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Holly's Golden Tarawera, Barkleys Wins Again, and When to DNF or Push On | Episode 97
544 Plays6 days ago
In Episode 97 of Peak Pursuits Holly Ranson sits down with James to talk through her Tarawera run and that unforgettable moment of being handed a Golden Ticket to Western States on the finish line after her 4th place finish!
Hear about Holly's training, approach to the race, and everything that goes into Holly's impressive running career so far.
The duo then touch on the Barkley Marathons, with no finishers in this years event, before chatting through a listener question on when to DNF vs when to push on and finish if a race isn't going to plan.
As usual you'll also hear a bunch of results and a brief preview of this weekends Australian Championships and Hut2Hut!
Results:
- Australian Alpine Ascent
- Yaberoo Trail Twilight Ultra
- SEQ Trail Series Round 6: Wyaralong Dam
- Upper Beaconsfield Tower Run
***Don’t forget, use code PEAK at https://bix-hydration.myshopify.com/en-au for 20% off Bix products, exclusive to PPP listeners!***
Thanks for tuning in to Peak Pursuits!
Connect with us on Instagram @peakpursuits.pod to share your thoughts, questions, and your own trail stories. Until next time, keep hitting the trails and chasing those peak pursuits!
Follow James: Instagram | Strava | Website
Follow Holly: Instagram
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/trendsetter License code: K08PMQ3RATCE215R
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Transcript
Introduction and Special Guest Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Music
00:00:08
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode 97 of the Peep Street's podcast. My name is James Sieber and today we will hopefully join be joined by Vlad shortly but we have a very special guest, somebody with a big golden ticket behind them currently on the screen which is very exciting to look at.
00:00:23
Speaker
Today we've got Holly Ransom jumping on, fresh off your golden ticket, fourth place at Tauera. Thanks for coming on Holly. Thanks for having me James, excited to be here. Yeah, it's ah it's quite a thing to look back. We said this before you came on, just seeing the the golden ticket there. And it is really big.
00:00:41
Speaker
It is really big. Yeah, it was interesting getting it on the plane. But of course, we had to
Golden Ticket and Racing Challenges
00:00:45
Speaker
bring it home. So I can't actually believe I have one in my house. It's very surreal. Yeah, I feel like the logistics of getting that thing home is actually quite complicated. it was It was quite interesting. We had to go and ask the receptionist at the hotel if he could find some old boxes and some tape and things, but he came through with the goods. So we just taped it up and checked it in oversize and now it's here.
00:01:04
Speaker
And not damaged at all? No, not at all. It's only a core flute piece of plastic. It's pretty bomb proof, I think. Yeah. Yeah. oh it's That's brilliant. And so like now we're what we're calling this a Monday, so a couple of days after after the race. like How are you feeling about the fact that you've got interstates?
00:01:24
Speaker
are still a bit overwhelmed. I think it it hasn't quite sunk in, but the amount of logistics that we now have to go through to plan for an overseas race that's that's really huge and it's only four months away. um Yeah, my brain just wants to explode, but I've still got to work and um do lots of other things and, know, lots of people want to get in contact with me, which is great. and But, yeah, this week is shaping up to be a very busy, overwhelming week, I think. Yeah, I feel like the reality of getting, especially from an international perspective, getting into states when you, i said, you've got four months and this is one of the earlier ones outside of Javelina and CCC. Like it's not a lot of time to get yourself ready at all.
Trail vs Track Ultras
00:02:07
Speaker
No, it really isn't. if If I'd ever pictured myself doing this race, I pictured having six or eight months lead in at least, not four. So I really was not expecting to be going at all this year. i had lots of other things planned. I'd actually booked to go to CCC.
00:02:23
Speaker
and also the 100K UTA. So there's a lot of things that will need to be changed around to accommodate this, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I couldn't possibly turn it down. Yeah, I feel like if States is an event that interests you and you get a golden ticket, you take it.
00:02:38
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. There was no chance I was saying no to that. yeah So last year, like well actually I guess it was this year, Ortra sent out their performance of the year and you you were one of the the names on there.
00:02:51
Speaker
And personally for myself, myself and and you and Phil Gore were the two that kind of really stood out to me. But it's quite impressive that you've gone and run the 100k tower and come forth an incredibly competitive field. And what, only five months ago you were breaking the twenty four hour record coming second but the whole top three women broke the existing record like do you have a preference yeah of of of something that that interests you um i don't want to be pigeonholed as that girl that just does track ultras like to be i think it's more legitimate if you can be good across several disciplines so i'm really pleased that i have ah a really strong trail result on the board now um And track ultras ultimately don't lead you very far in a running career but because even though, as you said, i broke the world record, i came second in the world, there was absolutely zero interest in that. I got zero media interest, zero sponsorship interest. um It really flew way under the radar for the amount of time and expense and effort it took me to get that result. So um if I had to give it a preference, I'd say,
00:04:00
Speaker
the trail running because the community is so good, the events, the atmosphere is amazing. um Ultra, the track ultras are very different to that, very, very lonely. It's um more of a mental game than a physical game, I think, sticking in it for that long. But I do like the challenge of that. So I think I'll probably always compete across a range of disciplines, but at the moment I'm going to choose to focus on the trail running for a while.
00:04:28
Speaker
What first got you interested in the track ultras? um Well, I was doing a backyard ultra in South Australia. I think it was end of 2022. was my first one And we got to 30 hours and the race was actually canceled because of a lightning storm. And I was in the top five at that point. And I was really disappointed and angry because I wanted to keep going and see how far I could go.
00:04:51
Speaker
um and I felt I had built up this fitness and I really wanted to use it. So I was looking at other races around the place that I could go and do shortly thereafter. And I found a 12 hour in South Australia. So I entered that and I broke the Aussie record. So I went, okay, I could be quite good at this maybe. So I'll just pursue it. And of course, a 12 hour leads to a 24 hour and yeah, the rest is history.
00:05:15
Speaker
Have you ever done longer than the 24 hour track? No, not on the track yet. um At 48 hours, not sounding very appealing to me at this point in time, but I'd actually like to do the six day because I think a woman can break a thousand Ks in six days. And I'd like to give that a crack, but maybe not right now.
00:05:34
Speaker
Okay. That's, Jesus, that's impressive. do Do you know what that pace works out to be? Oh, that is a good question. no i don't. But Meg Eckert went 980. 66, I think it was when she broke the world record last year. So yeah, I'd have to do the maths on that.
Balancing Life: Training, Career, and Studies
00:05:53
Speaker
it's' It's incredible. Like it's the, the extra elements to making it six days and being able to keep yourself going. Like it's very interesting. yeah did
00:06:05
Speaker
When you're training, if you were to train something like that, do you think you would change change much from how you trained for say tower or for the 24 hour track? I think you'd want to do a lot more volume. And I think you want to do um training in that element of going to sleep really quickly, because you will need to nap over six days. And that's not something I'm very good at. I know that from the backyard ultras. So I think I'd need to practice that and then do a lot of night running. And the um yeah, just the the sort of running in the small hours of the morning when no one really wants to be up and about. I think that's challenging. And then the eating as well because you can't spend six days just eating gels so you have to practice eating solid foods and running yeah yeah hopefully i don't think anyone could do six days on on jails it'd be quite impressive and a little bit sickening um no it's having had a few conversations with different people especially in the backyard space and it's seems like there's a obviously there's a point where you just can't do any more volume and so there's whether you're training for say 200 miler or mountainous 100 miler there's like
00:07:11
Speaker
there's a lot of commonalities in it and yes, everyone has their specificities and how they do it, but it seems like a very high reliance on their strength training more so than like trying to run more. Like, do you do you feel like you have the space in your current training to do more if you needed, if you had the time?
00:07:27
Speaker
No, I don't have the time at the moment. And that's probably why I haven't gone to anything longer, maybe like a 200 mile or 250 mile because yeah around work and my PhD, I just don't have the time, like 120Ks a week is absolute max and I'm pretty cognitively and physically exhausted by that. I can't keep that up for a very long, just a few weeks maximum. So I think if I really wanted to seriously think about one of those longer races, I probably need to do it in a period where I didn't have to work or after I'm finished my study or something like that. Yeah. What's your PhD in? um So I'm a dietitian. So my And I'm also an ex firefighter. So my PhD is in firefighters nutrition.
00:08:11
Speaker
Wow. how How far through it are you? Well, I'm doing part time. So I think I started the end of 22 and it's due at the end of 2030. twenty thirty So I'm kind of, yeah, three or four years in. Yeah, yeah it's a qualitative study. So I'm doing interviews and I've i've done all my interviews. So now it's kind of up to data analysis and then writing up the thesis and trying to publish some articles.
00:08:40
Speaker
Going into it, did you have an expectation of what you were trying to, like were going to get out of it? um ah it's It's a bit of an angle on social psychology as well because in my experience as a firefighter, I found um the eating environment was very interesting and that it was very influenced by the workplace culture and the people around you and their traditions and expectations. um And so I wanted to basically find out how do you influence the workplace culture to be more health promoting as opposed to the opposite of that. So ultimately, I'm hoping to inform interventions that will help firefighters and um maybe generalize to other first responders how to eat more more healthfully in the workplace.
00:09:26
Speaker
Does it look like it's changing at the moment? like I feel like in society, we're seeing this development that so of we're we're letting go of those historic kind of behaviors and the way we view food and and and what's kind of yeah the norm to do. Does it feel like in in your in your research, you have seen that just starting to change?
00:09:46
Speaker
Yes, I heard a lot of times that there's a demographic difference. So your younger firefighters are coming in more into the health and fitness space, lots of them are CrossFitters or High Rocks athletes. And they are, um I don't know if they're well informed from an evidence based perspective, they're well informed from an influencer perspective, but they are definitely into their nutrition in one way or another. And then you've still got the old firefighters that are stuck in their ways. And um are trying to put pressure on the younger firefighters to change and sort of eat the way that that they want to eat. Without opening a real can of worms here, do you find that there's negatives with the like influencer culture of how they're going about their lifestyle and then their diet?
00:10:28
Speaker
Oh, 100%. I think the evidence shows that about 50% of nutrition information on social media is inaccurate or incomplete or not transparent in the fact that people are they're actually selling a product, but they're making it look like they're giving you um actual evidence-based information.
00:10:46
Speaker
um And I think it's really important that people know where to go to get the correct information because the sort of one size fits all approach as in this work worked for me, so it's going to work for you. i mean, that's that's fundamentally flawed because we're all so different and different goals, different lifestyles, different, you know, everything. So, um I wish that message would get out of social media, honestly.
