Vibram Hong Kong 100 2014

The Hong Kong 100 was a race I had planned on doing since October 2013.  Liz and I were super excited that I was going to be doing an international race and that it fit in so well with our other travel plans for our summer holiday.

The build up to this race was going to be quite similar to the Tarawera 100 last year with plenty of media opportunities including interviews for local newspapers and magazines.

On Wednesday the week of the race I was also fortunate enough to be asked by Eric LaHaie from Hoka One One Hong Kong if I was available to be in a photo shoot with a local Hoka One One runner. Liz and I met up with Ying (the local Hoka runner) and Fai from Hoka HK who is also a photographer. It was a heap of fun working with Fai and Ying and there were definitely a few laughs along the way.  The photo shoot was for the Asia Trail Runner magazine; keep an eye out for me on the cover of the March edition.

The newly formed Ultra Trail World Tour (UTWT) that the HK100 is now part of planned for media and the elite athletes to attend a press conference and Indian lunch on Thursday. This was a really busy afternoon with interviews, photos and presentations from Janet Ng & Steve Bremmar the Race Directors and Marie Sammons from UTWT. There were also a couple of Q&A interviews with some selected elite athletes. It was a really fun experience and also great to meet some of the other runners and also catch up with some mates who were also doing the race.

After the press conference we all made our way out to Sai Kung which is where the race starts, and where we were staying for the next three nights. Thursday night before the race a few of the runners including good mates Tarmo, Vlad & Vajin and I decided to head out for an easy jog to shake out the legs. It was really nice to get the legs moving and explore one of the trails close by.

Friday was basically a free day to relax and organise any final race preparation. Liz and I ended up catching a taxi back into the city with new mate Jez Bragg from the UK. It was great to hear about his trip last year to NZ where he ran and broke the Te Araroa trail record.  A really top bloke who I look forward to catching up with again soon. We had to go and pick up my new RaceReady singlets that had been temporarily lost in another building in Sheung Wan.  I was pretty stoked to finally get them as I thought they were gone for good.

Friday afternoon involved catching up with Lloyd Belcher, an incredible photographer/videographer from HK. He was putting together a video of the HK100 including interviews and footage from race day. This was a really cool experience that I am very thankful for.

The morning of the race couldn’t have gone any smoother. Fai picked us up right on 7am and we met Caroline from 2XU at the start line. The road to the start line was absolutely jam packed with taxis. There was such an amazing atmosphere at the start line and seeing everyone smiling and looking so happy was a real buzz.

Before long we were making our way to the start line under the big HK100 archway. I’d heard pre-race that I wanted to be near the front as it went onto singletrack after only 400m. If I got stuck behind slower runners it could mean losing valuable time. The start gun went and we were off.

The pace over the first few km was fast but nothing too crazy. We eventually settled into position and I began chatting with HK local Jeremy Ritcey. Jeremy has done the race a few times now and mentioned that despite the international competition this was the slowest start in the years he has done the race. Running along the top of the East Dam was incredible. I had seen photos from last year’s race of this section and it definitely lived up to my expectations.

I’d settled into a second chase pack by the 11km support point and was in about 12^th place. I was keeping an eye on the pace early on as it was really flat and fast and I wanted to ensure I wasn’t going out too hard. Leaving the support point I was running just behind Hoka North America runner Dave Mackey and The North Face runner Jez Bragg. We started running on a pipeline heading up the mountain alongside the stairs. It was here I had my first moment where I was second-guessing my ability. Dave and Jez appeared to be moving up the mountain effortlessly and with real intention. I was hoping like anything they didn’t pick the pace up any more than it already was!

Literally 300m later I was in my happy spot. The nerves of running alongside two of the best ultrarunners in the world had worn off and I was going up the first climb just doing my thing. I was now keeping pace effortlessly and was happy again. Between 11km and the first checkpoint all of the frontrunners were brought together. It seemed like the pack would get strung out on the downhill and then pull back together any time we started climbing again.  Dave was definitely the man leading the charge on the downhills, he made things look so easy and had crazy speed going down!!

