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Matt Crehan | Reflecting on a Decade in Trail Running
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Matt Crehan | Reflecting on a Decade in Trail Running
In this episode of Peak Pursuits, host James Sieber sits down with Australian ultra-runner Matt Crehan. Matt, named the 2021 Australian Ultra Runner of the Year, shares his unexpected path into the sport, transitioning from swimming and hiking to conquering some of the world’s most challenging races.
We dive deep into his experiences at iconic events like UTMB, Lavaredo, and Everest 135, exploring the highs of podium finishes and the lows of injury setbacks. Matt opens up about his mindset, training philosophy, and the lessons he’s learned from a decade in trail running.
***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 trail stories. Until next time, keep hitting the trails and chasing those peak pursuits!
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Transcript
Introduction to Matt Crean and his Achievements
00:00:16
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Peak Pursues podcast. My name is James Sieber and in this episode I'm sitting down with Matt Crean. Matt was the 2021 Australian male ultra runner of the year and has an impressive resume of performances over the last decade. This includes first places at Buffalo Stampede 100k and Grand Slam, Bridgeman Trail Ultra 100 mile, Margaret River Ultra and Four Peaks.
International Competitions and Representing Australia
00:00:42
Speaker
This also includes podium results at GPT 100 mile, Surf Coast Century 100 and UTA 100. Overseas, Matt has also completed some of the world's most iconic events, such as UTMB and Lavorado. And he's represented Australia on both the World Sky Running Team and the World Trail Running Team.
Exploring Matt's Career: Balance, Injuries, and Mindset Shifts
00:01:01
Speaker
Today, Matt and I are going to discuss his journey through the sport, navigating working full time as a horticulturalist at Parliament House in Victoria, and managing the setbacks that we all face through injury and how his mindset has changed after that period. With that, Matt, welcome to the podcast.
00:01:19
Speaker
Hey James, thanks for having me. I was thinking back to like the first time that I met you, which was at Buffalo Stampede Marathon 2022. And you probably like me yeah the first kind of top runner in the sport that I chatted to. Didn't realize it at the time as we were coming down the big walk, but I thought it was quite fitting that for my first ah interview on the podcast, it was with yourself. So I'm excited.
00:01:45
Speaker
Yeah, I do remember that actually, like just getting to know you started chatting as we were bombing down that hill. That was good.
Matt's Late Start in Running and Transition from Other Sports
00:01:50
Speaker
Yeah, no, as I had absolutely no clue that obviously who you who you were at that point and then as soon as we got to the bottom, I remember, took a photo of the ah Buffalo and off you went up the hill. You just disappeared away from me, never saw you again. But it was a nice descent, I enjoyed that. Cool, so you've done a couple of podcasts before and listening back to them, you've you've gone into your your history a bit there. So just for our listeners that might not have
00:02:20
Speaker
heard of you too much or have listened to those podcasts when they came out a few years ago. Just give us a ah quick sort of five minute introduction to Matt Crean, what brought you into the sport and kind of take us up to that 2019, 2020 time. Yeah, no worries. um I mean, I guess I got into the sport somewhat late. I sort of started running in my late twenties or when I was about 30 years old, I'd had a ah bit of a background in hiking um before that and also i did a bit of swimming.
00:02:49
Speaker
And yeah, I don't know. I just sort of went for a couple of jogs with my housemate and then, I don't know, trail running is kind of just fast hiking in a way. So it's just a way to see more of the landscape in a shorter time. And in the past podcast, it sounded like you were more of a swimmer when you start before this? Yeah, I did a bit of swimming in in high school, like surf life saving and that sort of thing. And that's actually how I started running. I was I was in a phase of swimming every day and then I i did a uni subject over in New Zealand and couldn't swim. Obviously, I was moving around the South Island so I just started running every morning and took it from there.
Racing Strategies and Overcoming Injuries
00:03:22
Speaker
Where does the Ironman period fit into all of that? ah That was not long after I started running because I figured I've got swimming background, I've started running and anyone can ride a bike. so yeah I dabbled in a little bit of triathlon but it was
00:03:36
Speaker
It was a bike that actually put me off just because it's such a big percentage of the race and I kind of got bored spending my whole weekends on a bike. Yeah, okay. I find it interesting now because following you in Australia, it seems like you still do quite a bit of riding. Yeah, just a bit of cross-training and also I'm dealing with a little bit of a tendonitis in my knee. So that's probably why I've been a bit more on the bike than than usual.
00:03:58
Speaker
It's also just a good way to get around. The amount of hours needed for Iman, it's never quite computed for me, but um no, cool. yeah So you're first coming into the sport. What sort of year was that? Uh, going back a bit, probably around 2015 or so, maybe about 10 years ago, I reckon. Yeah. And early on, like what, what was the draw card towards trails, towards long trails? Did you start off running shorter stuff?
00:04:25
Speaker
I started short, but went pretty long, pretty quickly. I think I signed up for Great Ocean Road Marathon. It was my first marathon, but then got injured in the lead-ups, ended up doing the half. And then my first actual marathon was Surf Coast Trail Marrow. And I remember running along Urquhart's Beach during that race and chatting to a guy. And he said, oh, last time I was here, I was running Surf Coast Century. And I was like, what's that? And he said, oh, it's a 100k race around here. And I was just like, 100k.
00:04:55
Speaker
But I'm pretty sure I ended up signing up to that the next year. So yeah, it was a pretty quick progression. Have you done any road marathons? I did Melbourne Marra years ago, 2016, 17, something like that. ah Okay. But it's essentially it's been all all trails. Yeah, pretty much. And going back through your race results, it really stood out sort of 2019 season in particular, you just started hammering the races, which it's quite fun to look back at. But is there anything that sticks out from that that time? we Were you just trying to race as much as you could?
00:05:31
Speaker
Yeah. It wasn't so much a plan to race as much as I could. I just, I just loved racing. So I just kept signing up to more and yeah, I probably wouldn't really recommend it as a way to go, but it's good to see the state, see the country. When you say you wouldn't recommend it, well what's like, didn't not go well or? Uh, no. Well, I mean, it's, there's always that, you know, risk of injury from over racing, but I just feel like you don't really It's harder to focus on races this year. If you're doing too many of them, it's hard to get the training required to really sort of give it a good, good shot. Yeah. Are there any, when you think about that year, was there any races that like didn't go well because you were just sort of overdoing it a bit? I'm not sure about 2019. I can't really remember which races I did then. I know 2021 was also the start of 2021. I did quite a lot of races and by, I think it was by May,
00:06:23
Speaker
At u UTA, i really saw analog i've I think I've done one too many here, which was a bit frustrating because it is one of the bigger ones, obviously.
