Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 33: Ultra Trail Kosciuszko Preview, UTA is a UTMB Major, and GPT Race Recaps.
421 Plays2 months ago
Welcome to Episode 33 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This week’s episode is hosted by Sim Brick, Jess Jason and Brodie Nankervis and recaps Sim and Brodie’s races at GPT, Jess’ final prep for UTK 32km, covers a big announcement from UTA, and runs through some awesome results for the week!
Start - 47:30 :- Sim and Brodie’s GPT Race Recaps
Brodie and Sim chat through their wins at GPT and what went down out on the course in some brutal conditions.
47:30 - 1:12:45:- Jess’ UTK Prep and UTK Preview
Hear about Jess’ less than ideal course check for UTK 32km and how she is feeling leading into the race this Thursday before the team do a preview of the exciting fields racing this weekend!
1:12:45 - 1:16:40 :- Trail Running News
We cover the recent news that UTA is becoming the oceania major for UTMB with a big prize purse announced, and that the SkyRunning World Series Calendar has been announced here: https://www.skyrunnerworldseries.com/the-merrell-skyrunner-world-series-2025-calendar-is-out/
1:16:40 - 1:27:00 :- Race Results
We then cover a few Aussie races that went down over the weekend:
GPT100: https://www.gpt100.com.au/results
ATR Summer Series Race 1: https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=373785
SEQ Trail Series Race 4: http://results.thetrail.co/Results.aspx?CId=20148&RId=124
Coast to Kosci: https://coasttokosci.com/live/leaderboard-c2k-24/
Run Bibbulmun Track Stage Run: https://bluechipresults.com.au/results.aspx?CId=11&RId=1785&EId=8&dt=0
1:27:00 - End : What’s coming up
Hear the races that are coming up next weekend before we wrap up the episode!
Thanks for tuning in to Peak Pursuits! Connect with us on Instagram @peakpursuits.pod to share your thoughts, questions, and your own trail stories. Until next time, keep hitting the trails and chasing those peak pursuits!
Sim: @theflyingbrick_
Brodie: @brodienank
Jess: @jessjason
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/trendsetter
License code: K08PMQ3RATCE215R
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Episode 33
00:00:07
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode 33 of the Peak Pursuits podcast. My name is Simone Brick and I am joined by the lovely Jess Jason in Canberra. How
Guest Excitement and Plans
00:00:19
Speaker
are we going Jess?
00:00:20
Speaker
Hey guys, going well, getting excited to head up to Cozy in a couple of hours. I was going to say that's today for you pretty much. So exciting times. And then someone that's just got home and I hope is actually home for the rest of the year. Brody and Kervas, how are you doing? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm home. I'm going to spend a few weeks doing not much and then a few weeks just doing things I want to do. um And yeah, planning to have a pretty cruising month for the next month. So.
00:00:49
Speaker
Yeah, looking forward to having a bit of a break. It's been a big year. um I'm excited to watch Cozy this weekend, but I'm glad I'm not there. Yep. Very fair. Very, very fair. Awesome.
Race Previews and Preparations
00:01:01
Speaker
Well, coming up on this episode for everyone, myself and Brody will run through our race recaps from GPT 50K. We'll also cover off the GPT results um For all the other distances at the end then and Jess is going to let us know how she's feeling going into cosy Okay And we'll do a big preview of the fields because it's going to be some exciting racing going down this weekend in
00:01:30
Speaker
at Mount Kosciuszko. But to get us started, Brody, give us the rundown of how you were leading into the race at GPT. Yeah, so I think I gave like a bit of a recap of like how it's settled in at home, um coming home from overseas. And like ah been I think I had just 12 days between getting home and and GPT um being on. So it was sort of like there was nothing there was no fitness gains to be made, but I was trying to sort of get my body into a position where it could make it through 50Ks. I think I did that relatively well. um But yeah, it was ah the race was on a Thursday, so I had what, three days beforehand. I didn't do a whole heap. I actually had a day off on the Monday, um like a complete rest day from running, um which I often sometimes do like two to three days out from the event. um And then I spent then the next two days, I just did a bit of jogging.
00:02:29
Speaker
Um, and just a few shorter, like just, uh, strides or sort of efforts at, um, short efforts sort of at racy pace or just to get the legs turning over.
Brody's Race Experience
00:02:40
Speaker
Um, so yeah, I went into, I felt pretty good. Actually did a jog with Sarah Wednesday evening, just before the elite, uh, briefing elite elite panel. Sorry. Um, and.
00:02:55
Speaker
Then yeah, it got to the actual start of the race and I didn't feel too bad. Like the race start at 7am, which isn't great for my Achilles because it's pretty, it's generally stiff in the morning, even though when it's going well. um But yeah, it was, I would say that it was in an okay place at the start line. um I didn't finish like that, but um yeah, it was, it was okay getting started.
00:03:17
Speaker
I can definitely attest to not finishing like that. i've like I'm not sure I've ever seen Achilles so swollen as they were the next morning for you, you poor thing. yeah like I've done a lot of thinking since and that's part of the reason why I'm having going to have a bit of an extended break and um the focus and and and and sort out a few things with this Achilles, trying to get on top of it.
00:03:40
Speaker
I would like to go into the new year with it not being a problem. I think it will still be lingering, but I'd like it to be in a really good place. um ah probably It probably wasn't in the position to run 50K. Maybe it was to run 50K, but not 50K in that sort of terrain, because it was just like super uneven. um A lot of force going through the foot, um a lot of sort of stabilizing required the entire way um through the foot. So I think it was a high load on the Achilles. and If I, yeah, I don't know. It's still hard to be like, Oh no, I wouldn't have raced if I'd known what it would have feel like. Cause I probably may have still done it. Cause there's other reasons why we race, but, um, I don't want to stand on another start line and have that experience is, is my sort of overall feeling. So yeah, the focus is to, to get it right now.
00:04:29
Speaker
Yeah. Awesome. Well, do you want to take us from the start line to the finish line and where it sort of felt all right versus where things struggled? But how was it in that heat? It was bloody hot. That's for sure.
00:04:44
Speaker
Yeah, it was it was a really hard race um for lots of reasons. um but yeah i i'd probably like Standing on the start line, I knew I could make 50k. I didn't know how well I'd be able to race 50k. I guess in the lead up, it wasn't the training I would like to do if I was racing harder 50k. So I knew that I needed to be smart in the first half to not blow up and have a really uncomfortable second half. um I don't think I blew up. I think there's lots of little things that impacted the second half of the race. I did limp home a little bit, um but I think I didn't have a complete blow up. So I think that worked relatively well. So I started not too hard, but it was a difficult one to pace because I hadn't run that section before. I haven't run heaps of 50Ks before and there wasn't a lot of people
00:05:37
Speaker
around um and particularly I think like in races when you've got people who you know that are like similar ability to do you can work off them a little bit and and get a feeling for how how far you should be how fast you should be going where your effort should be um Where i was at the front by myself so it was a little bit difficult to gauge that i'm so and i also didn't really know how long i had to the check point like i knew what time i'm mikey and the other guys had come through the first checkpoint last year but i didn't it was hard to know how long it was gonna take.
00:06:09
Speaker
for me still to get to the checkpoint. So I'm like, oh, I've got 4K to go, but i I really didn't know how long that 4K was gonna take. So most of that first section, I was a bit unsure of how I was feeling. I felt pretty good. I felt like I could keep running for a long time, um but I wasn't sure if I'd gone too slow and I wasn't sure if I'd gone too fast. um But it was, yeah, it was really, it was ah interesting. It was a nice, um nice part of the course. There's some runnable bits, some harder running bits.
00:06:38
Speaker
I saw a source of s snake, um which was nice. It woke me up, got me going. um And then, yeah, just coming into the aid station, I saw ah Michael Dunston and Kate, and they were doing some filming. So it was cool to see some other people. And Mike ran with me for a little bit. um And then coming into the aid station, I obviously knew what time I was at then. So I was I think it was like four or five minutes behind where Mikey was at that point in the course. and I knew what Mikey's time was. I knew that I probably wouldn't be able to do what time he'd done. so i was I thought that that was a good pace for me to be at at that checkpoint.
00:07:16
Speaker
um took my time at the checkpoint um had about a hundred people wanting to put ice on me which is very cool got very cold which is nice um and i think those like we might circle back to it but that like that was key to sort of succeeding for as long as possible on the next leg was getting as cold as possible.
00:07:39
Speaker
getting for me getting as wet as possible, um ah getting refilled with water, trying to get some cold water that I could then use to redouse myself further up the trail as well. um I think it was important to take time. I was probably there for like two minutes, I reckon. So I think that was good in in those conditions. I think if the conditions were less intense, maybe you try and move through that aid station a bit faster. um But I think given the day and we knew it was getting hot and it was already felt warm, um that was a good investment of time. At that stage, the body felt pretty good, I would say. um Like I'm always aware of my left Achilles particularly, um but generally felt okay and didn't feel like I was running any differently, felt like I was running with a normal pattern.
