US of Awesome – Part B

Posted on July 21, 2019 by laurenhailey

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 →

Pinters 2018

Posted on December 29, 2018 by laurenhailey

For years now, I have dreamed of completing the Larapinta Trail in the Outback of Northern Territory in Australia. So when our good friend Jane invited us to join her on a 6 day trail running adventure on Larapinta, we jumped at the chance!

The trip was scheduled to take place in September 2018, so that meant I had 11 months to prepare for my first ever multi-day running adventure. If you look online and in most books about the Larapinta Trail it will tell you the ‘end-to-end’ distance is 226km, however the distance we ended up running was quite a lot more. It would take some improved fitness and strength work to prevent any injury troubles. I felt nervous, excited and scared all at once.

As time went on and training continued, I got stronger and I felt more comfortable with the distances and terrain we would encounter on the trip. However, just 2 weeks before our departure I was forced into an early taper due to laryngitis and a chest infection. I took 2 courses of antibiotics and rested as much as possible, because there was no way I was going to let illness stop me.

The night before our flight to Alice Springs we spent in a mad panic trying to pack our bags with only the essential items needed for the trip. We had picked up our allocated travel bags a few weeks beforehand, and Jane told us we were not allowed to bring more than what we could fit into the bag. At the time this had made me nervous as my sleeping mat and sleeping bag were going to take up a lot of space, and my nerves had not been wrong. But the reason we had to pack light was because our support vehicle did not have a lot of space to store extra baggage. We got there in the end and looking back, I know there are a few more things I could have taken out of my bag.

On Thursday 20 September we met up with most of the ‘Pinters 2018’ runners at the Qantas Lounge in Sydney Airport, and flew to Alice Springs with an arrival time of 12.20pm.

As we walked off the plane and across the tarmac I noticed the one and only Robert De Castella (Deeks) had also been on our plane, flying with a few of the Indigenous Marathon Project Runners. We were all totally star struck but none of us had the courage to go up and ask for a photo/autograph, most likely as he had his phone stuck to his ear the whole time while we were waiting for our bags.

Tony our bus driver met us at the baggage claim area, and we jumped on the bus headed towards Redbank Gorge. It would take a few hours to drive to the starting point, and we made one stop on the way to drop off a few bags at the Resort we would be staying in after the trip. Tony was a great tour guide, he told me a lot about the Alice Springs area and how he had moved to the area with his wife when she got a nursing job many years ago. When he wasn’t our bus driver, he worked as a taxi cab in the town part time and was semi-retired.

When we got to Redbank Camping Area we met our wonderful crew, Janet and Gary. They arrived a few hours before us and had already set up camp for our first night on the trail. We immediately liked Janet and Gary for their great sense of humour, and over the next few days grew to love them for their unwavering care and support for us all out on the trail.

Our team grabbed their bags and we each setup our tents for the night, then met back at the main tent ready for our run (hike) up to Mt Sonder. The trail to Mt Sonder and back is approximately 15.8km with an elevation gain of 603m, so it wasn’t going to be too tough. We were all a bundle of excitement and nerves, some of us had not seen each other for a while and some of us had just met. We crossed the riverbed which had no water in it (and looked like it hadn’t had water in it for a very long time, years!) and I pretended to swim while lying on the sand and doing my best freestyle swimming impersonation. We chatted and hiked, complaining a little about the grey skies blocking our view of the landscape. We started up the final steep ascent but we didn’t end up getting to the top because we were running out of light, and had to turn back early because some people did not have their head torches.

When we got back into camp our delicious creamy pasta dinner was waiting for us and we all scoffed it down with a few beers, then headed to bed for an early night. Some of the runners had organised to get up super early for the first day, but Roger and I decided to have a bit of a sleep in (if possible) and get up and leave whenever our bodies were ready. This was a ‘holiday’ after all and we had both been recovering from illness, so we wanted to start the trip feeling well rested.

Day 1 – Redbank Gorge to Ormiston Gorge

Distance: 38.27km

Elevation: 851m

Running Time: 6 hrs 25mins (Moving: 5hrs 56mins)

We woke to rumblings of runners having breakfast and gearing up for the trail. The grey clouds still covered the sky for as far as I could see, and the air felt quite cool on my skin. Getting ready took us longer than everyone else as we hadn’t prepared our packs the nights before, so we waved them off and told them we would catch-up. Eventually we got our shit together and left the campsite, thanking Janet and Gary for the superb breakfast.

We hiked roughly 2km from the campground to Redbank Gorge Trailhead and followed the signs directing us to Ormiston Gorge. Today’s plan was to run 36km and even though the clouds threatened rain all day, it never amounted to more than a sprinkle. I did have my rainproof jacket on and off several times through the day, but we ran so much that I was able to keep warm and the jacket never stayed on for long.

When we were about 10km from our destination we ran into the rest of our group who had stopped to have morning tea. We all ran into the Gorge together and eventually found our campsite, the area had been fully booked so there were lots of people (mostly RVs and 4WDs) and we had a toilet block (no showers) which was nicer than heading into the bush at night.

After a short pit stop and changing into some warm clothes, we all headed down to the Gorge as it was just a short walk. It was a very pretty place, and Sarah and I decided to dip in our legs to help them recover from the first day.

We chatted over dinner about what was planned for the next day, and we realised that last time they had done this trip it was over 7 days (not 6 days like we were planning) and I got confused about where we were camping etc. Gary and Jane seemed to be all over it though, so I didn’t worry too much as I knew we were in capable hands.

Day 2 – Ormiston Gorge to Serpentine Chalet Dam

Distance: 40.2km

Elevation: 1,185m

Running Time: 8hrs 44mins (Moving Time: 7hrs 52mins)

We set our alarm and got up super early however the main group left even earlier, and they didn’t wait for us. We left before sunrise and chose to add the Pound walk circuit, a side trip that added about 8km of beautiful trails. We were rewarded with a breath-taking sunrise, and we giggled like school kids as we skipped along the trail taking in the mountains and brown plains surrounding us.

We got back to Ormiston Gorge, used the toilet facilities and then headed along the trail towards Serpentine Chalet Dam. Today’s plan had us running 31km, on top of the 8km we had already just run. The start of the trail followed along beside an old creek bed, which had clearly been dry for many years. Eventually the trail snaked along and into the bush, everything looked dry and I felt like I was breathing in a lot of dust. We crossed many creek beds, all of them dry, and I was very happy to see blue skies and sunshine.

When we arrived at the last trailhead for the day, Adam was there to greet us and walk with us to the campground. He made a joke that we were doing 60km tomorrow and I laughed it off, they would never spring that on us. We walked and talked some more and eventually got to the campsite where it was just our crew. Nice and peaceful. We took off our packs and sat down for some cold drinks and heard about everyone’s experiences for the day.

Jane also informed us that tomorrow we would need to run 60km. Ummmm, what?! Someone had got their calculations wrong and that meant we had to make up a day. Shit. Apparently, the plan was for our support crew to meet us at the halfway point the next day so we could fill up on food and water before continuing on for the rest of the trail. My heart sank. I wanted to cry. I was so tired, I had to fight back tears or I’d look like a wimp. I quietly spoke to Roger saying that I didn’t think it was a good idea. I had not trained for this and wasn’t sure if it would trigger issues with my foot and/or knee doing this kind of distance in one day, on top of everything else.

The crew tried to reassure me that if I could not make the whole distance I could pull out at halfway, however I would never forgive myself for missing a section of the trail. It would mean that everything I had run so far would be wasted, as I would want to come back and start again, doing the whole trail end to end like we originally planned. Otherwise it would not count. I told myself and the crew I’d sleep on it and decide in the morning, but before my head hit the pillow that night, I’d already decided to give to 60km a crack.

Day 3 – Serpentine Chalet Dam to Hugh Gorge

Distance: 58.5km

Elevation: 1,751m

Running Time: 13hrs 9mins (Moving Time: 11hrs 51mins)

We got up super early and left before the sunrise, Sarah had decided to run with us today and we welcomed her company. She was planning on running to the halfway point and knew we would be taking it easy, and we loved having her along for the ride.

Our head torches lit up the trail for the first hour or so, and we were treated to some beautiful sunrise views from Counts Point, the highest point on the course that morning. The colour in the sky changed every minute and we soaked up the views feeling lucky to be alive.

The next section involved a lot of rock climbing, scrambling and we saw quite a few lizards just before we got to Ellery Creek. It had some really steep, rocky sections and the going was a little tough, I was glad to be wearing my bicycle gloves.

We met up with Janet & Garry at Ellery creek and refuelled our packs. We chugged down some Coke and food, and after a short trip to the creek (and the bathrooms) we were on our way again. Sarah had decided to stop at Ellery Creek, so we said our goodbyes and Roger and I headed for Hugh Gorge.

Our trail headed up over a saddle into a large expanse of nothingness, a very flat area with nothing to see for miles and miles. It looked dry, prickly and as if the trail was going to chew me up and spit me back out. We followed the trail signs and went past Rocky Gully, we also stopped at a campground to fill up on water as the sun had been scorching us all day, it must have been at least 35 degrees with no shade on the trail.

I took a total of 3 photos on this section, a sign that I did not enjoy myself. I hit my lowest point of the whole trip and to be honest, I battled tears the whole day. I felt like a total wimp. Everything hurt, and I wanted to quit so many times, but there was literally no way out of here. A huge basin of nothingness, it kept challenging me and grinding me in its teeth. Roger was so good to me, he put up with me whingeing and moaning all day and kept me moving when I wanted to stop. We put on some tunes to keep ourselves entertained and it helped to lift my mood. When we got nearer to the end I started using the km markers to count down and keep me busy. It did not work, and I kept forgetting which number we went past last, so I annoyed Roger a thousand times by asking him “What marker did we just pass?”. There were so many rocks and more rocks, and bloody rocks. The surface we ran on for most of the afternoon was rocks, very hard on the feet unlike soft trails. It hurt.

After what felt like an eternity of rocks, and some badly numbered markers we eventually arrived at Hugh Gorge and were greeted with some lovely rock drawings from our crew (too rude to show here!). The sun was just setting behind the mountains and I said, “Thank fuck we made it” (sorry Mum). I was exhausted and amazed to have made it in one piece. I felt like I had been a big sook for most of the day, but I had made it and technically I had run my first ‘ultra’ since injury (18+ months). We celebrated with some beers and scoffed down our dinner while chatting about how everyone’s day had gone. It had been the hottest yet and we were all exhausted, so we all headed off to bed early that night.

Day 4 – Hugh Gorge to Standley Chasm

Distance: 35.7km

Elevation: 1,390m

Running Time: 10hrs 24mins (Moving Time: 8hrs 18mins)

I slept very well the night before, probably due to exhaustion. I woke like most day, to noises of runners getting ready for their day on the trails. We had not set an alarm as we decided to sleep till our bodies were ready to get up, after all it would only be 35km today (ha, ha). Slowly we got moving and prepared our packs, had breakfast and said farewell to Janet & Garry.

Today we followed many old river beds and creeks, winding round and round, over more rocks and more rocks. We saw cows on the trail and they ran away, they seemed to be quite scared by our presence. Other than birds and a lizard, these were the first animals we had seen out here in the wild. Where were all the kangaroos and koalas? It was probably due to the lack of water out here, it would be very hard to survive. We followed a wide creek for a few kilometres and it was scattered with hundreds of cows’ dung, clearly, they had found food and water in this area, the place was littered, and it stunk!!

We climbed up to Rocky Saddle and eventually hit Razorback Ridge where the views were stunning. There was a tent setup on the top of the Ridge, but we couldn’t spot any hikers. We stopped and had some lunch and a pit stop and kept moving on our way. It was a gorgeous day to be up here taking in the view.

At Spencer Gorge we bumped into Sarah and Sarah-Jane who were resting in the shelter. Sarah-Jane was not feeling well and had decided to stop and rest, Sarah had stayed with her as she didn’t really want her to be alone. The rest of their crew had gone ahead to keep moving, and they were going to contact Janet & Garry who would come and pick them up from a nearby road. We had some snacks with them and welcomed the shade as it was another very hot day.

