace of 6:00/k. Just recently I ran 25 km at a slightly faster pace, so I have improved. In all of this time I ran by myself for I knew no one with whom I could run. Being a minister in the Presbyterian Church meant that I made the personal decision not to enter any race that was on a Sunday, which put me out of any form of competition. However, Bruce had found out about the Run the Ridge event at Rowella which was on a Saturday. So for 2008 and 2009 I was able to enter a 10 km race and on the last Saturday of November, 2009 I recorded a time of 57:43 over the vineyard hills. Sadly, that event was then changed to a Sunday so I had to revert to running by myself again.

To help motivate myself I found a number of fun runs from 5 km to the half marathon and had a mock run along Devonport’s Bike Track, usually commencing at the swimming pool carpark, though I did change this for a couple of these mock runs. Because I am a bit of a statistics man I used a spreadsheet to keep track of what I was doing so I could compare my progress from year to year.

This continued to be the pattern of my running until April 2016 when Val discovered that there was a parkrun event in Devonport. I nervously printed out my barcode and shyly made my way down to The Bluff on Saturday morning, 16^th April and finished in a time of 27:06. Since then I have hardly missed a Saturday and even when we are away because of holidays or my being asked to fill in at different churches we make the effort to attend a parkrun event even where it is an hour's drive away. I have now competed in 13 different parkruns in Tasmania, Victoria and NSW and also have Freedom Runs on three courses. My fastest time is now 23:41 (Devonport) closely followed by 23:44 (Bellerive) and 23:46 (Railton). My next top two runs are 24:57 (Queens Domain) and 24:58 (Hobart). I am grateful for the many friendships formed as a result of parkrun Runphoria's RunClub and I have found that Devonport, Railton and Cobram are the friendliest parkruns I have been part of. Other parkruns, perhaps because they are larger and in bigger cities, aren’t quite as friendly as people run looking more at the ground or straight ahead and don’t seem to want to greet or encourage others.

I’ve volunteered over 25 times so far, mostly at Devonport but a few at Cobram (VIC) when I was helping out at the little churches in Tocumwal, Fingal and Berrigan for 8 weeks last year. While I enjoy the official volunteer roles I find greater enjoyment/pleasure in encouraging others by running them home and cheering them on as they fly towards me. Parkrun has also opened up RunClub with our weekly 20 Out/20 Back courses. Sometimes I like to fly out of the blocks on those night, so to speak, on those nights to see how far I can lead the pack/for how long I can keep up that pace (it's my highly competitive streak that wants to do better all the time) and at other times I just enjoy running beside people, chatting with them (not that I am or have ever been very good at that) before taking off to find someone else up ahead. Helping pace someone to a PB or to complete a particular distance is the best aspect of being part of these groups..

Having successfully completed the Derby Half Marathon, the Gone Nuts 25K and the Cradle Mountain Trail Run (which I followed up with a solo run two days later) earlier this year, I started looking around for some other races to be involved in as part of my preparation for the Bruny Island Ultra Marathon. I searched through the Australian Racing Calendar but nothing met my situation. That’s because we all makes decisions based upon our priorities and we must then accept the consequences of those priorities. I could have entered a number of races on a Sunday, but our decision, based upon our desire to follow Jesus Christ, meant that we want to being involved in our local church. This is not meant to be a reflection upon the choices others make—it is simply our personal decision and response to God’s kindness to us. Added to this is the fact that I was asked to look after a small church in Hobart for six months to help them in some difficulties they were experiencing. So I will content myself with parkrun and RunClub's 20 Out/20 Back weekly events we have at Devonport. Without any longer races in which I can participate I will just have to do it alone and see if I can actually get myself ready for Bruny. But a possibility has arisen for the Rail Trail Run & Ride in Scottsdale in August. I am eagerly awaiting the opening of registration for this.

But I now also have another hiccup along the way in preparing for Bruny. We’ve been asked to go to Mt Magnet, WA to help the little church there for 5 weeks. Bruny is going to be one very tough, very hilly run but Mt Magnet is relatively flat so I won’t be able to prepare properly for it as we return home around the middle of November, just weeks before the running of Bruny. Even though I will be turning 70 before we go to Mt Magnet I don’t think that I have reached my peak yet, but I do know that it will get harder and harder for me as the years tick by. Maybe events like Bruny will just have to be … ones I would like to run but just can’t get around to doing.

