Transcript
Speaker: Hello and welcome to the Peeps News podcast and what is the 2026 roller coaster preview. You're joined as always by myself, James Sieber and Brody and we have a special guest with us for this year's preview last year's second place in 23k and we'll also be back running the 23k this year.
Speaker: Sophie Broome. Sophie, welcome. Thanks very much for having me on. Keen to talk about this local race. Yeah, it's going to great to have you on see Sophie is a local to the area, as is Brodie, who we just heard a ah a little chirp from. I will introduce you to say hi. But it's going to be great to have Sophie's insight, especially with an awesome race that you had last year and gearing off this one. Brodie, how are you doing? Sorry to ignore you. Yeah, good. that Well, that's what i was going to say. Sophie's a local, so she's she knows the course. um And she said local race, which it is, but I don't know. I feel like a roller coaster is...
Speaker: one that could grow into a bit bigger as well, like where it is close to Melbourne, very ah like very steep trails but very inviting in terms of a technicality point of view and um all very controlled with the the aid station in the middle and going through there twice if you're doing the 23 and a few more times for the 46. Yeah, I feel like it's a very good race that could grow um and, yeah, they're always a pretty good field at the front end at least.
Speaker: Yeah, and it's always interesting because it brings in the the local roadrunners as well. There's always a couple of road stars that that come and have a play on the trails on rollercoaster weekend as well. So that's always fun.
Speaker: Yeah, Brody, I feel like we spoke about this one last year, but roller coaster seems to be an event that's just stuck at a thousand entries plus or minus a hundred for the last, well, at least 2023 when I worked with single track for the event.
Speaker: And i just don't really understand why, like its proximity to Melbourne is so close. The event, the terrain is really accessible. they have good distance variations. They organize it really well. As far as I see, the feedback and the vibe and positivity is always really good. They have a bit of a party atmosphere with all the get ups and yeah, I don't know. it it's It's an event that I think should be a lot bigger than it is. The trails have the capacity to be a lot bigger than it is. We always see it have like good competitiveness. Um, and it's for some of the end of year races, maybe it's a bit close to GPT to really put a hard effort in, but if you're racing cozy, this is ah a great tune up race for that. Um, especially if you're doing a one hundred K or a hundred mile, you do the 46, if you're doing a 50 even the 30 you can do the 23. Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker: What are your thoughts, Brady? Yeah, i'm not I'm not exactly sure why. um Like you said, I would have thought that this race could be one of the bigger races on the calendar. Like I'm notm not sure it has the capacity of, say, a UTA, but it definitely has um capacity to increase in size on at least the trails is as well do. Like they're wide, they're open. um There is capacity for more people to be there. Um, so yeah, I'm not sure why. I wonder if it would be worth doing a bit more of a push, a link in with like, or athletics, Victoria cross country season. Cause it does sort of come off the end of that. Um, maybe it's too close to Melbourne marathon. I know a lot of the Victorian running community ah involved in Melbourne marathon.
Speaker: Um, so maybe it's, that is a clash. Um, but yeah, you would think that there's plenty of people who aren't running the marathon or running the shorter distances there as well. um So, yeah, I would hope that it could grow in the future. Like it's such a such a cool area. Like, to be honest, I've never been to the event. um I'm just talking about being like on the trails and and the sorts of trails that they are. um So there is, yeah, I think there's an opportunity for it to be bigger. So but we might be having the same conversation next year. Who knows?
Speaker: yeah people that follow us for the next few years are going really fed up this conversation but so what like do you think that if they moved the event day because i think brodie you are right like we're we're talking about trying to capture the fun run kind of um'm i'm going to say this in like with a in a good way but like the hobby jogger style of people that are like just taking part in the big events it probably does need to move when it's going to be because you can't yeah you There's not that many people that can back up after a week and go and do roller coaster after Melbourne.
Speaker: What would the weather be like down there in August? Um... I mean, like, it would be absolutely fine to run run that course in August. I mean, it's not um it's not particularly remote. It's not like the the trails can handle, um you know, bad weather, good weather. Actually, I think the trails run a little bit faster when it's a little bit wetter. So, I mean, like, in terms of running, I think it'd be fine. I don't think the vibe at the...
Speaker: finish line would be quite as good if it was a rainy day. But um yeah, I mean, I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to run the event in August. I do think like it probably just gets a little bit lost in the marketing around Melbourne Marathon, GPT and like the other single track events. Like I don't think from From my perception, I don't think they market it as hard. and Or it doesn't, maybe because they don't have like a um a big 100K event like they have at Buffalo, like they have at GPT,
Speaker: And like it's not quite on the same scale as Hounslow. Like maybe it doesn't ah just attract as many runners or like it's not as easy to market to people. But like the accessibility of it to Melbourne um and the accessibility of it in terms of like the terrain.
Speaker: makes it like a perfect um a perfect race really um so yeah it would be great to see a few more few more people like it always does draw at least a a couple of people at the pointy end and I always like hear people like people i used to work with and stuff always used to know roller coaster um you know like road runners and stuff so um Yeah, I'm not sure. But yeah, probably a change change in the time of the year would help.
Speaker: ah Yeah. And a little bit more of a bit bit more love on their Instagram, maybe. yeah and i think if you're trying to get runners then i think a different time of like having it a week after the biggest running event of the year in melbourne is probably a bit tricky in terms of timing but yeah i've heard like every ah how many running groups are out at least maybe not on that exact trails but at fernie fernie creek doing their long run there's yeah and there's a lot of road runners who experience running in the Dandongs at other times, but we can't get them on the line for ah for a race. um Yeah, it'd be good to see some more translation. But like you said, we do get some there. Like Seth was there a few years ago. Reece is running this year. Sarah Klein's been a regular. um Yeah, so there is some, but I bet i reckon we could ah reckon they could get a few more. yeah And like often at other events, like GPT is part of the World Trail Majors. You've got Buffalo, which was the national champs.
Speaker: this year like often their events do have like an extra carrot there for people to come to so and we don't often get that at roller coaster like there's a little bit of prize money but that's not really relevant to a lot of the um a lot of the runners who would be going there and like you're not going to get your like um you know 100k um qualification race or something there which like maybe puts a few people off so Yeah, if few potentially a few different reasons.
Speaker: I do also wonder, yeah, could it could it fit in maybe end of April, three weeks before UTA or even early June? But as you were saying, Sophie, about not having the 100K, everyone's loving the Backout Ultra format and the laps right now. Why don't we just have a three-loop event and then a four-loop event and then you do a little out and back and you've got 100K? Super easy to run. Might get the extra extra people in We can tick off the 50-mile distance, tick off the hundred k distance. It's like every year you go in 23, 46. can't do the maths, but the rest. It's great.
Speaker: yeah yeah yeah considering how sore i am after the 23 don't know three laps yes yes well i know i know that it's been a conversation in the past but unfortunately it doesn't like it's going to be there but i do if everyone listening that hasn't gone to the event i i do think it is it's great fun it has a great atmosphere the course is really fun especially the fact that the 46k does the in reverse for the second one so you're not just doing two laps the same and it does feel very very different running any course in reverse even if you just do your local loop in reverse it's a whole different perspective so anyway okay looking at this year's event obviously we'll come to the name shortly but weather wise it looks really nice the ah as you guys will be able to say since you're in in the area but the whole week is kind of sun and cloud the race day is looking again sun and cloud sort of highs of 19 by late morning there is a chance of rain but
Speaker: Not until the afternoon. I think the morning's sort of 20% chance of rain and the afternoon gets up to 65% chance of rain. So they could come forward. and But as you said, Sophie, those trails probably run better with a bit of moisture on them. Maybe not the torrential rain that we saw a few years ago when Seth O'Donnell was running, but ah a bit on the ground would uh would speed up some of those tracks so it's looking like a fast day which then brings me to one of my kind of observations here is that we've got two course record holders coming in kate and avery and mike harrell do we feel like we're going to see any others go down are they going to take their own course records down before we get into the predictions what do you guys think
Speaker: ah Yeah, I think we are on course record watch. um Starting off with Kate in the 23, she set that course record, I think, in her first season.