Soon we were on our way again and headed for Brinkley Bluff, another of the high points along the course and the views did not disappoint. Then we hit Reveal Saddle which also had some great views, and eventually we climbed back down and ran into Standley Chasm.

The crew cheered us into the campsite and there was even a hot shower, we were very excited as we had not showered in 4 days! Unfortunately, we had missed the shop opening times, but Garry surprised us with some ice creams after dinner and we were all super stoked. Small pleasures, big smiles.

Day 5 – Standley Chasm to Simpsons Gap

Distance: 43.7km

Elevation: 1,261m

Running Time: 10hrs 28mins (Moving Time: 8hrs 40mins)

I had very broken sleep at Standley Chasm, so I woke up feeling very tired. A dog had barked on and off throughout the night and because there were other campers it was not as quiet as it had been most nights.

Roger and I were slow to get ready (as usual) and we walked out towards the trail while chomping on banana bread, which had become my favourite snack each morning. Our first stop was about 400m along the trail at the actual ‘Standley Chasm’ as it had been too dark when we arrived the night before. We took some photos and then a few of the others turned up and we took some silly photos with them too.

As we waved goodbye to the crew that were taking a rest day, we started up some stairs along the trail towards Simpsons Gap, we had a few climbs this morning and it was going to be another tough day. As we walked through the Chasm it was amazing to see how they trees seemed to be growing out of the rocks, I don’t know how they survived up here. Somehow, we managed to take a wrong turn but thankfully we realised before we had gone too far and soon we were back on the right track. A large sign was across the trail warning us that the next section was not for ‘Casual Walkers’ and that there was now only 60km till Alice Springs.

It was a very steep climb out of the chasm and there were lots of birds chirping as we got higher and higher. Then the trail became very, very, very, very slow moving as we had to climb and clamber over rocks of all different sizes. Some of the rocks we had to climb over were bigger than my 4WD car. I imagined that the area we were climbing through would have had waterfalls and rapids running down through them years and years ago, but they had obviously dried up many hundreds of years ago. It seemed the climbing would never stop, and it meant zero running.

Jane had told us about a low route option she would be taking, the high route was the same distance, but it had a lot more elevation and my guidebook said it would take an hour longer. Roger and I decided we wanted to take the risk of the high route and experience the views, and we were not disappointed. The trail was not as scary as we had been made to believe, much to my relief, and we ended up having a morning tea break here to take in the serenity.

We kept hiking/running along the trail and I took another wrong turn. It was a good thing we had the maps in our watches, as we used them so many times to make sure we were on the right trail.

Eventually we got to Simpsons Gap and Garry was waiting for us, he had been a little worried because we had taken a bit longer than he expected. I thought we had made it in pretty good time, but we had been slowed a lot by doing the high section. He gave us icy cold soft drinks that were heaven, and then drove us back to Alice Springs where we were all camping at a busy caravan park before our last day on the trail.

When we got to the caravan park it felt strange to be amongst so many people and so much noise, I missed the peacefulness of the campsites we had experienced each night beforehand. Our whole crew celebrated how far we had all come and planned the car pool for the next morning to get back onto the trail.

Day 6 – Simpsons Gap to Telegraph Station

Distance: 25.2km

Elevation: 696m

Running Time: 4hrs 38mins (Moving Time: 4hrs 21mins)

Roger and I were very organised for our last morning on the trail. We had prepared our packs the night before and basically just had to eat, get a lift, then run the 25km to the finish. As we waited for Garry to come back and pick us up we fed some local birds that had gathered to eat our scraps, it was a great experience.

Today we got to run with Sarah again and we sang lots as we trotted along the trails on our last day. I felt sad to be finishing, but happy to have made it so far. It was a strange feeling that made me think about planning more trips like this one, something I would have to look into when I got home. We ran quite a lot of the trail today, over a long ridge, under the main road, over the train tracks. Like my feelings the night before I was finding it strange to be back around cars and civilisation, like I was craving to be back in the middle of nowhere.

We caught up to the rest of our crew near the old cemetery and walked together to the end of the trail. We finally saw some kangaroos on the last kilometre of the trail and we were all so happy when we reached the Telegraph Station. We had done it.

I was extremely happy to have run every single, goddamned day, and that I had not given up on myself even when I had been thrown many obstacles. I had many ups and downs, some physical and some mental, but my body had stayed strong. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to have run this trail and the amazing support that we had from Garry & Janet, we could not have done this without them. Many thanks to Jane for organising such a memorable run, and to Roger for putting up with me every, single, day – he has a heart of gold.

It was a wonderful trip with mates that I will never forget. I know it will definitely not be my last….

For those of you interested in what we took/packed for the week here’s my packing list.

PACKING LIST

Sleeping Bag
Sleeping Mat
Blow up Pillow
Ugg Boots
Thongs
Trail Shoes x 2
Head torches x 2 (+ chargers/batteries)
Puffy Jacket
Space Blanket
Toiletries/Wet Wipes
Thermal Top
Thermal Pants
Buffs x 4
Gloves – Woolen & Trail
Microfibre Towel (compact)
Beanie
Sunglasses
Visor/Hat
Socks x 4
Running Shirts x 3
Running shorts x 2
Running skirt x 3
Sports Bras x 3
Undies x 6
Waterproof Jacket
Long sleeve top
Fleece jumper
Track pants
Hydration Backpack
Soft Flasks x 2
Hiking Poles
Sunscreen
Gurney Goo (for blisters)

The Comeback: Beaches Unsupported Marathon Series (BUMS)

Posted on September 18, 2018 by laurenhailey

“My legs felt strong, my lungs felt clear, and as I looked around to take in the stunning water views I started to wonder if I’d missed one of the chalk arrows keeping me on course. I looked ahead to try and spot Jane and the crew who I’d been running with earlier, but they were nowhere to be seen.”
Mental Note: Don’t forget to keep an eye out for chalk markings on the road or you’re going to get lost Hailey.

A couple of weeks ago I ran my first marathon in over 2 years. Why so long between races? In late 2016 I tore my plantar fasciia in my left foot. Initially it was diagnosed as Plantar Fasciitis which is treatable, so I’d kept running on my foot thinking it would get better. After starting the 2016 Coast2Kosci Ultra Marathon I got to 110km before the race organisers pulled me aside and made the tough decision to cut me from the race. They knew my pace had slowed during the day and it was certain that I wasn’t going to make the next checkpoint in time for the cut-off. They didn’t want to see me struggle through the night only to miss out, and I’ll be forever grateful they stopped me when they did or my injury could have been made a lot worse. After the race I took a break from running for almost 2 months and when I finally took myself out for a run I had instant pain. After an MRI and several doctor visits I was put into a cam boot for 5 1/2 months and since then I have had a long, steady recovery, ensuring that I don’t cause any further damage and pain. To say it’s been difficult is an understatement, but there are worse things in life and I’m lucky to have some wonderful, supportive people around me.

When the boot finally came off in June 2017, I made a conscious decision to not sign up for any races until I knew I was well and truly recovered. This meant there was no pressure on me to run a certain amount of time or km’s each week leading up to an event. I did have several bouts of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) over the months, especially after 2 European trips in mid 2017 to crew at races (Andorra Ultra Trail and Tor des Geants). During rehab an old knee injury flared up and I decided to take up mountain bike riding as cross training to lessen the impact on my joints. I joined the Helensburgh Off Road Cycle Club (HORCC) and really loved seeing the trails from another perspective. I also used a wind-trainer with Zwift at home during the winter months to help keep up my fitness, and I found these sessions quite fun.

After getting a late entry into the UTA22 event in May 2018, I planned to use this as my ‘come-back race’ to get the ball rolling again. However the universe had other plans, and the night before the race I came down with a temperature and illness which had me bed-ridden. But all was not lost. In October 2017 a friend got in touch about a multi-day running trip she was planning for late 2018 and I had jumped at the chance. I knew I wasn’t ready for that kind of distance when I accepted the invite, but I had plenty of time to get myself fit and ready.

I kept riding and running, and in early 2018 I decided it was time to call in the experts. I contacted my coach Andy at Mile27 and he set about getting me back on track and accountable with my training. Finally in June 2018 I for to run my ‘come-back’ race at the Kendall Mountain Run in Silverton, Colorado. It was amazing and you can read about it here.

With all the hiking and running that I managed to do in Colorado, I thought it was time to do a marathon. It would be a good test of my fitness and recovery leading into the multi-day trip coming up in late September, so I did it, I signed up for the BUMS marathon being held on 1 September and I had a blast.

I was one of 15 runners who met outside the Bavarian Bier Cafe in Manly on a beautiful winters day. We each made last minute trips to the bathroom and then I caught up with some running friends who I had not seen for a while. At 7.00am (on the dot) Jane signalled for us to start and we headed south along the harbour towards the trails. Brick & Dave were up front and in charge of ‘chalking’ the course, they would draw arrows onto the road/pavements at the intersections where we needed to turn. Danny Spencer was just behind them and then there was Jane, Peter, Ben and myself. My plan was to stay with Jane and Peter for as long as I could. My coach had told me to run 25mins then walk 5mins, which I’ll admit that I did not stick to. But I knew there would be some walking involved as there was quite a lot of trail and stairs on many sections of the course.

It was a beautiful day to be running next to the harbour and this course followed Sydney Harbour all the way to Watsons Bay. I had presumed it was mostly road, but it turns out the course was mostly trail with only a few sections of road. I love trail so this was great for me, but I had worn road shoes so was a little more cautious with any technical sections that we encountered.

Catching up with Jane and Peter, and hearing about their recent Oxfam run was fantastic. Ben was great company too, having never met him before we spent time talking about past races and what we were both training for.

We caught up to our friend Greg just before the Kirribilli Pub, he had started an hour earlier than us because he knew his pace would be slow and he didn’t want to hold everybody up. Plus it meant he could have celebratory drinks with us at the finish line. We downed a traditional quick beer (well… I had a coke) and we headed out the pub door and towards the Harbour Bridge.

The bridge was full of tourists and we walked a lot of it because it was too hard to try and run through the crowds. Once across we headed down towards The Rocks, thorough the markets, past the Opera House and through the Centennial Park.

We hit a few streets after this section and I started to do some walking like my coach had said because it was much flatter for the last half of the course. My legs felt strong, my lungs felt clear, and as I looked around to take in the stunning water views I started to wonder if I’d missed one of the chalk arrows keeping me on course. I looked ahead to try and spot Jane and the crew who I’d been running with earlier, but they were nowhere to be seen.

I kept running and eventually I caught up to Jane, Peter and Ben again. This happened a few times, I’d stop to walk and then when I started to run I would catch up to them again. However about 3kms from the finish I really started to slow. My muscles were tightening up quite a lot and I decided not to push it and drop back to take it easy.

I couldn’t believe how lucky we were with the weather. It had poured with rain the day before the race, so much so that I had packed my light-weight wet weather gear in case of rain but ended up ditching it into the car before the start. Roger had kindly offered to get up early and drive me to the start in Manly, a very early morning for him (especially for a weekend) and I was very grateful. I had been texting him throughout the morning so he could check on my progress, as he was also my back-up plan if the body wasn’t co-operating and I needed to cut the run short. But that wasn’t going to happen, I felt great.

Eventually I hit Watsons Bay and made my way to the finish outside Watsons Bay Hotel where our mates were waiting patiently for everybody to finish. They cheered me in and we headed to the bar for some celebratory food and drinks. It had taken 5 hours and 48 minutes, and the best part was how good I felt. I wasn’t fast, but I had achieved my goal to run a marathon and finish in one piece. And getting to run it with such good mates was a bonus. Life is good.

I may have dozed off in the car on the way home too, ha ha

Escaping Winter: Part 4 – The build up to Hardrock

Posted on July 20, 2018 by laurenhailey

Continued from Part 3.

