GNW full report

Warning, slightly longer post than normal, might be a good cure for insomnia!

Last minute build up
A hectic couple of days with work requiring me in Melbourne Thursday night so I packed most of the gear ahead of time and got an early flight back to Sydney on Friday morning, more work stuff and finally snuck out at around 1:30 to finish packing. Had arranged to meet Ron Schwebel and my dad at Yarramalong (the finish) for a car drop off and then we drove up to Lake Macquarie, dropping Ron off at the caravan park around the corner from the start.

Dinner saw a good turn out but everyone was a little edgy, back to the motel to complete gear preparation etc. Not a great night sleep, further compromised by the very loud snorer in the room next door. Up early for some toast, managing to set off the smoke alarm, hopefully it woke up the snorer!

The Start
Got to the start around 5am and a hive of activity with registration, people sorting out drop bags and also catching up. Quickly caught up with a few Trotters that I know that were also helping run the event. Very quickly the briefing started and for me it was a bit of a scramble to get myself fully organised as 6am was rapidly approaching. Fronted up on the line, with the Garmin only just having enough time to get a satellite lock and we were off! A sensible pace off the line, once we crossed the railway line we hit the first hill and I immediately went into walk mode while some others including Dave Waugh and Kanangra just kept going. By the top of this “little” hill I was back in around 5th place and running just ahead of Joel and Jonathon with Blue Dog about 50m up the road in 4th.

Just before the end of the tar was another incline and again I eased up and decided to do my first mobile blog :
35 min 6 km just about to hit bush Kanangra and 2 others in front with blue dog 4th I am a few more back just behindf joel and Jonathon

A few more went past me as I walked and typed, once on the track it was back to running as the trail gently undulated until we went under the freeway. A more serious climb here and I again eased up and kept another runner who was wearing a white shirt about 100m in front in sight. This just kept climbing and ended up being about a 300m climb. I felt very relaxed and on the downhill opened the legs up a bit and caught and went past the white shirt runner who had stopped for a drink.

The fun descent finally ended and I reached the road from Freemans Waterhole running inside the guard rail to the Ampol garage where there was a little crowd, knowing I had heaps of fluid I decided just to keep going, sent my support crew a SMS letting them know my progress and crossed the road to start the climb up to Heaton Gap.

Heaton Gap
As I walked up the climb I downed a power bar and also opted to ease up a little further as it was quite steep and the HR was a little high. At one point I could see 3 runners way up ahead (and up high!), this was a very steep climb with lots of stairs/steps etc, just near the top white shirt caught up to me and I found out he was IDW (Ian Wright) we had a quick chat and then I again eased up to do another blog while he continued

Just got to comm tower first major climb done!
Running with IDW
Feel pretty good it is warm but a nice breeze blowing
Leaders were 10 min in front of me at base of climb

Running along the ridge was pretty comfortable and I must have gone past IDW somewhere through here, probably at the toilets. Then it was a right turn and off the firetrail and back onto singletrack. Immediately the running was a lot more technical as we descended into a creek bed with rainforest type environment, very slippery footing and the track was less than clear in many points. About 10 minutes into here a long haired runner with a beard blasted past me and quickly vanished from view. I was actually not expecting the technical nature of this section and found it a little taxing.

After what seemed forever finally I reached a long very steep climb which led to the “hugging post” named after photos from last year. I pretty much caught up to the long haired guy who I found out was Thrax and about the same time IDW caught us as well. Some more mixed running with combinations of firetrail and singletrack and again some indistinct trail marking but finally we popped out on the firetrail leading to CP1. IDW had cleared out and Thrax and I were caught by 2 others. The four of us rolled along and then Miss Gazelle cruised past leaving us in a could of dust. Just as we approached the checkpoint another runner caught us, I think it might have been Lawrence Mead?