00:11:08
Speaker
yeah Yeah. It's, well, yeah, we we we can see it. And it's the same with with training. that You get people spouting all this stuff that's that's just wrong. or Or like you say, it maybe it works for them, but it won't work for the person next to you. Yeah.
00:11:24
Speaker
the diet lifestyle it's really interesting with with coaching that a lot of younger people that i coach sort of in like late teens and into twenty s a lot are pulling away from drinking and the late nights and it's can really see this like lifestyle switch that's happening so yeah hence wondering if that's coming across into the five ice as well yeah i would say so and i think that's a really positive thing absolutely and younger people can influence older people too i have found that in my study as well that um Older firefighters can be interested when they think that a young firefighter is a genuine source of knowledge on that topic, um then they can be a sort of a source of information. So it's just about are we spreading the right information or not?
00:12:07
Speaker
Yeah. And going back to the training side of it, how how do you find balancing everything together? Because especially if you're training for, say, a twenty k it would take a little bit less time and and you have a bit bit more on on your plate. But especially now, like you've got states coming up or training for the 24-hour track where you're running 273, think, kilometers. Like you you have to do volume for that. So like how do you balance it all? um To be honest, I'm i'm not that good at it. And I think um I have recently found that I'm burning out very quickly. I've got a really very stressful job, which I've just resigned from. It's actually my last week this week. And hello I've made that decision because I know that I can't sustain the level of effort that I'm putting into work, study and training at the moment. And I feel like I'm getting to a point in my running career where it's sort of make or break. I think, you know, maybe I've got some opportunities now to really get right into it and and see what I can make it. You know I'd love to be a professional athlete. It's kind of what I've always wanted to be. So um I think it's making some sacrifices around the career. So last year we went to France four weeks before Worlds and really buckled down and I did a little bit of study, but I didn't do any work and just trained. And whether or not that made a huge difference to my result at Worlds, I'll never know. But um I'm glad that I did take it really seriously. And I think there's, you know, that's another one of the cultural things and social media things is that we're, so we sort of glamorize this hustle and, you know people being super busy. And I do get a lot of feedback that people think it's really impressive that I manage all these things, but I don't think we should really be hyping that up. I think it's actually really bad. And I know it's been, it's been terrible for my mental health recently,
00:14:00
Speaker
And I think that that also would have transferred onto my physical health if I hadn't made the decision to to step back. So um I don't think juggling three major things in life is sustainable. And I think there's been other athletes that, you know, they might be a mum and working and studying or training or whatever, and they've said similar things. So I think you can probably do two things reasonably well, but not three. So um I'm making a conscious decision to step back from the career and focus on running and getting the study done for the foreseeable future.
Life Changes and Support for Running
00:14:33
Speaker
ah I completely agree like from what I see and that example that you used there of the parent work and and running is it's you can't have all three of them as the focus at the same time it just doesn't work and typically yeah you you burn out or or something else falls away but it's also it's it's not it's not easy to say I'm going to go all in on myself as a runner and forego my career obviously it sounds like it was the PhD is probably more of the career pathway longer term but right now like it how long did you think about like quitting work and and like how are you feeling now that you're as of a week's time kind of like all right running and my phd but like i'm really going in and running um it's it's daunting so that was never the plan and i'll be cautious not to say too much because i was actually supposed to start a new job and because we only got home from new zealand a couple of hours ago i haven't had a chance to um to speak to my my new employers, this new job that I've accepted. But the plan was actually because my partner, Nick, got a really great job offer in South Australia. So he was going to go there and I was going to take this new job in Queensland and we were going to try just doing our career thing separately for a while and then try to come back up to six to 12 months apart.
00:15:49
Speaker
um But once once we got this entry to States, I mean, that that whole decision was made about a week ago and then this golden ticket entered the picture. And we like, life needs to U-turn again, because this is such an amazing opportunity, but with four months to go, there's no way I can be doing, it was going to take a month to do the training course, to go into this new job. And then I'd be adjusting to a new town living on my own again. and you, I was going back to shift work. So I'd be adjusting to a new routine and how do I set my training plan up to accommodate that.
00:16:20
Speaker
And i just thought that's too much. I can't do all of that. So. I'll go to South Australia and I'll become a full-time student for a while and I'll live with Nick and he'll support me and um and I'll go all in on the running, which is, it's really exciting. I mean, I've said that I've wanted to do that for so long, but, you know, not having any sponsorship, it's, you know, financially impossible with, it especially with the cost of living at the moment. So I never thought it was something I'd get the opportunity to do. So, i'm I'm actually quite scared about it, as people might be when they feel like they're reaching a goal they've had for a really long time. But I'm super excited to see how much I can improve when I've actually got some time to recover and to really focus on nailing my training program and doing all those little one percenters that you don't have time to do when you're juggling so many things.
00:17:10
Speaker
yeah it's it's scary when you give yourself permission to chase the goal like it when you're it's it's one thing to talk about these things and to dream about them but when you finally go this is what i'm going to go for it it it is yeah it's frightening because it's the unknown isn't it it is and then what if i don't succeed what if i really bomb out at states what if i get injured and i can't even go i mean you just don't know how these things are going to pan out but i think you've got to If you've got the opportunity, and I'm certainly in a very privileged position to be able to do this because it's certainly not a position many people could could be in. yeah um
00:17:45
Speaker
But yeah, I think you've got to take it and just see where it leads. Yeah, it's that thought of once you remove the excuse, there is no, there there's nowhere to hide. And and and obviously, i you say that you're still studying. So that's still ah a very big time and mental component of it. But yeah, you've opened up a lot, a lot of your time. look Thinking about your life right now, and i think you kind of answered this anyway, but with the extra time, how do you think you'll use that for for training as a whole?
00:18:15
Speaker
Um, I think that instead of getting up at four or four 30 in the morning to jam a training session in before work, I think I'll probably just sleep until I, until I'm done sleeping and then I'll get up and I'll train in, you know, the nicer part of the day, like weather wise, um, because where we're going to be living in South Australia, it's very flat. I'll have to travel a lot to Adelaide to access the Hills. Um, so yeah, there'll be, there'll be hours and hours spent driving backwards and forwards from Adelaide, but that's okay.
00:18:44
Speaker
Um, I think I'll try and ah find some really fast training groups down there. I know there's some good running groups in Adelaide. So um i will try and and get some faster training partners and um and just recovery, you know, doing something between training sessions that isn't cognitive cognitively taxing. I'll definitely still be studying, but um just the, yeah, not having the stress of managing a team of people at work, I think will just be absolutely game changing and and recovery like sauna,
00:19:15
Speaker
you know, compression boots, doing all the all the techniques, all those little things that I just don't have time to do in my current lifestyle. Yeah, it's exciting. It's it's ah yeah it's so an exciting prospect for what for what could be States, or at least, like I said, to answer that question of of course what happens if I do do this?
00:19:32
Speaker
Exactly. Yeah. yeah So one of the, you mentioned as well, obviously the the funding side of the sports and not not being a sponsored athlete from a financial perspective. I know that and ah Endurance Edge or T8 support you. Yeah.
00:19:46
Speaker
the i' i'm just just getting the page up now um i did notice that you started up a australian sports foundation page which i had a look at and there's 18 000 that's been donated to you which is incredible yes and this is mostly courtesy of one person who i don't even know personally so massive shout out to stefano who has really just funded, I mean, the ability for us to do this this year and travel overseas with me stepping back from work, it's it's all 100% down to this fundraising and Stefano who's donated all this money to me, i would not be able to do this without him. So I'm actually so blown away by his generosity. i don't even know how to thank him, but yeah, it's it's really because of him that I've got this opportunity. Wow. Okay. So I i assumed that you must know who Stefano is because like it's it's all on your page. like hes he's he's act he's He's put his name there, so I'm sure he's no issue putting it, but he's donated over $10,000 to you. Well, over the last six months, it's it's quite a bit more than that, actually. If you look at both the campaign and the other general fundraising page I've got, yeah and I am...
00:21:03
Speaker
definitely not the only athlete he supports. So he is an Italian man. This is all I know about him. And he, um I think he was an entrepreneur, but he's retired at about age 48 and he must have a lot of money.
00:21:15
Speaker
And he just supports lots of Australian athletes of all different disciplines. So i know he's been supporting some of our winter Olympians. um I've had a call from someone else whose daughter is a line dancing national or world champion who got contacted by Stefano wanting to donate money to her. And and she was like, is this legit? Like, what is who is this person? And I said, he's been nothing but so kind and generous to me. i don't really know where his interest in Australian athletes comes from, but I'm very, very grateful for his support.
00:21:49
Speaker
That's incredible. it's It's very heartwarming to know that there's people out there that are willing to, for absolute, like he gets nothing out of this except for the fact that he knows that he's helping you pursue your dream.
00:22:00
Speaker
Oh, I know. i wish i wish that I could make that much money and pass that on to other people. It would be an amazing feeling to to know that you're making these people's careers. Yeah. So, uh, no, it's, it's, it's, the, the idea about putting out one of these, these pages, I think is, is great. Like it, it does allow it like fun and it allows people to support you if they want to, but I can imagine it's also quite, it's quite a vulnerable thing to do to put yourself out there and to essentially our strangers or or friends to help fund your pursuit of this at the moment hobby and hopefully professional thing that you can do. But is that something that you, you, should you kind of wrestled with a bit?
00:22:38
Speaker
Absolutely. I haven't asked for anything date till I put this page up in November last year because I really struggle to ask for help. I pride myself on being quite independent. um And I also feel that, you know, i've I've had a good education. I've got a degree. I'm capable of going out there and earning money. So I just find it it maybe it's not quite in alignment with my values to ask for money when I know, like you said, it's a hobby really. And there's so many people out there that probably need money more than I do to compete in a hobby. um
00:23:14
Speaker
But, you know, it has been, like I said, it's been dream for a long time. And we just said, Let's go all in, shelve the ego, shelve the pride, just do what you need to do and see what happens. And now I have a golden ticket. So it's going pretty well so far. Yeah. And it's always it's it's up to everybody to donate. It's not like you're saying you have to donate to me. it's it's yeah you're You're giving people an opportunity to support you if they want to, which is yeah incredible. And then you can see yeah the the the number of people that want to get behind you, which is incredible.
00:23:44
Speaker
And I wish that I didn't have to do it that way. I wish there was a pathway through the sport in Australia that allowed us to be funded so that we didn't have to. And it was done via sort of talent identification or results rather than, you know, these days, I guess a lot of the financial support comes to people who have a really good social media profile. And that's definitely not me. It's not my thing. It's not something I have time to focus on with everything else going on in my life. And I prefer to focus on running my best as opposed to selling myself on social media, I guess. Um, so yeah, it would be nice if we had a clear pathway, especially for younger people coming up through the sport. So they could know, um, you know, this is, this is where I go. This is how I get to be a professional trail runner. Um, where it's at yeah this point in time, it's not a very clear pathway, but I'm hoping that I can sort of help, um, I guess be a pioneer in that, in that area and make it more clear for for younger athletes coming behind me, especially female athletes.