On Monday, after a good nights sleep, we had a hearty breakfast with scrambled eggs, cheese and prosciutto on toast with good coffee. We chatted to another runner who was heading out from Cunningham to see some of the course and we got to meet his trail dog too, she was very lively and seemed to be playing hide and seek.

We headed back to Silverton as we both had massages booked with a lady called Megan. She lives in a place called Lafayette near Boulder and had travelled here to help get runners ready for Hardrock. I was booked in for 10am and Roger headed off to start the laundry, fuel up and get ice for the esky. The massage was great, she worked out some really tough knots in my glutes, calves and quads, it was just what I needed.

Rog took my place on the table and I headed off to wait for the dryer with our laundry. I felt like I was floating. After doing the laundry and enjoying a Blueberry Smoothie I went back to the car to read my book and wait for Roger, I may have also bought a ‘Coloradical’ t-shirt and some bicycle-shaped earrings along the way.

I read my book in the car for a while until Rog came out and then we headed for lunch. We chilled out for most of the day chatting to other runners and headed up to Cunningham Gulch to camp for our last night in the van. We had Cheese Enchilada Ranchero (dehydrated) for dinner and it was actually quite tasty. We also saw the most amazing pink sunset over the hills as we drifted off to sleep.

Tuesday we had a bit of a sleep-in and when we got up we chatted to a group of runners who were doing the ‘soft rock’. Soft rock is when you do the Hardrock course but spread over 3-5 days, so a much slower pace. These guys had decided to do the double which meant they would run the course in one direction then turn around and run it back the other way, that way on their second lap they would get to see the runners during the race too.

Before going to sleep the previous night I had decided that I would run the section from Cunningham Gulch to Silverton, the section I would be pacing for Roger during the race. So I geared up and got myself ready to do the 9 mile (approx. 14km) trail section over Little Giant. The sun was shining and there were hardly any clouds in the sky, it was going to be a good day.

I waved goodbye to Roger and headed over the creek to start the trail. I wasn’t looking forward to having wet feet from the start but my Speedgoats and Injinji socks actually dried up pretty quickly. The first section was a long hike that got steeper and steeper up over Little Giant and I had great views back down towards Cunningham.

I kept climbing and it was so nice to be out in the mountains enjoying the sunshine, I didn’t see another soul until I dropped back down in the valley over the other side and saw a couple of ATV’s (All Terrain Vehicle) near an abandoned mine. There were old mines everywhere in this district and most trails were originally formed by the miners and settlers who lived in this area many, many years ago.

The trail went down a long jeep road for quite a distance and their were a few turns and bends that were not marked. Lucky I had borrowed Roger’s Garmin and he had the course loaded into it so I could make sure I didn’t get lost. I also had the ‘Trail Run Project’ App in my phone which also had the course on it, as back up for if the watch didn’t work. Roger had also warned me that there was a sign warning people about a Moose and her babies, they can be quite aggressive, so my strategy was to be loud so that wouldn’t creep up in them and hopefully they would run away before I got near them. I’ll admit I was a little nervous doing this run by myself and maybe that’s why I ran it quite quickly, but I did relax and enjoy it very much.

It took me just under 3 hours to run this section which meant I arrived in Silverton just in time for lunch. I was quite pleased to have done it in that time because we had estimated about 4+ hours to complete. Maybe I was getting used to the altitude and my climbing was getting better, either way I’ll take it. My foot and knee had both been holding up well too so this made me very happy.

Roger had checked us into the Prospector Motel and I met him as I was walking down the main street towards the Coffee Bear. He was stoked with my time too and so we celebrated with ice cold Frappe’s. I headed for a shower and then we had lunch.

On the way back from lunch we noticed that they had started to put together the start/finish chute with flags and the famous ‘Hardrock’, so we headed over to take a look. I got a few photos and we met a lovely couple from New York, Britney and Ryan, Britney was doing the race for the first time too.

For dinner we went to Handlebars and both had (huge) steaks, the meal also came with soup and fries and the waitress was very impressed that we both finished our plates. And because we weren’t full enough we ducked across the street and finished the day with a Smedleys Ice Cream, delicious!

We walked back to the hotel the long way to burn off some of our meal and got an early night.

Wednesday is when the nerves started to kick in for Roger, as it was the first day of registration and the expo was open for business from midday. Larry, Andy and Roger were all in line to register as soon as it opened, then they had a few questions from the medical team, were given a spot tracker and finally had their photos taken in front of the Hardrock sign.

I got talking to a runner who had done the race before and his crew had made him an awesome t-shirt, check it out.

I spent a lot of time checking out the expo and bought some more clothes, caps and a Limited Edition Hardrock UD hydration pack, you can never have too many packs, am I right?

We all headed for lunch at the Pickel Barrel and Britney and Ryan joined us when they showed up a few minutes later. It was another really good meal. After lunch, Larnie and I went to the ‘Women of Hardrock’ talk that was put on by Trail Sisters and we had an interesting discussion about the difference between Male and Female entrants, prize monies, how to get more women involved and all things running. It was more of an open discussion and anyone could contribute, which was great because we heard a lot of different opinions from all around the world. We also ran into the race director Dale Garland, a lovely gentleman and had a quick chat to him as he ran around getting everything organised.

I walked back to the hotel with Larnie and she was headed for a nap, jet lag was taking its hold and she needed the rest. Roger and I headed to the (long) course briefing held in the school hall, which turned out to be a very detailed, google maps, street view of the entire course. It was run by James who we had met earlier on the course marking days, and it was very informative. Charlie (Head of the course crew) and a few other organisers/runners gave some great tips on the different sections of the trail.

We snuck out when they got to Cunningham as we both knew that section now and we headed for dinner at Golden Block Brewery with a good friend of Roger’s, Vincent from Hoka in Annecy and Jim Walmsley (recent winner and record holder of Western States). We also met Joe Grant as we were walking into the restaurant and chatted to him about his recent Nolan’s 14, plus he gave Rog some great tips on the Hardrock course. The pizza was great and we had a lot of laughs, then headed back to the hotel. Vincent and Jim were headed for a campsite out of town that apparently Jim and his crew stay at every year, their ‘Forest Fortress’.

On Thursday we managed to catch up with Mike Wardian for breakfast, a Hoka athlete who knew Roger well. We had coffee and burritos at our favourite Coffee Bear, and also chatted with Lucy Bartholomew and Anna Frost, both who happened to come past for coffee. Lucy was heading to Ecuador a few days after the race, and then back to Colorado for some running. Frosty had organised a group to do Soft Rock after the race and would also be working at Kroger’s canteen (Virginius Pass A.S.), one of the scariest checkpoints on the Hardrock course. Being surrounded by all these elite, super fast runners was inspiring and makes me want to train smarter and harder myself.

After breakfast we headed to the grocery store with Mike to get the final items for Roger’s drop bags and on the way back we dropped into Mike’s accommodation to meet his wife and kids, however his wife was catching up on some sleep. Instead we got to meet Jeff Browning who was staying in the same house, another elite who I am lucky to have met here on our trip. We chatted about the Tour de France which was on the tv and then ducked back to our hotel to get the drop bags ready.

Just before midday we headed over to hand in the drop bags and attend the runner’s briefing. The school hall was packed with runners and crew and all of the amazing people that help put together such a big event. It was such a surreal experience being there in that hall with so many accomplished runners, some who are known and some who are unknown. It was very inspirational and I left wanting to come back and do this race myself one day. Did I just say that? Shit.

We had dinner with Andy, Larnie and Larry At Natalia’s, most of us had pasta and I also had strawberry cheesecake for dessert. Back at the room Roger and I prepared all of his race gear and nutrition, and Jill arrived just before 8pm too. Jill is our friend from Boulder who we had convinced to come and crew with me, she had crewed for Beat at this race before and has run many ultra marathons herself so it was great to have her onboard.

And now we are off to sleep as the race starts at 6am tomorrow. I’ll be updating facebook with Roger’s progress whenever we have reception, so stay tuned.

Escaping Winter: Part 2 – Silverton and Kendall Mountain Run

Posted on July 18, 2018 by laurenhailey

Continued from Part 1.

We landed in Denver and a cab met us at the airport (organised by Roger) and took us to pick up our camper. For the next few weeks we planned to live in a campervan, so we could run/hike as much of the Hardrock course as possible and save time travelling to places etc. because most of the checkpoint/trailhead locations were remote.

We met Ryan from Vango Durango and got the keys for Indigo Montoya (ha ha), sweet wheels.

I used Google to find the closest grocery store and we headed to the City Market in Durango to buy all our food and drink for the next few days. A lady at the store gave us directions to a campground near Molas Lake so we headed there to camp for the night. Roger cooked (dehydrated) Beef Stroganoff and we had some Banana Custard Pudding for dessert. We were both pretty tired but had a restless sleep, I’m not sure if it was because of the altitude (camped at 3,200m) or because of the dehydrated food.

On Sunday morning we woke up to the sounds of a generator from a nearby campervan, it was a huge mobile home. I headed off into the forest to visit the bathroom and Roger cooked porridge and coffee for breakfast.

We packed up the camper and drove to Silverton with the plan to hike up Kendall Mountain (3,982m). We called into the Prospector Hotel and met Andy at the reception desk, he was a funny character in a Blues Brothers T-shirt who had just sold the Hotel and would soon be on his way around the world for a much-needed holiday. After a few laughs we headed down the main street to find some real coffee and a local told us to go to Bear Café. They weren’t wrong, the coffee was great and they had free WIFI, so I could upload some more pictures to Instagram and check on Alana and the doggies back home.

The main street is not very big however there were lots of stores and galleries to explore. We bought some t-shirts and chatted to a photographer and a painter in the local gallery. Our last stop before our run was a native American gallery where we chatted to the owners about the old and new artefacts and jewellery they had in store. The history of both of the owners was fascinating, as well as the items they stocked.

We headed back to the car and got ready for our run up to Kendall Mountain. As we parked near the trailhead we noticed another race was going on and we walked over to find out more. You wouldn’t believe but it was Jamil Coury from Run Steep Get High, we had watched his Hardrock video from 2017 (among others) before leaving and it was great to meet him in person. As we chatted the weather turned foul and even started to hail so we hunkered down under their tent until the hail stopped. As we donned our rain jackets we headed out towards the Mountain and the weather didn’t look like it was going to get any better. I’ve been told that here in the mountains they get a thunderstorm every afternoon without fail, so we were in for a wet one. It was a good chance for Roger to test his gear and for me to try and keep up.

It stayed cloudy and wet for most of the run and a couple of times the lightning made us question whether we should keep going or not. However the clouds parted by the time we got closer to the top.

Roger and I had a lot of fun on this trail and the colours changed so many times with the constant changing weather. Lucky for us the rain stopped as we were approaching the top and the views were amazing when we got there. The spot that we had hiked up to was not actually Kendall Mountain because we had missed a turn (the trails here were not marked) but we were satisfied with what we had done.

It stayed completely dry for all of the run back down the mountain and I took it steady all the way. Roger did some hard downhill efforts as this day was the last chance he had for this before starting to back off a little. We ran into a local man and his dog called ‘Monkey Man’ near the bottom of the mountain and he turned out to be a local hiking, riding guide in the area. His dog was beautiful and loved attention, I was happy to oblige as I was missing my dogs back home.

On the way down we also saw a lot of ATV’s heading up the mountain, they are a small 4 wheel, buggy-style vehicle and there were hundreds of them in this local area. As we walked the last section to the car we ran into a man walking with his wife and dog, he was wearing a Hardrock t-shirt so Roger approached him to say hi. The man’s name was Geoff and he had completed Hardrock 7 times previously, what an achievement.

Back at the van we changed and drove back into town to find a good spot for dinner. We landed at the Eureka Station which looked relatively new, I had Bison Meatloaf and Roger had Bison Lasagna. We shared dishes and I must say that mine was the better choice. During Dinner our good friend Andy Hewat showed up and we had fun catching up on all the latest news and race talk. Andy suggested a place for us to camp in Cunningham, so we could then run part of the course the next day, so after dinner we drove there and camped for the night.

