Wow, what a race. Scott M. joined me for the run, so we drove up to Orange on Sat afternoon. Crashed in town, had a fitful sleep - watched the election results come in and enjoyed a few cold ones at a local pub :)

The morning of the race was cold and crisp, about 6-7 degrees as we headed out at about 7am to arrive in time to register for the race. We were probably some of the first people there, so we registered whilst trying to keep warm by hoping from foot to foot. It was very interesting to observe the gnarly bush/mountain runners that started turning up. We saw a few 6 foot running shirts, and some serious looking men in running tights. After "people watching" for a while we made our way the 300 or 400m to the start line. Scott and I decided we'd go out at about 5min/km and see if that was appropriate or how long we could hold it. It didn't take long to see that the uphills would be long and err... enjoyable :P First km clocked in at 4:52 which felt slightly too fast, but decided to persist. But then the real hills started :) The second km was slower, but still respectable, and it was at this stage that I thought "I'm going to try and race this". In hindsight, maybe not the best idea, given that I had no idea about the terrain, but c'est la vie eh? :D

Any ideas about this being a run up a single extinct volcano were quickly thrown out when we finished scrambling up some incredibly beautiful single track to the top of Mt Towac. The incline was insanely steep causing me to break into a walk for a few short stretches. I found coming down the terrain a blast though, and seemed to be having a much easier time of it than a few other competitors. I'd discovered when I reached the top of Mt Towac, that the first woman (who had past me up the slope :P) had just arrived, so I knew I was at least just behind the first chick :) I ended up blasting past her on the downhill (I spoke to her later, and she hates downhills - which is just as well because she'd be a terror if she was as good at downhill as she is going up them), and managed to streak away and overtake another guy. This is where I met Scott coming up the trail, so after an exuberant "Yo, Scotty" and a reply of "Big man" and a high five (classic :P), continued my rapid descent :)

This led into a short stretch of somewhat graded firetrail, where I decided it would be wise to turn around while running to check on my competitors. This is where I rolled my ankle pretty seriously. Freaking out, I tentatively took a few slower steps, found there was no pain, and started off again, but keeping a close eye on it to make sure it didn't deteriorate.

We found ourselves climbing up a second steep incline, up Young Man Canobolas. This was a serious gradient as well, but much more technical. There were beds of beautiful eucalypt-leaf cushioned single track, mixed with icy jags and small streams running across rock faces comprising the track, as well as heaps of sharply angled volcanic rock to scramble over. I had it in my mind that this was the final ascent, and although still walking in parts, gave it a pretty good shot. I hit the top to find a man gesticulating that I must run around a rock and head back down. I think I asked "When does this thing end?" To which he replied "In about 10 minutes". I took off back down the trail, passing people who were kind enough to move out of the way. There seemed to be an unspoken etiquette that you'd make an effort to move out of the way to let people who were in front of you come back down the trail if you were crossing paths on it. I found that a really nice touch.

I hit the bottom of a small crest and asked a guy stationed there for directions. He pointed up a ridiculously steep hill with a wry smile and replied, "About 700m up that little hill". I decided not to take in the serious gradient we were faced with, and replied "Oh is that all. Cheers." and off I went. I lasted about 30 meters and broke into a huffing, puffing, nose running, stagger-walk. It was next to impossible to run, and I'm not sure I could have run it even if I hadn't just run 10km over such rugged terrain. After a few hundred metres, I ran a bit, was defeated by the gradient, and continued walking it. I ended up catching another guy in front of me, and trailed him by about 5 metres. We both started running to the end, as were were only 200m or so from the finish. I had no competitive urge to pass him. All I remember thinking is "He deserves to be there, and I'm totally happy to just finish this race.", so even though I closed right up to him, he finished before me.

I found out whilst leaning over the table for people to read my bib number that I'd finished in an hour and 3 minutes, and was 17th out of a field of over 300.

It was kinda cool to arrive to find only 16 or so guys standing around, a number of whom had been real contenders for the win.

The organisers had copious quantities of water and watermelon for us to drink and munch on while we recuperated a little. I stuck around and cheered on people finishing. Scott came over the line, so I gave him a shout as he crossed.

This post is far too long as it is, but needless to say, what an incredible race, beautifully organised, a great bunch of friendly and down to earth people running it, and something a number of us will have to do again next year :)

Hope everyone enjoyed their runs and respective races over the weekend!

1 00:04:52 1.00 04:52
2 00:05:51 1.00 05:51
3 00:04:09 1.00 04:09
4 00:04:30 1.00 04:30
5 00:05:25 1.00 05:25
6 00:04:43 1.00 04:43
7 00:07:08 1.00 07:08
8 00:06:00 1.00 06:00
9 00:05:18 1.00 05:18
10 00:07:33 1.00 07:33
11 00:08:07 1.00 08:07