During my jogging career since joining parkrun people have been very kind to me with their words of encouragement and I do appreciate each and every one who has helped and guided me along the road (pun definitely intended) to where I am today. I have one great advantage over most people. I retired in November 2013 and this now gives me more opportunity to get out and about on the tracks around home and those other places where we happen to be ministering. Also, since joining Run Down Under I have had extra incentive to run further to get back to Sydney very quickly (again my competitiveness comes to the fore). This is definitely showing in a great improvement in my times. I have tried a bit of speed work with repetitions but I don't particularly like doing that, even though it is regarded as being a necessary part of preparations. To compensate for this I tag/stalk others at parkrun or RunClub by finding someone who is a faster runner than I am and then trying to stick with them for as long as possible. I might be a bit sore and stiff the next day, but it seems to be helping me get faster even as I get older. My competitive nature means I check the parkrun age category records to see where I stand; to see if I have climbed the leader board; or to see if I have been knocked off my position. It's one way that I am helped to try and improve.

My jogging career has been made the richer by all the people at parkrun, especially in Devonport, RunClub and Run Down Under which I joined in November last year. I do not know what the future holds in regards to my jogging career, but whatever happens and wherever it leads me I will always have my beautiful Val by my side encouraging and supporting me.

Cradle Mountain Trail Run

Having successfully completed the Derby Half Marathon and then Gone Nuts 25K the following Saturday I knew that I needed an easy week to allow my body to recover before I started training for the Bruny Island Ultra Marathon—that’s if I can be properly prepared for it. The next day Val and I had a little walk around Devonport’s Bluff and on Monday I thought I would have an easy recovery jog. But this easy run didn’t turn out as expected for, after an easy start, my mind started working on what I needed to do to get ready for Bruny. Was the training plan I had adapted going to be sufficient or should I go for another one? What splits would I need to get home before the cut-off time? That meant I would have to consider what time to start—and it is still nine months away. With my mind thus engaged my pace increased and this particular five kilometre segment turned out to be an 11 second PB from December 2009.

A wonderful thing happened that night. I had originally been asked to look after our little church in Rokeby for six months to help it through some issues it was facing and so would have been down there every weekend. But I received an email asking if I could allow the person they had been using on the second Sunday of every month to continue. And then the next morning I was alerted to the Cradle Mountain Trail Run on Saturday, 7^th April. http://www.endorfun.com.au/trail-runs/dovelake Because of this request from Rokeby I was free to participate so, asking Val, I immediately registered with only nine positions available before the cap was reached. How exciting and how I am looking forward to another race, though we will miss Devonport parkrun that day.

Wednesday following Gone Nuts was our Weekly RunClub 20 Out/20 Back. For someone who had just had two long trail runs in eight days I was out of the blocks and leading the pack for most of the first km. Sure, I did slow down on the hills but I did a distance PB of 410 metres, so I was pleased with that. Not only was I pleased with this effort but I suffered no problems with the right hamstring that had been troubling me for a couple of weeks. I also did a couple of more fast runs with no issues.

But it didn’t continue that way, for I began to experience more hamstring problems a couple of weeks later when we were staying in Sydney. I ran some hills around Mt Colah and was just finishing up that run along a flat section of road when it went again. I was able to exercise it and walk as a way of overcoming the soreness but it still wasn’t fully comfortable when we were at Newy parkrun, meaning I had a slowish time. More walking and slow jogging left me feeling much better for the parkrun at Bairnsdale the following week. I ran strongly until 4.5 km when I could feel it strain again. It seems to be happening when I run fast, rather than at any other time. Well, several days later I chose to run a slow 24 km run along Waterholes Road at Clifton Creek, VIC and had no real issues with it. Yes, there was a little soreness but I think that was because my long slow run turned out to be about 60 secs per km faster than Gone Nuts, which meant it was faster than I had planned. Our final Saturday on the Mainland was at Leongatha as we planned to drive down to Koonwarra for their parkrun along the Great Southern Rail Trail (which actually starts at Leongatha). But I had a message from Bob, with whom I had run most of Derby, regarding his increasing his cadence by using a metronome with the song “Row, row, row your boat” so he could get his pace right. I’d been wondering whether some of my hamstring problems were due to overstriding, so I used that song for my pacing at Koonwarra and took, what I thought, were shorter steps. I managed the parkrun course without any real issues with my hamstring. So I will endeavour to do that again and see if overstriding is part of my problem.