00:08:29
Speaker
Um, unfortunately it didn't last much longer than that first checkpoint. tonight Um, as I was heading out, I could feel it a little bit on the climb. I don't know if it's cause I got a little bit like it got a bit wet. My shoes are a bit wet, like a bit cold and whether I started to get some more sensations there, but I started noticing it a bit on the climb. Um, and I guess from then on in, I was trying to, uh,
00:08:52
Speaker
I knew I had a long way to go, so I was trying to minimize ah too much deterioration. um so I was doing a lot of transitioning between running and hiking when it felt like it was getting more sore. I would transition to some hiking, then sort of move again. and There were certain gradients that felt good, certain gradients that didn't feel good.
00:09:14
Speaker
um So yeah, I was sort of really, probably, I think this is one of the reasons why I didn't enjoy it that much was that I was just too, I was just ultra focused on that very early, um which made it quite, ah yeah, it's sort of like a good thing. It helped me get to the finish, but it's not like the most enjoyable way to enjoy a race, the the most enjoyable way to experience a race, I don't think.
00:09:39
Speaker
Anyway, I um climbed okay, I think. I didn't feel too tired, and I was mostly just, I think, focusing on ah keeping my Achilles in check. And then, yeah, when we got up on the plateau, up on the top, I was like, oh, damn, it's hot. It was already warm. um I've spent like, I spent 10 days in Cambodia, and it was hot there. um But I think it's it's so different when you're racing.
00:10:04
Speaker
um and Yeah, the the rocks already at that stage were starting to get warm. I have so much respect for everyone that came after me on that day because like it only got worse. um and it probably only got The next day was probably even worse, some accumulated heat from the previous day and they the milers started later in the day. so like I probably had it the easiest out of everyone on those sections and I was finding it tough. um So yeah, kudos to everyone who was out there. um But yeah, I started to definitely notice the warmth. I used some water that I'd brought with me to sort of redouse myself and get some get some sort of evaporative effect.
00:10:47
Speaker
um I still have my eyes yeah still had some ice in sort of my ice band down there and I sort of broke that open and and used that as well. um but yeah That next section when we're on top between A station 1 and 2 progressively just got harder and I think it was probably the same for everyone. um I was trying to keep an eye on my heart rate at times to not let it go up but I felt like and I read a post from Ben Burgess who did the 100 mile and he said every time he would ran his heart rate went up to 170 and I was like I could relate with that because every time I felt like I tried to go a bit harder I then immediately felt like I was working really hard and my heart rate was
00:11:30
Speaker
sort of getting up higher than I would like it to for too long.
Struggles and Lessons Learned
00:11:35
Speaker
um So yeah, next section. um I found I was like looking at my watch a lot being like, oh, there's one more climb. There's two more climbs. There's a little climb and then that. So I was really focusing on just trying to what's coming up. I need to sort of keep getting through. And as the section went on, my left Achilles deteriorated.
00:11:56
Speaker
Slowly. And I got hotter and hotter. I'd started to feel, I know, Sim, you were probably talking, you were feeling a bit nauseous or very nauseous. And I was a little, I even felt a bit nauseous on the early part of the race, but then up on top there, I started to feel more. And every time I tried to get something in, I would, I would feel a bit nauseous. So I went from backed off my fueling and just tried to focus on getting as much fluid in as possible, but it was still difficult. I was still struggling to get fluid in.
00:12:25
Speaker
um probably because I didn't have as much pure water as I probably would have liked and that's something I would learn for another hot race is have a bit more pure water because it feels, I feel like your body wants that and it'll drink that. um I was probably using a bit of my pure water to cool myself down, probably should add a bit more. um But yeah, it was getting hard by when it came to that second aid station. um So this is, yeah, between I guess 20K and 34K.
00:12:56
Speaker
36 for the second aid one. Second aid station. Okay. Yeah. um So yeah, I was just trying to, the Achilles was slowly deteriorating. I was trying to sort of look after as much as I could. um And I was slowly getting hotter and hotter. And by the time we got to the second aid station, I was like, I don't know how I'm going to finish. Like I was like, it's, it's getting really hard.
00:13:19
Speaker
um But that that A session sort of like revived me. I think it was a combination between getting cold, they again had lots of ice there, which was awesome. The volleys sort of covered me in water. um Combination of cooling on the skin, I guess, but also getting cold water or ice cold water and just drinking that. And I feel like that helped one with getting more fluid in and two, cooling me down a bit more effectively core temperature wise.
00:13:50
Speaker
yeah because the next 10 minutes I felt fantastic. I was like, I felt so good. I was climbing well. um I even forgot about my Achilles a little bit um and I was i felt good. It was the gradient that the Achilles feels okay on.
00:14:05
Speaker
um And I had a really good sort of 10, 15 minute section. um And then once I got to the top of that final ah final peak there, there's like this little undulating section before you do the big downhill. And that literally killed me. And I think Sim you had a ah similar experience there, but it was like the worst 4K of the race. It was disgusting. I hated it. I just wanted to be done. I would have, but if someone had been like, you can stop now Brody, I would have stopped. Like it was like, I was not enjoying that.
00:14:35
Speaker
um Combination of things that started to the heat was still sort of ramping up as that cumulative effect Achilles had gone pretty much was at the bottom of it what it could Could tolerate the right Achilles was starting to give me grief because it had probably been carrying a lot of the load the whole day um And yeah, I was ready for the race to be over. I think I saw a few of the photographers or the videographers and ah they're like, oh, you're doing really well. You're doing great. And I'm like, I'm doing bad and I hate this. I was like i was not having a good time at that stage.
00:15:09
Speaker
um But yeah, once it got onto the descent, I knew that I could have run it a lot harder, a lot faster, but my body just literally wouldn't let me. like Anatomically, my Achilles were too tight to let me roll too quick, but I still was like, as long as I can maintain just under five minute Ks, like four 30s, maybe a little bit faster, like no one's gonna catch me. I've got enough of a gap and I'll just make it to the finish.
00:15:36
Speaker
And at parts of the race, I was like, oh, I want to go sub five hours. And at that point, I was like, I don't really care. I just want to get to the finish line. um So I sort of rolled down the descent. I saw Kate and Locky and Katinka and Mikey actually just at there at the end, the little zigzag to go, um which was cool to see some faces on the trail. Because I i think that was the other thing for me. It was a very lonely day out. I didn't see see many people. um There's no one out on that trail. So it's like,
00:16:06
Speaker
It was very lonely day, just me and my own thoughts, which was maybe not the greatest day for to be in that position. um Got to the bottom of the descent and like ran in very slowly. If you watch the finish, I'm pretty sure I was sitting at the finish line for like two, three hours afterwards and I think I finished slower than everyone that came in. like that like ah I couldn't run much faster er and and I um I would have liked to run hard to the home but I couldn't um so I just sort of ah got there and I was very happy to be finished. um It was a journey and I'm obviously really pleased with the result. It's nice. I'm pretty happy with the time considering.
00:16:47
Speaker
All of those things I just talked about. Um, and it was a, a good sort of good way to top off the season. Um, but yeah, I'm not keen to approach another race with, with my body in that position. I think it's just, it's not, it's not as enjoyable. Um, and I'm not the person who would, I'm not a person to stop a race. So like, it was like, and and even while I was out there, I was like, it's not fair. If I stop, if I stop, I'm literally disrespecting every person behind me.
00:17:16
Speaker
So I was like, I don't let myself stop, so therefore I shouldn't start. Very, very fair. I'm glad I did it. it's it's It's mixed feelings, obviously, but i'm I'm glad I did it. I'm very happy the result. And everyone's always like, oh, I did so well, did so well. I'm trying not to be too negative because Obviously, like it's still a great achievement. I'm still really happy. I still got to be out there and experience. like I was like in a very ah privileged position to be out there and enjoying that race or being able to put my body through that. So I've got to think about those things.
00:17:50
Speaker
Um, I can obviously have my own reflections and I'm having these reflections on a very public forum now. Um, but overall, I think like it's still, I'm still glad I got out there, got it done. Um, and I learned a lot of things about how I want to race in the future. So I think there's lots of things to lots of positives to take away. Yeah, some huge positives. And honestly, I think there's almost no circumstance where you come across the line racing that race in those conditions, actually feeling like you've had a good day.
00:18:20
Speaker
yeah Because it it's just every single person coming across the line is cooked. Like it's brutal out there. So even if you had a run 20 minutes faster, you would have been so cooked on the finish, it would have been like, oh, that was just hell.
00:18:34
Speaker
yeah so definitely In all the like social media videos, you looked pretty happy and like chill. So you did well to hide that for the socials.
00:18:45
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know if it was so much hiding it. like I think that's the thing. like We think so deeply about these things and we're probably as athletes and and the more competitive you are, the more critical you are of these performances. and and zeroing in on the small things when really like the bigger picture, like you can tell that I actually had a great experience out there. thats I see that as the opposite. It's not that I was faking it for those pictures, but like those pictures for me are an amazing way for me to go like, well, that that is the real... They were the feelings I was feeling in the moment. It's only when I go into my
00:19:17
Speaker
over an analytical athlete brain that I start to have more of the negative feelings. So I think that's its a good way to be grounded back again. And I'm very grateful for all those amazing photographers who are out there captured so much of the race of me and of so many other people. So, yeah, kudos to them and and capturing those moments because they're very special. And I think they are a really good way of representing how you're feeling in the moment when it's sometimes hard when I'm finished and I've got a really, really sore Achilles. And I'm like, that sucked. Whereas actually I was having a great time at times. And it was a very special event to be a part of. Yeah, 100%. I can relate to that all the way. um And absolute respect to the photographers that were up on Mount Difficult sitting on the rock in the sun, taking photos of everyone because I have no idea how they managed that. Yeah, we've been hot.