Passing through the 1^st checkpoint was absolutely chaotic. Because we were in a fairly large bunch there seemed to be people everywhere. I managed to refill my water pretty quickly despite this and left the checkpoint soon after. A mere 7km further and we were at the 2^nd checkpoint at Wong Shek (28km) which was the first place I was getting to see Liz, Fai & Caroline. All I needed was a new water bottle as I had decided before the start that I wanted to take enough gels and chomps to get me through to the halfway point of the race. I came into the checkpoint in about 6^th place and left in 2^nd place. A credit to Liz and her super smooth crewing skills, we even managed a quick kiss before I was off on my way again. We have our checkpoints pretty sorted these days ;)

Running through to Hoi Ha (35km) there seemed to be more road than trail, which I wasn’t really keen on. It seemed to be causing me a bit of ITB related pain in my knee again like at the Great Ocean Walk 100km last October. It was the exact same sequence of pain coming on which had me feeling worried that things weren’t going to pan out well. I arrived at Hoi Ha but didn’t say anything to Liz about my knee as I thought by trying to block it out it might help things.

The trails through to halfway at Kei Ling Ha were really cool. We wound our way through small villages and along the beautiful coastline of the island. I think I was lucky there was such beauty around us as by this stage my knee had gotten much much worse. If it sounds like a repeat of my GOW race report then that’s because it is. Any downhill or running where my knee was flexing more was excruciating. It felt like a knife being stabbed into the side of my knee.

I arrived at Kei Ling Ha in 3^rd place in 4hr46min, roughly 2mins down on Ryan Sandes 2012 course record run. Liz pulled me to one side and asked what I wanted. I grabbed more gels and fresh water bottles but then sat down. I had to explain to Liz and Fai that things were really not good. I told them that my knee had been sore since before 35km. The thoughts going through my head from about 45km onwards weren’t positive ones. I thought that this was the end of my ultrarunning career, obviously I don’t have the body to be able to do this kind of running. I was so angry and upset with the situation I was in.

Liz being the incredible support she always is was the logic and composure that I needed. I wasn’t really thinking straight and I needed direction. She told me that it was just my ITB and that I wouldn’t do any permanent damage. She said to stop being soft and keep pushing through. Fai ended up giving me some massage and I had some nurofen to try to reduce the inflammation on the side of my knee. This all took about 6-7minutes and after a quick slap on the butt from Liz I was on my way smiling again.

Making my way to the next checkpoint at 65km was hard. It was a really tough section and I think after the first few km leaving 52km and feeling a bit better I was back in a dark place. The only respite like at GOW was when I was hiking uphill. I arrived at Gilwell Camp (65km) and grabbed a seat straight away. My knee felt like it was throbbing and had that same sharp pain again. I sat here for another 5mins or so and had about 3 cups of coke, 2 oranges and a jam sandwich. The medic at the checkpoint asked me after 5mins whether I wanted any medication or ice. I said I’d just had some anti-inflammatory medication but agreed to the ice. As I sat there I thought that if I do put ice on my knee I was going to be at least another 10 minutes. During the first 5 minutes Stone Tsang a local favourite had passed me. I quickly got up out of the chair and said to the volunteer that I should probably get going and that it would be boring if it was easy. As I left I saw my room mates, French Hoka runner Pascal Blanc and Freddy Thevinin. It was great to see them and made me smile.

I caught Stone at about the 75km point just past Beacon Hill. There were literally hundreds of monkeys everywhere. Not the cute cuddly type you would think either.  After saying hi to Stone he told me to make sure I didn’t eat through this section or make eye contact because the monkeys would attack me. I won’t repeat what I said but I quickly put my sunnies on to reduce the chance of making the dreaded eye contact. Catching Stone gave me a real boost of confidence. I didn’t fly past but was feeling strong as we made our way up the gradual road hill.

It’s amazing how quickly things can change during an ultra. I soon came into CP8 at Shing Mun Dam (83km) feeling awesome. The knee pain had settled down and I soon got word that there were about 3 runners around 10 minutes ahead which put even more wind in my sail. Another quick massage from magic hands Fai and I was on my way in pursuit of the guys ahead. 

I had been out one week earlier with an old school teacher from High School checking out this final 17km so I felt I knew this section well. Mind you, as soon as I left the checkpoint I was left wondering where the hell I was, as it looked unfamiliar. As I started the climb up Needle Hill (532m) and caught glimpse of Hong Kong’s highest peak Tai Mo Shan (957m) I suddenly knew exactly where I was!

I didn’t feel worried or concerned about the peaks above, I felt like I was so in the zone and was ready to work hard to get to the top as fast as I could.  I soon came across Jeanette Wang from one of the local newspapers who mentioned that I looked far stronger than the guys who had gone through only 5 or 6 minutes before me.