00:24:43
Speaker
I think what you're doing at the moment is is showing that there are other options because the reality is is and unless trail running comes into the Olympics, you're not we're not going to get any national funding from it. And sponsorships are still a pretty new thing in the sport and they're very Euro and US focused. And and yes, there are sponsored athletes in Australia, but they're not on the the the type of of sponsorship that you need to make it your living. So it's yeah it's showing, like said, that if you can sort of step out of your comfort zone a bit and think a bit outside the box, there's definitely avenues out there, which I think is great to to demonstrate.
Tarawera Race Strategy and Experience
00:25:19
Speaker
Yeah. And I think that what we've seen with the crowdfunding of the of the prize money at at Black Canyons, which we'll probably talk about later, um I think you can see, and with Stefano donating to me, we can see that there's interest in it from the community and there's money out there that people are wishing to put into the sport. So yeah, maybe it is just about thinking outside the box and how do we leverage that instead of looking for funding through national sporting bodies when it's not there yeah all right let's talk a bit more about tower now because obviously that's what what we've got you on on for but it's been good to say to set the scene and i've had so many questions over the the last sort of year is looking at you and your results a lot with a lot more uh detail and i so spen especially after the the 24-hour champs coming off 24-hour champs how quickly was tower on the cards for you
00:26:10
Speaker
Uh, I think around early December, we made that decision, which was earlier than I'd hoped. I was hoping to take a really long mental and physical break from running after the Worlds because it was a really intense and long lead up. And I had raced, I think had raced three or four times earlier in the year as well. So i was hoping to really have an off season, but, um, I think then we just made that decision that we were going to go all in on, um,
00:26:37
Speaker
the the big UT races because we felt that that's where the interest from potential sponsors lay. um And of course, Tarawera is the most accessible one to us. You know, obviously a lot less costly to get there than to get to any of the other races. So, um and initially I was eyeing the golden ticket. um i I didn't think once I saw the elite start list, I didn't think I had any chance of making it at all, but that was one of the reasons for signing up for Tarawera. And then if I had missed that, we were potentially going to look at going to Canyons 100, which is the other golden ticket race in the States that happens about six weeks before Western States.
00:27:17
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Did Chianti ever, was that ever an option? No, too expensive, too far away. We went to Europe last year. We just couldn't afford to do it again so soon. yeah and from a training perspective going from what you're doing for worlds towards tower what was it obviously trails but was there much of a a switch up in what you were doing um not too much again because there's just not a lot of wiggle room in my daily routine for heaps of changes to the training just a lot more hills a lot more elevation um and i did throw in a few like weighted vest hikes and things like that um yeah just to yeah throw the focus back on the trails. All my long runs were on trails instead of on track or sealed surfaces. Yeah, that was the main thing.
00:28:04
Speaker
Okay. And like I said, I think Tauera this year, looking at the start list was definitely the most stacked and deep fields that that I've seen. And it which is it's great to see because obviously we have this this golden ticket on our doorstep. Um, and it's, I guess it's, it's good and bad. It makes it harder to get it, but it's good that it's getting that, that attention and ah but the worldwide recognition. But do you do you think the fact that you saw how deep the field was and the, in your head, you kind of wrote off, well, I'm not, I'm not going to be able to get a top three, top four. you think that helped you going into it?
00:28:36
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. i think partly that, um, and then partly, because last year I had been really focused on the golden ticket and i really over engineered the race. I had strategies coming out my ears. I had so many mantras and things I was supposed to focus on on in the race. And it was just all too much. And I had put so much pressure on myself. It was actually my first international trail race. And prior to that, I'd only ever raced in Australia and I'd only ever finished first female in any races I'd done. So I didn't want to ruin that record. And i was like, i'm gonna I'm going to come first in this race as well. And that was way too much pressure. And yeah, it didn't really work out for me at all. So this year I decided I'm going with a completely different plan. Plus the fact that our personal and professional lives had been just so overwhelmingly
00:29:24
Speaker
intense. There'd been a lot of, um, I had really bad decision fatigue, I think. So I didn't want to sit down and make a plan for the race. I just wanted to go out and be free and not run with any pressure or expectation. I didn't want to think about what place I was in, who was in front of me, where, you know, where I was in the field or anything like that. Um, and I think that worked really well. So it's definitely a strategy I'm going to carry forward to States.
00:29:48
Speaker
It's a ah very cool but also very powerful thing to work out by itself. We only learn these things by trial and error and some people would thrive in the approach you took last year and obviously youth you thrive and in in this one. but when when you were and i was say i was I was looking through your your results before this and it was just first, first, first, first first and you still came eighth. It's not like it was a 35th position. it was still a very good result at a tower where I feel but it did break the ah the very...
00:30:17
Speaker
nice pretty record that you have which is again it's probably a good thing because like you say it removes that that that pressure where i need to win this race um but yeah so you're standing on the start line you've got all these like incredible women around you that are like some of the but best runners in in the world were you like how are you feeling at that point when then when the gun went off I actually felt a lot less nervous than the year before, probably because of the strategy I decided to adopt, which was basically no strategy. yeah um So I was feeling pretty relaxed about it. And also i think because we knew what the weather forecast was like and what the conditions were likely to be, it was a lot more unknown than I think in many other years it would be. And I knew that the uncertainty would throw people off and that it would play into my favor because like I'm not the fastest runner in the world, but I am pretty good at enduring my yucky conditions and just sticking things out. And I thought if it does get really awful out there, that'll be to my advantage. So I think, um and I knew that i was ah I was much fitter than I was last year. So i figured, um i actually thought I would probably finish around the same place as I did last year without being invested in that result. That's where I thought I'd finish up, but I just didn't want to think about it during the race. I just wanted to go out there and enjoy it. yeah I'm really proud that I executed that plan.
00:31:42
Speaker
Yeah, i've I've got to imagine given the stuff that you's done, your mental strength and resilience is pretty high. but Yeah, I think naturally and from the other sports that I've done and the length of time that I've been in endurance sports in one form or another, but ah also um a year ago, probably, well, just just over a year ago, I started working with Rob Mason. So he's a mindset coach from the south coast of New South Wales and he's really helped me develop um all those strategies. And it's been really interesting to see the progression of how I went from not really racing with a particular mental strategy before Tarawera a year ago, and then creating this huge strategy for Tarawera that really didn't work for me. And then kind of paring it back as I went through all the races last year and just having a very simple but focused strategy for Welds. And then, yeah, moving to a place where now I feel like I don't really need a mental strategy. I can just trust that I've got all the tools there and I'll pull them out when I need them. I don't have to go in with this laundry list of of thoughts to think or, you know, things to have to do during the race. So that's a really freeing feeling.
00:32:53
Speaker
Yeah. So were you working with Rob at Tarawara last year? Yes, that was the first race I think we worked together for. Okay, so that's a really interesting process then. that Obviously, you've gone to this point with him and then you guys have paired it back. But it's clearly clearly clearly worked. I think it would be interesting for a lot of people to hear because think we kind of had this expectation that tower last year is probably what it's like working with a mental performance coach, whereas it doesn't have to be, yeah, mantras out your ears.
00:33:23
Speaker
Yeah, and I think it's it's a really good illustration of how that coach or mentor-mentee relationship works over time, that you're both learning together and you don't expect your coach to know you inside out in the first five minutes. But as you work together over time, you both learn more about yourselves and each other and and what works for you and what doesn't. So it's been a very interesting process. I would i would definitely recommend it to anyone who's thinking of of getting a mindset coach, it's, yeah, I think it's been a game changer for me. Yeah.
00:33:55
Speaker
And I'm sure you'd agree that this is not reserved for the front of the field. Like we spend so much time trying to train our bodies to get the most out of themselves, whether you're front or the back of the pack, your mind is probably the thing that's going to hold you back the most on the day.
00:34:09
Speaker
oh absolutely. And you can see that on the weekend. There were girls that pulled out of that race, girls and guys, um from the front of the field to the back. that pulled out for no reason. They got psyched out by the rain and the mud and, um, and that happens a lot. And I think, yeah, that's one thing that's really easily beatable. Um, and you know, you can't out train that you can make your body really fit and really strong, but if you don't have the mindset to push through when it gets tough, you probably not going to succeed as an, as an ultra endurance athlete of any kind. No, not at all. Um, okay. So you you've mentioned that the, the weather, can you kind of just give us a, a play by play of what you feel like is, is, is interesting from the race and how, how, it how it kind of all played out.
00:34:55
Speaker
Yeah. So the day before the evening before the race, uh, there was, um one of those weather alerts that come out that goes to everybody's mobile in the vicinity. So we're lying in bed and our mobiles start shrieking with this alert saying, red alert, there's going to be like 200 millimetres of rain. It's going to be torrential downpours. and You know, there might be landslides. There's going to be severe thunderstorms.
00:35:20
Speaker
And i was just thinking, oh, my gosh, I hope that don't cancel or or change the race in any substantial way because I thought, oh, this might be part of their risk assessment and process if there's like a weather warning that I might have to change it or something.
00:35:33
Speaker
And I think, you know, that probably was in everybody's heads and, you know, worrying about what shoes do I use and what gear do I use because I don't know what it's going to be like out there.
00:35:45
Speaker
um But actually when we got to the start line, it was only sort of drizzly and it wasn't nearly as wet underfoot as I thought it was going to be. So I chose to wear road shoes in the end. Yep.
00:35:58
Speaker
And that was a really good choice for probably the first 50Ks. It was actually quite... Yeah, quite not dry, but it was firm at least, the ground. And then um just on the descent into the first crewed aid station, which is at about 58 k's, there was just this absolute mudslide. There was someone from the race organisation who was out there putting ropes between the trees so you could actually sort of hang on and sort of slide down because there was no real way. You couldn't walk down it. You couldn't run down it. It was just a mudslide. So I basically slid down, slid down on my bump. And then after that aid station came the torrential downpour and it was just kind of pretty much ankle-deep water everywhere. You couldn't go uphill very well because you're just going to slide back down the mud. Like the surface was just such slippery mud and then, yeah, soft slippery mud coming down off the major climb, which is about 65km in. Yeah.