Just 5 days before the Cradle Mountain Trail Run I planned a 90 minute GADP, hoping that I might do around 12 kms. At the same time I was consciously looking at shortening my stride length to correct what I thought was overstriding. It turns out that my cadence was 158, which was way down. However, I had absolutely no trouble with my hamstring at all, and that was the real positive. So now to have a couple more runs as I taper for Saturday’s event. However, we still had Wednesday’s RunClub. Rather than drive down, I decided to run down through Don Reserve as my warm up, which ended up at about 5.5 km. RunClub went well. I didn’t push it too much, even though I was under 5:00/K on occasions, with a couple of faster sprints thrown in. Though I averaged 5:35/K for the 7.13 km I experienced no troubles at all with the hamstring. Thursday was meant to be my Recovery Walk day so Val and I headed out to Pig Island at Latrobe. Val definitely walked but me—well, I decided to run slowly but that decision was short-lived even though I kept telling myself that I had to take it easy to be in the best condition possible the for the Cradle Mountain run. I tried to shorten my strides but my speed simply increased to the point that I did a PB on the Pig Island clockwise segment, which put me in 11^th position overall with the 10^th best time. So much for taking it easy! L Well, tomorrow is another day which will definitely have to be my Recovery Walk day at Cradle Mountain as we head up there for three nights’ camping.

We arrived at Cradle and found our site at the Discovery Park. As there was an early registration for the run we went to find it, following vague instructions. It wasn’t at the Information Centre so, because there wasn’t much time left before the registration desk closed for the evening, I jogged down to the Ranger Station from where we could register and catch the bus tomorrow, but that jog turned out to be much faster getting there. But everything was closed, so I turned around and basically walked back to the campsite. For one reason or another I didn’t sleep very well at all. I reckon that I only had a couple of hours sleep until I was awake, just lying there until the alarm went at 4.45 am. Jumping, somewhat reluctantly, out of bed I made our morning cuppas so we would be ready to drive down to the Ranger Station in time. I received my really good-looking Number Plate (#55) and headed back to the car to get my things in time to catch the bus. But I was stopped on the way as someone asked me, “Are you the 69-year-old?” He hadn’t been doing a lot of training of late and declared that if I passed him then he would be in trouble.

I had had to revise my time for this event. I had studied the topography of the track along the boardwalk from Ronny Creek to the Ranger Station and read it back to front, meaning that it would be more uphill than I had initially thought. I knew that that 90 minute target was out of the question so just decided to run it at an easy pace to cross the line. Given my “advanced” age I was definitely going to start at the rear of the field, just one place in front of the Sweeper! Given, also, that a large part of today’s run was on boardwalk I had decided against using my trail shoes, opting instead for my Brooks Defyance shoes. With our final instructions we were off—but I was not at the back of the field. I passed a few of the more eager runners within a short while and settled into a comfortable pace behind Linda Moran, a young lady from Hobart. She offered to let me pass, but I said that I would stay behind her for the time being and pass later on if I was up to it. A little later we caught up to Susan Moodie, with whom I had run a fair portion of Gone Nuts—but we caught her because she stopped to take photos. The three of us ran together, though Susan and I changed places depending on which one of us stopped for photos. I was conscious of the fact that the boardwalk was a bit slippery at this time of the morning so had to keep an eye on that to avoid sliding off.

It was beautiful running beside Dove Lake along boards or over real trail conditions with rocks and roots to navigate without tripping over them. There were puddles, some with a bit of mud to them, to step around—after all I didn’t want to get my feet so wet that I was carrying a lot of surplus weight around with me. Rounding the southern end of the lake we ran through bright light and into the beautiful gloom of the Ballroom Forest with moss growing everywhere; then over the bridge with the babbling brook flowing underneath. Still the pace felt easy to handle with the two ladies showing the way. However, the boards soon ended when we came to a little beach where we faced our first real incline. It was such a tough one for me with its steps that I was reduced to walking it—taking 10:40 to cover the fourth km. But it lifted me to realise that there were only 10 km left to run. I’m not sure what is the hardest—uphill or downhill when it comes to either steps or rough track strewn with rocks and other hazards. Down we went, skirting Dove Lake at the foot of Marions Lookout before it was time for my first gel—and I’m actually taking them at the 5 km intervals. I have learnt my lesson! J

