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Jonathon's Racing Attacks and Adventure Packs!

Amazing racing and training adventures on roads and mountainous/hilly TRAILS, freewaybikehike and triathlons. Dreams of a SIX FOOT 45km finish,(DONE 2011,2013,2014,2015!),then ULTRA-TRAIL AUSTRALIA (50km DONE 2016! 100km DONE 2018!!!), memorable Melbourne Marathon and Gold Coast racing. Over a decade dreaming of a SUB 3HR MARATHON, sub 18min 5k, sub 38min 10k, sub 90min Half marathon etc...(shattered? or still realistic?)

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Location: Perth, Western Australia, Australia


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42.2km SB; 2004; 3.55 2005; 4.02 2006; 4.18, 2007; 4.10 2008; 3.55
2009; 4.11 2010; 4.05 2011; 4.02 2012;3.49 2013; 4.12 ... 2014; ; 4.08 ...2015; 4.00
2016; 4.11 2018; 4.15 2019; 4.25 2020; 5.38 ... 2021; 5.44 ... 2022 DNF at 37km
More ongoing GOALS;
***PB's pursuit; 5k 21.49, 10k 41.01 21.1k 1.41, ...42.2k 3.49

MM and the G!...

In recent years I have been enjoying races like;
December; 6-INCH(46km offroad)2005;--6 hrs 25 min...
2006; 7hrs 04 min 2008; 7hrs 00min...2009; 6hrs 16min
...2010:--5hrs 49min..2011:---5hrs 30min..2013---7 hrs 24min... 2014--- 7 hrs 06min 2015--6hours 43min ...2016---6hours 41min... 2017--7hrs 3min?... 2018-7hrs ... 2020 8hrs 19 ... 2021 8hrs 51
October; Melbourne Marathon 2007; 4hr 10 . 2008 DNF at 23km..
2009 4hrs 11. 2010 4hrs 05min...2011;4hrs 02min...photos
2012; 3hrs 49min 52secs PB!... ..2013; 4.12 2014; 4.08 2015; 4.05... 2016; 4.53
Rottnest Marathon 2004; 4hr 32min ... 2013; 4hr 16min... 2019; 4hr 41min 59secs
August; City to Surf most years since 1997 see HERE for details,photos.
PERTH C2S PB's; 4K;17min 25 (2002) 12K;52min 52 (1997)
21.1K;1.54.20 (2007) 42.2K; 4.00.20 (2015) (2010 video..45secs into it)
Perth City to Surf Marathon finisher 2009,2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019.
June/July;
GOLD COAST; 2012 HALF; 1.44 2013 HALF; 1.47 2014 HALF 1.49
2015 4.11 ..., 2016 4.11..., 2019 4.25
PERTH Marathon(42.2km)
2004; 3hrs55min
2005;--4 hrs 02 min. 2006; 4hrs 18min 2007;4hrs 33
2008; 3hrs 55 2009; 4hrs 41min 2010; 4hrs 30min
2011; 4hrs 12min 2012; 4hrs 6min 2013; 4hrs 19min 2014 4hrs 48min 2018 4hrs 15min
2019; 4hrs 28min
2021 5hrs 44min
May; Ultra TRAIL AUSTRALIA;
2016 50km 9 hours 50min 956th
2017 100km DNF CP4 57km
2018 100km 24hrs 33min 15 913th
2019 100km DNF CP3 46km 2021 CP2 DNF (severe back injury)
April;TWO DECADES of Bridges racing; 1997; 43min 43 1998; 41min 01
1999; 47min 29 2000; 46min 47 2001; (5km) 30min 01 2002; (5km) 22min 48
2003; 42min 40 2004; 48min 50 2005; 44min 40 2006; 48min 07 2007; 49min 16
2008; 50min 42 2009; 49min 54 2010; 48min 39 2011; 52min 55 2012; 47min 02 2013; 54min 45 2014; 48min 47 2015; 49min 53 2016 52min 20
March;6 Foot Track 45km;
2011; 6.53 2013; 6.54 2014; 6.47
2015; 6.14!!! 2016 DNF


