apricotrunner

Melbourne to Darwin. My first crewing adventure!

September 27, 2016 apricotrunner Comments 0 Comment

My husband Craig has followed me all around the world and suffered through two continents of marathons with me, and five continents holding my jacket. So when he asked whether I would crew for him while he rode a tiny little road bike (almost) non stop from Melbourne to Darwin there was no other response to give than Yes! And so began Anne’s epic ute odyssey.

The bike loaded onto the ute, ready to leave for Melbourne.

The plan involved Craig’s bike getting to the start on the back of his friend Bill’s ute, and thus Craig and Bill departed early Saturday morning for Melbourne. I went out for half of a long run, breakfast with our girls, and then flew to Melbourne to meet them. Used Airbnb for the first time and found a lovely little house in St Kilda.

After a quick Thai takeaway we went to bed around 8pm with the alarm set for 11:15pm, and awoke to………rain!

The plan was for Bill and me to share the driving of the support vehicle, probably in four hour shifts; leaving around 12am Saturday night/Sunday morning and arriving in Darwin by 2am Monday night/Tuesday morning, with a four hour break in Erldunda, near Alice Springs. My greatest fear initially was how I would stay awake at night to drive given I am often dozing on the lounge by 7:30pm. While Bill was initially chatty I felt with horror that same jet lagged feeling you have when you’ve been up all night with a 10 day old baby, and thus I put in my earplugs and went back to sleep in the passenger seat.

I took over driving just before dawn and of course felt heaps better because my peak functioning time is from 4am. Followed Craig all across Victoria and South Australia through some lovely towns.

Craig at the point at which the ute came under my control. 6 speed manual? Who can be bothered changing gears these days?? — The point at which the ute came under my control. 6 speed manual? Who can be bothered changing gears these days??

Taking photos while driving and giving Bill a heart attack! Craig is up ahead.

And so the hours went by. Bill is an ABC tragic and this proved largely quite entertaining with lots of local content. Bill is also a firm proponent of audio books and passed the time with several hours of the original and iconic 1978 Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; nine hours of Harry Potter book one; and then seven episodes of the dry satirical series Rumpole of the Bailey.

Original cast Hitchhiker's! — Original cast Hitchhiker’s!

As darkness fell, we had been driving for 18 hours with six to go. I volunteered to drive for the first few hours that night in the hope I’d stay awake. Things were quite taxing as the job of the support vehicle was multifaceted – stay ahead and hit the wildlife before they hit Craig; maintain a constant speed so as not leave Craig behind; and avoid oncoming traffic. Thus much of the journey was spent flicking one’s eyes from in front of the vehicle to the rear view mirror to ensure Craig was still close by. The little bike could manage around 93km on the flat but died on hills, and the support vehicle speed had to predict and adjust accordingly.

The view for half the daylight hours of the trip!

With only a few kilometres to go on day one we stopped suddenly in the darkness. “What’s wrong?” thought I? Bill was calm. Of course! We were stopping for a photo of the journey at “2000km in less than 24 hours” as a fallback position in case the bike blew up later.

And finally to Erldunda. Quick shower and into bed. Four hour stop with three hours of sleep before bursting back out onto the highway and off again!

I was tremendously excited to drive past Woomera, a restricted area and place of infamy associated with nuclear testing.

The second day was sold to me as slightly less taxing in terms of distance and time. However the fatigue and heat of the day more than usurped the degree of difficulty for Craig, and for Bill and me. Temperatures were quickly up around 38 degrees and by midday Craig was suffering.

We ploughed on, stopping briefly in different towns and truck stops. Barrow Creek was memorable for its strange inhabitants and a weird bar adorned with pictures and an unusual man mopping the floor who invited me to “come in and look around”. It wasn’t the first time on the trip I thought (sadly) of the Falconio murder.

In the meantime I was receiving little snapchats and messages from our daughter Emily, and words of encouragement from my friends. So much fun having others interested!

Craig has a thing about being stopped at roadworks while on his rides and when we came upon a stop sign I leapt from the vehicle to get a photo! I was channeling fun and humour to try to perk up Craig’s spirits that were clearly flagging in the sweltering heat. His jaw had locked sometime Sunday and his eyes were very bloodshot. Like any good crew person I had a supply of Panadol, Nurofen, and Poweraid at the ready!

OMG road trains! I’d heard of them and seen photos but the horror of seeing them in the flesh was more scary than I’d imagined. This was subsequently surpassed by the horror of seeing them coming head on toward us in the dark! Madness.

By the time we made Katherine I think we had all had enough. Without a mechanical disaster we were going to make the time Craig was after and from there it was a matter of churning through the last 300km to Darwin. I finished my last stint of driving at Katherine and chirpily parked nose-in knowing I wouldn’t have to find reverse again!

