Irrational South 200 Miler 2023

 When:  Wednesday 12 April 2023 @7am start time

Where:  Wadna Gallery, Blinman, SA to Quorn, SA

Distance:  Supposedly 325.4km (but who ever really knows with Shaun in charge)

Why would I sign up for this?  My answer – why not!  200 miles sounds like a really long way… but I’ve done long distances before, so why not go a step further.  For anyone that knows me (and those that don’t, I’ll aim to give a short version) – I used to be even heavier than I am now.  I really started running when Bex and I moved to Australia in 2011 and I found that I enjoyed going further and further.  This culminated in the Coast2Kosci 240km ultramarathon in December 2016.  Since then, I have been steadily putting on weight and occasionally running 100km races with insufficient training.

This was all meant to change with the Unreasonable EAST 200 Miler in June 2022.  I went to Sydney and trained on the course with Adam and Piera, but the remote nature of the trails put me off and so I deferred my entry into Irrational South 200 Miler for 2023 – the first year it would be run in the Flinders Ranges.  Bex and I then took the kids on half a lap round Australia from October 2022, returning to Adelaide on 3 January 2023.  This left me with 14 weeks until race day – perfect time for a good training block to lead me into this adventure!

Training went well, thanks in large part to my wonderfully accommodating wife, Bex, as well as thanks to the guidance of Chris Neale of Summit Endurance Coaching.  On top of this, Adam Darwin (bestie) decided to sign up for the race and head over for a training weekend in February 2023.  This gave us some insight into the course, but as race day(s) proved, there was a lot more to the course than what we covered on this training weekend!

2023 statistics before the race are as follows:

Distance – 823km

Time – 105 hours

Elevation gain 12,574m

Whilst this is likely to be less than most (if not all) those at the start line of IS200, I was very happy with the build-up and specific work done to prepare for this race.  Additional statistic for me to remember is that “race” weight was 115kg.  This is definitely bigger than I would have liked, but I find it is harder to shift as I get older and the drinking doesn’t help!

Pre-race week – lots of good work here.  Adam and I would be doing this race “screwed”.  This meant that we would not have crew at each aid station and no pacers for the last part of the race, but we still had 21 aid station bags to pack so we had all the goodies we could ever want for the race.  In addition, Adam and I spent some time going over the plan and when we anticipated to be at aid stations in case Bex, Nic and the kids could make it to see us.  Quick catch up with Chris on the Easter weekend and then off we went to Wilpena Pound on Easter Monday (48 hours until race start).

Last shake out on Monday and a bushwalk with the kids on Tuesday morning left us heading up to Blinman for race check in at about 3 o’clock on Tuesday.  Time to get excited meeting the other runners and crew and listening to Shaun remind us of everything I had already asked at the last Q&A.  We headed home just after 7pm knowing we would be back here very soon.

Race (adventure) day finally arrives.  Everything is packed, bottles are filled, 5am peanut butter sandwiches have been eaten.  Nic has got us safely to the start at Wadna Gallery in Blinman in the dark without harming any wildlife.  We had a great welcome to country from Christian, who owns the Wadna Gallery, and then plenty of photos with the other runners as we all nervously waited for start time.  Before you know it, it is 7am and off we go.  Adam and I are slow to start, knowing we are only going to get slower over the coming hours and days.  As we settled into our pace, we probably had 4 or 5 people behind us with everyone else and the road ahead of us.  Road?  What?  In order to make sure Shaun got us to 200 miles, the first few km were in the wrong direction and were on the road.  Spoiler alert – there was not much road after the first 5km.  We finally turned ourselves back around and headed on the farm tracks back to the North Blinman Hotel.  Adam also got to hear the first of my maths games.  If it is of interest, 3.3km is 1% of 330km and I figured Adam needed to know every time we had completed 1% of the expected distance.

Back at the North Blinman Hotel, 10km done (just over 3%) and Nic, Evie and Tilly were there to cheer us on our way.  Straight down Glass Gorge Road towards the first aid station - slow and steady was all we needed.  Gently run the downs and flats, purposeful hike on the ups.  Simple.  After 3:07:21, we made it to Glass Gorge Road (AS#1).  Thanks to the wonderful volunteers, we were soon restocked (0:05:17) and back on our way towards the beginning of the Heysen Trail.  Total distance 24.5km, total time 3:12:38 (just after 10am on Day 1)

The trek to Parachilna Gorge turned out to be a continuation of the dirt road.  By now the sun was shining and the reality of what we were attempting had sunk in.  It is a really long way to go.  During this stage, we hit 10% of the run done – again, simples!  We had our first chat with Michelle (one of the Race Directors – and the most positive person I have ever met in my life!) but mostly just kept chugging onwards.  As we reached Parachilna Gorge, at approximately 40km, we reached the start of the Heysen Trail.  So just to be clear, we had already run the best part of a marathon before we even reached the start of the trail that we were meant to be traversing.  What I would later come to realise is that this first 40km was absolute bliss and we should be very grateful.  This section took 2:08:39 and after another short stop to restock (0:07:38) we were starting the Heysen Trail proper.  Total distance 40.2km, total time 5:28:55 (almost 12.30pm on Day 1)

Well, what a start to the trail.  Something we all became very familiar with over the coming days, creek bed!  This felt like an uphill creek bed for the next 18km.  We were joined by Gayle for this section and it was nice (particularly for Adam) to have some other company.  The sun was very hot through here and it was reasonably exposed, so we were all happy to get into a powerhike mode and just push on knowing that the sun wouldn’t last forever.  Relatively uneventful, and we arrived at Aroona after another 3:10:06.  So far, all going to plan.  As we approached Aroona, this was the first time I heard the family noises!  There was Phoebe with her awesome sign, Bex looking like she was relieved (must mean I looked ok at this point), and Josh was nowhere to be seen until he came round the corner to over me marshmallows!  A short break again (0:08:23) and off we headed back to the trail.  Total distance 58.2km, total time 8:47:24 (just before 4pm on Day 1)

Our stop had been much shorter than Gayle’s (her husband Nick was extremely attentive crew and I’m sure Gayle was being spoiled while we headed back out.)  We were joined by Mark for the start of the next section, but it very quickly became very steep and Mark pushed on much quicker than I was able up the hills.  Lo and behold, we saw Mark again about 7 minutes later as he came back to join us after missing a turn.  Once we had reached the top of the climb, we then had several km of gentle up and down before the last flattish run into Trezona, section time of 2:20:50.  The family was here again just as it was starting to get dark and this was a lovely chance to catch up before we added head torches and hi-vis vests and headed off for the first night.  Stop here was 0:16:43 which gave us a chance for a cuppa soup and quick check of our packs and everything to make sure we were good to go.  Total distance 72.5km, total time 11:24:57 (almost 6.30pm on Day 1)

This next section to Bunyeroo was pretty short and to my recollection relatively uneventful.  We started the section with Mark, but he quickly turned back to grab his hat.  He caught us again pretty soon after.  I seem to recall undulating rocky fire trail which gave a good chance to mix up the running and power hiking which was greatly appreciated.  The cooler evening was also much easier than the heat we had been dealing with.  We came in to a welcoming smell of fried rice on the pan after 1:54:18 for the section.  After another awesome Michelle hug and some much needed (and extremely tasty) fried rice, Adam and I headed out after 0:18:43 into what we understood to be a very challenging section, both terrain wise and navigation wise.  Total distance 83.7km, total time 13:37:58 (just after 8.30pm on Day 1)

We headed out with Jaci and Mark, but this group last about 30 seconds before I got left behind heading up an extremely steep hill.  Adam stuck with me and we left Jaci and Mark to push forward without us.  This was a very slow section with lots of navigation – if I remember correctly, it was about 4km in 1.5 hours.  I recall feeling very relieved that I was helping out with the navigation here as I was already feeling too slow for Adam.  Once we had got through the steep ascent, steep descent and the creek bed(!), we got some relatively runnable track into Wilpena Pound, but my legs were not in the mood for cooperating and so this was a bit of a slog.  This section took us 4:58:25 and we had a sit down, some food and then headed for our first sleep.  Alarms set for 80 minutes later and I seemed to drift off pretty quickly, waking before the alarm and ready to head out on the Wilpena Pound loop after a rest of 2:03:56.  Total distance 108.2km, total time 20:40:19 after the sleep (just after 3.30am on Day 2)