Speaker: time running. think she'd only been over in Melbourne for a short time, maybe like a couple of months. And yeah, probably her first run out in the Dandenong. So didn't really know what to expect. I know she's run a couple of times since then, but was pregnant one year. She was in the 12K last year. And just like knowing how Kate's running at the moment and knowing how close a few other runners have been to that time, would be surprised if we're not under the course record the women's 23.
Speaker: and As long as obviously conditions conditions allow. and so yeah, I think she's running really well at the moment and i we're on course record watch there. and Mike Carroll, he also obviously set that amazing course record last year. and i believe it was his first time running, so he's coming back with some and course experience.
Speaker: um and maybe we'll talk about this a little bit later but just had a quick look at his training this afternoon on Strava and it's like chef's kiss so its it's always so epic yeah so I think uh there's no reason why i Mike can't uh take that course record down a little bit more in my opinion I do think that the men's 23K could be under threat too, especially that Seth ran that in pretty bad condition. Nathan's obviously been very close to that and previously held it.
Speaker: But I think with the the names that we've got coming to this year, as yeah, it's going to be with these conditions and with that density of field, I think we could be watching that one as well i think the only one that's probably safe this year just because it was in such an exceptional run and I think it took 20 minutes off the The previous course record, maybe even 30, I have to remember of the actual time, is Lucy Barcellon-Moves 46k record.
Speaker: But I would love to be surprised and proven wrong on that one because that would be pretty epic. Yeah, definitely. Lucy was on a heater when she yeah ran that last year. um can't remember how fresh Lucy was when she ran that, to be honest. like I know she was pretty busy towards the back end of last year Maybe this was sort of the first run she did back after utn b um But yeah, i mean, it's such a stellar time. And and actually, i saw her when I was coming up the hill on the way to the finish when she was heading out for a second loop and she looked like she was cruising. So um I think there's definitely, I think there is time time there, but I'm just not sure if that's going to be the goal of a lot of the the female runners that we have running the this year.
Speaker: this year Yes, I agree. And it was, at least on UTMB for results, it was her first run ah since like after the actual UTMB, which is only six weeks. But when she then went into the... That's fresh for Lucy.
Speaker: That is fresh for Lucy. So, Brody, any observations with well course records or anything like that I think Sophie summed it up pretty well there. Yeah. Like low-key Mike's run last year was, i don't know what who we gave performance of the year, but like looking back, the more I look at that run, I'm like, I think that may have been performance of the year. Like it's hard to give it to like ah like we were saying before, roller coaster doesn't quite have the prestige of some of the other events. But Mike's time on this course is very impressive. He ran the first loop. I think I was looking at it the other day because I have an athlete racing. He ran the first loop in like,
Speaker: 145 or maybe it was 148. I don't know, something like that in the 140s and then pretty much kept it even for the second half. And to put that in perspective, the guys ran 138, I think, or 137 in the one loop. So, yeah, he was moving.
Speaker: think... in the one loop so yeah he was moving um i think it's like I would have said, it's going to be hard for him to beat his time, but I don't, I don't remember his training before it last year, but like Sophie said, his training right now is very impressive. um And Kate, yeah, I agree. Like,
Speaker: ah it's hard to get a gauge of Kate because I'm not running with her as much and um she doesn't put stuff on Strava, but I've been harassing her and I asked her if she thought she could run sub 50 minutes at the Macedon run she did the other day and she's like, no, I couldn't do that. And then she ran like 13 seconds slower than 50 minutes and that's like a 10K with 450 meters of climb in it. So she averaged four-minute Ks, I mean five-minute Ks for that with that amount of climb and in that distance. I think...
Speaker: Yeah, that's a pretty, pretty good time. So if you times that by two, gets you pretty close to the to the roller coaster course, ah add a little bit of extra on that. Yeah, I think she's she could be on for it.
Speaker: I just got Mike splits up. So he split the first lap last year in 144, 47. And then the finish in 334, 29. So he won 40. Let's just say 145 for the first lap and then 149, 150 for the second lap. So it's crazy. I think if you went there ran 145 150 lap, that's moving. That's fast.
Speaker: as like as ah like that's moving that's fast And for reference, second place last year, who's also returning, Josh Godding, he came through 1.47.30 that first and a half minutes back and then three fifty five fifty six for the finish so his second lap was two ah seven Yeah, I saw he was about half an hour behind Mike. Is that right? and i Yeah, 22 minutes, I think, in the end. You'd actually asked Mike recently because, like I said, to have an athlete running, whether he ran or hiked the climbs or like what sort of percentage was he doing of of that just to get a bit of an idea of someone who's running that fast, like easy hiking. And he said he ran most of it. But he also mentioned that,
Speaker: he was not leading at the start. he was There was guys that went off faster than him, which Josh may have been one of those, it sounds like, if he blew up in the in the second lap. Well, yeah. I think, was was Tyler Wyndham running last year?
Speaker: He normally goes off. I think there was a Barnett as well who I think also James maybe. um but hayden Hayden came through the first split in 6 minutes 30, which was seven seconds ahead of both Josh and Mike.
Speaker: and Morgan Glazier came through in 6.28 and he he finished in 4.07 so 33 minutes behind Mike by the end so this definitely yeah Mike showed his class last year and I'm hoping that we're seeing this yeah I in prep for this i was going through his driver as well and Saw a little bit of back and forth on, on a run that he did recently in the 25th of September, he did 40 K, uh, I think about 15, 1600 meters in three and a half hours. And I've just, I just posted, uh, this makes me excited sub three 30. And he said, oof but he didn't say no.
Speaker: So you never know. Nice. All righty. Well, we've obviously given some glimpses into who we have running, but let's start off with the 46K and into the women's field.
Speaker: Sophie, would you to start us off with who you've got an eye on? Yeah, definitely. So I think this story of, um oh, sorry, are we going twenty three k first? 46. Okay, yeah.
Speaker: I think the um storyline for this one is the Asia Pacific Trail Winning Championships tournament. Prep run. I'm not going to say training run, but I'm going to say prep run because i think we've got three runners and who are running who are down for the the long course at the Asia Pacific Tour Running Champs, if I'm not mistaken. So starting off with Alice McGushin.
Speaker: um I haven't met Alice before, but I actually really enjoyed doing a little bit of a background check on her today. So ah she's a doctor. She's a mom. She's an ultra runner. So mostly around the 50 to 100 K distance. um She is working in a the in ah public health and climate change. she's doctor.
Speaker: really crushing things outside of the running sphere. And it looks like most of her races from sort of like 2018 to 2023 were in Europe and the UK. So I'm assuming she was living over in the UK for a period of time, but has been...
Speaker: and putting up some really good results on the Australian scene over the last couple of years. um Notable performances for Alice, I think and she was third place at the Buffalo Stampede hundred k this year, which was the national champ. So I guess um that that must be how she qualified for the Asia-Pacific training champs, or at least that put her on the mat there.
Speaker: um She was also and third place at the Mount Lyles Sky Run over in Tassie. And I read somewhere that she actually finished most of that race with a broken toe. ah So sounds like she can certainly suffer.
Speaker: um so yeah uh i think she's definitely definitely interesting um for this race um i think next up we have kelly kelly emerson so um she has been running really really well recently i mean everybody knows kelly she's been around forever and um i recently ran with her at the sylvan local a local race in the dandanongs sylvan race is part of the trail running series and she had a really great run and had a great day out at what looked like a really, really tough day at Transcend. um
Speaker: So running really well at the moment. Again, also on the long course for the australian for the Asia-Pacific Championships. I believe Kelly is also the record holder in the twelve k And was a little bit surprised that she has doesn't seem to have run either the 23 the 46 previously.
