Sunday 15th January, race day. Well for most of the runners it’s not really a race, it’s a run you’ve paid money to complete in the hope of a ‘free’ banana at the end.

The day started by being picked up at 05:30 for the 45 minute drive to Dromana. I’d popped down the day before to grab my and my chauffeurs race bibs. We found a park not far from the start lined and quickly found others from the running group. A quick chat, standard pre race group photo and solo toilet stop and we lined up with over 900 others attempting the 28km trail run to Cape Schanck.

This race starts at sea level in Dromana, in the first 3km you run a bit of flat and gentle slope, then it goes up for about 2km as you climb up towards Arthurs Seat.

By the time the incline really increases all but the maddest are walking with purpose up the first hill. It quickly heads off the road and on to trails, which are quite crowded as the runners are still very bunched up.

Once the incline levels off a bit we all return to running, 3km down, 25km to go. The first hill is by far the worst, but the rest of the run has many short and some short and sharp hills. Trail runners call this type of trail ‘undulating.’

Each road or aid station has a number of volunteers, these wonderful people do a great job of cheering you on and supplying water and energy gels if required. One of the aid stations later in the run had a young child with a water mister offering to spray runners to help cool them. Fantastic.

At about the 6.5km point, just as we approached a dam there was suddenly yells of ‘wrong way!’ I was just following all the other runners ahead and plenty behind were following us. The trail had the orange markers on it. A few of us stopped and looked back, Rohan the race organiser had just arrived, and confirmed that we were indeed going the wrong way! Someone had moved some of the markers overnight. Luckily for those that went the wrong way, it loops behind the dam and meets the correct trail on the other side of the dam wall, adding about 550m to their run.

The trail was mostly undulating now, some really nice bush trails and some more open trails, and a couple of road sections. During one of these road sections the leading 56km runners came past. They start from the 28km finish line, run to the 28km start line via a diversion so we don’t end up on the same narrow trails, then follow the same trails as us for the last 28km to the finish.

I was running the flat and downhill sections and the shorter uphills but saving my energy by walking with purpose up longer or steeper hills. I was on schedule to finish in under four hours with 2 hours to complete about 13km, so I figured 8km in the next hour and just a 5km parkrun in the last hour. I had just emptied my 1.5l water/hydration mix in my pack and had used about half of my two smaller water bottles. I stopped at the next aid station to add some more magical powder and refill the larger bladder. Being a bit tired it seemed like the pack fought back, not letting me in easily to access the top of the bladder. Then the powder didn’t want to come out of the sachet quickly. About 1/4 of the powder ended up on the outside. I then added water and promptly dropped the pack but not the bladder. This caused the neatly routed drinking tube to pull back through its guides. I spent over 5 minutes at that stop getting sorted out.

Heading off from that stop I knew there was 8-10km  left. My Garmin was reading at least 2km high at that stage so I couldn’t believe the distance it showed, but the time was right. The short climbs were seeming much tougher now, I was finding I was walking up even the smaller ones. I had been mostly ignoring the kilometre markers until that stage. But knowing my Garmin was off I kept an eye out for the next one, 6km to go. Just a bit more than a parkrun. The next 5km was just repeating the same thing, run downhill and on the flat, walk up the hills tick off the next km marker. At some stage there was some rubber matting down on a up hill, the nice race organisers had put a sign on it saying ‘Escalator, press to start’ or something similar.

The view was great with the ocean visible and I’d glimpsed the Cape Schanck lighthouse a bit earlier so I knew it was close. I could hear what sounded like music when I was over 3km from the finish. Knowing it was close and hearing it really gives you a lift. Then there was the 1km sign, I decided to run the last kilometre, it went so fast I’d swear the sign was actually 500m from the finish. Before I knew it there were people on the side of the trail cheering. I heard my name a few times as I was being cheered by the Raring 2 Run ladies. That was it, across the line in 3:10:50. 28km of trails, over 700m of elevation gained. No doubt it was the hardest run I have completed in my short running career.