Now, I have done the Wilpena Pound loop in the clockwise direction previously and I didn’t think it was too bad.  It turns out, anti-clockwise after 21 hours is a different story.  I think the first 4.5km were pretty easy – a bit of uphill, a bit of downhill, relatively easy, not too enclosed.  Then came 1.5km of total, utter devastation.  Now, I do not want to underestimate this.  It was hideous.  There were rocks as tall as me and I was staring at them working out where on earth I was going to find footholds to help drag myself up.  My knees were getting a workout, my hands were dirty and scratched and my mind was LOVING Shaun and the team who had devised this epic adventure.  Who in their right mind puts themselves thorough this in the pitch black after having done over 100km, knowing there is another 200km to go when (IF) you get back down the other side.  I manage to miss a switchback (I think) and so I am crawling under some trees hoping to make it up to where Adam’s voice is calling out to me.  Eventually, after what felt like a really long time, we made it to Tanderra Saddle Junction.  Perfect – now just a casual 3km back down the other side before you get to a decent path.  No stress – it is half as steep as the other side and the rocks are smaller.  Bonus!  The advantage of this side of the track is that the sun is rising and suddenly we can appreciate the view of Wilpena Pound and the surrounding area in the early morning light.  Once we have made it back down to the base of the climb, we run/power hike the rest of the way back to the aid station for a second time.  Don’t forget, with about 4km to go until the aid station, you pass the Heysen Trail on its’ southern route towards Quorn.  We have the pleasure of doing this section as an out and back this morning.  We make it back to the aid station near the resort after 4:37:01.  Fortunately, we can hear the family making noise again – we are later than planned which means we arrive back to breakfast with the family!  They have brought us hash browns and bacon from the buffet, but unfortunately I cannot get anything down, so I am left to get my feet checked out by one of the medics, Scott.  What a lovely bloke and happy to tend to my awful feet.  0:35:00 in the checkpoint this time round and then we set off towards Black Gap.  Total distance 126.6km, total time 25:52:20 (just before 9am on Day 2)

The start was easy – head back up the 4km we just did from the Wilpena Pound loop.  The sun was warm already and so we decided to stick with hiking instead of running – plenty of time for running when the sun isn’t out.  Off we went towards Bridal Gap and after 8.5km of simple hiking, the track became awful – narrow, dodgy rocks and straight uphill.  When we get to the top, it is a beautiful view over the valley, but barely a single Heysen Trail sign in sight.  I made the mistake of looking at the map… it suggested we needed to head to the right and then down the cliff face.  It turns out we needed to turn left and head uphill before then turning around and heading down the not quite cliff face.  Adam and I wasted a good 45 minutes trying to get down the wrong side, but eventually we made it down.  The track did not get better…  there was a very narrow path on the side of the hill, and the path had been eroded away.  That made for a fair bit of squeaky bum time as we wandered along here.  We eventually made it out to the road and found our favourite Irish crew who promised hot food and chairs only 800m down the road.  Off we went in search of sustenance.  It took us 4:15:45 to get here, and we feel the heat and the struggles with navigation cost us the best part of an hour.  We spent 0:26:46 here getting some food (cheese toasties), a zooper dooper and restocking the bag including lots of water.  Total distance 141.0km, total time 30:35:51 (1.30pm on Day 2)

Long stretch out there now in the afternoon heat.  Red Range camp is a water drop only, completely inaccessible to crew and therefore no aid station team.  The heat was really getting to me and I was feeling slow on this section.  I think that Adam was getting tired of me here as he was feeling much stronger.  We had a little bit of time with Andrew as he caught up with us, but he didn’t last long before he moved forward without us.  When we were getting close to Red Range, I made the decision that I needed to have a 15 minute power nap.  When I raised this with Adam, we agreed that he should move on without me and we would see what happens next.  When we reached the campground after 3:51:12, I very quickly settled with my hi-vis vest as a pillow and the camp table as my bed (plus the Qantas eye mask to help me sleep).  15 minutes later and I was right as rain.  Adam had left and I spent some time using the facilities and topping up my water from the tank (using my water filter) for a stop of 0:22:38.  Total distance 154.9km, total time 34:49:41 (just before 6pm on Day 2)

Off into the creek bed I went.  Now, I was feeling lonely (first time without Adam for about 34 hours), so I pushed myself as much as I could as I entered the soft sand creek bed.  At least it was starting to get dark (no sun to worry about) and then the creek bed led the way for me and I didn’t need to navigate.  After 10km, it turned out I did need to navigate… and I failed miserably.  The course map seemed really unclear and there were towering sides to the creek bed, but miraculously the creek bed was now 30m wide at some points.  So, what do you do?  I called Bex!  Funnily enough there was very little she could do, but it was nice to have some comfort.  Then, when all hope was lost, Bex noticed that Gayle(!) was only 400m away from me.  What should I do?  I’ll give you a clue… take a breath and shout as loudly as possible “GAYLEEEEEEEEEE” in the hopes she will answer.  And answer she did, with the man of our dreams – Mr Peter Childs.  Now, I don’t know if I was delirious at this point, but Peter was navigating without a phone or map or compass, but was looking up at the stars and then striding forward purposefully.  Well, who I am to complain, so I followed, and followed, and followed.  After what seemed like forever, we found a fourth headlight, it was Victor.  Lo and behold, Peter had taken us almost to the sleep station at Mount Little.  Unfortunately, almost meant there was still another 2km to go.  So off we went, me struggling to hang on to the back of this newly formed quartet.  As we arrive at the sleep station, relief floods over me and I very quickly ask the volunteer where number 173 is (obviously I missed Adam).  Turns out he’s only 20 minutes up the road and so I needed to get myself sorted.  Time for the section was 5:28:24 and then I spent 0:23:35 at the station – Jacqui the medic did a great job on my feet while I had a glass of coke and got ready to “chase” Adam into the dark.  Total distance 171.5km, total time 40:41:40 (leaving just before midnight on Day 2)

This next section was very simple…  it was meant to be 4.5km each way to collect my wood fired pizza.  However, that opportunity ended at 9pm and I was far too late for that.  Off I went into the darkness hoping I could get further down the road before I met Adam (knowing he would be returning much sooner than me).  I met him after about 30 minutes on the road, suggesting he was 1 hour ahead.  We agreed that he would have a 2 hour sleep and I would have 1 hour, meaning we could start again on the road to Hawker.  Another 25 minutes and I was with Ben and Shaun at the check in point getting the batteries in my tracker changed, meeting Kelly, the owner of Mount Little Station, AND eating the pizza that the wonderful 100 Mile runner Nicola Reese had purchased for me and left ready for my late night snack.  If anyone questions whether this is a good community, this is a perfect example of why it is the very best.  Seeing Shaun in his sleeping bag onesie with a big ole’ smile on his face, Ben who had just driven the trailer in from who knows where, and me the “ultra runner” stuffing cold meatlovers pizza in my face bought for me by someone I have met once, but who understood the deep desire I had for pizza!  All I can say is BLOODY BRILLIANT.  Right, pizza consumed, batteries changed, embraces done.  Off back on the 4.5km trip to the sleep station so I could be ready to join Adam for the next part of our adventure.  I got back to the sleep station after 1:58:10 (including the pizza break at the other end).  I checked in at the sleep station and went straight to bed for an hour’s kip.  Next thing I hear is Adam whispering sweet nothings in my ear… I mean telling me to wake up so we can get going.  While the bed was comfy and the location ideal, I did what he asked and I got up out of bed.  Onwards and upwards to Hawker after restocking the bag with plenty of goodies.  Total distance 180.5km, total time 44:10:22 (just after 3am on Day 3)

Out we head into the wilderness once more.  It is dark and we are sore, but we know a new day is soon to dawn and we are likely to get a bit of road soon to help us gain a bit of momentum.  Before all of that, we have to negotiate our way into and then through another creek bed.  Oh the joy!  Still, I am back with Adam, we are on track and we are ready to push on to Hawker and pass the 200km mark.  The only problem I had with this was my decision to get “bouncy” over the rocks in the creek bed.  I cannot recall exactly what distance it happened, but I remember the moment with more clarity than I do much of the rest of the week.  There was a beautiful crop of slate rock in front of me, it was almost shining like a beacon for me to just place my left foot down on the leading edge of this slate… apparently that was a bad idea.  My foot went straight through the slate – it literally snapped off – and then my right knee went straight down onto the rock.  Just a little clue – it hurt.  A lot.  My knee was throbbing, but I managed to get up and keep moving, so I thought I was probably just complaining over nothing, so on we went.  Nothing much more to report on this section.  We were in and out of the creek bed until we eventually made our way up to the Old Wonoka Ruin water drop in a time of 3:53:50.  Short chat with one of the other crew, we filled up our bottles and after 0:06:35 off we trotted to Hawker.  Total distance 195.5km, total time 48:10:47 (just after 7am on Day 3)

Simple bit of road down to Hawker.  Run/walk strategy employed as much as possible.  We saw Scott the medic briefly who promised to check on my feet again at Hawker.  This took 1:04:57 and then we were safely at Hawker.  One comment I had made to Adam on the road was that I wanted a 12 minute power nap when I arrived at Hawker.  In order for this to work, I got myself a duvet from the aid station crew and using my Qantas eye mask, I closed my eyes and went straight to sleep.  I woke up feeling very refreshed.  It seems like these short naps are a good thing for me.  I’m not sure they will be useful in day to day life, but you never know.  After this, I woke to Adam asking for a pulled pork roll from the aid station… clearly I must have been imagining that.  It turns out I was not, as he was very soon eating his roll.  My stomach still didn’t fancy much, so I stuck to coke and a few lollies whilst getting my feet tended to by Scott.  After a reasonably long break of 0:46:51, we were back on our way and having ticked off 200km, feeling good.  Total distance 201.7km, total time 50:02:35 (9am on Day 3)

Here we go… off down the road and a right turn out towards Jarvis Hill Lookout.  About 7km of road which goes gradual up until the steep section to the top.  The world is good, the nap has worked wonders and the running gods have decided that they are going to shower me with love and ability far beyond my means (just before they decide to dump it all back on me).  Adam and I start a run/power hike strategy.  Adam does not know this, but in my head I am counting out 100 steps run and then 150 steps power hike.  This continues for a while until we come across one of our fellow 200 mile runners and we have a brief chat before moving on our way.  Now, if I remember correctly, I should have understood that this was such an ominous moment because I’m pretty certain we were running uphill.  Now, after 200km+ this doesn’t seem sensible.  However, since I am not traditional ultrarunner stature, I have always lived by the mentality “make hay while the sun shines”.  That being the case, now more than ever seemed like the time to keep moving nicely while the body allowed it.  We come to the base of Jarvis Hill and now it is about 80-90m of climbing in a very short distance, but this doesn’t faze us and up we go happy as can be.  I get to the top and start the run down the other side… it turns out my legs only wanted to work going up.  Going down was another story.  So here is me, hobbling down the other side of the hill while Adam is just standing at the Heysen Trail stile basically tapping his foot on the floor waiting for me to hurry up.  Needless to say, as soon as I saw this, I slowed down.  I’m not going to let him control me!!!!!! 

