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Episode 45: Tarawera Recap, The Current State of Running Times, and Meet James!
347 Plays18 days ago
Welcome to Episode 45 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This week’s episode is a big one as hosts Sim Brick, Jess Jason and Vlad Ixel recap all things Tarawera! We had some huge performances from runners in the Aussie community and it was a bad year to be a course record! Also listen in as the team discuss the evolution of trail and where we currently stand as trail runners all over the globe post incredible fast half marathon times and we watch records go down every weekend.
And just to make a big episode bigger, we introduce you to James Sieber, a new team member joining us to help with getting more stories out there for you to enjoy!
Results:
Tarawera: https://live.utmb.world/tarawera/2025/T102
Hut 2 Hut: https://tomatotiming.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=16&RId=29771&EId=3&dt=2
Yaberoo Trail Ultra: https://my.raceresult.com/325339/results
***Don’t forget, use code PPP at https://bix-hydration.myshopify.com/en-au for 20% off Bix products, exclusive to PPP listeners!***
Thanks for tuning in to Peak Pursuits! Connect with us on Instagram @peakpursuits.pod to share your thoughts, questions, and your own trail stories. Until next time, keep hitting the trails and chasing those peak pursuits!
Sim: @theflyingbrick_
Jess: @jessjason
Vlad: @vladixel
James: @coachjamessieber
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/trendsetter
License code: K08PMQ3RATCE215R
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:09
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode 45 of the Peak Pursuits podcast. My name is Simone Brick and I am joined today by regular host Jess Jason in Canberra.
00:00:21
Speaker
How we doing Jess? Hey guys, going well, enjoying the slightly cooler weather, which is definitely prime for running at the moment. Oh yeah, I reckon it's a bit of a nice break for everyone, although maybe not the people that were up the mountains on the weekend, but we can chat about that a little later.
00:00:38
Speaker
And also joining me over in Perth is Vlad Ixl. How are we doing, Vlad? Not too bad. 35 degrees at 4pm. Don't worry, that that that warm day is going to come to Melbourne in about three days. So I'm not looking forward to my run, actually.
00:00:55
Speaker
Honestly, like I'll talk about it in my week, but the change up in weather has been wild. Like to go from a week of 39, 40 to then it's 12 degrees and raining and feels like eight is honestly a shock.
00:01:09
Speaker
um but we we'll get there. Everyone in Melbourne, probably Canberra, I'm assuming too, Jess has been living through that a little bit. um But we'll go, I'll throw it to you first, Vlad.
Preparing for the Ice Marathon
00:01:20
Speaker
and I'm actually at home, staying at home for the next few nights and mum, as I started to get on the podcast, said she really wants to know how this training for the ice marathon is going because she listens every episode and it's one of the most things the things I've got the most questions about. So how's the training for the ice marathon going?
00:01:37
Speaker
I mean, like I said before, I haven't really been doing anything too special. I have kind of started looking to actually where I'm going. I started packing a lot of like warm clothes because it looks like it's going to be between minus 15 and minus 25.
00:01:52
Speaker
Um, yeah, which I don't really know what to expect except that it's going to be cold. Um, But yeah, so the race is exactly a week away. And yeah, just I mean, I've been just playing normally. I can't do anything special.
00:02:11
Speaker
Like, I don't think, like, obviously, like, it's more of a fun event. It's not really going to be like a world-breaking attempt or anything like that. Yeah. Did you get the ice spikes?
00:02:23
Speaker
Yeah, i got some. Yeah, i got some. You got some ice spikes, good. Yeah, got some. It's like compulsory. It's part of the compulsory. That's like the only compulsory in gear technically. Hang on. How far out from like aid station do you get in this thing and the only compulsory gear in like minus 15 to 25 is ice spikes?
00:02:40
Speaker
like i It's four laps of just over 10K. So I guess technically the furthest you're going to be away is five k I feel like that temperature. You can still run into a lot of trouble pretty quick.
00:02:54
Speaker
I think they have, like, quite a lot of people, like, on the course making sure everybody is okay. i mean, it's not going to be a big group. Like, I'd be surprised if there's more than, like, 30 or 40 people doing it. True, true.
00:03:07
Speaker
it's a pretty new event. I guess I try, ah guess I guess trying to, um, get a bit of, i guess, international attention, but it's still a very small event. And I don't know how big it will ever get with how hard it is.
00:03:23
Speaker
No, I don't think it's the extreme bit of it because I know there's like ice marathons all around. Well, not all around the world, but some places in Europe and stuff like that. Um, But yeah, I think it's just like really hard to get to. So um there yeah, I don't think it will ever be like a mass participation event. It would be just like a cool event that I guess wealthier individuals could do.
Training Reflections and Strategies
00:03:47
Speaker
um yeah Even though technically the trip to India is not that expensive and probably from most ice marathons or ice races around the world, this one might be the cheapest one.
00:04:00
Speaker
But yeah, no, I've have've had a good week of training in general. Like it's the biggest running week that I've had. So I've hit 14 hours of running, which is the biggest since um the lead up to the Asia Pacific Trail champs back in October.
00:04:14
Speaker
Nice. And I definitely feel like, um ah well, I knew this for a long time, but I feel a lot fitter when I do put in the miles. um Last week on the pod, we discussed a little bit about like running over small hills around Perth and how like I don't really get that intensity because it kind of like a little bit of up a little bit of down a little bit of up a little bit of down um week I tried to stay on some flatter trails so I can actually like hold I guess like 415s 420 pace for a bit longer um and that's where I feel like my running form just feels a bit stronger um you know kind of i'm a bit more bouncier I guess and
00:04:52
Speaker
Yeah, I'm just going to try and do, I guess, a little bit more flatter trail running where I can hold that effort a little bit higher. I'm kind of, yeah, higher ah zone two kind of running this.
00:05:05
Speaker
I know that that's what made me fit so many times. um So, yeah, that's kind of the mental change from last week that I'm going to do a little bit more runnable stuff. And you can still get fairly fit for trails, you know, running flatter stuff.
00:05:21
Speaker
And in the end of the day, like, you know, Perth is so flat that, um yeah, kind of a lot of hill repeats are good. But, yeah, I don't know how, like, yeah, if they're that effective in the big picture of getting fit for trail running.
00:05:36
Speaker
Yeah, fair. How do you reckon the legs are going to cope with Donna Double being not too far away? and So what I'm thinking is more like more specific key sessions on the trails rather than um just a lot of time on the trails.
00:05:53
Speaker
So like I did another key downhill session, which not much, you know, kind of, i guess, two times three k fast downhills. um And then i might try and do a couple of uphill specific sessions. But Generally, I think a lot of fitness comes from flat running or just not holding an effort for a longer time, which is easier on the road or it's easier on like a long climb, um which we don't have here. And the only place do it really is the treadmill.
00:06:25
Speaker
Um, but yeah, I think I should be okay. Like legs are feeling quite fresh. Um, from that downhill session, I did three K at about three minute pace, um, like very runnable gradient of about seven or 8% on like gravel road.
00:06:40
Speaker
Um, definitely like a push, like going a bit closer to like VO two max effort, but, um, legs were feeling good today. I did that yesterday, part of my long run. So right at the end of the long run, um,
00:06:52
Speaker
Oh, yeah, wow. How long was the long run that you then added that to? 32K. So I did that when I hit two hours. So when I hit two hours, i put in the really fast downhill effort.
00:07:05
Speaker
Well, I was kind of doing progression downhill efforts, um but the first four felt fairly comfortable. And then the last one, yeah, I was feeling it.
00:07:16
Speaker
And, I mean, also like, you know, a nice warm day in Perth again. So, um yeah yeah, not an easy one. but Yeah, actually I actually quite feel quite fit. And, you know, realistically, that ice marathon it is probably just a lot of time on my feet. I just hope that, like, running on ice is not going to, like, cause any niggles or, like, yeah, I guess. I think you'll be moving so slow. Yeah, I'll probably just play it a bit safer and, like,
00:07:44
Speaker
yeah just trying make it to the finish line in one piece even though technically when it's that cold all you want to do probably is just like get out of get out of there and get get like get into somewhere a bit warmer um but yeah i am looking forward to this recap yeah if i'm out in two days i should be in that cold weather in like three or four days And then is it this weekend? So next week on the pod, you'll be recapping the race?