00:20:16
Speaker
ah Just the radiant heat off those rocks anyways um Yeah, I think oh on the whole of everything you did so well Brody But I'm glad that you've learned the whole like I think it took to getting to this point for you with the Achilles to go Actually, this is like because you've said before this season already that you want it to be better and you're going to do what it takes for it to be better, but then we've raced a few times since and it's still not better. So this was the discussions we were having afterwards where it's like you've, it took this race for you to reach that point of going, Oh, okay. Like someone's got to change ah properly. Yeah, and it's good. It's good to be accountable, good to talk to other people about it. Obviously, you've got this forum where I'm very publicly accountable and I feel like I'm the more, i like the word Achilles is starting to trigger me because I like say it so much. Probably many listeners do. I think it's actually quite good having this is to keep me accountable because I don't want to be here in 12 months time and I ah really hope that I don't find an episode in 12 months time where I'm still like,
00:21:17
Speaker
Saying I did this with my Achilles like I'm sure there'll be there will be niggles in the future It's a sort of injury that you do have that sort of stuff but I'm hoping it's not like the conversation every week in my mind and yeah About it. That's that's where I don't want to be and and I'm just managing little flare-ups rather than managing an injury which I In reality, I've been managing for 12, 13 months, 15 months, I've been managing this. so And I haven't. It's better, but it's not that much better. Yeah. Well, well done. You smashed it overall in what you could do. um and ah
00:21:58
Speaker
Yeah, I suppose my day um or my week in many ways is similar to yours, but for very different reasons. um I think going into the run, I was um very was trying to be incredibly positive while also being very apprehensive in that the lead-in hadn't been exactly what I wanted, and just for the last few days. because i'd had Honestly, I don't know still don't know what it was or like it's still lingering, so I don't know what it is.
Simone's Pre-Race Challenges
00:22:25
Speaker
but ah I had no, like nothing other than nausea and fatigue for quite a number of days in the lead in. So like my week leading in, like even before I, when I did that 45 K run on the Friday beforehand, like that just didn't feel as good as I would have hoped. And I was putting it down to my iron at the time, but I was also at that point already struggling to get as much nutrition in as I normally would. Um, and then I had a complete rest day Saturday covered just 15 K super easy Sunday.
00:22:56
Speaker
and felt even worse again on Monday. So had another complete rest day on the day that was meant to be my last session. um And it was meant, it was actually meant to be a pretty beefy session because my training plan is targeted at the 100K. It wasn't targeted at this one. So it was still meant to be an hour long, a fart leg. But I just took a complete rest day because I was on, like I was struggling to get any food down.
00:23:21
Speaker
Um, but I had nothing else wrong with me. It was really weird because like feeling wise, I was like, I'm, I'm fine. I'm just tired because I haven't eaten, but I'm also not hungry at all. And if I go to eat, I don't want it, which is very abnormal for me. Um, I normally eat a hell of a lot of food every day. And yeah, it was so because I couldn't feel, I was like, well, if you can't feel, you can't run. So we didn't run on the Monday. Um, on the Tuesday I did do.
00:23:49
Speaker
a bit of a session, but I halved what I was going to do in a way and changed it around. I ended up doing a 10-minute tempo, 3-minute jog, 5 by 1 minute on, 1 minute off. Yep, that's another 10-minute block. And then another jog, and then 5-minute tempo into 5 by 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. So it's like three 10-minute blocks where you actually end up covering a very similar distance for each 10-minute block, but achieving it a different way.
00:24:17
Speaker
um and To be fair, it felt shocking. um I was struggling to hit like four minute Ks for the tempo efforts and even my 30 seconds at the end were like three 40s feeling pretty bad. um But that was partially energy. Partially, I was feeling nauseous as I was running.
00:24:36
Speaker
But it was the only run that I did for the day. So thankfully, then I was like, OK, we just rest. um Nothing I can do from here on out except that. And then Wednesday, when we were driving up, um I did run an easy 30 minutes that morning, a very easy 30 minutes. And like because it was such a chill 30-minute run, like it didn't feel too bad. So I started getting a bit more positive again. And I was like, we might be fine. um But damn, was I struggling to carload. Normally, I would aim for about 700 grams of carbs um in a carb load day. And I maybe got in 4 and a half, 450. So I definitely wasn't getting as much fuel in as I normally would, but doing what I could, drinking all the orange juice and just trying to get it in liquid form. And yeah, it was a case of manage what you can knowing that my legs and my body are perfectly capable of running the distance. I just kind of had to
00:25:31
Speaker
nurse myself through it. um And yeah, that's why it's like standing on a start line, being unsure if what the day is going to throw at you is, as Brady's described, it's not a fun feeling um in that way. But I, yeah, essentially went through all the motions, did what I could. I didn't do any warmup. And that was to encourage myself to take off slowly and ease into it.
00:25:57
Speaker
And um because I didn't want to psych myself out because I'd eaten my normal breakfast and everything um two hours or so before, maybe over a bit over two hours before the start. um And I knew because I always get anxious belly on the start line, like I knew I'd feel nauseous and I'd psych myself out. So I didn't warm up. um And then when the race got started, like it was pretty shocking from the get go. I think I was already like at three K's in, I was gagging and kind of tears in my eyes, kind of nauseous um from that point. And then I could feel my stomach clock sloshing around. So I was like, okay, this is the hand we've been dealt today. What can we do from here to get me to the finish line, knowing that my legs felt brilliant. So I was focusing in on my legs and going, well, you're struggling to get nutrition in, so you're gonna have to keep your heart rate low because then you'll be burning a higher percentage of fat, lower percentage of carbs. um And you're gonna have to start doing that
00:26:56
Speaker
now and also I didn't take in any fluid or carbs or water or anything until the first aid station to try and get let my stomach settle and almost get hungry and start to crave the fluid and crave the carbs as opposed to be sloshing about. Um, so I actually really enjoyed in some ways, other than being very nervous about what my day was going to look like in the heat, not getting fluid in.
00:27:22
Speaker
I really enjoyed the first 16K because I wasn't trying to drink or eat anymore. So I wasn't gagging as I tried to take a sip and I just ran into the first aid station. um Feeling pretty chill and not looking at my watch, not looking at anything. And surprised myself in the fact that we got to the first aid station feeling like I'd been uber conservative at the exact time that I wanted. um And it was...
00:27:46
Speaker
very slightly. I think it was a couple of minutes faster than Kate had been there the year before. So when I looked down at my watch and saw that, I'm like, oh, well, body's in a good way. It's just a matter of how do we nurse it through. um I stopped for quite a bit at that aid station, at least it felt like, because I put on arm sleeves. I had, as Brody described, heaps of people chucking water and ice and everything on you, which was brilliant.
00:28:08
Speaker
Um, and I downed a can of a 250 mil can of Coke. But even as I was downing that, I was like gagging on it as I was trying to get it down and talking to the medics going guys, like I've already taken anti-nausea meds. so I couldn't take any more and they hadn't done a thing. So it was like, there's nothing we can do. But I did dump out my normal nutrition, my, my, my lovely tailwind, which has worked amazing in all my training and races so far. Um, I dumped it out to put Coke in my bottle instead of.
00:28:38
Speaker
that because that was all my brain would like let me even drink without gagging too much. Um, so I went away from that aid station with the like three liters of fluid, which 500 mil went straight over me again to sort of keep me wet. Um, but I had like 500 mil of Coke and then the rest was water. And so that was all I had nutrition wise in, um, between there and the next aid station in 20 K's, but I was still,
00:29:06
Speaker
struggling to get that down. So from there for the next 20 Ks, what I did absolutely brilliantly and saved my day with was that I kept myself incredibly cooled because I had ice packed down my arm sleeves that managed to last like five Ks out of the aid station and still be ice against my skin. And I had like the ice in the bandana. Um, I had all of, cause I had all this water that I wasn't managing to drink every single time I got even slightly dry. I just wet my arm sleeves again and I wet myself like my back of my neck and everything.
00:29:36
Speaker
So I felt quite cool almost the whole way to the next aid station. But I was only managing, like I did only manage to get in 500ml of coke and I don't even think 500ml of water. um So that finally caught up to me. oh I was also like, a as Brody described, like every time you try and run, like put any effort in, your heart rate goes really high. So I was flowing and really enjoying the flowing through the rocks. But any time my heart rate, this is the first time I've actually focused on heart rate in a race, um after all the discussions last week by saying I didn't. But any time my heart rate hit anywhere near 160, I would walk until it was back down in around the 130. And i I had my heart rate average on my watch to show that I was always in the 140s. Because I was like, i I know, I think I can manage that and not overheat.