After completing my second half marathon at the Melbourne Marathon festival (2:09) I wasn’t sure what to do next. Everyone assumed I’d sign up for a marathon, that being the next logical step up. I didn’t really have any great ambition to complete a marathon. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to do one, just that I wasn’t in any rush.

The running group (TXR Runners) that I’m part of does road and trail runs. I’d been to one trail run with them a few months earlier at Lysterfield Lake park. Someone pointed out that my half marathon time qualified me for the Twobays trail run in January. Twobays is a 28km (or 56km) trail run from one side of Mornington Peninsula at Dromana, to the other at Cape Schanck, it includes over 600m of climbing.

So I signed up and started training. Two approaches to the training are required. Obviously the distance is 7km more than a half marathon, so I’d need to build up my distance. But at the same time I would need to introduce hills, lots of hills. I attended TXR Runners ‘Wicked Wednesday’ run for the first time. It’s a 10km loop at Lysterfield Lake park that has three good climbs and a few smaller ones, totalling around 270m of climbing. The biggest climb takes you to Trig Point, the highest part of the park.

My best 10km time on the road is 53:25, my first loop took 1:15:10, and that was moving time, there were a few stops at the top of hills to get my breath back. I did a couple more Wicked Wednesdays (WW) over the next few weeks. I also went long on a couple of Lysterfield Trails Runners Sunday runs. On one of these runs at about 18km of the planned 21km I got a twinge in my right calf. Not so bad that I had to stop running, but I did pause to stretch a couple of times.

I had a few training runs during the week and the calf was still letting me know it was there, but it wasn’t painful so I carried on. That weekend I headed off early Sunday morning for not only my longest run ever, but also on trails. I did the WW loop twice, plus I’d parked in the furthest car park which added another 8km to the run.

The WW loop is the top left part on the map, the bottom right loop was the run to the start of WW and the return around the other side of the lake. This run took 3:27:39 with a total climb of 645m. My calf wasn’t too bad but as it wasn’t going away and stretching didn’t seem to be helping.

A couple of days later I headed off to see a physiotherapist about the calf. Shortly thereafter I was diagnosed has having a grade one calf strain. I was given a few exercises to do and told no hills or speed work for a week or two. With Twobays three weeks away the plan was one week of flat running, the second week would introduce some gentle hills and week three is taper week before the big run. He seemed pretty confident that I’d be ready for the run.

Having successfully completed my first 10km race I was buzzing along on a runners high. So what do you do when riding the buzz? You register for another race of course. This time I thought it should be longer, a half marathon at 21.1km seemed achievable. It was the end of 2015, so coming into summer where the big events are few a far between. So I picked Run Melbourne in July 2016. This gave me plenty of time to train.

I planned to complete a few shorter runs along the way to help with my preparation. In Melbourne during March they have the Run For The Kids run, this is a fund raising run that varies in length by a small amount year to year. In 2016 it was a 16km event, perfect! Sign me up. They close one of the major tunnels and bridges which gives runners the chance to run in usually car only locations.

Being held in March, R4K can be quite a warm run. I enjoyed it, especially running though the 1.6km Domain tunnel. Man it was warm in there. Everyone was chatting for the first half which is downhill, then the gentle climb begins, everyone starts breathing hard and noticing how warm and humid 16,000 people can make a tunnel. Shortly after the tunnel we ran over the Bolte Bridge, another car only structure. Plenty of people took photos at the high point before continuing on. The run then heads off the freeways and on to surface streets as you head towards the finish line via Docklands. 1:48:17.

This is about when I started my official training plan for the upcoming half marathon. I searched the internet and magazines for plans. They were all pretty similar. Run 4 to 5 times a week with one being a longer run, each week the longer run increased by about 10%. The shorter runs are a mix of fast, slow, sprints and other efforts. So I picked the Garmin one as the activities could be sent to my Garmin watch.