00:36:57
Speaker
So i took a couple of big falls there and then... um And then once we got to Blue Lake, which is where the 50 and 21K runs had already been through, or there were still lots of walkers with poles covering that section of the course the the terrain was just so torn up um okay those trails ah they better get out there and rehabilitate them because they are going to be ruined for a long time but you just had to laugh like you couldn't get frustrated with it because everybody had to deal with it so I was just kind of having a laugh and saying people this is crazy and you know you sort of feel like you're um
00:37:34
Speaker
on one of those travelators but going backwards like you'd be taking steps forward but he's kind of sliding back down the hill so it was yeah kind of uh funny in a way but yeah i think it just came down to how you you dealt with that you could have got really frustrated and um it's actually really hard on the body because i've never i've never run 50ks in soft mud before your body's trying so hard to stabilize you and stop you from falling down with every step that you know, I've got muscles that are sore today that I never knew I had. So, yeah, it certainly made it an interesting race, that's for sure.
00:38:12
Speaker
Did you stay in road shoes the whole time? I did, yeah. I thought I might have changed at that first crewed aid station, um but I don't know. I think I was not really thinking about it. I think I felt like I'd already gone past a part that was so bad that you know any shoes are not going to have enough grip. yeah It doesn't matter what you're wearing. Everything is going to slide in that mud. So we're past the point of no return. Let's not waste the time to change the shoes. Let's just keep going. And I really don't think it was a huge setback. I don't know if I would have gained any time by putting trail shoes on. And if I did, it would have been very minimal. So I'm not upset with the choice.
00:38:51
Speaker
No, it sounds like in those sort of conditions, unless you've got like the fell running style shoes, it's not really going to make much much difference at all. Yeah, there were even people out there with poles that said to me they couldn't get purchased with their poles because the mud was that thick. They couldn't find any solid ground. So, yeah. And it was good, like ah the last 7Ks of the race is on is on flat, um you know, trails slash roads. I think it was nice to have their um a carbon-soled road shoe. You know, that was, I think, made me feel better at the end.
00:39:24
Speaker
Yeah. what What were you using? ah The Nike Zoom Flies. So they're like a third tier down. um They're a bit more suited, i think, because they have a tiny little bit more grip and they don't have a big, you know how the Alpha Flies have a big section in the sole where it's like rocks can get stuck in there and that sort of thing, which is really annoying. So I won't wear the Alpha Flies on the trail, but the Zoom Flies were quite good, I thought.
00:39:49
Speaker
That's interesting. So do you do you train in them normally? I actually bought the Zoom Fly specifically for the race because um I usually train on the track in alpha flies or vapor flies, but I try the alpha flies on the trail and I got the rock rock stuck in the bottom and like, this is so annoying. There's no way I'm doing a race and it completely destroys the shoes as well. So um yeah, I bought the Zoom Fly. And also I listened to Vlad's conversation on shoe choice and I learned a bit from from that I think he was recommending the Vaporflyers, I'm not sure, but yeah, definitely some of those Nike ones. So yeah, I thought they were a pretty good choice and had the race been dry like it normally is, i think, yeah, you would definitely want something like that.
00:40:33
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. You see a lot um so down ah in Victoria, the two bays race, which is like ah a very fast, it is trails, but you see a lot of super shoes on there. And then the vapor flies typically because yeah, there's there's no cutouts in there. The whole shoe one piece um and getting getting rock stuck shoe is very frustrating. Very annoying, yeah. Yes. So, no, that's that's interesting. It's, yeah, it's it's always, we put so much emphasis on shoe choice and kind of points out that it's really, as long as you feel comfortable in it, yes's it's going to work for you.
00:41:08
Speaker
And I think that's one of the very few benefits of being an unsponsored athlete or one that's not tied into a specific brand is that I can choose what I like, what's comfortable, what suits, what I think is going to suit the terrain and the weather. So, yeah, it's nice to have that freedom to choose.
00:41:23
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's actually, it's it's a really good question when you do have somebody who's unsponsored and be like, right, you have all the selection you want. What have you actually gone for? It's because it's it's like, yeah, you're going to put your own money into it.
00:41:35
Speaker
um And yeah, you have you have free reign. Yes. Yeah. And it is when you focus on performance, you really want to choose the gear, every part of the gear that works best for you. So I do appreciate that aspect of it. Yeah.
00:41:48
Speaker
So going through all the sliding and mud and everything, like how, from a position perspective, how did your day progress? And like, well, when did you realize, or if you realized that you were in a golden ticket position? Uh, so I started off, there was quite a large pack of girls. I thought at the start that took off really quickly. i didn't know how many exactly were in that group, but I thought maybe six and then Ruth and Lucy were running together and they were about 20 meters in front of me. So I figured I was just slipping into the top 10 when we got to the first aid station, which is about 14 Ks in.
00:42:24
Speaker
And Lucy and Ruth both stopped there to fill up their drink bottles and I had plenty of water. So I just kept running and I expected both of them to come steaming back past me, but only Ruth did. So then I knew that um I had dropped Lucy and then I caught up to Katie Asmuth, an American runner, and I passed her.
00:42:42
Speaker
um So then I figured I was probably sitting in about sixth And then I did not see any other women for the rest of the day. was like, where have these women gone? i kind of thought I would um find some. So after the the climb out of Okatana, which is the crewed aid station at 60 Ks, last year I found two or three women up there. But I didn't see anyone at all. And it wasn't until I got, I came out of the forest. There's an aid station called Miller at about 75 Ks in, and where you come back out onto the road.
00:43:15
Speaker
And I picked up a couple of guys there and I was running along with them. And one of the guys said to me, oh, you must be in fourth female spot. And I was like, what? I don't know. I don't think so. and he's like, yeah, I think only um Ruth, Caitlin and the Japanese girl are in front of you. and I was like, oh, okay, well, where did everyone else go? Because I knew Juliette Sewell, where had she been in the group? And I think the Chinese girl was there um and there was someone else, one or two people. And then there was also people that I just expected to be in front of me, like um Steph Austin and Zoe Manning. I thought they would be up the road. So I was kind of thinking, yeah, maybe sixth to eighth. So I was very shocked when I found out that I was in fourth.
00:43:56
Speaker
um And I thought, just don't think about that. It's not helpful right now. Just keep running. in the present, do what you're doing, get to the end. um And yeah, I think by the last aid station, like I knew that no one was going to catch me and I was going to finish fourth, which I was just stoked about because I had you know gone in thinking that I'd be around about eighth. So fourth spot was just like amazing. um And I didn't even think about the golden ticket. To be honest, it wasn't really on my mind. um And even if I had thought about it, I probably would have assumed that Ruth
00:44:31
Speaker
was going to take it and the Japanese girl was going to take it. I did know that Caitlin already had an entry. um So I wouldn't have thought that I was going to be getting it anyway. So it was very, it was a very nice surprise to to see that when I crossed the
New Opportunities and Future Plans
00:44:45
Speaker
finish line.
00:44:45
Speaker
Yeah, I think if anyone listening hasn't seen it, go and look at the the Instagram story of you being given the ticket because it's is's incredibly heartwarming. ah We said before we came on on that it's just it's nice to see someone genuinely so excited about something. Yeah, we're comparing mine and – ah What's the Japanese girl's name? She was so lovely. And she was typically Japanese, very respectful, very quiet, just humble. And I was just screaming my head off. i couldn believe that It was, yeah, typical difference between Japanese and Australian. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, we'll the results, might as well since we're here. So Ruth Croft was in first. And you were only 36 minutes off Ruth at Tarawara, which is like, this is Ruth's fourth win. And this is kind of like her her home ground. That's a sort of very, very impressive run. um Yeah, I was yeah happy. And especially because I was... I mean, I knew I'd be quicker than last year because last year I wasn't particularly well. um
00:45:45
Speaker
But she ran, I think, about 10 minutes, maybe a little more slower than last year. And so did Caitlin. And so did the winning men. I think they all ran about 10 12 minutes slower than last year. And I ran 15 minutes quicker than last year. So I was quite pleased with that considering the conditions. And it was the exact same course?
00:46:03
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, think there might have been few tiny little changes, but it was overall the same. Wow. Jeez, that's really impressive. um yeah so Yeah, so Ruth, then Caitlin, Hanoka Akayama was the girl, the lady in in third, and then yourself, and then yeah Katie Asmuth. But you had a 20-minute gap before you got to fifth, so you'd really opened up on the rest of the field.
00:46:25
Speaker
Yeah. um I was, I didn't really know because at Redwoods, the last aid station, Nick, my partner and my support crew, he did say to me, I need you to run a really fast 5k. And I was like, Oh no not this again. I kind don't have it in me, but um I wasn't sure whether he was suggesting that I could potentially catch the girl in front or that I was able to stay in front of the person behind me. But once you sort of, you run into town, you come around a big corner and you can sort of turn around and look back. And that was the first time I looked back all race. And I,
00:46:55
Speaker
could not see anyone else running fast. and They were all like the 50k, 20k walkers. So I thought I'm i'm home here. i don't need to I don't need to push it as hard as I can right to the finish line. And yeah, I did have a fair gap on Katie, who was also lovely. And I know she really wanted the golden tickets. I yeah did feel a bit a bit bad. She came all the way from the US to to race. But Yeah, exactly.
00:47:20
Speaker
You're not going to turn around and be like, oh no, I'm going to say no, you can take it. I feel bad for you. Yeah, no. And it's like, that's the beauty of racing, isn't it? You can build up this perfect scenario in your head, but end of the day, you can only, you have to beat who's there and deal with the conditions the best. um yeah it's like katie's they have their own podcast um the trail network and it's like listening to to that like it's it's hard not to become really invested in these people's stories and and you want so much for for her to get the ticket but yeah the end i know
00:47:53
Speaker
I obviously have the Oz bias, but I would rather see you see you take that than her. I'd love to see her get it, but I'd love to see you get it a bit more. so um But yes, as also it's a very mean thing to say when you have 20 minutes in front of you and 20 minutes behind you to say that you've got to run a hard five k I know, isn't it? always does that to me. And we'd we'd managed to go through a whole day without focusing on position because normally i'm very I'm very competitive. So he's always updating me on how far in front or behind or what I need to do. And yeah, just because of my strategy for this race, I didn't want any of that sort of feedback. um And we'd got through the whole race without it until we got to the last 5Ks. And by then I was kind of I was feeling a bit flat. I needed a bit more energy and then to hear, oh, you've got to do a hard was like, oh, really? Do have to? But, yeah. it's, um yeah, that's that's that's that's very mean. And I mean i guess it's good practice you because you never know when you're going to have to use that. so Exactly right, yeah.
00:48:51
Speaker
And now, obviously, yeah, this gets you into States. The 100-mile distance and knowing the States course, like it's it's net downhill, but it's still not easy. I think it still has – how is it, is it 17,000 feet? So five and a bit thousand meters of climbing across the whole, the whole race. Um, but it is very fast. It is in the heat. Like how are you feeling about taking on the challenges of States?
