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Episode 61: Road 50k's, Wandi Cross, GTNS and Trail Con
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Welcome to Episode 61 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Sim Brick, Vlad Ixel, and James Sieber and covers Vlad jumping in a road 50k for marathon training, Sim running Wandi Cross and James return to run; followed by chats about the Golden Trail Series Aus and new Trail Con in USA.
Results
Coastal ascent: https://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/races/the-coastal-ascent-2025
Wandi Cross: https://www.alpinetiming.com.au/results/r509/
Gopro Games: https://mountaingames.com/results/
***Don’t forget, use code PPP at https://bix-hydration.myshopify.com/en-au for 20% off Bix products, exclusive to PPP listeners!***
Thanks for tuning in to Peak Pursuits! Connect with us on Instagram @peakpursuits.pod to share your thoughts, questions, and your own trail stories. Until next time, keep hitting the trails and chasing those peak pursuits!
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/trendsetter
License code: K08PMQ3RATCE215R
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Transcript
Introduction and Recent Activities
00:00:09
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode 61 of the Peak Pursuits podcast. My name is Simone Brick coming to you from Melbourne and I'm joined by James Sieber up in Albury.
00:00:21
Speaker
are we doing James? Doing very well. Thank you. Good to be here. Good stuff. Good to have you back. And Vlad Ixl over in Perth. how are you doing Vlad?
Vlad's Spontaneous 50K Race Experience
00:00:30
Speaker
Hey, Sim. Yeah, doing not too bad.
00:00:32
Speaker
Good, good. you I'm going to throw to you first because ah you had an exciting week that, again, you're full of surprises, my man. Like, it never stops. I like open Strava every week and it's like, what weird stuff has Vlad done this week?
00:00:46
Speaker
And this week, it was after dropping the bomb that last week that you were going to do Gold Coast Marathon coming up, going through Marathon PB because, you know, why the hell not? You've just gone and done a 50K in the lead up because, again, I assume why the hell not?
00:01:01
Speaker
Talk me through it. Yeah, last minute sign up. So i think I signed up on the Tuesday. So one day after we did the podcast, um got an an option to get a free entry to that 50K up Ultra in Perth, which is a 50K race on the footpaths around the river. um Yeah, actually a fun event, not of a really big event, but they did put a bit of prize money up.
00:01:26
Speaker
$2,000 for $1,000 for second and for third. So I thought could be a good chance of um getting a long run on the road. So I've i've been doing a lot of longer runs lately, but they've all been on trail.
00:01:42
Speaker
um so I thought this would be a good kind of an impact training. um And then... over distance, why don't you? Yeah, just a little bit over distance. And I've also been spending a lot of money on shoes lately. So i was like, I've got to get some money back
Comparing Perth 50K to Other Races
00:02:00
Speaker
somehow.
00:02:01
Speaker
Um, and then also I knew that Dean Mendes, um, was gonna do the 50 K as well. So I thought we can maybe run together at a kind of a training effort, um, kind of a pace that did not happen. he smashed that race, um, smashed the Western Australian course record for a 50 K. Um, and. What did he run?
00:02:22
Speaker
He ran 255, which is 327 pace. It's not a fast course. Like it's, it's yeah, not, not crazy with the amount of elevation. It's fairly flat, but a lot of turns being like, you know, cycling paths and a lot of bridges and stuff like that. So, um, he actually, so like we did that podcast with, um, um, but we did the podcast with, um, sorry, it's coming out of my hand, um, with Fraser.
00:02:52
Speaker
And he was behind him in Ballarat marathon a few weeks ago. So they finished pretty close to each other. So he was a really good runner.
Goals for the Gold Coast Marathon
00:03:00
Speaker
217 marathon PB. Yeah, he was behind Fraser at Ballarat there. And yeah, he hasn't been training for anything, but he's kind of done that race for a bit of fun. And yeah, I ran the first 5K together with him. We're just having a chat.
00:03:17
Speaker
um And then I think I just got tired of running my slow pace and went and I didn't see him. And yeah, pretty much ran 45k by myself.
00:03:28
Speaker
But yeah, overall pretty happy, managed to get a 50k PB for myself, 302. um and a good training session in the bank, got $1,000, which ah for the six pairs of shoes that I bought last week.
00:03:43
Speaker
Yeah. Or just. Vlad,
Recovery and Training Plans
00:03:47
Speaker
what did you buy? ah The Evo Air Sales, which is a daily trainer and literally a game changer, became like my favorite shoe very, very quickly.
00:03:59
Speaker
So I got two pairs of them, um two pairs of the Adidas, um Speed, you know, the editor so they trail the Adidas trail shoe without the plate.
00:04:12
Speaker
ah yeah Yeah, I've used them for UTI 50 and I kind of like them. They're not as bouncy as obviously as the ones with the plate, but, you know, twisting my ankle twice last year, I was like, better play it safe for a bit.
00:04:24
Speaker
Yeah. So I got two of them and then I got a pair of the Puma R3s. Oh, that's a lot of hype's been around them. I actually got delivered Friday afternoon and the race was Saturday morning. So I was like, yeah, ah pretty much a good time test out a new shoe that I've never tried before. I've never actually had a Puma.
00:04:44
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Hang on, you used them for the race? I did, yeah, yeah. Jeez. this This is a prime example of do not do what we do.
00:04:54
Speaker
Yeah, what not to do Vlad's a great example of this. We've already learned that. Don't copy Vlad. Out of everyone to copy, don't copy
James' Return to Running Post-Injury
00:05:01
Speaker
Vlad. Yeah. um So yeah, managed to, I guess, cover the cost of the shoes and get a good training day out there.
00:05:09
Speaker
Legs have been feeling pretty good. So i um next day, i managed to do um two times 30 minutes and then back to normal training today. I'm hoping to go to a normal session today, probably a bit slower effort, but...
00:05:22
Speaker
Yeah, I guess um when you don't push all out, road marathons are not as painful or road 50Ks are not as painful. So yeah, overall a good day. Do you find recovering off like a flat 50K, even with the turns and stuff, if you're never really changing your gait.
00:05:39
Speaker
Does it feel quite different to recovering off UTA? UTA for me, it was all quads. um Like my legs were fine, but it's just the quads were dead for for a whole week just because, you know, living in Perth, it's all flat. So,
00:05:52
Speaker
um I knew that my quads are going to feel it. um Recovering from a flat 50k or a marathon could be painful at times, but I guess if you just, I guess I ran the race at 95% and then had a lot of carbs.
00:06:08
Speaker
So the recovery was probably quicker than what I expected. um you know legs are feeling about 95 two days the race um but yeah definitely i feel i feel like it's easier to recover from a trail race just because you're using different muscles um and you're not kind of i don't know i guess holding a pace is a different effort than the trail effort um yeah if you know what I mean? So it's a bit different.
00:06:35
Speaker
So sometimes, yeah, I mean, the the the marathon that I did on, you know, soccer last year was pretty painful. Like ah it took me a while to recover from that where, you know, a 50K trail raise, that could be double the time.
00:06:48
Speaker
I feel like I can recover a bit quicker. um yeah Even though i do a fair amount of flat running, I do two key sessions every week, um one one on the track, one on the roads. So I do get a bit a bit of flat running.
00:07:00
Speaker
But, yeah, the recovery was pretty good. And, yeah, yeah just looking forward to get this marathon done.
Integrating Cross-training After Injury
00:07:06
Speaker
So, question, you've you've just gone and done this. Your aim at Gold Coast, I think, last week you said was 227, right? 226. 226.
00:07:14
Speaker
two twenty six Okay. Okay. Cool. That makes a little bit more. Because has that changed at all after just going through the marathon in 233 and happily continuing on your way? um I think so the 50k was, i guess, 10 seconds a case slower than the, hopefully, the marathon pace that I could hold.
00:07:32
Speaker
um I don't know. I feel like... Yeah, I'm not sure. I think I have four weeks now. um But yeah, goal number one is to go under, sorry, to go under 227. So yeah, 226.59 would be amazing.