Mindset Shifts Post-Injury and Coaching
00:06:31
Speaker
So you didn't have the legs for that one? Pretty much, yeah. Because I i think I'd done Alpine Challenge 100 miles out a month before it, and then Margaret River, 80k two weeks after that, and then yeah UTA two weeks later. Did you come forth for that year, UTA?
00:06:48
Speaker
Yes, I think so. yeah yeah so okay so it's It's amazing when you look at someone's results and you can see like fourth UTA 100 is pretty impressive, but obviously wasn't quite the day that you wanted. um And something I was going to come back come to later, but it kind of fits in quite nicely here. Is after is it after UTA that you got injured? i It was later that year. I think the next one I did after that was BTU, I did 100 miler up in Brisbane.
00:07:17
Speaker
And then, yeah, it was after that that I got injured. Yeah. I think when we, when we met at Buffalo, that was, that was Buffalo your first race back? I think it was. Yeah. Cause I got a bit excited on the start line. I was doing the the grand slam that weekend. So the 10 K the 20 K and then the marathon on the Sunday. And I was supposed to take it easy on the Friday night. And then as soon as the gun went, I was first race in six months. So yeah, it was pretty excited.
00:07:44
Speaker
That was with, them you still coach by Dave, but yeah, so that was the joint finish for the 10K. Yeah, sprint finish. So yeah, if you look at the results and you might think we held hands across the line, there's certainly no holding hands. There's knives out. yeah Exactly. When I think about doing ah a ah three races in one weekend, I think about sprint finishing for a 10K on day one. this yeah yeah The plan was to take it easy Friday night and then really sort of focus on a 20.
00:08:13
Speaker
And then I think I caught Dave like towards the top of the climb on 10K on the Friday night. And I said to him, well I think I've gone a bit off script here. He's like, don't worry if you feel good, just go. So then had to readjust and took it a bit easier on the 20K and focused on the marathon. Just jumping back a bit, were you working with Dave at the start of the 2021 season and before that? No, no, it's pretty much, I think it was after BTU. I think A bit of a ah rough hand for Dave. Like I think I came to him with this underlying injury. I and got injured pretty quickly after starting with him. Yeah, Jesus. Nice way to kick off the coach after the relationship there. The mindset that you came out of, because you had a sacral stress fracture? It was a pelvic stress fracture, yeah. Pedicrama, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So pretty decent injury. the I always find it interesting talking to people about how they process that period, like you've come off
00:09:12
Speaker
a really intense racing period. You obviously really enjoy it and you lose you you lose that part of your life for that period of time and then you have to come back. When you came back, do you come back into it with a different mindset, like help with Dave or just in general? um Yeah, dave Dave was really good in that period because I think I would have come back way too quickly otherwise. but it was ah The initial diagnosis suggested it was going to be about six to eight weeks off running and that ended up being I think 12 or even 14 completely off running and after that it was very much like you know walk five minutes jog a minute walk five minutes so it's very slow coming back but then just that gradual gradual build up yes
00:09:51
Speaker
No, no. it's it's I was listening to another podcast recently and they were talking about how in every and athlete's journey, but particularly for elites or aspiring elite athletes that there's normally a significant point where you switch from a very much results outcome focused mindset to what they call the quest mindset essentially the process and and thinking about the whole journey and I guess respecting it a bit more like did you feel anything different? Did you want to approach racing any different after the injury? Well I definitely didn't want to type take racing or just running in general for granted after that like it felt like more of a privilege to be able to
00:10:36
Speaker
get out and, and like I was saying earlier, like really focus on particular races rather than just get out and race every weekend because there's a race on. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Fortunately, I haven't gone through that in my running journey. Had you had anything significant prior to? but No, not at all. I used to think that recovery was my superpower, but we came unstuck there.
00:11:00
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I feel like that's ah that moment of, I don't know, not complacency, but you feel a bit too bit too confident and it comes back to bite you.
Lavaredo Race Experience and Training Challenges
00:11:08
Speaker
Yeah. And coming coming back to 2022 season, that was your moving bit further into the year. That was the first time you went into La Paredo. Is that correct? 2022? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Yeah. So the going over there to do La Verrada, was that a bucket list race? Was that like, was that anything other going on there? Like the Las Portiva your sponsor? anything that Yeah, absolutely. It was a bucket list race. I went over there hiking with my partner made years ago. And when I found out that there was a race on through those mountains, the Dolomites was like, Oh yeah, I have to do that. And then, you know, of course, having that partnership with Las Portiva just seems like
00:11:50
Speaker
Yeah, I couldn't not do it. It was just perfect. How did that race go? Like, was it what you wanted? Like, I know you've been back since. Yeah. Um, it, it went well, but definitely not as well as I'd hoped. I mean, you look like that often, you often have high hopes and never quite goes to plan, but I think I was first through the, the first aid station was probably not a good idea. Um, but still had an amazing day and learned a lot during that, like European racing, starting at 11 PM, like it's very different to races are done here previously. How was that? Like starting at 11pm? Because that's, concept to me, that sounds horrible. Yeah. I mean, it's not ideal. I didn't love it. it's It's more the day before that it's not great. Like you sort of, it's hard to get your meals right. And you know, you're like, I tried to have a nap during the day, but just lay there, just, you know, too excited to sleep. And once the race actually starts, it's fine. Like you got so much adrenaline and running through the town of Cortina, it's like everyone's out cheering. It's just incredible. But the other frustrating thing is that
00:12:48
Speaker
it's It's not a hundred miles, 120K. And if we started early in the morning, like six o'clock or something, you'd be finished before it was dark. You wouldn't actually need a head torch. So it's kind of a shame to have that first few hours of the night that you're running through a beautiful landscape and you you know, your whole world is your head torch in front of you. Yeah, that is, I'm assuming it's it's for the the back end of the field is why they do that. But you would miss most of the course, wouldn't you? Well, it gets like pretty quick. it get It's late June, so it's, you know, closest to the, close to the, um, longest day of the year. So it gets light at about four 30. So yeah, you got about five hours of darkness. That's actually the sun's just coming up. It's just getting light as you're passing the big, the big three rocks, the tritium a laboratory. So that's pretty special.
00:13:33
Speaker
I was reading, um they in the research for this, I was going through your blog on Bogong and that's reminded me of one of the points. I think, did someone tell you not to run too fast so that you get the sunrise at the right time? Yeah, I think that was Jill, another last receiver athlete. Yeah. That's brilliant. I lot like that. Make sure you like pace yourself otherwise you'll miss the best part of the scenery.