00:49:14
Speaker
Yeah. Again, I would like to have more of a lead in because I do think there's a lot of elements there that need to be considered that I haven't really considered before, like the altitude potentially, are the heat and yeah, there's a lot of climbing. um so,
00:49:28
Speaker
Yes, ideally I would have had more time to to do saunas and to investigate altitude tents and all these sorts of things. But, um you know, I've always just made do with what I've had in the past and at least I'm going in. Yes, it's my first 100 miler, but I've done events that are longer before. like I've covered over that distance. So I'm not too daunted by the distance, but I just, the race itself i i want to do the best possible effort that i can as anyone would go into states so yeah i'm very motivated to to recover from this race and get back into training and yeah maybe try a few new things trying up with volume and um yeah spend more time in the sauna and do whatever i can do really to to be in the best shape i can for this race and when will you move to south australia Um, I'd say probably mid-March. So there'll be a little bit of logistics in you breaking our lease and and doing all the moving part and and things, which is annoying because we only moved into this house about three weeks ago. so ah
00:50:35
Speaker
wow but that's, that's the story of our lives. Um, I think sometimes the chaos makes me a better runner because I'm, I'm very practiced at dealing with a million things going on and trying to problem solve while I'm exhausted and and that sort of stuff. So I try and take it as a training stimulus, not as ah a really bad, you know, something that's going to be really hamper my progress. so a I like it. It's it's good a good good takeaway to to to pull from it. Yeah. Awesome. Thanks for giving us chance to get to know you, but also the, the recap of, of the race. I think like the condition has definitely played such a big element in it and it just showed the people that were, could manage themselves the best were the ones that they came through. And after you got the golden ticket, had a ah look to see if another Australian has ever got it. And the only other person is another lady, which is Steph Austin back in black Canyon in 2020, where she came third and it it rolled down a spot.
00:51:32
Speaker
but So it's a very rare thing for an Australian to run themselves into a golden ticket and they're only getting harder and harder to get. So yeah, it's very impressive. we're very happy to to see that happen. And it's exciting to have somebody that we can really cheer for at at States now. So appreciate you doing that for us.
00:51:50
Speaker
Oh, thanks James. It's yeah, it's so exciting. And the people that have received these golden tickets are just incredible runners. Like you saw the Olympic medalist, you know, marathon medalist getting one at, at,
00:52:02
Speaker
Black Canyons and, you know, Tara Dower, you know, all the the people that have these tickets are just incredible runners. And to think that I'm going to get to line up against those people, it's just absolutely mind blowing. i I can't wait. Yeah. It's even, I was listening to the free trails recap of Black Canyon and just hearing them say your name in the same sentences. It's, it's really cool to hear. as Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if it's that has the same effect effect on you, but like it's and it's's's it's really fun when you hear, okay, cool, like one of one of ours is is there and doing it.
00:52:37
Speaker
Oh, yeah, and they never know anything about me, which I also like. And the golden ticket's gone to Holly Ranson. Do you know anything about her? No, do you? What's she done? yeah yeah I like coming in as the underdog. That's always a good feeling. Yeah, ah you know and and you know that like obviously we're all cheering from you, but there's like there's no eyes from ah a expectation perspective that you can just completely go and under the radar, do your thing and see what happens.
00:53:02
Speaker
And that's what I like. i don't want to I don't want the pressure of anyone expecting me to do anything or really watching me with anything other than sort of encouragement and support. Yeah.
00:53:12
Speaker
yeah A quick break in the show to thank Bix. Bix has just come out with their 30 gram gel in two brand new flavors. This is a new gel, new flavors. You've got the choice of the salted strawberry or the berry. The salted strawberry is also packing 300 milligrams of sodium as an increase, whereas the berry has 200 milligrams. Both make them perfect for the conditions we have in Australia, whereas most gels on the market do not have sodium within them. What Bix has done here is take the recipe for the gels that work so well, that 1.8 ratio that is very, very friendly on the stomach and added a soft, subtle, but very tasty twist that you can dial in your race day and your training nutrition to that extra fine detail.
00:53:53
Speaker
As you know, bix has been supporting the show from the start and it literally helps keep the podcast coming to you every week. So if you want to support the show, level up your own nutrition game, head over to the Bix website, use our brand new code PEAK, P-E-A-K for 20% off at checkout. And with that, let's get back to the show.
00:54:10
Speaker
Being at Tower Era in general, like we'll go through the the races and so we'll we'll talk about some stuff a bit more broadly as the the news from events. But was there anything that kind of stands out to you about being at the event or anything you saw or heard, conversations whilst you were there? um It's always a really friendly event. and What do they call it? The race with heart or something. that's It's a really good community vibe. And um I think it was probably even more so with the weather. People just kind of, came together, you know how they do when they've been through a sort of rough experience together. and you know, we were at the presentation on Sunday midday and there was still mile of finishes coming in and just the the paddock where you finish, it was an absolute, just like a swimming pool of, of mushy mud and yeah, people coming in just drenched in mud and sort of stumbling in like zombies and this sort of thing. And just, I have such respect for those people that stick it out all night and in those conditions. And, yeah, so it's a really nice feeling. And, of course, like with Ruth and and Dan always winning it and being sort of their home race, I don't know, it just has it has a particular vibe to it. it's um
00:55:20
Speaker
I mean, I haven't done done too many of the ultra trail events. i I tend to stick more to your more community kind of events, but I think that's what gives it that community feel is having the New Zealanders really leading from the front and, you know, including all the, cultural aspects of it and things as well. It's it's a really good event. and And so many Australians over there as well. Like you bump so many people, you know, too, which is cool. Yeah, it's the winners kind of celebration that that they get when they come come through, the hockey gets performed to them, like that would be an incredible experience. I think there's obviously ah very few select people will be able to ever feel like it would be part of that. But it's it's it's a very unique thing that, again, would kind of build that community feel more than just a typical race line, the finish line would feel.
00:56:08
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. It's quite unique. Even for the start of the 100, they have a a group that does the Harka right in front of you at the start line. And yeah, it does it does really add something, that sort of local cultural. touch to it, which is is nice. Yeah.
00:56:25
Speaker
Wonderful. Okay. We'll pivot now from the kind of interview mode into the the regular regular mode. um And we'll go through some of the results from Tauera. And then we'll talk a bit about Black Canyon as well. Because I do want to talk about the race purse that they had, which I think was an interesting and yeah, got a lot of flack as well, which I thought was a bit bit mean but um the men's race at tower is the 102k dan jones took the wins his fourth in a row he had a 26 minute lead i just like his his capacity on this course is just incredible oh amazing the speed he can run that ah it it blows my mind Yeah, especially hearing you describe the conditions. And like I heard the same thing about once all the courses converged, it just got even more chaos yeah because so many people have gone through it. it's just yeah It is absolutely incredible. And i'm um I feel like Dan has had, I think he said, a fifth and no, two fifths and a fourth at States. But I feel like he's got that potential to be...
00:57:23
Speaker
absolutely Yeah. Um, so then second was a guy from the States, Jacob banter. Um, it was fun kind of seeing all the news after of him. Um, he's sort of been, from what I can tell, knocking on the door for quite a long time. Um, and it's just like got that, that, that one breakthrough. And then,
00:57:42
Speaker
um Kiwi, Max Janzik, he came in third. So Jacob and Max took the golden tickets for that one. And it was like, once you ignore Dan, it was a very close between second and fifth through Nick Handel and Janusz Kowalsak, who Janusz has been a previous 10 at state. So it's a very, yeah. And then even Shenzi Sheng, who won UTA 100, he came in sixth.
00:58:06
Speaker
um and was yeah another sort of 20 minutes back. So really, as you said, really competitive competitive races. And it's it's kind of it's fun to see all these names close to us. um In the miler, we had Simon Cochran from New Zealand taking out the win. I'm going to go through the winners in these because was going to take me way too long to go through all of these races. And then Devin Yanko took out the win and in the women's.
00:58:32
Speaker
I'm going to completely... disagree what i just said because we have two Aussies who came second and third in here. So Hannah McRae took out second place. um And then it's Sarah perett Parkins that took out third. And i was watching like Hannah and Sarah the whole race and they were just sort of like working their way through. um They were sort of in the podium most of the day, but they just kept pushing and that never really...
00:58:54
Speaker
Once the gap had formed to Devon, it never really got any bigger. It sort of stayed at that half an hour mark to Hannah, which I think, yeah, have Hannah and and Sarah, but Hannah definitely would be very, very happy with that performance because Devon's a very, very good runner.
00:59:08
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't get to watch the miler results at all, obviously, because I was busy. But yeah, that's a fantastic result for
Race Recaps and Prize Funding Debate
00:59:16
Speaker
them. yeah I'll have to go back and do the miler one day, i think.
00:59:20
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I think the going for, I can't remember what what the stones called that they get on the necklace, um, at the end. Yeah. Like that's, I know one of the, one of my friends, like that was such a big goal for him was to take off getting that. um and yeah, now he's addicted to, to the race. um in the 50k in the men's uh again following this along it was this was really interesting there was an american guy um i think his name was liam who was leading the whole race charlie hamilton was right behind him and then the next thing we know sam mccawley from new zealand has jumped into into first charlie's still in second and this guy liam ends up finishing about an hour behind
01:00:02
Speaker
them so not exactly sure what happened to him what happened to him i'm pretty sure he's a pro runner for for nike um and just vanished which was yeah hopefully he was like okay like he still got himself the finish line which was really impressive um but yeah not what we expected to see and then in the women's race robin lesh she went wire to wire um followed by brit jemima cooper and then julia anderson who was stoked to see her have that like we've seen julia at a couple she's been at hounslow marathon the last couple of years had some really good results but um this was definitely on a ah bigger scale so really awesome to see for her and then we also had some Aussies in the 20k I'm pretty David Vernon won I know he's in Australia I'm pretty sure he is Australian but they haven't done as British um but yeah he'd take out the win there and then Nathan Pierce was in third for the Aussies as well and then in the women's race
01:00:54
Speaker
We had um Katie Lowry from UK. She took out the win. Lydia O'Donnell, who and know she lives in Australia. I think she is New Zealand, but she she was in second. And then Katinka was in third also, Australian. So it was, yeah, and and very close. like Really, really good, good racing. And I can't imagine that would...
01:01:14
Speaker
would have been in great condition either on for that for that one so yeah it's it's it's cool it's the same with UTA like it's when you have these big races and all the names come together and you see the level of competitiveness it's it's very hard to get on a podium so any Australian that's doing that especially they come more become more international and UTA being the major it's uh yeah very very good racing um then looking at Black Canyon So this was see another golden ticket run on the same day, which apparently has happened before, but worked quite well because they're 18 hours behind us. So you could split split the two up.