00:07:46
Speaker
Yeah, because I just looked it up too. And ah if you say you're at 95%, then ah if you go to I think that takes you down to based on that effort. say
00:07:58
Speaker
ah two twenty five ten to be exact yeah we guys But, you know, a marathon is a tough, and especially if you kind of hit that you know a red line a bit too soon. yeah You know, it is a painful race.
00:08:14
Speaker
yeah I think you'd be primed for a good back half though, surely. Like if you are smart early, I think you the from the distances you've come from, you'd back in your back half over your front half kind of thing
James' European Training Plans
00:08:27
Speaker
on this sort of marathon. is like Would that be the aim or would Yeah, i think it would be pretty controlled for the first, ah well, not pretty controlled, but like, let's say, um, you know, not going above the pace that I'm planning to run. So maybe at 227, 228 per a K for the first 32 K. And then if I'm feeling good, hopefully push a bit more at the second half.
00:08:52
Speaker
Um, yeah, I think it's tough. Like I think Osaka was my first road marathon, like big road marathon on the roads. Um, I've done two marathons in Perth again on like footpaths by myself.
00:09:05
Speaker
And I feel like in Osaka I missed the pack, um, cause I started a bit back, um, in the crowd. So yep yeah, I think if I can get into a good pack and get into some good rhythm, um, I could have a good race, but yeah, if I have to,
00:09:21
Speaker
If I miss the pack by a little bit, it becomes like a different game. um And I feel like in an Australian race, you're kind of at this pointy-ish end running that time. So it's not guaranteed that there'll be a huge amount of people around you anyway, I wouldn't think. It should be a pretty good time
Running Scene in Bright
00:09:38
Speaker
for that, I would have thought.
00:09:39
Speaker
Yeah, I think like it's not that fast um for the for Gold Coast. um yeah Yeah, maybe some of the smaller races, like some of the local marathons around Australia. but Yeah, yeah.
00:09:51
Speaker
The road level in Australia is is pretty high. um We might not have a thousand people running under 220, but a lot of people running, you know, probably around that 225. So ah it should be easier than then get, I don't know.
00:10:08
Speaker
of Like I said, I've only done one. So, um and I missed the pack. Like I could see the pack, but it was like, do I burn all my mattress trying to catch up with this 225 pack or do I run my own race?
00:10:21
Speaker
you know, in Osaka, ran my own race and I guess ran maybe two minutes slower than what I could have. um But yeah, I made that mistake just like, so I was lining up in Group A for the start and I thought everybody is really quick in Japan and then started running and my
Using Bright for Training Camps
00:10:38
Speaker
first K was 410 and over maybe 800 people in the first K. And yeah, I guess that was that was just me, not me missing the pack.
00:10:49
Speaker
So, yeah, and in Gold Coast, I do have like the semi-elite entry, um
Simone's Wondie Cross Course Experience
00:10:54
Speaker
yep which means that hopefully I can sit on the pack and, yeah. Yeah, I'm looking up last year's results. I think there was 10 people that finished between 224 and 227.
00:11:04
Speaker
yeah Yeah. you're going to be able to find a pack assuming it's going to be equally. Yeah. Do you, do you chase, like if you see a pack, there's a bit ahead of you at the start, first couple of K, are you happy to drop a 320, 315 to close a gap and and and then hold on? Or do you just stick with your pace?
00:11:22
Speaker
Well, depends on the pack, right? If the pack is already like, you know, aiming for a 222, maybe under my marathon pace, then it's definitely not worth it. um If they are kind of there and not running away for me, um I don't know, 315 would be a quick one, but 320 would be okay. Yeah.
00:11:43
Speaker
I feel like, yeah, I kind of have, I feel very comfortable around that 325 to 330 pace and I can obviously hold that for a marathon of 50K.
00:11:54
Speaker
um But going a little bit quicker is where, you know, um becomes a bit hard then I have to burn more matches yeah because of my endurance rather than my speed. Yeah, yeah, I would be the same. It's very easy to burn out the top end, but can sit quite close for a long time. Yeah, exactly. So I can really sit down the threshold. Yeah.
00:12:13
Speaker
Yeah. Having just done that fifty k and like knowing what your training has been leading up to that, are you going to try and do anything specifically for the marathon in these next four weeks are you kind of not going to get distracted by that and keep longer focus?
00:12:27
Speaker
Yeah, probably don't want to overdo it. um So if anything, this 50K did give me a bit of confidence, a tiny bit of like, you know, a bit of work on speed, but not a crazy amount i trying to keep up the volume because, know,
00:12:42
Speaker
That's obviously working for me. And then I don't even feel like I need a crazy amount of like long runs on the road, which is good. um So I can still keep my long runs on the trails. um And then, yeah, i mean, it's only four weeks. So hopefully as long as I can stay healthy.
00:12:58
Speaker
yeah obviously I have a daughter that goes to pre-kindi so um you know it's always a bit of a risk that she comes home with a runny nose staying healthy is the theme of the hour too at this point when we get to results and everything talking later like staying healthy is half the battle yeah absolutely so yeah I don't want to get too greedy I think you know a PB would be amazing and And like I said, you know, my goal right now is PBing by one minute every year for the next three, four years, I guess 42 would be, I don't know. Well, you know, I would like to think that by the time I'm 42 or 43, I'm still running quick.
00:13:36
Speaker
yeah But I doubt it will last much longer than that. So yeah, if I can just PB by a minute or two every year, that would be amazing. I don't know. You've proven yourself wrong many times before on that front. I feel like you're going to be the never-ending runner that just manages to keep going and going and going at this point.
00:13:54
Speaker
You are an enigma. I love it. Awesome. Well, congrats on the 50K and the second and the money. That's always a nice little ah nice little cash grab for your long run.
00:14:05
Speaker
Absolutely perfect. We all love that. And back to the other end of the spectrum, though. We're showing all sides at this point, James. It's very true.
00:14:17
Speaker
There's many, many listeners that will be on the other end of the spectrum with you. Don't worry. They can't just jump in and sign up for a 50K on the weekend and on the Tuesday of that week and absolutely smash it. Like, not many people can do that. So, James, return to run.
James' Continuous Running Transition
00:14:32
Speaker
are we doing? Good, very, very good. It's, I'm trying to think when I last came on where i I was, but essentially last week was the first week where everything was back to continuous running. Nice. And back to four days, we were day on, day off for the seven days um and maxed out at doing a 60 minute on Sunday, which i did very Did get a little bit carried away with.
00:14:56
Speaker
um In what way? The first 3K, I was on the phone to Siobhan and then I hung up and i i't I never really look at my watch, but I found that coming back, my effort and my exertion is just so disconnected. Like I don't really know what pace I'm running yeahp and everything just feels hard.
00:15:14
Speaker
So yeah, started running, think my fourth and fifth K was like a 403 and a 405.
00:15:22
Speaker
And i was like, oh, okay. I've put myself in a bit of a state here. like hot And then I kept, it was a weird one. I kept trying to slow down and I checked my watch again and it would be 407. And then I'd slow down to like 430 and then check again. It's 407. I was like, ah okay, this is getting frustrating.
00:15:39
Speaker
um I think in the end it averaged out at 420, which is faster than I used to run my easies. So yeah. Didn't pay for it, luckily, except for the fact that I just felt really kind of cooked the rest of that day.
00:15:51
Speaker
ah still- Were you wearing a wrist, was that wrist heart rate or chest strap heart rate? That's armband. Okay, so you essentially did the threshold. Oh, yeah. So actually, this is something that I'm curious in both your thoughts. I've been meaning to look this up.
00:16:05
Speaker
But my when I was trained, my ah sort of LT2 lactate threshold was about 173, 174. And coming back, those ranges have just felt completely skewed.
00:16:20
Speaker
Because if you look at the data on that, I think it's saying I averaged 166 and peaked at 179. Yeah, and you were in the 170s for quite a while. Yeah, but it didn't it did not feel like a threshold run.