As of October 2022; 37 road marathons finished (Perth x14, Melbourne x9,Perth City to Surf x7 Gold Coast x3 Rottnest x3 SunsetCoast x1)
Have also finished 20+ ultra races; 6 inch 47km ultra finished 12 times, six foot 45km ultra 4 times, Ultra Trail Australia ultras 2 times, Truth 50km ultra once within cutoff (and once outside cutoff), Lark Hill 50km ultra, 6hour track race, 24hr track race.
Also completed the Bloated Goat 31km (1500m Vertical gain) 2 times which is similiar effort to a 46km ultra.
DNFs in UTA100km, WTF50miler, WAMC40miler race, Truth 50km, Six foot and 6 inch.
The first 3 DNFs were after covering more than 42km, and with Truth one was a 25km DNF and the first one I finished the full 50km but was 19minutes outside cutoff battling an ankle injury for 36km.
In road marathons 3 DNFs one at 23km in the 2008 Melbourne Marathon due to severe ankle injury in the first 1km, and PC2S @ 30km, also 2022 Perth Marathon at 37km too fat and slow

Most races October 2009-October2020; >
30/10/2020 50th John Gilmour 10,000m track race 58min
20/09/2020 XTR Sunset Coast Marathon (#36) 5.38
30/08/2020 Fat Lamb PTS 20km
02/08/2020 Perth Half Mara 2.04
11/07/2020 Jumbuck PTS 3.39
08/03/2020 Darlington Half Marathon 2.07
01/11/2019 John Gilmour 10,000m Track race 51min
06/10/2019 Perth Marathon 4hrs 28min. #13 see here
01/09/2019 Rotto Biddi 3hrs.09.44
25/08/2019 City 2 Surf Marathon 4hrs 48min
17/08/2019 TW Parkrun 5km 24.29 (5th)
3/08/2019 Truth 50km DNF (at 25km in 4hrs 26min)
28/07/2019 RunMelbourne Halfmarathon 2hr 03min
21/07/2019 Champion Lakes R2R Halfmarathon 1hr 55min (32nd)
7/07/2019 Gold Coast Marathon 4hrs 25min
16/06/2019 Rottnest Marathon 4hrs 42min
18/05/2019 Ultra Trail Australia 100km DNF at 46km (CP3) 8hrs 58min
17/03/2019 Fat Lamb 20km 3hr 29min 49th of 70
02/03/2019 Lark Hill 25km 3hr 54 (Night race forgot headlamp)
24/02/2019 Swissmurdie 2hr 35
09/02/2019 Busselton Half marathon 2.13 (Late start actually 2.05)
20/01/2019 Chi Gong 1hr 58 134th of 158 finishers
16/12/2018 6 inch 47km 7hrs (12th finish)
21/10/2018 Rottnest Half 2hr 03 min
16/09/2018 Fremantle Half 1hr 58min
04/07/2018 Truth 25km 3hrs 11min 55 (PTS)
24/06/2018 Eagle 22km 2hrxx(59min officially, but 43min on my watch as started late)
17/06/2018 Perth Marathon 4hrs 15min
19/05/2018 Ultra-Trail Australia 100km 24hrs 33min 15secs 913th of 964 finishers
218 withdrawals
03/03/2018 Lark Hill 50km
17/12/2017 6 inch 48km 7hrs
06/08/2017 Truth 50km 8hrs 22min 59
16/07/2017 Jolly Jumbuck 21km 2hr 54min (94th of 129)
02/07/2017 King of the Mountain 16km 1hr 41min
20/05/2017 Ultra-Trail AUSTRALIA 100km DNF (at 58km and 10hours 38min)
26/03/2017 Bloated Goat 30km 5hr 18min
18/12/2016 6 inch 48km 6hrs 41min
16/10/2016 Melbourne Marathon 4hours 53min
25/09/2016 WTF 50 miler DNF at 55km
14/08/2016 Truth 50km DNF at 25km
3/07/2016 Gold Coast Marathon 4.11
14/05/2016 Ultra Trail Australia 50km 9 hours 50min
3/4/2016 My 20th consecutive Bridges fun run 10km 52.20 (hammy strain)
12/3/2016 Six Foot Track DNF at 30km 5 hours.
---------------------- 20/12/2015 6 inch 47km 6 hours 43min
15/11/15 Bloated Goat 30km Trails race (1600m Vert) 5hrs 43min
18/10/15 Melbourne Marathon 4.05
13/09/15 Fremantle 10km 47min 22
30/08/15 Perth City to Surf Marathon 4 hours 00min 20 secs.
05/07/15 GCM 4.11
24/05/15 R4R Half Marathon 1hr 46min 13secs
12/04/15 Bridges 10km 49min 53secs.
04/04/15 Perth Trail Series Truth & Consequences 50km ULTRA 8hours 49min
14/03/15 Six Foot Track 45km 6hrs 14min 11secs Smashing PB!!! (32min)
21/12/14 6 inch Trail 47km 7hrs 06min 30secs
12/10/14 Melbourne Marathon 4hrs 8min (8th fastest marathon in 25 finished)
14/09/14 Fremantle 10km 49min 26 (first K 3.47 5k split 23.02)
31/08/14 Perth City to Surf 42.2k 4hrs 34min
06/07/14 Gold Coast Half Marathon 1.49
15/06/14 Perth Marathon 4.48
01/06/14 Elleker Half Marathon 1.59.
21/04/14 40 miler DNF (28miles)
06/04/14 18th Bridges 10km 48min 47secs...since 1997
08/03/14 6 Foot Track 45km 6hrs 47min 02. (824th) A PB!!! :-)
09/02/14 Snakes and Ladders 15km 2.05
15/12/13 6 inch Trail Ultra 7.24
27/10/13 Rottnest Marathon 4.16.41
13/10/13 Melbourne Marathon 4.12.55
25/08/13 Perth City to Surf Marathon 4.13.28
11/08/13 Perth Half Marathon 1.54.05
28/07/13 Fremantle 10km 50.06 (very sick but first 1k in 3.55)
07/07/13 Gold Coast Half Marathon 1.47.29