Over the stile we go and into the next part of the journey.  This is when we get to the rocks and the ups and downs following the fence line of the Heysen.  Not so many creek beds, but plenty of terrain that looks easy on the elevation profile, but up close and personal it is pretty difficult.  Also, the sun is now hot on our backs and the valley we are in means that the heat is being turned up.  It doesn’t help that we are coming into the middle of the day (bear in mind that this is the third day of sun in a row with very little rest…)  First of all it is not too bad, working our way in slowly but surely.  We see the Mount Elm water tank – but it is on the other side of a stile.  Do we need more water?  Quick squeeze of the bladder and bottles – “nah, she’ll be right”.  How those words will come back to haunt me over the coming hours.  The problem is, I had it in my head that the next stop couldn’t be far away – it was at least 13km, the terrain couldn’t be that bad – it was, and the course couldn’t be that open – it was.  Also, the idea of stopping to take off the bladder, repeatedly fill the soft flask with tank water and run it through the filter on my bottle was just not appealing.  Now, I cannot tell you (or myself) how poor this decision was.  I have reflected on it repeatedly since what happens next, and it may not have changed anything, but it may have changed everything. 

So, onwards and upwards.  My speed was getting slower and slower, my bottles were getting emptier and emptier and Adam was getting further and further away.  I cannot tell you if this was 1 or 2 or 3 hours later, but I see this wonderful image of Adam bounding towards me with two soft flasks full of ice cold water… clearly I have lost my mind.  It turns out that is exactly what I could see.  Adam (this reminds me just how bloody awesome he is) had been about 1km off course (each way) to go find a farmer and work out filling his flasks from a water tank.  My understanding is that the farmer gently explained that using the tank was not sensible…  I think even with a water filter the farmer suggested hospitalisation might be in our futures…  Instead, the farmer pulled out his esky and filled Adam’s two soft flasks with the farmer’s ice cold water.  Adam then ran the 1km back up the hill to give me one of these soft flasks.  Just so that I remember this, all I can think of here is what on earth is he doing?  Clearly Adam was not feeling ideal either (over 210km into the race), but he is gone and done this knowing just how much of a bad time I am having.  It is good to know the kind of friend I have and I have reflected on his selflessness throughout this event, not just this occasion, but on many occasions, and I really am bloody lucky.  Anyway, he leaves me with his soft flask and off he trots again in front of me, with me dragging myself along behind him.  I think Adam and I have another discussion and I agree to wander down and along Barnes Road.  Promises are made that I’ll be alright and just be a couple of minutes behind him!

What happens next is unclear, but I think I can piece it together.  First call to the duty medic was at 1.49pm on Friday afternoon.  No answer.  I’m feeling pretty dehydrated and the 500ml I have from Adam / the farmer is not lasting me long in the heat.  Once I don’t get an answer, I keep heading slightly off course down to Barnes Road.  Now, the course makes its’ way to Barnes Road a couple of km further down.  In my head I think that I decided if I was going to pass out, then I’d be better off doing this down on the edge of the road instead of up on the hill.  Mainly because I couldn’t imagine Matt / Jacqui or Scott the medics dragging me out from wherever I’d fallen.  Second call to the duty medic was at 2.09pm and Scott answers.  All I remember here is massive relief.  Someone is going to listen to me and be concerned about me and in 2 minutes I’ll have an entire team come to my aid!  Erm… I don’t think that was Scott’s response.  My recollection is something along the lines of “so you need a bit of water then…  anything… else???”  Clearly Scott does not understand how I’m feeling – or maybe I’m so delirious that he realises it ain’t all that bad!

Anyway, Scott promises to speak to Matt and work out when they can send someone to me.  In the meantime, just head to the Barnes Road water drop – at this point, I think it is still 5-6km away.  Finally I make it to Barnes Road and then I begin to head along towards the water drop.  Now, this part makes me chuckle every time and I’ll see if I can do it justice here…  I have my walking poles with straps attached to my hands.  Nothing unusual about this.  Simply means that if you let go of the pole, you don’t drop it as it is attached to your hand.  Perfect.  Now, I have been happily using my poles since we left Wilpena Pound and they’ve worked perfectly for almost 100km.  Now though, they are becoming too heavy to hold.  So I let them go.  The straps do their job, which means I am dragging the poles along a rocky road.  A voice in my head says “what is that bloody noise?”  I turn round and find out that it is my poles dragging along behind me.  Excited Joe suddenly thinks, wouldn’t it be a great idea if I used those poles to help me walk?!  Bloody brilliant Joe, I’m not sure how you come up with these ideas – pats myself on the back and off I go with a new found energy.  2 minutes later…  “what is that bloody noise?”  Apparently it is those poles again.  Another lightbulb moment, another chance to use those special walking poles.  Now, I am pretty certain that I had this conversation with myself 5 or 6 times over the next couple of km.  What good company I would have been!  Finally, after what feels like forever, I make it make to the Barnes Road intersection where the actual trail joins it – and this looks like the perfect spot for a rest.  Bag off, hi-vis vest laid down on the ground, and I settle in for what will be a comfortable nap before Matt the medic comes and helps me out.  Down comes Simon Keating from the trail, looks at me a bit funny, checks I’m ok, and then heads off on his way to the water drop.  I have asked him to remind Matt the medic that I am down here and he should come and see me!  Simon had no water either, so at least I know it wasn’t just me who had been short.  Next to come along to the party is my right knee (remember the one I smashed in the creek bed after leaving Mount Little which I said would be fine?!)  Apparently it is not fine.  Now my right knee wants to have a discussion.  The discussion it wants to have is an explosive pain that seems to reverberate in my head.  Now, I don’t think I feel pain that often, but I’d call this an 8 out of 10.  On my scale, that’s pretty bad.  Not sure if/when I’ve ever got up to an 8 before.  I think, I better stand up and walk on it, that will make the pain go away.  Nope… that definitely makes it worse.  Back to laying down it is.  But now the pain is there and keeps shooting through my knee whenever I move even slightly.  Next to my side is Jiri from the Czech Republic and amazingly he has 200ml of water which he very kindly pours into my soft flask – that was greatly appreciated even in my delirious state.  Off he heads again and I’m left to wait for Matt with the knee still hurting, but the pain only really coming back every time I try to stand up.

I think Matt the medic made it to me at sometime around 3.15pm on Friday and we very quickly agreed that there was no chance of me continuing, even if you exclude the dehydration, I was unable to put a lot of weight on my right leg without screaming in pain.  So, we’ll call it here after this incomplete section in 6:09:02 when I was bundled into Matt’s 4WD to head off back to Quorn.  Total distance (per watch) 228.31km, total time 56:11:37 (just after 3pm on Day 3)

On the drive down, we crossed paths with Jiri and Simon before we reached Adam at a gate further down the road.  I had a good cry and left Adam to go and continue to knock it out the park which he did until Friday night when the thunderstorms rolled in and eventually the race was cancelled due to inaccessible tracks for crews/medics/support meant that it would have been unsafe for the race to continue.  My DNF came approximately 7 hours before the race was paused and it was eventually decided that this was the finish of the race.  Matt took me back to Bex and the kids in Quorn, checked me out and made sure I was ok before leaving me with Bex so that we could head to Port Augusta for an x-ray on the knee and for them to check me out. 

Once we had been to the hospital (twice, both Friday night and Saturday lunchtime), I was on crutches but nothing broken in the knee, so overall good news.  It was good to see Adam once he had been brought back in from the aid station he had made it to Quorn.  Everyone was in good spirits despite the need for the race to be cancelled before anyone had made it to the finish line. 

It was nice to hang around for the presentations on Sunday even though I was pretty devastated not having been able to carry on to the end.  What next?  Who knows, certainly not me.  For now, I will reflect on what was an amazing adventure that was unfortunately cut short.  Still, I am proud of what I was able to achieve and I am certain that I am a better person for the experience and my life now includes a new bunch of people who are just as crazy as me and who have the same love for this crazy stuff that we do.  Finally, and most importantly, to my wonderful wife Bex and our two awesome kids, Joshua and Phoebe, thanks for being the best support crew I could ever ask for.  I wouldn’t be able to do these crazy things without Bex’s full support of my craziness.