00:16:30
Speaker
It didn't feel like I was that level of exertion. It felt steady, yeah but it didn't feel like that. So have you had any experience of coming back from injuries? Yeah, okay. Yeah, I'm exactly the same. I feel like I always take it as a little bit of like I might not let myself go to that level where I'm in the 170s, but something that I used to jog along at like 120 to 130 will of sudden 150.
00:16:51
Speaker
maybe even 160. And I go, well, I'm just getting fitter faster. That's the way I take it. Like I'm not going to slow. And ah to be fair, I've had doctors and physios and stuff say, don't slow down so much that you're changing your biomechanics and how you're running and stuff.
00:17:05
Speaker
um Like I would try and keep it within reason of going, well, I know that even a 150 heart rate, yes, I wouldn't normally easy jog at this, but also I know I'm not doing any damage and I can hold it for a long time. So it's fine. Yeah.
00:17:16
Speaker
But i
European Trip and Race Flexibility
00:17:17
Speaker
always I almost look down and go, well, I just got fitter from that run than I will be in three months' time when that run will be at 130. Like it's um it's a bit of like, yeah, a hidden fitness gains in some ways. But at the same time, you do have to be a little bit careful of not making every single run an actual threshold to your heart rate, I think.
00:17:37
Speaker
No, and that's what like sorry today's run was 60 minutes again. And I think my average pace came out to be like 503 and 503. still in the high 140s which that would have been like 115 before but I was very conscious to go okay you've you've maybe maybe spent a few chips you don't have on the weekend so let's take it a bit easier but but no it's going great it's really interesting coming back having done so much specific focus strength work and a lot of skill work and a lot lot of plyometrics is I feel like the way that I'm running is a lot smoother and I had
00:18:11
Speaker
ye my gait uh went down to melbourne to get my gait analyzed and i've actually ah used to have like hip drop and shoulder drop because my left shoulder completely frozen everything's a bit weird for me and everything is square now and really strong and it's so it's it's been a good reminder going through this process that strength training works and doing your plyometrics is a good thing and it's like you need to be pretty dynamic and have strong core and just i feel like the things that it's so easy to get away from when you're in the depth of training and you're just tired and and I'd always choose the double over the strength and yeah need to change that a little bit but yeah no it's it's been feeling good I had a conversation with my coach last Friday and for this whole period he's we've been paused just so that I can kind of re-divert that money into treatment and it's uh it was nice step to feel like I could get back on with him and start that process again so
00:19:06
Speaker
love it yeah no it's it's going there i won't be running a fifty k this weekend but it it feels like i'm getting there hey but getting up to that point where you're running an hour like you're like i'm going for a proper run right now like it just i remember that feeling very well and will you be um as you get back into sort of running in sessions um this is just something that i've always done in the past but i different people build back differently is i'll always add back in sessions on an elliptical and then repeat like do that later on feet sort of thing like as the running gets up you can do the easy running but before adding back in sessions like will you be doing any cross training as well as the running so i was doing some elliptical sessions uh
00:19:52
Speaker
not for the last two weeks, but probably for three or four weeks prior to that, once I was allowed allowed to.
Simone's Training Race Strategy
00:19:57
Speaker
For the moment, it doesn't necessarily feel beneficial to be expending more energy. like It feels like it's taking quite a lot just to go through the runs, get my body to re-acclimatize to that. And we head over to Europe. I've got my cousin's wedding in the end of July. So we're going to be in Switzerland for a couple of weeks in the mountains. I'm not really allowed to do too much downhill, but there's going to be so much hiking and running up and sort of just general increased load there that I think for me, that's probably all I do. If we were staying here, then I would most likely keep elliptical sessions in once a week.
00:20:34
Speaker
um it's I actually quite enjoy them uh but I I know once I'm back to five days plus fitting in three gym sessions and mobility and work I start to go okay is do I really care about that little increase in fitness that the elliptical will give me or do I just want to keep my life a little bit more chilled and in control so I tend to go that way Yeah, no, it sounds perfect.
00:20:58
Speaker
yeah okay
Vlad's Interest in Australian Trail Races
00:20:59
Speaker
Love that. And Switzerland's like getting some good fitness from just uphill running and then hiking back down. Sounds amazing. Yeah, it's going to be a little bit tricky because we initially, like we're going over for the wedding and then we realized that the Verbier by UTMB event was on.
00:21:15
Speaker
Nice. So I've still technically entered in the marathon. Oh, the marathon. Wow. That won't happen. ah But so it's going to be a bit difficult. sad to watch that I used to live there so it's just a really nice thing to have gone back to but we'll still be able to explore I was talking to Vlad about it and it sounds like I'll be able to do some of the course on a recce and get the lift down so still see the area just not not in its entirety but sta staying in Orsier and seeing some of the OCC course and just chilling in that that valley will be very nice
00:21:45
Speaker
Europe in that area is also amazing for uphill running with all the lifts. Just lift back down, easy done. You can do some massive uphills from Chamonix and just get the lift all the way back down from Brevont. that's That's the intention.
00:21:57
Speaker
ah It's kind of being given been given the all clear to do as much uphill as I want. Just very, very minimal downhill. ye Yeah, no, that makes sense. There's plenty you can do with that. Love it.
00:22:08
Speaker
Love it. Well, everyone will keep watching this space and the return. is a slow return is a good return. say Yeah, we've been very, not not cautious, but been very conscious to do all the right things, but especially because I didn't really know why.
00:22:25
Speaker
as said last time, there's probably some energy deficiency in there, but yeah actually like still having the confidence to fully go for it yeah is... not yeah I'm just still a little bit worried so I don't want to take anything to take any risks or it's a bit like the elliptical it's like I could but is it necessary right now um so and I'd like to I'd like to be in a much stronger place come this time last year where we're talking about the events that we've just done or the 50k I've jumped in at the day before and yeah rather than uh my return to run so Yeah, yeah, no, no, I feel you, I feel you. And to be fair, I'm a sort of almost, especially with my week, a bit of an example of that of a year ago, I would have loved to be able to do what I'm doing right now when it comes to ah very long, slow injury return. So it's good, it's good.
00:23:13
Speaker
um But yeah, for my week, I had a race too. Good old 1D Cross, my first time finally checking out the 1D Cross course. James, you were there. Did you just come down
Buffalo Stampede Course Challenges
00:23:22
Speaker
to watch? It was great to see you. Yeah, I just had a couple people that I coach racing it and it's only about an hour and a half away from me. Plus, it's being a kind of smaller local event. I just feel like it's nice to go and support them if you can. Yeah, it's great. Say hi to everyone and just watch the carnage of that course as well.
00:23:38
Speaker
Honestly, it's my version of heaven, this course. um Vlad, I'm not sure how much you would have enjoyed it. There was a lot of slipping and sliding and rocks and mud and ropes and just mayhem um the climbs were good but um but yeah we were we were gifted a wild weather day which was perfect because you know you're in the mountains doing something pretty wild already but setting off in long sleeves and a t-shirt and gloves and ah ear warmers and everything was a bit like okay this is um this is proper mountains now
00:24:11
Speaker
And um yeah, so I was doing the 27. I did love the fact that it's ah it's a pretty small event. I think there wasn't a huge number of participants across all the distances, but that's fine. it's It's for the very hardy goals.
00:24:24
Speaker
it is It is a shame because it's it's run really well. yeah One of the things that kind of came back to bite them a little bit was they don't have a crazy amount of mandatory gear. So you can run quite light and they are actively discouraging technology as well. So the whole point of it is like,
00:24:37
Speaker
you're doing this sky running-esque style of event, minimal, real community focus, but it typically draws some very competitive people like yourself, Sim, and this we'll talk about a bit later. So it would be awesome to see if few more people just sort of give that style of event a go.