Unfortunately Roger didn’t get much sleep during the night as his blood-sugar levels didn’t want to play nice, so when we were woken early by the sun it was hard to get out of bed (like most Monday’s I guess?). Can you spot the camper van in the photo below?

As I was making breakfast we met some other campers called Gosia and Stan who live about a 1hr drive south of Durango. They had 2 dogs with them, Lunas and Martia, Spanish for Monday and Tuesday, the days they had rescued the dogs off the street. Gosia and I spent a good deal of time showing each other photos of our doggies, she was lots of fun. She dresses her dogs up for special days like Halloween and Valentine’s Day and the photos were fantastic. I’m not sure our dogs would ever sit that still in a costume for a photo.

It turns out that Stan was a runner too, and he was registered for the Kendall Mountain Race that I would be doing next weekend, so we chatted about that while Roger got his gear ready to go for a run.

As Roger took off for his run I kept chatting to the lovely couple and eventually they had to pack up and leave. We exchanged contact details so we could keep in touch and I looked forward to seeing Stan at the race the next weekend.

It was pretty cold so I sat in the campervan and updated my journal of the trip while tidying the van. A cheeky little Marmot came up close to the camper and sat on a rock in the sun.

Not long after Roger came back down the hill we sat down to have some tuna and avocado wraps for lunch. Soon after this Roger was back out the door and onto the trail towards Silverton. The plan was for me to meet him in town for dinner with Andy, and I would also resupply the camper with some food and water for the next few days.

While he was out running I got Petrol (you pay before you fill up here which was a bit weird as you have to guess the amount you want), got ice for the esky and visited the Information centre to find out how we could get more water. The information centre had some great hiking books and they were very helpful. I did some shopping in town and when Roger arrived we had frappes at the Bear Cafe, my chocolate mint flavour was delicious. We met up with Andy who offered us the use of his shower and we jumped at the chance. I felt so good after a nice warm shower, beats Wet Ones ha!

The three of us headed up the road for dinner at Handlebars, I had an Elk burger and Rog had a Buffalo burger, they were both very tasty but I think I liked the Buffalo most.

We said goodbye to Andy and made plans for the next day’s course marking adventure up to Handies Peak, this is the highest peak of the Hardrock Hundred course at 4,284m and would be not only a great hike but a good chance to see how we handled that altitude.

We camped at the bottom of Kendall Mountain, near the 5 day race that was still going on and we hoped nobody would ask us for a camping permit (which we didn’t have).

The alarm went off at 6am on Tuesday and just as I was getting up we heard a tap on the window and a voice saying ‘Do you have a parking permit?’, we didn’t respond and the voice asked the same question again, shit. Turns out it was Andy who had come past to let us know the course marking day had been changed, what a joker. He gave me a heart attack as there was a hefty fine for camping without a permit. He asked if we wanted to travel in the car with him and his friends Larry, Beth and Rachael, and of course we jumped at the chance.

We got up and rushed to get dressed, thankfully we had prepared our packs the night before so they didn’t have to wait too long. We squashed four of us into the back seat and headed towards Grouse Gulch the start of today’s hike/run. On the way we were lucky enough to see two Bull Moose feeding on some bushes next to the road. They were huge, strong and beautiful creatures. What a great way to start the day.

Photo: Roger Hanney

The road was very rocky but Larry’s car made it to the trailhead quite easily. We all geared up and headed up the trail under blue skies. I had been looking forward to this hike up to Handies Peak, I knew it was going to be a good day.

Rog and I ended up ahead of the others and unfortunately Beth was having knee issues (recovering from a recent meniscus tear) so she turned back early. Larry, Andy and Rachael were behind us and we waited for them at the first pass.

Andy got to the pass and we had a quick chat. Rachael was struggling a little so Larry was hanging back with her. Andy told us to go ahead and he would organise a turn around time if they didn’t make it to the peak on time.

The reason we had a turn around time is because every afternoon there were thunderstorms in these mountains – they create their own weather so you have to be prepared. We didn’t want to be up on the peak (or close to it) if there was lightning as it would be too dangerous.

We saw lots of Marmots and Pika again today and another runner told us she had seen Coyote so we kept a sharp eye out hoping to see one of those too.

It was a long, steep hike up to the peak and my pace slowed as it got steeper and steeper. The higher we climbed the more mountains started to reveal themselves around us’ and once we reached the top we felt like we were in another world.

Breathtaking.

Andy joined us a few minutes later and we chatted to a few other hikers. We took loads of photo and spent a long time soaking up the view. It’s hard to describe what we saw and felt, it was magical.

As we were about to head down we saw Larry and Rachael making their way up the peak, so we cheered them on and waited for them to arrive. The turn around time we had organised was midday and it was 11:52am when they reached the peak. Perfect. We took some more photos and then made our way back down the mountain. Andy was a great downhill runner and I took it nice and steady, stopping to take lots more photos. Every time the clouds moved the colours around us changed and I couldn’t help taking more and more photos.

Eventually we could see the car and we hit the last of the switchbacks down to the road.

We chatted with Beth who had been patiently waiting at the car and Andy realised there the rental car actually had another row of seats in the back, which would make the trip back to Silverton much more comfortable.

Once we were all back at the car we headed into town just in time to see the rain start and the storms rolling in. We had timed it perfectly.

We had pizza for dinner with the crew at Golden Block Brewery where we also met Arkansas local Billy Simpson for the first time, and then we walked up the road to have Funnell Cake for dessert.

After we filled our bellies we headed to Cunningham Gulch to camp and get an early night.

On Wednesday the alarm went off at 6am and I visited the pit toilet while Rog got up and ready. I drove us into town and on the way down we saw that the town was covered in a thick fog.

I dropped Roger at Andy’s hotel where Larry was meeting them to drive them to Grant swamp (via Ophir, a very sketchy road apparently). Coffee was on my mind so I went to Coffee Bear and ordered a sausage burrito and large coffee, then headed over to the laundry. While I was doing laundry the owner asked what channel I wanted to watch and I couldn’t think of anything so I just said ‘Maybe some Sports?’. I chatted to the owner some more and after he left I realised he had put the tv on the shopping channel, great (not).

I met Roger when he got back into town and we had frappes at the Bear Cafe. I think we were both feeling exhausted as all we could think about was finding a place to sleep for the night. So we drove up towards Minnie Gulch (past Cunningham Gulch) to set up camp for the night and the road was a bit scary. It was a dirt road and full of rocks, cliff edges. Eventually we turned around because I didn’t think the van would make it over the creek crossing. I doubled back and Roger took a short hike up another side road and found a great place to park the van for the night.

We were both feeling exhausted and crashed early.

A rest day was planned for Thursday so we woke up late and Roger cooked eggs on toast with avocado and we also had coffee. There was nobody around us for miles and I was feeling really good despite the altitude.

Once breakfast was cleaned up and the van repacked we headed to Orvis Hot Springs. This was a good chance for me to see the road to Ouray as I would be driving along it to checkpoints during the race, plus the hot springs would be relaxing. The drive to Ouray was along windy, cliff edge roads where you have to go quite slow due to all the hairpin turns. At one section along the ‘Million Dollar Highway’ it was down to one lane due to a mud slide earlier in the week. We later found out that there had actually been 8 land/mud slides along that section of road but they had managed to clean most of them up.

The hot springs were another 10mins drive past Ouray and had been recommended to us by Steady, a friend of Roger’s who had worked as a high end bootfitter in Telluride. We parked and checked in to the reception, the lady gave us a tour and advised that in the outside area ‘clothing was optional’. There was no way I was going naked and I hoped that there weren’t too many old, wrinkly men/women lurking around.

We changed and got the indoor pool first, the coolest of the springs. A mother with her two children were playing in the pool (clothed) and we chatted to her about her upcoming move from Boulder to Ouray, she was here checking out schools for her girls before they moved, her husband had been transferred here for work.

After the indoor pool we headed over to the super cold and super hot (44 degrees) springs for some cold/hot treatment. At first I couldn’t get into the water past my knees with either of those springs, but on my second and third attempts I managed to get all the way under up to my neck. The main benefit of the hot/cold treatment was to help inflammation, but it also helps relax your muscles and my skin felt great afterwards too. The last spring we tried was the main pool and 80% of the people were clothed thankfully. The loose gravel pool bottom felt great for tired feet to walk across.

A storm rolled in and we decided to leave and grab some lunch in Ouray. I showered and we headed to The Ouray Brewery for lunch which was another great meal.

After (late) lunch we headed up to try and camp near Governor Basin, which was the starting point for tomorrow’s Course Marking day, however the road got too much for our camper and we ended up heading back to Molas Pass to camp for the night.

On Friday we woke up to the alarm at 6am and as we walked to our respective bathrooms (trees). Roger spotted a Deer and her 2 children, he called me over and i just got to see them before they ran off into the trees across the path. They were beautiful.

Once the camper was packed we headed to pick up Andy from his hotel and meet the group for course marking at Charlie’s house.

After a short briefing everyone packed into the cars and we headed for Camp Bird Road. The trip through the mountains was uneventful but the beauty of the mountains stole my heart at every turn.

I dropped Roger and Andy off with the other runners, they would get a lift with another runner in their 4WD as our van would not make it to Governors Basin. I headed into town for breakfast, shopping and some down time. After purchasing some gifts I headed to the hot springs in town, the weather was heating up and they had hot and cold pools at the one in town. The water was lovely and the place was really busy, it was much bigger and fully clothed thankfully (ha ha).

Roger, Andy and the rest of the course marking crew joined me at the hot springs after their run/hike, then we all headed to Mexican for late lunch. I had a good chat over Tacos with Beth, Larry and another lady called Annie, a really friendly bunch of people and such experienced ultra runners.

It was pouring with rain as we left the restaurant and headed back to Silverton over the mountains. I was getting nervous because on Saturday I was doing the Kendall Mountain Run, a 13 mile course from Silverton (9,318ft) to the top of Kendall Mountain (13,066ft) and back down. There is an interesting history to this race and you can read more about it here.

When we got back to Silverton we decided to try and get a room for the night so I could get a good nights sleep before my race. Roger managed to get us a room at The Bent Elbow in the notorious Blair Street and our room was funnily enough called the Bordello.

Across the street an Elvis impersonator was singing on a trailer parked outside the Avalanche Brewery (bought another lid to add to my collection too, see pic below), and the place looked busy so we headed there for dinner after picking up my race pack from the Avon Hotel. The funny line we heard as were leaving after eating was from a smiling father to his young daughter, “Well of course it sounds terrible honey, he’s a man in an Elvis suit singing out of the back of a campervan”.

Then it was back to our comfortable room to chill out and get an early night, and I just have to say it was so nice to have a proper bed and a toilet.

Saturday’s alarm went off at 6:30am and I was feeling very nervous for my race. Thankfully we had plenty of time and only a short walk from the hotel to the start line on the corner of Greene St and 12th St.

I had chosen to wear my Nathan pack with Tailwind in 2 soft flasks in the front and wet weather gear in the back, as I had been told there was 50% chance of rain and I hate being cold. That’s Kendall Mountain in the background of the below photos, piece of cake right?

We walked to the start line and there were lots of people queued up for the portable toilets. Roger walked up to get a coffee and I used the cafe’s bathroom which didn’t have a queue (score!). Beth and Larry found us at the start line and they wished me well. I positioned myself at the back of the runners and eventually we were off and running.

The course went for 2 blocks up the Main Street and then hooked right onto another street that eventually turned into a fire trail that circled its way up Kendall Mountain. I saw Andy at the start of the uphill section and he wished me good luck. The trail up to the peak was rocky, steep and endless, but I made some good friends along the way. There was a married couple Jake and Nicole, Jake was her coach and she was mostly training for triathlon. There was Ned an older man who had run this many times before. And then there was Alice, about my age and it was her first trail race ever. What a tough race to do first!!