00:13:56
Speaker
but I guess going out a bit too hot and and fading is also a way of pacing yourself and so yeah still get the at the right point. Yeah, no, it's um looking at the photos in that blog. like It looked absolutely beautiful. Yeah, I definitely recommend it if everyone has a chance to go over there. It's such a beautiful race. I'm going again this year, hopefully. so yeah but awkward Did you go back? Was it last year you wrote you went back or the year before?
00:14:23
Speaker
a year before. So I went 22 and 23 and then last year I was a bit injured again. So gave it a miss and then hopefully back again this year. Meanwhile, pretty strong draw card then. So I think any time you go back for multiple races, it's a pretty good spot. And 2023, that was a better shot. Like you came seventh overall. Ninth. Ninth, sorry. Yeah, I was stoked for the top 10. I was I lost a few positions just at the last downhill into town, which was a bit frustrating, but downhill is certainly not my forte. So yeah, a bit to work on, but still just stoked with the top 10. At a race like Lavorado, that's an incredible result. Where the training for it, did you find, cause you live in Melbourne, not super hilly down there. How, how, how do you best train for something
Reflections on Coaching and Mixed Results
00:15:20
Speaker
like Lavorado? Like how, how do you find that?
00:15:22
Speaker
Well, I mean, I'm in Melbourne during the week for work, but I'm up in Malden, like in central Victoria on the weekends and it's not exactly the Alps, but, you know, there's Mount Terengar out at the back door, so I've got some hills there. A lot of repeats. Does that wear you down during the repeats? Not really. I mean, I feel like from a training point of view, even just like really short reps, short hard hill reps, I think you get a lot more out of that than just like slowly flogging up ah a big hill.
00:15:49
Speaker
Okay. is Is that something you use in your in your training? You'd rather do the yeah kind of harder repeats. Yeah. Yeah. i just Just switching back actually a bit to to with Dave, thinking about how you were training before Dave, did you have did you have a coach? No, I didn't.
00:16:07
Speaker
No. So how how was like the training different and pre-coaching and post-coaching? Was that a strange experience to go have someone tell you what to do? It was a bit. And that's why I was reluctant for a while. I was like, oh, I think I just, I like being able to do whatever I want to do. And I don't know if, you know, take the joy out of it. You know, if someone I've got ah like a strict routine that I've got to stick to, but I really enjoyed having that structure and still really enjoy having that structure. So yeah, I'm happy with it. Moving... I'll jump forward a bit. i've sort of When I went through 2024 particularly, you've had what looks like on paper potentially like a bit of a mixed year, but with some incredible experiences thrown into that.
00:16:54
Speaker
The start of the year, and another win at Cradle Mountain, um like you've just come off the back of one, which was your sixth sixth running of Cradle Mountain was this year, another podium.
Everest 135 Race Challenges and Experiences
00:17:05
Speaker
And then you go into Everest 135. Yeah. Spend a bit of time on Everest because that just looked like an incredible experience. Oh, it definitely was that. It was a an interesting, it it was definitely more of an experience than a race. Like it didn't feel didn't feel like, well, for starters was only, I think 11 people competitive in it. And it was more of a bit of a trial to see if they were going to continue doing the race each year. So we were kind of the guinea pigs, but yeah, ah it was just incredible landscapes. First time in Nepal, like I thought the Alps were big mountains, but there was just nothing compared to over there. We got, we got hit with a bit of weather, which was unfortunate. So I went over a week early and.
00:17:48
Speaker
had a week in Langtang Valley and every day was just perfect. Like I was staying at 4,000 meters, going up to five each day, um clear skies, nice and cool. And then sure like gets to race week and it was just like like this rain, snow, like zero visibility. So went to Everest Base Camp, didn't say Everest at all, which is a bit unfortunate. Oh dear. does that Does that leave a little bit unfinished business or are you quite content there?
00:18:14
Speaker
I definitely want to go back. I'm not sure if the race is, I haven't heard anything about the race, whether it's happening again this year and it was in May, so you think it would by now, but yeah, whether, whether for that event or not, I'd still love to go back to Nepal. And to back to base camp to see Everest, is that something on there? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's not like a huge draw card, but yeah, it's, it was frustrating. like Like we had a Sherpa with us at one point who's sort of pointing at the cloud saying that's where Everest is, just that kind of cloud. Just gets out his phone, shows you a picture. That's what it looks like. And that's actually, that's one of the things, again, I would say the blog post that you write on Bogan Equipment, like another one of your sponsors. Does Bogan and Las Portiva relate together as such? Is that how that works?
00:19:04
Speaker
Yeah, they're under a bit of the same umbrella. like but Last part of it is imported into Australia and sold at various stores throughout the country and the Melbourne store is Bogong. okay yeah So you're, you quite often post race, put up some blog posts there, which are always interesting, interesting reads, the one for Everest, two things aside from the challenge and the weather or as you saw, probably through three things that really stood out. The first one was, do you essentially do the entire thing with Sherpas? Is that how that works? Yeah. Well, it wasn't initially supposed to be like that. It was initially going to be, if you were doing any of the high passes at night, you had to have a Sherpa with you.
00:19:43
Speaker
But then when we got hit with this weather and our GPS trackers stopped working, so they kind of changed the rules and made it like for a safety point of view, you have to have a shipper with you the whole time. Did that get, obviously safety always comes first, but did that start to get a bit annoying to have someone? It did at times, like I remember rocking up to a um one of the tea houses, sort of like quasi aid stations.
00:20:09
Speaker
And there was a Sherpa and he's like, do you want to have some date? And he's like, no, I don't just want to keep moving. He's like, Oh, well, I'm going to order some dalbatt. So we're just here half an hour, 45 minutes. was like okay And then on the way, like towards the end of the race as well. ah Um, I did most of the race with Tom date and then he, he got stopped at one of the checkpoints cause we did sort of a full medical check at each checkpoint and his blood oxygen levels were too low. So they kept him there.
00:20:34
Speaker
We had a bit of a talk of what we would do and he said, no, you just go. So from that point on, I was just me with a Sherpa and I just wanted to get finished as quick as I could, get down off the mountain. And I kind of only of got stuck at the Sherpa's pace because he didn't want to go any faster. So that was a bit frustrating.
00:20:50
Speaker
Yeah, that would... i think I think you said this in the yeah the article as well, but it doesn't really feel like a race at that point. No, no. I can imagine. An quick incredible experience. And and one of the points I was going to say was you would have spent a lot of time with Tom in that whole process. games notebook Being in that environment, I can imagine the the conditions, the altitude, it all kind of breaks down some barriers.