00:08:16
Speaker
No, so the the race is actually on the Monday, so the day after. Okay, but if we record on the Tuesday. Could be. Yeah, could be. yeah Just get get the fresh the fresher fresh recap of flat and just see how went rather than waiting a week. We'll see how we go on that one. But no, exciting times. And I've got one last question. How much of the 14 hours of running that you did, did you do any of that like uphill treadmills or was were you really going like trying to get more flat, um steady running out there?
00:08:48
Speaker
Yeah, actually this week I didn't make it to the gym, just struggling a bit with time. So a lot all the runs have been from my house pretty much. um yeah So i have I was planning to go today, but it's also getting a bit late. So might just run from home.
00:09:01
Speaker
um yeah But yeah, I'm not too worried about the uphill. I think that um for Donut Double, I'm probably more worried about the downhill. Yeah. Yeah, I'd say that. which um Which, because i know there's some listeners from Perth that um would probably like want to know which hill you're choosing for your downhill efforts.
00:09:20
Speaker
I don't know if you know it, Jess, but it's called Kelly's Climb. Yeah, yeah. um So, yeah, it's under about, yes, runnable. Yeah. seven seven percent so yeah it's very It's probably one of the longer ones, but it's not quite as steep as Donna.
00:09:40
Speaker
yeah
00:09:43
Speaker
It'll be similar to the top of Donna. yeah Very top. After you get off the single track, back onto the fire road maybe. Actually, even that gets steep at times. you know yeah It's all running at the end of the day.
00:09:55
Speaker
Yeah, i mean, I think it's all fitness. I mean, when I run with my track running friends, they all kind of run a lot stronger than me on the uphills because their VO2 max is just next level. So yeah I think just getting fit is getting fit.
00:10:08
Speaker
Obviously, if we did like a three-hour climb, I might be able to start overtaking them. but Yeah, yeah you know it always gets to a point where the muscles muscular endurance for that particular activity does help.
00:10:20
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. But yeah, I think generally, some of my best trail races happen off the back of a lot of speed work, a lot of effort during the week, and a lot of
Jess and Simone's Training Experiences
00:10:32
Speaker
volume. So what I am trying to do is actually try and combine key sessions and volume, um which I've never really done before. But I'll see how that kind of goes in the next few weeks.
00:10:43
Speaker
if you've never done it before, it's the way to push your body to adapt to something. so Yeah, because i I mean, I got really fit from just doing 20, 25K runs every single day. um And then I also got really fit by doing key sessions, like really, yeah I guess, like a new stimulus to my body is is getting onto the track, which only happened kind of when COVID hit.
00:11:06
Speaker
Yeah. So yeah, now I'm going to try and combine both of them. So I think once I started training with the track guys, like an hour 45 was considered to be a long run, but the first 10 years of my running of my running, you know, an hour 45 was just like a daily run.
00:11:21
Speaker
So I'm kind of going a little bit more towards that thinking that I can just do a 90 minute run, you know, in the afternoon instead of just an hour run. um And if my body can hold onto it, which it's only been one week, but...
00:11:35
Speaker
I think I might be able to hold on to that kind of volume. I think that I could get hopefully to that, have that next breakthrough, which technically i haven't had a breakthrough in in maybe two or three years. So I had that breakthrough when I started doing track and speed work and I got really close to 15 minutes for the 5K.
00:11:54
Speaker
um But I haven't really had a breakthrough in the past two years, I guess. Yeah, nice. So you're doing three sessions a week then? Yeah, so yeah, even even I would say like um five sessions. So I'll do a short key session so on Tuesday morning.
00:12:13
Speaker
So I mean, last week it was just like eight times one minute uphill efforts at like threshold and track. Yeah, okay. workout in the afternoon um thursday friday can be something similar with a threshold in the afternoon as well and then maybe another 20-15 minutes worth of threshold in in the long run effort okay yeah that makes sense yeah well just feel like you know like like when you said five sessions in volume i'm like be prepared for an injured vlad in two weeks No, so they're not that long. So obviously the two main ones are track and threshold.
00:12:47
Speaker
um And then the other ones are like 15 to 20 minutes long. So... Yeah. Yeah. You know, that makes a lot more sense. I like it. I like it. I'll be interested to see how it tracks along. And um I think we've got a discussion a little later on in this episode that'll encompass some of that, how speed and running and flat is all seeming to change the world of trail a little bit um at times. But before we get onto that, Jess, how's your week been? And you're getting ready still for Buffalo Marathon, yeah? Yeah, I'm pretty much right in the middle of um my block for Buffalo Marathon.
00:13:22
Speaker
um Yeah, I feel like I'm about maybe three weeks into it. um I was actually, yeah haven't sort of spoken about my training for a couple of weeks, but um I was feeling a little bit like I was starting to sort of dig myself into a hole, just like...
00:13:38
Speaker
Every session, like every day over the weeks was just getting harder and harder. um So last week I kind of pulled back a little bit. um So rest day Monday ah post, like a three hour 20 long run. i was down in Bright last weekend, um just like a spontaneous camping trip. and Nice. Nice.
00:14:01
Speaker
I thought I would try and see as much of the course as I could, um but that meant like a pretty long and hefty long run. So just recovered the next day. And then Tuesday, I didn't do a track session. I just sort of went out and did some kind of strides. My coach usually gives me this kind of like easy run with um a few 15 pickups with floats in between.
00:14:24
Speaker
um And then, yeah I think after sort of not doing that track session, I um got back on track. Like my body was feeling a lot better, which was good. um I also pulled out a gym, one of the gym sessions from last week. So i only did two, um which made a huge difference. I think.
00:14:43
Speaker
Once you start getting into, like, the meaty part of, like, um training for, like like, a lot of vert, it's really hard to fit in three gym sessions a week. Like, your oh yeah muscles just get so tired. so um yeah, just been playing around with that a bit, like, making the gym a bit lighter um to make sure that I'm actually, like, recovering and absorbing the increase in vert.
00:15:07
Speaker
Yeah. And then I did another session on the Thursday. um i actually, like... but So I have been doing Track Tuesday with a group, Philo Saunders Squad down in Canberra.
00:15:24
Speaker
um And then I've been doing my own thing on a Friday for the last few weeks um just because i wanted to start doing my longer kind of healy tempos, which haven't really found another group in Canberra that does that sort of thing yet. so um But i do I really struggle to do sessions on my own just like – struggle to have the motivation to like get up and do it before work and then I end up sort of like pushing it out and getting like i actually get really like worried about it like quite worked up and I use a lot of like mental energy before I've even started and then
00:16:02
Speaker
um yeah I feel like that sort of pent up energy just like I let it out in like the first few minutes of the session and just like cook myself um yeah so I had a couple yeah like the last couple weeks I had a few stinkers where like I didn't really and like the temperature like the heat was playing a toll as well but I wasn't really executing the sessions like very well like I was just having to stop and like just not doing them very well. um So then i was like, oh, I'm going to like, since I didn't really do a session on Tuesday, I'll jump in with the group on Thursday.
00:16:38
Speaker
They had a longer session than usual, which worked in my favor. So they were down at Stromlo, which is um like I'm sure most runners know Stromlo. It's like pretty much like a golf course manicured like grass circuit has like a little bit of a hill in it.
00:16:55
Speaker
Um, so it's like a 2k loop. Um, and we were doing, that group was doing four by 2k. So was like, I'll do five by 2k, which pretty much matched the session that I had planned anyway. Um, and yeah, it was still pretty hot that afternoon. It was like 30 degrees, and But, yeah, executed it really well. Like, i was really happy with it. So I think it's just crazy, like, noticing the difference in, like, my mental state when I'm training with a group. Like, it just helps so much.
00:17:28
Speaker
um I think just it just removes that kind of, like, expectation and, like, focus on myself and I get to like kind of just relax a little bit more, which ended up like producing a really good session. So yeah i was pretty happy with that.
00:17:43
Speaker
um Yeah. So I think that really helps just like Bruce, like give me a bit of positive reinforcement and like, boost my mood a bit. um and there Were these 2Ks at sort of threshold or were they faster or like tempo or within than threshold kind of pace? Probably like between threshold and tempo, I would say.
