This will go down as one of the most memorable races I have ever done, for all the right (and a few wrong) reasons.
It should probably also be noted that this was another stupid idea in the life of Hailey. This course had more elevation than any other marathon I had ever attempted and was held just one week after the Backyard Blister. Don’t try this at home.
Continue readingI’m wondering when the older and wiser part of life begins, as clearly it’s still a long way off for me. I mean, I feel older but I still make stupid decisions, and starting the Tail Runner’s Backyard Blister was in hindsight one of those stupid decisions.
Continue readingI remember reading the words “It’s going to get ugly, but it’s going to get done!” on a friends t-shirt a while back, and that phrase pretty much sums up the marathon I ran last weekend.
Originally we had planned to be in Colorado (USA) by 11th July so that I could run the Silverton Marathon and Kendall Mountain Run Double, and also so my husband could run the Hardrock 100 the week after, but unfortunately Covid-19 has put an end to all overseas travel for now. So the next best thing I could think of was to organise a marathon with some running mates for the same weekend. Continue reading
I wrote most of this before the Corona Virus, so maybe it will take your mind off it for a while. Enjoy 🙂
Leaving the hospital with a newborn baby is one of the most nerve-wracking things you will ever experience in life. Sure I was sick of being in the (short peoples) hospital bed and wanted to be back in my own bed as my lower back cried out in pain each day from discomfort, but there would be no nurse just seconds away at the push of a button. Continue reading
Ummmmm, I’m a day late. That’s okay, my period will start this afternoon or tomorrow. It doesn’t. The next day I tell myself the same thing, that they will probably start this afternoon or tomorrow. Still nothing. So when I came to being 4 days late I decided I should drinking alcohol to play it safe. I’d never been this late before, could it really be? Don’t get too excited yet. We were away on holidays over the 2018 Christmas period when I first realised I might be pregnant, Continue reading
Waking up in Boulder on Sunday at our wonderful friends place is definitely a highlight of the trip. Beat and Jill have a beautiful home up on Flagstaff Mountain, surrounded by mountains and Hummingbirds. We had breakfast and spent lots of time chatting and catching up. A nice quiet rest day after a busy day yesterday. They had some other friends coming over for dinner that night too, so we were spoiled with a lovely pasta dish and salad from one of Jill’s Anchorage friends Kim and her partner Taylor. The storm rolled in over the mountain as we drifted off to sleep.
On Monday we had another (lovely) sleep in, did some washing and organised to meet Beat at his work for lunch, he works at Google in Boulder and apparently their lunches are Continue reading
On Friday 12th July we woke up in sunny Silverton after a long sleep in. We had showers and headed into town where we met up with Bryon Powell for brunch at Coffee Bear.
We then drove down to our hotel and chatted to our favorite hotel man Andy, and after a good chat he checked us into our hotel room and we unpacked. During our earlier catch up with Bryon he had told Roger about a marathon being held here on Sunday, and by the time we got back to our hotel Roger had decided to sign up. So off he went to register for the race. We were both feeling exhausted, so we had a nap and then headed to Rudy’s Mexican for dinner with our friends Joel and Robert, we were also joined by another man called Jim. It was a great meal and even better company; we were both so happy to be here.
Sunday was another good sleep-in and then we headed up to cheer runners over the finish line at the Kendall Mountain race. On the way we got coffee and a burrito at Coffe Bear, and we arrived in time to cheer our Aussie girl Lucy Bartholomew over the finish line. Unfortunately she had fallen during the run and her thumb/hand was quite swollen, Roger got her some ice and we chatted as she recovered from her run.
Roger and I spent a bit of coin at the ‘Run Steep Get High’ shop and then headed back to our hotel to get some gear ready for an afternoon hike up to Corkscrew pass, a spot Joel had told us about the day before.
After a very scary drive towards the Corkscrew Pass trail, Continue reading
On Thursday 4thJuly we said goodbye to a dark and rainy Sydney, and excitedly flew to Denver, Colorado via a short layover in LAX.
After a long flight with not much sleep and having to ask a fellow passenger to swap seats with me so Roger and I could sit together, we arrived only a few hours later the same day. We contacted Justin who was the owner of the campervan we had rented for our trip and easily found the bus to locate ‘Wolfgang’, the Mercedes Sprinter who would be our home for the next few weeks.
We headed for the Boulder Running Company, which was our favorite running store Continue reading
When you love mountains and it’s your birthday where do you head for a 4-day long weekend? To the Victorian Alps!
On Friday 10 May I finished work early and headed home to pack and ready for our road trip south. Over the weekend away Roger wanted to hit some big mountains as good training for his Hardrock Hundred race in July, and I wanted to do some hiking and breath in the fresh country air away from the big smoke. We hit the road around midday to beat the Friday traffic and took turns driving to share the long journey (with a stop for snacks and a toilet break along the way). When we were about an hour from our Air BnB in Mt Beauty we ordered some Takeaway pizzas from a place called Stockpot. The pizzas were delicious!
On Saturday we were both up early and I drove Roger to the Campground at the start of he trail to Mt Bogong, he planned to do a few repeats while I was heading back into town for the local Parkrun. The morning sky was covered in fog and visibility was low, so low in fact that you could not see the top of Mount Bogong from afar, nor the pond that we ran around for the Parkrun course. It was a beautiful Autumn day and the colours of the leaves on the tree outside our Air BnB made for a beautiful photo.
I arrived at Mount Beauty Parkrun about 10 minutes before the start, just enough time Continue reading
This Australia Day we headed out to the Knapsack Lap Race at in Glenbrook. The 5km course was challenging and fast, some really good little inclines to get the heart pumping but nothing too big. Roger and I were doing this as part of the mixed teams and our plan was to take turns and alternate each lap.
We caught up with our good mates Jo and Ben and headed over to the start line where I would run a lap of the oval and then onto the first loop.
I was super excited to be back out running again in the Blue Mountains Continue reading
Hails Trails 