00:21:17
Speaker
Is that an experience you hold pretty tightly now, just that time together to get to know Tom? Yeah, yeah it was great actually. like yeah It would be a long time to do by yourself and being in your own head. So it was yeah awesome having the company and getting to know him. and talking about everything, solving all the world's problems, forgetting all the answers that we had. Yeah. Sounds all right. It was over 90 hours, 95 hours. Yeah. So yeah like I ended up being just over four days, so 97 hours or something. think Yeah. Wow. I think I've had about
00:21:52
Speaker
eight hours sleep across those those four days. So memories were definitely, it felt like I'd been at a music festival or something by the end of it. Like I had trouble piecing together what happened when and stuff like that. Yeah. That's and eight hours sleep with that style of terrain as well. Like, and, and the altitude, like, were you feeling, were you really feeling the altitude? Like how, how would you manage to cope with that? I was, um, it was a,
00:22:17
Speaker
I was definitely glad that I went there that week before. I mean, even though it's only a week, it's not really long enough, but the fact that I stayed at 4,000 metres and was going up to five every day, I think that really helped. Because Tom unfortunately couldn't make it the week before, so he just basically flew in for the race. And I think it affected him a lot more than me. So yeah, that week certainly helped. I mean, it would still definitely feel it, but I couldn't push when you're really high, like up to 5,000 metres, but could function at least. So yeah, it was something.
00:22:46
Speaker
Were you able to run much of the course given the conditions and? Uh, parts of it. I actually was beginning to sound like I'm just always injured, but I was injured in the lead up to just from like, I actually fell off my bike, um, riding around home and landed on my hip and I thought it actually fractured my hip again. It was so sore. I couldn't walk for a couple of days, but turned out it was just bone edema through my pelvis. So because of that, I hadn't had a lot of run training leading up to Everest and I was thinking oh well it's more of a hiking race anyway so it should be okay but yeah there's like there's a lot more hiking than it was running but there were sections where we we're running and like I remember we do a bit of an out and back to Everest base camp so you're up above 5,000 meters by that point and it was just before then that Tom had been stopped so it was just me and the Sherpa and the shirt was a pretty busy bit of trail that was a lot of hikers there
00:23:39
Speaker
Um, the show for us, we've had this little walkie talkie with the police siren on it. So he was running ahead to be with the police siren, getting everyone out of the way and everyone was cheering. So jogging along there. So jogging at 5,000 meters is hard, but it was pretty, pretty good experience. Yeah. It's like you got your own fanfare up at 5,000 meters for you. So is the trail, like was the trail busy with people hiking up to base camp?
00:24:02
Speaker
Yeah, massively. He's stable. That's nice. I know I shouldn't be in my head. I'm thinking, oh, it'd be very quiet. Not many people are going to be doing that, but yeah evidently not. um And the other thing was, day one, it sounds like you guys had a you adopted a dog for a day. Yeah. Yeah, Momo, we called him. like What happened there? He just started following us. And then like I didn't want to encourage him because there's so many dogs just like cruising around in Nepal, like Australia, I guess, but they just all seem pretty happy and healthy. And, um, I didn't want him to follow us too far. So I wasn't feeding him or encouraging him too much for you. Just like when we stopped, he'd stop when we keep going, he'd keep going. And it was just there like for kilometers and kilometers. And then at one point we got to a sort of, um, swing bridges over the valleys. We got to a swing bridge and he was too scared to go over the bridge. And we're sort of like trying to coax him along and he wouldn't go.
00:24:58
Speaker
And then he just took off down this valley and I'm like, Oh no. Cause the river was absolutely like humming along down there. There's no way he's going to make it across. I think it was just getting dark when we had our head torches out, like shining around, trying to figure out where he was. And then eventually looked up and he's on the other side of the bridge, just soaking wet, waiting for us. Oh wow. Yeah. So then after that, we're like, all right, he's, he's here for the long haul. So yeah gave him a bit of our pastor when we got to the next checkpoint. So yeah, he's, he's answered by then. yeah How long did he stay with you for?
00:25:28
Speaker
Ended up being, way we had a nap at a checkpoint at like maybe two or three in the morning and we'd done about 70 or 80Ks by that stage. So we went in, he wasn't allowed in the tea house.
00:25:42
Speaker
We had a nap for a couple of hours, came out and he was gone. So I'm hoping he followed someone else back the way he came or maybe you followed someone like continued on. So I'm not sure. Those strays must cover some serious distance. yes ah yeah Yeah. I can imagine that's like a nice addition to what's already an incredible experience, like being able to look back. You spend, why especially at a time when you probably had a bit more memory or you can remember a bit more from it, a bit less of a day of those those early times.
00:26:11
Speaker
yeah should the event be back on this year or next year? Is is it something that you that you would go back and do? ah Yeah, I would like to do it again. I'd like to actually approach it a bit differently and and race it from the start because I was, you know, very much treating it like an experience and it wasn't until day three that I finally sort of clicked over into race mode and thought, all right, I want to do this quicker. But I think had I had that mentality earlier, it would have been, yeah, a very different sort of experience.
00:26:39
Speaker
Or maybe I would have just gone too hard, too quickly and blown up. you know well I was going to say, you you feel like you can race at that elevation. it It wouldn't get the better of you. like Well, yeah, you'd have to be... Race is probably a relative term. so Yeah. But definitely would have had a ah different mindset going into it. but What did the um the winner of the event finish in?
00:27:02
Speaker
I can't remember now. I think it was 75 hours or something. It was a bit over three days. I reckon you could do it another three days if you were really pushing. ah't that's That's pretty, I guess, arrogant of me to say, considering this guy's won it before and yeah he's he knows what he's doing.
00:27:21
Speaker
Yeah, you also know what you're capable of. Like you look across to the States and obviously very different conditions and climate and terrain, but Moab, Cocodona, 240, 250 mile races, and they're finishing in that three to three and a half day window, I think, 135 miles, but put it at 5,000 meters. Yeah. Well, it ended up being 250 Ks at my watch by the end of it. So a bit over 135 miles.
00:27:51
Speaker
Okay. That's just trio running summed up right there. It doesn't matter how long it is. It's still going to make you do extra. okay Um, okay. And what was the recovery like off that was, did it feel like, cause you haven't really raced. You haven't, I'm guessing you haven't absolutely emptied yourself or, or, or had you? Uh, I reckon for about two weeks afterwards, I was just tired and hungry every day. I'm going for tea again. Yeah. I was just like eating so much.