00:18:05
Speaker
Yeah, okay. um Like maybe half marathon pace sort thing. Yeah. Nice. Yeah, so I was really happy with how it felt. Like just felt really strong and like relaxed, but like i was pushing, so.
00:18:20
Speaker
Yeah, it was good. um And then luckily, so the weekend brought a nice cool change, which is good because I feel like half the reason these long runs have been cooking me is, like, it's just so, like, brutal running for three hours, like, in the mountains when it's hot because, like, you need to have so much water and, like, fuel to, like, get through. And had a run, like, a couple weeks ago where I just cramped up so badly, like, just didn't take enough water or salt with me and it was just horrible um so it was just so nice on Sunday like I think it was like eight degrees or something when I started running it was just perfect for running um went out to Mount Tennant which I think ye you've been there before Sim for like Aussie champs.
00:19:11
Speaker
Auss champs were there yeah. Yeah, so it's, yeah, it's a beautiful, it's a nice climb. Like it's a, the, don't think it was the side where they had the uphill race, but it was, there's like, you start from the bottom and you go up like from the other side and it's a more of a techie kind of climb with like stairs and rocks and things. a more way up than the way they sent us up the fire road. Yeah.
00:19:34
Speaker
so we usually go up the turkey side and then back down the fire road and then back up and then across so it was like twenty nine k um like 1600 so and i felt good like I felt a lot better than I'd felt in the last couple of weeks so I think starting to like absorb that training and like um my body was felt better from not having such a high intensity week and yeah back on track I think Love it.
00:20:04
Speaker
And we've got what, five, six, how many weeks? Six weeks?
00:20:09
Speaker
I think it's five. Five? Oh, my gosh. this a scary That's a scary thought for me because it's the same day as my second race coming up. so Yes, five weeks.
00:20:21
Speaker
yeah Oh, damn. Okay. This is interesting times. Cool. um Time flies when you're having fun. Awesome. Well, Yeah, good week. And I'm very jealous of you having the climbs as close as you do now.
00:20:35
Speaker
Yeah, it I feel so lucky to have it. Like it's crazy how different I already feel like compared to when I first moved to Canberra. I remember running out at Mount Tennant and just being like on that first climb because it goes for about and just being like this is like the hardest thing I've ever done. just keeps going, going, going.
00:20:52
Speaker
But now I'm like so used to it. It's just like you just get through it and like I hardly have to hike now, which is like just crazy nice yeah so good all the progress good stuff good stuff love to hear it uh yeah to finish up the training talk my update is like i it's been an interesting one all of my gym has gone out the window um which has been because of the my had my first trip of the year where i went down to tassie for the kunanyi training camp um and so my week
00:21:27
Speaker
This week that I've just gone, kind of had a bit of a fun front load of a 31K Monday and that was eight hours on feet. um So for the Kunanyi camp, um which i I kind of had to recover from but also didn't feel like i had to recover from because the week before I i did the downhill course, so that was a 9K downhill hard on the Friday into then the three days of the camp and they were sort of seven seven hours, seven and a half hours, eight hours, three days in a row. um And I think over those four days, I got 100Ks with about 6,000 up and down. So we did a lot, but at the same time, most of it was like, it's it's very, very cruisy. So
00:22:10
Speaker
slow By the time it's taking eight hours to cover 31Ks, it's not too taxing. Running time, obviously, a lot shorter too. and But, yeah, my Monday started there and then I didn't travel back till the Tuesday.
00:22:23
Speaker
But the one thing I did love is that over the days, my quads were real sore from the downhill on the Saturday of the camp, the day after, and they were way better by the end of the camp despite putting a whole heap more downhill into them. So I feel more conditioned for the – hills, um but I just had that fatigue from time of out in the trails. So on the Tuesday, ah didn't do anything at all.
00:22:47
Speaker
I pretty much flew home and did nothing. But then um for the rest of the week, it was an interesting one because I had Carmen's 10K on Sunday.
00:22:59
Speaker
So ah put that in purely as a training race. Now, this is a mental thing for me because I just didn't want after a long break, the first time I get up early, eat a race breakfast, put a bib on, rock up to a start line and do all the things,
00:23:12
Speaker
to be Donna or something that I actually cared about. ah prefer that to be a race where I go, me if it if it's good, it's good. If it's not, it's not kind of thing and and just get back in the rhythm of that a little bit.
00:23:24
Speaker
So i only did one session for the week on the Thursday. um was one of my ones that me and Tim kind of make up as we go along and I love it because I'm also in a similar block to you for Donna, Vlad, actually, because I'm looking at, well, flat running is what got me fit the first time around and what I feel like I need in terms of just higher intensity and to get my speed back.
00:23:46
Speaker
um So my session on the Thursday was 2K flat around the two bridges loop, five by 250 meter hills up from the pillars and then 500 meter hard.
00:24:01
Speaker
twice round. So then another 2K, another 5x250 hills and a 500-meter flat hard. um And I was hitting the 2Ks in the same pace I was hitting the one k my 1K reps two weeks earlier.
00:24:11
Speaker
So fitness is coming back slowly. It's nice to feel like I'm moving decently again. um And that gave me both some confidence and some apprehension for the weekend because I could feel the hills in the legs um as that first that was my first sort of effort after Kunani. Yeah.
00:24:28
Speaker
But yeah, we got it done. We got through the week. And by the time it came around to Sunday, um I don't know what the weather was like in Canberra on Sunday, Jess, but we had wild, wild, wild weather on the morning. So I think by the time we rocked up to Carmen's, everyone's sort of used to the heat. It's middle of summer.
00:24:47
Speaker
And I think it was 10 degrees on the start line with wind at sort of 20 to 30 k's per hour gusting up to 40 and raining. um So it did not inspire at all. I was actually not a happy chappy on the start line going, what am I doing here? Why am I about to race a 10 k road?
00:25:05
Speaker
ah but we got it done. It was an interesting one because we had a headwind on the way out and then a tailwind on the way back, but on the way back is when the rain started during the race. So we had sideways or back end rain um and Carmen's is lovely, but in the 10k you're weaving through half marathoners the whole time.
00:25:24
Speaker
So it was a bit of fun. And I think almost everyone had a one minute negative split. So I went 19.11 out to the 5K, refusing to look at my watch because I knew I was running slow because I missed the pack.
00:25:39
Speaker
um I didn't go with it, didn't feel confident enough to go with it, and probably a dumb move because I ended up running into the headwind, mostly solo. couple of guys offered me a tow.
00:25:50
Speaker
um But um there was it like a 3.56K there for the fifth k that honestly you just had to laugh at the wind in your face as you were trying to run 10k and then you turn around and you got the wind at your back and all of a sudden it's a breeze home so like my splits were 19 11 18 18 I think something like that so 37 and a half minutes. I would have loved a 37 flat and sub, but in the conditions, I was happy enough and almost everyone there.
00:26:20
Speaker
Like I saw even the lead guys that I think they ran like 30 minutes and 40 seconds. They had like a 318K in there on the way out um for the 5th K and then turn around and that's a 256.
00:26:32
Speaker
So didn' made me feel not so bad when I saw stuff like that. um But, yeah, that was my second session for the week and then did a longer cool down. So that was my 10K race into a longer run and finished feeling like I could keep going and that the cool down was fine. So,
00:26:51
Speaker
Yeah, a decent confidence boost for Warby. it could Just having 10K straight of effort, no matter the conditions, like the effort's going to help, I feel like. And my form felt good.
00:27:02
Speaker
Body felt good for the most part. Sore hip in some ways, but we're getting in there. And yeah, Donna's just around the corner now. Scary time. Are you going to go out to the course and run it before the race or you know it well enough?
00:27:17
Speaker
Oh, I definitely know the course well enough, but I am still doing an uphill session on the course. So i think it's one week out. I do the entire climb of the course. i Well, a bit over a week because it's the Friday before, so not this Friday, next Friday.
00:27:32
Speaker
I do the whole climb at five minutes on, two minutes off for the main eight or 9K section of it. I think it's about 8K for the main section of the climb. So, yeah, I will get one specific uphill session on the course there. And then obviously I will run back down the course more just to check what the course is like a week out.
00:27:53
Speaker
um And if there's any and extra downed trees and all those sorts of things. But for the most part from here, it's just a case of, I still feel like I'm trying to keep myself on ice a little bit for later in the year.