GNW100 Miler, 12-13 September 2015

This event has been a long time coming.  The advantage with most people who know me is they understand that I am crazy.  Therefore they may understand what made me do something as stupid as the GNW100 Miler.  However, I have been talking to work colleagues today while hobbling around the office and they have asked the most obvious question - why would you even think about doing something like that?  For so long now I have been surrounded by people who run faster, further or just crazier that the events I have entered don't even seem crazy anymore.

Then I got a message from a friend that reminded me in 2015 alone I have done Melbourne Ironman, TNF100k, CP Ultra 100k, had a baby (Bex did more of the work there) and now GNW100 Miler.  That sounds like quite a big year.  This just makes me remember a time about 5 and a half years ago when Bex and I were in New York on holiday and I was wearing a scarf in EVERY photo to hide the number of chins that I had.  I reckon I weighed in at about 135kg (I stopped weighing myself after 130kg) and I couldn't have run for an ice cream or a pizza, let alone anything less food related.

What I think I am trying to say is that this race was not just a culmination of 6 or 12 months hard work, but it was actually a complete change to the life I had led back in London and it means that hopefully I can put to bed the idea that I am a fat guy who has started to run a bit and now I am one of a very small percentage of people in the world who will ever run over 100 miles.  I'm not really sure what that means, but I do know that I must have a longer life expectancy now than I did all those years ago and that can't be a bad thing, right?

So the next thing was - why the GNW100 Miler?  What is it?  I learned the less hard way two years ago when I paced Adam for the last 71.4km in his first miler.  Pacing was hard - the responsibility of looking after your runner - sleep deprived, hungry and sometimes incapable of moving forward in a straight line whilst also trying to get through some of the toughest running terrain I had ever been on.  Then, I watched as Adam ran down Patonga Beach and made his way to kiss that post and see what it meant to him to finish such a gruelling event.  Still, I wasn't interested.

Then 2014 - no thoughts of entering, concentrating on the Ironman training and "shorter" running events.  But Adam and I took Evie up to CP6 and the finish line to get involved and support the NRGers running.  Watching the end of that event made me realise that maybe this was something that I could aspire to... some day.  Then I'm not really sure how, but along came 2015 and all these events were going to happen and me and Adam were doing them all - including the GNW100 Miler - Bex had signed off on my participation on the basis that I do it once, get it out of my system and hopefully move on!

The preparations began in earnest after TNF100 in May.  We planned to go out on the course to train several times - all of my runs on the course would have to happen before 14 August as this was the due date of our first child.  So June and July went by in a haze of hills, stairs and runs on the GNW course.  I thought I knew that course really well - better than most who would be out there on the day, oh how wrong I was.  Then August - Joshua Benjamin Hedges being born on Thursday 13th August and all thoughts of training (pretty much) went out of the window.  Bex has been amazing, but there are only so many times when I could convince myself to go out for a run rather than stay at home and look at Joshua.  The Greenwich Road hills became my best friend over the last few weeks - close to home but with enough elevation to feel like I was doing something worthwhile for training purposes.

The week before the race came quickly and Mel (my unbelievable pacer) was round for dinner and discussions on tactics - get me to the finish line, no matter what!  The checkpoint bags were packed, the S-lab was full of all the mandatory gear and we were ready to get to Warners Bay on Friday.  I said goodbye to Bex and Joshua and fingers crossed I wouldn't be seeing them until I hit Patonga Beach at some time on Sunday. 

Friday night was relaxed - pizza and then an early night.  Up at 3.55 on Saturday morning and then at the race start by just after 4.30 getting everything dropped off for relevant checkpoints and catching up with all the NRGers running in the race.  Eventually, it reached 6am on Saturday 12th September and FINALLY we were off.  That first 1km was the only time I would see Rocco or Geoff and one of the few times I would see anyone else.

Me and Adam had agreed - slow start and then slower finish.  We had also agreed no waiting for the other one - it is a long race and you need to concentrate on yourself, not on how anyone else feels.  As it went, we stuck together for the whole first checkpoint arriving in 4:06 (3 minute refuel) and then off on our way.  The first section was relatively uneventful.  Plenty of slow running, walking up hills and the bash through the rainforest was surrounded by enough people that none of us got lost!  We also did the Heaton Gap climb which was not too bad - feeling good that early meant the climb was slow, but the recovery was quick.

The section to checkpoint 2 was also reasonably uneventful.  I had a tumble coming down the single track to Congewai Road, but landed on soft ground and did a nice army roll to recover.  On to Congewai Road and then 6.5km to checkpoint 2 in the midday sun.  We saw Chantelle and then Tim and Doug coming out of the checkpoint all looking in good spirits.  Ali T, Sarah C and Adam C were there to greet us and refill water, etc and help with the mandatory gear check.  In and out inside 5 minutes and a 3:06 section had me and Adam leaving almost together with 7:20 on the race clock.

Then to the only part of the course I had not done - the climb to the Communications Tower.  This was the climb that left a trail of destruction in 2013 and sounded hideous to me.  The climb was ok.  It was steep and tough, but mostly I was starting to feel cramps in my legs and so I was trying to manage the pain and not full on spasm!  Adam left me at the top of the climb as I couldn't get going as quickly as him and that was pretty much the last time I saw him.  The run to checkpoint 3 involved another really steep climb and this was hard too.  It felt worse than the Communications Tower because it is not as talked about by other runners and also it comes only a few km after the first big climb.  I was stopping frequently on my way up this climb before slowly getting going at the top. 

The run was then relatively ok and I saw Robyn come past me - I was very upset to hear she had got lost for maybe 90 minutes and that had meant she ended up behind me.  She recovered well from this for a second place finish in the end anyway!  The run down to the basin was fine (slow but ok) and I saw Chantelle, Ann, Tim, Doug and Adam all leaving at various stages of this little section.  Thanks again to Ali and the volunteers at checkpoint 3 - in and out in just over 10 minutes with Robyn in tow so she could vent about getting lost!  We were out of the checkpoint with 12:50 on the clock. 

Robyn and I went along for a couple of km and I reminded her that getting lost is a good learning experience and she will still do amazing and she can definitely make it to the finish - hopefully when she ran up those stairs ahead of me she had already pushed all thoughts of quitting aside.  Those stairs were long.  Also, two guys came up behind me and asked if we were near checkpoint 3 - I told them they had missed a turning and showed them on the map how to get back - I was feeling good about how much I was helping others at this point...  I got to the top of the stairs/hill and did a quick right, left before completely missing the turn off to the single trail which would have taken me on my merry way to checkpoint 4. 

Instead, I read the directions as left on a road and on I went - nobody around me to tell me I was wrong.  It felt wrong after maybe 2km and then a car drove past and told me I was off course but if I carried on straight I would make it back to the track to checkpoint 4.  Then I got 4.5km down the road (I thought it was really wrong now, but I was committed somwhow...) and a car drove towards me and said I was heading back on fire trail towards checkpoint 2.  About the worst thing I could have heard.  So I turned round and began to plod back the 4.5km to my wrong turn.  I called Mel first and she basically told me to read the map, man up and get to checkpoint 4.  I then called Bex... and had a good cry down the phone while worrying her more than she was already and then saying I didn't know whether to keep going or quit at checkpoint 4 or what to do.  Bad times. 

I saw another runner coming towards me and he said the turn was behind me by about 200m - at this point I was pretty frustrated and I said that I had been told to go back to the main intersection.  He said he had run it four times and knew what he was doing.  So I stopped, thought about it and turned round and followed him to the turn off.  At least 90 minutes lost plus any momentum that I had from before this incident.  Anyway, every step forward, like I said to Robyn it is a learning experience.  Down the track, then 2.2km of technical bush - I stacked it, landed on my bum and then cramped.  More bad times.  Then I got out to the road to checkpoint 4.  This road is 11.1km in length.  I was walking so slowly and painfully, all the time thinking that I should have been 9km further down the road if I hadn't got lost... that kind of thinking is no use to anyone.  Rob Mattingly caught me up - looked confused for a while and then helped me with a run/walk strategy all the way to checkpoint 4.

I have had a look at the results - I arrived here at 00:30 and my time for this leg was the slowest of anyone on the course.  Not unexpected, but hard to take given how well I was going before then.  I was in the checkpoint for 27 minutes - it didn't seem that long!  Mel was great - she fed me a sausage sandwich and two mufins and then we headed on our way after she had sorted my mandatory gear check and filled water bottles, etc.  This was a hard checkpoint - tired, feeling low after getting lost and uphill for a fair while after you leave the checkpoint.  However, I now had Mel helping me along and she was so enthusiastic it would have been impossible for me to continue to feel down.  We went down to Dead Horse Creek - this bit is slow and painful on the big stairs, but then out eventually onto fire trail and a decent little run until we had to climb back up towards Somersby.  The climb seemed ok to me - slow but manageable and always moving forward.  Then at the top the road went uphill forever!  Then round a couple of corners and on the way to the school.  Ali was there again to help and we were soon on our way again.  Total race time of 24:56 when we left here.

The next section went well.  It was hard because of being so tired, but it is the easiest section and we were through in under 3 hours, leaving only 25.1km between us and the finish line.  The only things to note were that it was heating up again... we were into checkpoint 6 at about 10am and that was not a good time to head out onto the open plateaus between checkpoint 6 and the finish.  Overall race time on leaving checkpoint 6 was 28:02.