16/06/13 Perth Marathon 4hrs 19min 55secs
My 10th consecutive Perth Marathon...Click to see -> how I became a SPARTAN...

19/05/13 Joondalup Half Marathon 1hr 58min 26secs 310th of 495.
07/04/13 Bridges 10km 54min 45seconds.
09/03/13 6 Foot Track 45km 6 hours 54 minutes 20 seconds. 740th of 804...blog post or ...photos! page.

24/02/13 Perth Trail Series Qi Gong 14km 1hr 37min 04 Placed 79th of 117 finishers.
09/02/13 Busselton Half Marathon 1hr 51min 58 secs 219th. full Busso results here
02/11/12 John Gilmour 10k track 47.17 ..see here
14/10/12 Melbourne Marathon 3hrs 49min 52secs ..(777.)
16/09/12 Fremantle 10km 47min 16
26/08/12 City to Surf Marathon 4hrs 42min 41 secs
15/07/12 Lake Joondalup 10km 47min 30.
01/07/12 Gold Coast Half Marathon 1hr 44min 49 secs. 1668th of 9035 finishers

17/06/12 Perth Marathon 4hrs 6min .. (post and photos here)
20/05/12 Joondalup Half Marathon 1hr 47min 01secs. (151st of 313 finishers)
15/05/12 Masters 5000m 21min 58secs
13/05/12 Bunbury Half Marathon 1hr 46min 45 secs. (76th of 240 finishers)
22/04/12 PTS Ellis Brook 21.8km trails race 3hrs 12min 28secs. 39th.
01/04/12 Bridges 10km 47min 02
25/03/12 17.3km (690m ascent) Swissmurdie trails race 2hrs 19min 17secs 54th of 60.
20/03/12 MastersWA 1500m in 5.56, 100m in 14.3, 400m in 76.4, 5000m in 23.33.
26/02/12 WAMC Swan Twilight 5km 24.32
26/02/12 Perth Trail Series Qi Gong 14km 1hr 44min 08 secs 70th of 102.
04/02/12 Busselton Half Marathon in 1hr 49min 31 secs.
18/12/11 6 inch 46km 5hrs 30min PB!
09/10/11 Melbourne Marathon in 4hours 02minutes 49secs...photos...