00:24:55
Speaker
Yeah, because it is different. Like it's a very different style of event just in the way that there is no rhythm. There's no like ah space to build up. Like you've got downhill speed for sure, but then even the downhills are so muddy or technical or so steep that like, yeah, even actually, no, I'll go through that, but there was couple of times even I came to a stop to try and figure out where the hell to put my feet next without falling.
00:25:19
Speaker
and um But, yeah, overall like it's And I suppose this is just me. It's just I just turn into a kid out there. It is so much fun. You're like, sweet, I'm getting raining, wet. There was sleeting up the top. through It was like freezing conditions. It was great.
Recent Race Results Discussion
00:25:35
Speaker
um And I was saying that they do start the 27 and the 14 together, which means for the first climb until the 14 just heads back You do take different downhills at the top of the first climb, um but it just means there's more of a pack to begin with, um which was really nice. So yeah, started off the race and it was actually quite hard to tell. I realized I should have taken a bit more note of who was in the 14 versus who was in the 27 because it was just the different bibs.
00:26:03
Speaker
um So it was hard to tell who around me was doing what to begin with. um But took off on the road. It was really cool to able to watch Blake and Billy take off. Blake took off from the gun and I was like, yes, go, Blake, let's go. And then you can just see Billy chasing him, I think.
00:26:19
Speaker
I was actually trying to count. I think I was about 20 seconds back after the first K and just could see them off in the distance. It was great. yeah um And then ah we hit the first climb and I had a group of maybe, and think at the bottom of the first climb, Maddie O'Donnell, she poor thing, dropped her um dropped her gels, like all her gels right at the start, off the start line. So she went back for them, but then...
00:26:44
Speaker
I saw that she was back um on the back of the line I was in ah of about four or five people at the bottom of the very first climb. And then, yeah, I just went the whole comfortably hard. I was actually looking to push the climbs on this one.
00:26:58
Speaker
I wanted the feeling of going, well, I essentially wanted to the climbs to be as hard as I would normally race and then the downhills to be cruisy because it was a training race. So I wanted the, there's not, there's no real, there felt like there was no real risk to doing the climbs as hard as normal.
00:27:13
Speaker
Actually, Sam, before we go on, coming into this, were you bothering with tapering in or is this was just literally a hard effort? in yeah No, there was no taper. I think I ran 10Ks at about 4 p.m. the night before and that was my double run and I'd done normal training in the lead up.
00:27:27
Speaker
There was zero taper, but that was by design. I wasn't planning on it. um So my legs were certainly like just training tired, but I think for a taper doesn't add that much anyway. Yeah.
00:27:39
Speaker
If I was to race it all out, yes, could I have gone faster, but would I um was only been a couple of minutes between having a taper and not having a taper, I think. yeah um So doesn't make a huge difference to me, but the yeah their
Golden Trail Series Challenges
00:27:53
Speaker
aim was essentially to push the climbs and flow the descents, just make sure I got down them without falling and without um taking any risks whatsoever because the last thing you want is to enter a training race and that one to be the one that gets you. So...
00:28:07
Speaker
And yeah, essentially by the top of the first climb, there was just me and two guys left and I think that they were doing the 14K. um So I then hit the um first descent and I was solo.
00:28:21
Speaker
um I tried to look back for Maddie and I think she was just a little bit back off on that first climb. um and then took off down the descent. But the descent was really, really nice and smooth that first one until you get to the bottom and it was just mudslide.
00:28:38
Speaker
And I always felt like I was going so ridiculously slow through all of the really muddy sections just because – i didn't I didn't want to fall. Like normally yeah if I'm racing, I'd be like hell for leather. It doesn't matter. Let's get muddy. Let's like just go for it. You've got to do what you've got to do.
00:28:55
Speaker
But I feel like because I was in that half and half between on the downhills, there was so many times even on that the very bottom of that first ascent when it gets boggy, there were so many times I would like stop and walk around all the mud to try and wow not fall essentially.
00:29:09
Speaker
say i I, at that first part that got really muddy and slippery, I pretty much came to the decision that anywhere that was slow like that, I would just properly get through and take easy.
00:29:21
Speaker
And then anywhere I could push safely, I would push, um which was Then essentially what I did all the way until the halfway point, I will say Lyre's Disco, which is a brand new descent they've got now.
00:29:32
Speaker
If anyone's ever in Bright, go do that descent. It was so much fun. And because it was wet and muddy and it had been raining, it was the sort of descent where it's not so steep that you're like leaning back doing really fast steps. You're still in a good running stride, but every single foot that hits the ground slips because it's muddy.
00:29:50
Speaker
So you've just got to get really used to going where your foot's going ah to not fall. And around all the
Logistics in Golden Trail Series
00:29:56
Speaker
corners, it's like sliding around the corner instead of properly running around the corner. It was so much fun.
00:30:01
Speaker
I was having the time of my life down that descent. I wish the whole race was like that. um But, yeah, unfortunately, we hit halfway and I was kind of about the time I wanted to be, um knowing that I had lost time to what I would normally want on the descents but been fine on the climbs.
00:30:16
Speaker
Yeah. And then we were told that we the course was cut short. um yeah So was because of the wind up high. So essentially I came into the halfway point thinking I had like to and then was told I had like to that many ways like – um so that in many ways like put a bit of a dampener on my desire to push much.
00:30:42
Speaker
don't know. Like in my head I'm going for a time on the whole course. Like I wanted my time on the the twenty seven k and as soon as it's like this completely random brand new distance because the course is cut short and stuff, I don't know, it just felt like, well, the time means nothing now.
00:30:59
Speaker
um And so i still also i will say goat track, which is the last climb that we do, um I don't know how much it climbs in 1.3k or whatever it is, but it is steep. It's really steep.
00:31:09
Speaker
Because they'd sent the 5k's up it already and it was wet and muddy, it was damn near impossible to get up that thing at times. You're just slipping. I fell more on the uphill than the downhill. You're trying to use ropes, but it's just clay underfoot.
00:31:23
Speaker
Anyways, um it was then on that uphill that the Michael Dunstan was there filming. And so I had a good chat to him as I was going up the bottom goat track and he was telling me what disco, which is the last descent, was like, which is just a straight bomb down mud essentially.
00:31:41
Speaker
um And he told me that if I managed to get down, because I hadn't fallen at this point, I had no mud on my butt. And I was like, yeah, no, man, I'm doing good. Like I got this. And he was like, if you manage to get down disco without falling on your butt, I'll buy you lunch.
00:31:55
Speaker
And I went challenge accepted, absolutely challenge accepted because I know at this point I'm leading the race by quite a ways. I got time to get down that thing. sorry it became like this fun new little challenge, um which really did help and in some ways because it was like um you get to the top and it was straight back down. It was like...
00:32:15
Speaker
Mildly disappointing there, but also understandable once you got to the top and saw the wind. like It was a smart move. um But then down disco, hi was so careful and I didn't fall.
00:32:27
Speaker
I absolutely nailed it. Did not fall down the mud. So yeah, essentially came in just under three hours, which I was very happy with for the course that we did. I will say I might have absolutely taken the piss a little bit on that Disco descent because I went again, i went and checked the rest of the course um that we missed yesterday.
00:32:47
Speaker
um So two days later, I just went and ran the rest of it. um Plus up and down goat and disco again. And I cruised down disco two minutes faster. yeah Two days later, it's 500 meters.
00:32:58
Speaker
So I was going four minutes a K faster down the thing when I didn't have a bet on the line. And I did message Michael and be like, look, I might've cheated a little bit with how slow I went down this thing. But to be fair, he he was like, no, it was muddy. It was fine. like did Did you get your lunch?
00:33:15
Speaker
Bet's a bet. um When we actually get a chance, yes, I'm good. um But either way, it just became a little bit of a challenge within the race that was a bit of fun. And, yeah, honestly, finished
Trail Running Growth in the U.S.
00:33:28
Speaker
feeling cruisy, happy as Larry, um and backed it up the next day with a super long hike with a pack and a run, and then the next day ah run. And today I was doing a normal track session at normal speeds, feeling fine.