This started slowly and got slower.  The first couple of km is undercover on single track and then over a little bridge and straight up a lot of stairs.  These stairs are the biggest on the whole of the GNW (I think... unless it is just how tired my legs were).  The climbs aren't all that long, but they seem relentless and when you do get to the top it is on some exposed rock and it is very warm.  Mel was great here - making sure I was eating and drinking and telling me all the distances so I knew we were ticking things off.  It was great to count down the number of directions left - that seemed much easier than counting down the kms.  Once we got to Dillon's Trail (about 10km to go) I forgot that we hadn't actually trained on any of this bit... the last time I had run it was with Adam in 2013.  I had forgotten all the climbs and how far it was from the end!  We got down to 5km to go (eventually) and saw Dave M in the background catching us.  I somehow decided that I had some speed now (relative to the pace we were going) and so off we went.  I am not sure how fast we went for that couple of km, but it felt very quick to me! 

Then we got to the trig and over we went, down the stairs, down some more stairs, up a fire trail, further up the fire trail and I thought we must be getting close... but the water looked a long way down...  Then we went along a walking track and down some steps, along some more, down some more and for anyone who has run this... you may agree that this carries on for a long time before finally getting down to the car park and across to Patonga Beach.  Mel and I got on the beach and a gentle run to the finish post meant that after 33 hours and 42 minutes I had finally completed the GNW100 Miler.  A total distance for me of approximately 184.3km...  the longest run I have ever done (and hopefully will ever do).

This was an extremely tough challenge.  I lost over 6kg throughout the race, I had no sleep and I looked a complete mess at the finish line.  My feet are still in pain and I can barely walk down the stairs (two days later).  I feel asleep on the bed at 7pm and woke up again at 6am on Monday morning.  Was it worth it?  YES.  Nobody can ever take away from the enormity of this challenge and nobody in their right mind will ever try and equal it (unfortunately all of my friends are faster and equally mental). 

I have to thank a lot of people - Bex and Joshua - amazing supporters at the finish line.  They made it all worthwhile and at the worst points of the run it was those two who got me through.  Mel - what an awesome pacer.  Without Mel I may not have been able to leave checkpoint 4 either physically or mentally.  She got me through a tough night and then persevered with me when I was going exceptionally slowly on Sunday morning and afternoon.  Adam - for asking me to pace him two years ago.  Without that, I wouldn't have even considered getting to the start line of this, my biggest challenge ever.  Geoff - the time he took to share his wisdom with all of us.  What a gentleman.  Everyone else at NRG who ran this weekend.  You are all awesome and without you the training would have been hard to take and it would not have been possible for me to enjoy the race - seeing so many friendly faces out there made everything better. 

Will I be running this next year?  Bex has made it clear I should never do it again... but I could improve on my time by just running the same race as this year without getting lost...  what a dilemma...

All anyone who wants to consider this race needs to remember - give the race the respect it deserves - put in the training time, think about nutrition, get an amazing pacer and then when you get to that beach it will have all been worth it. 

Now to consider goals for 2016 and beyond...

The North Face 100 - Australia - 16 May 2015

So... 8 weeks on from Melbourne Ironman and me, Adam and Chantelle (along with a LOT of other NRGers) were back out there in a completely different environment - no swimming, no bike and lots of hills and stairs.  Back in the bush where we belong!

The weeks leading up to the event had involved a change in training for me and Adam.  We were doing stairs twice a week, hills once a week and a long run on the weekend - generally in the Blue Mountains on the course.  The build up was good, we had a great stretch goal of sub 14 hours for TNF and felt good about it after doing all the analysis and after our 6:33 at Mount Solitary 4 weeks before the race (after a full week of training).

To put the 14 hour goal in perspective...  I have only ever done one 100km race and that was Oxfam Trailwalker in August 2013.  I have lost a good 20kgs since then, but haven't run that distance - let alone trying to do it almost 7 hours (as in 1/3) faster!  Also, Adam has done TNF twice and his improvement from 16:47 to 15:32 was awesome, but to take over 90 minutes off would be a big ask.  Still, you never know if you never try.  Also, as we kept telling ourselves it is no fun unless your next challenge scares you.  I think this probably goes without saying - me and Adam will be back again to give 14 hours and that silver buckle another go.

The next issue with doing a 100km individual race with your best mate is what happens if you want to go at different paces?  What happens if one cramps?  Every man for himself or we go down as a team?!  We had discussed every possible scenario except the one that happened on race day...  anyway, we will get to that!

The morning looked good.  We were all prepared and ready well before our 6.30 start time.  The main issue was Chantelle left her two soft flasks in our dorm room... because I put them in the wrong place... oops!  Clearly it didn't impact Chantelle too much as the last we saw of her was taking our empty plastic bottles and running off from the start straight to 11th placed female - amazing.

Me and Adam started more slowly with a gentle run down Furber, up the Golden staircase and off to checkpoint 1.  However, all was clearly not well here with our 14 hour attempt.  We were 2 minutes behind our aim and we felt like we had been running at a decent pace.  Oh well, on to the next section and see what happens.  We skipped ahead of a crowd of people waiting at Tarros Ladders by going round the "long cut" which brought us out ahead of those who were around us before.  We later found out that our wives were worrying about us at this point because we never went through the Tarros timing point.  Oh well, we were happily on our way.

This was when I met a 49 year old guy who had done Melbourne Ironman in 10:12 (90 minutes quicker than me) and was going to go back to try and qualify for Kona next year... shows how far behind some of these people we are!  The climb over Mount Debert and then along and into Dunphy's Campground was great.  I was probably 60-90 seconds ahead of Adam and we were both happy enough.  Probably 1 minute slower to checkpoint 2, but 3 minutes overall (given the 11 minute buffer) was no problem.

Then that scenario me and Adam had not planned for... Adam manages to fall over while waving to Dave Madden and cramps in both calves.  This is completely unknown to me as I am happily smashing my own legs down from Ironpot to Megalong Valley Road.  I get down to the road and realise something is not right as I start cramping.  I hobble my way up the road for a good 3km and then down the other side to the Six Foot Track checkpoint.  I was bang on time for this section (2:03) and with a swift checkpoint (3 minutes) was off and "running" again.  I quickly realised I shouldn't be feeling like this after 46km.  Not good.

Soon enough, Adam came up behind me and we started to discuss our issues.  We quickly realised we were both doing the dead man's shuffle up towards Nellie's Glen.  In training this had been a point where we would be pushing each other to go faster before we got to the slow section that is Nellie's itself.  Not today.  We must have looked a sorry sight.  I would guess anyone who saw or heard us would have written us off as a good old DNF.  Neither of us said it out loud, but it turns out we were both worrying that the DNF may have become a reality.

I left Adam on Nellie's and was pretty ok up there.  By the aquatic centre I had lost another 9 minutes and knew that 14 hours was gone.  We had said that here was where the race would begin - turns out it was nearly where it ended.  Fortunately, there was some great support in there included Tim and James (they had long since waved off their respective FAST ladies, but had hung around for us).  Tim managed to fill my two front bottles and my bladder before I had stopped moving.  So I was pushed out the other side with no time to see the state Adam was in, or to contemplate that dreaded DNF.

I hobbled along and Adam was (obviously) right behind me.  We chatted away and discussed the fact that we were both ruined and couldn't believe the chance at 14 hours was gone already.  I ran off ahead for a bit and then Adam caught me as I cramped badly just after Echo Point.  I then waddled to Gordon Falls where I was pleased to see Doug, his daughter and Sam - nice to see some friendly faces.  I particularly liked the HTFU sign they had placed about 20m beyond the water stop.  They told me Tall Geoff was 3 minutes ahead and Adam was 5 minutes ahead.  5 minutes!  In about 3km he had taken 5 minutes!  That cramp sucked.  Then I made it out the back of the Fairmont and saw Geoff's wife Jocie - again, it was lovely to see a friendly face.

I put my headphones in and listened to some songs that reminded me of Bex and my legs were not quite so heavy so I even got into a nice rhythm here.  I went back past Geoff and was signing along at the top of my voice to Robbie Williams "Angels" - what better song could you get?!?!  I soon caught Adam again - completely unexpected.  I went rushing past at Wentworth Falls lookout and assumed I would see him again when the cramps set back in for me.  This happened on the road section (bloody road) leading to checkpoint 5.  Adam must have been 6 or 7 people back from me and next thing I know we are chatting again and waddling to the checkpoint.

This was an interesting stop.  It took 5 minutes - disgracefully slow.  Tim and James were nowhere to be seen, but miraculously the bottle of coke I had mentioned at the aquatic centre was in my CP5 drop bag... what had happened?!  I came running out of the tent with a huge smile on my face screaming for Tim and James.  I later found out they had gone to the finish to see Robyn come in 7th and Chantelle come in 11th - did I say those two are crazy fast?!

Anyway, me and Adam were about to head off - buoyed by our "stolen" bottle of coke when we saw Jocie again and she asked where our fleeces were.  Fleece?!  It was 5.30pm and we didn't need our fleece if we were out before 7.30pm.  But, we thought we should check with the volunteers who had already sent us through... it turns out they forgot to tell us they had changed the plan and we needed to carry the fleece now.  We had nowhere to put it, but managed to attach it to the outside of our bags.