00:30:25
Speaker
um And it didn't catch up to me until about 33 K's. So three K's out from that aid station, the so the second aid station, um which is about four hours in. So I was four hours in and it only managed to get down about a liter of fluid and all the carbs I'd gotten in was 750 millicoke. And the next three K's into that aid station took well over half an hour. Like I think my average pace, like when I look at it, I dropped my heart rate right back down to sort of the one teens to one twenties, cause I was
00:30:56
Speaker
walking most of it. Um, but I, it took me like, I was like mostly at 10 to 13 minute per kilometer pace for those last three Ks into the aid station going, where the hell is this aid station? Like bring it to me now, please. Um, I did even find like a really manky puddle to wet my feet in and like try and get my legs wet a bit. Um, which I regret now because those shoes now stink. Um, but it's all good. It saved me for a little bit there.
00:31:25
Speaker
And then in the exact same way as Brody had the experience, he gets to the next aid station and I got a new round of ice down the arm sleeves on the back of the neck. I got and another 250 mil can of Coke in. I filled another 500 mil flask with Coke. um And i did I did, I got the 250 mil can of Coke in and I'm like, oh, that didn't seem to go down too bad. So I opened another can of Coke that was like one of the bigger ones.
00:31:49
Speaker
330ml and I just started drinking and I got maybe like four or five sips in and like everything felt like it was about to come back up and I was like, don't overdo it here. um Like be thankful that you got 250ml in. So yeah, then the one mistake I made and I have to just cop this is this was a dumb move. I went away from that aid station only with 500ml of coke and 500ml of water. um I should have had at least another 500ml of water in order at least to keep myself cool, because I'd been going through it a lot quicker than that. um I don't know what I was thinking, but ah that's all right. We managed um in the end. But yeah, from there to the next aid station, I had the similar de Brodie to the end, sorry, um in that I got, I think, 4Ks worth of really decent feels out of that 250 mil can Coke and then some sipping on the rest of it.
00:32:47
Speaker
um Cause yeah, all the way up until maybe 10 K to go. I was again feeling a pretty good, but as I was leaving the second aid station at 36 K Kaitlyn, the second female ran into the aid station. So I knew.
00:33:04
Speaker
tip To be fair, I was partially expecting her to already have passed me. I was like, in my mind, just where my mentality was at, I was like, amazed and happy that I was still in front, but going some, she's got to be there somewhere. I know I'm not moving any faster than she would be aiming to move. So I knew she would be there somewhere. And yeah, I saw her, got to say hi and well done as she ran into the aid station.
00:33:27
Speaker
And so for the next four Ks when I knew I was moving well, I'm like, oh, maybe I'll stay ahead of her. And then those last three Ks before the descent, oh, my gosh, they were hell. I was, yeah, again, just in all sorts. And that was where Caitlin passed me. And she passed me like I was standing still. She was passed me on an uphill and off she went out of sight. And it was at that point I was kind of relieved. I was like, oh, you're in second, finally. You're not being chased down. You know where she is.
00:33:56
Speaker
um And like ah mentally I was in a point where like seconds good for the day. Like you've had a rough day. Like this isn't hasn't gone to plan. So anyways, we
Simone's Race Journey
00:34:06
Speaker
hit the descent though. And obviously I always keep a bit of hope in the back of my head that like it's a descent finish. So as long as my legs can handle the descent, then you never know what can happen. And um yeah, I didn't have any ability to push, but I had the complete ability because my legs were fine to flow down that last descent and just let gravity carry me in whatever way gravity wanted to. um And I did run into quite a lot of strife just after I, i so I re-passed Caitlin maybe with 4K to go, 4.5, somewhere around there um on the descent. And at that point, obviously the the competitor in me gets back up again and goes, well, we're in the front again now. There's like 5Ks to go descent, just try and get out of her sight now so that then
00:34:52
Speaker
you're like that whole mentality thing of being out of sight, out of mind and not having her chasing me down the descent. So put it whatever effort in that I could, um, and that in so many ways undid me. So how I came into the finish looking absolutely cooked and overheated was the last four to 5k of this race. Like the up until then I was managing and I was looking after myself and I was overall making pretty smart decisions based on the way how I was at. ah But what happened is I ran out of my coke and I ran out of my water, which I had still been using to pour over myself. And because I was so dehydrated at this point, um my arm sleeves dried up so I had to take them down and I wasn't sweating. So my skin felt tight and horrible and like I was like boiling from the inside and I couldn't sweat. And you so I think for the last
00:35:45
Speaker
5K, my heart rate didn't drop below 175, even though I was, I think my fastest K down that hill was like a 440 on a downhill. And then I hit the 1K to go. So 1K to go is where the road flattens out. You hit the road and you know that it's like holes gaps right there, but you've no longer got the downhill and gravity to help you.
00:36:08
Speaker
And I was in all sorts, like my legs weren't doing what I was telling my legs to do. And I felt like my head was about to explode with heat. I had a headache and it was just like, I'm, this feels like a dumb move. I'm not sure I'm going to make the finish. Like you just get all dramatic in that moment. And I was being very dramatic internally, like definitely. And then, um,
00:36:31
Speaker
sort of ran, walked a little bit of that road. Like I couldn't manage to run the whole thing. I saw a kid's playground and almost went over to the kid's playground to see if it had a drink tap. But I was then looked at my watch and I'm like, you have 600 meters until the finish. I was going to say, you be is be able to see the finish from there. Almost, almost. But I was in that much strife with just feeling so hot that i then in my head, I was like, Deb's is at the finish. Deb Sharp being the head medic.
00:37:00
Speaker
I was like, Debs is at the finish, Debs has ice, get to Debs. And then my dad was there with 400 meters to go and oh my gosh, like if there's one person you don't wanna see with 400 meters to go when you're in a state, it's like a family member you know you can be completely honest with because I just find myself screaming at dad, I can't make it, I'm too hot, I need water, I'm not gonna make the finish. And dad's like, there's 400 meters left, Simone, like 400 meters, go. So, that I'm running into the finish because I finally sort of see sight of it and then I started running as fast as my legs would bloody well take me because I'm like I don't know where Caitlin is so I'm looking back still with like 100 meters to go going where is she surely she's going to catch me and yeah in the end I love the stat that like my last kilometer was over 630 per k on the flat with an average heart rate of 185
00:37:54
Speaker
I was in trouble like i was not in a good way oh my gosh that was hell but i like up until the point where i overheated like just for the everything i learned in in managing yourself through rough patches of nausea ran it managing yourself through heat.
00:38:11
Speaker
Also just getting to see all those views and the fact that the trail is every single thing I love about trail running. I'm in a similar way to Brody where I had a brilliant time out there for everything except the last 20 minutes when I overheated. So yeah, it was not what I was aiming for, but what I got out of it is still huge. So yeah, and to still manage to, I got the course record by one minute.
00:38:36
Speaker
Which I very much have Caitlin to thank for because I would not have been running at all as fast as I was down that descent if I hadn't been trying to get back into first place.
00:38:47
Speaker
And she'd managed herself, obviously, she was very hot but managed herself really well too to have a great run. um And yeah, um I'm not even sure where to go with this run other than the fact that I got the confidence boost that my legs were never a problem, felt like they could keep going for a very long time, which is very good for the fact that I need them to go double the distance in like a week. And um yeah, I know how to manage heat a bit better, which is awesome. Does that sum it up, I think?
00:39:15
Speaker
Yeah, I think, um, yeah, your run was amazing. Like to eat Kate's time by like a minute from last year when it was like a lot colder. Um, and to have, yeah, all those things happen to you during the race. Like you should be so proud of it. Um, yeah, it was amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Like I had, I wasn't like, unlike Brody, I wasn't alone the whole time. Like I did have some guys up for company along the trail at times. And I also had music the whole time.
00:39:42
Speaker
So I was driving along to my music going, it's a long run. Just pretend it's a long run. What would you do on a long run when you feel this crap? um So like there was a good three or four hours there where I was having a good drive like I was just on a long run. um So I think the fact that i was when I was moving, I was moving well. I just had to take a lot of walk breaks in order to rule and get the heart rate down and manage everything. um So yeah, like i i' I still just loved the way we could move through those rocks and the terrain. Like that was incredible. Such a cool event. With um what what like your symptoms and whatnot you're getting throughout the race. Do you have any ideas about what might be leading to some of that and and how you might manage it if something similar happens entirely? Because I think that's like one of the big takeaways you can have from this race is a huge learning. Like you've you've you've had a trial race so close to your big race. Yeah. um Honestly, I think I just had a bug.
00:40:40
Speaker
Um, it, but then with me, it's always hard to tell my stomach is iffy at the best of times, like I'm celiac. So whether I'd been gluten, even at a low level for a few days in a row, then that's why it lasted so long. Cause it wouldn't normally last that long for like one off gluten. Um, but also I'm at the point where I am sort of questioning, I've had this major surgery on my stomach, uh, about eight years ago now that I was told would last five to 10 years before I'd get symptoms again.
00:41:08
Speaker
Um, and that is like the top third of my stomach is wrapped around my esophagus. It's called a Nissen fund application. And it's not a fun process to go through to stop reflux and nausea and all these sorts of things. So, um, whether that is undoing weirdly to think of in your insights, like the stick, like, I don't know how well how it works. All I know is they, they said it only lasts a certain period of time.
