The Horrie and Belinda Show

14/5/06

We found our way to Grafton Post Office about 20 minutes before the start which was enough time to be given the race number and instructions. It was quite cool and there was mist coming off the Clarence River. So I was surprised to see one of the entrants line up at the start shirtless. I am sure it was his way of trying to psyche the other 9 of us out.

Steel the Race Director erected a start line and we soon off heading south to Coffs Harbour. Started off at a fairly steady clip and I was soon getting feedback from the HRM that it was a little too quick. I made a conscious decision to drop off the back and I let the others go. This was a wise move as I still managed to arrive at the 5km mark where Belinda and the other crews were stationed in under 25 minutes. Then we started the first of several climbs and I dropped back even further and soon the leaders were out of sight. At this point I thought I was coming last but thought it was better to stick to my race plan than to worry about my ego. After getting more supplies from Belinda at around 10km, I asked her to meet me 10km further down the road. So I just settled into what I call my ultra pace and was happy to stick to 6 minute kms. I was really enjoying the solitude of running out in the country on a lovely still morning. The only people I saw during this hour were other crews who were giving me some encouragement as I passed. They sounded like they were feeling sorry for me with comments like 'keep going mate' and 'you are not that far behind'. I would just reply with 'it's early days' and 'there is a long way to go'. I reached Belinda in just under 2 hours and realised that she had probably gone a bit past 20km and was probably closer to the half marathon mark as her odometer was a bit out at the beginning when she followed another crew member who had to take a detour to fill up petrol. I then asked her to drive 5km down the road and I would try and reach her in 30 minutes. At the 26km mark she reported that I was running quite strongly and that I was closing the gap on the runners in front of me. She estimated that they were only about 3-4 minutes ahead of me. She also told me that Shirtless had cleared out ahead of everybody and was 15 minutes ahead with 6 Foot Cap who was later identified as CR Parso a few minutes behind him with Paul Every in 3rd closer to the pack in front of me and a fair way behind Parso. I reached 31km in a tick over 3 hours and was able to catch a glimpse of the runners in front of me as there were some straighter sections and I timed them about 3:15 ahead of me. There was a lone runner who drifted off the pack, then a pack of 3 and as I started to take ground off them, I realised Paul Every was only just a bit ahead of the pack. As I was starting to close the gap, I lost control of my race plan and started to gradually crank it up and started to open up the stride on the downhills. The fact that I was starting to feel a bit of pain in the quads did not dampen my spirit and I just kept pushing forward. From about 35-40km I had gathered them all in, including Paul Every and I was now in 3rd position. What the?? Once the adrenaline had stopped and I was able to gather my senses, I soon realised that I was going to pay for this later on. As well as the muscle fatigue, my left knee was starting to grumble a bit and I could feel a few hot spots on the feet developing. Belinda decided to stop at a sign that told us it was 44km to Grafton and 40km to Coffs Harbour, which I reached in 4:12, which meant about a 4 hour marathon. It was now after 10am and the sun was starting to make its mark. So I decided to stop for some gear maintenance. Off went the CR Tri Top to be replaced by a CR singlet. Off came the shoes and socks so I could lube my feet again and replace my socks. Just before this stop, Paul had opened up a 100m lead and was looking a lot stronger than I was feeling so I thought it was a good idea to let him go. While I stopped, the runner in the white bucket hat who was later identified as Geoff Last went past as well as a young bloke who was having his first crack at this sort of an event. So I was back in 6th position but feeling a lot fresher in new gear and back to plodding again. It didn't take me long before I rounded up the young bloke again as he had blown up by this stage and was now only able to run in very short bursts of a few hundred metres before reverting to walking again. I tried to bring him along with me when I went past but he was only able to stay with me for about a minute before he had to walk again. I reached 50km in just under 5 hours but was really starting to feel the pinch as it was now very warm and there was not much protection from the sun and I was really starting to melt. It is at this point that I really started to lose it mentally as you realise you have still got over 30km to go but you are really starting to feel lousy. I started to lose motivation because I knew the runners behind me were gone and would not be making any challenges. Then a mirage appeared at around the 54km mark. It was Shirtless who had well and truly blown up and was just ambling along with his crew in the car just ahead trying to will him to keep going until Nana Glen. All of a sudden, the motivation which I was lacking at this stage returned and suddenly I forgot about the pain I was in as I mowed him down and went past him in a flash. There's something about beating a guy like this who just thought he was the bee's knees, running shirtless at the beginning in the cold morning with mist coming off the river and setting off at a cracking pace to announce his presence to all. It just shows that a little bit of humility goes a long way. Anyway I digress. Knowing I was now within reach of Nana Glen was enough to keep me plugging along and I reached this milestone in just under 6 hours. Then my mind started playing tricks on me again. I reasoned I could stop now as this could just be a long training run in the lead into PMC. That thought just lasted a second though as I started imagining Blue Dog giving it to me for being such a wuss and saying it's only an extra 25kms, what's wrong with you? The run down to Coramba was nice and there was some nice shaded bits from the rainforest that lined the road. Finally there was some respite from the heat but it didn't last long and it was back to bashing it through the heat. By this stage I was asking Belinda to drive just 2km up the road. I would walk while I ate and drank and then I would try to run until I reached her. This became harder as the downhills were really starting to smash the quads around. I was also starting to notice the hot spots on the soles of my feet again. So at the 7 hour mark, I decided to have another pitt stop, get the shoes and socks off, lube the feet up again and put a fresh pair of socks on. I was hoping that it would have the same effect as when I did it at the 44km mark. But it wasn't to be. The feet felt a bit better but there was nothing I could do to take the pain out of my quads. So from this point on, it just became a battle of the mind and I would just set myself mini goals of running to a certain point, which is something that I usually do along the Black Range at 6 Foot Track. The kms just kept ticking over but were getting slower and slower. Before the race I was hoping to break 9:30 and I saw my splits getting closer and closer to not making it. When I reached 74km in 8:10, a quick calculation made me realise that I had to cover the last 10km in 80 minutes and I knew this was not going to be easy. It made it even harder that through the next couple of kms there are a lot of blind bends. So when you are running on the road into oncoming traffic haring around these bends at 80km an hour, I took the safer option of walking on the uneven grassed area beside the road. But still I counted down the kms and was very relieved to hear Belinda tell me there was only 6 or 7km to go. Then there were a few straight sections of downhill, I tried to get the legs moving to trundle down these in a shuffle. The quads did not want to know about this. So after walking and realising it still hurt when I walked, I decided to run as I had told Belinda at this point that I just wanted the pain to end. So at the last stop before the finish, Belinda told me there was about 3km to go and that I had to cross the road to the left and then turn right at the roundabout to head down to the Coffs Harbour Hotel, I was just totally dumbfounded. I was relieved that she stopped another 500m up the road where she took a bit more time to explain the directions to me and all of a sudden, it made sense. One last roundabout to negotiate and then the sweetest sight of all. Belinda, Tim and the rest of the crews and finishers at the Coffs Harbour Hotel to signal the end after 9 hours and 43 minutes. Not quite as emotional as the finish to 6 Foot Track but I was certainly glad that it was over.

This finished a great day and a great weekend. I am so blessed that I have a wife who gave up her Mothers' Day to travel up to this event to crew for me as well as looking after Tim all day. I couldn't have done it without her and Tim's support.