As we started down Kedumba we used our head torches for the first time of the day.  Adam said he was feeling better so he went off "fast" down Kedumba.  I caught him again about 2-3km later and we decided that it had been such a miserable day that we would run the rest together and that perked us both up a bit - it turns out we actually like running with each other.

The next 12km was torture.  We were overtaken by loads of people and were trudging as best as we could both manage with the debilitating cramps towards the finish line which never seemed to get any closer.  When we got to Leura Forest Adam had had enough of my whinging and set off at a "rapid" pace through the single track.  We were going back past all of those people who had overtaken us on the hills out from Jamison Creek!  It was exciting - shuffling faster than everyone else felt good!  Then we saw the sign that said 3.75km to the Furber Steps.  I went crazy.  I was updating us every few hundred metres to remind us we were getting close to the finish.  Eventually I said it should be in 200m and we saw a lovely marshall who was at the bottom of Furber!  Awesome!  Antyone can do Furber after 99km right?!

I was so slow.  Adam was off ahead and cheering me on up the stairs.  Then he decided the only way to do it was put me in front of him - then I started moving and he was dropping back!  There is something about being put in the lead that makes me want to go faster.  I think I don't want to slow down anyone behind me.  In particular, I didn't want to slow Adam down after we had come through all of this together.

For the second half of the stairs we took a guy called Brad with us as well - he seemed pretty happy for the company at this late stage.  We sent him off to the finish line so me and Adam could finish together.  It was a great moment to get there together and finish it as we had planned - together, but 37 minutes slower than we had hoped.  A time of 14:37:11 is not a bad effort though.  A 55 minute PB for Adam and 6 hours 6 minute PB for me from Trailwalker.

We will be back and we will smash 14 hours.  I am not sure when or how, but there is time to be made up out there.  It was a great experience and one I can't wait to repeat.  It does remind me that I do this for fun though.  That means that I want to run with my friends - that is why I enjoy trail running so much more than road running.

What next?  GNW100 Miler if we both get in and that should mean a good 30 hours or more of each other's company.  Maybe that will change our opinion of running together?  Or maybe it will make us want to do more stupid stuff... the future is unknown, but exciting!

Melbourne Ironman - 22 March 2015

Right, so two days later I am back in Sydney and ready to write all about the latest chapter of my change from fat to some form of athlete.  I have to put a disclaimer for this one...

I am writing this mostly for fun, but also for my future use when I do the next Ironman (of course there will be another one).  This means there will be some analysis, lots of pointless commentary and also some complaints.  I don't like excuses.  There are none.  When you do a race like this you have to be prepared for anything.  But there are some issues which I think impacted my peak performance.  Anyway, disclaimer over... either close the webpage now, or read on at your peril.

Training...  there was lots.  Compared to Cairns it was much better.  I did twice as much swimming (about 80km), an extra 1,000km on the bike (about 3,500km) and only 2/3 of the running (about 800km).  Not much more to say... things went well.  Western Sydney 70.3 in November was good (5:09:41) and Husky Long Course in February was successful too (4:51:29).  I couldn't have asked for more.

Drive to Melbourne - me and Adam drove down on Thursday night and Friday morning (stopping at the wonderful town of Gundagai for the night).  We had a few beers with the locals and then made it the rest of the way on Friday.  We checked in to the apartment (before the girls arrived on their flight) and headed to Ironman check in.  The good news continued... I had my weigh in and it was my lowest weight as an adult... 92.1kg.  Check in done we went for food and chilling out.

Saturday was good.  We (Chantelle, Adam and I) went down to Frankston (where the swim was - about 40km south of St Kilda).  We went for a little cycle to check the bikes were all ok and then had a practice swim on the course - the water was calm and all was looking good.  The only worry was the wind which was expected to be a northerly on race day.  Given the run was one way from south to north this would cause problems for everyone!  I heard a lot of people suggesting they would like to be shielded from the wind by a bigger bloke like me...  After the practice we went back to St Kilda and chilled out for the afternoon and evening.  Gary joined me and Adam for my usual pre race dinner of chicken pasta bake.  After dinner and some ice cream (thanks Gary) it was an early night for all in preparation for the morning's events.

RACE DAY

4.30am - the alarm goes off and we get ready.  All the usual stuff and then we went and met Chantelle at the bus stop at just after 5.  I had forgotten the pump (left it locked in the apartment) but we all found it funny knowing there would be the Shimano guys at transition.  There were 10 buses and not many people... so off we went.  Transition was easy - tyres pumped, bottles filled, bags dropped off and then into the wetsuit and ready for the swim.  We headed to the beach and tried to relax before the race start. We joined Gary on the beach and then before we knew it off went the pros!

7.40am - race start... kind of.  This year it was a rolling start.  6 athletes were released every few seconds to try and ease congestion for the bike leg after the swim.  Chantelle, Gary, Adam and I all moved forward slowly and by about 8am we were off on the swim.  I started badly as usual.  We ran about the first 50m and then I started swimming and I panicked straight away.  What an idiot.  By about 200m I had managed to calm my breathing down and got into a bit of a rhythm.  I started drafting off other people and I went along nicely until about 2km.  Then my first issue of the day - cramp.  I had woken at 2am with a bit of cramp in my right calf, but didn't think anything of it... until now.  I kept swimming and just eased off with the kicking.  It was ok, slow and steady but still moving forward.  Then second issue - coming round one of the buoy turns I accidentally hit someone and they didn't take it well...  I think he was trying to fight with me in the water, but I laughed it off and kept going - he wasn't going to ruin my race right now (bearing in mind I had already been hit, by accident I am sure, a few times).  Anyway, at some point I could see the end of the swim and in an official time of 1:14:01 I was out of the water.  Right there I could see Bex, Nic, Evie and Tilly - what a great sight after my least favourite leg of the race.  Time was almost 12 minutes quicker than Cairns.  Very happy at this point.

Transition 1 - nothing to report.  Easy run up to the change tent and then into bike shoes and helmet and straight out to my lovely bike:-)  4:12 for transition.  Quick enough, but of no real difference in the grand scheme of things!

Bike leg - off I went and happy as I could be.  I was expecting fun - everyone said the course was flat and a great road surface.  Overall opinion - not particularly flat and the road surface was fine, but nothing to write home about.  Plus the wind had much more of an impact than any of us expected.  The first out and back was 32.71kph on the way out and 37.51kph on the way back in.  Average of 35.11kph.  Very happy at this point.  Section 3 - the wind had really picked up by now.  The way out was at an average of 28.15kph - this compared favourably to those around me who all seemed to be really slowing down - I was working my way up through the field.  Then the fourth section was wind behind again and my average was 34.17kph.  Pretty happy with this, but with 30km to go my back gears decided to stop working.  It was stuck in top gear!  So I was working harder than I should have done, but the course was more downhill on the way back so it was not too bad.  I managed to move down gears if I held the gears in place, but this was hard work on the hands.  Anyway, I made it back and total ride time of 5:29:27 (average speed of 32.78kph).  This was the slower end of what I was hoping for, but given the wind I was pretty happy really.

Transition 2 - this was 2:00.  Bike goes to a volunteer "catcher" and then straight in for running shoes, sunnies, visor, race belt and fuel belt and off out again into the afternoon sun.  Sun cream slapped on by another wonderful volunteer and on the run in a total time of 6:49:40.  I could not have hoped for much more (maybe a quicker bike...) but all in all very happy at this point.

Run leg - things started so well.  I knew the goal and so off I went.  No news on anyone else so far, but I had seen Adam and Chantelle on the bike and they both seemed to be going well.  Hopefully I couldn't see them on the run (being one way) but I had faith they were going well.

I split this run into three sections.  Good, bad and ugly.  Let's start with the good...

There was a short out and back on the boardwalk and then off on a bit of bush track until about 5km before the road running started.  28:28 for this section and all looking good.  Next 10km was on the road and took me 1:02:39.  Slightly slower, but still on target for a decent run.  In this section I saw Bex and Nic at the side of the road with their awesome signs - great to see the cheer squad and this was a real pick me up in the heat (I understand it topped out at 31 degrees on the run...)  Then I carried on and they drove past me... only for me to catch them when they got stuck in traffic.  This section was immense and I loved the support and energy they gave me.

Bad...  something then changed for me and this is where excuses are no good and I need to train harder and better next time.  But I will explain what I mean.  It was 31 degrees (but the same for Adam and Chantelle and they ran AMAZING times for the marathon).  I had a sore throat developing throughout the week.  No excuse, but I think I might not have felt 100%.  Also, on the bike I think there was a point when I wanted to have a little nap.  I have never felt this before, but I wonder if i should have known I wasn't feeling great when I wanted to nap on the bike.  Interesting anyway.  Too fast on the bike into the wind - not sure, but maybe I should have slowed it down more into the wind (although it felt fine at the time).  Anyway, excuses are not for me.  Or so I thought.  At 15km you realise there are 27km to go.  That is a lot when you feel awful.  The next 5km were at 6:59/km - bad but liveable.  The following 5km were at 8:28/km.  Not good.  Lots of walking and shuffling.  Each km was painful and I was just waiting for Adam and Chantelle to come past.  Crowd was trying to help, but hard to do when you are quite as miserable as I was.  Plus the hills started.  Who knew there were hills on the Ironman run course?!  This was sold to me as flat...  The next 5km was at 7:57/km.  A toilet break gave me a little more confidence in myself...  but not much.