00:41:33
Speaker
So I'm at the point of questioning whether there's something with that. So close Thailand, I'll go get a like gastroscopy and get all that looked into. um But otherwise, like, I just think I had a bug. And it was ah some weird stomach bug. And like, for all I know, I could have been like, gas like i I can't because of this surgery, and unless I'm really, really sick, I can't vomit. um It just does nothing comes back up. So which is hell at the best of times when you're nauseous. But I don't, yeah, i don't i so I don't, I never know if something's a bug or if it's something else because.
00:42:07
Speaker
Yeah, it's a weird one. So chalking it up to bad timed bug at this point until I have other information, um, because I do feel a little better now, but it still did linger and it's just slowly getting better day by day, which makes me still think it's just, I had something, something i wrong. Fingers crossed. That's the case. Like for Thailand, if, uh, if you, if it is something still lingering, like do you have any.
00:42:32
Speaker
ideas on on how you approach things differently during the Thailand race or you just do the same as what you did in at GBT. I think I would just end up having to do the same, keep the heart rate low ah in whatever fuel I can manage. I know that that one of my problems was that I had all all my tailwind I had out there, I had at my normal concentration, which is quite concentrated because that's what I train with. Um, but with my stomach, the way it was, I think the main thing I was struggling with in terms of trying to get it down was that it was too concentrated and too sweet. So in Thailand already I'm planning on, um,
00:43:10
Speaker
like diluting that down so that it's more watery, so that it's easier to get down. And I'm i'm going to need more fluid anyway. So, um, also the first 12 Ks of Thailand climbs 1,130 meters. I think that's a lot gentler on a stomach by the time you're pretty much just hiking, um, yeah at that point. And I could get more fuel in a little bit when I was hiking. So.
00:43:33
Speaker
then the nature of the Thailand course, yes, it'll be humid, but at the top of the mountains, it won't be so bad. um And I think just the nature of the course enables you to at least fuel on the hikes, on the climbs a lot better. So that's the thing like GPT, yes, there's a couple of climbs, but it's, it's rolly.
00:43:49
Speaker
um Yeah, so I think also the fact that you you were struggling to get stuff in early um would have meant and it's always hard to
Race Strategy Discussions
00:43:58
Speaker
get it in. if you If you're not able to start your nutrition early, then the blood flow has already been diverted and it it becomes difficult. So those first hours is key and it sounds like in Thailand that you've got a plan for how you can do your best to get as much, like as good fueling as you can in that first one, two hours.
00:44:16
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. 100%. Yeah, cool. That's the plan. I'm excited to see how it goes. Yeah. Oh, I'm actually getting so excited right now. It's your first 100k ever, right?
00:44:28
Speaker
Yes, although I don't know if, I don't think the course distance actually quite hits the hundred, but it'll still be my longest run by at least probably four hours. Just jog for a little bit after. Oh gosh, I will not be in a state to jog at the finish line. I did know there were park run ones that finished at like 4.8 and I was like, I actually want to know how fast I can run for 5k, so I just sprinted through the line.
00:44:50
Speaker
Oh, you're one of those people. It's a little bit different to a 100K though, because like you've run a 100K. Yeah, just a little. Just a little. um You weren't doing that at GPT if you hadn't hit 50K. I don't know if you've watched it. No, no. there's I got nowhere near 50K. I don't think I'd covered i don't think i've covered enough steps in the next few days to get me up to 50K that I didn't get to.
00:45:14
Speaker
oh night everybody Yeah, the only other thing I wanted to ask you about was those arm sleeves. So they were to keep ice against your skin. Yeah, and because it was we were exposed for so long and we didn't have any cloud cover except for maybe like five minutes. um And so I was, I was iffy about the arm sleeves. I'm like, well, it kind of feels like I don't want more clothing on. I want less clothing on. But white arm sleeves reflecting the sun absolutely packed down with ice the entire length of my arm. And then every single time that after the ice had melt, I just wet the arm sleeves. And as you're running, like the air across the arm sleeves cools you down.
00:45:57
Speaker
And also I'm not getting sunburnt because my face ended up super sunburnt, but not my arms. And obviously sunburn then makes it harder to regulate your temperature as well. So honestly, those were a game changer. Like those arm sleeves I put down to being the reason I was managing my heat so well until that descent at the end when you're running into town. They were like amazing. Highly recommend.
00:46:18
Speaker
yeah Nice. Awesome. Well, that's a lot of chat about GPT. And I've just realized we've been going a lot longer than I expected. So um but we are, just to give everyone a heads up that um for in terms of like ah a really cool recap of the event and everything that went down, obviously, not everything went to plan with the Myla being canceled the next day in the heat. And I like, but I was part of the Medic team that was out there. And it was mayhem for a little while there and just um absolute respect to everyone that did get out there. But we're going to do a more in depth, in depth recap of the race with Joe Dorff, the race director and also with Deb Sharp, the director of medical at the race of endurance medical services. um Because um yeah, I just think it'd be really cool to hear from directly from them to recap the event. And um yeah, because the rest of that weekend, like I'm not sure I did the perfect thing for recovery, or I definitely didn't do in terms of getting to this 100K, but um such a cool event. That's probably what one thing me and Brodie can both say is just, it's brilliant there. Cool. Now, Jess, you've got UTK coming up in what what day is your run?
00:47:33
Speaker
It's on Thursdays, are so it's yeah, two days away. Oh my gosh, okay. In two days you are racing at UTK32k. How are you feeling and how's the last little bit been in the lead up? Yeah, I'm excited. um I feel pretty good now. I had like a bit of a shocking week last week.
00:47:51
Speaker
um
Jess's Course Recce and Challenges
00:47:53
Speaker
Yeah, like I think I mentioned last time I was on the pod that I was going to go out and check the course. So because of the weather last weekend, we decided, I was heading out with Tom Drusco. We decided to do our run on the course on this Saturday.
00:48:10
Speaker
um just because there was like storms rolling in on the Sunday um and so that sort of meant that I had to like shift my week around a little bit and I decided I would just do like a session um within the long run so the plan was to do three by 15 minute tempo efforts um and we decided to pretty much do the whole 30k course because Tom's doing the 50 and um that makes up most of his course as well so it sort of worked well for both of us.
00:48:45
Speaker
um So we dropped one car out at Fredbro and then drove up to the top of Perosha, left um an esky at Bullock's flat so that we could um get some ice along the way because it was a pretty hot day. um Like it didn't look too hot on paper so I wasn't like, I definitely wasn't prepared um for it to be a hot day. Like I only took one litre of water, like I carried 500 mils and then I was planning on picking up another 500 mils at Bullocks Flat. um And so the first bit of the 30k course is on some new trails which is part of like this alpine walk um and it's like a little out and back loop on a road at the top of Parasha and then you sort of descend um for about 12ks.
00:49:33
Speaker
and the descent is really nice like it's not safe at all super flowy kind of gradual descent with like some little rocky steps and some like some of that grading stuff um oh yeah and like i i was expecting to feel pretty good because i'd sort of tapered a little bit into this run like planning for it to be like quite a big session and long run combined. um But like as soon as I started running at the top of Perishare like my breath was so short which I yeah I'm not sure if that was because of like fatigue or
00:50:10
Speaker
um the attitude being like pretty high up there um compared to like what I'm used to. and And then I had the first of many falls like within a couple of minutes of the race. like Literally, as soon as the steps started, I just like tripped. And um I'd had a couple of other minor falls during the week. um One was just like I was doing a double run with Roxy, my dog, and she tripped me over.
00:50:39
Speaker
no no And then like the next day I had another fall like just on like a chill trail on my midweek long run. And then I like at the first few minutes of this run I fall and I was just like, are you kidding me? Like I was at that point where you just get so frustrated with like falling all the time. Yeah.
00:50:58
Speaker
And then i I like, I tried to like get myself together. I was like, it's okay to just like get up, keep going. Like I wasn't hurt or anything. I was just like mentally frustrated. Um, and then I got to the bottom of the descent. I had like another little trip that sort of kept going. I was like, Oh, it's fine. Something. Yeah. My brain just wasn't all there. Like I wasn't able to like process the terrain quick enough to stop myself from like tripping.
00:51:25
Speaker
Yeah, um which I haven't really experienced before. So it was interesting. And then so we got to the bottom of the descent to Bullock's flat, which is like where the first aid station is in the 30K.
00:51:39
Speaker
um got our water and put some ice down my top because by that time it was getting pretty hot. We didn't start till like 10am which is like when my race starts anyway so it was getting quite hot by then um and just like super exposed out there.
00:51:57
Speaker
Um, but that was when I was supposed to start like my tempo efforts from there, which is, um, all out on the TVT track, which is kind of, it's just like a wide mountain bike track. Um, and out to thread bro, it's kind of like a really gradual uphill. Like you don't really notice that it's uphill, but it is. Um, and I sort of started doing the first one and I was like moving okay, but just heart rate was like skyrocketing. Um, and I think I sort of stopped.