00:33:41
Speaker
say Yeah. feels like a good training race and yeah do you feel like because of the conditions and having to go so cautious down it's not really that hard to recover from um I think just that that was how I would have approached it anyway.
00:33:56
Speaker
Sure. Like that approach would have been my approach no matter what. i As much as I adore ripping descents, I also know that as soon as I am in the mode of going all out down a descent, that's when stuff can go wrong.
00:34:08
Speaker
and yeah And that's when I fall. I'm used to falling. I'm fine with falling. but And I really don't mind falling if it's a race that I'm targeting. Like, ah that risk is worth it to me. That's fine. um But I will never go my fastest down and descent in a training race because it's not worth it.
00:34:25
Speaker
yeah um So i would have approached it the same no matter what. So I think that the recovery would have been the same. um in many ways and it was just cold and wet and rainy that's fine um so yeah times times in some ways because of the conditions were a little slower um but then the conditions are probably similar every time for wandy i assume it looks pretty crazy some hills is this i guess i've never been to bright but is that probably the steepest or like biggest mountains that you could get for trail running in australia
00:34:57
Speaker
No, you like in terms of biggest, all you've got to do is drive up the hill to Harrietville and you've got Bon Accord Spur, which has a VK in it. So you've got a thousand meters over 5K there.
00:35:09
Speaker
um They're probably, think the whole goat track is about 30%. The steepest section would be probably closer to like high 31% for the whole. And then the disco minus 45%. So not getting much steep on disco. Yeah.
00:35:23
Speaker
so yeah you're not going and disco Going up disco is you just kind of have to laugh at yourself because you've got to use the ropes and you're just sort of hands on knees and going for it. um There's on the other side of Mystic, you've got Mix Track, which used to be in the Buffalo Stampede course. And that climbs something like 400 meters in 600 meters. That's 42% for Mix. Because I it yesterday. So yeah.
00:35:48
Speaker
yeah i did it yesterday um so yeah So that that that was great. like You finish off the marathon, in my case, or like the 100k, and you've just got to go straight up this wall.
00:35:59
Speaker
um But yeah, this is this is probably some of the like less used trails. like they They do a great job of preparing it for the race. But if you were to go onto this maybe two months ago, it would be a bit of route finding and pretty pretty tough underfoot as well. So um yeah, it's it's a good experience.
00:36:21
Speaker
It's challenging. Oh, 100%. And yeah I would say like I haven't seen much steeper in all the biggest stuff, um just longer climbs. Yeah. Yeah, you probably you probably yeah no you'd be right actually. yeah There's not really much steeper that's either short, like there's some steeper stuff that's shorter in total distance, but around that sort of K mark, that's probably as steep as you get, especially if you wanted to do multiple of them.
00:36:44
Speaker
That damn descent off the bottom of middle track. Oh my gosh. Like when you're off the single track and then it's just straight down. Whatever percent that fire road is. Honestly, Vlad, you would hate It's like fire road that's like 40 something percent.
00:36:56
Speaker
it's So yeah if you are ever spectating Buffalo and you want to watch some people in just pure agony, go and stand at the bottom of that fire track.
TrailCon's Impact on Trail Running
00:37:07
Speaker
And it is like, it's, I feel bad saying this, but it's hilarious because you just, you just see some people are sidestepping, walking, like their quads have completely gone because middle track is, it's rutted out. It's rocky. It's quite slick. If it's not, um if it hasn't been wet.
00:37:22
Speaker
And so you've just, you've been tiptoeing down poor form and then you get shot out into this like 35, 40% fire road. And some people are going for it and they're still a good condition. And the other people it's, yeah, it's, it's carnage.
00:37:35
Speaker
Honestly, I hadn't done that part before and I was going down um middle and i'm like, oh, this is sweet. This is absolutely beautiful, loving life. And then I realized where we were about to head when you get to the top of that bloody fire road.
00:37:48
Speaker
And I just went, hang on a second. What? Like, oh, it was nuts. what is What's the running community like in Bright?
00:37:59
Speaker
It's big. Yeah, it so there there's the Trails and Ales, which was started in Aubrey by a guy called Timmy G, who's pretty synonymous with the trail running scene and around here and skateboarding scene. um But so they they kind of have quite a big crew and then it's sort of spread out from there. You've got like your top end runners. Obviously, there's Blake, there's the Barnett brothers, there's Georgina.
00:38:25
Speaker
Joe Dorff and basically the entire spectrum of people. it's it It's a sort of place where if you know a few people, you can only send a message and so like somebody is running and there's probably a group run happening.
00:38:36
Speaker
um yeah It's a pretty it's pretty decent scene. Siobhan and I used to live there and back in 2019 though, but it was wonderful. The weather is obviously ah one draw like downside is it's just pretty wet and cold and it is quite a small town so if you like as interesting i was just speaking to mila young yesterday um for one of the interview coming out and she loves that environment but if you like to have a bit of um anonymity in town and be able to not have to talk to people all the time bright's not bright's not not the place but yeah the the running scene is is is pretty cool yeah is it much bigger than katoomba
00:39:17
Speaker
As a town or as a running... As a town. No, it would be smaller than Katoomba. um it's It's a really... If you bought a place there maybe 10 years ago, you would be laughing right now. is it's anch It's a very interesting town. it it probably is outgrowing its means and there's a really massive development happening on the drive-in at the moment, which I think they think they're meant to be putting in some form of supermarket or a convenience store to help support it. But...
00:39:47
Speaker
You've got, I know when we lived there, i think the population year round was meant to be about 5,000 and then it balloons to 25 to 30 through peak seasons. And you've got a Woolworths and an IGA and that's it.
00:40:00
Speaker
So there's a whole bunch of holiday rentals, but there's barely any long-term rentals. So real issue with trying to get in people to work and hospitality because there's just nowhere for them to live. So it's it has its challenges of being at the end of a valley, essentially.
00:40:17
Speaker
Yeah. I want to set up a training camp over summer there, Vlad. So you can come along and check it all out. Yeah, no, I really want to do um Buffalo one day. um Yeah. It's definitely been a race that I wanted to do for for a while. So yeah, maybe next year is the time to to go. But yeah, camp I'll come down.
00:40:35
Speaker
The marathon, you would be scary on that course, I reckon. Yeah. like Yeah, that would suit you. yeah Because it's got to be more descent, it's 2,800 1,800 up.
00:40:49
Speaker
And the like there's nothing, well, obviously it's bit subjective, but there's basically nothing technical about that course now. um This year they had to do a little bit of ah a redirect. So you came down middle track, which made it a bit Middle is I'm trying do.
00:41:04
Speaker
yeah Yeah, no, I was sort of saying if they hadn't done that and it was the planned descent, which is you get to the top of this climb called Clear Sport, you come down a fire road, down a super smooth single track. Like it is, it's just fast flowing trails or wide fire trails. So you can move very, very quickly.
00:41:22
Speaker
you don And you don't that's right between it's right between Melbourne and Canberra, right? Like it's right in the middle. Yeah. Essentially, yeah. Yeah. Three hour drive from Melbourne, three hour drive from Canberra.
00:41:32
Speaker
It would be a touch longer from Canberra, maybe four, but you can fly into Aubrey. It's four from Melbourne too, so it's fine. Yeah, it's four from both. But, you know, it'll be, yeah, I've just done that drive. It was annoying.
00:41:48
Speaker
It's just such a boring drive. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. But it's it's a cool race because it's outside of UTA. It's probably bigger. I don't know if it'd be big bigger than COSY, but it would be the second or third biggest in terms of numbers event.
00:42:03
Speaker
I think they were just shy of 3000 this year. So it's got a really nice atmosphere. um So yeah, it's it's definitely a cool one to come come experience. Yeah, should be good.
00:42:14
Speaker
Should be good. Hopefully we'll see you there next year, Vlad. But either way, I loved my time in Bright. Got to see some snow. I went hiking in snow for the first time ever and I was like a kid at Christmas. It was amazing but cold because it dumped down over the weekend. So to anyone that also loves their skiing and snowboarding, um life just got good for people that like doing that double.