00:28:05
Speaker
um Like even today, it feels like I'm going against everything, but I only did one 45-minute uphill hike on the treadmill and part of me is going, oh, my gosh, I'm not doing enough. And part of me is going, well, the time will come.
00:28:17
Speaker
Now is not the time yet. Do it. So I hate this phase in some ways, black but also love it. it's It's an odd one. um But, yeah, we'll get there.
00:28:28
Speaker
We will get there.
Nutrition and Performance Enhancements
00:28:30
Speaker
This episode is proudly supported by Bix. Bix is an Australian nutrition company, which offers both active and recovery electrolyte supplements.
00:28:40
Speaker
um They also have performance fuels and now the big 40 gram gel. I've been enjoying using the 40 gram gel out on my bike rides and find that it's incredibly easy to get down.
00:28:53
Speaker
So it's a fantastic product. The consistency is really good. And I've been enjoying practicing using that one out on the bike. We've got a special deal for Peak Pursuits listeners. If you head over to the Bix website and use the code PPP at checkout, you'll get 20% off all of the Bix range.
00:29:12
Speaker
So get over there, order some stuff and keep showing up. Cool. I reckon we will move on into a bit of a discussion that we were all having before the podcast.
00:29:24
Speaker
um And it's to do with the training that we're all doing, but also just observing um the trail running world a little bit. And that is that, I don't know if any of the listeners have seen, but we've it's definitely been a big discussion in the people I'm around on the trail. And that is that seeing lot of overseas trail runners at this point in time jumping in half marathons.
00:29:45
Speaker
um in particular, but road races and all sorts. And then also what we're seeing is a lot of course records going down back to back to back to back to back. um Even as we go through the Tarawara results later, it'll become very evident ah what is happening in the trail running scene right now.
00:30:02
Speaker
But I think we had, what, was it Barcelona half-flight on the weekend? Yeah, Barcelona Half, which is one of the faster ones in Europe and one that a lot of trail runners have targeted. um Like that Lisa you were sharing with us.
00:30:16
Speaker
Yep, there's a lot. There's definitely a lot. There was, yeah. But yeah, also outside of that, like, you know, last week, um the indoor mile and 1500 meter was broken by Jakob Ingebretsen.
00:30:29
Speaker
The half marathon world record was broken, which is, um yeah, absolutely incredible to go under 57 minutes for a half marathon. um the five k indoor record was broken um yeah a lot of records are going down 10k for men was almost broken 26 and a half minutes with 10k um yeah a lot of fast running and Yeah, I think that there is obviously a couple of reasons for a lot of that.
00:30:59
Speaker
um A lot of those records are happening. I think with like um shorter races, Bicarb has been playing up a big role in all those records and who I wouldn't wouldn't want to guess his name, but there was a US collegiate runner that got sponsored by Morton and I think he broke the mile record for collegiate times.
00:31:22
Speaker
um But yeah, a lot of it has to come from bicarb and a lot of those 5,000 meters, 10K races of just, yeah, getting smoked right now. And um yeah, pretty crazy to see what's happening in the sport. And I think obviously a lot of it has to do also with the high carb revolution and, yeah,
00:31:42
Speaker
the amount of carbs that people are consuming. So away from um you know the fast half marathons in Barcelona that we saw from all those trail runners, um we're also seeing obviously some fast running at Black Kenyans where the men's and females records were broken. I think female record was smashed by half an hour. And then Tara where obviously a lot of broken of records are broken. And I think a lot of it obviously has to do with high carb fueling during races, but also during training in general as well.
00:32:16
Speaker
ah think the adaptation is paying off after like high carb in training for a few months. Your body kind of adapts and and you get a lot more out of the training. And yeah, I think we're going to see a lot of rocke a lot of records being smashed this year. And um yeah, I guess it's ah it's an interesting time in running right now where so many barriers are going to get broken.
00:32:39
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. I think from from my end of observing it, it is awesome and daunting at the same time because I've seen that many ah but on the trail side of things. Like this is what everyone wants in a way. it's It's just amazing seeing the translation across road, trail and seeing all the trail runners that we'll run the European season in the middle of the year and right now it's their winter so they're on the roads and they're they're doing these road races. But I would have seen in the last couple of weeks over 10 women that I know from Golden Trail and short-distance trail races running between 69 and 73 minutes for the half.
00:33:19
Speaker
And I kind of just look at it and I go, okay, who are we talking about in Australian distance running on the road that's doing that? And there's not actually that many. And then we're talking, these are just the top trail runners in America and some of them are across in Europe.
00:33:36
Speaker
Like they don't, they're not doing this to actually target the half marathon. They're pumping 69 or a lot of them, ah there's four or five in the 71 minute. um And I'm just like,
00:33:47
Speaker
if like not many Aussie female road runners that target it full-time are doing that. And it blows my mind a little bit, but i it's also awesome to see.
00:33:58
Speaker
And then on the men's side, yeah, seeing people that dedicate their lives to trail running, running the 61 to 63-minute halves, or there was a list of maybe 14, 15 guys at Barcelona, all under 67, 68 kind of minute halves,
00:34:12
Speaker
sixty seven sixty eight kind of minute halves And, yeah, its it blows my mind a little bit because part of me goes, I'm not sure my body is physically capable of anything like that.
00:34:23
Speaker
um But it also is inspiring to go, well, that's that's the level now. Rise to it or be left behind in some ways. I don't know. What are your thoughts, Jess?
00:34:35
Speaker
um Yeah, i think like I think, like, anyone that's able to run those sort of times is always going to run – really well on the trails, but, like, there's definitely an element to trail running that, like, I don't think it's, like, a direct conversion. Like, you've got to have strength. Oh, no, yeah. um And, like, confidence. um So I think, like, it's definitely possible to be a slower runner on paper and still run really well on the trails, like, against trail
00:35:13
Speaker
people that can run those times. um Yeah, especially when want the technical trails. I think that that's where the difference goes a bit more away from just pure fitness and speed and VO2 max goes into um strength and skill and technical abilities.
00:35:31
Speaker
Oh, yeah. think Yeah, I think i think i think just just seeing so many people do well, yeah, I think there has to be some, like, obviously it's not just them training more.
00:35:43
Speaker
I think a lot of it has to come down with fueling and training. And um the effect that we're seeing right now is not just because they had 100 grams an hour during races, but just like a lot of fueling during training. um Because there's no way you can really explain so many fast performances, you know. um Yeah, yeah. Not too much has changed. But if you look at, yeah, I guess the last few months, um a lot of yeah a lot of really good results where like if we look at the last five years, you know, obviously there have always been improvements with shoes, with training, with knowledge.
00:36:22
Speaker
um But yeah, I think what we're seeing now is like next level. Yeah. And I think, yeah, kind of, I guess if you look back probably about nine months ago, a year ago, when this whole high carb revolution has started, and for some people, like it's only really kind of paying off now after doing it for so long.
00:36:41
Speaker
Yeah. yeah So, yeah. 100% agree. And I was just, as I'm looking at this list from Barcelona Marathon, I think one of your your point comes to mind, Jess here, because Julia Font, who amazing technical trail runner and is often at the front of a lot of the more technical, longer sky races, these sorts of things.
00:37:04
Speaker
I can remember multiple times last year she was battling with Sara Alonso On the trails, they had some real good battles out there. And then at Barcelona Half, Sara is one of the ones that ran 71 and Julia, still incredibly fast, ran 76.
00:37:19
Speaker
So it shows the difference there for those two on the road, but then put them on a technical trail and then neck and neck. um which, yeah, it is it's damn cool to see.
00:37:30
Speaker
I just, I don't know, the scientist in me likes looking all across the two different terrains and going. one That's one one of the things I love about trail is yeah it's never like road racing in the way that you kind of get on a pack or get on a person and try and hold on for as long as you can.
00:37:46
Speaker
It's you've got to use your strengths to your advantage in order to actually get to the finish line first. And if that's the climbs, if that's the descents, if that's the technical, like, different runners are going to have strengths in different areas. So you can't always just hold on and hope um or do the work to hold on and those sorts of things. So, yeah. ku but Yeah, and I reckon there's... Sar is a really good technical runner um in their own right. And to run 71 on the roads, it just shows that the two are kind of linked, but also, um you know, you can do both.