After Needle Hill is Grassy Hill (647m). Not too long after descending off Grassy Hill I caught up to Dave. He was walking up a steeper section of the road and I soon passed him. A quick few words and I was then in pursuit of the Nepali runner Ram Kumar Katri who had just passed Dave before me.

I caught Ram quite quickly but he refused to let me go. It was pretty much a yoyo battle for around 6km until we reached the undulating volcanic trail section after the climb out of the 90km CP at Lead Mine Pass. As we were nearing the top of this crazy stair section I made a bit of a gap on Ram and as I looked up I could now see Japanese runner Shunsuke Okunomiya not far ahead.

I felt more at home as soon as we hit the trails along the volcanic section and soon caught Shunsuke. I made a gap quite quickly which took me into 5^th place. The only problem with this situation was that Ram had got his second wind and caught me again before we hit the super steep road heading up Tai Mo Shan. Again we locked horns and battled our way up the hill. About 300m from the top Ram made a burst and gapped me by about 50m. I let him go as I felt I had the speed to catch him on the downhill. My plan worked out as after a couple of switchbacks on the downhill I had caught Ram as I was cruising along at about 3:20min/km pace. He hung on for a bit but I wasn’t planning on staying around.

This crazy race wasn’t done yet though, even though there was only 3km to go. As I looked down the mountain I could see fellow Kiwi Vajin Armstrong ahead. As ridiculous as it sounded in my head I thought I might as well give it a crack and try to catch up to him. I had visions of catching him and being the first Kiwi home. I absolutely hammered it down the road leaving nothing in the tank and with about 1.2km to go I caught Vajin. He had headphones in so I figured I had one shot to take him by surprise. I got a jump on him by about 30m before he realized it was me. He then cranked up the pace to 2:55min/km and made a decisive move. My legs had nothing else to give as I watched him pull away. I remember laughing out loud and thinking at least I gave it a shot.

I crossed the line in 10:18:56 for 5^th place overall. I ended up crossing a mere 27sec behind Vajin who had a cracking race also. I was absolutely over the moon at what I had achieved and I was so happy to see Liz waiting there for me at the finish line. Because I was a fair bit behind Vajin at CP8 they had no idea I was going to come in so quickly. I soon got word of the other placings and was absolutely stoked to hear my good mate Vlad managed to take 3^rd place behind two Nepali runners.

I can’t thank everyone enough for your kind words and love Liz was passing on to me during the race. It was so incredible knowing I had so much support behind me. Thank you to Fai, you kept me going mate, quite literally. Without the massage I don’t think my legs would have got going again.

Thank you to Eric from Hoka One One Hong Kong, and again to Fai (and Carol) for being the most amazing hosts. You welcomed Liz and I and we are so appreciative of that. Also thanks to Caroline for your support on the day of the race.

Steve and Janet, you have a truly world class event here. The course is phenomenal and the whole event ran so smoothly and is a true testament to your hard work.

As always, Liz. You are truly my shining light whenever I am down during a race. You know me better than I know myself sometimes and always have my best interests at heart. You are caring and loving when I need but also the kick in the backside (quite literally) that I need during races too. I can’t wait for our next adventure together and seeing you at the checkpoints along the way.

Hong Kong is a fascinating and incredible place that we have both thoroughly enjoyed. The race itself, but also the culture, attractions and all of the friendships we have made over the past couple of weeks. I can definitely see us heading back to Hon Kong soon; let’s make this happen Eric ;)

Until next time J

To be able to get to do what I love on the trail and then see who I love at the finish is what it's all about for me.
Photo: HK100

Photo: Lex Axe

After the day I'd had, I was pretty stoked to see the finish line.

Fellow Hoka Team mate Pascal Blanc & Freddy Thevinen from France. My roommates, stoked to see them come in together!
Photo: HK100

The atmosphere at the start line was buzzing!!
Photo: HK100

Me, Francesca Canepa, Vajin Armstrong. Crazy to be rubbing shoulders with some of the world's best!
Photo: HK100

It's concrete but it's still good :)
Photo: HK100

Photo: Lex Axe

Vajin and I chatting to Steve the R.D after the epic finish!
Photo: HK100

Heading up more stairs on my way up to Needle Hill.
Photo: Jeanette Wang

Me, Dave Mackey, Pascal Blanc - Team Hoka
Photo: HK100

Early on, fun times coming down more stairs.
Photo: Daniel Chung

Me followed by Ram & Shinsuke.
Photo: Bernie Kwok

Looking back... 2013

2013 has been epic!!

When I think about how 2013 has unfolded from a racing perspective, in all honesty it feels like something that was meant to be. 