00:42:37
Speaker
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00:42:56
Speaker
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00:43:07
Speaker
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00:43:25
Speaker
And with that, let's get back to the show. i think that summarizes our weeks, our races. um I suppose we may as well, while I've just chatted about Wondie, I may as well quickly duck through the Wondie results.
00:43:39
Speaker
um overall because there was um there was a bit of a story here on the men's side at least. But for the 14K, James Barnett put on a show um because I think Ian, by the looks of Strava, I think Ian beat him to the top of the first climb, I think. I think he said that he was about five seconds behind. Okay. And then to quote Ian, he has kids was in the sense of he cannot follow James downhill because he's so fast that he would be putting his life on the line to hold on.
00:44:14
Speaker
Yeah. It's kind of what he what he was insinuating there. Yep, okay, that makes sense. That makes sense. So, yeah, James Barnett got the win in the 14K in an hour 19. Ian Best was an hour 29 and Tim Goddard an hour 36.
00:44:28
Speaker
The lovely Matty O'Donnell got the win on the women's side in an hour 56. Julie Blake second in 206 and Alana Harrop 218 in third. on In the 27K, Billy Curtis got the win in the end, um but it was a much tighter race than the results make it look because on the final results, Billy Curtis got the win in 2.19, Blake Turner second in 2 hours 30, and Joe Dorff third in 2 hours 46.26 with fourth, then Robbie Savage in 2 hours 46.27. James, did you watch that?
00:45:03
Speaker
Were they sprinting? I missed the finish for them, which I'm kind of gutted about. But I think it was as a – in fact, i if you keep speaking, I did message Joe. he um think he said. It must have been because it look there's a one second between third and fourth. So that sprint would have been – because they have to do like – you do almost like a 600-meter lap of the oval before then running to the finish line. So you're in sight of everyone at the finish for a solid few minutes before you actually cross the line. So that would have been a spectator – It'd be great. Yeah, he he said that he did out sprint, Rob, at the end.
00:45:37
Speaker
So it was a sprint finish. So yeah, Joe Dorf with the sprint finish there for third. But um on the men's side, so Blake was actually in the lead coming through the what was the halfway point turned into sort of the essentially just the fifteen k point.
00:45:54
Speaker
um But then you have to sort of, you run out on this road and you have to then turn left up goat track and you do a loop where you then come back to the bottom of goat track after the downhill.
00:46:05
Speaker
And he ran past the turnoff for goat track and missed the uphill. But then... ah Saw people coming back the other way, but no one, so like people he said people were just looking at him confused, but no one told him until he got a K and a half down the road to the bottom of the last ascent.
00:46:23
Speaker
then someone told Then they told him that, no, you've come the wrong way. So he added three Ks to the race. So there were thankfully three flat kilometers.
00:46:34
Speaker
it was, but at the same time, he only had about a, I think he said about a 90 second lead over Billy. um at that point. So then by the time he makes it back, he's done.
00:46:45
Speaker
Like the race is over um and Billy's got it. So it would have been a lot because Billy often finishes quite strong. I would have loved to see how it played out. Well, this is... It would have been really interesting because when... it Yeah, it was about 90 seconds, maybe 75 seconds, the gap. And when Billy came through and got given the the um the news, he just took off.
00:47:08
Speaker
Like, smile on his face. Like, almost like halfway between annoyed, but also kind of excited. Like, okay, this is on. and And he was... I feel like you could have taken that news and gone, I've lost it. I'm not going to close 90 seconds. But Billy just went in, oh, I am going for everything right now.
00:47:22
Speaker
um And so it would have been interesting to see how that played out. It's a shame that we didn't we didn't get it. I wonder if Billy realized, because you can see up Goat Track for quite a while. So Billy realize that Blake wasn't there?
00:47:35
Speaker
So what Billy said to me is that he but when he turned onto the track and you get, after a bit, you get a pretty clear view up. And was he said it was probably about 500 metres. He couldn't see Blake. he just saw He thought that Blake had just put the burners on.
00:47:47
Speaker
And he was like, oh, God. And it's like, how could he have climbed that fast? But he didn't, because he he wouldn't have seen him go the wrong way. So i think he probably worked it out that Blake hadn't just suddenly taken five minutes off this CR up the climb. but Yeah, yeah.
00:48:03
Speaker
Yeah, fair. Okay. That's unfortunate, um but it happens in these sorts of races. Although I think they must have remedied the problem because by the time I got to the bottom of goat track, there was someone there screaming at me to go up and turn. So at least by the time I got there, I didn't have a decision to make. They had a marshal.
00:48:22
Speaker
So yeah, that was that was good by them, but unfortunate for Blake. But he seemed happy on the finish line still. It was a great run. And I think they still got a bit of the battle.
00:48:33
Speaker
that they wanted going. um Then on the women's side, yes, I got the win. um And then Michelle Beatty was in second. And Maria Krause was in third um for the women.
00:48:48
Speaker
And then what else happened? Oh, a lot happened. Coastal Ascent. oh Absolute mayhem happened, it feels like. I don't know, in terms of the Golden Trail series.
00:49:01
Speaker
and And this is something we alluded to earlier with Just Got to Stay Healthy um because we had three big names um pull out of coastal um due to having the flu, all of them with the flu. So fun times for Nath Pierce had to pull out, Katinka had to pull out and Bridget had to pull out, which changes things up quite a bit.
00:49:26
Speaker
um Yeah, because that writes that writes all three of them out for the series. three of are done, yep. Wow. It's an interesting point. When you've only got four races, three of them count, and one of them has to be the final. like It really doesn't leave a lot of care chance for being sick or something like that.
00:49:44
Speaker
No, and this is why i've i learned I've learned this the hard way in the past as well and I will always be the person that if I can rock up to the early races and I'm healthy and I'm fit enough to do it, I'm going to get those finished.
00:49:56
Speaker
Yeah. Like I almost pulled out of Kunani. I didn't rock up in a good state at all, but I knew that I would regret it if I didn't because it was – I then had a guaranteed spot on the series um leaderboard by the end of the final if I just had that race. Yes, I could have fallen back and done coastal instead of Wandy if I wanted.
00:50:18
Speaker
um But at the same time, I ah ah don't like falling on future safety nets as a runner just because you there's no guarantee of getting to any start line. um So it is hard for sure.
00:50:31
Speaker
But I think you almost, in whenever you're racing a series, you're always in a better position if you can get as many of the mandatory races out of the way when you're healthy enough to rock up, yeah essentially. So even if that means targeting one, jogging another,
00:50:47
Speaker
you've at least got the finish. um At least that's the way I look at it because yeah, it turned into ah bit of mayhem. The results were still bloody awesome because Leo somewhat predictably got the win, but it looks like it was a slightly different course with a bit more elevation gain this year. So hence slower times.
00:51:09
Speaker
i'm I need to chat to Leo to check this, but um the Strava is definitely different. The Strava definitely has about a hundred meters more elevation than last year. um and slightly different trails that they take ah almost, whole not the whole way, but I can see all the differences. And then um in second, only what, three minutes back?
00:51:29
Speaker
Yeah, three minutes back was Ben Otis, who's a new name, and I've done some research on this guy. And Ben is an American living in New Zealand, as far as I can tell, based on his Instagram.
00:51:42
Speaker
um Recently ran a 65-minute half marathon in New Zealand. um Pretty good. and And has very fast times all the way down to the 5K. This is his second trail race ever.
00:51:54
Speaker
So he's just entered the trail scene. He came second, I think, at Tarawera this year. this year And then this is his second trail race that he's done. And in between them or before them, he had the half marathon. So he's come from the roads and the track.
00:52:09
Speaker
um American living in New Zealand, but obviously keen to jump across to Oz for some races. So a name we might see a bit more often, hopefully. I'm hoping. um But yeah, he was, what, being three minutes behind Leo his second trail race ever.