The last kilometres couldn’t go fast enough! Craig had a second wind and shot past briefly with me crossing my fingers the bike would keep running and that our odyssey had not been for nought. The highway goes all the way into Darwin and we kept doggedly on until finally our destination was reached! I slid out of the ute and inside with Craig to buy his iconic end of ride purchase – the cherry ripe! I set up the camera in a private moment to take a photo of me and the trusty ute at the end of our epic journey.

Tired and emotional 😀 we travelled a couple of blocks to the Novotel and retired for the night. I slept 1:40-6:20am – a sleep-in record for this year, and went out for a short run on the foreshore in Darwin. Lovely park there commemorating the bombing of Darwin in WWII. It was already 30 degrees when I went out at 7am! Not sure I could handle living in the tropics.

Sat for ages over breakfast recapping highlights of the trip with Craig and Bill. Don’t think I’ve ever eaten so much at a buffet but this wasn’t really a surprise given in the 60 hours since dinner Saturday until breakfast today I’d eaten two beef salad sandwiches, a packet of chips, and drunk six cups of coffee!

After breakfast we loaded the bike back onto the ute and I kissed them all goodbye. Parenting duties see me flying business class Qantas home tonight. It’s a tough gig and I’m sure Craig and Bill feel sorry for me as they wing their way back home in the ute. Bill has the brochure listing the frequencies for every ABC station across the country and with luck there’ll be a sequel to the three hour broadcast yesterday on voluntary euthanasia. Potentially however there will be more on the diverging goals of feminists versus gender theorists.

So what would I recommend for others undertaking the crew role? Number one – take more food. Roadhouse food is unreliable in quality and access, and in helping Craig refuel the bike and himself there was generally limited time to access decent food. Number two – make sure all the lights on your ute are working and take more! Unfortunately a relay in the ute spat the dummy on day one which left us with normal high beam – heaps for city driving but not quite so flash for the outback. Thirdly and probably most importantly, smile and wave. Nothing is more important than a smile and words of encouragement for the rider, even when the rider is a little terse and tells you twice, at either find of the trip, to clean the lens on your iPhone!

Ross Marathon, Tasmania

September 4, 2016 apricotrunner Comments 0 Comment

Ross was the marathon that had to be done. The other states were completed and it was a foregone conclusion that Ross had to be run or my quest was over. And thus Craig and I went to this tiny historic town in the middle of Tasmania for Fathers Day 4 Sept 2016.

I had become lax in my preparation. I checked details for the event Friday afternoon as I was packing. The website and Facebook didn’t give much detail so I went to Strava. My stomach dropped – what was this? Four laps? 5.5km out and back x 4? I messaged the organisers to confirm – yes, four laps. Remembering Punta Arenas I rethought my sinking feeling and targeted being able to see Craig each 10km.

We flew Newcastle to Melbourne; Melbourne to Launceston; and hired a car to drive to Ross. It was lovely to finally see Bass Strait from the air, and we landed in rain with a plan to drive to Cataract Gorge.

The gorge was a lot of fun – we rode the longest chairlift in the world and back across a bridge over the gorge before continuing the drive around Launceston and then onto Ross.

Spring had come on time and there was a multitude of lambs gambolling in the fields en route.

We had a short break in the little town of Campbell Town where we startled an urban wombat who scurried around the street like a well muscled dog!

That night we went to the pasta dinner and listened to an entertaining talk by Josh Harris, an upcoming distance runner seeking to qualify for the marathon in the 2020 Olympics.

Marathon day dawned with near freezing conditions. We wandered the two blocks to the start and all too soon we were off! I ran the first 7km with a lovely lady who had run quite a few marathons in the past 12 months. My friend Richard whom I’d initially met in Uluru and again in Adelaide, and who had also done Canberra, Gold Coast and Perth, was also there with his wife Rachael.

One striking feature of the event was the headwind after the turn at 5.5km. I’m not sure I’ve ever run in anything quite so strong. Punta Arenas was strong, but this was savage. Sheep were sheltering behind sheds. Trees were bent over. Supporters were in Arctic gear and by the fourth lap had abandoned their positions! My pace slowed to a walk for some of the return, and I freely admit to walking the entire return to town on the final lap!

It wasn’t my best race. The toe degloving from Uluru and again in Adelaide continued to plague me, and the alteration in gait to compensate led to issues with my knee. I couldn’t run more than a few paces without my knee giving out – something Craig later suggested could be a tendonopathy – the tendon gets over stressed or tired and stops working! Once again I was very fortunate to also have phone support from my friend Hayley, and messages from my daughters and friends. ❤

One charming feature of the event was the bell placed at the top of the only (but steep) hill on the course!

Second ring of the bell! There were still people there at that stage to take the photo!

