The Ultra Trail Australia 100km Ultramarathon (formerly known as The North Face 100) a race which has grown quite rapidly from its inception in 2008. The race is now part of the international Ultra-Trail World Tour Series, which includes prestigious trail running events such as the Western States 100 in the USA. The Ultra Trail Australia Ultramarathon is situated in the Blue Mountains, approximately 1.5hrs car drive from Sydney in Australia.

I was quite nervous (and excited) in the lead up, not sleeping very well early in race week. I was thinking all the usual thoughts I have prior to a race - hoping the day goes well but also realising I was about get out of your comfort zone on a bigger scale than I had ever before in a race. My previous longest trail running race was The North Face 50km at the Blue Mountains in 2014.

My nerves settled a bit once I got up to Sydney on Thursday night prior to race day.

Race Day

The weather for race on Saturday presented perfect conditions with mild weather, fine and sunny afternoon, with a maximum low 20 degrees Celsius during the day, which is very mild for mid-May.

I waited patiently at the start line for my run wave to start at 6.57am. My race plan was to be conservative in the first 50km and see how I feel from there as I had limited preparation with only 14 weeks of training after spraining ankle at the start of the year and missing 6 weeks of running.

The initial 5km is an out and back section along the road away from the start line and coming back past the start line, it was great see all the cheering spectators as we went past and then we headed down into the valley below via the Furber Steps (I will see these again much later on!).

Once down in the valley, we traversed across a rocky section of trail and then up the first challenging section of the course, Golden Stairs. At the top we went through Checkpoint 1 (11.4km - Narrow Neck), I struggled to find a rhythm during this tough section and it took a bit more out of me than I expected. I tried best to recover over the next 5km or so. It was good this was a fairly flat section as we headed to the Tarros Ladders. These are ladders specially installed for the ultra-marathon. As it single file down the ladders, there was a bank up of runners waiting to descent the ladders, this single kilometre section took me approx. 27 minutes to complete.

During this section it was good to chat to fellow runners including an athlete from Brunei, who said his training for the race involved multiple ascending and descending of the only hill he had near where he lived, 100m height hill.

I was feeling good as I continued descent down to CP 2 (31.6km - Dunphy’s Camp). I stopped to top up water and eat some food. The next section was short steep climb up Ironpot Mountain, I found this to be the steepest section on the course but the reward at the top was the magical music performance of didgeridoo and clap sticks from the local indigenous people, it was an amazing sight to behold. It added a bit of a spring in my step.

I continued onto CP3 (46km - Six Foot Track) and it was great to arrive here and got my gear check done and quickly went to the toilet, only to realise I had been wearing my running shorts backwards for the past 46km! After a quick swap around I was on my way again.
It was now getting to mid-late afternoon and I noticed it started to get a bit cooler, I was joined by about 5-6 other runners as we started to ascent Nellies Glen with darkness arriving as we started to climb!

I got my headlamp out and continued to ascend, but after about 10 mins my headlamp completing stopped working. I was not sure why, so quickly grabbed my 2nd headlamp out and was on my way again.

I was glad to arrive at CP4 (57.3km - Katoomba Aquatic Centre) and get to sit down for a few minutes while having something to eat and change into a long sleeve running top and short sleeve thermal top underneath. The aid stations were fully stocked with so many food choices, but I stuck with what I had in my aid station drop bag.

I found it quite exhilarating to have my first night race run, I only had done a couple of night training runs prior to race day. I loved the mystery and the challenge the night added to my race experience, the heightening of your senses and learning to adapt to different conditions. I did keep repeating to myself ‘Watch your step - Don’t fall over’.

I headed back out into streets of Katoomba and towards the Giant Stairway, when the wind started to pick up a bit as I began to descend back into the valley once again, but I enjoyed amazing views of the famous 3 Sisters under the clear night sky. I continued down through Leura Forest, where the course crosses path with the final stages for runners heading back to the finish line, I saw a few runners heading back the other way.

At about the 75km mark, my GPS Garmin watch went flat, so from this point I had pretty much no idea what pace I going or how many kilometres to go.

Once up and out of Leura Forest there was fairly flat section as I headed out to the final checkpoint at Queen Victoria Hospital, Checkpoint 5 – 78.4km. It was great to finally get there as I had started to get cramps in my groin and right hamstring a few kilometres prior, slowing my pace.

I felt a sense of relief leaving the final checkpoint as I descended into the valley for the last time, knowing once I reached the bottom it was uphill to the finish line.

I kept a steady pace as I travelled down the fire road and the only company I encountered was wombat in the middle of the road, I don’t think he appreciated me interrupting his exploration of the trail. I was surprised how much speed the wombat could get up to as it ran into the bushes.

I did see a support vehicle a few times shuttling runners back to the CP5 medical tent, that would heartbreaking to get so close to the finish line and have to pull out.

I made it the final emergency aid station at 91.2km, where I topped up my water for the final assault up to Katoomba. I started to hike up towards Leura Forest again, I briefly stopped a few times as the steep ascent started to take hold, and my pace was slow but steady.

I still remember a piece of advice, a previous run coach said to me as I prepared for my first marathon quite a few years ago, ‘When the race gets tough, run 1km for each important person to you’. They are wise words for a 100km race, you definitely have a lot of thinking time!

I thought extreme fatigue was starting to take hold and my eyes were playing tricks on me, but I soon realised it was actually my headlamp battery which was slowing dying, so I stopped at the Sewerage Treatment Works, not the best place to stop amongst the mud and sledge to swap the batteries over.

As I continued along I noticed the sun start to appear on the horizon, it had been a big day out! I still had no idea of the time as my watch had died earlier.

Now I could sense the finish line was not far away, but at the same time the famous Furber Steps still awaited! A 951 step, 220m elevation gain in the final 1.2km to the finish line. I powered up the steps as best I could after 99km and was relieved to get to the top.

It was great to cross the finish line with the support of a cheer squad, appropriately named ‘OzSquad’ who formed a guard of honour as I ran down the finishing chute, that was a great moment to cap off an epic day!

A day like this is simply not possible without the great support from family and friends. I would especially like to thank the support of my wife, daughter and all family and friends who helped in training and sent best wishes on race day! Plus my physiotherapist, Felicity who worked miracles and got me to the start line in one piece!

Nutrition
3 vegemite sandwiches
10 servings of macadamia or almonds
1 x gel
6 x 200g sachets of tailwind nutrition (approx 3 litres)
4 litres of water