Speaker: yeah that's a good point Like she's the queen of the Dandenongs and she hasn't run roller coaster. I think you might be right there. I'll double check whilst we're talking, but, but I think it is going interesting. Like Alison and Kelly, so obviously coach Kelly. So I know exactly what the plan is. and And this is very much just a, like I gave her ah a four and a half to five hour long run for this weekend. And she said, Hey, can I go do roller coaster? So this is a way for her to just to get that done and have some fun doing it. But yeah,
Speaker: under like the pretense of not racing because we don't yeah we don't want to interrupt training for for this um as fun as it would be for her to go and crush this because these are the trails she runs every single week and i would love to see how fast she can run a course like this actually especially the shape she's in at the moment um yeah we have to keep it a bit more a bit more controlled so don't get in the way and and alice like speak about um being able to grind out i was reading her comments from Hounslow from her marathon on Strava where she came fifth and she had gastro like the days before the race was pumping like anti-nausea but it it sounds like it reared its head shall we say at about 22k into that so to come away with fifth and actually just just to finish the thing like having had gastro a couple of weeks ago I would never even like looked at an event within three or four days of finishing I'm barely back to normal now so
Speaker: She, can clearly get herself through. In the lead up to that preview, we were saying how good her training looked and it seems to have sort of carried across from there quite well. She did something.
Speaker: don't know if you noticed this, Sophie, when you're looking at it, which by the way, you can come on anytime because that was awesome, the breakdown. of alice that that was brilliant um she did an event alice did an event called the um rock suffer fest which i don't know if you guys have much uh concept of the context i was about to bring this up yard this is i saw this was epic this is great ah oh gosh i'll shut up you you talk Look at us doing that research. I only know because alice no alice so Alice did my research for me. She messaged me because I'm involved with the Asia-Pacific trail running chance. We were talking about the potential where the courses would be.
Speaker: um She messaged me and told me about this ah training run she'd done, which, ah yeah, the Stockyard Spur is 2.2 kilometers with 530 meters of climb, and the ultra-mediocre runners of Canberra do like ah event there every year i think it's every year each year since 2021 called the suffer fest trying to do as many up and downs as you can in six hours and no one had ever done seven laps which would be that's like oh 14 a bit over but yeah her her strava was thirty k with meters
Speaker: Yeah, so it's a lot of climbing up and down. yeah um and she was like, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to do it, but yeah, she managed to do seven um in five hours, 37. So pretty decent. 3,600 is a lot of up and down. That's up and down as well, so.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly. And we're talking about, I'm just getting the segment here. It is an average gradient of where are we? It must be like 25. 24%. Yeah. Yeah. 24%, but definitely has a lot steeper sections with in that. But yeah, you what goes up, you got to come back down that again. So love the format.
Speaker: I'm a big fan of the the six hour cap. So it's not just how far you can go and actually how fast you can do it in. um that was yeah yeah That was very impressive. So Don't know how how fast it did. Brody, did Alice give you any indication of how she was approaching this? No, I think she said this is a training, like as a a similar, I guess, as like a preparation race. I'm not sure more on the training or more on the racing end. um I'm not sure. What do you guys think about this phase?
Speaker: What do you think about this 46? Well, obviously, James, you've got Kelly going out doing this. So you're obviously on board with this being a um a training race for the Asia Pacific long course. like What's your thought process there? like Do you think this is a good good option for these guys? Because we also have, I believe, Jess, um friend of the pod, Jess Jason. ah She is also in the 46, I think.
Speaker: um And she's in the short course for the Asia Pacific. So yeah, seems like this is a good option maybe for the training. i haven't seen the Asia Pacific course, so...
Speaker: Well, no one has. um and And the same for Josh Godding as well. He's he's in the ah the short trail at Asia Pacific. Brody's probably done the most research so on this. So i'll I'll do my little coaching bit and then come to him because I know that he's been on Google Maps trying to work as much as he can out. But from what um i've I've heard and what I've been able to look at,
Speaker: is that it's not looking like and brodie correct me if i say anything wrong here and i'll quickly adjust some things um it's not looking like any of the climbs are going to be like crazy long um it's also not at a a notable altitude for the race and so it is unlikely to match the underfoot terrain in the sense that we're probably if it's if it's in a populated place it's likely to be pavement or concrete and sections there's going to be steps um but the The way that the climbs come, how like the thing roller coaster is there's not a lot of flat running. Even when you're running, you're you're kind of going like a grindy climb up or a gentle descent. And then the climbs are pretty consistent, but none of them are crazy long. So that,
Speaker: was definitely appealing for this. i think the other side as well is that, yeah, okay, if we were, for Kelly, looking at a, say, five-hour run this weekend, we would be including more of the stairs, going up the 1,000 steps, which we've been doing and in her other runs. we Maybe we're looking at certain efforts or like the certain things we're working on, but It's also a really fun way to go and get four and a half, five hours done. You get it catered for you, which means we can also play around and and trial different things. So test different products that we're going to use or the different plans for the race. So I think...
Speaker: The using a race in training really comes down to the athlete. How, like what is their mindset with it? Are they able to not go and hit the gas regardless of what the plan is? Can they, can they actually execute a more controlled thing? Um, it can also be a great stimulus of like, okay, actually, you know, go and go and do it at 90% effort rather than the normal long run effort. And as long as we recover a little, a little bit more in and out of it, it can be an awesome stimulus for your training. And you see that, that fitness jump, um,
Speaker: So, yeah, like our our thinking our thinking was predominantly this is where Kelly is going to be running anyway. Maybe it loses a little bit of the specificity, but it adds in the other elements that I've spoken about. And it seemed to match what we know at the moment about the course without any info being out. But Brodie, what are your thoughts?
Speaker: Yeah, with um ongoing issue of getting the courses at Asia Pacific. Interestingly, they've got like this weird like GPX coming up as like one of the background pictures to the website. And that's like the most information we have. So we're trying to match that up with the courses that I previously had in the area. um But, yeah, it looks like like you're pretty spot on there. Like there's no – the biggest climb maybe in the long course is maybe 500 to 600 meters. um In the short course, the short trail of 36, like probably nothing over 300, 400. yeah, the
Speaker: uh like i was saying we had a team meeting and we're talking about it and we saying how like really this is actually quite a good uh event for australians to go to compared to something in the alps because a lot of our courses do simulate this sort of thing and like at this time of year like the blue mountains is a good one because there's lots of steps but like at this time of year in the big races that are on roller coaster and gpt both of them are probably somewhat relevant um particularly maybe the GPT-33, the one that's on the south end because it has those sort of three or two punchy climbs, three punchy climbs um because at Asia Pacific it will be up and then down, up and then down and then some flat running in between. So, yeah, I think roller coaster is probably my pick. Apart from there not being stairs, um it's probably from an elevation profile point of view the most specific race you're going to get.
Speaker: Um, Jess is an interesting one cause she's obviously running a bit longer. Um, I don't necessarily think that's a bad idea. I think, uh, rollercoaster probably run a bit faster than what the Asia Pacific one will be. So the difference between her doing 46 and then doing 36 and I think we've still got six or seven weeks. Um, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, and probably won't be too much different time wise and it'll give her the confidence on race day, I guess, that she's done something longer very specifically recently and she has to go a little bit less. It might even be a good mental um bonus. I think Jess has shown that she seems to have recovered really well off the back of OCC. She had such a great run there, but that being a sixty k event that maybe now the 46k that's gonna she does that and let's just say she runs it like fast but nothing crazy does four and a half hours or so i think if i was just be taking a lot of confidence that she knows those trails are already she's recovered well off acc it's probably going to provide a really good strength base for her to go into asia pacifics um and bredy completely agree like the the The next thing that Kelly's going to is the 33K at GPT. Exactly the same approach for this. it's not It's not to go as a race, but it's specifically because of the way the hills come. And also the terrain is a bit more technical there than was much more so than than roller coaster.