Passing the much photographed iconic boatshed on Dove Lake I heard shouted words of encouragement from Val, who had positioned herself on the beach to get more great photos. Uphill again and then turning left to follow the Lake Lilla Track which narrowed and became rougher than anything we had previously met. Button grasses sent their long tentacles to try an trip me by grabbing my ankles and lower legs while bushes tried to impede my progress by holding me back—but their efforts were all in vain as I ran on with Susan, Linda having stopped at the boatshed for refreshments. Along this section I bumped two heads on lower hanging branches—the second of which dented my skull and drew blood, reddening my cap. I found it hard with my multifocal glasses to watch where I was putting my feet while keeping an eye out for overhanging branches at the same time. Taking the right hand track, Susan and I made our way towards Ronny Creek traversing scrub and button grass as we jumped rocks and puddles along the track.

How delightful to feel the 7 km vibration from my Garmin. I was halfway and still feeling strong. By this stage I thought that I could see Jason in the distance as he made his way to the bridge over Ronny Creek. I was still a long way behind him but having him in my sight was the added incentive to try and up the pace. I thrive when there are people in front of me for I set myself the goal of catching and then passing them. Just before the bridge over Ronny Creek we stopped to check on another competitor who was reduced to a walk because of a fall—but she told us to go on and as we crossed the bridge we were cheered on by a man and some children, whom I think were that lady’s family. Sadly, she had to withdraw from the race. Once on the boardwalk I upped my pace all the while mindful of the slippery nature of the boards which hadn’t dried out. It was taking photos that slowed me down, but I wanted photographic evidence to post with my run on Strava and also onto Facebook. I hadn’t quite reached the Ronny Creek bus stop when my Garmin again vibrated to tell me that I had now passed the 8 km mark. That’s just 6 km to go, so I knew that I could achieve my goal of finishing. That’s optimism for you as anything can happen on the track—but to this point my hamstring hadn’t been playing up!

The steps, both up and down, along the boardwalk from Ronny Creek to the Ranger Station slowed my progress dramatically. I had to walk the steepest and longest of the uphill ones and run gingerly on the downhill ones so I didn’t lose my footing and go head over heels because of steps that would appear as if out of nowhere. Even though there were times when I was running well under 6:00/K it didn’t feel too fast—in fact, my 13^th km came in at 5:16, which was astonishing. By that stage I had passed Jason and encouraged him to keep on. Then there were two ladies just up ahead as we ran the sweeping S-bend before Quailes Hill. On the downhill section I was able to pass them, though Susan wasn’t able to get passed them quite so easily. Where possible I upped my pace as best I could, still taking the downhill steps with the utmost caution. The finish was close. I could hear people cheering as I left the button grasses and entered a thick grove of trees that blocked out a lot of the light. I sprinted as best I could and there was the finish line. I crossed it to find Val had just managed to catch to bus back from Dove Lake to see me finish. My Garmin gave me a time of 1:39:23 while my official time was 1:39:25:5 and I crossed the line in 34^th position, quite a long way before the last finisher.

And to celebrate that achievement, Val and I went for a 6.6 km walk from the Ranger Station to Ronny Creek along the boardwalk, with a couple of detours down to Dove River for Val to take photos. The next day we went for a walk from Dove Lake to Ronny Creek via Wombat Pool and Crater Lake. But I was itching to run the Cradle Mountain Trail Run again—and next year was too far away. We agreed to catch the bus down to Dove Lake so I could run the course solo while Val walked, camera in hand, from Dove Lake to Ronny Creek via Lake Lilla.