Early on in the year my big 'A' race for the year being the Tarawera 100k Ultra came around super fast. I had a nice build up to Tarawera with a handy 76min Half Marathon tempo effort race in Busselton which was a timely confidence boost.

Tarawera didn't pan out at all how I'd hoped but I learnt so much from this race and the whole experience of what unravelled that day. 

Next up was the Mt Helena 40miler which in hindsight was a big mistake as I was purely after redemption only 2 weeks after Tarawera. The race or more precisely my health fell apart early on and I was left with quite literally an uphill battle to the finish. Best part of the day was definitely the beers after!

Three weeks on and after some solid hours in the hills was the Truth or Consequences 50km. This was an absolute cracker of a race and amongst some stiff competition I managed the win in 3:50.

A week later we were on our journey to the USA and the day after we landed Liz and I were lining up in the Santa Monica Coast to Coast Marathon & 1/2 Marathon. This was a truly cool experience for us both as our first race on US soil.

After some time in Vegas, San Fran and San Diego we were off to my 2nd most favourite place (after NZ of course) in the world being Alaska. I feel so lucky that Liz and I were able to take part in one of the coolest/gnarliest races we have ever done. It was the Turnagain Arm 8mile Trail Race. In a fast battle up front I was schooled on how to run downhill in the final mile by good friend Matias who took the win - I managed to hold onto 2nd place. 

Despite 2 races in the US there was very little running done outside of this mainly due to doing the tourist thing and finding it difficult finding where to run.

A week after getting back to Perth I had the Hoka One One Kep 100k Ultra. Although this was a race that I had wanted to do for a couple of years I was pretty close to pulling the pin due to a lack of preparation. I decided to run and I'm glad I did. I ran 8:17 for the win and was really surprised with how things went considering my build up.

A misdiagnosis of an injury plagued the next 10 weeks of the running calendar which also meant missing out on running in Tasmania when we were there on holiday and not being able to compete in the You Yangs 50 Miler which wasn't great. 

After a slow build up and some great treatment and advice from my Physio and a new Doctor I was back running pain free again. I decided to run the Perth City to Surf Marathon as an entry had been passed on through a friend of a friend. I decided that if I turned up in a singlet and shorts I would likely push too hard too soon after very little training. I was soon at the costume shop picking out my outfit to force me to treat it as a training run. Running through the closed streets of Perth as Mr Incredible was one of the highlights of my running year. I had so much fun giving the kids lining the streets high fives and seeing the looks on people's faces as I ran by.

The next race on the cards was the Great Ocean Walk 100km. The race started well but fizzled out after a mere 30km after some soft sandy sections appeared to aggravate the old injury. I battled through and was stoked to get my buckle for finishing.

After a couple of weeks taking things really easy I was once again back into pain free running. The next race was the Moon Shadow 12km night race. I had an absolute blast, despite missing a turn, and managed first place which was a nice way to help forget the less than ideal run I had at GOW.

The last race for the year was the 6 Inch Trail Marathon a few weeks ago. It was a real up and down build up to this race. I ended up having a great hit out amongst arguably the most competitive field for a trail race in WA this year. I felt strong for the majority of the race and was stoked with my time of 3:20. I was super pumped about pulling up injury free and feeling good post race.

Amongst a year that feels like it failed to fire there are some races and results mixed in that I'm really happy with. Despite my 'A' races not ending the way I'd have liked I had some truly amazing experiences out on the trails in 2013.

To say I'm pumped about 2014 and racing is a crazy understatement. The year is starting off with the Hong Kong 100k in January, the Tarawera 100k in New Zealand in March and the TNF100 Australia in the Blue Mountains in May. 

Thank you to all my running friends who joined me in training and racing throughout the year. I've made some great new friendships through running in 2013 which is a big part of what it's all about.

A massive thankyou to Hoka One One Australia, RaceReady, Ryders Eyewear and Darryn at Peak Podiatry, your continued support is helping me achieve my goals. Thanks also to Ali from Ascend Physio and Nathan from Massage Works HQ, it has been a busy year of recovery and rehab and I really appreciate your help getting me back on the trails!

As I've mentioned a few times in race reports and other posts, I couldn't have had the year I've had or the one that's coming without the never ending support and love from my amazing wife Liz. Until a few weeks ago I've always said I hadn't ever had a coach, but in so many ways Liz has been the person I have always turned to. A massive motivation kicking me out of the house on cold rainy days and 40deg scorchers, a phenomenal chef and her constant love and support of me chasing my trail ultra running dreams. I love that we are sharing this adventure together and I can't wait to see her when I'm coming into the next aid station.