I could really feel my breath struggling the whole way up, and had to slow my walking a few times to get my breath back. My calves were feeling tight too, and I tried to rest them by choosing ‘flat spots’ to give them a break every little while. A flat spot is when a rock is sitting at a certain ankle so that when you walk up the trail your foot ends up horizontal when planted, which gives the calves a break from the plantar flexion you’ve been doing mile after mile.

Before I reached the top I ended up alone and with a big gap in front and behind me, it was peaceful and I took in the amazing views around me.

I reached the arch we had hiked to the previous week and then braced myself for the rocky scramble up to the peak. The trail was super steep now and we had to crawl on all fours, slipping and sliding up the rocks. There was a false summit and so we kept on climbing and climbing.

I looked up and saw Jamil Coury (ultra running legend) standing at the summit and asked him for a photo.

There were a few small steps to the top now and as I reached the summit I cheered with excitement. Wahooo!

I had a quick chat to Jamil and his crew and then I was out of there, it was all downhill from here. I scrambled down off the top peak feeling confident and quicker than I expected, passing people along the way. Then I hit the fire trail and a stitch in my left side made running quite painful, so I alternated running and walking for the next few miles trying to get rid of it. Despite slowing down the stitch wouldn’t go away, so I tried to focus on relaxing my body and just running at a slow, steady pace, taking it easy like my coach said. I tried to take my mind off the pain and soak up what was around me, it worked and eventually I was feeling much better. I picked up some speed and started to pass people on my way back down the mountain, it felt great.

To my surprise Roger and Andy had hiked up part of the trail to cheer me on and it was so nice to see them, it really gave me a lift.

Photo: Andy Hewat

My pace got quicker again and I kept picking off people in front of me, while keeping some in reserve for the last run on the flat to the finish at Memorial Park. Where was that park? I had reached the flat now and the park I thought we would finish in was incorrect, I had to run another mile into town. I walked and ran this last section and kept a close eye on the gentleman behind me as I didn’t want him to beat me. As I approached the finish Larry and Beth were cheering me on and others heard them say my name so they started cheering for me too. A gentleman rushed to take my photo as I crossed the finish line underneath the inflatable finish arch, and was handed a mug and food voucher. I had done it!!

I waited for my (new) running friends who weren’t far behind me so that I could cheer them over the line and congratulate them, then I headed back to see Larry and Beth. We all headed over to the finish area for the bbq and to buy some gear at the Run Steep Get High shop. Roger and Andy joined me not long after and we watched others finishing the race. The atmosphere was great and I loved my finishers mug, so much more practical than a medal.

After the race, Roger had a burrito and Andy was kind enough to let me use his shower. Then we jumped in the campervan and headed to the The Needles in Utah. We had decided that this side trip would be a good break from Silverton/Hardrock and a great chance to see some different and amazing landscapes and get an extra dose of oxygen.

Stay tuned for Escaping Winter: Part 3 – The Needles, Utah

2016 GNW100 Miler

Posted on September 28, 2016 by laurenhailey

I’ve been dreaming about this race for a few years now. I’ve seen every video on youtube, read every race reports and heard about so many DNF (Did Not Finish) stories that I’ll admit it had me a little scared. But I’m always up for a challenge and the Great North Walk 100s sounded like it was just my cup of tea.

I eventually started telling people about my race plans and thankfully had 2 wonderful humans volunteer to crew (Sally Dean) and pace (Brad Smithers) for me at the race. Sally and I met when we crewed together for Jane Trumper at the 2015 Coast2Kosci, she was very experienced and I learnt so much from her over that weekend, an invaluable asset to have on my team! And that’s also where I met my pacer Brad, he was crewing for another runner at Coast2Kosci, his bubbly personality and helpful nature meant we became good friends straight away. Brad had also run the GNW miler in 2015 so he knew the course well and was experienced in ultra running, another invaluable asset to have on my team.

Like most of my races I would also use this event to fundraise for Dementia research at the UNSW Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) and run this race in honour of my grandmother Betty who passed away recently after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. Since 2013 I have run many events and raised almost $20,000 for this cause and I think my Nan would be very proud.

Months of training went past with the experienced help of my coach Andy Dubois, and it was not without the usual speed bumps of life along the way. I got to run on most of the course before race day, and I also spent a couple of days hiking solo and camping on the course, which I later realised was one of the toughest sections. It was a great experience for me as I love the outdoors, even if it meant getting a few blisters along the way!

Fast forward to the day before race day, where I met Sally in Woy Woy near the hotel I would be staying after the race. I would leave my car there and Sally would drive us to Warners Bay where we would stay the night before the race. We checked into our Hotel (pub, big mistake!) and went to do the usual final shopping trip. We also drove to the start area, a large football field which would be flooded with runners, supporters, organisers and volunteers the next morning. We went back to the hotel and Sally meticulously organised my food bags, she’s awesome! I’d also given her a 7 page document which outlined my plan so we chatted about the finer points on that too ( I know, run nerd). I also (half) taped my feet which took took much longer than expected, next time i’m just going to call Berny, ha ha!

Now all that was left to do was sleep, but that didn’t really go to plan as it sounded like the pub band were playing directly below our room and when they stopped playing at midnight we were treated to more ‘doof doof’ from the DJ until about 2am. Not the best way to spend the night before you are about to run 175kms, but hey what could I do?!

The alarms went off and we sleepily got up and prepared for the day. You couldn’t wipe the smile off my face!

We parked the car at the start area and checked in, weighed in, and I visited the toilet 5,000 times (okay, slight exaggeration). Always happens to me before a race, and thankfully I found a toilet that didn’t have a queue. I spent time chatting to lots of friends who were running both the 100km and 100 mile events and I sat down to rest my legs before the race briefing.

Wayne (Blue Dog) Gregory and I had planned to start the race together and run together as long as we could. We had not done any training runs together but he said that he was going to be slow and being my first miler I told him I would be taking it slow and easy to ensure I could make the distance, it would be nice to have his company.

And we were off, I was talking so much I missed the starting gun (if there was one?) but everyone started running and we joined them.

I was running GNW100 Miler!! Woohoo!!

I started the race with Blue Dog as planned, and we ran with friends Seb, George and his friend Simon for most of the first road section. I also saw my physio Pete as we crossed over the railway bridge, he was looking fit and I wished him well. It was raining at this point but only very lightly and it was actually very nice as the temperature was quite warm that morning (15 degrees if you believe the Liquorland sign near our hotel).

Photo Credit: George Mihalakellis

Eventually we hit some trail and some hills, Blue Dog. And so it began, the power hiking up and the running down, plus running the flats. We hit our first steep, technical hill and Blue Dog commented on how strong I was going up them. I felt good, no I felt great.

It was during the jungle that Blue Dog slowed and I kept getting ahead. It was a beautiful section of the course, very much like a rainforest and I took lots of time to look around and enjoy the view while I waited for Blue Dog to catch up, but eventually he told me to go on ahead and stop waiting for him and by the look in his eye I knew it was the right thing to do, he was struggling. I wished him well and caught up to another group of runners just ahead, one of them was Michael that I’d met at C2K, then there was Nick who has done this race 7 times before (!!), plus another first timer who from the Ukraine. They told me about a ‘huggy’ post that was at the top of the climb. We eventually got there and after a few laughs I managed to snap a shot of us all leaning on the post.

I got to CP1 (28.6km) with relative ease and was greeted by John Love from Terrigal Trotters. I had never met him before but he was a friend of my massage therapists and he was going to help look out for me. From then on I was known to all of the volunteers as “John’s (only) friend”, the joke of the day/night/day! ha ha

I saw Sally straight away when I came into the checkpoint and she gave me all the supplies I needed, dead set legend. I made a quick dash to the bathroom and hoped that I would be able to leave with the same runners I had come in with. Unfortunately they were nowhere to be seen as I Checked-Out and got on my way. Here’s me heading out of CP1.

Being alone for part of this section took me back to when I had hiked it a few months earlier, only this time I was not carrying a 28kg pack!! It was beautiful to hear only the sounds of my feet and the birdsongs all around me. Just beautiful.

After a while I caught up to Nick and the crew again, and our group chatted and laughed about so many things I can’t even remember. It was fun and I was loving this. Eventually it was just Nick and I and we were running along the road to Congewoi, it was an undulating section and we took the run/walk/run/walk approach. It was getting quite warm and the sun was beaming down on us at this time, but we were thankful of a few clouds and large trees and ran whenever we got a shady spot too.

As we approached the checkpoint a lady who has been crewing for someone came past and offered us a Boost chocolate bar, she was running just ahead of us holding it out to show us and as we chased her we could not stop laughing, it was like dangling a carrot in front of us to make us run into the cp. I wish someone had filmed it as it would have been very funny!

Coming into CP2 (52.5) it seemed there was a lot more excitement and atmosphere than CP1, lots more cheering and smiley faces. Sally found me straight away and got me weighed, seated and fed. I saw the smiling face of Roger Hanney too, he had just got back from his UTMB challenge and he filled my bladder up with iced water – it was divine, thanks Roger!

I did a quick toilet stop, changed my underwear & put on some tights as I was getting some chaff between my legs (TMI?) and I didn’t want it to get any worse, better to prevent if you can! Here are some pictures from the checkpoint.

Getting my mandatory gear checked off.

As I was leaving the cp Roger from Hoka One One made an embarrassing impromptu video interview that you can watch here (sorry about the swearing mum): https://www.facebook.com/HokaOneOneAustralia/videos/pcb.1099883286726723/1099879683393750/?type=3&theater

I left the cp feeling good, scoffing some ginger kisses into my mouth (god they were good) and hoping I would catch Nick who had left just before me. And thankfully I did. The next section of the course was a brutal one, two of the biggest climbs and not a lot of flat at all. We ran along and another runner called Roberto (from Argentina) caught up to us and we chatted about the next section. We also learned that Roberto was doing 8 milers on 8 continents, this was number 7 in his quest – wow!

The first climb was tough but I was ready. I’d hiked it before with a heavy pack and I knew I could do it again. Nick and I chatted the whole way up and it seemed to make the time go faster which was great. I pointed out the spot where I had camped during my hike and Nick named it Haileys Corner, which sounded a bit rude to me (ha ha) and I re-named it Haileys Campsite.

When we got to the top we realised we had caught up to a few runners, one of them being a good friend of mine Adam, and we were also joined by another good friend of mine Leah. So we decided to have a log party and get some food into us, good times!!

After a few shenanigans we were soon up and on our way, it felt great to be running again on the fire trail that lay before us. We chatted to some more runners that caught up to us and continued with our running banter and stories. None that I can share with you i’m afraid, as ‘whatever happens on the trail stays on the trail’ (ha ha).

We eventually came to a property and we had to pass through some gates, past some cows, over a stream, through some more gates and then up towards the next big climb. Adam, Leah and I chatted as we made our way up the next steep hill, it seemed that it would never end. It was here that we also caught up to a friend Kurt, I hadn’t seen him for a while so it was really nice to run into him (pun intended).

The next part I cannot remember too well, probably because it all looked the same or I’ve decided to erase it from my memory (ha ha) but I know that I somehow lost Leah and ended up heading into the Basin by myself. It was dark now and I’d prepared for this as it was a tricky section, but I had the trail etched in my memory so that I wouldn’t get lost. And as I was heading into the Basin I managed to catch up to my friends Kurt and Adam, and we chatted about the food we would consume and the things we needed to do at the next cp. We all decided that we should try and stick together for the next section and leave at the same time, it seemed like a great plan to me.