Craig was by now right into Pokemon Go and mapped out his own course incorporating the small number of Pokestops and bakeries in the township, progressing around from one to the next as the hours passed. He was thankful for his own achievements of that morning.

It was marvellous to come over the line at the finish and know I’d achieved the goal. The motel people let me shower in the caravan park amenities and we then drove back to Launceston and did the hop to Melbourne. I was anxious about the walk from T1 to T4 in Melbourne as it’s about 1km, but with a glass of champagne and some Panadol I managed!

Standing not quite straight at the finish, due to my leg issue!

I emailed the Marathon Maniacs people in the next days and they increased my achievement level to Ruthenium – 13 marathons in 13 different states and/or countries in 365 days! Honestly, who thinks of these things? 😀

Ross Marathon was number 19.

Adelaide Marathon

August 14, 2016 apricotrunner Comments 0 Comment

The Adelaide Marathon is organised by the South Australian Road Runners Club and has some quirky features, from a static website and slightly complex entry system, to the bib collection process operating on an honour system in an unmanned office in the city – runners walked into the office and found their bib in a stack in numerical order – picked it up, and left!

Initially I thought I was going alone to this event, however closer to time Craig decided he wanted to come along, and thus we flew into Adelaide Saturday afternoon, staying near the start in the lovely Intercontinental Adelaide. We had a little excursion to a nearby running store where Craig tried on and subsequently ordered a pair of Hoka One shoes. Craig and I both live in hope that he can find a way to start running once again despite his nasty ankle issues, and trying out these padded shoes is the latest idea to try to facilitate this!

The event had a very casual feel with easy access to the start line. Just prior to the start I spied Richard whom I had met just weeks before in Uluru. Richard was in Adelaide with his daughter and confirmed that he had entered the Ross marathon in Tasmania that we had discussed in Uluru.

I was wearing my Marathon Maniacs race t-shirt and because of this did not want for company for much of the event. Male runners in particular ran with me for several kilometres at a time chatting about marathons – many of these guys had multiple marathons under their belts and were keen to share information about different events. It certainly helped the time go by! A fellow ran up to me at one point whom I immediately identified as Simon, also a Marathon Maniac – he was wearing the shirt and had indicated on the Maniacs website that he would be attending Adelaide. Simon is a crazy marathon runner who ran his first marathon in February 2016 and has already completed three marathons in three days! He is trialing the Ketogenic diet as his preferred diet for marathons. This diet is one that is high in fat and low in carbohydrates and was developed for use in those with epilepsy. There is some research about it being useful for distance running. Simon ran a massive PB in Adelaide, going under 4 hours for the first time so if you can stomach drinking cream before an event it might be worth a go!

Adelaide marathon is a beautiful course consisting of two laps – each lap is almost a figure eight, meandering around the Botanic Gardens and along the River Torrens. Our accommodation was in the cross over of this figure eight and thus Craig came down to wave and take photos each time I crossed it. My running friends were also sending messages of support which was lovely.

My toe was something of a disaster in Adelaide and the issues were not helped by my ridiculous decision to pack shoes I’d only worn for 100km. I’d thrown out the shoes I’d worn in Uluru because of the amount of sand they’d retained in that event. My shoes I’d been breaking in (they’d done about 300km) still weren’t overly comfortable and thus I decided to take the newest pair. What a crazy decision! The degloved toe quickly developed massive blisters while the stiffness of the non worn in shoes made for pain in the arch of my foot. Despite having sworn I would never cry in a marathon again I did actually think crying would help, but no tears would come!

Finishing in Adelaide Oval made up for all the trouble I had in the last 10km. Running into the Oval was very exciting and the crowd support was wonderful. There was something quite special about it!

I hobbled with Craig back to the taxi zone outside our hotel and, still in my running gear, we went straight to the airport. Once through security we headed to the Qantas Lounge with my fingers crossed they wouldn’t turn me away because of my attire! The lady at the desk was amazing and handed over a towel and toiletries so I could shower, even offering Craig his own as well. I managed to shower and freshen up and hobble again out to find Craig who was extremely helpful in finding food and drinks to help my recovery.

Another fateful decision was made at that point, and that was to leave the blisters intact until we got home. This was done because of the perceived issues with potential infection by breaking the blister but in retrospect was not a good idea. It was quite some hours before we arrived home and in that time the blisters grew larger and larger and within 24 hours of returning home all of the skin had again peeled off my toe leaving it red and angry and painful. Such is the lesson from this that I now have a travel specific range of Betadine products to apply as required!

So I’d say my experience in Adelaide had largely good, with bad and ugly moments! The new shoe problem was a rookie mistake one wouldn’t expect from someone who had run 17 marathons prior to this one.

And thus, one marathon to go for the Australian states challenge and also for the ANZAC sweep. Ross marathon, in three weeks.