2014 LET'S DO THIS!!!

Pretty much sums up the two loves in my life, Liz and trail running. Photo: Ron Mcglinn

A highlight at the City to Surf Marathon

                                     

Awesome to meet some crazy trail runners in Chiang Mai, Tarmo, Ryan and Brian

During a run in Chiang Mai

I really enjoyed running with Mick early on in the Kep 100 Ultra. Photo: Steve Fraser

Liz's first 'real' trail run at Serpentine Falls N.P

Taken on our local run around the river

Santa Monica Coast to Coast Marathon, USA

The race didn't go well but the scenery and trails were amazing! Photo: Marceau Photography

Turnagain Arm Trail Run..... EPIC!!

Truth or Consequences 50km

Absolutely knackered and finally at the finish at the GOW100

Finishing the 6 Inch Trail Marathon. Photo: Ron Mcglinn

Insane mountain running in Alaska with Matias

6 Inch Trail Marathon 2013 - Race report

The 6 Inch Trail marathon is a race I have missed out on the last couple of years since moving to Perth as my body has generally had a guts full by December and is ready for christmas ham and mid strength beers. Although I was by no means in ideal 'race' shape because of a couple of minor injuries, I was stoked to be lining up alongside some super fast runners for the race.

The race as always started at the crack of dawn at 4:30am and involves the first few km of the race going up Goldmine Hill. Not a big climb by any means but enough to get the juices flowing right from the start line while I was still trying to wake myself up. The pace was on right from the start as the lead guys took off. The race this year was stacked! Brendan Davies had come over from the Blue Mountains and we had local talent including course record holder Gerry Hill, last years winner James Roberts and a bunch of super quick marathoners in Tom Bakowski, Etienne Rodriguez, Kevin Matthews, Michael Ho and more.

The first 10-15km played out pretty much how I thought it would. Brendan and Gerry were off out front for a while before Brendan dropped the hammer and made a decent break. Behind those two was me and my good mate Tom and we gradually bridged the gap between Gerry and ourselves. Personally I was just trying to keep things as low key as possible early on making sure I stayed within touch of the front runners.

Approaching 18km I got word that Tom, Gerry and I were 2mins down on Brendan. I was surprised we weren't further back so knew we were running well. At this point the trail crosses the road and then goes up a short climb. It was around here I seemed to run ahead of the other guys. 

As I got to the 1st aid station the plan was to drop my handheld and pick up my AK race vest with 2 bottles as I knew the heat was going to come in hard and fast so I'd need the extra hydration. I basically grabbed the vest as I dropped the handheld and was off again down the trail within seconds.

The next section to aid 2 was a tough wee section. Enough short hills to keep you honest but enough flat stuff so that I had to keep an eye on my watch to make sure I was cruising along at a sustainable pace. I was averaging around 4min/kms through to aid 2. I was really cautious of not pushing too hard too soon in my efforts to try and catch Brendan out front. I figured there was no point pushing hard to catch him and then not be able to push harder, Brendan is a world class trail and ultrarunner so I was going to have to be smart if I wanted things to play out in my favour. Approaching about 34km there is a 2.5km out and back to aid 2 up the top of a fairly decent hill. My plan pre-race was that if I was anywhere near the front this was a spot I could hopefully close the gap. As I went past the volunteer at the start of the out and back he commented that Brendan was now about 30 seconds ahead. Unfortunately for Brendan along this out and back he made a wrong turn because of some flagging tape being down which on a course like 6 Inch makes things confusing at best - likely a kangaroo or possibly mountain biker, not at all due to course markings.

I was already running pretty solid approaching the start of the climb as I wanted to try and catch Brendan before the top or at the aid station. As I got further up the hill and finally to the aid station I realised he must have taken a wrong turn. Dave Kennedy the R.D was kind enough to provide some world class bottle filling skills and I was off hammering it down the hill a few seconds after arriving at the aid. I took to the downhill pretty fast, but a conservative fast. My Rapa Nuis were loving the descent and I maintained a pretty good speed down here. On the way down I came across Brendan, we had a brief few words and he said he'd gone the wrong way. Not too far along the trail I came across Tom next followed by Etienne, James, Big Kev and others. Tom looked super strong which also gave me motivation to ensure I closed out the race well.