01:01:51
Speaker
um In the men's race for the I'll just go through the hundred guy because this was the one for the golden ticket. Hans Troyer. took out the win. he was running with um Eli Hemming and Jordan Bramblett for, want to say the first 60K of this. And then Jordan dropped back, Hans and Eli were running together for a bit. And then it looked like the heat got to him and Hans just pushed on. So he set a new course record by about four minutes, beating Seth, ruling time from last year. Anthony Costales, this was actually probably the person that I would say
01:02:28
Speaker
matched your level of enthusiasm for getting a golden ticket. like yeah Anthony, you you had the course record back from 2023, couple of hard years. And he just, I think at one point he was down in sort of 12th or 13th and he just came through the field, was charging, closing the gap on hands. And then he, can't remember exactly what he mouthed or what he said, but it was mouth across to the live stream. But it was to the extent of like,
01:02:51
Speaker
I'm back and I'm not going anywhere. And just literally ripped the golden ticket out of Craig Thornley's hands. It was, uh, yeah, it was great to watch. And then Trayson Knopp, who's a, he's done all this block in, um, Alaska. That's where he, where he lives. So lots of, lots of treadmill running. Um, he was on the world's team for the U S last year, but he's only, I think he's in his early twenties or so. So this was a really, really good run from him. And then Canyon Woodward. So hands already had ticket from being top 10 last year. Canyon Woodward, who was in fourth, he, his coach, David Roach gave him the ticket at Havelina. So then it did roll down to Jordan Bramblett because they have three, which was good to see because Jordan, he went out hot last year and faded and he went hot this year. Like he was, he was leading the race for a while.
01:03:34
Speaker
and but then held on to still secure the golden ticket and then in the women's race this was again the there was a live stream for for this and i the i just got back from the uk and jet lag woke me up at 3 a.m m so i just the race started 1 a.m so i got to watch the whole thing i think sim last week she said that watching the live stream of 100 milers and 100 k's isn't very interesting and I completely disagree. get addicted to it.
01:04:03
Speaker
Especially if you've got good commentators. yeah You tell a story and you just you get really invested. um The 50k commentary wasn't as good and that was a bit more bit harder. But anyway, um so Jen Lichter, she took out the win in her debut 100k followed by Anne Flower who has the 50 mile Is it world record or American record? and i don't know if you know. what World record, yeah. so And um and she she also broke Anne Treyson's Leadville 100 record last year. And this gap, um well, to start off, Molly Seidel, um she was in the lead, but by 10, 15 seconds, Jen Lichter was right behind her. And Anne Flowers was about a minute behind Jen, like the entire race. And as soon as it got a little bit rockier, Molly dropped back. um
01:04:52
Speaker
Jen pushed on, Anne pushed Teradaw kind of came through a bit later. But yeah, that race between Jen and Anne was fascinating because you were just sort of waiting for Anne to come up, knowing that she has a bit more confidence at the longer distance. But Jen just looked so strong and she came through the finish and was like... Obviously, she you could tell she'd run, but yeah it's she took the golden ticket. and She said that she is still to confirm if she 100% accepts it.
01:05:18
Speaker
i think she has a couple of weeks to decide. But seeing how she finished that race, like she's definitely ready for a miler. That's amazing. The level of pressure you'd be running under, being so close to the person in front or behind you for that long, yeah that would have taken real mental toughness as well. so yeah And how fast they ran it.
01:05:38
Speaker
Oh, and then this is the other thing. I think the, so the course record last year, Riley Brady, they dropped it by about 30 minutes. And then the conversation is always, can the men break seven hours? Could the women break eight hours? Hans ran 720. So they're still quite a long way back, but that was, yeah, it took just under five minutes off that record. But then Jen runs 757 and Anne Flower runs 758. And that took 19 minutes off. I think it 18 or 19 minutes off Riley Brady's time. Yeah.
01:06:08
Speaker
from last year and it's just like it's it's a net downhill course but it's not on groomed trails like can you look at the live stream like it's very rocky and it's it's not fast going it's constant single track so you're getting these all these little bumps all the switchbacks that just cut cut your rhythm so sub eight hours is just incredible yeah it's yeah it's that's incredible um so yeah so jen and ann have provisionally taken their tickets tara dower was in third she already has one so that rolls down to molly sidell in fourth who she also took it so it's yeah it's it is shaping up to be a very very interesting um western states which yeah it always is but i feel like the level i was just said with tower everything is getting better and better and better
01:06:52
Speaker
yeah um Cool. So one of the things that we you mentioned um was the the race purse that Black Canyon had. So were you kind of following along looking at this?
01:07:04
Speaker
um I heard a little bit about it beforehand and then we saw that the prize money was quite different to what it was in Tarawera and that reminded me, oh yeah, they crowdfunded it. yeah But I didn't look at much of the online commentary so I'm interested to know what the comments said. Yeah, you've got to love the comment section of a YouTube live stream. How much was the prize money at Tauera?
01:07:26
Speaker
ah So the winner received $1,500 I assume that's New zealand dollars. I think for second and for third and that's as deep as it went.
01:07:36
Speaker
Okay. So yeah, so the the premise behind this is that set up by AeroViper, who is the race organizer. And it's essentially the SB crowdsourced prize purse, but then AeroViper will match it.
01:07:50
Speaker
And so for the 100K, I can't remember the exact number, but it got to something around 16,000 US. And so that meant that I think Hans Troy was handed a check for about, it was over 5,000 US, but essentially meant that, yeah, for the top three,
01:08:05
Speaker
it went across both ways. um i ah It might pay deeper to deeper than three, but they just gave the checks to the podium. And then i think the 50K ended up at about 6,000 as well. So still still pretty good considering that that's not the the focus event.
01:08:19
Speaker
But Yeah, the the stuff and the stuff in the chat, and i I just completely disagree with it, but they were saying like, why are you asking the spectators to fund your prize purse when you're a big business getting all this entry fee? And like, I and i understand that it could maybe seem like that, but there's also for race organizer to put up a $30,000 prize purse, like that's coming from sponsorship money. And if the sponsors have that money has gone into producing the live stream that we're all getting for free,
01:08:49
Speaker
It's an avenue to, you're not supporting the race. Like the race isn't pocket pocketing any of this. It is supporting the athletes and you're donating to this. Like you're essentially saying, hey, we really value what you guys are doing. Thank you for giving us a stream to watch and watch these amazing runners race. And so we're going to help go back and support them. And there is another avenue on YouTube to support the live stream itself if you want to. But yeah, most of the money was going into the and into the the race purse. But what do you think of that as an idea?
01:09:14
Speaker
yeah I think there's definitely two schools of thought there. um yeah I think the race organizers generally they are making a lot of money especially with these UT events um you know that the entry fees are really high and it's important to offer prize money because it draws more elite runners it makes it more competitive and and amateur runners want to line up on a start line with with big names they want to see them there they want to you know, fan girl about them afterwards. Um, and, and as well, the runners are trying to make a living or, you know, it's very expensive to get to the races, even if you don't have to pay the entry fee for the race, it's can be still thousands and thousands of dollars to travel there. So, um, I do think the organizers should be, should be putting up a good prize purse. Um,
01:10:08
Speaker
But it's it's creative thinking to to crowdfund it. And as long as they put up a reasonable amount of money, even if the crowdsourcing didn't work, I think there needs to be the fallback plan that you provide a minimum amount, even if the crowdsourcing doesn't contribute much. um But, yeah, I mean, the haters going to hate. There's always gonna be someone in the comments section that doesn't like it. So, yeah, you can't win.
01:10:34
Speaker
No, no. And it's, we've seen a couple of these different ideas where you can support athletes for the prize purse but by donations. And I think I i like like the idea of if you want to have, a bit bit like with with your page, if you want to support the athletes and support the athletes that do well, it gives people an avenue to to to do it. But yeah, when when a race is financially benefiting from an elite being there, I do agree like they that they should be paid for their effort.
01:11:03
Speaker
um And especially, like you said, there's there's a lot of people that even off if even if they are a quote-unquote pro, they're not on a full wage. And so $5,000 US can go a really long way.
01:11:16
Speaker
Yes. Yeah, it could be the difference between getting to the next event or not getting to the next event. And I don't know what Black Canyons is like in terms of how much they spend on making the race experience a high-quality But you know some of these big races that you go to, you do pay $800, $1,000 to enter. And what you get for that money, i mean, you know it's not costing them anywhere near that much to have you there as part of the race.
01:11:42
Speaker
Yeah. When you start doing the maths on some of the UTMB events, it's – yeah. and And the number of entries, the cost of entry, um yes, there's there's a lot of money going in.
01:11:57
Speaker
Yeah. um Cool. All right. Well, then the only other thing from a kind of news perspective at the moment is Barkley Marathons has just finished um for the 26th year out of 40. We didn't have any finishes. So one man, a Frenchman, Sebastian Raychon, he made the fun run. So making it three laps.
01:12:18
Speaker
um Four guys went out on that third lap. Max King, Matthew Planchard and Damien Hall, they all got tapped out so they didn't get back. And the chat is basically just once once we had that year where Jasmine Paris finished and I think four or five guys finished, it essentially just went, we're going make it impossible now. And they pulled it forward by a month, I want to say. So it's not normally in February because it's snowy and a lot colder and a lot wetter.
01:12:45
Speaker
So that's Barclays. It's yeah an interesting event that happens. And I'm not sure how, I don't know if the the whole sport really understands how they feel about it, but it's there.
01:12:56
Speaker
Is there anything would ever interest you, Holly? ah I'm not sure. Maybe one day. um Not at this point in time. And i'm I'm not very good with the navigation skills. So I'm not sure if I would succeed at Barclays, but you never know. I might want to try it one of these days. Yeah.
01:13:15
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I think it's the the navigational aspects and the fact that everyone's legs look like they've gone through torture afterwards. Like there's there's just no trail. It's yeah, I think there's other things I personally train for instead. um Cool. All right. So moving on to the other results that have been domestically, um we had the Australian Alpine Ascent. So up at Kosciuszko.
01:13:37
Speaker
um three distances here so i'll just go through that the winners of each ones in the 80k in the men's michael loft took out the win in 758 18 um and ray firth in the women's in 10 15 56 in the 55k uh dorian who's there from france he took out the win in 4 1905 which when you look at this course it has about 1800 meters of elevation and I think it's worked out to be about four-minute gap or so. So this very, very strong run from him. He had about an hour lead.