Speaker: So yeah, in a very long answer, Sophie, I think it, I think this event suits really well. Um, and, and I think that, yeah, for the, for the right person, these sort of lead up races can be great. But if you're somebody that like, I put myself in this bucket, I don't love being in events. I love going on big event ventures, but I love training for a event, like a key event. And if I,
Speaker: went into a bunch of training races i'd probably just get a bit burnt out on like events from a participant perspective so i don't use them um very often but for other people that just love like kelly just loves being a part of that from like the running perspective um i think that it works really well yeah cool it'll be it'll be interesting to see how it all um all goes down with and with people trying to keep a lid on it for continuing their training for the asia pacific champs but also like Yeah, these guys are competitive, so let's see what happens. Yeah, and rollercoaster is quite – I think you mentioned it, James, with the aid station in the middle there where you go through it twice in the 23, four times in the 46. Like it gives you a good opportunity to practice, say, a crewed aid station, which we often get at these championship events, um which is maybe a little bit different to other races, although we do end up with crew at a lot of different races. But you get a lot of access to crew in this race, which um means you can –
Speaker: really play around with those tactics and that thinking and troubleshooting things on the go or being past things if you want to go lighter and that sort of stuff. So good opportunity to practice that stuff.
Speaker: Yeah. And the last thing i would say, and and obviously this is this is a financial decision, which I'm not saying everyone needs to make or is in the the capacity to do so, but, and also not the single track is necessarily under the the local vibe, but I think if you are able to, and there is an event in your area, and at some point you would want to participate in that event from a performance perspective,
Speaker: If you can go and run it to support it, or even just showing up to kind of add an atmosphere and you're able to, then i'm I'm a big fan of that. So like in my earlier example, I'll show up to all the events I can from a coaching perspective, or just standing there and seeing people and saying hello and being part of the atmosphere because they're great to be part of. So yeah, no, it should be, it'll be a fun, fun weekend. Brodie, coming back to the 46K before we go down too much of ah another tangent, any other women that are kind of piquing your interest?
Speaker: I think they were the main three that I'd picked out. I think there's another lady that you've maybe popped on the list that I'm not super familiar with. ah Stacey Hogan. she's She's had a few like kind of really really good results starting to come through. She is coming back from a surgery though, so I had a quick chat to her and she's just sort of doing this as a ke ah her longest run by quite a bit coming back, so not yeah not from a performance perspective. Yeah, but it still looked like I had a quick Google and had a look at her. She was third in the ah the good loop and the Razorback. She did the Wilson's Prom 50K, came fourth there and she was at UTA 100 as well. So she's had a relatively big year this year. um
Speaker: But yeah, that was I don't think there was anyone else that I'd specifically seen on the women's list. But yeah, think it's going to be a good fight. uh between those three uh ladies and stacy as well who are all preparing uh or the first three that we mentioned preparing for asia pacific um so we might see some some slightly different approaches but be good to see them all on the race uh start together definitely and and interesting that if jess does do the 46 as you said that whether it is for the short trail or the long trail you can still kind of get out there but it's it's not that often that we see and not that we're going to see them race maybe
Speaker: but like jess and jess and kelly and alice cash on the line so maybe they will be racing at the end imagine that if it's just like for those that don't know roller coaster finishes uphill and it last was it last year brodie that we saw but the battle um yeah toby and nathan was it toby yeah anyway sprint finish up there would be disgusting and if you happen to have like kind of run together or near each other and that that that would be that would be horrible but also great to watch I'm saying that as a podcast, not as a coach. um All right, let's move on to the 46k men. I'll get us started here because we've already spoken about a couple of the guys on this list. So I'll i'll begin off with them.
Speaker: The first being Mike Carroll. Mike is our defending champion. He is our course record holder. he absolutely demolished the existing course record last year by, don't think anyone had broken four hours last year and he ran 334. We then also did see Josh Godding, who I'll come to in a sec, go under four hours. But Sophie, as you said, every time Brody and I do one of these previews, we're always saying like, geez, Mike's training. It's just, it's incredible.
Speaker: The only time we think that we've ever seen Mike fully express that fitness was rollercoaster last year and he was untouchable. So he had ah ah a solid run at Hounslow taking the win at the marathon recently.
Speaker: um This year he's had a DNF at UT 100, a second at Buffalo Marathon, a first at Sydney Ultramarathon 30k. But I'm really hoping that what we're going to see from Mike is a repeat from last year. And then I'm secretly hoping that he's going to see if we can go under 330 for this which yeah if he can split 142 and 147 then we could be on i think is that the right maths i think so yeah that's right maths uh that 148 that that would be pretty pretty epic so he's definitely i think like he's he's he's the name to watch so you can't and that would be a hard course record to ever get so it'd be a nice one to lock in and it's one of the very rare courses that actually doesn't change like at least not since single track of taking over
Speaker: Yeah, definitely. He's also recently supported by Mount Coast. So, yeah, he's running now with a a little bit more of an incentive there maybe. So, um yeah, it's nice to see that he's getting some support after putting down. Like I was looking at his results and it's just like ones, twos or DNFs. So if if he finishes, he'll certainly be up there.
Speaker: His last place outside top three on – this is at least on UTMB. It was 2023 – sorry, apart from a few DNFs. 2023 COSI 50. That's the last – and he came fourth. That's the last result that wasn't a top three.
Speaker: And he's done big races as well. Not even like – it's not like he's just doing small races. That's it. That includes a UTA 100 second. Sophie, yeah are you with or connected to Mounted Coast 2?
Speaker: Yes. Yeah. So Mike's one of my teammates now at Atlantic Coast, which is awesome. So which shoe would you be using or do you think Mike will be using for this course? Because they've got a few interesting options. Yeah, I would assume that he'll be using the M1, the sort of like trail-specific option um with the foam. It doesn't have a carbon plate, but it does have the the foam and ah and really good traction with the Vibram sole for the –
Speaker: for the sort of more gravelly sections on this course. And like, it can be a little bit wet and muddy around the second sort of loop. um So I would assume that that's what he'll be using.
Speaker: um But yeah, I mean, they they also have options for sort of more technical terrain, which I don't think would be great here. Probably like better for something like the Grampians. But um yeah, I would assume he'll be probably rocking the M1s.
Speaker: Yeah, cool. It's just exciting. I've got a pair of them waiting to be run in that I can't use yet, but I'm a big fan of the H1s. anyone that listens to the podcast will know, I probably don't shut up about them. It's all I can run in at the moment. So it's, yeah, that's interesting. And it'll be cool to see. Is that, how recent is that, that they've been supporting him?
Speaker: Um, I believe it's, um, well, I, I only, um, sort of heard about it around, uh, Hounslow. So, um, it's, it's a pretty new thing, I think. Yeah. And, uh, maybe Hounslow was his first race with Manta Coast and now this would be, yeah, the second, so.
Speaker: Well, I think all of us can, as you said, when you look at Mike's results, there's somebody to pick up. he's ah He's definitely a very good person to do so. The other person other name that what we've already mentioned, Josh Godding. So and another one in the Asia-Pacific trail team doing the short trail distance. He is coming back after a second place last year. I'd say, so Josh had a first at Surf Coast Century, which would be, what, five weeks ago, maybe six weeks ago now uh earlier this year also had a third at buffalo twenty k and a fourth at two base 50k narrowly beating out one of the other guys that we haven't mentioned yet but i think looking at josh's strava it seemed like he got sick after surf coast and a little bit of an ankle injury but it's like coming good and i've been following his his his training quite closely recently and he's like he's in great shape obviously we know that he's going to be peaking
Speaker: as we like as as the ladies are in another six weeks time and training something a little little bit more technical than this but again this is where josh is from this is where josh's chain trains all the time and he does seem to recover quite well so i wonder if he'll be able to push it a bit closer to a race effort and feel like that might be a productive thing for him to get ready for age pacific and if so i just I just want to see people go with Mike because I want Mike to have support for as long as possible so we can see how fast that time goes. And then I'm curious like what people could could run. He'll probably be a lot smarter than what I want him to do and maybe keep it a little bit more controlled, but I can dream.