Adelaide Marathon was number 18.

Australian Outback Marathon

July 30, 2016 apricotrunner

In my quest to run a marathon in each state of Australia I had made a choice to run Alice Springs marathon rather than the Australian Outback Marathon. The main consideration was the cost and time required for the latter, which is sold by Travelling Fit as a multi day package deal.

Craig and I, and our daughter Emily had undertaken this event in 2013, when Emily ran (and won!) the 11km event, and we had completed the half marathon. That race was Craig’s last before he succumbed to injury. We had an awesome time in Uluru in 2013 and had done all of the tourist things then, so I didn’t feel a need to return. Thus as it was when my plan for the year was developed, I was running Adelaide 14 August 2016, and Alice Springs 21 August 2016. Many people take the week and do the two events as part of a road trip – I didn’t have the time to do so and planned to fly there and back twice!

The Australian Outback Marathon came up on my news feed on Facebook on Thursday 28 July. The event was happening two days later. I’d had a good recovery from the Gold Coast marathon (3 July 2016), and staring down the barrel of Adelaide and the Alice Springs only one week apart, had the crazy idea of finding out if I could get a last minute race-only entry for Uluru. With Craig on the job I left for work. I checked my messages at 10am – I was in! The Travelling Fit people had been absolutely wonderful and arranged a generous deal for me involving race entry, t-shirt, medal and meals. I booked my flights at 11am and in the meantime Craig had rung the Ayers Rock Resort and booked accommodation.

So it came to be that the next day I drove to Sydney and flew to Uluru! I met the event organiser Michael and paid him in cash 😜. We enjoyed the traditional welcome and then the pasta party where I met several runners including Richard who was also on a mission to run a marathon in every state. He had already done several and was looking to finish with the Cadbury marathon in Tasmania in January 2017. I mentioned the Ross marathon in the same state occurring in September and Richard noted it down.

Race morning was a real buzz of excitement. We met in the lobby and I saw a lady wearing a Marathon Maniacs visor. We introduced ourselves – she was Masako Ishida from Japan who had run marathons all over the world including Easter Island. Masako introduced me to another lady – Sarah from the USA. Sarah was worried about finishing in the cutoff time of 7 hours. Turns out Sarah had completed multiple marathons around the world however her PB was around 7 hours. Sarah ultimately finished in 7:01 so I’m sure she came away with a medal!

Buses took us out to the start and we were thrilled to see the Field of Light installation still alight because it was not yet dawn. There were over 200 competitors in the marathon, as well as more in the shorter distances, including around 50 young Marines who had driven into Uluru from an exercise somewhere in NT.

This event was probably one of my favourite marathons of this year. It reminded me of what I love about marathon tourism and the difference running with like-minded people can make to my mental well-being during an event. From the very start I was running with people who were there to finish the race – not to thrash themselves. People chatted and shared information and stopped to take photographs. Other Marathon Maniacs from the USA ran up to me with Hi-5s. I ran for a time with the fellow who is the voice behind the microphone at the Gold Coast marathon! The volunteers were friendly and could not do enough for us.

They had a helicopter with a photographer! All the photos were free – part of the package. I think I had a great deal!

The course was mainly tight packed dirt with stretches of sand. It was all red. There were sand hills to run up and then down the other side. There were drinks at well spaced intervals, and even a toilet! The terrain was certainly dissimilar to bitumen and it showed with muscles squealing a little during parts of the event, and in the couple of days after.

About halfway I came up behind a man wearing a Marathon Maniacs t-shirt. I spoke briefly to him and got out my iPhone and took a photo of us. His name was Dan, from the USA.

He said he was finishing his Seven Marathons on Seven Continents challenge at Uluru and that he was finding the event a bit tough. I encouraged him and took a few steps to continue to run on from him, and then made the decision to stick with him. Best decision ever! Dan and I stayed together for the next 21km and it was awesome. I never thought I’d say this but as we ran over the finish line I think I could have easily done another 42km! Such is the difference when your head is in the game and not working against you!

In 2013 I wore Asics Gel Kayanos for the event. Sometime after that I changed shoes and now wear Saucony Fastwitch. I think they’re an exceptional, light weight, 4mm drop shoe. I’ve done heaps of marathons in them. There is one design feature that puts them apart from most other shoes, being they have small holes in the sole to allow sweat to drain out, and in rain of course that lets water in. It didn’t occur to me that those same pesky drain holes would also let sand in! And sand came in! Goodness a lot of sand came in. It didn’t really bother me during the event – I stopped once and tipped it out but as I’ve said above, I ran a fantastic race and felt very fresh at the end.

I stayed at the finish for ages after we were done. The atmosphere was exceptional and the post-race food was fantastic. I saw others whom I’d run with or passed along the way and chatted to them. Eventually I caught the bus back to my accommodation.