For my solo run I wore my Skins top just to make sure I would be warm enough getting down to Dove Lake on the bus—but there were times on the run when I started feeling too hot with it. After a couple of photos I was off and running. The biggest problem was the sheer number of tourists on the track because we had a late morning start. At times I had to stop and walk behind people until they would pull over and let me pass. At other times people moved off the track quite quickly. I thanked everyone for allowing me to pass, even those who delayed me the longest. Keeping an eye on my times I saw that I was running a bit faster than Saturday—but could I keep it up? Had I recovered sufficiently? As each successive kilometre ticked over I dared to hope that I might be able to run this solo attempt faster. At least no head had been injured in today’s run! The same culprits of button grass and bush tried to slow me down—but they were again unsuccessful. On the Ronny Creek boardwalk I was passed by a runner who had been around Lake Rodway. We talked for a minute or so before he set off. I tried to keep him in sight but it wasn’t long before he disappeared into the distance as we ran from the Ronny Creek bus stop to the Ranger Station. Sometime later I saw him up ahead, slowed by one of the hills. At one point I landed more heavily than normal on my right foot in descending a couple of steps and immediately wondered what damage I had done to my hamstring But after a few more steps I realised that it had stood up to that test. I was so thankful! As I approached the end the other runner was walking and I was gaining on him, but I was still too far back to catch him, even though I upped my pace as much as I could in bounding down steps. As I approached the second last bend in the track a couple of younger runners bounded towards me as they headed south but we managed to avoid each other. As I ran to the Ranger Station I stopped my Garmin at Saturday’s finishing line in a time of 1:34:42, which was 4:41 faster than Saturday’s race. Obviously I had pulled up well from Saturday to be able to do that time. Admittedly, I have been a bit sore but that will pass.

Now it’s a matter of “Bring on Bruny” as I don’t think that there is anything else, apart from parkrun, in which I could compete. L

2018 Gone Nuts 25K

I pulled up after last Saturday’s Tassie Trail Fest’s Derby Half Marathon in surprisingly good condition in comparison to 2017. Last year I could barely move at the end of the run whereas this year I could move relatively freely, so much so that on Monday afternoon, as we waited for the van to be serviced, Val and I walked around Cataract Gorge, and I even tried a little bit of easy jogging. It left me eager to get back into training but, and this is a big but, the Gone Nuts 25K is on this Saturday. Most of my soreness had gone by Tuesday, even though I have had it for months – with the exception of the right hamstring which is still a bit tender. As I looked over Val Warwick’s marvellous photos of Friday night’s “Dash for Cash” and Saturday’s events they made me want to do more than just the one run. I don’t know if we will be around for next year’s event but if we are I would hope that I am up to doing two or three different runs.

By Wednesday I was beginning to experience a bit of foreboding about the Gone Nuts 25K. I know I handled Derby quite well, except for the twentieth km, but could I repeat the effort, this time from Boat Harbour to Wynyard? Would my hamstring hold out like it did for Derby? Or would I end up hobbling to the nearest Aid Station? Strange how the mind can play tricks on you, so much so that I became hesitant about even starting. However, we went along to RunClub for our usual 20 Out/20 Back. I commenced by walking the first km, running easily the second, jogging the third and trying various paces for the fourth and fifth kms. My hamstring felt really good while running though my legs, feeling leaden, weren’t so easy to lift. That only gave me 60 hours to recover for Gone Nuts. At least I began to feel more positive about the 25K than I did earlier in the day.

On Thursday Val and I went for a hardish 6 km walk along the foreshore at East Devonport up to Tea Tree Lane. Again the right hamstring seemed to hold up well, even though it felt tight the following morning. All seemed to be in readiness for the following day’s big run. And I am already feeling a few butterflies in the stomach as I anticipate the event.

We drove up to Wynyard so I could register and attend the pre-race briefing, and the stomach began to churn again. At least it settled down once we had arrived and done everything we had to. It was great to catch up with some of our Devonport folk. After a hearty, carb-loaded meal lovingly prepared for me by Val, my greatest supporter, encourager and friend, I finished my packing and headed for bed, confident that I had everything prepared and ready for the 5.00 am alarm to go off. I planned to do a quick double check before we left after which it would be too late if I had forgotten something.

It was early to bed because the alarm was set for 5.00 am. However, even after Val and I had had our nightly reading I didn’t go straight to sleep. It wasn’t that I tossed and turned – it was just that I couldn’t get to sleep until at least 1.00 am. Perhaps it was a mixture of anticipation and concern over my hamstring, which I could feel when I straightened out my leg and stretched my toes. Not a happy chappie with that, so what will happen during the run?