Coming into the Basin (81.6km) you could hear some (awful) Karaoke singers who had clearly been living it up by the campfire all afternoon/evening, and there was a buzz in the air as we flew into the check-in tent and collapsed on the chairs ready to get stuck into some tucker. I’m pretty sure I had 3 cups of soup and more, it was so tasty and felt good going down. I changed my shoes here and put on the trusty Hoka that feel like clouds, they were so good on already sore and blistered feet. Sally was an angel and made sure I had everything I needed, that I was fed, that I was warm, and gave me updates about other runners she knew of. I was feeling so excited and positive. This was going well and you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

I chatted to Nick & Pete who had come into the cp earlier than we had, but were both struggling. Pete hadn’t been able to keep food down and Nick had decided to lay down for a nap. I hoped they would be able to get up and keep running.

Sally also gave me some emails from my family, they had such lovely words of encouragement and they brought a happy tear to my eye. So thoughtful, so motivating.

After lots of laughs, lots of food, some name calling and a toilet stop we eventually got our butts organised and headed out into the night. The next cp would be Yarramalong and the finish for the 100km runners, a massive tick off the list i’d been keeping my head. My plan was to get in and out of that cp as quickly as possible. And I was really looking forward to seeing my pacer Brad, his smile had a way of making everything okay and he would be very welcome company for the rest of the race.

It really was so much fun running with Kurt and Adam, both had a great sense of humour and were easy to talk to. We planned to take the trail section here petty easy and then once we hit the road we were going to opt for a run/walk/run/walk option along the 10km+ road section. As we were approaching the road we somehow got a tiny bit off course and poor Kurt and Adam ran into some stinging nettle. I’m glad they had been ahead of me as it meant I had fair warning and could avoid it. The trail was just 4 metres to our right and we back tracked onto it and then onto the road. As we got to the road we saw a few other runners who had stopped and were reading a map. We told them they needed to go left and just keep running.

It really did feel good to be running again and I wanted to use this road section to make up some time, so I promised myself I had to keep the run/walk momentum going. We took turns saying let’s run to that post, or that tree, or that letterbox, or that scarecrow. Yes that’s right, the road was littered with houses that had dressed up their own scarecrows in costume and themes and the local town were having a competition for the best one, you could even go online to vote for them! They were fantastic, check them out here: http://www.yarramalongvalleyspringfestival.com.au/spring-festival-events/scarecrow-competition/

We kept up the run/walk but there seemed to be more walking than running, and I remember at one point thinking shit I need to run some more, so I told the boys and thankfully they followed behind me as we put some distance between us and the other runners we had seen earlier. It was dark, but it wasn’t cold. Thankfully it was a beautiful night and you should have seen the stars, thousands of them filtered the sky…!!!

It was at this point I thought of my friend Jill who at the same time was running the Glasshouse 100miler in Queensland. I wondered how she was going, how she was feeling and felt like part of her was there with me edging me along the road.

Eventually we got closer to town and we headed into the Yarramalong cp (103.7km) where I saw the smiling faces of my friends from Trailblazers Brad, Emma & Filimon. I made a quick dash to the toilet and then headed to find trusty Sally who would get me re-fueled, re-energized and back out there.

I saw Brad and he commented on how fresh I looked and I said I was feeling good. I really was looking forward to his company and being able to ‘switch-off’ a little, as I’d been cautiously searching for trail markers and stressing that I’d get lost for most of the day. It was nice to know I had a fresh pair of eyes looking out for me and to help share the journey to Patonga. We ate and ate and ate, and I stretched a little too. The body was holding up well and I reminded myself to keep re-assessing and making smart decisions. I was surprised how alert I felt and that I was still eating real food, usually for the second half of the 100km races the only thing going in would be gels at this point. But the food tasted good. I had soup and chips and coke and whatever else I could get my hands on. I was still loving those ginger kisses!!

Kurt, Adam, Brad and I departed the cp together as we headed for another tough section. I think we were all very glad to have Brad join our crew and he chatted to us about a plan of attack. I was so excited to be past Yarramalong and told the gents this was the furthest I had even run before. We had a mini celebration and then got stuck into the hard work that lay before us.

After a few hours into this section, probably at around 3:00am I started to get sleepy and was slowing down. I could feel my eyelids getting heavy and they wanted to close. Picture micro-sleeping while on the run, that was me. I told the gents how I was feeling and Kurt said he was a bit the same. So we tried to keep talking to each other and keep the brain awake, but it was really starting to slow me down. Brad went ahead chatted to the other guys to tell them to go ahead as I was slowing everyone down. There were only a few hours until sunrise and prior to the race everyone had told me that once the sun comes up your body will re-charge, I hoped that was true.

Brad kept me alert and upright as we kept moving through the early hours of the morning and sure enough once we started to hear the sounds of the early morning birds we knew the sun was on it’s way, and a new day could start. You could see the sky starting to lighten and as the sun lifted high into the sky so did my spirits.

I started running again and it felt great. I felt awake and alive, and was looking forward to getting into the next cp at Somersby. The sleepiness had gone and i was very thankful. We caught up to Kurt who was now alone and we ran past him wishing him well.

We ran, walked, ran, walked, ran, walked, and ran some more until we eventually go to the next cp at Somersby (132.1km). I was looking forward to some breakfast and some coffee which we had planned to have here. I had porridge and a delicious cup of ‘real’ coffee, thanks volunteer lady for sticking around and making it for me – you rocked!!

Sally gave me a blanket and food and took care of my emptying and re-filling my pack. I told her what I had eaten and she was impressed (ha ha). Such a caring, thoughtful woman. I really had chosen the best crew-lady ever!!

Brad surprised me with a beautiful little bunch of lavender, something for me to remind me of my grandmother. It brought a happy tear to my eye as I remembered her and reminded me of the struggles her and my family had been through with her dementia. She was a beautiful lady and I was going to get back out there and do her proud.

I chatted to Sarah (Adam’s wife) and she said that he has left only moments before we had arrived, it was great to hear he was doing so well. I did some more stretching just to get the body moving and eventually Sally had us all prepared and on our way. I’d even filled my bladder with Coca Cola to help get me caffeinated and ensure no more sleepy patched would appear on the next section. And I only had one more cp to go, then the finish. How awesome was that!

Brad and I got up and on our way heading back out onto the road section, over a little hill and then back onto the trail. Only a marathon to go now!!

This was a gorgeous section to run and having Brad’s company was great. We chatted and laughed and I was feeling so much better than the low point I had had earlier during the morning. The new day brought new opportunities and eventually it would bring that finish line. It was in my mind, I could picture it, and I was going to do whatever it took to get there.

We got to Mooney Mooney cp (149.9km) and were greeted by the smiling faces of the volunteers and gorgeous Sally. We also met the lady who would be sweeping the course and I started to get very aware of the cut-off times and wanted to make sure we stayed comfortably ahead of them. This meant that we didn’t stay very long as we had to keep moving.

As we left the cp I waved to Sally and we headed off dancing down the hill with big grins, as we knew the next stop would be the finish at Patonga!!

There was some lovely trail at the start of this section before we hit some nasty hills and a sh!tload of rock, rock and more rock. Oh and there was some rock too! By this point my feet were aching, the blisters had formed nicely around my toes but I was determined to ignore that and get the job done. So we went up on the rock, down on the rock, up on the rock, down on the rock, and Brad put up with my groans and sighs as we made our way through this section. It felt like we were going round in circles and not getting anywhere and I was starting to get frustrated. When would this rock ever end?!

I remember going quiet for a long time, and internally I was stressing about the next cut-off. I also remember saying to Brad “I feel like we have been on this rock forever” and he replied, “That’s because we’ve been on it for over 2 hours”. It made sense. I tried to relax my body and focus on the finish. I remembered the quote Blue Dog had said, ‘It’s going to get ugly, but it’s going to get done’, and i’m pretty sure my style at this point was very ugly! ha ha

The last cut-off was 3:00pm at the Staples Lookout Track (160.8km) and thoughts of not reaching the lookout in time seemed to consume my thoughts, no matter how much I tried to think of something else. And I’m sure I asked Brad about a thousand times ‘are we there yet?’. I’m sure he was getting sick of me now!

Brad and I sat down for a minute to rest during this section, and he read me an email that my husband had written for me to encourage me along. It was beautiful. It was perfect. We shared some more tears and then we got back up and on our way, getting back to business.

I was still feeling pretty good, tired but better than I expected to feel at this point. I felt very alert and awake and was determined to run as much as I could, and I did.

Eventually we went past the cut-off point with 30 minutes to spare, I said my prayers to the trail running gods and promised myself to lighten up and enjoy the rest of the journey. And as soon as we got off that god awful rock I started running again, further and further than I expected to be running at this point.

I could almost smell that finish line. I could hear it calling me. And I ran, I ran even though my head wanted me to stop. I ran. I pushed harder. I even managed to cachet up to a few runners as I hit the fire trail before the last downhill section to the beach. When I got closer I realised one of the runners was Adam, and I was hoping that he would tag along and speed up with me so we could get to the finish together, but he stayed with his pace and I wished him well (with a slap on the butt) as I went past.

The down hill section in front of me had a little bit of concrete and rock, and after that it was my favourite type of trail. I decided to give it everything I had and finish the race running from here on. I felt like I flew down the last hill. It was single track, stairs, rocky, it had lots of turns and I was having lots of fun. I passed another 2 runners on that section and Brad and I eventually hit the beach.

We heard the bell sound telling everyone that there was a runner on the beach and we made our way along the sand to the finish area. I could see the finishers post, I was really doing this, I was going to finish the GNW100 Miler!!

I fell to my knees in awe of the race and all that it entails, I could’t believe I had made it. My eyes were filled with tears. I kissed the post. I hugged the post. I did it Nan!

Finish line Video: https://www.facebook.com/jill.saker/videos/10153990253633380/

Tears are filling my eyes as I type this and I have so many people to thank for getting me to the start line and supporting me on this journey so far. Without them I would not have been able to plan and prepare for the event in the way that I had. I truly believe that my race could not have gone any smoother and it thanks to my wonderful crew Sally, pacer Brad, coach Andy, massage therapist Faye, husband Jared and my beautiful family & friends.

Thank you to Dave Byrnes the race director and all of the wonderful volunteers who gave up their time to support us crazies, you people are wonderful and the world would be a better place if there were more people like you.

Thank you to everyone who sponsored me and helped me raise funds for UNSW Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, we got to $2,00 and i’m thrilled. So thanks for the support team!

You can still donate here if you have a few spare dollars: https://cheba2.everydayhero.com/au/hailey-runs-gnw100mile

So what’s next for me? I’ve applied for a little race that’s coming up in December and I’ve got everything crossed in the hope that I get chosen to race this spectacular beast. It would be a dream come true!

Stay tuned and happy running 🙂

Six Foot Track Marathon 2016

Posted on July 31, 2016 by laurenhailey

It’s only taken me 4 months to finally blog about this race, but my lack of speed in getting this written down is quite the opposite of how my race went on the day.

I had the Friday off work and got the train into the city to meet Maria as we were traveling and staying together at Caves House in the Blue Mountains, the finish location of the race. On the way up to the mountains we called into The Carrington Hotel to collect our race packs and chatted to many friends doing the same, the nerves and excitement were building. We ordered takeaway across the road at the pasta joint which took more than an hour to get (second busiest day of the year for them), and then we drove to our hotel arriving in the dark. After originally being given the wrong room (with no bathroom), we finally got checked into a new room (still not the spa room we had booked) with a bathroom. We ran into Leah and her husband Russell who were checking into their room, they were both running the next day too.

After getting our race outfits organised and everything out ready for the morning, we headed to get some rest. I had been fighting a head cold for the past week and hoped that I would not snore and keep Maria awake (sorry Maria).

It was race day!

We got up, had breakfast (banana, coffee & muffin for me) then got ready and headed down to the buses that would take us to the start line. After a long bus ride on some very narrow, rocky, cliff-side roads we eventually got to the start area and the air was electric! We made our usual last minute toilet stop and then found some other Striders to chat with as we waited for the start of the race.

Our friend Nigel (below) was planning to run the whole race with his light saber, awesome!!