Sadly my feet weren’t as fresh as me when I got back to the hotel. I knew a blister had come up on my right little toe during the event but it hadn’t really caused me much pain. As it was a few hours between finishing the event and getting to the shower the blister had grown and in fact had spread almost all the way around my toe. In the days to come all of the skin came away and my toe was degloved! Back at the accommodation though I walked (painfully) up to the local shop and bought some Betadine cream to prevent infection.

I felt extremely guilty the next day when I made the choice to abandon my shoes in Uluru. These faithful puppies had been with me through multiple marathons and had been my most favourite pair of the Fastwitch model I have owned (I’m onto my 4th pair now and these were number 2). In making the decision however I knew the shoes were trashed. The sand was never going to be completely gone and there would be an ongoing risk of the sand causing friction and more blisters. The fact the sole was nearly worn through played a part too!

Goodbye faithful shoes! And yes there's a chip packet - salt is helpful after a marathon! 😀 — Goodbye faithful shoes! And yes there’s a chip packet – salt is helpful after a marathon! 😀

Of course it was in Uluru that my friend Dan spoke about Marathon Globetrotters. I tried to stop him – honestly I did – as I knew what another marathon club with its own membership requirements would unleash once it was explained to me – but he wouldn’t stop! And what is heard can now never be unheard. And thus I belong to Marathon Globetrotters as a Provisional Member (requirement is five countries completed). To be a Full Member I need 10 countries, of which I have done eight. Damn you Dan! 😀

So would I recommend the Australian Outback Marathon – absolutely! And would I recommend you go with the package – most definitely! It looked as though they’d improved even more on the fantastic one we did in 2013. And the running event itself was also tweeked with what they had at the start and finish to be even better than 2013. It was awesome.

Australian Outback Marathon was number 17.

Gold Coast Airport Marathon

July 3, 2016 apricotrunner Comments 0 Comment

This marathon was my second go at running a marathon in Queensland. I’d had my first DNF at Caboolture not long after returning from Chile – what seemed like a fun idea of running 400 metre loops of an historic village from dusk until dawn quickly turned ugly – not helped by the acquisition of a Northern American cold virus cultivated in a tiny tent in Antarctica! In Caboolture I’d managed about 14km and pulled the pin, so the choices thereafter were Gold Coast, or another marathon involving laps of a University north of Brisbane sometime in August. Gold Coast it was!

Gold Coast was on the calendar three weeks after Perth. This was my third marathon in five weeks and my plan from the outset was to take it very easy. Perth had not been overly pleasant and I was determined that this marathon would be as low key as possible.

My dear friend Hayley had already offered to come along as support crew. We have run many kilometres together and I was looking forward to the weekend away. We went out for our usual Saturday morning run the weekend before and it seemed to me there was a little spark around the idea of Hayley running with me rather than crewing. I was excited – we’ve done events together before and supporting one another comes very easy. On Tuesday Hayley messaged me – she’d entered! What a champion – entering a marathon six days out! I felt confident that however I may feel physically during the event, I’d get through with Hayley by my side.

We caught the early flight from Newcastle to Brisbane, and then drove to the Gold Coast. Our hotel was across the road from the expo and we walked over to pick up our bibs. Hayley has a good eye for recognising people and chatted and waved to other competitors both at the expo and during the event. I don’t know how she does it – most runners look the same to me!

We found a little Italian place for dinner and followed that with our complimentary glass of champagne at the hotel. I guess that epitomised the tone of the event for us – no stress and taking opportunities to enjoy the little things!

Race day morning we dressed and caught the complimentary shuttle to the start. Everything was extremely well done – even the toilet queue moved quickly due to the huge number of portable toilets. Rob de Castella gave some words of encouragement and then we were off!

The day was reasonably warm and there was only minimal shade on the course. Drink stations were plentiful and there was an extraordinary amount of crowd support over big distances. I loved the signs people had made like “Touch here for Power”, and the number of kids holding out their hands for hi-5s as we ran past.

We stopped to use the toilets on the foreshore and I checked Facebook where I saw a post from Hayley’s mother Fiona encouraging us. I took a photo and posted it; and Fiona and I became Facebook friends during the run!

We heard several times from our running group friends and there were plenty of “You got this” tags flying around! I tried to get Hayley to call that out to others but she declined for some reason!

Another photo stop! — Another photo opportunity!

Things went along fine until about 34km where my body started to complain on the slight hilly inclines. We slowed to a walk and kept this up fairly briskly until about 39km where we started to run once again. There were Encouragers on the course whose job was to encourage runners over the line. What a fun job that would be! The last kilometre was sensational – huge crowds and lots of cheering – it felt like we were sprinting but in reality we were really only going faster than walking! We came over the line to a big clap from Rob de Castella, so of course we pounced and asked him for a photo.