Well, it was up at 5.00 am to the gentle sound of the alarm disturbing my sleep so I could make a pot of tea and my porridge, which included sultanas, a crushed Weetbix, home-made yoghurt and milk. After breakfast I weighed myself once I was fully dressed in my running attire and was 82.6 kg but was 86.7 kg with my fully laden Salomon pack. I threw in a banana to eat on the way and we left home at 6.20 am. I started eating the banana once we hit the Bass Highway but soon saw a flashing sign telling us to deposit fruit into the roadside bin because of the fruit fly that had been discovered in our area of Tasmania. Val quickly took the skin and deposited it in the bin while I ate the banana. We made good time, arriving around 7.30 am so we had a good hour to fill in with chatting to friends, having a coffee and a quick trip to the toilet before we were lined up on the beach, having already crossed the starting line. During this time Val had been wandering around with her trusty camera taking her great photos – and hasn’t she had some marvellous reactions and comments of appreciation from people over the quality of them. Sadly, though, the second battery hadn’t recharged so that was a possible issue for later in the day. It wasn’t till I looked back over some of her early morning Boat Harbour photos that I realised how beautiful a morning it was. And I missed it. I wonder why?

And then we were off along the Boat Harbour Beach and heading for the slippery rocks, about which we have been warned because they brought a few people to grief last year with sprained ankles. I tried to catch Val’s eye as I ran past but I was lost to her in the large crowd of 288 runners, of whom four sadly did not finish the run. After we had run part way along the beach I looked at my Garmin in surprise because we were running at around 5.40/k. That was way too fast so I eased off the pace and let others go past, while still keep an eye on Darlene, who was ahead of me at this stage, as we had planned to run together. As we neared the end of the beach there were rocky outcrops, boulders and rocks, over which we had to clamber – some of them were covered with green slime, obviously meaning that they could be quite slippery. Then followed the much smaller stones, but these moved under the feet as we carefully walked on them. The first km ticked over at 6.40. We left these stones to head diagonally up the first hill, and farmers had done a great job of mowing the grass for us. They certainly made our run more enjoyable and that much easier – it meant less seeds and other things caught in socks and shoes. So up the hill we plodded, walking at times to conserve energy for later on. For the next km I had an elevation gain of 51 metres and a time of 9.52. And then it was down and up again giving me an overall decline of 19 metres, for a third km of 8.13. I think that it was somewhere in this section as, coming down the hill there was a farm family cheering us on. As I knelt down I received a high five from a little girl standing beside her mother and then from the little one in her arms. How encouraging to have these kind people taking time out to do this for us. And all the time I kept on sipping either my made up Staminade or water as I felt the need.

We followed both rough tracks and vehicle tracks through paddocks and as we continued to follow the coastline with its magnificent views. The sun came out from behind the clouds and it began to feel hot. But on we pushed towards our goal. We walked the hills – at least those around me walked the hills for I don’t know what the leaders were doing, though I presumed that they were running them. But we wanted to conserve our energy and strength so we could finish well. One of the farm families was manning a water station. I skipped the water but took two Snickers. A bit stuck in my throat that left me coughing and spluttering for quite some time. But they were a disappointment to me, as they didn’t have the positive effect that they had on Mr. Bean! Surely that is false advertising! The 5 km mark was past, so that was 20% of the race completed and here began the greatest success story of my limited trail running career. This success was that I not only carried gels with me but, unlike my two Derby Half Marathons, I actually began to use them. I had four with me, and I planned to have one at the end of every 5 km. So the first gel was successfully consumed. All the time I was carrying a printed plan of the elevation and distances so I could keep track of what was coming up. I’m a bit of a stats man. If I do it again next year I will also carry my kilometre splits – though just for the sake of comparison.