00:52:27
Speaker
early like before the 15 minutes because i was just like i can't like i just feel cooked i'm not going to make it to the end of this run if i like push that hard so i just kind of like took my recovery super easy and then i was like okay like get into the next one got into the next one i think i did like five minutes of it and then i had another like really bad fall um oh like yeah and by that time i was starting to get pretty dehydrated um Because yeah, I had only the liter of water on me, but it was quite yeah concentrated with carbs And the electrolyte so it wasn't yeah, I didn't have any just like plain water um which is a bit of a mistake um and Yeah, that fall like I kind of lost it after that yeah just very oh I can't do this like
00:53:18
Speaker
I don't know, almost having a panic attack about it. Just really, I don't know, hate was getting to my brain and I was just feeling it fried and just annoyed that I couldn't like...
00:53:31
Speaker
Um, nail this like last session before the race kind of thing. Um, but then meeting me like pretty stubborn, I like kept going, um, and like got to pretty much the last effort. I was like, my pace was just dropping off the whole time.
00:53:49
Speaker
um but I was still like pushing and then I started feeling really nauseous and had a little of vomit no pretty much like all the fuel and water I'd put in my body and by that time like Tom was catching up to me just like jogging he was like you okay and I was just like such a mess and super grateful that he was there because he gave me a bit more of his water because he was actually prepared Oh no, did you make it to the finish of this run? Yeah, I made it to the end and um I kind of didn't realize like how like I must have looked so cooked because like it was the first weekend of um they'd opened this chairlift to the mountain bikers. So they had like a full medical team like just everyone there.
00:54:40
Speaker
Um, and the medical team like came up to me and they were like, can we like look after you know had blood like all down my legs? Like, um, just looked so like cooked and dehydrated. And, um, yeah, so they like cleaned up my name, gave me a tetanus shot. apparently Like, yeah, I dunno, the metal from the grading can like give you some sort of infection or something.
00:55:05
Speaker
Um, yeah. And I was like, I could tell that like, I seriously dehydrated myself. Like, you know, and you just feel so out of it for like the rest of the day. Um, so yeah. Did you manage? Yeah. Did you manage to rehydrate afterwards? Like how was the rehydration sort of?
00:55:26
Speaker
Yeah I um I struggled to get like food in but got like heaps of water down um which was good yeah um yeah so I think like race day is looking I don't know the weather keeps changing up there it's pretty volatile but the weather's looking a little bit cooler I think it might have changed though. To be honest I think you've got your bad run out of the way isn't that how it goes you have a really bad last session and then a great race because like You've just got all the bad juju of that trail done and out of the way, everything's going to be fine now. Yeah. No, it's actually, it's going to be hot again. So Thursday's 26.
00:56:06
Speaker
Well, you've having experienced the temperatures, like you now know how much fluid you need and like, you know, like if anything, it's kind of almost that perfect training run in the way of you made all the mistakes and therefore a lot of them are easy fixes in the way of carrying more fluid, making sure there's some plain water in there, like looking and in that way, looking after yourself so that we can you can sort of at least mitigate the dehydration because that would be contributing to the falling at the end there too.
00:56:34
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I think um I'm going to try and carry a bit more water. um Maybe, yeah, like plan to have at least two liters available if I need it. Um, and like dilute it a bit more and I'm going to have Hayden with some ice at Bullock's flat to like pour it over me. Perfect. Um, yeah. And I think just like manage my effort a bit better, especially on that, the start of the TVT because it is like deceivingly hard towards the end because there's some little pinchy bits.
00:57:07
Speaker
yeah that can just like get you. um Yeah, other than that, like my knee was pretty bad. like It's probably the worst sprays I've had. It's not even stepping up yet. It's been like a week and a half. So, I don't know. It's fine, like I think, structurally, but just like bending my knee with the scab there is like pretty uncomfortable. And I also had like a cooked back from, I think, just like falling so much.
00:57:37
Speaker
But how has the last couple of runs been and like the the final bit of lead-in? Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better now. like The first few runs after that long run, were like I felt like I was scared of falling the whole time. and Yeah, um yeah. Yeah, since a week after that long run, I've felt a lot better. I think I'll be fine.
Upcoming Local Races and Details
00:58:00
Speaker
like I'm not super nervous about this race for some reason. I'm just like i'm pretty excited. like It's really cool that I can drive So Cozy, like, I don't know, living in Perth, he's just like, all these events are so far away. And it's like in my backyard pretty much, which is really cool. Yeah. It's going to be so exciting. I'm very keen to see how you go. um And you you do you know who you're up against in the 32K?
00:58:26
Speaker
Trish McGibbon, the Canberra local. um And I think that's about it. and i know oh Naomi Fox, the canoeing Olympian. Oh really? No way!
00:58:43
Speaker
ah That's cool. That's very cool. Love seeing people jump across like that. but Awesome. Well, speaking of UTK, um should we get into a bit of a preview of all of the fields? Brodie, I think you're the one that's most over all of the people that'll be running. You've got it all up.
00:59:02
Speaker
Yeah, trying to trying to get across it. um So yes, it's ah coming up this Thursday with the 30K and the 50K both on Thursday and then the miler and the 100K on Friday. um There's been some significant course changes this year, so they're sort of mixing it up.
00:59:22
Speaker
Um, thread bows still the finish line. Um, I think it's the finish line for all the races. Um, and then you have three of the races starting it up at Perisher, which is where Jess will be starting. Um, and the Myla starting in Jindabyne, um, running.
00:59:41
Speaker
Pretty much to Parrish are doing a big loop of the high country and then sort of descending the same way that Jess will do her race or the 50K do their race. So yeah, it's going to be interesting. I think maybe the courses look a bit better. Maybe they've cut out some of the bits that were a bit of a hassle for them as well as maybe Not as good for the runners um And yeah, it's shaping up to be a pretty cool event. um So yeah, as you said Jess Talked through the 30k runner. So some strong female runners. um We don't have all of the
01:00:18
Speaker
elite fields at the moment because only the Myla is up on the UTMB live site. So we're just going off who we know is running and um the UTK have been really cool and putting up some of their elites on their Instagram page. So you can have a look there as well, um put some names to faces. But in the 50K, in the women, we have a friend of the pod, Kate Avery is ah running that one um and she's been running really well. So it'd be cool to see how she goes, and she's up against ah Georgina Campbell, who was over at World Sky Running Champs earlier in the year, um had some good domestic results before that. um So I'm sure those two will have a little bit of a battle. um And then in the men in the 50K, also quite a strong field. We've got Benson Lawrence, probably the headline runner, um Ben last ran
01:01:16
Speaker
I reckon one of his last main trail races he did was when the UTA, uh, was in October in 2022, I believe. Is that right? He's done heaps since then. Yeah, but that's probably his last big one. You reckon yeah and trail, trail waste wise. That was when he sort of, he got the, got the win in that race. Um, and who else was there Piotr and maybe it was Ronnie spark or it's one of the other guys.
01:01:45
Speaker
Um, but yeah, that was a ah ah fast race. That that was the the modified course. So, yeah um, I think this course will also suit Benny. So it's cool to see him having a crack. Um, and then one of Jess's training partners, Tom Driscoll's running, who was just talking about in a recce there. So he's seen the course, uh, or most of the course, I guess in the thirties similar, um, Tate Herpes, who was running golden trail earlier in the year.
01:02:15
Speaker
Um, and had some really good results. Um, unfortunately didn't quite have the race he would have wanted at the final and maybe didn't end that series as well as he would like. So I'm sure he's going to be, um, back sort of chasing after it, trying to get a really good result.
01:02:31
Speaker
Um, and Dan Stein was also talked about on the Instagram. Yeah, he's there. Not exactly. Do you know Dan Stein? I don't know the name. Oh, I don't know. Um, I know the name, but I'm not entirely sure where from and I want to do him some justice. So I'll look him up while you run through some other people. Yeah, I'll go to the hundred K. Um, so in the hundred K, uh, in the women we've got Juliet soul, uh,
01:02:59
Speaker
running there um and Abby Hall from the US is also running. um So she's quite an accomplished runner from the US. um So probably a bit of a headline in that event. um So it'd be cool to see how she goes in the Aussie trail race. So cool to see she her flying across and she was um pacing and crewing Lucy Bartholomew at GPT on the weekend and and then I think Lucy's going to be helping out with her so that's cool to see. In the men we have Michael Roga, who is a Paralympian. He's run a lot of different distances. I think he's run 1500 through to the marathon before. Really accomplished um track runner, track and road runner. um And he's done I think quite well at the Paralympics in the past. um So it'd be cool to see how he transitions to 100k trail race. I'm sure he's he's got the
01:04:03
Speaker
um capability, but we'll see how it goes with the mental challenge or that long distance. um And then we have some other runners, Mitch Crook, who I believe is from Perth. Do you know him, Jess? Yeah, he's a young gun from Perth who did really well at Transcend this year and also did the Buffalo 100K, I think, on the marathon. I can't remember which one. Yeah. Yeah, cool. Cool. And also on the list, we have Tyler Windham, who's run a fair few Australian races this year of note. He came second at Buffalo, 100K. Buffalo stampede, 100K earlier in the year, so quite
01:04:51
Speaker
a good runner. um and I just chucked in there, Quentin Gill, who I see, he's been he's checked out the entire course because I saw it on the UTK um Instagram feed. He did some videos of of him sort of doing a full recce. He'd run it through three days in a row and covered covered the distance um so yeah he's run he's I think he's living in the Blue Mountains now his Canadian guy originally living in Australia for quite some time and he's done a lot of events all over the place so ah good luck to Quentin as well
01:05:26
Speaker
ah Just quickly on Dan Stein, he was fifth at this year's UTA 100 and 17th at last year's UTA 50. And then, yeah, he's, it says here he's one.