00:38:18
Speaker
I think that like it it is actually surprising that those sky runners are doing road races like Roberto and Alex and Sarah are doing road running because you would think that they would just jump on the skis and kind of do the skimo thing. Yeah, yeah.
00:38:33
Speaker
But I think where the sport is moving and even if you have a look at Killian, like running quite a lot through throughout winter or Jonathan Alvin running through winter, um you know, I think the sport just requires a lot more and you've got to be very specific in your training today too to to be competitive. And um we do see a lot of runners that only stay on like runnable trails as well if they are like faster, like I guess Daniel Jones, Hayden Hawks.
00:39:03
Speaker
Yeah. You know, a lot of those guys do more runnable trails and stay away from the technical stuff because if you want to be competitive, you just have to stay with what you're good at today. You can't just do everything.
00:39:14
Speaker
um yeah Yeah. I mean, to an extent, I guess maybe even Killian a little bit. um But yeah it is it is changing quick. And and like I think like it can also like really move away from us if we don't things And that's where I'm like, you know, I need to do something maybe a little bit different. Otherwise, I'm not going anywhere.
00:39:36
Speaker
but Yeah. yeah I think it's slowly becoming a sport where you do actually have to specialize in your strengths. And you can it's it's a lot harder to be the winner of all things as you we have had in the past to some degree um where people...
00:39:52
Speaker
ah amazing at all things comparative to the fields that are put together. I don't know if that makes sense. um But I just think there's so many more people in the sport now and the sport's so much bigger that it inevitably is going to mean you have to pick and choose and specialise in what you're actually trying to do in order to compete at the very top level.
00:40:12
Speaker
But, I mean, I think um a lot it just comes down that a lot of the best trail runners in the world are also very, very fast. Yes, always. And I think they always have been. Yeah, but I think it's going to that next level. Like I feel like, you know, they are competitive with road runners today. I think that Christian Allen, who does okay on the Golden Trail series, just ran a 2.10 marathon.
00:40:35
Speaker
um So obviously he's competitive on the roads, maybe not African competitive, but um fairly competitive. And I mean, he's not winning Golden Trail.
00:40:45
Speaker
um You know, he does well in them, but it's far from winning them. Yeah. But yeah, I think Jim Wamsley with a 61 half marathon um winning UTMB. Yeah.
00:40:57
Speaker
Yeah, it just shows that, yeah, you do need a lot of speed to be competitive today, no matter what you do. um You know, Roberto De Lorenzo won the Skyrunning World Series and he's a 29 minute 10K runner.
00:41:11
Speaker
Yeah. So, yeah, not much for us. We better become coaches or something.
00:41:19
Speaker
Ah, we can have a crack yet. No, it's very, very cool to see.
James Sieber Joins the Team
00:41:23
Speaker
And it'll be cool to see it continue to evolve, that's for sure. Now, actually, we will quickly do this one listener question that got sent through because it's about two seconds.
00:41:34
Speaker
um And that was Brian asking if there's any distance or trail running groups to recommend in the Sydney area. And I'm going to say personally, having not spent much time in Sydney, the only one I know and can definitely vouch for is Run Crew.
00:41:47
Speaker
But any you guys know or are we going with Run Crew? No? Yeah, I don't know. um Okay, cool. but Brian, go find Run Crew, I reckon, with Benny St Lawrence and Katie. um And i'm not I'm sure they've got multiple other coaches going on there.
00:42:02
Speaker
Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. We will cover more. Thank you to everyone that did send through the listener questions and the recommendations for the pod. We got a bunch um and it was really cool to see. We have slowly created lists and all sorts. So we will definitely be getting to because we're trying to set the scene for the pod this year and what we're doing um moving forward with so many races coming up.
00:42:27
Speaker
And as part of that, we are actually expanding just a little ah into having an extra team member and that's an extra member to help out with our interviews and our race series and um someone who has been in part of the trail running series trail trail running scene for a very long time is jumping into that position and that is the one and only James Sieber who has just jumped on the pod hi James hey how you going
00:42:58
Speaker
Good. Very, very good. Thank you for joining. And I love the fact that you're all set up with your mic already. You're looking more professional than those of us that have actually been doing this part for the last 45 episodes.
00:43:09
Speaker
So we're nailing it so far. ah Now, to give a little bit of background on James, I would have met you back way back in like 2018, right? No, not quite that long. I only moved to Australia in 2019. Okay, 19.
00:43:23
Speaker
okay nineteen So, ah yeah, probably 2020. Okay, cool. It feels like I've known you. i met you at Warby, yeah somewhere yeah, sometime a long time ago. um So, James, a very, very accomplished trail runner in his own right. I was trying to look up some your results and that would explain why there's not actually that many in Oz as far as I could tell, but there was a fourth place at GSCR, a fifth place at Buffalo marathth Stampede Marathon back in 2022. Yeah, yeah. been good.
00:43:53
Speaker
Yeah, awesome. And now you are a full-time running coach, yes? Yeah, correct. I've been for the last last two years, two and bit years. Yeah, awesome.
00:44:04
Speaker
Awesome. Also has worked in the logistics space with some of the event companies behind trail running. And partner Siobhan Sieber is a very, very good trail runner in her own right as well.
00:44:15
Speaker
Love Chevy Shortlegs. If anyone ever sees a sign for that out on a trail, they always make me laugh every time I'm in a race with Siobhan. it's ah It's an absolute blast. Yeah, she's definitely the, yeah she she's more of the talent. I'm i'm the ah coach behind the works, but yeah, it's ah ah it's been great, like coming over to Australia.
00:44:35
Speaker
The first thing that struck us was how welcoming the trail running community is. So to be able to jump on board with you guys and kind of help share that story a bit more, I'm very excited and feel very privileged to be able to do so.
00:44:47
Speaker
Yeah, awesome. Well, from behind the scenes, you've already been feeding us information and good questions and everything for quite a while now. There'll be times where trying to get this information sorted and James has it ready to go for us.
00:45:01
Speaker
So moving forward, actually, I feel like I should intro you guys because fun fact to everyone listening, we're all on this call together and this is the first time I think James is meeting Vlad and Jess. Yeah, i I saw Jess at two bays this year.
00:45:16
Speaker
came past you to like around the start. I watched all the ladies run away from me at the start, which is very impressive. But I think yeah that's about about as ah as as close as I've got to meeting you, either of you.
00:45:28
Speaker
Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, James. Nice to meet you both. Welcome aboard. Thank you. Awesome. so you've all now, those listening to the pod have heard the lovely voice of James. um And James, I would love you to now just quickly intro yourself what got you into trail running.
00:45:48
Speaker
And so people can get a tiny bit of background on you before they're going to start hearing your voice. Left, right and centre, we've got a Matt Crean interview coming up this week and you're going to have more interviews, Road Trail 2 series. We need to stop doing that.
00:46:04
Speaker
Trail 2 series with James behind the scenes. But, yeah, tell us a little bit about you so that people can have some context there first. Yeah, of course. So probably from the accent, you can tell not from Australia. So I grew up in the UK, just south of London. And from a sporting perspective, I grew up as a skier. So downhill ski racer on snow.
00:46:26
Speaker
um From about the age of eight to 18, I would have spent half my life on the snow and the other half in the UK. And It was yeah amazing, like a great experience. It's taught me a lot.
00:46:37
Speaker
A lot of what I do and the way that I act as a coach now is based off the coaches that I had back then. and then 2017, met my now wife, Siobhan, in the UK.
00:46:51
Speaker
And at the end of her two-year visa over there, we kind of thought it's either her She stays there or we move over here. So having spent a lot of my life not in the UK, I was pretty content with, it sounds really bad, except for my parents not living in the UK.
00:47:07
Speaker
I think it has its beautiful spots, but there's a lot more the world has to offer. So I was pretty, pretty happy to to make the move. I think at that age, I was in my early twenties and relatively naive to the size of moving to the literal other side of the world, but it's been amazing. So came over here in 2019, um, after skiing, I got into powerlifting.
00:47:32
Speaker
So I did that for a number of years and I got pretty competitive, but it takes a ah toll on your body doing that. And I had quite a few injuries coming off skiing. So there's been lots of but broken bones and things that keep rearing their head.
00:47:45
Speaker
But that meant that I decided to kind of move away from the power sports. And when Siobhan started running, which would have been, think 20, think it was when we moved over here that she kind of really got into it. So 2019.