A massive running legend. Hayley apologised that we were sweaty but he didn't mind! — A massive running legend. Hayley apologised that we were sweaty but he didn’t mind!

The trip back to the hotel was again very easy except we were chatting so much we missed our stop! Never mind – we were the second last stop on that line and so just stayed on the shuttle at the last stop – the driver changed ends and off we went again!

The hotel had been inundated with late checkout requests and was unable to accommodate us. Instead they let us use the shower facilities for the gym. We used these facilities really well! Hayley was involved in a push-up challenge in the days around the marathon and was compelled to get these done despite having just run 42km. I sat on the floor in the change room and took photos of her as evidence of her mad undertaking and we laughed and laughed.

I could put in a photo of the push-ups but what happens in the change rooms stays in the change rooms! — I could put in a photo of the push-ups but what happens in the change room stays in the change room!

Back at Brisbane airport we went to the Qantas lounge and made good use of the free food and alcohol. Hayley spotted a celebrity (like I said – she’s good at spotting people) and whittled down the possibilities for who it could be until she determined it was an actor from Underbelly. It was a shame to have to leave the lounge when they called our flight!

So Gold Coast was never about racing and all about having a good time. And we did!

Gold Coast Airport Marathon was number 16.

Perth Marathon

June 12, 2016 apricotrunner Comments 0 Comment

Running Perth was always going to be a big call as it was only one week after Christchurch. Craig and I flew from Sydney to Perth via Melbourne on the Saturday, going straight to the bib pickup point from the airport. We had a quick walk around the city and then had a nice dinner at the hotel.

The event started in the park near the casino and we caught a taxi there from our hotel. Craig had exams the week after and had his books to continue studying while I was running. The course was two laps, following the river. It was beautiful.

I encountered issues with my right hip flexors about 4km into the run. I knew straight away this wasn’t a good sign! My pace slowed from the usual 5:30 per kilometre to over 6 minutes/km, and I was anxious that I was feeling this bad so early on. Knowing the course was lapping back on itself I concentrated on finding people to chat with and encourage as it would distract me from unhelpful and negative thoughts. My search however was largely fruitless – few people were up for a chat and in fact few people responded to the encouragement. There seemed to be lots of music in ears so I guess maybe they were just focussed and didn’t hear me.

One highlight of the run was seeing Steve Moneghetti pacing the 3:30 group. Not often you see a legend running by!

In retrospect too I recognise that I saw Simon, also a Marathon Maniac during the run. We didn’t meet properly until Adelaide some weeks later, but I do remember the shirt going past. Richard whom I later met in Uluru, was also in Perth, being a local, but he would have been miles in front of me that day!

Finishing the marathon was an excellent feeling. I knew despite being slower than normal that knocking over two marathons in quick succession was always going to be hard, and I’d done it.

The finish "sprint" — The finish “sprint”

I’d arranged a local tour operator to take us on a half day tour that same afternoon, and we ended the day at a seaside restaurant recommended by a friend.

The next morning we had an early flight home. We spent some time in the Qantas lounge at Perth, surrounded initially by more hi-vis workwear than one would see in a King Gee store. It was all the people waiting for their early flights to Karratha! On the final leg home from Melbourne the display on the plane read the destination was Singapore! Photographed that and sent to Emily. Her response was priceless!!

Perth Marathon was number 15.

Christchurch Airport Marathon

June 5, 2016 apricotrunner Comments 0 Comment

I had been looking forward to Christchurch Airport Marathon for ages. I’d booked Craig and me Business seats on Emirates from Sydney and back, and had also booked into a nice hotel adjacent to the start. I’d had three weeks to recover from UTA50 and knew the weather would be quite cool – ideal for a marathon.

Things got a little tricky a few weeks prior when Craig’s uni studies saw an exam scheduled for the morning we were departing. Luckily I was able to switch his flight to the afternoon, and I drove to Sydney early Friday morning and had a very pleasant time alone in the Qantas lounge and then as only one of three Business passengers on the flight!

The next day we were up early and walked to Hagley Park where I did the parkrun. I love doing novel parkruns in places we visit and this was no exception. It was really cold and I was glad of my gloves.

The city itself remains in the process of rebuilding four years after their last nasty earthquake. Bib collection was from the race start/finish area right next to the Christchurch Cathedral that is still held up with heaps of scaffolding and bracing.

We then had a nice day in and around Christchurch, including a ride in their gondola!

Race morning was super simple – breakfast in the room and then down to the start line. It was very cold but thanks to the number of people there I did my usual trick of snuggling in close to some of the other runners for some added heat.