00:28:18
Speaker
I didn't weigh myself, but I'm, I reckon I lost a bit of weight over there at the course of it. Yeah. yeah ah Does it make you want to go and do events of that duration again? It kind of did actually. Like I'd never, I've never really been that drawn to multi-day stuff and like the idea of not having enough sleep just yeah, put me off, but I functioned better than I thought I would have just like a couple of hours naps here
Grampians Race Incident and Future Race Aspirations
00:28:45
Speaker
and there. So yeah, kind of.
00:28:47
Speaker
It's opened up a but bit of a window, I think, into that world. I find it funny. Another time that we've been in the same place was for GPT 100 mile 2023. And you came second. That was ah like a very tough year, conditions-wise. The race got paused because of lightning. You, from memory, you were leading, rolled your ankle pretty badly. And you came second. That's correct.
00:29:11
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And after that, we're chatting and it sounded like you were pretty sure that a hundred K was going to be your distance and a hundred mile might not be, uh, might not be appearing in your life anymore. Yeah. I think I've said that after every hundred mile race, that i've definitely during the race. Yeah. Okay. And so so finishing Everest, you don't think that's going to be like, you can see another a hundred mile or potentially longer in your future.
00:29:37
Speaker
Well, that was kind of, that was different. Like a hundred miles in one go, whereas that Everest one, even though it was technically one go, it kind of felt like a multi-day event rather than just one big push through the night. So that's, that's more sort of what interests you is more that sort of technically one event, but something that might yeah mean sleep. and
UTMB and CCC Race Comparisons
00:29:57
Speaker
Yeah. Even not necessarily an event, just like more sort of multi-day fast pack kind of adventures.
00:30:04
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. Okay. Nice. And actually, ah i read ah as I was saying, you have done another a hundred mile since Grampians. You did UTMB last year as well. i I'm assuming UTMB was a bucket list event for you. It was definitely, yeah. Yeah. I mean, when I first heard about it years ago, it was it's one of those events, isn't it? Once you hear about it, like, yeah.
00:30:27
Speaker
much trial ones want to put it on their calendar one day. Yes, definitely. Like having, having been over there last year when you guys were were racing, not, not, not to raise just convenient timing and it's ah ignoring the beauty of the landscape. The event just is different. I've never experienced an atmosphere quite like that just from, yeah, from the village hub to everything. But you then add in the actual Tour de Mont Blanc and it's pretty special. How did that race go? Uh, it went.
00:30:56
Speaker
It went okay in hindsight. and I was really, I was not happy with it immediately afterwards, but um I guess I just had a goal in mind and didn't really hit that goal. Had stomach issues early on, like classic sort of ultra tail. And I felt well that I couldn't really get out of myself what I, like the training that I'd put in. So that was a bit frustrating, but still an amazing experience. Yeah. is And is it something you're going to try and get back into? I think so. Not this year, but maybe, maybe next year or maybe even a couple of years. Who who knows?
00:31:24
Speaker
I did CCC last year the year before last and had ah had a really good time there. like I think I enjoyed that more than UTMB. There's something about just closing the loop that you know just appeals to you. When you say you enjoyed it more, it like the race went better or did you actually enjoy the course, like the the CCC race better? Both. I think yeah the race definitely went better and I like getting up early and racing all day and not having to race through the night. yeah Considering UTMB is another 6 p.m. star, does that sort of turn you off doing that again, or choosing events? Do you have that? Obviously, you're doing Labrado again, but... Not so much the start time, just more those events where you do have to go through a whole night. Do you have a certain body that's doing UTMB or doing those evening things? Is there anything on the day that you found that worked for you from eating perspective or just getting in the right mindset?
00:32:21
Speaker
It's something that I've, yeah, I struggle with. Like I haven't really stuffed it up too badly, but you're never really sure what to eat and similar to Lavaretto. Like should I try and sleep beforehand or yeah. I haven't really got it nailed yet. I can't imagine going for a nap on race day is particularly easy to fall asleep. Yeah, no, definitely not. And then 2024, then was there anything between UTMB and Four Peaks for you? ah Did you do Surf Coast?
00:32:49
Speaker
Oh, yes, I did. Foolishly, I jumped into Surf Coast. I was there anyway with Luspo. I was just going to go down to the expo and then decided the night before that maybe I would jump in to the 100K and see how it goes. um But I sort of made like told myself because I had been a bit of an up and down year with my um injury and I thought, I'll start. But if I'm not feeling it, then I have to be able to to be OK with pulling out and Yeah, I got to about 55Ks and I was like, no, this is a bad idea. I don't think I should keep rolling. So I pulled the pin. It kind of makes sense considering the surf coach would only be what, two, three weeks after UTMB? Yeah, it wasn't long. It was a bit foolish. Yeah. And was that the first time you've DNF'd? Yeah, it was. I was okay with it though. Like that was, I was worried about it being my first DNF, but because I was so clear to myself beforehand, it's like, I have to be completely okay with pulling the pin.
00:33:42
Speaker
It's a last minute sort of opportunity that I'm just
Sponsorship with La Sportiva
00:33:44
Speaker
jumping into the race. So yeah, I was okay with it. Yeah, okay. I guess when you've got that very clear distinction in your head of under these conditions, I'm happy to pull the pin. It makes it a little bit easier. i think I guess most people it's normally injury, but it's yeah three weeks post-UTMB is a pretty good pretty good reason. yeah have you raised You have raced Surf Coast before, haven't you? Yeah, I think I've done it. I've completed it four times. That was fifth attempt.
00:34:12
Speaker
Oh wow. Is that where you first got introduced to basketball TV? It was actually. Yeah. Um, Aaron Knight, who used to be the athlete manager for Luspo, he saw me after the race and I was wearing a pair of the cashes and he's like, where'd you get those cashes? And he said, oh, Bogan, he's like perfect. that's what I don't want to talk to you about it. What year would that have been? Uh, stretching the memory bit, I think maybe 2019. Oh wow. Okay. Long when I realized as well. Wow. I remember I signed up with, um,
00:34:41
Speaker
I did. I think it was even surf coast, maybe the next year is like, uh, like I wasn't officially on the team, but it was like supported athlete for them. Um, and it was around about when COVID happened because I remember I signed up to the team and then we joined the team and then there was no races. Yeah. Lovely. It's a nice, nice way to ah yeah start with them. ah yeah Obviously. So you've been, been with them now for going into your fifth year.