This was a dark point.  One of those moments I think some people must have had in an event - what the hell am I doing here?!  How on earth am I going to get to the finish line?  How long will 12km take if I keep feeling like this (I do maths in my head so I knew a LONG time).

At this point came the ugly.  It was not pretty, but it was better and I sucked it up and something happened.  I credit it mostly to Bex and our unborn baby (always a good source of motivation when feeling rubbish) and also to Adam. Unknown to him I had fallen apart.  I decided I couldn't have him catch me before the finish.  The motivation of seeing Bex and not seeing Adam worked to get me to pull myself together, at least a bit.  My pace increased for the next 10km to 6:53/km.  This may seem slow, but to me it was so fast.  I started catching people again and I had something to give.  All of a sudden 37km were done (and then 38, 39 and 40) - anyone can finish a 5km run right?!  Forget the last 221km... only 5 left.  I got to 40km and was watching the sunset over the bay at St Kilda.  Lovely stuff.  I try and enjoy myself even at these depths of rubbishness (this sounds like it should be a word).

The next 1km - massive pace increase.  6:03/km.  Boom!  What a pace.  Oh... but I cramped and struggled.  Then there was 1km to go.  This was the bit I kind of regret from Cairns - I rushed it and didn't really soak up the atmosphere, which is amazing.  I took my time to get down the finish chute (I was also looking for Bex and Nic).  I was walking and high-fiving everyone:-)  Then I saw Bex and Nic.  I had to confirm where Adam was - if he had been close to me then I would have waited to cross the line with him, but I got told 15-20 mins was the gap, so off I went.  I managed to run the last 20m and it was done!  Another wonderful volunteer gave me my medal, wrapped a towel round me and sent me off to the recovery area.  Time for the run was 4:51:23 giving a total time for the Ironman of 11:41:03.  This was a PB of 1:14:40.  Happy enough, but I have more to give.

Overall conclusions - happy with the overall performance.  Over the coming weeks (before Mount Solitary and possibly TNF100) I will overanalyse my failure on the run, but for now I should accept that it was a great PB and I should be happy (and I am really).

This last bit is mostly a note to myself.  My wife is amazing.  It is so great to have the support of friends and family throughout the build up to a big event like this and having Adam and Chantelle (as well as Raki, Gary and pretty much the whole of NRG) supporting the build up makes things easier.  My wife is amazing.  There are so many other people - my family on the other side of the world who I know are spending a sleepless night refreshing the website to find out how I am going.  My wife is amazing.  Then there is the family in Australia.  Nic, Evie and Tilly have supported me and Adam the whole way through - you are all awesome Darwins!

I think there is one more person... Bex is crazy.  She married me knowing I had issues with these stupid events.  She lives through everything that I do and she listens to me go on about this stuff the whole time.  Then at 5 months pregnant she comes to Melbourne for 4 days to watch me do this event.  She worries while I struggle through the run and then hugs me when I stink after nearly 12 hours of exercise.  So... if she makes it this far through the blog - thanks Bex - you are the greatest supporter and wife I could ever have hoped for.

Cairns Ironman Part 2 - Race Day

So you have read about the training (or jumped straight to this one). When I went to bed on Saturday night I set two alarms and was up at 4am. I was very excited and got all my last minute prep done- this included bottle filling, timing chip as well as a large amount of sportslick, bodyglide and vaseline as required:-) I then headed down to get the bus to the srtart. It was raining - A LOT! I got down there, straight on a bus and then 35 minutes later we were at Palm Cove and I could recheck my bike and hand in my special needs bags. As far as I knew , my bike was fine. Tyres pumped, food and drink in place (including electrical tape to attach two gels and an Accel energy bar) and spare inner tube, CO2 cannisters, etc all in place.

I then dropped off my street gear bag and bike pump to get taken back to Cairns. By this point it was only 6am and the race was starting at 7.55am. I had my pre race cliff bar and off I went with my other pre race rituals. Then I met up with Bex and Nicky who had special t-shirts made with my face on them! I will add photos when I get a chance. We went to near the swim start and watched the half ironman fasties start on the bike. There were some cobbled speed bumps and lots of people were losing their water bottles because of the bumps. This was good to know before I had to go out there on the bike. Back to putting on the wetsuit with more sportslick and my first energy gel of the day about 15 minutes before the start.

Down to the water after saying my goodbyes and then I realised I was about to start an Ironman... Shit! There were 1654 registered athletes for the full Ironman and only 35 of those were professional- the rest of us start in one wave. Seriously, one wave with over 1500 people, that is crazy.  This was the most crazy thing I have ever been a part of. It was amazing. The atmosphere, the cheers, the commentator, all of it was amazing. Off I went on my two laps. It was hard. The sea was not calm and there were a lot of arms and legs flying around. After maybe 500m I was settled into my slow rhythm and I was plodding along happily.  I was swimming straight out into the waves but after a while the rhythm was there and I was breathing ok.  Then at the third buoy off I went south - into what little wind there was, but more importantly against the tide. It was slow going but I was happy enough. Another turn at buoy number five and it got easier at last! A further right turn at the seventh buoy and I now had a bit of tidal assistance.

At buoy number nine (the first buoy on lap 1) I turned right and knew I was well over halfway. Not really sure of splits in the swim, but needless to say it was slow! I went out again and right along against the tide again and finally made the last right turn and made my long way to the swim finish. At this point I got a bit of cramp in my right leg, but kicked through it and it was all ok. I tried to use the waves to my benefit, but I'm not great at that. Eventually I got to the swim finish in an official time of 1:25:54.

Out I came up the beach and into transition. In case I haven't mentioned, it had rained a lot and it was still raining.  That means transition was rather a mess! My feet got covered in mud and grass so I sat down in the change tent and started drying my feet off. That was when I met an awesome volunteer who unpacked my bike bag for me and told me to relax and take my time. I told him my wife would be happy I hadn't drowned, so it would all be easy from here. Little did I know what would happen soon after. I put on socks and shoes, took my sunnies (to keep the rain out of my eyes) and picked up my extra gels (two, plus the two taped to my bike). Off I went through the mud to my bike, then up the red carpet to the bike mount point. Transition 1 done in a reasonable time of 5:48 and off on the bike with total time elapsed of 1:31:42.

The bike started as expected... Cobbled speed bumps, rain and Bex and Nic shouting for me on the sidelines:-) all went well through the Palm Cove exit. I made some jokes, people laughed, Bex shook her head at me because I'm an idiot and one woman on the bike said I had cheered her up after a dreadful swim, so I felt like my job was done. Now to settle in for the real work - more than 6 hours on the bike.

I felt fine once I had spent about five minutes on the bike and this was as expected- I hate the swim, but it doesn't take too much out of me. I made the turn north towards Port Douglas feeling confident and ready to enjoy my favourite part of the race. That lasted for a grand total of 8.48km. I know that number well because it was the first (not the only) time I cried during the race. I can honestly say these were tears of anger. I got my bike serviced the week before the race and suggested I might need a new back tyre - the mechanic said "no, it is fine." I asked the mechanic the day before the race at Palm Cove and he repeated "no, it is fine." Two qualified people, what did I have to worry about?!?! It turns out I needed a new tyre. This was puncture number one. Once I had got over a bit of the anger I changed the tube, put the wheel back on and went to use CO2 canister number one. Oops... It went off but not into the tyre. Shit! Concentrate Joe, this second one is the last one you have... Sorted! I managed to calm down enough to fix it. Back on the bike and back on the road. I estimate 12 minutes lost here.

I got settled into my rhythm, constantly overtaking the people who had passed me whilst I fixed the first puncture. I cycled up the big hill to Rex's Lookout. It was a maximum of 900m in length and not very steep- Sydney hills are good training. At Rex's Lookout (about 18km in) I saw a bike mechanic waiting in the passing place. I decided to stop and pump up my tyre properly and grab a new inner tube and CO2 canister. This turned out to be a good choice. A further 2 minutes lost, but now I had the safety of another inner tube if the worst happened again (surely not, right?!)

I started to then make time up on the way to Port Douglas. I was riding within myself knowing there was a long way to go and the first 45km are not where the race is won. However, just as I was happy... At 45.5km I got that dreaded second puncture. Off the bike, change it, CO2 canister in, wheel back on, away I go - this time less anger (and no tears) and I had lost about 8 minutes more.

Now comes an interesting part of the race that I had thought about, but had never known the answer to. I call this "Things I never thought I would do as an adult". If you do the maths (which I had) I had already lost 22 minutes and I was only a quarter of the way through the cycle. Stopping for a pee on the bike we (Adam, Nic, Bex and I) had decided would cost at least 3 minutes, if not more. There was slowing down to stop, waiting in line, peeing and then getting back up to race speed. I didn't want to add another three or four minutes to the time I had already lost. So, as the Internet forums told me, wait for a downhill, check there is nobody behind you, get out your saddle with a water bottle in hand and relax. Make sure you squirt water on your leg before anything reaches your shoes and then sit back down and pedal away like nothing has happened.  You are welcome to judge me, however remember this - you may never have been in a situation like I was and you may not be as competitive with yourself as I am, but I really am ok with it, I just can't believe this wasn't the only time I did it on the bike (I reckon I saved between 15 and 20 minutes- at least I was well hydrated). Also, the rain made it feel like it wasn't quite as bad as if it had been a dry day... Anyway, you may now look at me in a different way, but I made the right choice for me on the day!