01:05:42
Speaker
We covered him recently, and maybe that's why I remember him, the Duval Dambuster, which i I swear we actually set the results for. He won that one, um the 32K, and then that was this year. um So that's what he's done this year. It looks like he's got some good results there. Yeah, and it looks like he used to be a former professional triathlete. So he's coming back to some trail running. maybe I just saw that on his um Instagram profile. so Awesome. Yeah. Maybe he used to run against Courtney. I don't know. I don't know much about the triathlon world. That probably shows how much we know. Moving on. Moving on. Put ourselves in it. Yeah, exactly. And that leads to the final race of the weekend, the big one, so the Mylar. And this one, we do have the UTMB live up. So we do have the sort of ranking of the runners.
01:06:35
Speaker
um So we've got the the top ranked runner actually um is an Australian, Mike Carroll, which is really cool to see. Mike's been around, done lots of different races. I don't actually know what his best result ever is. ah Might let him decide that. But yes, Mike's done a lot of different races. He's done a lot of 100Ks, 50Ks. I think maybe it might be his first 100 miler, but I'm not 100% sure on that. um But good luck to Mike, he's always training the house down in Canberra. um And then our teammate ah Vladimir Shratov is running as well, um which is cool to see. Vlad was there last year, I actually paced him for a little bit. um Unfortunately he had to pull out, so I'm sure he'll be back with a vengeance this year. um So good luck to Vlad. um Couple of Japanese runners, um I think given our
01:07:32
Speaker
proximity to Japan and and this time of year. then be able to come down a race we've had. I think this race has seen some Japanese runners over the last few years. I know Rui was here last year running the 50, under the 100. So we've got two running, Takumi Sawoyang Nagi. I'm sure I've said that wrong. And Hayato Nishikata.
01:07:58
Speaker
um So they're both running. um And then another Aussie, Nigel Hill. um rounding out the top five ranked runners ah for the men. And then in the women's, it's just loading up in front of me, but I had the list here as well. We have Sabrina Stanley, um who's from America. Do you know any races that Sabrina's run before? Yeah, she's ah definitely a very big net. She's done like um the likes of Hard Rock. um Yeah. ah mate Did she win that? Or was she second to Courtney?
01:08:33
Speaker
um But um I'll look up some of her results now, but she's done some absolutely incredible runs. I know that much. um I will say that she's not on the like UTK Instagram posts, which surprises me. Maybe they don't know she's coming. you She was seventh female at this year's UTMB.
01:08:55
Speaker
Okay. Wow. Yeah, like that yeah like she's incredible. um ah Ultra Trail, Snowdonia, 100 miles. She's come second. um you know do Madeira Island, Ultra Trail, 115. She's come fourth. Hard Rock. Yes, she has one Hard Rock. Yeah, so she's she's a huge name, but that's why yeah I'm very like Is she running if they're now ah she's not on the Instagram. I would be ah like surely um They would have her up there. But yeah, hopefully I hope so cuz I'm so keen to see her run here Yeah, yeah. Well, we'll be ablell be able to find out on on Friday um Then we have ah Emily Gilmore Walsh who did she win UTA 100 this year? Am I remembering? yes i believe Last year. No last year. Yes
01:09:47
Speaker
Last year. She has one. Yeah, because Beth was this year. Yeah, so she's obviously very accomplished over the longer distances as well. We also have Katie Wright who's from, is that Ireland? Is that right? Oh, I think so. Or is she from the UK? I've just lost it here again. Keeps reflecting on me. United Kingdom of Great Britain and something. And Northern Ireland. That's where I read it. Yeah, so she's from the UK, not Ireland, sorry, Katie.
01:10:13
Speaker
Um, she's running and then Zoe Manning, who was running in the under 23 at the Asia Pacific champs running the 15 K she's doing her first hundred mile. Um, so that's a pretty crazy cool to see Zoe. I know she's done some long races before. So this just isn't out of the blue. She's done a hundred K before a couple of fifties.
01:10:36
Speaker
um But I believe this is also her first 100 miles, so good luck to Zoe. um And then I think someone else's here has added Sarah Parkins. Does someone know Sarah Parkins? I don't know Sarah Parkins. No, I think it was just, she was the fifth ranked online okay um on the live trail. so Sorry Sarah, I've got nothing to... Although think also Anna O'Byrne has been announced on like um on the UTK Instagram.
01:11:01
Speaker
um okay I'm not sure of that name either. I think, yeah, she's from Perth. um Oh, awesome. I'm going to be crewing her and Hayden's going to pay her for 10K. Awesome. Love that. Well, awesome. Good luck Anna. And also one name we don't think we mentioned was Kieran Douglas, who's been announced on the um UTK Insta, ah but he's where he wasn't in that top ranked five.
01:11:31
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Sarah Perkins looks like she might also be from the UK. Um, if I've got the right Sarah, um, and she says I was on the live thing, but we'll figure that out. must be I've got a different one then anyways, if she's listening, if she's listening, good luck to Sarah. Yes. So what I hope you've taken away from that is we have some brilliant racing going down at UTK. It's going to be a.
01:11:58
Speaker
Hell of a weekend for watching running or dot watching. um That's for sure. And hopefully some hot racing in like the, everyone's close kind of way, not so much the actual heat kind of way. let's ah Let's not wish that on anyone after the weekend we've just had. um So with that ties up our UTK preview. Everyone get around, all these runners get around the event because it's going to be exciting to watch.
01:12:26
Speaker
um And or what we all we have left to run through today, we're not going to do a listener question because we've already been going for a while, but um you can look forward to that in the coming weeks. Please keep sending them in ah if you can. ah We're just going to quickly run through some results from this week. Brodie, you're going to take us first of all. Oh, hang on. There was the other major news, which is kind of linked to UTK or it's linked to the UTMB events in Australia.
01:12:52
Speaker
um And that was that UT Ultra Trail Australia now not only has a MILA option, but is also a major or has been made the major for the Oceania region.
Major Event Announcements
01:13:05
Speaker
So I believe Thailand is remaining the major for the Asia region. And then we're adding another world major for Oceania and that world major has become Ultra Trail Australia.
01:13:17
Speaker
which is huge for the country because it means we have a major within the country and UltraTrail Australia fits the bill obviously being the second biggest in the world or as so I've been told it a number of times. I'm hoping it still is the case because it's a, it's a damn cool event with a hell of a lot of runners that um get behind it. ah But yeah, Brady, what are your, what were your thoughts on that announcement?
01:13:39
Speaker
yeah and It was really cool to see. um It's cool to have a major closer to home than um going to Asia where maybe it's hard if the race is in Thailand or something like that, where it's harder to compete. Although I'm sure you're going to do very well next week. is um like but Obviously, very cool to have one of these on home home soil. um and One of the really cool things is these majors have prize money attached to them. so um That's good for our local domestic runners as well as maybe it'll attract some more elites specifically to come across and run UTA as well. so
01:14:17
Speaker
Um, I'm sure that will only be good things for the event. Um, you can have a look on the UTA website, but there is 120,000 Australian prize pool, um, for, and that's spread across the 50, 100 K and a hundred mile. Um, and starting at 5,000 Euro for first, uh, men and men and, uh, male and female athletes. So that's pretty cool. Um, it'll be cool to see how.
01:14:46
Speaker
How that changes the event, I'm sure there'll be a lot of domestic runners now putting that on their calendar as I just did. um
01:14:55
Speaker
But yeah um yeah, we'll see see how that, ah I can think that can only, do this becoming a major and and having those other things that come alongside it.
01:15:06
Speaker
ah more qualifications for UTMB final and um world finals in Chamonix and um will only sort of improve improve the event or or increase its status even further, which is pretty cool. 100%. It's awesome. What about you, Jess? Are you eyeing off UTA now? Got your eye on 100%.
01:15:29
Speaker
Oh, God, no. I don't think even that could make me want to do 100 miles or two Yeah, I think I'm with you there. um Yeah, no, it definitely makes me pretty keen to do the 50, though, um just to like be amongst it. And like it's only two hours away from home, so why not? Yeah, it's your local race now. How exciting. it' one It's sort of a local race. Yeah. Damn cool. well Yeah, that was just a really a really big announcement that is very cool and I think is only going to improve the sport and get more Aussies across to Chamonix.
01:16:06
Speaker
and all of those awesome things as the sport grows in our beautiful country. Now, the only other quick bit of news is that for anyone that is interested in next year, I know Brodie, you will be and I will be as I look at it, is that the 2025 Sky Running World Series calendar has been announced. ah We'll put the link to that in our show notes and maybe do a bit of more of an in-depth as it gets closer to the year. And we're all talking about our race choices or calendars for next year once We're organized. um So yeah, keep a lookout for that in our show notes. Now back to these results as we get there. I'm not roundabout at all. My brain's thinking straight. Brodie, take us through the actual, the full results of the GPT 100, if you can.