CP#1
A good crowd at the check point and Kevin clocked us in and I walked over to the back of Louise’s (my sister in law and crew) car where they had everything laid out for me. I downed a couple of cups of coke, ate some pineapple, changed socks, shirt and cap while they refilled the camelback back up to 3 litres and also had plugged the garmin in for a recharge of the batteries. The change of clothes felt good and I followed 3 runners out with the intent of looking after the legs through this section as per this blog

In and out just over 4 hours in an a 10 minute break
Some very techical terrain from 20 km made slow going. Plan to look after the legs on this section

The firetrail seemed to go on forever here and I found it quite hard to focus, I caught up to Thrax again after about 5km and we walked together as the climb increased, he was feeling the heat a bit and was also worried about his water supply. Shortly after Eagle caught up to us and was looking very efficient and determined. I was starting to really feel the heat along here as well, going up another climb I did another blog (that did not go through)

Approaching Barraba camp betwween cp1 and 2
Bloody hot and wind is hard to catch
Just about to descend to Congwei and walking with cr thrax in about 15th
Eagle just went past looking good

Pretty much straight after this Thrax decided he was going to have a break in the shade and so I continued by myself. Heading down the single track was fun and I again opened up the legs. However I lost a bit of focus and must have missed a marked turn as the track I was on was getting more indistinct. A quick breather and close analysis of the map revealed I was probably on another marked track that followed the spur rather than looping across the gully and so I did a quick bearing and bush bashed down and along the spur. In hindsight this certainly soaked up some time (as evidenced shortly) but even more importantly my fluid supply which was getting low. Much relief when I successfully met the proper marked trail and finished off the descent to Congewai Road

Congewai Road
As I approached the road I saw another runner ahead of me in a blue shirt probably about 200m ahead. However whenever I tried jogging the calves cramped up so I opted to walk at pace. About 1km of this and my camelback was empty and I still had about 5km to go. The sun was blazing (it was about 1pm) and there was minimal shade. A few km of this and I was just holding the same distance to the blue shirt in the distance who was obviously also feeling the conditions. As I approached the trailhead for the walk I saw Eagle coming back the other way headed to CP#3 and gave him a yell of good wishes, although by that point my morale was pretty shot. I was incredibly dry in the mouth and had stopped sweating some time ago. Just as I finally approached the school I saw Spud, Whipper and Tim coming back out. I think we were both a little shocked to see each other, obviously they had gone past during my sojourn in the bush on the descent.

I sat down and started on some cold fluids to try and rehydrate, at the same time soaking my feet in some cold water as they had also started cramping. By then I was wondering if I would continue and while sitting there actually started feeling worse rather than better. My stomach did not like the idea of trying to digest the fluids or food and while I was trying to sort myself out it seemed a few others had the same problem. After about half an hour where I did not improve I made the decision to withdraw. I had got up and walked around a little, the legs weren’t too bad, but as soon as I stepped out from the shade the sun felt like an over and I just knew that I would probably get into trouble over the next much longer stage after having run it a couple of weeks ago.

Thoughts
On the drive back I beat myself up mentally a bit about withdrawing and really questioned my ability given this and my experience at Six Foot. However when we got back to my sister in laws place (Kulnura, not far from CP3 and CP4) I was actually more off colour and spent most of the afternoon lying on the lounge not doing anything. At about 6:30 I got a lift down to Yarramalong to pick up my car and I hung around down there to hopefully watch the leaders come through. Down there I caught up with Hermie who also withdrew at CP#2 and was also, like myself, feeling nausea etc. A little while later Jonathon showed up having withdrawn at CP#3 also suffering similar conditions. Dave Waugh came through looking very composed and together and just after he left Joel came in. I left him alone for a while and then had a chat, seems he had had enough and was calling it quits at 100km. I decided to head back to the farm and on the way back finally started to feel hungry and was very pleased to be able to finally eat dinner and drink some fluids without feeling like crap.

To be honest after seeing what happened to much more experienced and better runners than myself on the same day in those conditions I am a little more satisfied with both my decision to withdraw but also my effort on the day. In my mind the pivotal moment was the nav mistake on the descent to Congewai, just enough lost time and extra consumption of fluid to make a difference on the road itself. The legs don’t feel too badly beat up, although 2 days later now and I am still 2kg lighter than I was on Friday! I would certainly contemplate having another crack at this event, or another long ultra. (of course 6 foot is a given….)

Thanks to all that checked in on my blog during the day and also to those brave souls that actually have read my rambling in this post to this point!