01:14:07
Speaker
um And in the women's, Aurora Leclerc took out the win there in 650-42. And then Thompson took out the win the men's. And then in the whip women's, Robinson,
01:14:22
Speaker
eighteen um Elsewhere, we had the Yaburu Trail Twilight Ultra in WA, which I've just put the results somewhere else for. This one, few different distances here in the area.
01:14:41
Speaker
um they've Petra Geragian took out the win in 450-46. And in the men's, Carl Harrison, 410-05. And in the 25K, Eva Perry took out the win there in 203-47. And Ben Leeson took the win in 154-45.
01:15:00
Speaker
forty five and We also had round six of the Southeast Queensland Trail Series. So in the long course here, Andrew Day took the win in 45-14. And then Kelly Bobir, who I'm pretty sure we read her name out a lot for this this series. She took out the win 51-47. Awesome.
01:15:17
Speaker
forty seven And then there was not necessarily a trail run, but there's the upper Beaconsfield tower run, um which is just on the roads.
01:15:29
Speaker
It's a half marathon, about half marathon with five, 600 meters, but it was just incredibly impressive for the, winner a specifically on the men's side is won by craig appleby so it's a half marathon yeah about five six hundred meters of climbing in 78 57 who is a sub 80 minute half that essentially is just all these little spikes um and then yeah john dutton who's quite used to seeing on the trails he was third in 12407 so very impressive run there from craig um but And then the only ah other result, as I saw Bridget Lunn, who's currently training for Buffalo 20K, she just set a 1646 5K, which anytime I see one of the the ladies breaking 17, it's very impressive.
Mindset on DNFing and Race Pushing
01:16:14
Speaker
That is fast. Yeah, that's very fast. Cool. so we have a question for you, Holly, from kate Jackson. She's just asked your thoughts on DNFing versus continuing when the race isn't going your way and if it did have an effect on your indexing or rankings if you would pay attention to it which I guess to a degree it is a relevant conversation when you are thinking about sponsorship and getting into races and UTMB and Nitro Indexes do matter.
01:16:45
Speaker
Yeah, that is an interesting question. um Personally, I don't like DNFing unless there's something really wrong. And I think you can see that through my track record. I don't think I've ever DNFed a trail race, actually. in fact, I think I've only ever, well, I guess backyard ultras, you have to DNF, basically, unless you feel good. um But only maybe once in my triathlon career when I had a stress fracture or something did I DNF. I think that...
01:17:14
Speaker
without the considerations of the index and any sort of sponsorship obligations you might have, I think you can build your mental strength through pushing through, yeah as long as you're not properly injured or anything, if it's just having a bad day, i do think that you can learn from that. and I would say i had a pretty bad day at Tarawera last year because i had the flu going into it and wasn't long off ah ah stress, a bone stress injury myself. um But And you also never know with these long events how it might turn out. You can think that you are having the worst possible day and you want to pull out midway through the race, but it can actually completely turn around. And I think I spoke to Juliette Sewell after the race and I think she had that experience where she wanted to pull out. She had some stomach cramps and issues going on and she nearly pulled out, but her support crew convinced her to get back out there. And then, you know, she really got stronger as the race went on and and finished reasonably well. So, I think you you don't want to write yourself off too early. and I definitely think if you're if you're thinking about those considerations, like what is this going to do to my UTMB index? You know, what are people going to think of me if I finish 10th or 12th or 15th in this race or whatever it might be, if I don't have the day I'm wanting?
01:18:31
Speaker
You're already talking yourself out of it. So you really need to try and control those thoughts or try and think more helpful thoughts um because, yeah, you're already sort of one foot out of out of the game if you're you're wondering about those things. So for me, it's unless it's a catastrophic disaster, like you're digging yourself into a major injury hole or something you're not going to be able to recover from if you have another race coming up, that's that's when I would choose to pull the
Competitive Races and Upcoming Events
01:19:00
Speaker
pin. But for me, I'd rather stick it out and and see what I can learn from it.
01:19:06
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. there some opinion I think that's, yeah, that would say exactly what what you just said. I think it's a great way to frame it because yeah especially in ultras, you know, you never know what's going to happen in the next 10 K. um You can be in the the depth of despair and rally, especially if you could do a bit of problem solving and you've got a good crew to just kick you back out.
01:19:27
Speaker
Exactly. That's a key factor. And you also never know what's going to happen to your competitors. So you might think you're sort of back in the field. But then suddenly everyone else might drop out for whatever reason. Yeah. And then suddenly you've got a golden ticket. Exactly. Exactly right. Yeah. Perfect. Okay. So that's the nothing really to add to that. So that's a very, very good answer. Alrighty. So we'll finish up with what's coming up So we have a couple questions.
01:19:54
Speaker
big races on this weekend we're not going to do full previews um for these just due to the number of entrants um but i will just go through with a little bit detail for for what's coming up holly if at any point you have anything you want to add or just question whatever it is please just feel free to interrupt me but otherwise i will just sort of rip through these. So the first one coming up is the snowy mountain trail run, specifically the 50k, which is the ultra short trail national champs. Relevant this year, because that's also getting well, we wanted to be relevant every year, but more relevant this year, because it's going to be a auto selection for the top two to go into the Asia Pacific Trail Running Championships, which if you listen to this and wondering why there's not any more information about it, we are doing the same thing. It's just we're waiting on ITRA to tell us a lot more. But at the moment, this is the qualification for it.
01:20:43
Speaker
So it's an interesting course in the sense that it's 50k single track net uphill, 1000 meters, 700 down goes from Jindabyne up to um kind where the train station bit like in Crackerback area.
01:21:00
Speaker
is um so we're seeing a lot of names on here that are sort of more typically mountain style athletes especially in the men's field and knowing the china trails it's very this is not going to be specific at all but the whole point being that if you know what the course demands are you train for it and you run yourself into a ticket and then you have until the end of november to switch back your training for the more mountainous stuff so um And as we we're going to go through, there's not a lot of depth in this. So turning up is really important. And as we just said, if something happens to somebody, you can suddenly find yourself in a position we have a ticket. There is still going to be a top 30 requirement on ITRA.
01:21:42
Speaker
We're hoping that it's not just the whole of like every single distance that you have to compete against, because if you're a one hundred mile specialist and you're trying to beat the ITRA score of a 20K runner, you can very quickly drop out of the top 30 nationally. So we're hoping that it is sort of distance specific, but yeah, that that is the caveat that even if you do get an auto spot, you still have to meet that selection criteria as it stands.
01:22:04
Speaker
So in the women's field, We have two names we're very used to reading out and they're going to rekindle their rollercoaster battle. um So Sophie Broome, she's coming in having taken first at COSI 100k and second at rollercoaster 23k, right behind Demi Caldwell, who's taken third at COSI 50k. She was just two minutes behind Lucy Bartholomew and a few more minutes behind Andrea who took out the win there. And then Demi won a roller coaster. She was only 88 seconds ahead of Sophie. And in that race, it was the downs that Sophie would catch up on and then sort of runnable climbs that Demi would bring up a bit of a gap.
01:22:44
Speaker
But Sophie is more of the long trail specialist. So over the 50k distance, I'm really intrigued to see how their strengths come together and and to see if Sophie's kind of capacity of the longer stuff can can sort of negate Demi's probably more runnable uphill strength that she has.
01:23:00
Speaker
um Both of them have been, from looking at Estrada, both seem to be training really well. I think both both of them, this wouldn't be their goal race. And so I think that, and we're going to see this in the men's as well, like sort of training through these, but using this as a bit of ah a speed focused.
01:23:17
Speaker
block. um One other lady on the start list that I'm really excited to see is Brittany Harridan. She took out the Cowan, which is a local trail half in Canberra. She took out the win there back in January and set a new course record.
01:23:31
Speaker
And she had second at six foot track behind Steph Austin last year. She's looking into her training. She's very fast. She is a trail runner. like she's She's also done um Razorback 60, think 4K, 5K, and doing that again this year. and she she She runs a bit with jess Jason. so i was asking Jess how she's moving, and she said that she's going to be very strong on the runnable climbs. She Looking at her workouts, I'd say she's probably the fastest of the three ladies in the field. um ah
01:24:04
Speaker
ah Sophie's definitely closed the gap on her speed side. like she's she's She's got a lot a lot faster as well. So it's going to be a really, really interesting battle for that that top three. Yeah, very competitive at the top, but not as deep a field as I might have thought for that spot in the mountain um in the Asian chance? it's Yes. It's um unfortunate timing in the sense of there's just a lot on um in terms of races that could could and would host this at this time of the year. i think this was like this was the option. Heads why it's not super specific from a terrain perspective. and it was a um
01:24:44
Speaker
The races had to put themselves up for it. So it's yeah when you've got Tarawara, Hut to Hut on, what was it, Tarawara on last weekend, Hut to Hut on the same weekend, and that draws a lot of the ultra crew because that's the big ultra event.
01:24:58
Speaker
And then you've got, granted, you could probably back it up, but you've got Warbison Trailfest. the 20k donna double it might be a different athlete but that's got a big prize purse to it and the winner goes to the golden trail world finals so there's a lot going on at the summer year which i think has sort of spread people a bit thin but i am i'm happy to see that there's at least sort of three four names that are going to make that top two honest. And it's not just, you have to turn up, um, and, and run essentially. Um, and then there's one other lady in the field, China Marsh, who I think is probably in that category of, I don't think she's going to be up in that top three fighting with those, those ladies. But if something happens to to one or two of them, she'll be right there waiting to to take it. So it's a case of turning up, running her race and kind of making, ah seeing, seeing what the day day holds. Um,
01:25:50
Speaker
I'm, don normally make predictions on this. It kind of feels a bit weird when I'm the only one that really like, yeah, I can't help much. No, no, that's, that's okay.
01:26:01
Speaker
I, yeah, I'm not, I, oh, it's hard. I, I think that if, Brittany being a local to Canberra, obviously see Demi hasta has moved up there now. I wouldn't be surprised if Brittany actually took out the win on here. I think especially the runnable uphills, flat speed does translate really well. i think the challenge with single track though and these trails is that they're very, loads of little punchy up and downs, which really do zap your legs. So that's probably where I could see Brittany getting held back um and so yeah i think it's pretty hard yeah it's hard to look past demi over a 50k on this sort of trail especially knowing that she had that third at cosi um right behind lucy when she was on her her tear back end of last year so yeah i think my if i was if i'm going to choose i' would say demi probably for the win there but it's going to be very close top three and then in the men's field
01:26:53
Speaker
This one got a bit fuller last minute, which was very good to see. I had a start list from about two weeks ago that just had the first two names. And then more recently, the second two names have jumped on, which has made this, yeah.