Back to the cycle. I was on the way south to Rex's Lookout and the hill this way is longer but less steep. I felt that I wanted to stop here and grab another inner tube from the bike mechanic but about 300m before the summit (if you can call it a summit) I heard the air coming out of my back tyre again. I managed to get myself to the top and here I was, 70km done, three punctures, lots of technical officials and lots of reasons to think this hadn't been my day. I had been thinking about this for the last 30km and had decided I would run my bike to the top of Rex's Lookout if necessary - I was not going to quit. Mr bike mechanic - I called him Mr Trinity (from Trinity Cycleworks in Cairns) offered me an $89 tyre - what a bargain!!! I was so relieved. This meant maybe I could get on and concentrate on the stupid distance I was meant to be going rather than the stupid punctures.

Whilst I was fitting my new inner tube and tyre (Mr Trinity can hand me stuff, but can't help with the repairs) one of the technical officials came over. He said to Mr Trinity that he was required to help another competitor. Her name was Sharn McNeil - I had heard her story on Friday at the welcome dinner and will give you a short version here. She did a half Ironman at Cairns in 2012. In 2013 she was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and in 2014 her friend Craig was helping her live her dream of becoming an Ironman by pulling her in a kayak for the swim, cycling with her attached on a recumbent bike and then pushing her in a wheelchair for the marathon. She had a puncture on the back wheel of her recumbent bike and Mr Trinity was required to help.

Now, I took my bike off the stand and thought about how bloody lucky I was that all I had to do was overcome three punctures. Suck it up princess let's get this Ironman done. By the way, Sharn finished under the cut off in about 16:40:-)

Cycling here we come. This time the puncture and resultant tyre change had probably cost me another 10 minutes, putting the total time lost at 32 minutes. I headed south to the turnaround point had cry number two of the day - how could I be complaining when Sharn was doing it so tough? At 83km I picked up my special needs bag and got my second Accel energy bar, two more energy gels and a third bottle of Accelerade. I was settling nicely into a rhythm and hit 90km in about 3:38. Shit that 30 minutes sucks. Never mind, on I go up to Port Douglas for the second time. This time no punctures, lots of smiles and shouts of thanks to all the volunteers - I did my best to thank them all - it must be an otherwise thankless job in the pouring rain for hours.

Back south I turned for 70km to Cairns. I was feeling really good and managed to knock out my best section - 33km at an average speed of 36.7kph. Apparently it was slightly downhill, although not that much. I passed Rex's Lookout for the fourth (two north, two south) and final time and shouted my thanks to Mr Trinity - I would be seeing him tomorrow to pay for that tyre! I went past Palm Cove and was pleased no more swimming was required and then hit the final aid station knowing there was 17km to go on the bike. The last 17km was done at an average speed of about 23.8kph due to the wind picking up and mostly due to the winding roads the route took to make the cycle up to 180km.

Now into Cairns and I was getting excited - I hadn't seen my fans for nearly 7 hours and they had no idea of the three punctures I had suffered. The last 90km took me 3:09 and I didn't get overtaken by a single person during that time. I was well impressed - clearly my controlled first quarter (along with the puncture breaks) meant I was feeling strong all the way home. It was great to see Nic and Evie near their hotel and then Adam and Bex near transition cheering me in. I felt good despite the punctures and under the circumstances was pleased with my official time of 6:47:07.

I then gave my bike to one of the "bike catchers" - so cool I didn't even have to rack my own bike!!! I headed into the change tent with my run bag and decided there was only a need to change socks and shoes, the trisuit still felt fine (although the pictures tell another story...) I picked up my race belt with race number on and three more energy gels, left my sunnies behind and put on my cap. Back out to the cheers of my adoring fans in a mere 3:18. Total time elapsed so far of 8:22:07.

Out of transition and onto the run. I am impressed if any of you are still reading, this race report does go on... But, stick with me, all we have left is a marathon:-) Bex and Adam were there waiting to cheer me on as I started. I actually felt alright at this point. Adam and I had joked that I should aim for a 2 hour half marathon and see how it went from there. What an idiot! I picked up my first wristband (blue) and thanked the volunteer as I went off on the first lap. I managed the first 8km in 45:48, so on for that 4 hour marathon pace. Then things changed... I realised I was a little bit tired and my quads were hurting with every step I took. I managed lap 1 (14km) in 1:24:18 and then the second lap started.

Wristband number two (white) collected and off I went...  slowly!  By this point it was still raining heavily (as it had been all day) and the first 4km of the lap is an out and back to the corner of the marina.  There is a nice bit where the spectators are all drinking at a little bar and cheering you on.  It was good to have the support of random strangers at this point in the day.  It was starting to get dark and I knew I had to get my head down and get through the last three hours or so.  I remember a couple of the volunteers out at the 2km aid station – they were checking the name on everyone’s race bib and cheering for every single person.  It was a really nice touch and just shows how amazing the volunteers are at events like this.

Anyway, I got through the 4km very slowly and then it is 6km out to the furthest point (near the airport) with a couple of u-turns along the esplanade to make up the kms.  This was pretty hard going.  My quads were hurting a lot and it felt like the finish line was a long way away.  I got through the half marathon in (I think) 2:11:04 and then I realised that I was over halfway through the run and that cheered me up a little.  Out to the 10km point (24km through the marathon and 207.8km through the Ironman) and there was a short section that went into a dip which was waterlogged – good for the feet and then across a very short grass patch which was just pure mud by now.  Back down the last 4km takes you all the way to the finish line and this is a great section to be running on.  There were a bunch of girls from BondiFit in Sydney who had an SUV parked on the grass with Eye of The Tiger blaring out on repeat, there were loads of random people just cheering everyone on and then there was Bex, Adam, Nic and Evie near the finish to remind me I only had one lap to go.  I am pretty sure Adam said “Bex will buy you a new tri bike if you go sub 13”.  I didn’t believe him, but I really wanted sub 13 now.  I had come to terms with the punctures (kind of… not really) but I would have been so upset with myself if I couldn’t break 13 hours.  Lap 2 took me 1:33:56, so quite a bit slower than I would have liked, but I was getting there which was the important thing.

Lap 3 started with a big thank you to the volunteers giving out the wristbands – I got my third and final one and had a look and saw that it had the Ironman distances on the wristband.  Even now, ten days later (and two days into my new job) I am still wearing that wristband!  The 4km loop was slow again, but I made sure to thank the volunteers as I passed them for the last time.  More lollies were eaten, more gels were used and more water consumed.  I used 6 gels in total on the run, so one every 45 minutes (first one straight off the bike).  Back past the finish area and the crowd were going crazy – only 10km and it would be for me!  Out I went and put my head down and tried to slog it out.  But I could feel myself getting slower.  It sucked a lot.  Then I heard Bex and Adam cheering for me and they managed to see me two or three times over the next 3 or 4km which gave me a real boost – probably mentally rather than faster kms!  Then I got out to the airport turnaround point and made my way down the last 4.2km to glory and riches (maybe?!)

This last stretch was really emotional – people could see that I was on my last lap – the smile rather than the grimace of the first two laps was a bit of a giveaway!  I was doing my best to keep it together and I had a little bit of energy left after struggling for the previous 20 or so kms and I think my last km was actually the fastest of the run!  As I came down there was a whole lot of cheering and then I came into the straight before the finish line straight.  I gave a little “whoop” and the crowd just went crazy!  It was an atmosphere like I had never ever experienced.  I was high fiving everyone in the crowd and trying to milk it a little bit but then I saw the man who was going to let me go down the finish chute and I decided to concentrate on that and what was about to happen. 

I am not sure how to describe the feeling of the finish chute – you need to do an Ironman and find out for yourself.  To know that you have just swum 3.8km in the choppy sea, cycled 180km with three punctures and then been stupid enough to run a marathon in the pouring rain all for this moment.  You turn the corner and the lights are so bright and the crowd seems huge and really loud.  Then as you come down there is the commentator, Peter Murray, saying your name as you cross the finish line with the words I would never have imagined hearing three years ago… “Joe Hedges, you are an I-R-O-N-M-A-N!”  Then you cross the line and have your medal put round your neck by the winner of last year’s Cairns Half Ironman and get a finisher towel draped round you by one of the volunteers.  Then I was with Bex and Adam and I knew they had been standing at the end of the finish chute watching me come down and cross the line.  I seriously cannot explain quite how good that feeling is.  I am not lying – the only way to find out is to do an Ironman.  Seriously, 226km is possible for me – therefore you can do it too!  Total marathon time of 4:33:37.  This gave me an official finish time of 12:55:44 and a rank of 828 out of the 1654 starters – pretty much bang on halfway through the field.

Now… ten days later and writing this, I can still feel the emotion of what it was like crossing the finish line.  I hope I can always recall that feeling, but just in case it is going to fade, which I am sure it will, I had better sign up for another one.  Who wants to join me for Ironman Melbourne on Sunday 22 March 2015?  Sound like a plan?  Let’s do it and you too can try and understand what that feeling is like.  I have had comments from people who have done an Ironman and they all say the same thing… there is nothing quite like hearing “Joe Hedges [replace with your name], you are an I-R-O-N-M-A-N!”