00:47:58
Speaker
She kept disappearing on weekends and I kept never seeing her. And that is quite literally why I got into it. It was kind of, I could see how much she was loving it. I could see how welcoming everybody was. And once that kind of wore off, I never saw myself as a runner.
00:48:12
Speaker
I've had surgeons because of skiing say, as long as you don't become a marathon runner, you should be fine. um So i yeah definitely heeded their advice really, really well and now find myself here. so And part of part of skiing as well as like I had worked for years as a ski coach and then instructor, that was kind of what I was doing for work in that period of pre-OZ and post-OZ. There's some other things thrown in in there. But yeah, that's kind of how we find ourselves here.
00:48:39
Speaker
Very cool. And you what's the name of your squad? Is it Dawn So Dawn League is the local running club. So that's founded by um a guy called Machu Dore, who has been around a very long time, Canadian dude. he's He's the guy that just pipped me. He was fourth when I was fifth at Buffalo.
00:48:58
Speaker
ah But yeah, so he he started it. It came out of, yeah, he he started as his own thing, made a bit bigger. And then Siobhan, myself, and another guy, Sam, are kind of collaborators, and glorified assistants. But yeah.
00:49:14
Speaker
Yeah, nice. And that's up in Albury. Yeah, but that's in Albury. Awesome. Is that where you're based, James? Yeah. So my wife's from about an hour south from here, i just set outside of a town called Wangaratta. And so we moved to there to start with, then moved to Bright for about nine months and then kind of moved a bit around northeast as COVID changed things up and ended up here, which is great. It's got a great running community, um like said, with...
00:49:41
Speaker
just being part of dawn even before that it was in incredibly easy to feel at home here and brights only 75 minutes away so that helps yeah that's awesome yeah Love it. You've definitely got a good setup going there.
00:49:54
Speaker
And the ah yeah, I think we're very, very thankful to have someone to help us get more stories out there because I know you're one of the people that's been sending in the the suggestions for this person would be cool to hear from, this person would be cool to hear from. And so, yeah, keep sending in the suggestions, everyone, because now we've got someone to help us actually make stuff happen a little bit more when the four of us are all off gallivanting about the world or it's just an extra head pair of hands.
Taraweera Ultra Marathon Highlights
00:50:23
Speaker
ah But, yeah, to start us off with, we will have James and Matt Crean be released this Friday. So keep your eyes peeled for that one. That one will be dropping very soon. ah But for now, James, would you like to stay on while we review Tarawera?
00:50:38
Speaker
May as well jump in the bit. Sure, yeah. Happy to have me. It'll be fun to listen and see if I can input. Oh, well, it was an interesting weekend of racing, hey, wasn't it? Oh, it was great. Like watching watching that live stream, Sean and I were actually there last year. So it gave us, don't know, can still see the trails, smell the smells, but just watching all the events unfold like so quick, and just like blew my mind how fast both the men and the women were running. But yeah, a great event. Yeah, yeah. We will definitely be getting into how quick.
00:51:11
Speaker
ah That is for sure. And so going to, we'll go race by race, but the main race of the weekend, because it is the one that was the start of Tarawera Ultra Marathon was the hundred and two k And so that one also this year, which it hasn't had every year, I'm not sure it has in the last few years, but um had the two golden tickets to Western States up for grabs for the winners, or the first and second.
00:51:38
Speaker
That does roll down if people don't accept it. So we'll go through who actually took those tickets. ah But on the men's side, this was a runaway win, by local Kiwi Dan Jones, who won in seven hours, 17 minutes and 42 seconds, which for context takes down Tom Evans' course record of eight hours and three minutes.
00:52:04
Speaker
So 45-ish minutes under a course record that has already been run by a very accomplished runner. is pretty wild.
00:52:15
Speaker
um did you watch Did any of you watch it? Oh, Vlad, you're muted. Yeah, I haven't watched it. I can see you talking, but... Haven't watched it, but definitely been following the podcast of FreeTrail around it. And um yeah, pretty crazy how quick he went. um And I think he's got a good chance of doing well now in Western States, which is going to be, could be one of the fastest Western States ever with with Killian trying to get a golden ticket with yeah a few others are going to try and get a golden ticket.
00:52:49
Speaker
um So it could be an interesting year for golden for our Western States. ah Yeah. yeah Yeah. It's great to see. Like you see, you got David Roach, Jim Walmsley back, Killian trying to get in, Dan. I think Dan will be the first to admit that the course this year at Tarawara was faster.
00:53:07
Speaker
i was listening to him talk on free trail as well afterwards and some course changes due to weather conditions. I think it was... it he has run He has run seven hours twice before, um but this was his fastest, um which I can't imagine.
00:53:22
Speaker
Seven hours, 17 for 100K on trails. It's wild. Do you know what course changes they made? i was trying to look this up. I was trying to look up because I know they changed the direction of the course at some point back in the day and the course records kind of reset. But what was it this year?
00:53:38
Speaker
So they i think, I'm pretty sure Dan said that the old course used to run in the opposite direction. So it wouldn't finish in Rotor, it would finish at the start line, essentially.
00:53:48
Speaker
i know last year, the 100k started at the same place the did, and we ran... um kind of essentially a glorified out and back with a bit of a loop in there so that you finish in rotarua and then this year went back to the original course but starting away from town running in point to point but he said i think there was some um if some landslides or some some issues with the terrain within the single trail so they had to take the fire tracks instead and so yeah that was running a lot quicker Um, but yeah, no matter which way you look at it, it's, I think you, I'd, I'd probably say you put Dan against almost anybody on that course and he's winning that race.
00:54:28
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I'd second that. Definitely second that. And for the person, for the rest of the results on that men's side, the second place was Hiroki Kai from Japan who ran 7 hours 48 and then it wasn't too far. and Yeah, and he's not a bad runner as well. Like he's a 215 marathon runner.
00:54:49
Speaker
ah and i'm a A YouTuber as well. Yeah, he ran with his 360 GoPro style camera on his head. He does a lot of races.
00:55:00
Speaker
He did do the Hong Kong 50k and another few marathons in between. he races a lot. um But yeah, cool to see him get a golden ticket for sure. He's a bit of a character. Man, as ah as a chat for another day, I've looked at the race schedules of some of the Japanese, Chinese, Hong Kong runners and they it absolutely blows my mind, but I'm not going to get us too sidetracked at this point. We can discuss that another day because in third place on the men's only like, what, a minute, 20 seconds back from second was Adrian McDonald, who's from the US in 7 Hours 51. And it was Adrian and...
00:55:38
Speaker
uh, Hiroki that took the, um, golden ticket. So I'm not sure. Did Dan already have one? Do we know? Or did he not? from Yeah. From fourth at States this year, last year. Oh, of course he's yet M4. Okay.
00:55:50
Speaker
That makes sense. So that's yeah. Second and third took the golden tickets there. And I'm assuming because I haven't seen otherwise that they actually kept them. Cause we'll hear the story of the women's ones in a little bit, but, um,
00:56:02
Speaker
Yeah, on the women's side, it was a similar story in some ways, but a bit of a closer run at the front. So Ruth Croft got the win 8 hours which was also breaking her own course record of hours by 55, 56 minutes is incredible.
00:56:19
Speaker
day to break our own course record of by fifty five fifty six minutes is Insane. um And then in second place, which I loved watching this pan out because there was times they were seconds apart really late into the race.
00:56:33
Speaker
was Caitlin Fielder, fellow Kiwi. So it was two Kiwis battling it out on Kiwi terrain. And that she was eight hours, 30, 45.
00:56:41
Speaker
And then one for us Aussies in a way, Beth McKenzie, who we will be getting on the pod as soon as we can to hear how this run went down. She was leading early, I think I saw, at about 28 Ks or so, had a small lead.
00:56:56
Speaker
But she came still stuck on and came through for third. Now, Beth, it says is from the US, so I think she might be from the US, but lives in Oz, trains in Queensland, um and she ran eight hours, 46.09.
00:57:09
Speaker
oh nine Other, just quickly, other Aussies of note, we also had Juliette Sewell, who was sixth in nine hours and ten minutes, Holly Ranson, who was eighth in nine hours 33, Anna McKenna, ninth in nine hours 40.