The first 10km was a lap of the town, including a run around Hagley Park. I started to warm up about 5km in, and stayed with the crowd, enjoying this pretty city. Around 8km I came upon a girl about 10 years old who was running along, crying. I asked her a little bit about herself and she said her name was Cara and that she had never run 10km before. She was an age champion in the area for cross country and athletics, and her mother and sisters were up ahead. She had no idea how far she had run and when I said there was only 2km to go she brightened up. We chatted for the next 2km and I wished her luck and cheered her on when we came to the part where the 10km veered off to the finish and the rest of the field turned for the loops out of town. We saw and waved to Craig at that juncture as well. He had been in the hotel room studying for his next exam and came down in time to cheer me on.

The rest of the race consisted of two loops out from the city. The first loop was longer and took in the outer suburbs, while the second loop retraced some of the first but turned at the river for the finish. I found the suburban running fairly boring but the scenery closer to town was nice. I stopped to speak to Craig at the end of the first loop and then moseyed on out for the second. I enjoyed the second loop because there were other runners who overtook me and then slowed and I overtook them etc etc. I sped up over the last 3km and finished well. I knew backing up with Perth the next weekend I’d be feeling it, so was pleased that I really enjoyed this event!

We had a late checkout arranged and then went out to the airport where we partook in some refreshments before boarding our plane for the trip home. It’d been fun.

Christchurch Airport Marathon was number 14.

Ultra Trail Australia 50

May 14, 2016 apricotrunner Comments 0 Comment

I run with the same core group of ladies approximately four times each week. We have spent many, many hours running together and have formed lovely friendships along the way. Mid 2015 my friend Megan said to me “Anne, will you come and run UTA50 with me?” to which I responded “No” – I’d done my time with a trail ultra when I ran 6 foot track. She then said “It is for my birthday” – and there it was – I was committed to the event! I was running another trail ultra in May 2016 for Megan’s 40th birthday.

This group of running friends is a bit special. We’re all busy, professional women who get up early four mornings a week and meet to go running. Long runs on Saturdays have been known to start at 4:30am for 32km with us being home in time for children’s sports and husband commitments. We all know what it’s like to balance the needs of the children, the husband, work, study and our own sports and the support within our little group is tremendous. Of the ten ladies who signed up for UTA50, six had previously run at least one marathon, and the other four were super fit women who committed to the training required. Two ladies also agreed to come as our support crew – one did most of the training with us and most likely could have run the event, and the other moved her entire life around just for that weekend!

Training for UTA50 involved a bit of tweeking of our normal running program. Intervals were replaced by stairs; and the long run each second weekend involved a long trail rather than road run. There is a massive set of stairs not far from our usual meeting point, and loops of “Cardiff stairs” became the norm. As we came closer to the event we ventured out to the Watagan state forest to Mount Faulk Rd – something of a mission in itself just to get there in the first place, and certainly nowhere you’d want to be in the dark without company. Banjos were playing as we alighted the vehicles some mornings.

Kara & Hayley ran a trail marathon during training. Kara's first marathon! — Kara & Hayley ran a trail marathon during training. Kara’s first marathon!

There was an opportunity for those who had not previously run a marathon to gain a qualifying time for a faster start group by running a Strava segment on the course, and thus for one of the long runs a group went to Katoomba and ran the 17km segment. That in itself was an operation for all to co-ordinate. I didn’t go along that day as I’d entered the marathon in Wangaratta and slunk off there instead to try to overcome the shame of the DNF at Caboolture!

We hired a house in Leura for the UTA50 weekend, staying for two nights. Megan had chosen a colour scheme for our group, now aptly named “Team Fortay”, and Hayley had organised matching visors for us to wear. Our group has a number of sayings appropriate to events and running, one of which is “It’s all about the photo” and we were not going to miss an opportunity for a good photo for this occasion!

Race day was terrific weather with a brisk start, quickly warming up to good running conditions.

The first 14km involved stairs – down – up – down – up and on and on. We’d been warned about the stairs and for this reason had trained a lot on the Cardiff stairs. What a joke! Cardiff stairs were like Kindergarten stairs compared to the stairs on the course. In single file we traversed these monstrous beasts – some barely more than ladders. One couldn’t stop because of the queue behind, but luckily, thanks to the start groupings, most people were of a similar pace and fitness. I honestly thought my heart would stop on some of the climbs and I only kept going because of the people behind, however no-one was shoving to get past!

Ultra Trail Australia 2016 — Who puts a photographer at the top of the stairs?

We came out of the bush right near our house in Leura, and there were Nicole and Monique with drinks and food! How wonderful it was to see them! They had written on the road in chalk and were smiling and happy and encouraging.

Our group had split up by this point, with different groupings perhaps 10 minutes apart. Hayley and I were at the back, determined to have a good time and agreeing that we would stay together at a pace that worked for us both.