My plan for the final 10km was to run solid but to not empty the tank completely. I had thoughts of the Hong Kong 100 go through my mind and I wanted to make sure that I didn't do anything silly in the final stages of the race. The last leg was really enjoyable as it was a section I had run before in one of the recon runs so I knew roughly where I was. I crossed the line in 3:20:28 for first place ahead of Tom Bakowski in 2nd and Brendan Davies in 3rd. I was over the moon with the result and it has been a timely boost of confidence before I head over to Hong Kong.

Thanks must go out to race director Dave Kennedy for putting on a fantastic race and all of the volunteers for their efforts and support during the day. Special thanks to my good mate Adam for partnering up with Liz to make a pretty formidable support crew for me. As always Liz was a massive boost whenever we crossed paths along the course.

As always I wore my Hokas, choosing the Rapa Nui trail shoes for this race. I used Injinji performance run 2.0 socks. My new Compressport Trail Shorts and trusty Compressport calf guards were awesome as always. Nutrition involved 7 Gu gels and some Hammer Endurolytes. Hydration was some quality H20 in an Amphipod HandHeld and an Ultimate Direction AK Race Vest.

For results see here: 6 Inch Trail Marathon Results

Some race photos courtesy of Ron McGlinn and Paul V Harrison:

Ron's Photos               Paul's Photos

My race on my Suunto Movescount can be found here: Movescount

Top of Goldmine Hill

Loving the trails

Tom and I

Approaching the finish line

I have no idea what this is about :p

Happy times

Winners trophy presented by Dave Kennedy

Trying something new

By attempting something really difficult and outside of your comfort zone,

you will discover how strong you really are - Anonymous

There has been quite a lot happening the last few weeks in my running life and I'm really psyched and excited to see where things are heading.

I have gone back and forwards over the last 9 or 10 months trying to decide whether I wanted to link up with some kind of running coach. There were different ideas in my mind about what that would involve, but I thought I could benefit from the use of someone who has far more knowledge than me about all things running. I liked some components of having a coach but disliked the idea of being told what to do and when to do it. Part of me thought that I had already had a few good performances based off what I was doing and did I really need a coach? After speaking with a few good running mates I was put onto the best in the business as far as endurance coaches go in Andy Dubois from Mile27 Personal Training.

Andy has a wealth of personal experience in ultra/endurance events including insane performances at the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB), Ironman and has represented Australia in the World Mountain Running Champs to name a few. Coupling his own physical ability with the knowledge gained through years of study, it's pretty safe to say this guy knows his stuff!

Any nerves or doubt I had about running coaches were wiped within the first few minutes when talking to Andy on the phone. I was instilled with confidence that I had chosen the right guy. After seeing me run via video, Andy was kind enough to say it was pretty much natural ability behind my results to date as my core strength and flexibility were less than desirable. Funny to hear but also really exciting to think what I might be capable of once my hips loosen up and my glutes get stronger :)

I'm only into the first week of the training/strength and conditioning program but I feel like I am already reaping the benefits of the strength and stretching routine I am doing twice daily. It's going to be cool to see how things pick up from here!

It's been awesome being back running the last week feeling that my knee injury from GOW is completely behind me and my niggly hamstring seems to have settled down too. I managed to sneak a win at the Perth Trail Series 12km Moon Shadow night race a couple of weeks ago which was awesome. Such a cool race on some really awesome trails!

I have the 6 Inch Trail Marathon coming up this Sunday which is going to be awesome!! I have missed out on running 6 Inch the last couple of years because of injury so despite my lack of preparation I am really pumped about the race. The competition this year is going to be stronger than ever and it's going to be faaaaaaaast from start to finish. I have no expectations for this race as it is more part of my build-up for the Hong Kong 100 in mid January. Despite this I know full well that as soon as the start gun goes it will be game time!

Some of the big guns racing are last years champ James Roberts, race record holder Gerry Hill, Tom Bakowski, Etienne Rodriguez, Kev Matthews, Brendan Davies from the east coast, Craig Berg, Brett Coombs, Jon Pendse and many many more. It's going to be super tough to get anywhere near the podium and it's so great there is such a competitive field for a trail race in WA.

Sunday just can't come quick enough ;)

Happy times making our way to the start line for the Moon Shadow 12km night trail race

Liz, Kate and I at Moon Shadow

Me and Liz doing our favourite local run from home

“The person who really wants to do something finds a way; the other finds an excuse.” Sir John Marks Templeton

It's now a little over a week since the Great Ocean Walk 100km and I've now had time to think about the day I had on the beautiful trails of the Victorian coast and what unfolded.