12/09/11 Fremantle 10km in 45minutes 50 secs.
7/8/11 Perth Half Marathon in 1hr 47min 46 secs.
17/7/11 Lake Joondalup 10km in 46min 33secs.
19/6/11 Perth Marathon in 4 hours 12min 54secs (351st of 547.)
12/6/11 Lake Monger 10km in 48min 09secs
22/5/11 Bunbury Half Marathon 1hr 51min 44secs 109th of 261 finishers
10/4/11 Bridges 10km 52min 55
12/3/11 6 foot 45km in 6hrs 53min 07 secs...819th...of 877...33 DNF's...4 outside 7hr cutoffRace Report and race photosPre & post race photos,initial ELATION
Note; Completing 6 foot is a major goal achieved which I have had in mind since 2005!!!!!!!

4/3/11 3000m in 12min 40 (19th of 19 finishers)Momentum building a little,sub 13 done! :-)
18/2/11 5000m in 23min 31 (20th of 20 finishers...4 DNF's)..results
5/2/2011 21.1km Busselton Half in 1hr 51min 41 secs for 124th of 218 finishers.
19/12/10 46km 6 inch trails race in 5hr 49min (63rd of 79 finishers)
10/12/10 5000m in 22.43 18th of 18!
5/11/10 John Gilmour 10,000m in 47min 36. (23rd of 31)
10/10/10 Melbourne Marathon 4hrs 5min...2895th of 5027 finishers...
12/9/10 Fremantle 10km in 46min 53...a big SB and my best time since 2005!
29/8/10; 42.2km in 4hrs 15min for 537th of 830 finishers...my 6th best of 12 M. finishes.
19/8/10; 5000m in 22min 06.0 secs (SB by 0.6 of a second, & Stan did a SB also that night)
22/7/10; 5000m in 22min 06.6 secs. (SB and 17secs off my track PB)
20/6/10 Perth Marathon in 4.30.
13/5/10; Masters 2000m 7.55 (first sub 8min run since 2005) & 5,000m 22.42
22/4/10; Masters 800m 2.46 & 5,000m 22.29!~(2nd best ever track 5,000m, track PB is 21.49,)
3/4/10; Australian Masters 35-39yrs; 4th in 1500m 5min 34secs. see here...
28/3/10; Bridges 10km in 48min 39secs. 388th of 1646
25/3/10; 300m in 47.6, 600m in 1.57.0 100m in 14.6
18/3/10; Masters 1500m in 6.03 & 10,000m in 49min 35
28/2/10; 4th place in 6 hour Track Race at Coker Park; 45.003km
6/2/10; Busselton 21.1km in 1hr 52min 50 secs
20/12/09;6 inch 46km 6hrs 16min
15/11/09; Peninsula 5km 22min 5225th of 73.
6/11/09; John Gilmour 10km 48min 39
11/10/09; Melbourne Marathon 4hrs 11 min 33 secs
4/10/09; Freo funrun 5km in 22min 53 secs
... ...
2011; 5hrs 30min 6 inchPB!! 2012; 3hrs 49min PB(Melbourne Marathon)!!2014; 6hrs 47min PB! @ 6 foot!

The next big things racing wise maybe;


6 inch 47km
on 20th December @ 0430hrs, countdown (activated a few days before?) is;


Kathryn and I welcomed our daughter K into the world May 2015 A.D.!

Kathryn and I welcomed our daughter J into the world June 2010 A.D.!
Kathryn and I welcomed our son J into the world in late July 2007 A.D.!
Our challenge is to be good parents with the Creator Gods help!



... 2004 ...2005 ...2006 ...2007... >...2008...2009...2010 ...2011... 2012.

but for the most important thing in life;
there is only 2 ways to live!...Bible Gateway...