Speaker: Brady, what do you think about Josh? They did all run with him last year, at least at the start. so i reckon i I reckon they will go with him. So I reckon we'll see. It would just be about are we interested to see how long they run together and whether Mike is the one that hangs on. um me Because I think Josh is a winner. Like you said, he's a winner of this course. He's done it a couple of times. um he's in He's shown some pretty good shape at some races. like I was really impressed by his performance.
Speaker: Buffalo result in the twenty k I think that was something a bit unexpected to come third in that field that was super strong. um I was really impressed by that. And, yeah, he's he's had a good run at the 100K recently. got a bit of endurance in the legs.
Speaker: Probably the thing I'm most interested in is is like how well has he recovered. He looks like he's starting, by the look of his driver, starting to get it back together. um Josh is well known for having...
Speaker: He's very good at climbing um because he is ah he's a tall guy, big guy, but like I don't know. he's he's He's so good at the climbing um and he's got a lot of key segments in the the Dan and Ongs. So, yeah, I think he will he will challenge. um It'll just be – I wonder if he will struggle maybe in the second lap if the pace if if Mike is on course record pace, whether the second lap might get a bit hard after still feeling that 100K from a few weeks ago. Yeah, and I think – In all reality, he's probably used this in a very similar sense to how Kelly is using it. Exactly. As you this will only be week five building up after Surf Coast. So that would be the smart thing, but I can dream, as I said. And he's he's another one doing the short trail. So he's in the same boat as Yes, yeah. So he's using this race to prepare. So you've got yeah two people using the this race to prepare for the long trail and two using it to prepare for the short trail.
Speaker: Brody, other names in the men's field? Yeah, so there's a few other key ones, like one we always like have a chat about, but he's never in the shape that he's going to give us a really good performance. I don't think he's Rhys Edwards just based on not that his shape isn't great because he ran a very good marathon on the weekend, but more because he ran a very good marathon on the weekend. I think he might find it hard to back up. And, yeah, I feel like Rhys we've seen on a lot of start lines in the trail world. But with I really want to see a Rhys that's fresh and he's ready to go as the trail race, like at least as fresh as Rhys can be. um Because I think we saw him at ah Josh. He was up against Josh at the two bays. And I think he'd been...
Speaker: He did like a 10K hard session the day before and then we saw him at Buffalo and I think, again, he was in the middle of maybe some training for Ballarat Marathon or something else. So we we never quite get him at his peak, but he is such a talented runner that you can't not mention him. um But, yeah, i think we're I think we'd be doing disservice to the other guys maybe if we said – He's going to win, although maybe who knows. He does like the super compensation approach. Maybe he's thinking that marathon in the legs of the weekend. He's got a week to recover. He'll come good and he'll be on fire on Saturday, maybe.
Speaker: you think you'd be on fire on Saturday, Sophie, if you'd run Melbourne Marathon last weekend? Not if I run any of it with Elliot Kipchoge. That was so cool to say though. yeah Yeah, if only it was amazing. and But no, I agree, Brody. I think like just that the form that Mike and Josh are on at the moment, like...
Speaker: obviously Reese is so talented, but, um, that like performance at Melbourne marathon just must've taken so much out of it. And I mean, we've seen Sarah Klein come and do the 23 K like a couple, a week or two after Melbourne marathon. And I think even the 23 K a pretty big ask. So, um, doing two loops is, is even more and,
Speaker: um yeah I think like the big trail runners coming into this fresh um have have kind of come out on top when these really good road runners have come in off the back of Melbourne Marathon so I would assume that the same things can happen again but um yeah open to be proved wrong Still great to see him there. like It's still good to have him come along. I would much rather see him fresh, but it's great to see him still coming because it he'll be he'll be at least in the pack for some of it um and he'll be in amongst the field, so it's good to see. I think that's the thing is he's goingnna he's going to add another body.
Speaker: to the front of that men's field for 10, 15, maybe the first loop. I don't think you can run with Kipchoge and go through the half close to, i think, 60. think he came through about 65 and then he ran to 14, 30. So it was a pretty, like, it was a bit of a positive split in there that was just going to beat your legs up quite a bit. And if you look back at his training, apart from a couple of weeks for Reece, he actually was pretty...
Speaker: like moderate to low volume. So I don't think he'll have quite the same resiliency he normally has. And there was only two, there were two weeks in that training block about five or six weeks ago, I think there were about 1500 and 2000 meters. And the rest of them are kind your typical marathon is build. Who's doing 130, 140 and getting meters.
Speaker: in that So I think the the trails might be a shock, especially given Melbourne, but it is fun it's it's fun to see him in there. yeah like I think it's easy to forget with Reece as well that he's won Tarot Era back in 2019. He had an incredible race against Macri in and then he won UTA in he's a legit trail runner who's just gone to the roads in recent times. But I agree, Brody. It would be epic to see Reece just carve out a little bit of space to give a trail race a go again and then see happens. Maybe we move roller coaster.
Speaker: You can't get mad at Reece when he can win 25 grand at Melbourne Marathon or 600 at roller coaster. No. yeah And to be fair to Reece as well, I think we probably did see that. at the 2024, I want to say, buff yeah, it must be 2024 Buffalo Marathon, but that's the year that all the front guys went the wrong way.
Speaker: So, true yeah, I don't think it's been since then that he's really, really been there. And I remember listening to him on Inside Running Podcast after that, and it was pretty tainted. So, yeah, it's it's it's it's nothing it's nothing on Reece. We'd all love to see him put the focus on here, but also when you can go to Melbourne Marathon and take third place, then I kind of understand.
Speaker: Totally. Yeah. Definitely. Sophie, do you have names in the men's field that you've got an eye on that we haven't spoken about so far? a There was a couple there. So and single track trail team um have a runner in here this time, Billy Mitchum. I think he was a little bit of a later addition into the single track trail team this year. So he won the 100K at Wilson's Prom this year. and He was third at GSER in 2025. So um i don't think and he'll be sort of challenging up with Mike and Josh, but I do think he's, yeah, want to watch –
Speaker: for potential podium and place. and And ah you may be able to confirm this, but I believe George Knight is also signed up for the 46K in the men's race as well.
Speaker: and So George kind of burst onto the scene last year when when he ran with Caleb Olsen to sort of like at least halfway or at least 50K in the GPT 100 and and then has gone on to have some absolutely amazing performances with a win in course record at Buffalo Stampede and also a fourth place at like a really stacked UTA 100 this year has been a little bit quiet i believe dealing with a few injuries maybe the middle portion of this year but yeah we if he's back on form then it'll be really interesting to see how he goes if he's in the 46 this weekend Brody any comments there
Speaker: and i i just I just messaged Joe Dorff. George is racing. Oh, nice. Yeah, i'm looking I'm looking forward to seeing George back. His run at Buffalo would have to be one of the best races by an Australian this year, particularly in Australia. um So I think, yeah, if we're seeing that version of George, he is one that could probably challenge Mike, um I think, even over this shorter distance because, like,
Speaker: Yeah, the the speed he had on that. After GPT, I thought, oh, maybe he's very good at sort of technical stuff and just really smooth. um But yeah, Buffalo is not not always incredibly technical. There is lots of places where you can get moving and he was very he was moving pretty fast for a full 100K. So I think, yeah, if he's in in that shape, um I think there's a bit of a question mark of what shape he is in. um So yeah, I guess we'll find out. but he he definitely has the the capacity to mix it with that field. um So, yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing him back on the Australian start line. I guess we haven't seen him since UTA in Australia. He was overseas doing bits and pieces.