By the sixth km we were back on the shoreline walking over seaweed, rocks and pebbles. My feet slipped on one occasion but, fortunately, no damage was done. During the seventeenth km we left the rocks and stones and began a long ascent/descent/ascent (11.23/k for an overall ascent of 62 metres). We found ourselves on a farm road, which brought us to Tollymore Road where we had to put on our safety vests to comply with the requirements of using a section of public road. And there, standing beside a gate post was Val snapping away. I hadn’t seen her at first because she was obscured by other runners, though I had seen the car. We put on our best smiles for her to record for posterity. As usual, she shouted out words of encouragement. We followed Tollymore Road for a couple of km and the pace picked up because of the overall relative flatness of this part of the course. I was ahead of the girls at this stage because Darlene’s husband had stopped to supply them with some essentials. I slowed my pace, constantly looking behind myself to see where they were. As I left Tollymore Road a kind lady folded my safety vest and put it away in the pocket of my Salomon running vest. I was now at my tenth km so I took out another gel – won’t Val be pleased with me!!! Sadly, as I began to run down the driveway of another property one of the competitors was walking back up the hill, using a branch as a crutch because he had sprained his ankle. Running down this driveway was such a change as we were in the shade and the temperature dropped. That was just so good.

We had had to climb over farm fences and folding aluminium ladders had been placed over them so we could get over safely. Even so, at one of them I lost my balance and almost fell into the fence. On another occasion there was a closed farm gate we had to climb over. Lisa managed to get her foot stuck and needed help freeing it. Oh, the joys and tail running. Then it was another steep descent before a two km section of equally steep ascent. By this time I was starting to do a little doubling back to keep an eye on one of my friends who seemed to be starting to find some sections a little more of a struggle. Yes, it was hard and still there were tougher sections to come. This current section included a narrow dirt track that rose up steeply and could have passed for a cow track through the bush, except that cows are more sensible than trail runners and wouldn’t walk straight up hill. By the time I started up it there had had many feet trampling over it. Even so, it was still not compacted. Everything below our knees became encased in good, rich red dirt – my poor white socks will never be the same again. By now I desperately needed a toilet as my bladder was finding it harder and harder. But, unlike Derby the previous week, there were so many female runners close by that I just had to hold on until we arrived at Table Cape Lighthouse. Runners were beginning to feel the strain and dropping off the pace but it wasn’t long before we reached Lighthouse Road. Those vehicles visiting the lighthouse drove along the gravel road so very slowly that I didn’t even put my safety vest on. I made straight for the portable toilets and then to the aid station where I took one piece of orange. Troy Reader, one of the 50K runners, was there as well. I didn’t want anything else so I pushed on along the Table Cape Walking Track to the lookout that perches high above Wynyard. As the fifteenth km rolled over I took out another gel and deliberately exaggerated my use of it just to let the ever supportive Val know what I was doing. I also held up three fingers so she would know that I was now onto my third gel. I think she was pleased to know that I had finally come to my senses – perhaps not possible for one who takes part in Gone Nuts – and was using them.

Now that I was on Table Cape Road I put my safety vest back on, and decided to leave it on for the rest of the run home. I was now in front of Darlene and Susan who had stopped at the lookout because Darlene’s support crew, her husband Greg, was there so I continued down Table Cape Road by myself, watching Troy slowly disappear down the road to the next farm driveway. Once I reached that driveway I slowed my pace waiting for my running mate Darlene to catch up again. Susan outpaced me when she caught up so she could take more of her wonderful photos and videos of the event. As we ran on up an incline there came, lifting over the horizon just in front of us a couple of hang gliders. They moved so effortlessly on the thermals as we ran on over the undulating grassy hills. Now, as we edged closer to the cliffs, stunning views again presented themselves to us. We were in clear open spaces running downhill when I again felt my watch vibrate, telling me that it was losing and regaining the GPS signal. I can understand this happening in heavily treed areas but not in the open paddocks. I began to wonder how much under distance my watch would record by the end of the run. At around eighteen km I felt my hamstring for the first time. Surely it isn’t going to go at this late stage! But no! It settled down and didn’t cause me any further concern for the rest of the race. I found my left hip was more troublesome, but there was nothing I could do about it. I thought of my friend Bec who pushed herself at times with hip soreness. Thus I would do the same.

Running through a an open paddock gate we found ourselves heading along a cul-de-sac, where new development was taking place before the ascent up Fossil Bluff that took its toll on some of the runners. One young lady was struggling with cramps but declined any offer of help. Then it was down Fossil Bluff along Golf links Road that ran beside the Inglis River. We were now so close we could almost smell the finish line – but no, that was the Inglis River! Again I did some doubling back so the three of us could stay together. Crossing the bridge we were, unlike last year when there was no marshal to direct people along the proper course, a marshal stopped us for traffic before letting us cross the road to take a bush circuit behind the Table Cape Primary School. I really felt like running faster and faster along this easy bush track with its undulations. At the end of the large loop we were back at the road crossing and we were on the home stretch. The Inglis River Walkway went through the Cape Bridge Reserve. We overtook a couple more runners; passed the Wynyard Cemetery; and then we were in the Richard Gutteridge Memorial Gardens, where the finish line was soon in sight. We quickened our pace for a final fast run home.