Along the way I completed the Traralgon 10km run. Traralgon is about a hours drive away from home. Being in a country town the run is quite small, being in winter it’s also quite cold. The 10km race is an out and back, which means the same course both ways. The run was all on suburban streets with the 21.1km runners turning onto a trail just after we turned around. It started to rain in the last km and shortly after finishing it really poured. Time, 58:08 which was a nice improvement on my first 10km event.

I continued my training towards the 21.1km Run Melbourne race. My longest run was about 18km two weeks before race day. I walked a couple of times during the 18km, but overall I was happy with my preparation.

Two weeks before half marathon day is the Sydney Harbour 10km run. I’d been watching this run and keeping an eye on airfares in the lead up. Cheap flights and a cheap hotel room later I was in Sydney for one night to run in this race. This was my first visit back to Sydney CBD since 1998.

I was one of those runs, I felt good in the morning, but by 7km my calf was cramping and I just wasn’t happy. Time 62:10

Half Marathon Race Day 24 July 2016

It was cold, for Melbourne. Being ready to run 45mins before start time is great, except when it’s under 10C and you’re standing around in shorts and t-shirt. Huddled together we waited and shivered and waited. The clever ones were wearing old sweat pants and tops, knowing that just before the start they could dump them on the fence and they’d be donated to charity. We were not the smart ones. Next year I will be warmer.

The run winds around Melbourne, South Melbourne and Docklands. It’s a mostly flat course with only a couple of gentle hills to deal with.

My plan was to finish in under 2:30, with the back up plan of a sub 2:15 if I felt okay. My aim was to keep my pace just over 6:00/km for as long as I could and then just keep going. As is always the way the queues for the toilets near the start were huge. I figured I’d wait and use a on course toilet. The first couple had queues almost as bad as the start line ones. As we ran past the huge exhibition and convention centre another runner tried the doors, open! Bonus! Clean warm facilities with no queue. I lost two minutes with that little detour.

About halfway though I caught up with a Instagram friend, we had a quick chat about how we’re going and our plans before I resumed my slightly faster pace. I was still cold. I’d never not warmed up on a run after the first couple of km. On this run I still had cold feet and hands after 10km.

Not knowing the route or the area particularly well I wasn’t sure how much further I had to go. I didn’t want to look at my Garmin just in case it said I had a long way to go, and I had tried not to look at the distance markers along the route. I remember seeing the 16km one and thinking, ‘just a parkrun to go. So when a random person cheered me on saying the finish was just around the corner. I assumed they were being smart and encouraging but in no way did I think the finish was about 300m away, which it was. Being surprised at the closeness and with the crowds cheering I even managed a bit of a sprint to the finish. Such a happy moment, first half marathon done, no walking and just a quick toilet stop along the way. When’s the next one?

Time 2:14:11 or 2:12:14 if you take out the toilet stop.

Over the last 18 months  or so I have reignited my love of running. It had been 10 years since I was last seriously running. Then it was to get fit enough for a job I thought I wanted.

This time I started running to improve my fitness, during the first few months as I built up to being able to run 5km  in one go I came across parkrun. parkrun organise free, weekly, 5km timed runs around the world. They are open to everyone, free, and are safe and easy to take part in. I have now completed 68 parkruns. This seemed perfect, 5km was my happy distance, it didn’t take too much effort or too long to finish.

Of course after a few months of running 5-6km a few times a week I started thinking about maybe running a bit further. I decided that 10km was my next goal. To keep me on track I registered for the Melbourne Marathon Festival’s 10km event. I slowly increased the distance of my runs until the week before the 10km event. This was also my first running event other than the weekly parkrun.

The big day came around and I duly lined up with the other 7500 10km runners. It was a pretty good run, the last km seemed to go forever as you run past the entry to the stadium (MCG) where the race finishes and keep going for 1/2 a km before turning back. That was the longest km! Once you run into the stadium the crowd and venue give you the kick to pickup the pace until the finish line. Time 63:08.

