red spike 6inch 46km is 3peat PB of 5.30 by 19minutes.

Ran 6 inch 46km in 5hrs 30 minutes.
23km splits 2.25/3.05.
Whittakers 34min flat. (38min in 2009)
Del Park Rd (18km) 1hr 57. (1.53 in 2010)
Aid station 1 (23km) 2hrs 25. (about 2.21 in 2010)
Oakley Dam 3.05?
Aid Station 2 (35km) 3hrs 55. (4.14 in 2010)
Marrinup (41km) about 4.50. (5.05? in 2010)
2010 race report here...

2009 race report here...

Like Michael Jordans Chicago Bulls doing a 3peat triple championship dynasty, I have successfully landed a 3 year PB streak at 6 inch.
2009 6hrs 16 (9min PB), 2010 5hrs 49min (26min), and 2011 5hrs 30min (19min)...

Came in off 1 hours sleep, but I got 7 hours sleep on friday night, my Dad gave me a hand with the car shuttle at the start (almost hit a kangaroo on the drive to Dwellingup), so I did a much needed 30min power nap after the race, cranked up the mortification on the struggle to drive home, didn't even need the water in the face spray much and headed home very happy.

Started off with a relaxed lead with Gerry for 200m-500m to the base of goldmine hill, and then settled into a sustainable pace on the hill...Rolf and I attacked the downhill bit after the summit of goldmine, and got into a good pace to clear the old bibbulumun whittakers campsite in 34min flat. Del park rd in 1hr 57min 28secs. halfway 23k (as1) in 2hrs 25min 35km (as2) in 3hrs 55min. Marrinup 41k in about 4hrs 50min.

Carried my 3.9Litres of drinks from the start. got a piece of the lead as is tradition, but tried to be ultra conservative on goldmine hill, and even at the start. used short sharp walk breaks on the bigger hills, but tried to maximise my running time.

This photo taken at whittakers about 30 minutes in just after I had hurdled the grey gate in picture.
Was pushing the pace strongly at this point...


Pleased with my first 34minutes, and snuck in front of SM…took the usual wrong turn just after whittakers, but only lost a few seconds as I corrected almost straightaway. However SM and a bunch of runners got past me here. Lost a bit of enthusiasm and momentum there, but still going well, kept SMs group in sight for a long while but kept getting challenged by KM who I knew did about 5.01 last year. Hung in, and stuck with it until well after Torrens rd.

Getting pebble out of shoe, changing drink bottles over, and toilet stop about 16km into it cost me a few minutes and Kellie slipped past me then. Finding it tough, but hung in and got to Del Park rd 18km in 1hr 57min, which was a little disappointing as I was aiming for 1hr 48min, but still under my B grade target of 2hrs 6 minutes by a fair bit.

Took my first endura gel soon after that, and struggling to get going again…Again lost time sorting out drinks and gravel in shoe about 21km into it…was being tracked by a large bunch of runners, but managed to hold them off until the long downhill of Scarp rd to aid station 1 appeared. Gapped them there quite a bit, and had a fast aid station transition plus got rid of some empty drink bottles. Halfway in 2.25 is 4.50 pace, so pretty good timing at this stage, but I knew the second half is tougher, and that I’d fade badly towards the end. Passed a lot of people there who were taking their time to stock up at the aid station. I wasn’t using the aid station at all, so put a few minutes on most of the people there except the deutsch lady (BF), she must have been either going self sufficient like me, or just had a fast transition. Pulled away from an injured Rolf, but then got passed by a BF on the long hill near the conveyer belt. After the conveyer belt I attacked the big steep hill hard, and ran 90% of it, which I have not been able to do in previous years, felt very strong,a bit fitter and handling the uphills (my weakest area at 6 inch) better than in previous years. Caught up to the BF again and two blokes in black shirts. After the tough climb out of Oakley dam I started to lose contact with BF and got passed by some of the fast finishing people like Phil, Allan, Nigel, Rob D, and Alli. Tried to stay attacking and alternated 30 second walk breaks with attacking running for several minutes.

Nigel having trouble with navigation, and I kept catching up to him every time he was trying to work out which way to go. Hurting a lot by this time and had drunk more than 3.5 litres so my hydration pack much lighter, but almost out of drinks with 12km to go. High drinks needs due to the high levels of humidity I think...Hammy started to get a bit sore, so no more attacking running, just settled into an 8min+ per k plod plus walk breaks now…Pretty pleased to get to aid station 2 (35km) in 3hrs 55min well under my B-grade target of 4.05, but nowhere near my A-grade target of 3.30.

Saw Mighty Mick at the aid station. Refilled my 300ml bottle with water, which proved to be a great help as it allowed me to keep the energy levels high with my third endura gel at about 4hrs 40…However probably should have refilled another bottle here as was short on fluids in the last 5k…Again passed and gapped a lot of people at the aid station with a fast transition, and caught and ran with Allan for a bit…

After the big steep downhill, which I actually didn’t walk all of this time, I was just plodding with very tired legs, and the hammy playing up a bit, and sure enough Nigel, Rob D. and eventually Alli caught and passed me about 2-3km later. Tried to stay in touch with Rob D., and then again Alli, but couldn’t go with their pace.

Marrinup (41km) in about 4.50, no more uphills, just a nice easy flattish but neverending 5km maze to get through to the finish. I knew the sub 5 dream was totally gone, and figured 5.15-5.30’s might still be achievable. Happy though cos I knew i was going to smash my 5.49 P.B. easily as long as I kept moving forward and didn’t waste time…

Rob A. surprised me by catching me in this section, and we alternated walk breaks and jogging together…He was a bit disappointed because his 5.10 PB was out of reach and he was cramping up a lot…but we stuck with it…two young ladies caught me with about 800m to go which was another surprise, and with Rob A. about 20 metres in front of me, and the hammy finally settling down, I decided to turn on the afterburners put the pedal to the metal one last time, and charge through to the finish line leaving cramping Rob A. and the the 2 ladies in my wake…A bit disappointed Rob A. didn’t join me in a sprint finish, but soaked up the moment felt like I was flying in paradise and was very happy with the 19 minute P.B. God blessed me with.

Certainly not the perfect race by any means, but got the drinks and nutrition right for 40km of it, a solid improvement on last year, and 3peat PB achieved in my 6th finish! Red spike earned. yeeeeehahhh!

Photos and link to official results soon, and will update the alltime rankings hopefully in the next week or so...