The next stop was at Queen Victoria Hospital at 28km. The few kilometres prior to this were quite exposed and on bitumen, and we arrived hot and ready for a little break. Nicole and Monique were there as well, and we stopped and chatted for a while before running on. The next 15km were quite extraordinary in terms of the terrain we traversed. I’ve never seen such big hills and they went on forever! We had a terrain map and took to counting the number of hills to climb until the end.

At Leura Forest Hayley and I caught up with another runner, Kathy. She explained that she’d had a fall earlier in the event and this had thrown her both mentally and physically. She had regrouped, but like us all, was tiring toward the end. We ran the last few kilometres together, and as happens at events like this, we’ve stayed in touch ever since!

The dreaded Furber steps loomed up and we commenced our climb. Honestly, after everything else we’d encountered on the course, I thought by comparison the Furber steps were a cinch. Others who had zoomed over other parts of the course thought differently, however I could smell the finish line and the three of us just kept going. There was carnage everywhere – people lying on the ground next to the steps; people crawling; people going up backward; people stopping to let others past. We came to the top and Hayley called to me to start running! OMG, running at 49.5km but of course she was right – it was only 500 metres to go and we were running up to the finishing chute. Kathy was slightly ahead but then slowed and waited for us, and we crossed the line together! 50km with 3433 metres of elevation and 4052 calories expended! Epic.

Kathy's family were at the finish too — Kathy’s family were at the finish too

UTA50 was number 13.

Canberra Marathon

April 10, 2016 apricotrunner Comments 0 Comment

Canberra Marathon was an obvious choice for the Australian Capital Territory. There were a couple of others to choose from however one was right at the end of the season and there was no doubt it could have been very hot. Craig and I had run in Canberra before, with the Mothers Day classic 10km in 2011 and the Canberra half in 2013. We have always loved Canberra and look forward to spending time there whenever we have the opportunity.

The start was right near our favourite hotel – the Hyatt Hotel Canberra that never fails to disappoint. We had a lovely meal in the restaurant the night before and I know that following the start of the marathon, Craig and Verity had a wonderful time at the breakfast buffet!

Four ladies from our running group were also running the marathon. I looked for them at the start but it wasn’t until we were out on the course near one of the turnarounds that I saw them. They were flying! I’d had a pretty good first half as well. I’d found the 4 hour pacers and stuck with them for the first 21km, making for easy, stress free running with others making decisions about the pace. I had never tried this technique before and on the day it was excellent.

Crowd support was a bit light-on, particularly when we went out west of the city centre around the University area. Craig and Verity had attempted to drive there but the roads were closed. Around 30km I came upon Kath who was using the event as a training run for UTA50. We ran together for approximately 2km and then at a drink stop I told her to go on without me. I walked the next kilometre and phoned Craig for a quick chat before setting off again.

I felt pretty good as we came up behind the Hyatt Hotel with about 3km to go. I increased my speed and at the same time the crowd support also picked up. The finishing kilometre was really fun with cheering, plenty of space to run, and even some shade on the course. Waving to my friends who were on the sides of the finishing chute (they had all done awesome times), I came across the line in 4:17 – my second fastest time ever and fastest since 2013. It was thrilling and completely unexpected! I’d had a very good day and I think the pacing group made the most difference.

Canberra Marathon was number 12.

Bayleys Mountain to Surf Marathon

March 5, 2016 apricotrunner Comments 0 Comment

I was excited to go to New Zealand for this marathon. I was going alone with just a backpack of gear and it was going to be quite an adventure!

New Plymouth is a town about an hour by plane south of Auckland. We’d no sooner taken off on that flight and the crew had run through the plane throwing food at us, than it was time to land!

The mountain mentioned in the title of the marathon, known as Mount Taranaki, dominated the landscape. I was staying at the same hotel as where bib collection occurred, and the buses left the following morning to drive up the mountain to the start.

All of the plans went seamlessly. This was another expertly arranged and managed regional marathon. The course started in the carpark some distance up the mountain, and runners then ran back to the coast. There was a half marathon starting at the midpoint of the marathon, in the town of Inglewood, with the event finishing in the village of Waitara.

The run went relatively well. It was fairly scenic and shaded, and the temperature was good. There were some boring bits along the side of the highway however knowing I was always just covering the ground toward the finish (without any laps) kept me in a pretty good head space.

The only issue I struck was that the electrolyte drink served at the drink stations didn’t agree with me. It was something called Sqwincher – tasted nice but caused me some real issues. My customary fast last kilometre was a non-appearance due to the cramping in my stomach and abdomen.

Never mind though, the people were very friendly, provisions at the finish very good, and again the organisation most efficient in having the buses arrive as planned to drive runners back to New Plymouth. I was pretty happy as this was my second marathon in a week and the times were roughly the same.

Bayleys Mountain to Surf Marathon was number 11.

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