00:35:10
Speaker
say, what's that experience been like being part of a, I feel like in Australia, we're definitely getting more sponsored athletes, but it's still somewhat of a novelty. um Yeah. yeah what What's that been like? It's been good. I mean, I'm, I'm a ah diehard Luspo fan anyway, from the like, I just love their gear and I love the ethos of their company. um But yeah, it's nice being part of a ah team. I do like that aspect and I think it was a bit more of a cohesive team before COVID, but then like, yeah, that sort of interrupted it a little bit, but it's still, it's still great when you go to events like Four Peaks and you catch up with the other athletes there and yeah, we'll stay together. So you you guys don't, you don't do anything throughout the year together really apart from events? Not really, no. There's the occasional sort of get together for like a photo shoot or yeah.
00:36:02
Speaker
There was talk of a training camp in the Blue Mountains, but then that got canned for some reason. I can't remember why now, but yeah. yeah I always think of when I see runners having to be models and photo shoots, was that is is that a weird thing to get used to? It is a bit, yeah. Because you you kind of you have this image in your head that you're just going to you know run along the trail and they'll just take photos of you. It's like, no, you're just like running from here to there to here to there to here. Or you're just standing there looking like you're running.
00:36:28
Speaker
Yeah. ah just Like have a ah really long day of not covering much distance, but yeah lots lots of photos. And they've obviously supported you in even just in getting into um events like Lavareto. Has that have been helped through them or do you still have to go through the ah normal channels? Lavareto in particular, I've had help through Lost Pever International rather than Lost Pever Australia, but yeah.
00:36:53
Speaker
Yeah, they have helped with various races in around like national races as well. Yeah. And Four Peaks definitely seems to be one of the, one of the big ones for you guys to come all together at.
Competitive Mindset and Four Peaks Strategies
00:37:04
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I think probably in terms of like the biggest event they sponsor would be Surf Coast, I guess. In the past it's been UTA and then BTU after that, but yeah, at the moment it'd be Surf Coast.
00:37:17
Speaker
But Four Peaks kind of just really fits that the ethos of Las Portiva, like just short, high intensity mountain runs. That's just what they're all about. Yeah. if i yeah I think of Las Portiva and definitely Four Peaks comes to mind straight away. And speaking of this year, this was your second time at Four Peaks? Yeah. Yeah. And took the overall win? Yeah, only just.
00:37:40
Speaker
yeah Yeah. Yeah. So again, as I read through your blog, there's a few kind of really interesting things that kind of come from it. But the, I guess it it sounded like in in your own, in your own words, that it was a bit of a shame was he on the last day you were in a really close battle for first, but ah eventually it was more of a mis-turn that kind of... Yes. yeah So Ian, yeah, Ian Best. um He, I think I went into the last day with like a 12-second lead or 13. So it was remarkably similar to last year. I had the same lead over Leo, but Leo actually destroyed me last year in the mystic race. But yeah, Ian, he overtook me bottom of the first climb. It was a slightly different course to last year. And then I sort of kept him with insights and then it got to, I don't know, a KO2 to go and I couldn't see him anymore. And I was like, oh, I guess he's like, you know, he's put the foot down and taken off.
00:38:35
Speaker
And then I crossed the finish line thinking I was coming in second and then I said, where's Ian? I was like, oh, and then sure enough, he'd taken a wrong turn and came in a few minutes later. So that was a bit of a shame. Yeah. yeah i To be obviously not not, definitely not speaking for Ian, but I can imagine what he was going through in in that that moment, but to be separated by 12 seconds after three days of hard racing. yeah that ah One of the things that stood out was just the like umt almost like the psychological warfare that you guys were putting each other under for the the three days. like Do you really welcome that that challenge? Is that something that you look for?
00:39:15
Speaker
ah I wouldn't say that I look for it, but it definitely adds to the weekend. Like really joking around, I kept sort of like having those stats like, oh, is this your strategy? Or what are you going to do here? And then like, oh, keeping my cards close to my chest. And yeah, it's good banter back and forth. Like getting is great. So that was, yeah, it was really good. Same with Leo last year as well.
00:39:33
Speaker
Last year, we were actually staying together. So that added another element to it as well. Did the ah the chat kind of go back to the accommodation? we Were you guys at each other the whole time? Yeah. That's great. It's like no letting off the gas pedal even after the race is done.
00:39:50
Speaker
yeah yeah I always find that the the way people think about races and like how when you're in the heat of battle, what you what you use to really dig in and push to the end. I and think it was especially, we were talking about it would be day three, going up to Hawtham.
00:40:10
Speaker
and you were saying that you like you really put the foot down in the last few K along the Razorback to get to the finish. yeah and i'm just I'm just curious, like when when you really have to go for it, like is there something that you use to help take you to that place or is you just natural instinct kicks in? Yeah, I think it's a bit more of the latter. like um I was leading most of the way up and then Ian overtook me just towards the end of the last climb when yeah ah climb there is only one climb
00:40:43
Speaker
as we were coming up onto the Razorback, I thought he would be further ahead and he wasn't. So then yeah when I saw him not that far away, I was just something clicked and yeah just go into that fight or flight mode, I guess, and and just put the foot down and hope that didn't trip over. And I think ah I was breathing so hard that I I was like, he heard me coming. So he turned around and saw me. So then he put the foot down as well. If I could have managed to keep my breathing a bit more under control, I might've got past him. Yeah. Just picturing you holding your breath, trying not to make a sound. yeah that was great i did Would you say, like, would you put yourself down as a pretty competitive person? Like, is that what drives you for these things? It is when I'm in a race. Like, I ah feel like I'm not just in day-to-day life, but
00:41:22
Speaker
Yeah, something I guess just clicks over when you're in a race. um Being able to back up those four days. What's that like for your body? like how how did you How do you manage that process? I mean, just try and do the the little, the obvious things like get a good sleep each night and eat a fair bit of food each day. Put your feet up as soon as you can. I'd jump in the river after each run, which definitely helped.
00:41:44
Speaker
I'm assuming you could feel that accumulative fatigue building. Oh yeah. Yeah, definitely. By the time you got to the the last day, and so you were behind Ian and there was somebody, you you came and said, yeah. Did you feel like you were just kind of tapped out a little bit at that point? Or yeah, they kind of like made you a bit behind them. Yeah. Well, i like my strategy going into the last day, I knew Ian was a stronger climber than I am. So I was We had a ah bit of a ah lead in before we get to the climb. So I was going to try and get as much lead as I could but not up to that point. But he was right on my shoulder at the start of the climb and then straight away overtook me as we started going up. So I was like, oh, there goes that. And I was thinking, well, I think I um might have him on the downhill as well. So if I can just keep him within sight. Then once we get to the downhill, then I'll try and make my move. But then it was once we crested the top of the hills when I couldn't see him anymore. So yeah.