00:52:24
Speaker
That's pretty damn good going. And he looked he looked good coming across the line. um So that was Ben. And then in third place now, I think sitting pretty in the pretty high up in the series he will be was Thomas Banks um with another good run in third for the men.
00:52:42
Speaker
um We'll get to the overall series in a second. i don't They haven't updated the points, but I can figure it out. um And then in the women's side, this is where things get even more interesting because no one on the podium is part of the series, um which makes life a little interesting. But it was won by Jessica Purbrick.
00:53:03
Speaker
And in second, I've lost the results for a second here. There we go. Ingrid Cleland, local. And then in third, a name I'm not aware of, but Grace Handley was in third. And you have to go all the way, well, not all the way back. It's not too far back, but back to fifth.
00:53:21
Speaker
Georgina Beach was the highest ranked that is someone who has raced in the series before. um And she's currently ranked ninth overall in the series.
00:53:33
Speaker
um I would have to scroll back. I'm not entirely sure who else raced at all that's part of the series and has done some. I think that'll become apparent when the um series rankings get updated on the website.
00:53:48
Speaker
But... The women's side has taken a hit because with this race, we now no longer have Mia, Bridget, Katinka. Steph Austin was there, but she raced the 50K and won the 50K instead of doing the 25, which also takes her out of the series. However, I did chat to Steph and she wasn't able to come to the final.
00:54:12
Speaker
So didn't see a point in maintaining any series points. um And in full Steph logic, which I absolutely love when chatting to her, we shouted her out last week for a result at Everest Ultra.
00:54:24
Speaker
And she said she didn't think she had the turnover for the 25K a week later, so she jumped in the 50K instead for the longer, steadier effort. it So, yeah, Steph won the 50K by quite a ways.
00:54:36
Speaker
ah And I suppose the men's winner for the fifty k was Joe Soulless. um who also won by quite a way. But, yeah, essentially what that means for the series is yeah I go into the final top ranked, which I was not expecting. I was genuinely expecting to be more like fourth, maybe even fifth.
00:54:57
Speaker
um And there's, yeah, not a huge number of people on the women's side left, um I think, that have done enough races to then qualify for the overall series. so um But there is still there's still at least four or five races from what I can see, and they'll be more further down. Then on the men's side, it is still somewhat close. Leo, obviously, with two wins, goes in top ranked. He'll be on 200 points.
00:55:24
Speaker
But then I think Thomas Banks might be sitting in second. um What's 88 plus 88? I can't do math. 176. Okay, so Toby will be ranked in second.
00:55:35
Speaker
um Thomas Banks in third. Michael Kernaghan only one point behind Thomas Banks. Yeah. And then I'm not sure who will be below that. But essentially, that's still somewhat of a if something goes wrong for Leo at the final, points can change very quickly kind of thing.
00:55:52
Speaker
um Because points are triple points um at the final. So there's big gaps between, say, say first and third. There's a massive point gap. um i Do you feel like that waiting is a little bit too skewed?
00:56:06
Speaker
um I think in a case like this. want Vlad to talk.
00:56:13
Speaker
A tiny bit. I mean, obviously, it's so much weight on that final that you have to do two races and then you have to do well in the final. yeah But, yeah, before before you answer your um your kind of thoughts about it, I was also going to ask you guys if you feel like the whole series has been getting a little bit less attention this year.
00:56:33
Speaker
I don't know. I mean, obviously I follow the sport quite a lot and I just felt like the vibe this year just wasn't there. Yeah, i would ah completely agree. I think you that observation from my conversations is pretty much unanimous across the board, which it's a it's a it's a shame because it's the the concept of it in bringing awareness to the top end, trying to bring the fields together is great.
00:57:00
Speaker
It just doesn't seem to have have quite landed. Yeah, I think this year what hurt them and even from the back end from observation, it's the fact that being in Oz, our season is so much earlier than everyone else's.
00:57:16
Speaker
um So our opportunity for races is a lot earlier. And because of that and because of a lot of the information coming from France, from overseas, all the information for this series came out late.
00:57:31
Speaker
um later than you would want it for people to plan for, for people to, i don't know, like even, I think it was like one week before Donna Double that the prizes, the points and everything were announced, which um I know from the back end that the Oz team were fighting hard for that to be a lot, a lot earlier.
00:57:51
Speaker
um But because and because they didn't have that information, they then weren't putting out promos for it. So that is hurting them in a big way um and that's because we start the earliest out of anyone.
00:58:06
Speaker
We finish the earliest out of anyone. We're on a different schedule to overseas and so the information – that is very timely for other series is too late for us. um Yeah. Which then hurts their ability to promote the series, to put information out there, to put posts out even about it saying that it's still happening. So like even at the beginning, it's like, well, is it happening?
00:58:25
Speaker
it's It's meant to start soon and there's no information and it's it's not easy that way. and So that's hurt it for sure, I'd say. It's an interesting one and potentially it speaks to kind of where the trail running is in Australia in the sense there's a lot of new people to it because I feel like what you've said matters for the mass market, but for the people that would make that event competitive, think.
00:58:51
Speaker
like they would probably know that it's going to happen or at least enough to put it on the schedule. um I don't know that ah yeah I don't know that that would have stopped the competitiveness of of it, but I might i might be wrong.
00:59:07
Speaker
Yeah. Again, I don't ah don't know what necessarily – I'm coming – I almost can't even have an opinion on the matter just because it's like I'm coming from someone that does get all the insider information so I know earlier than everyone, yeah which – makes it a very very different experience for me. so um I do think that if it could have had, like, yes, earlier information, clearer information as well, um evidently with the fact that so many of the national series has got disbanded this year, that, like, you can – it feels like the global –
00:59:43
Speaker
golden trail team isn't particularly invested yeah you can you can tell because there is no national series there's no national team that you then compete for at the end of this anymore they got rid the whole category so what's what really is the impetus for our best people to go and race when you've got other highly competitive like buffalo stampede uta like Well, reality is there's still no other race that you can go and win a fully paid trip over to the one of the most competitive races in the world.
01:00:13
Speaker
Like when you look at the first prize, there's still nowhere else in Oz you can get a prize like it um that's worth as much money. I guess UTA was a bit bit of a bigger prize technically. A bit of a bigger prize money-wise for sure. So UTA, 100%, but I don't think the calendar was set like it should have been too hurt by UTA um in some ways. But it is one of the best. Yeah, you still have to do free races to be eligible for the prize, which makes it, you know,
01:00:41
Speaker
financially for some people. Like for the for the target market, which usually is the the slightly younger market in terms of trail running at least, like I know that it it's a financial strain for people to get to the races. And like if you know you're going to win that top prize, 100% it's worth it. But if it's – that's the hardest prize to win, right?
01:00:58
Speaker
So it's – and I think in some ways like this past weekend really hurt the series because in some – if you add back in, if you add back in Mia, Katinka, Bridgette,
01:01:10
Speaker
Steph on the women's side, if you even if you just add back in Nath. But ideally, we would have had a few more men. But especially on the women's side, that was more competitive than last year, I'd say. and So on the women's side, it picked up.
01:01:22
Speaker
It just really got hurt by injury and illness throughout the series. so Something I saw that Brisbane just announced today that they're going to be doing accommodation for the elites. I wasn't super sure if it was just the top five or the top ten on the standings at the moment. and Was that the case last year?
01:01:41
Speaker
And has that was has that been the case at any of the other three races? so So this is Brisbane doing this. brisba So even the accommodation last year was just that Brisbane Trail Ultra have always done an incredible job of looking after their elites. They're one of the best races to go to be looked after.
01:01:58
Speaker
And um Shona does an incredible job of it well before they were part of, like even when I raced it back when it was Spartan. um i was i've i've I'd never been so well looked after in an Aus race to that point, and this was a few years ago now.
01:02:11
Speaker
um So that is Brisbane doing that um and coming to the fore with that as the race. So no, it hasn't been the case at any other races, but it's always been the case at Brisbane for years.
