The Horrie and Belinda Show

12/3/05

I've just got home and finished my dinner.So I'll do my best on putting up a race report. I'll do my best but it is very hard to put into words what this event is and means to the people who have done it. I hope this report does the race justice.

I arrived at Catalina Park at around 7 and there were already plenty of people there, both runners and volunteers. There was a real buzz and excitement in the air, even at this early hour. Talked to a few runners about their hopes and aspirations for the day and people who are normally very cool were noticeably nervous. Then got the shuttle bus up to the start and arrived there at around 7.30. Got the chance to meet quite a few Cool Runners who I hadn't met before and we were all buzzing. Watched wave 1 go off at just after 8 and the best credentialled 100 runners were off. Then a 5 minute wait until wave 2 were off. his group had over 200 people in it and then there was a further 15 minute wait where we continued on with the banter and were having guesses where we would eventually catch Plu on the Plu Hunt before wave 3 ventured out to Pluvio and beyond.It was very slow going as there were over 300 runners in our wave and after a warning from Kevin Tiller to be careful heading down Nellies Glen as there are falls here every year and usually involves bones and Six Foot Track dreams being shattered, the pace was very slow. I got tucked in behind this woman who seemed to be taking extra care not to have a fall meaning that it took me 24 minutes to cover the first 2km. I then finally saw some space and set out to catch Bandanna who had managed to open up a bit of a gap on me. I finally caught him at around the 30 minute mark and we cruised along at a comfortable pace down into Megalong Valley. Maria from the Striders 6 Foot Track Virgin group joined us and we ran together all the way to Cox's River which ended up taking us 1:45, which was about 10 minutes longer than I had planned for this section. I had 2 falls in this stretch as Bandanna was making up these jokes about Plu waiting for us at Cox's River with his foldup chair, eating his sandwiches that he took with him and sitting there with a laptop posting a mid race report on Cool Running. It pays not to take your eyes of the track when running a technical section, even when you can't stop laughing. Once we crossed Cox's River Bandanna pulled the pin and announced that this is where he walks. After trying unsuccessfully to tell him that this stretch was not steep I set off without him as I was determined to catch Plu. Bandanna's last words to me were 'Wait until you get around the corner' and sure enough there was the first major hill climb to negotiate. This then became a walking section for me and all the runners around me. After walking a while, I sensed that I was never going to catch Plu if I just kept walking. Also to keep my running muscles tuned, I decided to put 1 minute running surges in on stretches that I didn't think were that steep. This helped me when I reverted back to walking again as I was now walking faster and still managing to overtake people even whilst walking. This enabled me to overtake Twopennys and catch up to Sarge on the climb to Mini Mini Saddle. We then ran at a comfortable pace down to Alum Creek which Sarge promptly just ran through. While I dilly dallied around trying to cross by stones unsuccessfully, I looked up after we crossed and Sarge had put 20 metres into me and was never to be seen again. I was starting to get worried as I was now heading up to Pluviometer and still no sign of Plu. After putting another call out for him on yet another very steep section, I finally received a Horrie back from him and this put the spring back into my step. I finally caught him. It had taken 3 hours and 8 minutes but I'd done it about just over a km short of Pluviometer. After running/walking with him for a while I noticed James M, the MTG Co-ordinator up ahead so I then set off after him. When I caught him, he advised that he was having foot problems with Plantar Fasciitis and this became the trend for the rest of the run. I just kept overtaking tiring/injured runners. I got to Pluviometer in 3:17 which meant that I'd done the Cox's River to Pluviometer stretch in 1:32 which had put me back on 5:30 pace. When I reached the top of Pluviometer to be greeted with a sign telling me that there were 19km to go, I quickly did my sums that told me that if I could maintain 7 minute kms to the end, I could get to the finish in 5:30. This meant that I had to run consistently to the finish to achieve this. And when your legs are feeling hammered from doing the fiercest 10km uphill you could ever imagine, it is very daunting to realise that you still have almost a half marathon to go. There were still more uphills after Pluvio and I stuck to my plan and walked those. Then there was finally a stretch that you could run and it took a while before the legs wanted to do that again. So I just told myself to shuffle because that was better than walking. Then as I started to shuffle, I was surprised to start overtaking a few runners. After a while I realised that my running was a bit more than a shuffle and the confidence started to build as I picked off injured and tiring runners one by one. It was at this point that I noticed I was starting to overtake a few wave 2 runners and this gave me a real lift. I then caught up and ran with this guy who had done Forster Iron Man a few years ago and had a bit of a chat with him. I told him I couldn't get my head around being out there for 13 hours and that I was having enough trouble trying to get my head around completing this epic in sub 5:30. To which he replied, 'You've got no hope unless you get moving'. I then promptly responded by dropping him very quickly and moving onto my next target. I reached the Deviation and realised that I was still on target to finish in sub 5:30. This kept the legs ticking over and I found myself running with a big gap in front of me. This made me wonder whether I was still on the right track. When I rounded a corner I noticed a group of at least 6 runners so I then set my sights on rounding them up. This continued on until I got to the last downhill section. This section is very steep and very dangerous with rocks all over the trail and one of the things Sarge said to me when we were running together was that you wouldn't want to undo a good run on that last downhill section. Now I knew what he meant. The quads were absolutely being hammered here and I got a stitch under the right rib cage and every step made it feel like there was a knife going into my ribs. I was overtaken on this stretch by 2 runners. This brought the number of runners who overtook me to about 5 in total for the whole race. I then went past a woman who was screaming in agony with every step she took. I stopped and asked her if she had had a fall and if she was alright. She explained that she had cramped up very severely and every step was murder. After going past her, it made me realise that my stitch wasn't that bad and I better stop being a wuss. I then started to hear all the buzz and excitement from the finish and started to hear the announcer calling runners who were finishing. I got a shiver down my spine and I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. I then hit the path which leads into Jenolan Caves and started passsing walkers who were heading up from there. This made me realise that I was now very close to the finish. As I made the final descent down I heard her call my name and I looked up and there were Belinda and Tim cheering me in. The emotion was overwhelming and I could feel the tears flow. I had finished this monumental epic in 5:27 by my watch and I was elated. Then the greeting I got from fellow Cool Runners and Striders was just awesome. It had started to sink in that I had just achieved something very special.

I would just like to thank everybody out there who has encouraged and supported me through my recent misfortune and I will be forever grateful.

Will I ever do this event again?

You try and stop me!