Monday, March 18, 2013

Numero Duo: 6hrs.54min Conquering 6 foot 45km #II






Well I made it to the start line of the 2013 6 foot track 45km!
AND I finished
another one of 'em! with 6 minutes to spare sneaking under the 7 hour mark again, but came up 73 seconds short of the PB, despite giving my quads the biggest thrashing they have ever had in the last 2km and passing about 20 people.
 

I have a video it is just after or maybe just before Coxs crossing (the main river crossing) about  16km into it...But being 75MB I have had trouble getting it to upload...



1.-Very pleased with my first 15.5km to the river crossing in 1hr 45 (6 minutes quicker than in 2011), and almost achieved one of my pre-race goals of getting to the start of Nellies Glen steps first (was 2nd behind a bloke called Joseph who totally owned the start), but held off the other 198 runners pretty much all the way down the steps in the first quadriceps thrashing of the day, including a few runners who managed to go sub 5 hours for the race and beat me by more than 2 hours in the end... So wisely or unwisely, the first 15.5km was very much mission accomplished. Wanted to be under 7min per K, and was (10km in 65min), and wanted to be well under 2 hours and preferably under 1 hour 50 at the river, and was well under that.

2. -Satisfied that I did the next 10.5km with the 1000m climb about 30 minutes quicker than in 2011 and achieved my pre-race goal of getting to 26km in under 4 hours easily with a 3 hours 48min split.


 Ran some of the flatter sections, and tried to keep walking at a fast pace on the hills. Also saved 10min by no cleaning up my shoes after the river this time, which was a risk, but the higher river level probably helped.

3.-Really struggled through the first 12km of the last 19km, it was hard work just to keep walking I was that shattered at this point. Got going a bit near the end and my last 5-7km was actually fairly good, but I'd lost so much time on strugglestreet from 26km to about 38km, that the PB just eluded my tired last-ditch desperate "lunge" in the last 2-7km...

Was really shattered at the top of Pluvi, and despite doing a 90 seconds walk/ 5minutes jog/run strategy, was really struggling to get any momentum going on the Black Range in contrast to 2011 when I really started to get into a decent rhythm that year at this point. I knew I had about 3 hours and 10 minutes to get through the last 19km under 7 hours for the whole race, so I figured if I was around 9-10minutes per K or quicker I should make it, even if I had to walk a lot of the way to the finish. During this horrific 12km section some of the RFS blokes must have guessed from my body language how much I was hurting because two of them tried to get me to sit down and rest for a bit, but I resisted that, because I knew that would probably cause me to fall back to the sweepers...

 Got a nice downhill finally!!! about 35km into it, and with the watch reading 5 hours 18 minutes I thought I should be able to get the last 10km done in 90-100min but I knew the way I was feeling I needed to keep pushing hard if I wanted  the PB, in fact I needed to keep hard at it, if I wanted to stay ahead of the 7 hour sweepers... Of course not long after the downhill, was a monster uphill that sapped the life out of me again, and I can see why in the race video and photos they have pictures of people trying to literally crawl in piles of leaves up this very steep hill that hits you here... Took awhile to get past that hill and I got passed by a few better hill climbers here... After that was over I once again tried to get my body to first jog, and then try to run at something like sub 8 minutes per K...So that 12km from 26km to 38km took me about 130 minutes!!!
 So in the end I struggled through that last 10km in 96 minutes, and without the final desperate push to the finish I would have been over 100min and the sweepers would have got visual of me...

That last 7km just seemed to go on forever, and it included  getting around a snake on the trail which also saw me pass about 4 other runners who had stopped while another runner tried to move the snake with a stick (but I wasn't stopping to wait for that!), plus a very emotionally searching moment when I got to a marker telling me I had 5km to go when I thought I only had about 3km to go, so I went from thinking I was going to take 10 minutes ff the PB to oh no, I think I'm going to miss it...
Passed about 20 runners during the 400m drop in the last 2km, as I tried desperately to sneak under the 6.53, but when I saw the clock on 6.54 I knew I'd failed by about a minute.... Bittersweet!!! I think the clock in the photo below says 7:29 on this side of the archway because its 7 hours and 29 minutes since the wave 1 runners started at 7am, but I was in wave 5 (about 150-200 runners in each wave) which started at 7.35am...