01:16:54
Speaker
Yeah, so as I was sort of mentioning before, um the 50K was able to be finished and me and Sim were running in that. um Unfortunately, the 100 mile race had to be cut short due to the conditions and and and some several sort of rapidly changing situations, which we'll we'll go into in a bit more detail later. um But they did still ah essentially give the results from when the the race was stopped.
01:17:23
Speaker
um And for the stage race um The I'm not exactly sure I don't know if they counted didn't count stage three at all. I think they just didn't count it Yeah, they just took out stage three. So they still finish with stage four on the Sunday um So we'll start maybe with the 50k So in the men um I was first in 5 hours and 3 minutes and 16 seconds. Second was Bryce Turvey in 5.19.53 and third was Daniel Lohnen in 5.29.56. And in the women, Avarian Simone Brick was first in 5.5207, course record. Second was Caitlin Howler in 5.56.22.
01:18:11
Speaker
And third was Caitlin Perkins in seven hours, 14 in 30 seconds. So that was the 50K. Then in the stage race,
01:18:22
Speaker
ah sorry, the results are a bit out of order here. Here it is. ah First place in the men was Adicha, I'm gonna say his last name wrong, Kassar Cody Watson was first. And I think he won maybe,
01:18:41
Speaker
all stages he was on fire he did the 50k in five hours 35 so he was running very well on the first day and then continued to keep running well um then stone sang from hong kong who was there running all week which is very cool to see he's done a lot of races all over the world he was in second and then david gomez was third in the stage race of the men um i'll just filter this for the women. First was Ariane Houston in 17 hours and two minutes, which is a very fast time. Tara Brick, I believe is your cousin Simone, is that right? Yeah, she got second. She nailed it. She got second, 18, 12, and third was Kirsty Gilmore in 19 hours and 27 for the three stages.
01:19:34
Speaker
um Alright, we'll go to the 100 mile race. um So I'll just read these out where the people made it to as well. I'll give you a bit of context. um So first place was Sangwe Sherpa who made it to the very last aid station.
01:19:52
Speaker
Oh, I know. He had about 10 kilometres to go. um So he ran 23 hours and 53 minutes through to there um and he was given first place. um Second place in the men was Ben Burgess um and he made it to the second last aid station, Cassidy's Gap.
01:20:12
Speaker
um in 22 hours and 16 and then a big shout out to ah third overall and first woman Lucy Bartholomew who also made it to that aid station in 22 hours 25 minutes just 9 minutes behind Ben so Lucy was having a great run as well. Third in the men just to circle back was Justin Dyer and it was great to see Justin run. I saw him out there last year. He came back again for another day last year. He made it to about 100k and he still finished but he had a rough time whereas this this time he was running really strongly. So he also made it to Cassidy's gap 23 hours and 13. So good on you Justin, third in the men.
01:20:52
Speaker
um And then we'll cover the female results. Lucy was first. Second was Lou Clifton. She made it through to Jimmy Creek Aid Station in 22 hours and 2 minutes. And Felicity Pigeon-Fong made it also to Jimmy Creek in 23 hours and 56 minutes.
01:21:12
Speaker
so good on the top three in both those races. Sorry that you didn't get to the finish line, but awesome running from everyone who did that event. I know it would have been devastating not to get to the finish line, but they all did such incredible races and um with such grace and then took it with such grace when they got told they needed to stop. So good on everyone doing that event. As someone who was stopping my Liz, I didn't get an ounce of our complaint from a single one, I will say.
01:21:41
Speaker
um at the At that point, like that some of them were a bit disappointed, but they were all pretty happy to stop in those conditions. and um another but A big shout out as well to Solomon Runner, Max King, who was here from the US because he was leading early. yeah He came through the aid station. I don't know if I've told you this yet, Brody, but he came through the aid first aid station where I was, which was at about 60K.
01:22:03
Speaker
and walks in going, I've been listening to the pod for the course course info. Thanks for all the course info, but you might have um mentioned about the rock camber. I was like, sorry, Max. Um, so thanks for the listening, Max. If you are still listening, I highly doubt it, but, um, he was getting his course info from our trail to GPT series. So it's good yeah that was, that was just a lot of fun to see. Um, but, um, yeah, anyways, um, I believe we've actually lost Jess, unfortunately, because she's had to go off to, uh, drive to, um, Cossie.
01:22:42
Speaker
Yeah, we talked for too long. Sorry, everyone. We did talk for too long.
Race Results and Highlights
01:22:46
Speaker
It just disappeared. um ah Either that or the internet dropped out. But either way, it's just the two of us, which means I am going to take us through first coast to Cossie. Now, I tracked this a little bit, but looking at the results, like I didn't get all the way to the finish because everything was a little bit chaotic. um And damn, this was close. So this is, how far is it? 240 kilometers from the coast to the top of Mount Cossie Osco.
01:23:14
Speaker
ah crazy event epic to everyone that finished but it came down to one minute and 44 seconds between first and second over 240k and in first place was our first male and that was Ben Kubra in 27 hours 42 minutes and 56 seconds and in second place was our first female and that was Ali Caripio in 27 hours 44 minutes and 40 seconds So that was a very close race off between first male and first female in this race, which damn exciting to see. um Then in third overall and second female was Cassie Cohen in 2806. And I'll quickly find third female ah was Margie Hadley in 3125. Then second male fourth overall was Matt Pilly in 2822 and third male Thomas White in 29 hours and 10 minutes.
01:24:11
Speaker
so Yeah, just crazy running to everyone that managed to get finished. And I think they had, oh, it doesn't actually tell me the number and I would have to count, but their last finisher was in 45 hours and 35 minutes, which is just, it's a long time to be running. So absolute well done.
01:24:28
Speaker
and Now, the run Bibbleman track stage run, I'll quickly run through the lead the winners of that one. That actually went down from the 15th to the 17th of November, but it wasn't done by the time we got to the last one. So, on the long course, which is the full distance overall, was won on the men's side by Joel Gray. And on the women's side and second overall, it was won by Victoria Cole in the short course. um So, this one is a stage race. They're running every day for, I think,
01:24:57
Speaker
three days or four days. um And then it was the same story. First overall was Lachie McDougall. And then first female and second overall was Christy Lawrie, who I'm going to assume is Erica Lawrie's relative um because it's this race is over in WA. But that I'm hoping that's not a poor assumption.
01:25:19
Speaker
um Then the only other quick results I'll take you guys through is the Southeast Queensland Trail running series had there. the fourth race of their series in Bayview. The long course was won by Lee Bower in 48 minutes, and then Oliver Cook in 50 minutes, and David Stacey in 52. On the women's side, Amelia Spring in 56 minutes, Ella Heinegger in 57 minutes, exactly one minute between the two of them, and in third place, Crystal Futter in 58. So close running there.
01:25:53
Speaker
And one last one over in Adelaide, that is the Adelaide Trail Runner Summit series that we ah that we mentioned last week. And that was won on the men's side by a name I'm getting very used to seeing winning these races, John Songai. Second was in one hour 19. In second was Brett Goldfinch in one hour 20. Oh, there was 40... Yeah, 30 seconds between the two of them. And then in third place, Ben Melville in one hour 21. On the women's side, it was, if I can load it, it was won by Manie Bamber in one hour 53. And then our second place was Abigail Drew in one hour, oh gosh, one hour 41 53 was the winning time for Manie. And then one hour 42 23 was second place for Abigail.
01:26:44
Speaker
and one hour 4406 for Yumi Oi in third. Some sprint finishes across that race. I know. Yeah, which I didn't actually, um it's 19.1 kilometres. So for a 20K race to still have like a good, yeah, there was less than 30 seconds between first and second um on both the men's and the women's. Damn cool to see. I love a good race to watch. Always exciting. Now to just quickly finish us off, what's coming up next
Upcoming Episodes and Interviews
01:27:12
Speaker
week? well Look, it's all about UTK in some ways. um That's the main thing coming up next weekend that everyone will have their eyes on. There's also a race called Blue Goats Backyard Marathon, which is in near Katooma. It's Mount Victoria. in That's coming up this weekend. Dusk to Dawn in South Australia.
01:27:35
Speaker
I'm not entirely sure what that one is and then the ah the Christmas runs are starting one called the reindeer run in South Australia um and ah Lara fun run Perth trail summer series stay puffed is on.
01:27:51
Speaker
And yeah, geez, there's a lot. Trowelgan Harrier's King and Queen of the Mountain. I think that's a really short run on Earth's 30K. That's not the one I'm thinking of. But King and Queen of the Mountain, it's got to be a lot of fun. Anyways, my brain's done. I think we're done, Brody. I think we're done. That's good. There's a lot of mental energy in this one.
01:28:18
Speaker
We have used a lot of mental energy so thank you for bearing with us as we try and like navigate post race brains and we I think we're both still coming down from the weekend ah and track everyone and cheer everyone on at UTK this weekend. We hope that you have enjoyed our preview of the event and keep your eyes peeled for when we announce that we've got out our post race GPT episode with ah race director Joe Dorff and Medical director Deb Sharp coming up this week. But until then thank you for listening and we'll speak to you again next week Thanks. I'll see you later