My day started early, with a quick breakfast, loading of the first aid kits and any updates from our team leader. I then headed to the start area at 06:15 to await the 06:45 start. My first job was to leave between the first two waves of cyclists as they headed down the hill towards Mt Beauty.

Moments from the start

I gave the first wave about 2 minutes before I headed off. On the second corner I found a head light flashing away in the middle of the road, a quick u turn to grab it before someone found it at 60km/h. I continued down the hill making it another 3 corners before I found the first crash of the day. He didn’t want any help, and was busy fixing the cause of his crash, a puncture. As I hopped on to the bike to continue down I saw the flashing lights of the second wave coming.

Being chased down the hill by a few hundred cyclists all exceeding 60km/h and in some spots 70km/h was a different experience. Ride FASTER!!

Nearing the bottom of the mountain the fastest riders of the second wave were catching the slower riders of the first wave. Being caught between them I decided to be less of a hazard and pull over until a suitable gap appeared to allow me to continue.

https://youtu.be/BynNpPm1qC4

I continued to make my way along the route with the riders. Being early in the day everyone is fresh and still eager.

I stopped at the Harrietville rest stop to catch up with a couple of other marshals and have a decent coffee. My first patient of the day soon appeared, he’d come off and had a few grazes. I cleaned them up and dressed them and he was happy to head off. Another cyclist walked past asking if we carried any bicycle tools. I said no, I only had chain lube for my motorbike. One minute later he was back asking if I could squirt some into his rear hub as it didn’t seem to be coasting properly. I happily gave him some lube and he continued on. Hopefully it helped.

Another marshal had someone asking if we had an ECG machine as he thought his heart might be wonky, he actually used medical terminology, but they don’t teach cardiac lingo in first aid. He offered to call him an ambulance, but the rider was only interested if they had an ECG on board. Not being able to answer that he decided he didn’t want an ambulance and headed off with his mates.

My day continued to be uneventful as I headed towards Omeo with the riders. I was scheduled to spend from 1-2pm at the Omeo providing first aid as required. Luckily for me there was an ambulance stationed there as well, so they did most of the work. It was quite warm by this time, so a few riders were suffering in the heat. There was little shade other than the temporary shelters for the volunteers. Quite a few got something to eat then headed to the shady park just down the road.

I headed onward just after 2pm towards the Blue Duck at Anglers Rest, which was the next rest stop for the riders. I found a fellow parkruner here helping out. We had a quick chat before crossing the dangerous bridge. This is one of the areas that has little to no mobile reception. Hopefully that won’t be an issue as it’s reasonably flat but a quite twisty section.

This turned out to be wishful thinking. About 6km past the Blue Duck I found a rider sitting in the middle of the road bleeding from most limbs and his nose. There were a couple of other cyclists there but they took off as soon as I stopped. The bridge of his nose had been cut by the helmet hitting his sunglasses which his nose assisted in breaking in half. I got him off the road and sitting on the embankment. He couldn’t remember the accident and kept asking me what happened, where his bike was, why was he bleeding. Ah concussion. I started cleaning and patching him up and asking a few of the passing cyclists if they could call 000 if they got reception in the near future. Once all the bleeding was stopped and the injuries covered I walked back up the road a little to see if I could get through on 112. Nothing. I couldn’t leave the rider but he needed to be transported. It had been about 15 minutes since I found him when the ambulance commander came around the corner. He assisted the rider and called for an Ambulance to transport him using his 2-way radio which had perfect reception…

While the ambulance commander was getting details from the first rider another ride came off in front of me. He hit a small bump in the road which threw his balance off and he couldn’t recover. This is probably exactly what happened to the first rider. The second rider had much deeper cuts and abrasions but thankfully didn’t hit his head. Having almost emptied my first aid kit treating the first rider I raided the commanders kit to start patching up the second rider. He was keen to continue, even with numerous cuts that were at least 5mm deep, until it was pointed out the rear of his knicks was torn open. He then decided discretion was the better part of valor and he would be transported in the just arrived ambulance along with the first rider. Probably a good choice. A SAG (support and gear) van showed up and loaded their bicycles and we all headed off.