No PB despite doing the first 26km 30 minutes faster than last time, but another successful finish despite incredible obstacles including one of the most backpackerish trips I've done (things like walking the 7km from Sydney airport to Central station with my 8kg backpack, so as to avoid paying the $15 trainfare, "couchsurfing" at a runners place in Katoomba who I'd only briefly met online before to avoid paying for accomodation, getting a lift back to Sydney with runners to avoid an $8 train fare back there), which in the end added to the excitement and fun of the adventure to this amazing piece of world heritage listed Blue Mountains......so glad I made it... Met many really cool people on this trip, had a race that has given me heaps of ideas on how to improve, and which will inspire me in the coming months as I try to build a bridge over very troubled financial waters...

My 6 foot track 2013 experience; 

An awesome ADVENTURE!!! 

(pre-race, during race, and post-race.) 

Here is a modified version of the post I left on Coolrunning about my 2013 6 foot track 45km  success with some detailed time splits, and detailed descriptions of various parts of the race; 

The one liner; 

perfect start, hung in, ascended MM/Pluvi better!, wipeout!! on Black Range, late charge, just missed the PB...

Detailed notes, descriptors, 

a proper race report;

The first 15.5km; Ran excellent for 15.5km, probably smashed it a bit too hard down Nellies Glen steps staying ahead of all but 1 of the wave 5 runners. Just wasn't game to chase Joseph on the slippery rocky downhill, too scary for ankle trips etc. I was running pretty quickly but he was out of sight! Not used to that... Would like to know what he was running for 100m splits... Photo below shows a lady who kept the pressure on me all the way down the steps, before I decided to back off at the bottom of them. She ran 4.36!!! Which proves you can run a fast time from wave 5,

and another bloke in one of my photos (well behind me on the steps of Nellies Glen) did a 4.50. Tried to force myself to back off a bit after that,but it was tough as a few of us wave 5ers were picking off the stragglers from wave 4 by the bottom of the steps, and the urge was to try and pass as many as possible as quick as possible... I think I showed a bit of self-control/restraint/holding back, but maybe not enough... Was also pleased to hit 10km in 65min, as my plan had been to be under 70min.

Coxes; "Swimming" the river was awesome fun, and got the body core temperature down a bit. Awesome to have a 1.2m high river the 3rd highest in race history since 1984 apart from the 2012 flashflooding whitewater when the race got cancelled  due to the dangerous river...The comment at the start line by one of the organisers; "any non-swimmers" suddenly made sense ;-)... Part of my pre-race plan was to get the shoes and socks off and into a plastic bag but... the number of creek crossings before and after Coxes  probably would have made it pointless, so made a snap decison to just get on with it, and risk blisters. Rather than waste 10min trying to clean out the the fine "riversand/gravel" from the shoes like last year. That paid off! Tried out breaststroke in the 1.2m of water but a strong current  pushed me hard into the safety rope. 

Switched to a more powerful freestyle stroke

on an  angle so as to reduce the effect of

the strong current, which worked well, similiar to how you swim out against a rip in the surf...

A couple of hours trying to find the top of Pluviometer;

Was very keen to hit mini-saddle and pluviometer mountain climbs  from 15.5km to 26km harder than I did in 2011. Achieved that goal with a 30min improvement on 2011, so the Perth Trail Series race #4 and training runs at Lesmurdie, Bold Park probably helped. However after a nearly 4 hours, and 2 hours of that mostly very aggressive walking and some slow running I was at the top.. There was 19km to go, and I knew I was a good chance to get it done  in under 7 hours, and a PB chance might still be on...However my legs were very tired by now... One of many memorable moments in this section was seeing a kangaroo/wallaby I think it was go across the trail about 10m in front of me at fast pace  and straight down the near vertical hill below,  at fast speed, wish I could run downhill like that animal!