Speaker: Not that I can see. Correct. It's yeah. Like I agree. rob brady His, his Buffalo run was outstanding and I think it it just shocked us all. We remember watching that being like, surely he's going to slow down, but he never did. he just kept, kept, kept, just kept going. And, And I say i think it's so fun. It's so fun when he comes to a race, because I mean, like everybody was so shocked to see him that with Caleb at 50 K at GPT thinking like this guy is going to, what is he doing? Like, he's not going to finish. And then similar thing at Buffalo stampede and,
Speaker: So it's just like, yeah, really exciting when you see George's name on the start line. I think you maybe don't quite know what you're going to get but he's always um always smiling, always like a really good addition to a race.
Speaker: So I always get excited. I'm excited that he's confirmed as in. Correct. And we saw him at Vietnam Mountain Marathon ah about a month ago or so where he did finish ah nearly two hours behind Billy Curtis, who came second and George came 17th. But from memory, following following that race, I think George started a lot faster and Billy was saying how hard the conditions were and people didn't didn't get that right. And he he came through the field, whereas a lot of people fell back. don't think that one's particularly... uh a good example of where his fitness is at but yeah if george if george is coming even close to that buffalo fitness and we saw when he did gpt they split the 50k in what would have been like a top five or six performance in that race and went on to run 100 miles with caleb or close to caleb olsen that it'll be very exciting to see george and he'll definitely be like he'll be at the front
Speaker: I think regardless whether he's got the legs under him at the moment to hold hold that, we'll obviously wait and see. But I think he he will, if he's, yeah, if he's fit, he's fit. And he's's he's just say so so he's a great runner to watch, a great runner to follow. And Billy, I've got the insight like inside knowledge with Billy Mitchum because I coach him.
Speaker: He's had, after Wilson's prom, he had, uh, a planter issue that, that came up, um, just after, ah just after the race or because of the race. So, and that's about when he started with me just after, but just after Wilson's prom. So it's been sort of three months of a buildup, ah sort of getting over that. And then in after a trip overseas, I'd say maybe was a mid August, late August is when he came back. So since about late August, he's been training really well.
Speaker: Uh, and honestly, i don't know. Like he's, he's, he's a very good runner. Um, he's definitely a name that we're going to be saying a lot more in the future, but I, because this is the first race we've done together and he hasn't raced since Wilson's problem. Wilson's problem was a hundred K. Um, I honestly don't,
Speaker: don't know i have my predictions which i'm not going to say publicly um but he's he's he's a very good like runner like on on the flats like his threshold is really good he's very strong if you you get him to do it a steady and he has like he can hold a very good pace with very little drift the only thing is where lifts doesn't really have that much hill access so he can get some trails in but they're very easy groomed pretty much just dirt road so he can drive up to the dandenongs we've done in the last couple of weekends but We'll be able to chat on Friday to make love the final plans, but he's just going to go out there and have a bit of fun and we'll see what happens. But I i think that he'll, he's definitely someone that I would be watching for the podium.
Speaker: um And what that looks like, i we'll see. But i'm excited to see Billy race because he he loves it and he hasn't had a chance to do it since Wilson's prom. So he's he's just stoked to be able to get back out there and obviously being part of the single track trail team. he He loves what those guys do. So it will ah yeah it will be good to see him.
Speaker: See him back on course. Definitely. Yeah, cool. Excited. That is all the names that i had as well for the forty six k So unless either of you guys had anybody else you wanted to mention, we'll move on to the No, it's going to be good race. Looking forward to it.
Speaker: Yes. Let's start with the men's because Sophie's going to be in the women's, so we'll come to that that's second. Brody, you haven't started one yet, so who's who's got you interested for the 23K?
Speaker: Yeah, look, it's it's the the race. not that We won't call them juniors, but the the youth runners. There's a lot of young guys lining up on the start line. um So, yeah, it's going to be super exciting to see. And, yeah, they're the hardest ones to predict as well because – They're probably more variability than someone like Mike who who rolls up to every event in very similar shape. um So, yeah, there's a there's a few there. I'll just throw a few out. So Curtis Scott, who we saw ah come third at Donna Double earlier in the year, sort of his first sort of breakout run, I guess. um And then we also saw him run at Buffalo as well. I think he was top five.
Speaker: um And then Patrick Clark, who was also at those two events, who we know from he also last year was the winner of the junior or the youth world sky running champs. um So a very talented young runner. He was second behind Nathan Dona double.
Speaker: second behind James at Buffalo. um so I'm sure he'd be looking to get his hands on a higher placing. So those two, I think, um are going to be very competitive. And then Zach Newsham from Queensland, another younger runner. Zach, I feel like we mentioned Zach a lot of times. um He probably hasn't,
Speaker: peaked a podium yet um but maybe this is the one like he's definitely been I think when we talked about him for UTA potentially we were talking about the sort of wheels he had and how fast how fast he was running in some of the sessions he was doing um so I think he's definitely on the list and then yeah I'll call out everyone and then we can go through them um the two Barnett brothers is James running as well I know Hayden's on my list here James is also running. So yeah you finish that list with the two Barnett brothers, we call them the, I don't know, the young kings of the Dandenongs. They've lived in the Dandenongs. They're trained there a lot. um they're very Both of them are very good uphill runners. um
Speaker: Yeah, I think yeah yeah if you put... Nathan Pierce in this list, you probably have like all the people that could run the best on this course. um So, yeah, it's ah it's a really cool list, but like lots of young guys as well, which is awesome to see. So if anything to add?
Speaker: Yeah, I think my I also put my category here is young and fit. So I think like was really, really happy. Actually young as well because Hans Troy is like 28. These guys are actually young and fit. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: I was really, really stoked to see this start line, to be honest, because I think um there's a lot of chat around about, you know, like junior runners entering into the ultramarathon scene. and And I really like to see like this trajectory for these guys. Like, I think they're all on such a good, um good development pathway. Like they have some really good coaches behind them with Blake.
Speaker: Turner, I believe, coaching Patrick and Ben St. Lawrence ah with Zach. So, yeah, I think it's a really exciting race and really, really exciting to see, like, such um strong, like, young talent in these, like, shorter distance races going down that, like, more sort of, like, traditional talent development sort of pathway in trail running. so um yeah, that was really good. And I think with the addition of Hayden and James as well, who are also – young and fit. So, yeah, I think this will be really exciting. It's good to those guys running short, like you said. Both James and Hayden have dabbled with the longer distances and have slowly – I feel like James this year in particular has found his way back to being just like ultra competitive in the short distance. And I really love to see that. And it's great that he's not rushing again back to the long distances again. He's here to stay. And I think maybe some of that comes from like, some more short trail serious racing in the country in general. Like you've got the Nath Pierces who always run that distance and the Leos and that sort of stuff. And then the similar runners on the women's side like Katinka and Jo Hepton and those people that like these runners now have like some role models to look up to as well that are still racing that distance in their late 20s or their 30s. So, yeah, it's great to see that the racing of this distance is really healthy.
Speaker: and I think Pat Clark's coached by Blake Hose, not Blake Turner. Oh, sorry. then i identify i and i And I do think, especially with James, I think that, because he's coached by Blake as well, and and i i my guess is that Blake's influence has really allowed or kind of helped focus James' attention on the short trail and and kind of stopped dabbling in between both. And and we've really seen, like with the The performance that James put in at Buffalo Stampede last year, coming second to Charlie, was that like that breakthrough. And then this year, we've seen James put in some yeah and incredible runs, like the second recently at Hounslow, the first at Buffalo. um And then, i kind it's yeah so it's he's he's on to think, that...