01:27:07
Speaker
very fun to watch. So first we've got Ben Burgess. um He's coming off first at Billa Skyrun back in the last year, but sort of more impressively definitely for him was his pre pre-Worlds and Worlds performances. So he was the the first first Australian 49th at the Long Trail And then had a string of firsts from overseas, the Grand road to Pyrenees, West Max, Kanani got nuts.
01:27:32
Speaker
um ah Ben said on his Instagram, we took quite a big break after Worlds and that the comeback has taken a lot longer than what he thought from that. um He sort of let himself really relax and and he'd had a living over there, had really gone all in on it and it paid off and it worked, but he needed that mental refresh.
01:27:51
Speaker
after it um he's sort changed up his training quite a bit from just sort of all big mountains to adding in a lot more speed work now so that's i think we're we're going to see some of that but i think that ben is very much like i know that he's building something bigger um later on in the year so this is yeah a good good fitness check i think that he's ben's but ben's a naturally very good runner so i think this will be You're hard to look past him.
01:28:17
Speaker
um Josh Godding, he came off second at rollercoaster, went under the old course record and in doing so, fifth at Buffalo, 100K, and then had a first rollercoaster in 2024 well. um Josh, a bit like Ben, I think he's kind of in the middle of a training block right now. he's But looking into some of his workouts, he is moving very well. he I know that he started working with um Kelly Angel through last year for coaching. And i think that's we're starting to see the progress of that of that now. i think that was very fresh when they started at Rotor Coaster. now they he's sort of yeah and enjoying what it's like having having a coach to to really guide you in your in your training. Yeah.
01:28:59
Speaker
The next two names are the ones that entered up a bit last minute. So first up, we have Mike Carroll. Mike was the one that beat Josh at roller coaster, smashing the old course record by, I think, about 25 minutes or so and having an incredible run. I think seeing Mike's one of those people that is in pretty... He's in sort of...
01:29:16
Speaker
85, 9% shape the whole year round. And his training if you look at his training, it's a very fun Strava to follow. um It does look like he could jump into any race and and be very competitive. um But then when he does put that full focus in, he gets performances like his second at UTA, 100.
01:29:32
Speaker
hundred last year um i think on this sort of course um 50k distance looking at the shape everyone else mike's going to be very hard to be even if it's not he he's he's said that he's training for buffalo so it's it's not like the main focus for him right now but the shape that he needs to be in buffalo in six weeks time will suit him very well for for the snowies and yeah does a lot of uphill treadmill workouts whether it's just consisting sort of steady runs or thresholds and that's going to translate very very well for this course and then the fourth male we have is the young Ben Butler
01:30:14
Speaker
This is going to be interesting for Ben, actually, because he's he had Hume Hovel 50k in 2024. Then he had a couple of big 100k's last year, a second Oscars and fourth at Buffalo. Dropped down for a second at Hounslow Marathon. And then just like Brittany, he took out um first at the Cowan Half Marathon in Canberra. And he had a 335 gap for this race, which, yeah, very, very good move. He did that as part of a 30k training run as well.
01:30:42
Speaker
well That's impressive. Ben's been on the course very recently, moving strong on that. I did the math. If he can just keep up that same effort, he'd be running this in about a 345. I think it's probably going to take a 340, 345 at least in this 50K to take the win for the men's. I think it's going take close to that four-hour mark for the women. I wouldn't be surprised, especially if Mike's feeling good, but even maybe Ben, if it's getting close to the 330 for this race.
01:31:12
Speaker
So yeah, i think that's going to be going to be it's going to be fun to watch, see who wins. And again, like i said, on the men's field, whoever gets that top two is very deserving of a ticket to the Asian team.
01:31:23
Speaker
um I think that looking at current shape, Mike is probably my bet for that. um I think that Ben and Josh will just find that Mike has the the speed that these guys don't quite have yet.
01:31:35
Speaker
um But Ben could definitely feature a lot more than I think people would have expected given that he was more of a 100k guy last year and he's only in his early 20s as well um so yeah it'd be very interesting then we have the hut to heart as well so the feels being sort of the oscars after this year it's going to take a break for a year um and being the an ultra event to get a lot of the ultra athletes here but also it's just one of those mountainous 100ks that a lot of people get drawn towards it it's a pretty incredible course very tough um often gets diverted due to weather which is a shame and they'll have to do two 250k loops but this this this year's weather is looking hot and sunny which means that they should be fine to do the course um doesn't look like there's particularly any fire risk either which is nice but it's The fields are both pretty pretty deep for for a one hundred k at this time of year. So you have Cecilia Mattis coming back after she had seventh at Cosi 50k at 57th at the World Mountain Champs Long Trail and then Nicole Patton who just narrowly beat her by two spots at the Long Trail Champs. She's coming back actually the second GPT 100 mile after this and then recently did
01:32:48
Speaker
a I think it was like an eight second PB at Bergman to Hotham, 64k. But she said, you know I was there and she was saying that she wasn't very in like particularly good shape. So she was quite surprised that she could get that. So think Nicole on this sort of course is going to be very hard to beat. She suits these like really gritty style events. And she's also the winner from last year. So you have that.
01:33:11
Speaker
Yeah, in in your pocket. um I think the thing that sort of stands out from looking at Cecilia and Nicole's training is that both of them have only got a few weeks of real training behind them, sort of three to five um since kind of backing it off for the end of the year. So don't know what that will look like come the last 20, 30K of this course when you've had, it's pretty hard going and very exposed. So this can be a case of managing themselves really well.
01:33:40
Speaker
um We also have Jordan Mackie Richards coming back in. We haven't don't see too much of Jordan. I think she had a ah baby mid-2020. I'm going to again get this wrong. I'm not going to say, but somewhat recently. um and But her training train blocks looks looks pretty good. um Is a hard rock finish. She came 11th in 2024 and 6th at Buffalo, So definitely in the same calibre as Cecilia and Nicole. Probably name that sort of dropped off the radar a little bit recently. But definitely in that same conversation.
01:34:14
Speaker
um And then we also have Jessica Collins, who hasn't had anything recently, but has results like fourth at UTA 100k in 2021, second at Buffalo Marathon, third at KMR 25k, and an eighth at Cozzy Mila. So not not sure. i can't get into Estrada, so I can't do the...
01:34:33
Speaker
the the deep deep dive into it but it's a it's it's nice when you see if this event especially um like there's some good like top end talent coming in yeah that'd be a good race between cecilia and nicole i don't know much about jordan i haven't raced against her i've seen her before but um yeah i'll i'll watch that one with interest between cecilia and nicole Yeah, yeah. I think, especially given how close they were at Worlds, it's like, and and Nicole kind of came through the back and and overtook last minute. I think it will probably play out pretty similar to that in the sense that Wimbledon's prices, well, not that we can track them, but Cecilia will be ahead for quite a bit of it. And then Nicole probably comes
01:35:15
Speaker
comes through or at least gets, gets close to her again. So yeah, I'm fascinated to see how that one pans out. I'm not making predictions on this cause I've got no clue, um, on this field. It's too hard with with this course. Um, and in in in the men's field, we've got Tom Dade, um,
01:35:31
Speaker
Tom has been training for this somewhat specifically, but he's had a hernia operation in the middle of the block. So he he did a post on Strava saying that he's like a clearance run. So I think he sort of tested it enough that he's been told he's okay to do it, but I'm not expecting Tom to be in his best form. He is a previous winner of the Oscars in 2024 and he won Archie last year as well. yeah,
01:35:53
Speaker
He knows this course very well. um Owen Davies, he has been building back from a really bad bike crash back in April, ah but has been putting in some really good training recently. So I think he's definitely...
01:36:08
Speaker
I wouldn't say he's back to his his top shape, but he looks like he's great he's really very much getting there. And again, great pedigree. There's one Oscars back in 2022. Knows the course. The distance isn't isn't an issue for for him. um It would just really be this is his first...
01:36:25
Speaker
100k back since that since that crash and really I think one of his first if not his first event I can't remember reading his name or anything else since then and then two other men we've got in the field Nigel Hill he was second at Oscars in 2024 and this is kind of one of the cool storylines we've actually got the whole podium from Oscars last year sorry in 2024 coming back so yes and then Nigel's had a bit of he's had quite a short block, kind of four key weeks. um Again, it's kind of the same storyline. A of these people look like they're building towards stuff more a bit later on in the in the year. um So met maybe like most of these guys won't be coming in in in peak shape, but still very they're all very strong runners. So they're never in bad bad fitness. And then Chris McAuliffe, think I...
01:37:10
Speaker
I wrote him off for UTA because he was commenting about having a hamstring injury. And then he went and perceived um to run into third place. So he's doing the exact same comments this time around. And this time I'm not going to write him off. So he hasn't had very many weeks. um He had one huge week over New Year's and then it went down quite a lot after that to pretty much zero. i think i don't know if that was...
01:37:35
Speaker
connected to the hamstring issue and he's only really had two weeks back since then but yeah Chris is showing that he doesn't need his body to be perfect for him to still get the job done very very well so I'm i'm fascinated to see how the 2024 podium plays out I think looking at looking at current current shape I think it's probably going to be flipped potentially um but if Owen is feeling anything like normal I think he'll be pretty hard to beat um on on this course Yeah, it'll be good to see him get back out there after that bad crash and yeah not be able to run or run well for such a long time.
01:38:12
Speaker
Yeah, it's ah it ah yeah it's a a very long recovery process. And I remember seeing pictures his helmet from that that were just obliterated. So the fact that he's okay is incredible. A few other distances we have at ah Hut to Hut. You've got the Archie 50K. So we've a few names, Kylie Murray, Warren Rolfe and Brooke Thomas in there. And the 23K, which is a new distance, we have Rachel Ayers, Patricia McGibbon, and Kelly Angel for the women, and then David Bailey and Ian Best in the men's. And then David and Ian are also running the 10K. I think the 23K is on the Saturday, and the Bella 10K is on the Sunday.
01:38:50
Speaker
So backing it up. and then a few other races we've got going on. Run the Lighthouse and down in Wilson's Prom, Victoria. The Takana Trail Ultra in Tasmania. series Round four of the Adelaide Trail Runner Summer Series at Cleanland National Park. Castle Hill Trail Runner up in Queensland. And then the Sydney Trail Summer Series round two in Manly Dam.
01:39:10
Speaker
So definitely getting back into racing season now. Yeah. Yeah. yeah so perfect holly thank you so much for doing this um it's been absolutely pleasure to get to to you and get to know you and yeah stay still the whole time just staring at the golden ticket and it's just so absolutely love it it's been great thanks for having me james cool to talk to you perfect and to everyone listening thanks so much for joining in uh that's been episode 97 of the people's podcast