I ran into 2 of my good friends, Kaori and Ganesh (above), who I used to run with in the city after work. It was so great to see them both and we chatted nervously about this race and others planned for the year, they were both also entered in UTA100 and that made me very happy to know some other familiar faces would be there in May.

Maria had originally been placed in the start wave/group before mine, however I had sent an email to the race organisers requesting to be moved up a group, as my friend and I wanted to run together. We were roughly the same pace but had not done much training together lately (if at all) so we were just going to ‘see how it went’.

A few people had been asking me what my goal was for the race, however I really didn’t want to put an expected time in my head, rather I just wanted to run to how I was feeling on the day. The reason I started trail running was because I loved being out in the bush, amongst nature, to help me de-stress and get away from the everyday pressures of the world. So at this time it just didn’t seem right to start putting pressure on myself. My answer to those who prodded and asked was ‘anything quicker than 2014 would be great” (my official 2014 finish time was 6:08:26), but my actual plan was to go out and enjoy the course, enjoy the company of other runners, and to finish in one piece.

Eventually it was our turn to start and the gun went off as we slowly made our way towards the ankle-breaking Nellie’s Glen. There was usually a short, slow run towards the top of the stairs and then it would be a slow trip down the stairs before we would start running again. Maria and i chatted and caught up on what had been happening in our lives and with her new-ish job and it was great to be running with her again.

Our friend Bruce caught up to us and we had a quick chat before sending him forward on his way. He had caught up to us from the start of the wave behind us and was looking fast and strong.

It was around this point that Maria got ahead of me. She is a faster runner than me and although I was sad to not be running with her anymore, I was glad she was going to have a crack and run hard.

After the fog cleared the day was gorgeous, much warmer than anticipated which I thought would probably affect a lot of people, and it was early on that I made a mental note to drink plenty and encourage others to do the same. I love the heat!

As I was nearing the Mini Mini Saddle I ran into Michael, his wife Stefica is also a good friend of mine and he told me of their plans to pack up their house and go travel and hike around the world. I was thrilled, excited and even a little jealous of their upcoming adventure!

Somehow I managed to catch up to Maria as I started the climb up to the Pluviometer, and I realised that I was finding it quite easy-going compared to previous attempts. I passed Maria and we wished each other well.

I kept pushing up the hill as I was chatting to some new friends Ian and Cora, actually I think I had met Ian before (?). They were both lovely and it helped pass the time going up that big mother of a hill, although before we could reach the top I had to let them go as they seemed to be a little stronger than me and I didn’t want to be holding anybody back.

When I got to the top of the Pluvi I saw my buddy Changa, he was volunteering and shouting out race numbers so I ran over and gave him a hug then continued on my way.

After this point the trails gets quite runnable and this year I planned to run all of it. I don’t usually use headphones and music but this year I was going to give it a try and see if it made a difference. Lately I had been using an App called ‘Pace DJ’ which picks songs from your phone that have the right beat for your designated cadence. It seemed to work and I even managed to catch up to my friend Leah who seemed to be struggling, sh had been sick leading into there race too. I wanted to stop and chat but I had a really good rhythm going and I didn’t want to break it now, so I waved, wished her well, stuck my head down and got back to work.

Not long after one of my Trailblazer buddies Allan passed me, he was looking very strong and gave me some thoughtful and encouraging words. Such a great guy! His lead on me didn’t last long though and I eventually caught him and didn’t see him again (sorry Allan!).

I was feeling hot, but I was also feeling fantastic. I was having a great run. At this rate I would definitely finish under my time from 2014 so I was very happy about that.

The time seemed to fly past quickly and before I knew it there was less than 10kms to go.

At one point there was a large crowd of NRG’ers cheering runners on , and I could hear them well before I could see them. It gave me a boost and as I ran past I realised some familiar faces that I had met at C2K.

My favourite section was coming, the final downhill.

I felt amazing, so alive and I decided to push myself to the limit and give this last section everything that I had left. I hardly even noticed some good friends Tanya, Sarah and Anthony as I passed them on a downhill section. They had moved aside for me and i didn’t even realise who they were until they shouted out to cheer me on.

I was in the zone and I would finish with nothing left in the tank.

As I crossed the finish line I attempted a ‘Nigel-like’ jumping air shot, but my calf cramped and I stumbled almost knocking over the gentleman in front of me. Too funny!

When I looked up I saw many familiar faces and received a warm hug from Dale, a champion Strider who gives so much to so many. She gave me my finishers medal and goodie bag and I searched for a seat to rest my legs.

My time was 5:22:56, a Personal Best by 45mins+!!

Our friend Brad was not coping well after his run and we spent some time looking after him whilst he recovered in the medic tent, but he was in good hands and there was nothing more we could do so we headed back out to cheer on more runners.

We watched many others across the finish line and eventually made our way up to the room to get changed into some clean, dry clothes. Then made our way back to the finish line to celebrate with a few drinks & cheer the last of the runners over the line.

It had been a tough day for many runners given the heat and not very many PB’s on the cards, so I felt very proud of my result. My new coach and his training methods were clearly paying off, thanks Andy, you make me want to be a better runner! I must also give thanks to Faye my massage therapist who looks after me and always gets me back on track, despite the ridiculously tight muscles I bring to her table every week.

A huge thanks to all the Sydney Striders who organised and ran such a fantastic event. Thanks must also go to all for the volunteers including the wonderful SES crews who manned the water stations along the way. You all help to make it such a magical experience and we cannot thank you enough!

After the crowds had died down and the last of the tents packed away, our crew prepared for it’s bbq feast, I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time, it was a fun afternoon and evening.

Happy running 😀

Running Wild Lawson Long Course

Posted on March 21, 2016 by laurenhailey

I think i’m still in shock!

Yesterday I somehow managed to score my first ever trail running podium and I was so overcome with happiness when I crossed the line that I burst into tears.

Last weekend while I was sitting in the car being chauffeured home from the Six Foot Track Marathon, Maria and I got talking about the Running Wild race in Lawson that was being held the next weekend. I had contemplated entering earlier in the week when I received an email reminder about the race letting me know that registrations were still open, but hadn’t fully committed as I wasn’t sure how my legs would feel a week later. Somehow Maria and I came to the conclusion that it was a good idea for me to enter and before I got home I was registered for the 17km event.

The Monday after Six Foot was tough. My quads and calfs were very, very sore and I was hoping that my massage on Thursday would help alleviate some of that before the race. Thankfully it did and by Saturday my legs were feeling normal again.

I spent Saturday morning taking the walk/run group at the gym where I work and training a few PT clients, then headed into Pyrmont for the Nike Training Club Tour Sydney, a day of fitness and fun. I took it pretty easy as I knew I had a tough run coming the next day.

Sunday I was up at 4.30am and heading to the Blue Mountains. I had convinced my friend Amanda to come and join me for the run too so I was looking forward to seeing her. We are both doing UTA100 in May so we have been trying to schedule some weekend runs together and this would be the first! (ha ha)

I parked at the Lawson Bowling Club and headed down the (hilly) road to the start/finish area and collected my bib. There weren’t many familiar faces but a few people said hi and asked me about 6 foot (I wore my race t-shirt). My plan was to take the race pretty easy as I knew my body would still be recovering so this was to be my long, slow run for the week.

Amanda and her friend Vicki arrived and we chatted as we waited for the race to start.

There were 2 distances being run on the same course at the same time, so the 17km (long) option were doing 2 laps of the course, and the shorter course was just 1 lap of the trail. We eventually started and the pack seemed to be very slow moving. I had planned to stick with Amanda for the first section of the trail, but as I started to overtake people I noticed that she wasn’t behind me anymore. I didn’t think i was going that fast but maybe she was still recovering from her run at 6 foot the week before, or perhaps she had decided to run with Vicki. I hoped that she wouldn’t be upset I had abandoned her as it was not intentional.

There are thousands of thoughts that go through my mind while running, sometimes they are run-related and sometimes that are not.

The first out and back section was short and brought us back past the start area where we made a left turn onto an uphill section, we would have to do this section 3 times. Most of this course was fire trail so it was quite wide and meant for easy passing, which I seemed to be doing without too much effort. I noticed that I still felt cold as we went up the first incline, my hands were freezing so I decided to keep running up the first hill so I could try and warm up. Normally I would have walked a hill that steep but I was feeling pretty good and was keen to get warm.

The trail was very rocky and I was thankful for my new Brooks Adrenaline ASR shoes, today was the first time I had worn them on trails as I was breaking them in and they felt really good. There were lots of ups and downs and I worked hard to overtake several people on the down sections as this seems to be my strength.

We passed through a gate and headed down another steep hill as I shuffled my feet in small, quick steps moving fast and calculated. My left eye kept watering which blurred my vision a little and make it tricky, but I didn’t let that bother me.

Eventually (after another short uphill section & a spot for a photo) we got to the turnaround point and I saw my friend Luke who is a volunteer for the Running Wild Club and he cheered me on. I made a mental note to grab food there when I came past next as I knew i’d be out of my drink by then. I was carrying a 600ml soft flask with Tailwind (grape) and it was already over half empty. I had started the race with a grumbly belly (even though I had eaten breakfast before I left home and had also eaten a banana as I walked from my car to the start line) so I had been trying to get the liquids in for my body to use during the race.

We passed back down the steep hill and along the trail seeing many runners coming the other way. I cheered them on and chatted to a few others near me too, it always helps make the time fly past.

As we went through the gates we were directed down a trail to the right and it was a beautiful downhill single track section, my favourite! I raced down there to try and make up some time and really enjoyed this section. I was already looking forward to doing it again on the second lap!

The single track ended and we were back near the start area and heading off up to the original out and back section. I saw many of the front runner as they motored back towards me and noticed that there were lots of females breathing down my tail. Little did I know that these ladies were all doing the short course and there run was almost over as they were only doing the 1 lap.

I got to the turnaround and headed back trying to keep up a descent pace on this flat section. My friend Kathy caught up to me and we chatted about Mile 27 and our coach Andy. I learned she was only doing the 1 lap as she was taking it easy and it got me thinking about how many other runners were almost done too, or were they speeding up trying to catch me too?

She motored off towards the finish line and I pulled up my socks for another lap of the course. I hit the steep first hill again and this time I power walked up that section. I kept trying to maintain a comfortable breathing pattern and staying positive. It was about this time that I met Dave and we chatted about 6 foot which he had also done the week before (and had beaten me by 10 minutes, ha ha). I ran with him for a while but he kept pulling ahead of me on the flats and the uphill. My plan was to try and stick with him as long as i could, so i kept him in my sights and caught up to him a few times on the downhills.

I got to the turnaround point and I had been pushing it a bit harder than the first lap so was starting to feel a little tired. I grabbed a piece of banana and scoffed it down as Luke cheered me off down the hill again. It was the last leg.

There was a lot of downhill here and I managed to catch up to Dave again so we chatted some more. I had been cheering on the runners coming in the other direction and if I was correct there were only 3 ladies in front of me, could that be right? Oh well, surely I was wrong and I should just stick to my race plan and enjoy the trails.

And then I saw the photo man again who confirmed it for me, he told me I was in 3rd place (but I knew he meant 4th place, surely I could not be 3rd!). How the hell did that happen?

And then the brain started ticking over….. would it be possible to get a podium? If i pushed it here and caught up to that lady I could see ahead would I be in 3rd place? Was it possible? Should I go for it?

I told Dave about my debacle and he made the call for me. He was going to help me get 3rd! (I owe him big time for that, thanks again Dave!). I told him I’d be happy with Top 5 but he said ‘screw that we are getting you 3rd place!’

And with that Dave motored me up the hills and told me that I would catch her on the downhills as she was slow and cautious going down. He was so encouraging and positive and his winning attitude seemed to rub off on me. The lady in front seemed to be pulling away from me on the hills but we had a lot of downhill coming and I hoped it would be her weakness (sorry Ros).

We passed through the gates and Dave cheered me on to “go for it”, so I turned right onto my favourite single track section and (with a hidden smile on my face) gave it my all as I headed down the trail and motored past the lady in front as she slowly clambered down the rocks. I felt like I was flying! I was now in 3rd place – far out! Really?!?!