00:42:38
Speaker
Wow. and so did did Did you still go full guns blazing down down the hill? I ah did to a degree, but I know that had a like when I couldn't see him anymore, yeah like like you say, the four days accumulated fatigue, I didn't have that extra sort of thing in me to just really
Thailand World Champs and Team Dynamics
00:42:57
Speaker
keep the foot down. so I think had I been able to see him, it would have been a different story. Yeah. No, for sure. You watch it a few times or you hear people have their stories or you're on a course, you can't quite see someone. you You think you've lost it, you ease up and you find out they're 10 seconds ahead. but yeah it doesn't It doesn't sound like that that's of crowds quite quite the case. I mean, like you never really, it's it's very rare that you collapse on the finish line. So you've always got something more to give, you know?
00:43:20
Speaker
Yeah. It's just, it's just been able to access it, I guess. For the long stuff, I do wonder to fully collapse at the finish line, sort of what state is that that that's probably more of a hydration fueling issue than a absolute coach's health. Yeah. Well, I remember it, um, world champs in Thailand a couple of years ago, like obviously it was, um, super hot and humid and I was drinking as much as I could. Like at every aid station I'd, I'd drink a bottle, throw one over my head, fill up two more, but I just could not get enough liquid in.
00:43:50
Speaker
And then at the end of the race, I was just completely spent. And I remember lying down on the ground, really wanting water. And it was up on the, like, had a table set up near the finish line and I was lying within a meter of it, but I just couldn't sit up to get the water because it was just completely just gone. Would you say that's the worst you've been at the end of a race? I reckon, yeah. And then like, didn't go to the bathroom until maybe 9pm that night. And it's probably only because I'd been having quite a few beers after the race as well. So yeah, I think I was borderline rapped over the end of that one. Wow. Well, I was going to say, thank God you weren't getting drug tested. That would have been a very horrible experience just waiting for that. adventure What was the recovery like from that one? Was it pretty bad for a few days? ah I don't recall it being that bad. Like it was definitely bad after the race and maybe the next morning felt pretty average, but yeah, I don't think it was too bad.
00:44:41
Speaker
Then we're in Thailand, the race is done. So it's sort of just like a little holiday. Yeah. Was that, is that your first world's team or do you've been on one before? Yeah. Oh, it was first trail world. I'd been in the sky running world the year before. Okay. Got to be a pretty incredible experience getting to represent your country. Yeah. Oh yeah. Definitely is like similar to what I was saying before that last partiva being part of a team. Like I really enjoyed that, that aspect of, of trail running.
00:45:07
Speaker
Yeah. Again, I'm curious with, do you put more weight on representing your country or do you put more weight on sort of getting into the bucket list race? Like, which does to say a good result at the world champs or or a great result at UTMB, does one carry more weighting for you? Would you veer one way than the other, given the choice?
00:45:36
Speaker
I think I would view towards world champs. I think it just kind of feels a bit more
Cradle Mountain Race and its Significance
00:45:41
Speaker
special. I think maybe be like 20 years down the track if you're talking to your kids or your grandkids and you're telling them you did really well at this big race in France versus you're telling them you did really well at the world champs and you know competed for Australia.
00:45:55
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Even if course records get broken and results get pushed down the the list of years, but I feel like you can never really take away. We can't take away and take anything away from representing a country. I just feel like that would be the kind of the biggest honor as such that you could get something.
00:46:14
Speaker
ah Moving on to what you've done most recently, which is Cradle Mountain. Firstly, yeah because that's your sixth time down there. just I'm really curious, like to come to something six times, what's the like what's so special about it? I don't know, really. Something about that race to sleck that I absolutely love. like It's very different to any other race that I've done.
00:46:40
Speaker
it's um and I think it's the oldest ultra in Australia. It's been going for 43, 44 years or something. And it's run by run by a committee that kind of feels a bit like ah a bowls club committee. It doesn't feel like any other normal sort of competitive race. It doesn't really feel like a race. It feels more just like this adventure that 60 runners all go off and have and's like you have this feeling of camaraderie with the other runners. like obviously I'm trying to go as quick as I can, but yeah like we have dinner the night before and have the briefing and then everyone has the day that they have. And then you have a couple of drinks after the race and then the next morning we all have breakfast and they go through everyone's title. They literally read out every single competitor's time and everyone gets a little medallion and a little coaster. And I don't know, it's just good vibes around it and it's the overland track. So it's absolutely stunning scenery. So yeah, that definitely helps.
00:47:32
Speaker
Yeah, i I do appreciate your ah following you both on Strava and Instagram. First of all, because your job, which we haven't really gone into, but you're a horticulturist at Parliament House, the um flowers and the trees and like the whole flora that you share is both beautiful. But it means that you obviously have quite a bit of a um an interest in that when you're racing. So I feel like I half live your races through you when you take photos, which still blows my mind that you can run that fast whilst taking photos.
00:47:59
Speaker
Well, I meant like, yeah, after starting out with Dave, well, after a year or so in, he's definitely had a word to me about taking too many photos. like Okay. Okay. Good. Very nice to the other competitors and stop taking so many photos. Yeah. I do remember having some choice-wise in my head when I saw you start taking photos of Buffalo. I thought it was really cool and it's nice to appreciate what you're doing, but I was, yeah, I can't really repeat on the podcast what my head was but saying. Uh, but sorry. So go, yeah, going back to it. So you said at only 60 people take part.
00:48:30
Speaker
Yeah, so that's the amount of hikers that are allowed to start the Overland track each day. So that's where that name's number came from. And I think i think i don't think I'd be allowed to start a race like that today, but because it's been going for so long that like they're still able to do it and Parks Tasmania allowed them to to do that. They kept their permit. Yeah. Wow. Okay. So that's, it's really quite a special race then to yeah have that experience. I mean, one of the hardest things about the race is getting into it because it just sells out so quickly. yeah is Is that another La Sportiva event? No. Oh, okay. So you're, you're just, so are you getting in because you've been on the podium each year or you just keep entering and just get in? If, you if you, if you're first across the line, you get an automatic entry the next year, not a free entry, just ah an auto entry.
00:49:18
Speaker
But yeah, I was second this year, so I'll definitely have to just be on the keyboard at the right time next year. and okay so that it's not It's not a ballot entry, it's just enter the race. Yeah, yeah yeah pretty much. I think it was a but bit more of a play by play since Cradle Mountain is the most recent one they that you've raised. I'm kind of curious, can you take us through how the race went? It was, again, I'm sounding like I'm just an injured old man, but ah Dealing with a bit of tendinitis in my knee, I sort of flared up at about a month before the race. So i'd been training block had been going really, really well, and then all of a sudden I had to back it way off for the month leading into the race. It was still running, but definitely not the volume I would like to. So it was a little apprehensive about how it would go, but I still took off, as I usually do, just as quick as I can and hoped for the best.