Speaker: James has now moved back to the Dandenongs from Bright. He's doing all his training on this area. He's a been out there with Nath. I think James would go in his favourite just with his understanding of the area. And that so you you've obviously, you raced this last year, you're you're racing this this this year.
Speaker: The dynamics of the 23K course, you guys are pushing like very hard for an hour and 50-ish minutes. What do you think... Like what skillset really favors this, that this course?
Speaker: um ah To be honest, like I really think that this course is like a lot about your engine. and Like you have to be pretty fit. um it's It's pretty hard from the start. You set off sort of on this sort of like downhill path.
Speaker: Then you hit a really, really steep climb, try and recover on the downhill. And then it's just like sort of steep climb after steep climb. And then you've got the um sort of like more gradual climb up to the finish. And i just think having a really good engine on that on that climb up to the finish is amazing.
Speaker: is really really important I mean like I've in both years that I've done it I've watched uh the the podium sort of like slip away on that final climb up to the finish so um I don't think it's really long enough to you know beat your legs up too much so people really do go from it for it right from the start and without sort of like trying to preserve anything I would say and so just being able to like maintain that really high capacity for the entire race effectively I mean I know like almost two hours is still obviously like ah an endurance, um, feat, but you yeah, you really want a good engine and obviously there's some significant downhills. So I think you do need to have the, um, the resilience there, but, um,
Speaker: yeah that that final climb i think is really really crux moment most of the time in this race so um yeah i would say that was that's kind of where i see um the the biggest benefit is is having a really good engine for this race i mean it's interesting that um i think but ah All three, Curtis, Patrick and Zach raced each other at UTA this year.
Speaker: um So yeah, with patrick yeah sorry Curtis coming out on top. um So it'll be really interesting to see that rematch a few months later.
Speaker: So I had a bit of fun with this today, getting ready for it. And so Curtis and Pat Clark have faced some face each other three times this year. The first being at Warburton Trail Fest, where Curtis was 2.9% behind Pat.
Speaker: Then at Buffalo twenty k where Curtis was 2.9% behind Pat. And then at UTA where Curtis was 3.35% ahead of Pat. So it's always very close. UTA was that that split. I think the significant thing that points out to me is that UTA obviously starts with that downhill and then goes into the climb. Whereas Buffalo and Warby are more traditional star racers starting from the top and and climbing and descending. Buffalo two climbs, Warby one climb. Yeah. I think that Curtis recently had a second behind Michael Kiner, Hannah Puffing Billy.
Speaker: That's a 13.5K with 230 meters and he averaged 324 pace. So he's quick. like He's really quick. yeah And his like his weeks are quick as well. like He gets a lot of distance in not a lot of time, which take that as you will, but he still gets a good amount of elevation, sort of 1,600, 2,000 meters or so. The only thing I saw in his training that...
Speaker: would maybe be a bit of an Achilles heel, but his run at UTA makes me think it's not. It's going to be the fact that he doesn't really get that many like repetitive climbs in. his His long runs don't seem to be that kind of punchy nature that the Dandenongs have, but the fact that he had such a good race to come third at UTA, I don't think that's really going to be an issue pat clark i i hope and i think as long as pat stays healthy and keeps enjoying it he's gonna i i think actually reflection for this race is that i think we've got names in here that are gonna be like they're the next generation of trial runners that we're gonna be saying for the next 10 years that i think could really take australia in the men's short and long distance wherever wherever they decide to go to another level and that we're showing they're showing those performances right now i think i think pat is 18 i'm not quite sure how old curtis is but he's at early 20s at the oldest like maybe maybe might be still 19 but he's think he's in the 20s yeah yeah um and then james and hayden i kind of lose track because they've been around for so long i think that yeah think they're in their early late twenty s yeah and then do you guys know how old zach is
Speaker: He'd be about the same, i reckon. Yeah. So ah we're we're looking at some of the best in the country already. And these guys are all training well. You you don't look for the trainer. You don't really see like anything that would alarm you. Pat seems to have so much fun. like His access to trails is is incredible, but like he just seems to love what he's doing. And some of the stuff he puts out is just nuts. But even just the way that he interacts on Strava, like he just clearly loves this. Hayden is maybe the one that's had the most fluctuation. He's had some periods where he's been on running, some periods he's been off running but when Hayden's on he's again he's's he's at nearly the same same level as his brother um so it's really exciting to see all these guys on this field
Speaker: how that is going to interact on a course that doesn't really favor a climber or a descender because the the climbs are never that long. They're really steep, but the descents are not technical at all. So, and these, all these guys can send it. So that's not going to be an issue.
Speaker: yeah i think Sophie is, it's just, as as you said, I don't think we're going to see that much separation in the first 15 K until that last climb, when it is just really about like you put your engine has got in it and how well can you grind. And I think that's what we'll see. We'll see it. I would not be surprised if we don't see another sprint finish. It could be a three way sprint finish between James Curtin and Pat.
Speaker: is my could be five way it could be a five way as well well and you look at zach's training and training is zach's training is awesome he we just haven't seen the race from him yet and yes yeah yeah again like one maybe not a concern but he did a four hour long run that was a marathon like is that necessary for 23k maybe if you've identified that your endurance your strength is is a limiter and you want to build that aerobic capacity but that was pretty close to race day um so maybe there's something in there but like i'm clutching at strawism to to analyze this i wonder what i wonder if zach has something coming up later on in the year because um i know he did he has he did do fifty k at tarawira i think this year and like is sort of like maybe dabbling a little bit in those um longer distances so Maybe he has something coming up a little bit later in the year. But no, I agree. I think it's really, really exciting to see these guys. And it's so great that they match up with each other so often. Like they've already raced each other several times this year. Like and they're just going to really like push each other to to improve. And um yeah, that's really exciting for the men's juniors.
Speaker: And i hope, and Singletrack always good with their their content. I hope we get a really good race and I hope that they can get some good traction in their media like and the competitive nature and the fact that all these guys are so young because they're also really good role models. like I haven't ever had too much to do with Zach and Pat and Curtis, but ah a little bit of what I hear, but I know the Barnett brothers really well. And like, they're just great people. So if you want, if if you want people to be showing the way and showing what the the potential could be, like all these guys, i'm I'm sure if they're staying with it will be sponsored in the next two, like one to five years. Like they've obviously dabbled in in and out at the moment.
Speaker: with shoe contracts. But yeah, it's, yeah, it's very exciting and it's going to be a great race. Like for me, I think this is, this is the race where we're going to get the best race of the weekend. Definitely.
Speaker: It's fun. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, and and we're not picking winners, but it would be hard to pick one, I think. Like you said, like it's going to be it's very... Yeah, they're also even... um ah Yeah, I'll be really interested to see how that plays out. And and from the look of like ah broad a broad look across each of their sort of what what I can see from from Strava is they're all in decent enough shape um at the moment. There's no been no sort of massive hiccups anywhere. Yeah.
Speaker: I think hey like Hayden is the biggest question mark. He has had a short build. I think he was injured early August or so. um and But yeah, he he now lives in in Mount Beauty. He's doing like a lot of runs with his his girlfriend. he just looks, again, just looks to be really loving it.
Speaker: And I think that's such a big factor, especially at this age when these guys could be facing 15, 20 years potentially of more training. that They're just having a lot of fun. Yeah. yeah Okay. Let's move on to the women.
Speaker: Sophie, how are you feeling?
Speaker: I'm feeling good. i um I am feeling like this is just always a really fun event to be a part of. And I've done it for the last two years.
Speaker: And um I know a couple of people who are running it this year. so it's And like it's literally 45 minutes away. And so it's always a really good event. stimulus. I am definitely not um trained for it. It's not my A race this year.