Now there was the pressure of thinking about her creeping up behind me trying to catch up. I kept telling myself that she was closing in, that I could hear her breathing down my neck and it kept me pushing all the way down to the bottom of the track and also as i climbed back up the final stairs. At the end of the single track I turned right and just had the original out and back section to conquer.

I took a quick glance behind me to see if I could spot the other lady and she was nowhere to be seen. Could this be possible? Keep your head down Hailey, it’s not over yet. I knew I had about 1km to go so I tried to find another gear to increase the gap so she wouldn’t come flying past me on the last section, but I also wanted to leave something in the tank in case I needed to make a sprint finish. God this was stressful, but so exciting!

I’ve never felt anything like it.

We got to the turnaround and I anxiously kept an eye out for the lady runner behind me. Eventually I saw her and she wasn’t that far behind. She was smaller than me so probably much quicker on the flat sections so I had to keep up my pace and finish strong.

The trail went up and down and around and eventually I could see the finish line, this was it. I was going to do it. Oh my god!

I crossed the line and a lady walked over to me holding a wine glass and a voucher, she congratulated me and told me that i was the 2nd female. 2nd female! Was that right? Surely she was wrong. I burst into tears and bent forward as I tried to catch my breath and let my legs rest. She asked me if something was wrong and I told her it was my first podium, then she gave me a big hug and congratulated me again. Her name was Annie and she told me to go get a drink, some food and then come back for a photo.

As I wiped my tears I saw Dave crossing the finish line and I made my way over to thank him for pushing me and helping me so much, what a great guy. Trail runners really are a whole different breed of awesome humans!

After some food and water I walked bak over to Anne and we got a photo together. I think I was still in shock at the result, but you could not wipe the smile off my face! 😀

I chatted to some other friends Stephane, and Jill and then I found the ladies who had come 1st and 3rd and congratulated them on their race. They were both super friendly and really nice, genuine people. Below is a photo of us, there’s Ros (3rd) on the left, Alicia (1st)in the middle, and me (2nd) on the right.

I’m so glad i got to meet these 2 ladies, they were so kind and I wish them both congratulations again 🙂

A big thank you to all of the volunteers and organisers at the Running Wild event. They do an amazing job and it really is the quality people who bring it all together so well. Thank you for such a well organised and well supported event. I’ll be back for Series 7, see you then!

😀 😀 Happy Running 😀 😀

Stadium Run Newcastle – Half Marathon

Posted on October 16, 2015 by laurenhailey

What an amazing weekend with a great bunch of people!

Last Sunday was the inaugural Stadium Run in Newcastle, our RunLab founder Vlad (who just ran the Berlin marathon in 2:18, what an inspiration!!) had rallied a crew to organise this amazing event and he did an exceptional job. Aside from a little hiccup with road closures that delayed the start, I throughly enjoyed the event and thank everyone involved for the wonderful experience.

As a RunLab(ber) we were given the ‘elite’ treatment at this event, which meant we had our very own personalised bibs, an ‘elite’ room to use before and after the race, and the best part…… I was lucky enough to toe the line with Victoria Mitchell, a running hero of mine and a beautiful sole! My bets were on her for 1st woman over the line, she runs like a gazelle and is amazing to watch. Go Vic!

I have never been on the start line of a race before and the atmosphere was electric. Usually I self seed myself somewhere near the back and find a pacer to stick with during the run, but today I wasn’t sure what pace I should run. I can hear you thinking “what was my race plan?” and to be honest I didn’t have one. My running mate Robbo was trying to get me to stick with him but i didn’t think I’d be able to keep up and didn’t want to go out too hard then crash later on. Another good friend Amanda and I decided that we would run together and just see how we felt, perhaps trying to stick with the 1:50 pacer for as long as we could.

The gun eventually went off and we watched the elites go flying ahead with beautiful motion. Amanda and I chatted and realised we were going way too fast, but we couldn’t slow down (crap!). The hype of the start was exciting and we got carried away with it. But I felt good, so we chatted and kept trying to slow ourselves down to a pace that was manageable.

Unfortunately I lost Amanda at one of the drink stations and couldn’t see her when I looked back. I like to run through the drink stations, I’ve (almost) perfected the art so that I can keep moving while drinking, as i find it hard to get running again once stopped. As i ran along without her and without being able to locate a pacer, I changed my game plan. I decided to keep pushing at this pace and run to feel, this meant I would try to not look at my watch (to check pace) and just run to how I was feeling. It has worked for me in the past in time trials so I was hoping it would work now too. Fingers crossed!!

Okay, so I cracked and looked at the pace on my watch a few times and I was surprised to find that i was sitting between 5’00 and 5’10 pace, could I keep this up? There was only one way to find out.

So i kept pushing myself and picking people off in the distance to catch them. I was looking forward to getting close to the turnaround point as it meant some beautiful beach views and a chance to see the front runners in action as they ran back towards us (and the finish).

There were a few little hills as we approached the beach and along the waterfront, but nothing compared to the mountains I’ve run (walked) in the past, so I pushed myself to maintain pace all the way up the hills and over them just as coach Damon has trained us to do, he would have been proud! I saw the front runners battling it out along the beachfront and they looked ‘in the zone’ but comfortable and flying! I cheered them on and many others behind them as I approached the turn around point.

I was lucky enough to see Julianna, Amanda, Crystal, Robbo and a few other Runlabbers near the turn around point, we were not that far apart after all and I decided to try and catch Robbo, I told him “I was coming to get him” (ha ha).

Reaching halfway is always a massive boost for me, and I attacked the last few hills as I left the beachfront and cheered on as many other runners as possible. I did a check of how I was feeling and I felt good, well, as good as one can feel halfway through a 21km race at a pace they’ve never run before!

This course was all on road so i had been worried about my knee leading into the race, and also the lack of training, but my knee had not given me any niggles and I was feeling pretty good. I was getting a bit tired at one point and a lady in a pink shirt came past me, I looked at my watch and I had slowed to 5’20. I wasn’t going to let this slip away. I made a decision to pick up my feet and get the pace back to 5’10 and I did, I caught the pink shirt lady and we chatted. I told myself to stick with her and i’d get to that finish line. So i put my head down and worked on my form making sure i was running efficiently and kept her in my sights.

There was another turnaround section and i got to see Robbo again, he was just ahead of me. I cheered him on and told him that I was getting closer, I told him he looked good and should finish strong. Helping others always helps me forget about myself and makes the run go quicker, plus i’m sure it helps them to hear positive encouragement so I do it as much as I can, even if I don’t know the person.

We rounded another bend and another water station, I didn’t need any water between here and the finish so kept pushing on. I passed pink shirt girl but she caught up to me (again) and we chatted with what breath we had. After a little while she got ahead of me (yes, again) and I just tried to get into a comfy pace not thinking about her and trying to relax into my strides. I felt tired and hot, but like I could push myself and hopefully keep up the pace till the finish. Here is an action shot, I think we had about 4km to go from this point.

I kept pink shirt girl in my sights, she was only 20-30 metres ahead of me and there was less than 3km to go now. We ran back along the road we had earlier and saw the start of the 5km race. We actually had to cross in front of the runners to get to our course which was a bit of a challenge, but we found a break and made it through. I was starting to feel the heat of the day and i’m sure my face had gone bright red, maybe I should have stopped for more water? I’d taken a gel at 10km and had stopped 3 times for water/electrolytes so hopefully that had been enough.

Then I looked up and who did I see in front of me? It was Nat Lennon, she was doing the 10km and had only just got back into running, she looked good. I sped up to catch her and gave her a wave and some well wishes as I went past. It was so nice to see another friendly face along the course!

Gosh it was hot.

But there wasn’t far to go now and I could hear the stadium noise building the closer i got. Pink shirt girl was still not far in front of me and with about 1km to go I decided to pick up the pace and finish strong. I went past her and thankfully didn’t see her again (yay!).

As I entered the stadium the buzz was incredible, it pushed me to keep up the speed as I did a lap of the field. I rounded the last corner and heard people cheering my name as I approached the finish line. I saw the clock at 1:48 (and something seconds) and thought “My god, i’m going to break the 1:50!!” so I sped up and managd to finish in 1:48:51 – a half marathon PB for me!

I was wrecked, I was dizzy but I was so, so happy. I was given my finishers medal, then found some water, food and some RunLab friends. Below pic with Justine and Robbo.

We chatted as I tried to get my breath back and I kept moving my legs which were ever so tight now. The dizziness got worse, so I made my way back to the ‘elite’ room to recover, chatting to a few other friends on the way back. I got to the room and lay on the ground with my feet in the air up against the wall, and eventually the dizziness subsided.

What an amazing run, an amazing event, with amazing people. I knew I had given it my all, I could not have given anything more and I was so proud for not giving up. And the best part was that it had been pain-free!!

Happy Running 😀

Southern Highlands Challenge 19km

Posted on October 15, 2015 by laurenhailey

On Sunday 30th August I competed in the 19km Southern Highlands Challenge in the beautiful Wingello State Forest, and I have to thank Runners Kitchen for providing me with the entry as I won a competition they advertised on facebook. I literally won the entry a week before the event so there was not a lot of preparation. I’m also very lucky that I have 2 wonderful friends who live 10 mins drive from the start line, as apparently there will little or no accommodation available in the area at this late stage. So thank you Urusula and Carlos for letting me crash again this year!

This race was a favourite of mine lat year, so many good friends and a great start/finish area with stands and food stalls to suite very runners needs. Hats off the April for organising such a great event, if you haven’t run it then you’re missing out and need to get in marked in your calendar for 2016.

A couple of days before the race I decided to drop back to the 19km (instead of the 22km) as I felt I hadn’t really done enough training and in hindsight I think I should have stuck with the 22km as apparently it had less hills (and perhaps would have been a little easier, oh well). So I toed the start line with some fellow Striders and chatted to ‘Mr Ultra’ Craig Thom. We stuck together for the first part of the run but eventually I think I let him go ahead, or was it the other way around (?), I think I let him go ahead. My knee was giving me a little pain but I focused on improving my technique and it get better.

This was a tough course, lots of hills early on and I felt really good at the start, I felt strong. But eventually the gas wore off a little and this meant my technique faltered and brought on more knee pain.

I had to slow down, I event walked. Not happy with myself. Watched lots of people go past who were all so lovely and asked if I was okay, “was i limping?”. Crap. Kept telling myself to stand up tall and just keep moving, get to that finish line. It was ugly, my legs felt like lead weights and I probably should have been resting after the C2S the week prior.

We runners are so stubborn, we hate to miss out on a run. So I plodded on, found a way to run that didn’t hurt (as much) and kept moving.

About 2km from the finish line I was overjoyed to see some of my Striders friends who were doing the longer course versions, as we shared the course at this point. I got to see my buddy Maria who I ran with at TNF100 and that brought the smile back to my face. She was looking strong and enjoying the run, it really raised my spirits.

I bid Maria farewell with less than 1km to go and picked up the pace to finish strong. Maria had given me the kick up the butt I needed, even if she didn’t know it. And I crossed that line with a smile on my face after having conquered the inner demons pulling me down.

After a sausage, bacon & egg sandwich (included in the entry) and a coke (my treat after long runs) I met up with all my mates and we cheered others over the finish line as they came in with smiling faces.

Every run teaches me something new not only about myself, but about others. I learnt that I can ignore my brain (ha ha) and talk myself into (or out of) anything. Then there are the people I meet on the trails, they are such genuine, caring people and it’s good to know that there is kindness in the world which can seem so cruel at times.

I went home with a smile on my face and a medal around my neck. And I had made the conscious decision that the negativity which had been creeping into my brain during recent runs needed to stop. From now on only positive, encouraging thoughts and actions were allowed. Wish me luck!

Happy running 🙂

Hails Trails

I love to move and be outdoors, a lot.

Category Archives: Race Days