00:50:12
Speaker
um the sun i It was quite a hot day, like hot for but Tassie standards at least, but in particular it was very dry. Like usually on that course, there's so many streams across the trail that you just you don't really have to worry about filling up. You just fill up out of the streams and you never have to worry about running out. But most of those streams are all dried up, so that really played into the day. There's still water in the bigger ones, but yeah, not not as readily available. Because looking at Angus that won the race, so do you you guys, it doesn't look like from the checkpoint split times that you spent really much time together? I didn't see him at all until he very politely asked if he could go past with about 10K to go. Oh, that's got to be heartbreaking. Yeah. I'd been running with Andrew Gaskell for a fair chunk of the race, maybe like 30 or 40Ks or so. And then i I took, I sort of got a bit of a lead on him.
00:51:07
Speaker
about 55K in. And so when I heard footsteps behind me, I assumed it was him catching up. And then Angus is just like, Oh, do you mind if I go past? It's like, make sure I go. Yeah, um yeah I was very impressed.
00:51:21
Speaker
imagining at that point and that you just put your arms out wide and you're like, nope, sorry mate. You don't have to stay right there. It was so nice about it that. I reckon if I'd said no, you might not have passed me. Just accept it. Like, yeah, no here I'm happy. I'll stay here. And ah you didn't exactly run slow either. It was your second best time, only one minute off your personal best. So like yeah even given, it sounds like, potentially, do they do you feel like dehydration impacted a bit into that fade away?
00:51:47
Speaker
I think there was as a number of factors like dehydration but also just that um the lack of conditioning in my legs. I felt like from very early on I kind of felt little, not cramps, but you know those sort of twinges before
Recovery, Shifting Priorities, and Future Goals
00:52:00
Speaker
you get cramps. I felt that and then that kind of adjusted my stride a bit like I couldn't stride out too much and then because it's such a technical course I tripped over quite a lot of times like from not lifting my feet enough enough because I thought I was going to cramp all the time. yeah So I think a few factors sort of Yeah, played into it. yeah Yeah. Has that, has, has it been, well, how's the body afterwards? It was rough the next day. Like I felt like I'd ah done a mile and like, yeah, it's been okay since I'm still, still kind of nursing this tendonitis a little bit. Hopefully it's not going to be too big a deal, but yeah. More time on the bike at the moment then. Yeah. More time on the bike and more time swimming. And I'd like to, I guess the silver lining of that is I'm
00:52:46
Speaker
It's, I feel very thick from that sort of training and it's a different sort of fitness. Like you don't have the fatigue and the sort of banged up body of, of you know, 120 days a week. So that's that's a plus. Yeah. ah One thing that you've you've called yourself now and injured old man a couple of times, I didn't realize that you're 40 now.
00:53:06
Speaker
Uh, not quite, but I will be soon. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, okay. You can, uh, tell cradle mountain off for this cause they hard listed down as 40 on the edge. Yeah. I think it's the the age that you turn that year is the way they do it. It's a bit odd. Right. Okay. Cause I was looking, I was like, no way it's about 40, but that's, um, this is hard, but are you feeling any differences as you sort of, cause you would have started the sport, let's say 2016 early thirties going through. Do you, are you feeling that difference as you get older or are you thinking about training any differently?
00:53:36
Speaker
um I think i'm not so much feeling it physically. I think mentally I have a different approach to it than I previously had. I still really enjoy running. It still plays a big part of my life, but it's definitely not the main focus of my life. I think over the last couple of years. Okay. In a healthy way or in a, I'm not trying to be as competitive as I once was way? Not so much not trying to be competitive. It's just it It's not my number one priority, which it was for a few years. Yeah. Okay. What sort of timeframe would that have been? Uh, maybe around that 21, 22, so not too long ago. Yeah.
00:54:14
Speaker
All right. Well, winding down 2025 mentioned offline potentially some goals, but what's, what's the, what's the rest of the year? Hopefully look like assuming body gets healthy and yeah do what you want. Um, I'm signed up for Razorback in a couple of weeks. So that'll be the next race that I'm doing. Um, we'll more than likely be at Buffalo as well. I'm just not sure in what capacity, which race or if any race, um,
00:54:42
Speaker
And then Lavaretto is the next sort of big goal on the horizon. Okay, cool. So that is 64k again? ah No, I'm doing the 40 actually. Yeah, I've never done the 40 there and it's such a classic look, but I thought that'd be a bit of fun. When I was going by three results, the Razorback 64k, I've got it written down here in 2019, that one really stood out as a, and then into the UTA as like a pretty breakthrough performance. i think did Do you still have the course record from back then in Razorback? Do you know?
00:55:11
Speaker
I don't know actually, no. But like the, at least you look at your UTMBs index and stuff and that was like the first big jump that you made. So did Razorback kind of hold a bit of a, I don't know, a place in your heart as such? It does a bit. I mean, like I did it a few years in a row and the first couple of times I did it, I had raced the 50k Warburton, the Lumberjack Ultra the week before. And I remember the third time I did Razorback is like, I'm definitely going to focus on Razorback this year. So I won't do the 50k.
00:55:40
Speaker
But then as we got towards Warburton, um, my partner Meg wanted to do a race there. So we're going down there anyway. It's like, Oh, maybe I'll just jump in and do the 22 K that's Donna double. So I reckon reckon I was more banged up from doing Donna double when I had been from doing the previous years. But yeah, no, raise back. Definitely. It's, it's broken to the, the views per kilometer. It's one of the best courses in Victoria. it's just Yeah. Pretty specky. Yeah. Oh, there's a reason why that, um, this is where we call it the good loop to go off and train up there.
00:56:10
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's cool how it's, um, Paul Ashton running wild do it and they, it's run out of the caravan park
Conclusion and Reflections on the Journey
00:56:17
Speaker
there. Like this, the start and finish line is in the caravan park. So you can just set up a tent there or stay in one of the cabins and you know, you ride at the start line, go to the snow line afterwards for beers and presentation. Yeah. It's a good event. Lovely. All right. Well, before we yeah do finish up, is there anything that you'd like to talk about that I haven't asked? Uh, no, I mean,
00:56:39
Speaker
I feel like I've just rambled on for a little while, but yeah and nothing springs to mind. I really appreciate you jumping on. so This is the first interview that I've done with People's Suits. and yeah I really appreciate your time and good luck for the rest of 2025. Cool. Thanks for having me.