My next stop was at the aptly named WTF corner. This is a sharp left hand corner off the Omeo Hwy and on to Bogong High Plains Rd. I’d heard about it the night before but seeing it confirmed the name. It is very steep and a short way up there is a tight climbing corner. It then continues up, for another 8-9km.

I assisted a rider about 5km up who was exhausted. Numb hands and feet and couldn’t stop panting (SOB). Whilst talking to him the ambulance commander came past and stopped. He arranged transport for the rider and a passing SAG van loaded his bike.

My next stop was the last rest/food/water stop for the cyclists. I bumped into my team leader there and we quickly caught up on the events of the day. He asked me to head up to Raspberry Hill camp ground, then back down to WTF corner before heading towards Falls Creek for the last time. Not being familiar with the area I didn’t see the campsite and continued up the hill. I got to 5km before the finish before turning around and heading back down. Luckily I didn’t know where the campsite was as 2km after turning around I found a rider slumped over his bike. I parked my motorbike behind him so other riders would hopefully see us. He was barely responsive at first, after getting him off the bike, before he tumbled off, I wrapped him in a space blanket as he was cold and shivering. Lots of sweat plus a cool breeze and exhaustion had finished him off. I had just dialed 112 when an ambulance drove past. Talk about timing! I waved them down. They loaded him on a gurney and wrapped a blanket around him and they headed to the finish. He was so close, after 200+km he didn’t get to finish. But he had made it to the highest part of Falls Creek.

I headed back down to the last rest stop where I checked how many more riders there were. Only a few more to come. They passed by soon after and we waited for them to get a head start on us. A few calls were made to route control to establish if they’d be able to finish or not. The Lantern Rouge riders had passed so any remaining riders wouldn’t get an official time if they continued. We initially got told they could finish but a short time after leaving the rest area I received a call saying any remaining riders either had to get in the SAG van or if they continued it would be without support.

Other volunteers packed up the rest stop while we figured out our next move.

Once the rest stop was packed up most of the remaining vehicles headed towards Falls Creek.

The last SAG van and two marshals started slowly towards finish shortly afterwards.

By now it was dark and there were patches of fog, we were looking for what we now knew was the last cyclist. He had apparently refused to get on a SAG earlier, but when we found him he was more than happy to call it quits.

Finally, just before 8pm we parked back at the lodge. The great people at Bicycle Network and a hot meal waiting for all the late finishers.

What a day, 14 hours from start to finish, everyone survived.

Until the next one.

Not being very motorcycle ride fit I decided not to join the others as most of them headed off for a ride around the hills. I spent the day relaxing, reading and wandering about Falls Creek.

My weekend started on the Friday morning. Packing the bike before heading to Yea to meet a few of the other motorcycle marshals before heading to Falls Creek. Being a much shorter trip than the nine days at the Great Victorian Bike Ride, I had spare space aplenty. Leaving a bit later than I planned I headed via Eastlink and Lilydale. This meant more traffic but more direct.

I had a nice easy ride up to Yea, I’d been told to meet at the bakery at 1pm. I hadn’t been to Yea for quite a few years, so I was surprised to find a number of bakeries. I soon spotted a gaggle of motorbikes that looked suitably marshal like. I eventually found then at the other bakery, not the one they were parked nearest to.

After introductions we soon geared up and headed towards Falls Creek. We took the more motorcycle friendly route through Mansfield, Tawonga Gap (no torrential downpour this time!) and Mt Beauty. Little traffic made it a great ride up.

The climb up to Falls Creek was made a little more exciting as it had rained recently enough that there were patches of wet road in the shadows. Even so it was a great ride up.