SPLITS corner; Coxs crossing 15.5km 1hr 45min 18 in 511th place  (1.51 in 2011) Pluvi 26km 3hr 48min.20 in 679th place (4.19 in 2011) Pluvi to finish 3hrs 6min (2.43 in 2011)

-------------------------------------------------------

5km 27min? 10km 65min (6.33 per K) 15km 101min (5km split 36min) 20km 156min (5km split 55min about 500m ascent) 25km 221min (5km split 65min about 500m ascent) 35km 321min (10km split 100min) some ascent but falling apart too much walking... 45km finish 414min (last 10km 93min)  Several tough ascents and a 400m descent in the last 2km.

After Mini-saddle and Pluvi, trying to get the body to run again; Really struggling in a "bad patch" of lots of 60-90sec walk breaks and attempting to jog for 5minutes. Went for my last Gatorade, with about 10km to go,
and got going a bit again, although hit another tough hill 
which shattered me again, and with about 7km to go 
found some rhythm again on a flat section...

Hitting decent pace I reckon around 6-7min per K for awhile,
 and saw a snake on the track not long after crossing the bitumen road. 
Two runners I was about to pass saw snake first 
and were trying to scare it off the track, 
but snake wasn't in a hurry to move.
I let them get on with it, and just ran around it.
 Passed a few more people and could see 2 runners up ahead,
 so tried to keep the pace ticking over, 
thinking I was close to the finish, was expecting to see the 2km to go sign any moment, 
and thought the PB was there for the taking.
Was gutted/demoralised to see a 5km to go sign, 
but figured I must still be very close,so just tried to 
stay attacking and try and step things up a notch 
as much as I could... 

After what seemed like ages, that 3km was finally done,
 and with 2km to go and a steep downhill, I ignored the pain
 and just tried to hit that last 2km hard needing to 
get through it in about 10minutes.
I knew it was unlikely, but too close not to try hard... 


Passed about 20 people and they were all very courteous 
letting me get through, tried to warn them I was coming... 

Then you can hear the crowd noise below, 
and people yelling out to individual runners, 



and that amazing feeling of seeing the finishline 
and those blue timing mats and the archway looming up ahead... 


Almost as special as 2011...! Aftermath and concluding thoughts;

Really happy to get my 2nd 6 foot track 45km finish  on the board, but a bit disappointed I blew up,  and came up short on the PB...
Although very encouraged by my first 26km 
it was obviously too fast a pace for me to sustain this time... 

My coxs crossing split of 1.45 had me in 511th place  and on target for about a 5hr 50min race, 
so very pleased I was on target for the first 15.5km,

and even with my sub-standard hills training/too low mileage
 was still on target for about 6.29 and a healthy PB
 at the top of pluvi which is the hardest part of the race for me.
In 2011 I powered through the last 19km more than 
20min quicker than this year, so maybe its lack of mileage/long runs
that came back to haunt me in the last 19km,
 or perhaps its just I was too aggressive in the first 15km, 
or my hills work is inadequate, or all 3 reasons... 
If I come back to this race (fairly good chance I will), 

I want to be much better prepared, but I know 
I gave it a red-hot go with what I had on the day, Didn't die wondering...
Fantastic experience despite the bittersweet final result...
 Biggest quads smashing I've ever done 
and got some excruciating cramps on the bus 
on the way back to Katoomba.
Huge thanks!, and massive respect! to running friends 
who helped me out with accomodation 
and a lift back to Sydney,
and Thanks! God for all the miracles that had to happen 
for me to get to the startline.

Part of which was me overcoming my doubts  as to whether I would be ready physically and logistically.

Massive success from that perspective.


A tough brutal!!! day, but some glorious moments
 
in one of the most beautiful places in the world IMO...


The 53km run in January and the mileage challenges,

 both very significant I think in getting me to the finish 
in under 7 hours...
So I'm 73 seconds short of the PB, with a 6.54 
and very shattered physically in the quads.... 
Hammered the 400m descent in the last 2km in 
about 12min, passed about 20 runners there...