Speaker: i yeah i'm I'm just sort of like getting back to full training after CCC which was like six weeks ago. Yeah it'll be around six weeks since CCC this weekend when roller coaster's on so really it's just an opportunity to get out and have a good um run and out in the Dan and Ongs with some company um and like yeah a good training stimulus for some of the goals like later on in the year um so I'm not expecting too much from myself although saying that I have surprised myself the last two years that I've run on this course so um yeah we'll see what happens but um just excited to have like a a
Speaker: a fun day out to be honest not uh focusing on it too much so and unlike lucy going from utmb to the course record at roller coaster we shouldn't be on course record watch for you this this year you don't think no i don't think i'll be taking down any course this weekend Never know. know i said We can always surprise ourselves. But Brodie, I think someone that might, as we've already spoken about, is Kate Avery.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kate's in great shape at the moment. I think like we all, ah I don't know if everyone, but definitely like me last year, I think looking at her come back and she was so strong already in her first few races, I was like, oh, wow, she's doing like really well. And she's just like continued to improve. And it sort of makes sense. Like when she was racing, this time last year and then even at the start of this year say buffalo she's still very close to when she when she gave birth whereas now she's sort of she's now got a year a bit it more under her belt since sort of return maybe about a year since sort of returning to running um and ah yeah she's she's flying i reckon i haven't run with her recently um i'm not running unfortunately um but yeah just chatting to her and hearing about what she's doing training wise and
Speaker: glimpsing what I can from when she runs with Ben Burgess or someone else and like asking her, did you run with Ben up this climb? And then looking at the looking at this the segment and being like, okay, she would have been fifth in the men, like ah fifth overall on that segment. um Yeah, it's I think she'll be in really good shape. I asked her if she thought she could break her course record and she said no. um But that was before she ran Macedon as well. Yeah.
Speaker: And yeah, I reckon she can based on her Macedon run um and what I've heard, but I haven't run with her, so I don't know for sure. But yeah, she was beating me up climbs at the start of this year and she's got better since then. So i think, yeah, she'll be flying. Yeah, I think it's easy to with Kate because she is so just so strong and she obviously still had some really like great results.
Speaker: in that postpartum period with like wins at the cosy 30k she like won the 12k here last year like she she was still like performing so well I think like the perception is that um she was just like still almost at full strength like pretty soon after giving birth but I think she would probably say that um she's just about sort of um getting to the point where she feels like she's um sort of recovered and is like getting um to where she like wants to be so I mean I was chatting with her this morning and she told me that she did her workout on Friday and on the 12k course and it was like 10 by 10 by a k and then she just like jogged it in
Speaker: to the finish and she ran it one minute slower than she ran the 12k here last year so like yeah where she was last year and where she is this year is just like a completely different um place which is obviously like to be to be expected um but I mean yeah with her like with that workout with like the Mount Macedon run on the weekend like Yeah, I definitely think we're on course record watch this year. I think if Kate doesn't break her course record, it really gives credit to the shape that she was in when she did set this back in 24, I want to say. 23. 23, thank you. It's always fun talking about it, but I do think if Kate's going and running, that would be about 63 minutes or so around this course in a workout and jogging it in.
Speaker: Like she, even even with pregnancy, the the time she had before that and then the time she's had post, if she's kind of getting back to that that level that she feels. Like that is still a lot more training than she had when she did this in 23. Like we're still talking, yeah, another two years or so of quality training plus the pre and postpartum period.
Speaker: So I do think Kate, I think with good conditions, Kate can definitely... take it i think it would be a case maybe of if she had anyone go with her and the lady we have in the field aside aside from you sophie when you go and break the course record um that will go with like has the potential to go with kate at least at the start and i think hopefully does to to make it an interesting race would be jess ronan we don't see a lot of jess ronan racing the last time we saw her was a fifth place at buffalo twenty k this year but she's ah
Speaker: australian team last year at Worlds. She's won Auscham. She's had some really great results across the years. sos i't I don't know if any of you guys are allowed to follow her on Strava. i'm I'm not, so I can't really see what she's doing. But hopefully, she's been healthy. She's been training well since Buffalo. And if she's taken a ah step or two up, then it could be a fun race between Jess and Kate and Sophie. Yeah, for sure. i I follow Jess, but I don't... um I haven't. She hasn't posted anything for a very long time.
Speaker: So don't know. have the last thing in 2023. So maybe I've been blocked. That's sad. But i I think maybe she just doesn't actively use Strava anymore. um So yeah like you said, hard to hard to know where she's at. um But um yeah, like you said, she's been an incredible mountain runner over many years. I think she's been to all three of the combined world champs that have since sort of the first one in Thailand.
Speaker: um So yeah, she's very, very experienced. um So yeah, she'd be one to watch. But again, yeah, hard to know exactly what shape she's in at the moment. And despite being from Canberra, has also got course experience as well. She was sixth here in 2024 in the 23K. So knows what she's getting herself into. Will obviously have taken those lessons ah away. and And even though that's a couple of years ago, I'm sure there's still some familiarity left there. So yeah, it's just exciting. Again, Jess is a name that I'm always excited to when we see her line up. because it is pretty infrequently and we we don't really get to see what's going on and behind the scenes but I do think that yeah Kate's going to be pretty hard to beat on on this course for anybody at any time so cool that is everything Sophie anything else to leave us with any wisdom for the the runners the course or whatever anything there
Speaker: Hmm, any wisdom? i don't think so. Just, yeah, um it's always fun to hang around for the rest of the day. The 12K is in the evening and it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day. So if you can hang around afterwards, it's always a really good atmosphere on the um on the pitch there.
Speaker: and yeah, just enjoy. Like it's going to be, it looks like the conditions are going to be really good, the weather's going to be really good and the fields are going to be, yeah, really good too. So, Should be a really, really fun day. And um yeah, I hope everybody enjoys the Dandenongs. I did also just get a message from Joe Dorff saying Jess Jason is in the 46K as well.
Speaker: So both Jess and James have got to enter, but they are they are confirmed. So that'll be exciting to add and add an extra name into that 46K. Brody, anything to leave us with? No, I'm excited. i haven't ah Despite having run in the Dan Nongs hundreds of times, I've never been to the race. I've been away a few years and other years, I don't know why. i just maybe was preparing for other things. But yeah, I sort of wish I was able to run this year because I definitely would have done it. um But yeah, next year maybe or a few years in it ahead, I'm going to be out there
Speaker: hopefully crewing maybe for one of my athletes and just cheering everyone else. Maybe i end up crewing for a few of the other runners I know. Sophie, if you need a bottle given to you, I reckon I could help you out.
Speaker: give you to Give you a thank you for coming on the But, yeah, and I'm really looking forward to it. I just realized – I just thought I'd give a quick shout-out to Irish Shenhall.
Speaker: I don't know if it's Shenhall. I think maybe that's how you say her last name. She's in the 12K and she's also in the Asia-Pacific team. So just a quick shout-out to her. She's running the junior race. And the 12K actually is a quite um quite a good match to the junior race at Asia-Pacific. So, yeah, hopefully she – can get some good training out of that for that race. Brilliant. And I have no wisdom to offer, but i think it's just going to be fun to watch. It's always a great race. And I'm glad you're going to get a chance to experience it, Brady, because it's it's got a really good vibe, a roller coaster. They do a good job and it's it's a fun course. Hopefully the weather stays.
Speaker: pleasant so you don't get saturated whilst you're throwing but to anybody that's racing listen to this good luck hope have a great day out there and if you have thought about it i would definitely recommend roller coaster so it is a really really fun one sophie thank you so much for coming on you've been incredible i think we'll yeah i will we'll be messaging you for more of these it's been great great to have you great to have you experience Thanks, guys. Brody, fun as always. We'll be doing this again quite frequently for for the end of the year. So if you've got this fine, still enjoy this. It starts to heat up. We've got lots of good races coming ahead. So yeah, looking forward to it.
Speaker: It's been good fun. Guys, have a great evening. Thanks so much for listening. And we'll catch you guys in the next preview coming up very soon. See you later. Bye.