The race kicked off in beautifully mild conditions at 6:30am when we were greeted with a fantastic sunrise as we made our way along the flat walking track from Apollo Bay to Marengo. The plan as always was to go out at a conservative but comfortable pace and let the day unfold before me. There were a bunch of really keen runners up front going pretty fast including Stu Gibson and Blake Hose who were from what I had gathered going to be the main competition for the day. I was more than happy watching them up ahead and was enjoying the warmth of the early morning sun.

The first leg from Apollo Bay to the Blanket Bay Checkpoint was relatively undulating, a few climbs here and there and also a couple of sections running along the soft sandy beaches which was nice to mix up the terrain. After about 8km I had caught up to youngster Blake Hose and Damian Smith who I had actually run the first 15km or so at the Glasshouse 100km with last September. For the next little while we chatted and made our way through some nice single track and ducked under and around the fallen trees that were taking over parts of the trail. About 4km from the checkpoint it started flattening out and became more downhill where Damian and Blake started pushing a quicker pace of around 4min k's which I felt was a touch quick with more than 80km to go so I eased off leading into the aid station. After a quick bottle change I ended up exiting the aid station before both of the guys and made my way along some more awesome single track.

A couple of km later Blake caught me up and we were running along one behind the other for around about 10km. The single track through here was mind blowing! Narrow, windy and in parts technical - we were having a blast. There was a really soft sandy section at around about the 32km mark. It only went on for approx. 1.5km but by the time I had made my way onto some firmer terrain I knew something was up. Initially I thought it was just one of the many aches and groans I have learned through ultrarunning that come and go for no apparent reason. So my initial response to the pain was that it was only going to be temporary and soon I would have the spring back in my step and would be on my way again. A few km later I still had the pain and it had gotten worse. The more flexion I gave my knee the worse it got, the more load I put through it upon landing the worse it got. I was left thinking that only 10 minutes ago I was smiling and happy about how the race was unfolding. Stu was around 5-10mins ahead going fast and hard, and Blake had pulled away from me and was putting on a bit of a break which meant I was able to do what I love best and just cruise along at my pace, nice and quiet through the bush. Although it was around here that the race for me had ended and it was now just about finishing.

Coming into the 41km aid station at Aire River, I had spent the last 20 minutes or so contemplating pulling out. The only positives I could find out of my new 'situation' was that going uphill wasn't quite as painful as everything else. As I came in Liz must have known something was up when she asked if I was ok. Generally in a 100km race runners would aim to feel pretty awesome through 40km as there is still a hell of a long way to go. My reply was short as I grabbed some more water and food before making my way out of the aid station. I figured that if I stopped the chances of a DNF were much higher.

I knew that leaving Aire River I only had around 14km or so to get to Johanna Beach which from there was the toughest and hilliest part of the course through to the 80km checkpoint at The Gables. My plan was to battle my way through to Johanna Beach, take some time to recoup there and then set off on the hills from there. To say the next 14km were tough is a ridiculous understatement. Combining the pain with the frustration that everything else on my body seemed to feel fine was tough. Everything was wanting to race except for my knee. My jogging into the 40km aid had now turned into a ridiculous ultra shuffle/walk/limp. It got progressively worse through to Johanna Beach at 55km. The last km into the checkpoint along Johanna Beach was brutal, I felt pretty useless as anything more than a slow walk was really painful on the soft sand.

I'll keep this short and say that from Johanna Beach (55km) through to The Gables (80km) was absolutely brutal. Emotions were high as I was coming to terms with the fact that I was going to likely have to pull from the race. Now my knee was excruciatingly painful, steep downhills were being performed backwards and the only time I was able to shuffle seemed to be on certain inclines where my knee briefly went from excruciating pain to slightly less excruciating pain for about 20-30secs. I was trying to understand how the rest of my body was feeling strong and good to go but my knee was hampering any decent forward progress. During this section, eventual 2nd place Damian, 3rd place Dan Beard and lead woman Jo Brischetto had passed me looking pretty good.