In 2014 maybe I'll be shooting for about 1.45 at Coxes again,
 and 3.30 on Pluvi, and hopefully about a 5.59 finish.
So I think I am maybe slowly learning whats required
 to be successful in this race. Hope to be back!!!

 Could be a bigger group of us from the wild west next year too, 
a few people are saying they are keen for 2014.

There was at least 6 or 7 finishers based in Western Australia, 
one guy in the top 30, 3 or 4 in the high 5hr zone
 and 2 of us including me in the 6.30-7hr zone...... 
Thanks Colin, and all, and fantastic to see lots of people  from 2011, and lots of 2012 shirts out there too...
 Hopefully bring it on and game on for 2014! 

3 Comments:

Blogger Ewen said...

Great sub-7 salvage Jonathon. Dramatic race!

Must say I think you 'blew it' by racing down the steps at the start - that would have softened up the quads too much. In my 5:41 race I went very easy - 19:25 to the bottom, then was able to run well to the river (1:39), then walk well up the hill (3:22 at Pluvi) and jogged the Black Range OK.

Have a backpacker tip for next time. There's a local station about a 2k walk from the airport - $2.60 or so instead of $15.

Thu Mar 21, 01:51:00 pm AWST  
Blogger trailblazer777 said...

Thanks Ewen for your insights! Sure was dramatic and fun!!! I think you are more than likely right re putting too much work on the quads on the steps, thats probably why they were sore for 5-6 days afterwards which is a record in the soreness stakes for me.

Also the woman who was very close behind me on the steps (she hammered it just as hard as I did, I just had a bit of a lead on her to the start of the top of the steps) did 4.36, so it wasn't a problem for her maybe, although her power to weight ratio probably better than mine. Another guy who was 2 or 3 places behind her did 4.50. Probably It would have been wiser to be 4th or 5th down the steps given the pace the 4.36 and 4.50 runners were going at. I let them go past me when we got to the bottom of the steps...

However I think where I blew it was on Black Range, and thats not a quads issue thats a calves/hamstrings and general fatigue thing mostly, and thats mainly due to ***inadequate training*** I think, not enough mileage, not enough good quality long runs...

Really interesting/valuable to hear your splits for the 5.41. Given you got to the river in 1.39, my 1.45 was on target for a sub 6 hour. So if I did it again, I'd probably try to back off on the stairs a little but not much, and run slightly quicker to the river.

My 3.48 at Pluvi not too far out of the ballpark, and although I did improve a lot (30 minutes) on the River to Pluvi section this time, I think I still need to find at least another 20 minutes by running more of it on that section.... I was so much better on Black Range last time (23 minutes quicker), so If I improved those two sections by training better I'd be up 43 minutes and be on for 6.11 hypothetically...

Since your Black Range split was 2.19 (mine was 2.43 in 2011 and 3.06 in 2013), I obviously need to attack that section in a sutained manner better still than I did in 2011. Yove got 24 minutes on me when you were jogging to a 5.41 compared to my 2.43 from Pluvi to Finish in 2011, 3.06 in 2013!), so I just need to do about 2.31 to find that extra 11-12 minutes..., so I'd aim for something like 1.40 River (5min better than 2013), 3.30 Pluvi,(13 minutes better than 2013 (2.03->1.50)), and 2.29 (14min better than 2011, 37min better than 2013!) Pluvi to end... Thanks heaps for your comment, its forced me to think through this in more detail, which could be very handy next year.

Thanks for the tip re the closer station, have to find out which one that is, 5km less walking with a heavy pack, would help!! $2.60 far more tolerable than $15. Will remember that if on a tight budget again....

Thanks for sharing your insights!!!

Thu Mar 21, 08:21:00 pm AWST  
Blogger trailblazer777 said...

I guess hitting the steps too hard could have contributed to the general fatigue a lot too... so maybe it was a big factor on Black Range... Reminds a lot of a pr-race comment from tropic thunder re "the usual bunch of has beens, blow up merchants, and pretenders" hahaha...Guess I was one of them...

Thu Mar 21, 08:31:00 pm AWST  

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