00:57:24
Speaker
Oh, and I think it was Lucy 12th in, I haven't got the time up, 10 hours and one. So hell of a lot of Aussies, like what's that, four Aussies in the top ten or three and a claimed Aussie?
00:57:39
Speaker
Yeah. Is Julia, is she a Kiwi is she an Aussie? She's Kiwi. She lives in Sydney. Yeah, so yeah she she does live here. I couldn't remember which way around it was.
00:57:52
Speaker
Yeah, she's lived in Sydney for a few years, but um still Kiwi citizen. Yeah, so that's ah that's another one that claimed Aussie, but, well, lives in Aussie.
00:58:03
Speaker
So... She runs with all of us. So anyways, but yeah, that was some amazing runs there. data Jess, did you watch any of the women's one or see any of the coverage of it? Yeah. Yeah. I loved seeing like the stories of um like Beth coming through when she was leading at like 30K and then like coming through the aid station wearing a, repping the alpha flyers in the trail race. I didn't see that.
00:58:30
Speaker
And, yeah, I yeah yeah i was messaging you about – I was so confused about how she had, like, no mandatory gear on her. Like, she was just in a little crop top and shorts. I was like, how is this a trail race right now? She's wearing alpha flies and, like, no trail vest or belt. But then I realized that there was no mandatory gear, which I, yeah, never – I hadn't heard of, like, a big trail race without mandatory gear. So I learned something.
00:58:54
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. they ah They do instigate, they do, yeah, if they if there's bad weather, they will get mandatory gear list on. But, yeah, for good weather, it's cool.
00:59:04
Speaker
They let them run light and fast, that's for sure. um It translates. But, yeah, that was that was really cool to see. And I'm assuming Beth must have passed up on the – a golden ticket because the golden tickets in the end, Ruth already has her ticket, obviously. And then Caitlin Fielder, she took hers.
00:59:27
Speaker
So very excited to see Caitlin have a go at the 100 miles in whenever it is, a few months. And then, yeah Beth passed and Helen Minow Faulkner, who is from the US as well and came fourth,
00:59:41
Speaker
ah She originally took the ticket but then passed it back, so it went to Nancy Jiang who came fifth, which I did see Juliet's post today. It put Juliet 27 seconds away from the golden ticket to Western States. Yeah, it was shame. She was 27 seconds behind Nancy.
00:59:58
Speaker
so that was close. I think there was a minute between fifth and seventh. Yeah, less than a minute. There was like 35 seconds between fifth and seventh in the hundred k which, yeah, that is wild, um which Juliet was part of that trio that were battling it out there.
01:00:16
Speaker
And everyone, like even the fact that the first to eighth were an hour apart um is pretty damn quick or close for the distance of the trail.
01:00:30
Speaker
ah thoughts Any thoughts on the women's before I move on, Vlad? I was just going to say that Ruth um wasn't going to run Western States anyway. She said she's going to do UTMB again this year and Transville Kenya. So she wasn't planning on going back. But she was there and came top 10 last year?
01:00:47
Speaker
I think she came second and she won it a few years ago. Yeah, okay. yeah I couldn't. i I run out of the facts of these ones, of exactly what turned down in previous years. But, yeah, I do i did know that Ruth wasn't um necessarily going to be there, but Caitlin was there for the ticket, so she got her ticket.
01:01:07
Speaker
um did it in style. So that was cool to see. And then talking of records, um just quickly, I think every single course record went down over the 2150, 102, 100 miler, except the women's 100 miler, which is held by Camille Heron and the women's 50K held by Ali McLaughlin. So it was the year for the records, which in the miler, it was Sam Harvey who's from New Zealand, and another local. The locals love this race, which makes so much sense because it looks beautiful.
01:01:42
Speaker
ah He won in 15 hours and 16 minutes for the miler, which sounds bloody fast, ah but I have no idea about the course. So... kind I have zero context there.
01:01:53
Speaker
But the previous course record was Vlad Shatrov, our very own Vlad Shatrov's, in 15 hours 53. So about half an hour under that one there.
01:02:04
Speaker
And second was Simon Cochran in 15 hours 33. And then third, Ryan Wellen in 15 hours 56. On the women's side, it was won by Kamino Miyazaki.
01:02:16
Speaker
from Japan in 17 hours, 40 minutes. Second place was Emma Timmis from New Zealand in 18 hours, 50. And, oh, geez, this snuck under the radar for me. Sarah Parkins from Australia came third in 19 hours and 11 minutes.
01:02:31
Speaker
That's not a name I know. Has anyone heard of Sarah Parkins? Damn. Love your work, Sarah. We might have to ah figure out a little bit. This is why I love people popping up out of the woodwork.
01:02:44
Speaker
that um you haven't necessarily heard of before. So, yeah, an Aussie there in third place in the miler. And in as we move on to the 50K, this was another stacked race where we had a couple of Aussies going round.
01:03:03
Speaker
And it was one on the men's side by Hayden Hawks in three hours, 18 minutes, which for a 50K just, yeah, I'm not sure. Like, it's just mind-blowing. Second was Robbie Simpson in three hours, 20 minutes. So about 75 seconds between the two of them. And third, Michael Voss in three hours, 23 minutes.
01:03:25
Speaker
And then, like, even as you go down the field, there's some damn good runners that have come all the way from, like, Danny Ossans from Spain was fifth and, yeah, it just keeps going back. Highest placing, Ozzy, because he did get a top ten. Josh Linot, who many people might know, um he was tenth in 3 hours 44. So congrats, Josh, for your run there.
01:03:46
Speaker
And then on the Ozzy front, this was, I think, Our top result for the weekend, which our very own madison ran Maddie Reynolds, who we had on last week, in the women's 50K, Bianca Tarbotten, she got the win and it was an incredible performance that was close to the course record for a runaway win by Bianca from York.
01:04:07
Speaker
ah South Africa who was three hours 45 but in second place battling it out very closely from sort of second to fifth ah was Maddie Reynolds in four hours 11 minutes and third Julia Grant in four hours 13 so she didn't have much of a buffer there but yeah did any of you watch this one go down um I saw like the first three ladies at like maybe a bit after 10k and yeah, Maddie wasn't up there. So she must've had like a bit of a slow and steady start and then sort of pushed.
01:04:44
Speaker
Yeah. I think I heard like her in her post-race interview, she said she just finished really strong. So that was awesome to see. I think early on, Trish McKibben, she was up there, wasn't she?
01:04:55
Speaker
um Yeah, you were saying at the 20K split she was only a minute away from Maddie. Yeah. So he's sort of in that top five. But, yeah, unfortunately, Trish um was sick for two weeks leading up to the race, she said. So just didn't this wasn't her day, unfortunately. um But I'm sure, i like, she's got something big in her for the later half of this year.
01:05:20
Speaker
Oh, no doubt. But she still held on bloody well for ninth in four hours 31. So you've still done damn well there, Trish. Like that's for a bad day. That's a good day. And we did also have another Aussie in the top 10. It was Jill Turnbull in seventh, which that's a great run for Jill in four hours 25. Yeah, she's won Wandi Cross and a few races like that before. And yeah, definitely...
01:05:49
Speaker
A damn cool result there. um Have I missed any Aussies that we mentioned in the pre-race show? i'm not I'm not sure I did. But then just quickly to finish it off, the 21K course records did go down. Joe Stewart on the men's side ran an hour 18.
01:06:10
Speaker
And on the women's side, there was, I love the name, it's very Fitz, Jessie Speedy won. which absolutely love that, an hour 35.
01:06:22
Speaker
And she actually took down the previous course record holder was Juliet Sewell. So she took down Juliet's course record by about five minutes or so there. But, yeah, like it was a big weekend.
01:06:32
Speaker
any Any final takeaways from any of it? I think it just speaks to the like level of the sport at the moment and and both like internationally, but also domestically.
01:06:44
Speaker
ah you're talking Watching Maddie's splits throughout the day was, obviously without speaking to looked like a masterclass in how to execute a race. Just moving through the field and everyone else dropped back and Like the times that we're seeing is just, it's incredible.
01:06:57
Speaker
um I think it's really says something for the level of both New Zealand and Australian athletes kind of coming through and even speak about Jillian coming seventh in the 40 kind of age category. yeah People still executing like their best. I spoke to her afterwards, like executing her best race.