Coming into the 80km checkpoint I had the best km I'd had since before the 32km mark. As I shuffled/jogged my way up the hill a good friend Andre made comment that it was nice seeing me running again and that I was the only runner in the top 4 to run that whole hill. I've since found out this might not have been 100% correct but it helped in convincing me to finish so it worked, Cheers Andre ;)

It was funny how 1km of slightly less demoralising running put me in a better headspace coming into the aid station. After spending the last 25km urging my body along telling it that it would all stop at the 80km mark. I had gone back and forward, finish or DNF...DNF or finish. The whole time I thought about how I felt after the Tarawera 100km where I did DNF and how bad that felt and still feels. I started doing the math in my head and worked out I only had to cover approx 3.5km an hour to make the 18hour cutoff. For those that know me well know I'm not a huge fan of walking at the best of times, but I had come to grips and was ok with the fact I was going to have to walk this one in. After some ice and massage treatment from the race doctor at the aid station and a few mouths full of coke I got up quickly as the 2nd woman Janet Ng from Hong Kong had left. I figured if I could maybe hang onto her for even 1km then it was 1 less I had to do on my own.

The next 7 or 8km were easily the best km's I'd had since early on in the day. Still ridiculously slow for me but they had slightly more shuffling than walking and even some sub 10min km's so I was trying to take the positives from that. I'd managed to catch up to and pass Jo who was also having a really tough day on the trails and she did incredibly well to finish, super strong and showed great courage. A couple of km later the coke, massage and ice wore off - damn it. I knew it wasn't going to last forever but was ambitiously thinking if I could get to 95km or so that'd be great! Around 89km Janet passed me again on a dead flat gravel road section doing about 5:30min km's. I hung on for about 12 metres and then realised I wasn't kidding anybody. Back to my shuffle-limp which I had become slightly more efficient at over the last 55km or so.

Some of the short and steep descents over the final few km were brutal. My knee as it had done for the past 7hrs felt as though someone was stabbing me in the side of it. The scenery over the final section was incredible like the rest of the course. Coming up over a rise and seeing the 12 Apostles was surreal. Even amongst the pain and frustration they were truly amazing.

I crossed the line in 11:35:48 for 4th male and 5th overall behind Janet who ran an amazing 11:23! I pretty much stumbled my way over the line where my knee finally buckled beneath me. I was done, no more pain and I could finally switch off. Mentally this race was my toughest assignment yet. Somehow convincing myself numerous times that it was a good idea to push through the pain and finish the race, I'm still not sure how I did.

Post race things haven't been too bad. An appointment with my sports doctor and physio have revealed that it was literally a combination of bad luck and timing. Because of tapering before the race my glutes and ITB tightened up and switched off and combining that with the soft sandy running it was basically asking too much biomechanically of my body. The reason it was so painful was because there are so many nerves etc in the knee joint which basically starts to settle down as soon as you stop. That's also the reason why the body feels so good now, because I was hampered by my knee my other muscle groups were only able to work to a certain threshold. It's nice to know I haven't done any major damage and it is now just a case of strengthening my glutes and core muscles to relieve the load on my ITB's.

Looking forward I feel that my experience here has only made me stronger. I now know I have been to a really dark place and come out on top which I can use for my next race. It has almost given me confidence leading into 2014 where I am likely going to be attempting my first 100 miler, because that distance is a whole new challenge physically and even more so mentally.

Finally, congratulations to Blake for winning the race in his first 100km, keep an eye on this guy! And also Damian and Dan for rounding out the podium. Congratulations to Janet for a cracking run and Katherine and Jo on the women's side of the podium. Also congrats to everyone who finished a tough 100km course. Thanks to Andy and Brett for putting on an awesome race and all of the amazing supporters and volunteers for helping make this race happen. Thanks to my support crew Isaac you were awesome and also to Nick and Lisa for coming down to support as well. Not wanting to let you all down was a big motivator for pushing through the pain :)

As always I cannot say enough thank yous to Liz. Amidst all the dark moments I only had to think of her to bring out a smile. As tough as this whole experience was I knew that seeing her at the aid stations was going to give me a boost, or at least a kick up the backside to hurry me along ;) Already looking forward to our next race together.

Thanks to my sponsors Hoka One One, RaceReady, Ryders Eyewear and Peak Podiatry. I am very thankful for your continued support of me following my passion.

Until next time...

Some images courtesy of Patchanida Pongsubkarun, thankyou so much for capturing some of my race.

Crossing the creek before the Blanket Bay aid station

Approaching the Blanket Bay aid station

Staying dry before the Blanket Bay aid station

Happy times early on, obviously not realising what the sand was doing to me

Approaching Aire River aid station (41km) the beginning of the end

Feeling the pinch

Likely the moment where Andre had told me the good news ;)

Stoked to finish, rest time now!

Broken but not beaten

The amazing scenery approaching the Aire River aid station

Pre race crew photo

Trying to do a patch up job to get a few more km's out of my knee