I offered to be the thorn between two roses as, with Susan on my left and Darlene on my right, we held hands to cross the line together – even as I write this on Sunday evening the emotion of that moment has got to me and I have tears running down my face. Amidst the cheers and applause from those gathered along the finishing race I allowed the two girls to be slightly ahead of me to cross the finishing mat and have our times recorded. And my beloved immediately came up to me with a big congratulatory hug! Unlike last week at Derby where Darlene was handing out the medals and put it around my neck, these medals were just given to us. But not to be content, Darlene took my medal and placed it around my neck and then I did the same for her. The three of us shared hugs and congratulations for we had done it together, while running our own races.

But the day wasn’t over by any means. The run had taken its toll on each of us in different ways. Darlene had suggested that we needed to go back and run another friend home. So Susan and I ran back until we found her on the homeward stretch. Darlene joined us towards the end of that stretch and we had the joy of seeing her cross the line amidst the cheering and applause for another runner who had done so well. I offered to go back along the track for another friend who was taking a bit longer than his family had expected. I was fairly close to the bridge over the Inglis River before I saw him so we were able to run back together. His young son joined in running with him for the last couple of hundred metres.

So now it was time for a wash and change of clothes. I had brought a thermos flask with us with hot water and was able to give myself a good wash and get out of my wet running gear. That felt better. But we had a couple of friends doing the 50K run. Val was in contact with the mother of one of them so we had a bit of an idea where they were. At what I thought was an appropriate time I started walking back along the track to the bridge. I sat there talking with the marshal until I could see them emerging from the bush loop that was behind the Table Cape Primary School. I walked up to meet them and we walked and ran back together. Thus I could watch them cross the line amidst the roar of applause and cheering.

We didn’t want to leave until the first of the 101K runners had completed his run. He was a Japanese runner visiting Tasmania who had seen the run online and entered. In his interview he said that he found the hills easy – at least compared to Japan’s much hillier topography – but that he didn’t like running on the sand. He had put in an incredible effort, finishing some 35 minutes under last year’s time. So we said our goodbyes and headed home.

As I reflect on my run I can honestly say that it was enjoyable and, while I walked the hills, I didn’t find it too hard or demanding a course. Perhaps that was because I wasn’t pushing myself too hard. I was part of a team who started together and we were determined to finish together. Having completed this run I want to do it again. Knowing friends who competed in the 50K then I am sure that I could successfully run that distance but should I try the 25K for a good PB? Only time will tell. In the meantime, I have my sights set on a possible run in the Bruny Island Ultra marathon in December. Of course, that all depends on what happens in the next nine months. At least I would have my fantastic support crew with me all the way. J And even though this week must be an easy week for my body to recover properly all I want to do is to get out and run as free as the wind blows; run up hill and down dale; run across paddocks and along trails. It’s in the blood and I was created to run. The comments attributed to Eric Liddel, the great Scottish runner and missionary to China, who sacrificed his life for Christ, come to mind.

The main highlight for me was running across the finish mat with Darlene and Susan. Other highlights were running back with Lisa, Brett and then Danika and Lisa. Then there were the occasions of being able to give people a bit of a helping hand when they needed it.

The only negative I had was that Snickers bars might help Mr. Bean but they did absolutely nothing for me. J

I completed the race without any significant injuries. I did have one toenail that was almost off at the end of the race but it was nearly off anyway, so that didn’t count. The hamstring soreness that appeared at 18K soon disappeared while my left hip and quad were niggling away without causing any major issues. I did find that both heels were sore. That must have been brought about by the downhill running, even though I zig zagged down them as this allowed me to run them faster and more lightly on my feet. The only cramping I experienced was in the hands – firstly when uploading my run through Garmin Connect and then in driving home. Obviously, if you prepare well and take sufficient fluids and gels during the race then the body can handle it.