01:07:17
Speaker
um Like those too it's just awesome to see. There's just no no limits, which is great. Awesome. Awesome. Vlad, Jess, no final thoughts? Are we good to move on? Yeah, I mean, I think it's pretty cool to see Beth. I think she's like 40 plus and um finishing third um in the 100K, which is um gives me a bit of extra hope.
01:07:40
Speaker
Yeah, us women seem to do it well. She's actually in the 45 to 49 age group. Oh, 45, wow. Yeah. That's cool. It is because if you look at the sort of age categories, you've got Ruth in the 35 to 39, Caitlin's in the 20 to 34, and then Beth in third.
01:07:55
Speaker
Like the next in her age category, like there's no one else in the top 10, I'm not sure. Or there's Greta Truscott, who I will say congrats to her as well. She was 14th, another Aussie.
01:08:06
Speaker
She was second in the 45 to 49 But she was also 11 hours 10, which just shows how imp po how incredible Beth's run was at 8 hours 46. Like, Yeah, wait that's why. we will be We will be hearing from Beth.
01:08:20
Speaker
We've got to hear how that went down, that's for sure. So look forward to that one coming out
Race Results and Extreme Weather Experiences
01:08:26
Speaker
soon. And then just and incredibly quickly, the only other results for the weekend, we had some pretty cool races go down in Oz as well, and that was the Hut to Hut, which is a race very close to my heart. Absolutely adore this race. It's a great big fundraiser for autism.
01:08:43
Speaker
around the Mount Buller area. They had to change the course this year because of the cold front and stuff and that came through. And so we had summer snow, like sticking to the ground snow at the top of Buller on the weekend. I think it was a minus 10% at the summit with the chill factor while they were running.
01:09:02
Speaker
um And this is in February. So interesting times for the weather of this event. They did have to change the course. They weren't confident sending anyone across the cross-cut saw with the weather that was coming. So it was an altered course where they had to do two loops of a 50k as opposed to the normal 100k loop.
01:09:21
Speaker
But On the men's side, it was won by Jared Owen in 11 hours 38, followed by Benjamin Butler and Chris McAuliffe. And on the women's side, it was won by Nicole Patton in 14 hours 12, followed by Stephanie Rowland and Kelly Conroy,
01:09:38
Speaker
The Archie, which is the 50K, this one did go off on the normal course, um I believe, and it's still very cold conditions. It was won by Tom Dade in 5 hours 38, which was a very big win over second place in seven hours and one on the men's side and James Beck.
01:09:55
Speaker
And third was John Carolan. But Sophie Broome, who's a name that many people may have heard on the podcast, if you've been listening for a while, has run some of the Golden Trail National Series and incredibly strong runner in her own right. She came second overall in six hours and seven minutes and 33 seconds, followed by Veronica Lebedev and Charlie Potter.
01:10:18
Speaker
But I'm going to say that I'm not sure I would have to check, but that might be the course record by Sophie. I would have to check what time Kelly ran. um when she ran it but it's uh it is a very fast time for that course um and then the only other one we saw over in Perth was the Yabiru Trail Ultra which then the 50k this just looks interesting to me when I look at the results because it was won by Phil Gore who's a name that many many people will know in the trail world and one of our best especially when it comes to the ultra ultra distances but he won the fifty k by 16 seconds
01:10:56
Speaker
from Ben Leeson. So 403.35 to 403.51. So nice little sprint finish there for the 50k. I would actually love to see how Phil Gore goes over a sprint finish, given how good he is at the sort of insanely long stuff.
01:11:10
Speaker
um Love seeing someone. Yeah, just to mention that that 50k started at three o'clock in the afternoon on like a 35 degree day. Pretty different than the up to heart.
01:11:21
Speaker
That's a fast time then, surely, in that condition. It's is's just like a gravel road with like not much elevation um but would have been super hot. Yeah, 3 o'clock in the afternoon would have been exactly 35 degrees.
01:11:36
Speaker
Oh, ouch. Yeah, that adds some context. That's painful. ah Well, yeah, third place male, Carl Harrison, also wasn't far back in 408. And on the women's side, a name I'm getting to know very well across from Perth is Petra Svoboda.
01:11:49
Speaker
Jeregian in four hours, 39 the winner. And then Shelley Connor, five hours, five, Olivia Lee, five hours, 22. So for everyone that got out in that heat, well done.
01:12:00
Speaker
um Running a 50K at three o'clock in the afternoon. Why does it start at three? Do you know, Vlad? Not sure. I was only found out a few days ago as well when I was speaking with one of the runners that was about to race it. And he's like, yeah, it's a three o'clock start. I'm not sure.
01:12:15
Speaker
That's an odd time to start at 50K, but sure. think maybe they kind of – because the other distances start a bit later. So, like, the 15K is o'clock, is 7 o'clock.
01:12:29
Speaker
um So maybe they just wanted, like, a similar finish time. Are they trying to go for sunset? or Yeah, I guess it does make sense if you are doing, like, the 25K that starts at 5 o'clock and 15K that starts at 6 o'clock. So, um yeah, i guess – I don't know how it would feel.
01:12:46
Speaker
I don't know I'd feel rocking up to a race at 5 or 6 o'clock, but especially if it's a hard race. um Yeah. Yeah. i don't know. Maybe they're just trying to do something different. I mean, it's the ultra-serious guys that have some pretty cool events all around Australia. Yeah.
01:13:02
Speaker
And, yeah, this race used to be in June and they moved it to obviously now February. And, yeah, it's a hot event now. Yeah, nice. Wow, cool. Well, one while one group of people were running in 35, we had another in minus 10 in the same country. Absolutely love it. Welcome to Australia, guys.
01:13:22
Speaker
Awesome. Well, that's all the results for this week. and And as I was getting ready for this pod, I went to do the what's coming up next week in terms of races.
Upcoming Events and Podcast Teasers
01:13:31
Speaker
And the list just kept going. This is sometimes I just look at it and I'm like, people have so many options at this time of year. So to list some of them off, there's Run the Lighthouse in Wilson's Prom next week. There's Trail Run Australia Snowy Mountains Run in the Snowys.
01:13:46
Speaker
ah Wild Horse at Night, Adelaide Trail Runner has their summer series in Bridgewater. Perth Summer Series is going or there's a Whale Rock Trail Run in Queensland, I think that was, and Castle Hill Trail Run in New South Wales.
01:13:59
Speaker
And that was amazing. only about half of them. um There's trail runs going off left, right and centre next week. So get amongst it if you can. I love seeing all these summer series go down, although I'm still not sure if anyone else does what Perth has been doing.
01:14:15
Speaker
Do the others all have like a rolling ladder for people that do the whole series? Does anyone know? I'm not 100% sure, but I know even the Perth Trail Series are not like they're not pushy with that ranking. I think last year when Jess did it, they were trying to push it a bit more, but this year it feels like they're not really, you know, mentioning it much.
01:14:39
Speaker
I don't know. It's a different crowd of people. Like I guess it's a bit less competitive. It's more of a fun event. Like there's a DJ. um It's a really fun event, really great atmosphere, but yeah, not as competitive as some the other trail racers.
01:14:52
Speaker
Makes sense. Checks out. Awesome. Well, get amongst all of those. Plenty more coming up there. And, yeah, we've already said coming up from the pod, you've got an interview coming. In the coming weeks, you have got a buffalo. we do I've had actually about five or six requests for a pre-buffalo episode. So that is coming, we promise.
01:15:12
Speaker
um That is in the works. We will do a full preview of all of the buffalo stampede races and the courses. People are asking so many things. um And we love it. We love the ah enthusiasm there. There will also be a golden, or do I want to announce that now or do I edit this out?
01:15:29
Speaker
Nah, let's go. um There'll be something to do with Golden Trail coming out soon, but I won't say the name of it yet or who's on it. We'll announce that as it comes out. But, yeah, exciting times coming up for the pod.
01:15:42
Speaker
And thanks for jumping on board, James. We hope that ah we'll be able to get more out with your help. This will be good. Yeah, no, thanks for having me Awesome. Well, thanks everyone for listening to episode 45. I almost said 44 there.
01:15:58
Speaker
Episode 45 of the Peak Pursuits podcast and we will all speak to you next week. See you guys. Awesome. See you guys.