01:02:24
Speaker
that which I love about Brisbane. And like, I absolutely adore Brisbane Trail Ultra. This year, it's going to be a much smaller version of Brisbane Trail Ultra. There's only the 10K and the 26. There's no other events.
01:02:36
Speaker
um What's happened there? um Just and the people in charge of managing it had to take a step back for a year. Life essentially happened.
01:02:47
Speaker
um So um back-end life for people that are race directors, um when life hits the fan a little bit, then the race... is going to suffer. Like there was a big um there's a big email sent out a very long time ago now warning everyone that, hey, we're just going to have to take a step back from that um the event as a whole for this year and it's only a Golden Trail event.
01:03:08
Speaker
um So it's the 10K the 26 just on that one day with the view to bringing it back in its full glory later. um but So this year they they only have the 26Ks to look after really. But yeah,
01:03:21
Speaker
yeah all other years like a lot of elites have been looked after across all the events at Brisbane um but yeah so finance has definitely come into it but I like for me just observing it at least from the women's side just this last weekend was the biggest hit um because yes you can say like yes I do think the hype has been somewhat less but the competitiveness as a female in the series felt more um so it's it it was to and fro and then now it's like all of a sudden a little bit falling apart um which is a shame because you can't see that and i don't think know if there is golden trail like australia instagram page but like there's very little it feels there's very little content coming out from all this and if you want to
01:04:08
Speaker
actually drive engagement and get it on people's memories and maybe it's just not hitting my my algorithm but my algorithm is literally just running so I'll be very surprised um it yeah it is it did that even if the competitiveness is there like the hype isn't and that's what's going to keep it going in my mind yeah yeah I think like the there's there's Obviously, there's still the posts that are out there, but you have to be following the races and Salomon, Oz, NZ. Yeah,
01:04:37
Speaker
They're the places it goes out to. So um it's it's a case of it's not hitting a broader share market. i like it's not It's not getting – it's not all Eurosport or something like wild. like No, no. But like I'm looking at – so Salomon, Oz, NZ, title sponsor the whole series. Yeah.
01:04:56
Speaker
If you just scroll through their front page, and this isn't having a going Salomon, this is just an indication of the lack of like coverage that it's getting. There's nothing that stands out to be anything to do with Golden Trail. maybe one photo. No, that's not.
01:05:07
Speaker
It's about the gravel shoes. So it's and the the point being that the the investment seems potentially not followed through would be the complete the complete outsider's observation.
01:05:20
Speaker
Yeah, fair. I think they've they've just got the posts around the races and from what I can tell. um But it'll be interesting to see. I'm yeah um not sure what the future for the series holds. I think we already saw this year there was a lot of changes um and you never quite know what changes are going to come again.
01:05:38
Speaker
um But i'm just I'm hoping that the final is still what you want a final to be in terms of the competitive. I think on the men's side it's all still close enough that it is – exciting enough that, and this is what I was about to say before with my answer to is the final too much. In this case, I'm almost going to say no, just because it means that it's not, oh, we know Leo's got this one.
01:06:03
Speaker
It's still a case of, well, no, Leo still has to go and race and he still has to beat some very good competition behind him. um and it's not just a – it's already handed out before the final even happens. I don't know. um Like, yes, it puts a lot but it makes the puts a lot of emphasis on the final, but it makes the final slightly more exciting as ah as a standalone race, I think.
01:06:25
Speaker
um do i Did I prefer it last year when there was maybe less on the final? In some ways, yeah, um but I think there's pros and cons maybe of both. I don't know.
01:06:36
Speaker
Yeah, i mean, ah personally, for the growth of the sport in Australia, i would spread out that price throughout the four races and, um you know, get people getting something from finishing third or second um at some of the smaller races that would, I think, mean a bit more than just the one big prize.
01:06:56
Speaker
Yeah, to be yeah, i'm i'm I'm with you there. But it's like I think um it's like a lot of the series are, around the world where the the prize money for each individual race is on that individual race yeah to come up with. So like,
01:07:12
Speaker
eight yeah like It's not coming from Golden Trail. It's coming from that individual director. It's coming from that race. It requires that race to then find the sponsors or find the money from somewhere. And often, as it is in Oz, like, there's still not massive races that are making a big buck that all have all this money to give a bunch of prize money sort of thing. So, it's, yeah, it's a rough one where there's not actually many races in Oz you can rock up to where there's prize money.
01:07:36
Speaker
um But... I think that something that I would love to see, which potentially is a little bit more easy, like a bit easier to build up is more races offering that accommodation and just creating an accommodation partner in that area, like being a sponsor, but that rather than a monetary sponsor, it's that because then,
01:07:54
Speaker
If you are having to fly to Hobart or you're flying up to Brisbane, ah okay, yeah, you've got the flight cost, but at least you're then saving that extra, what, $300, $400, $500 on a weekend's accommodation. Yeah.
01:08:05
Speaker
I think a decent portion of races have accommodation partners or the bit like the top races at least have some form of accommodation partner. It maybe just doesn't spread too deep into the field.
01:08:18
Speaker
um Yeah, whereas, and if you're going to be having, special especially, and i i said, I don't know if Brisbane is five or 10, but if you could get the top 10 from the last race, get accommodation at the next one.
01:08:29
Speaker
It also then means that if that was the case, so many people would be incentivized to go to Warby, kick off the series, create hype, and then that follows through. Yeah, which is, to be fair, is how the series, although the Golden Trail World Series has gone away from that too, but the World Series used to be run. You come top 20 at one race and you get half board for the next one. You come top 10, you get your full ride to the next one.
01:08:51
Speaker
But even the World Series has gone away from that. You don't get any travel support anymore. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah, but I think that... I think they were going that a lot of it comes from their sponsors and most likely people are on better contracts than free people.
01:09:06
Speaker
Yeah, you're not likely getting too much ah travel stipends on ambassadorships small-scale sponsorships over here, unfortunately. To be honest, i actually a few months ago I looked at the costal ascent and maybe coming over and racing it, not because of the final because I knew that even if I was going to win the final, which the way that Leo is running would be pretty tough, but I was like I can't make it because of the dates that I've you know I'm in Europe and I can't stay that long but still I wanted to have a competitive um race but then I was like flights accommodation travel um I'm looking at like 1500 for that race um yeah which I thought maybe it's not really worth it and that's why I didn't end up doing it yeah um at the same time as that hype is not there you kind of feel like well is this the race I should be doing or should I do something else
01:09:56
Speaker
The size of Oz and the cost hurts us because the same thing in Switzerland or in Sweden or in like one of the smaller countries, you're driving a couple of hours to every single race. Or you get a train that will cost you like, you know.
01:10:08
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. So like ah and a lot of the other series, the races are in the same country and live really not far apart. um Whereas it it is like, I think we're just learning some of the challenges of being an Aussie.
01:10:21
Speaker
runner when it comes to travel because if you want to do all the most competitive races around the country, that is a cost and it's a big cost. think about this in correlation to the States as well because I don't ah don't think domestic travel in the States is particularly cheap, the airfares, at least from what I've heard. They just had the Sun and Pete Scramble, there their Mountain Champs qualifier.
01:10:45
Speaker
and everyone comes in for it because obviously it's you're qualifying for the world team but like i feel like we saw in adelaide with our champs yes there weren't it wasn't the top four get the slot like it was there which potentially would have been cool to see but i still don't think people are flying from perth to sydney or brisbane or adelaide to do those races yeah um which is probably just a just the size the sport hasn't got to that point yet where it's quite worthwhile but yeah um I think the US is like, you know, where Australia would be in a couple of years, potentially. They've been growing very quickly, but you can also see that they're celebrating their spots for the world champs and they're making a big deal out of it just by handing out those blue and red tickets. you yeah
01:11:31
Speaker
That does create a bit of media hype and attention. um It's also, I was going to say, it's a very big difference when you're paying to, as a US athlete, you're paying to get yourself to that championship and what you then win is an all expenses paid trip to that World Champs with everything covered. Whereas what you would win in Oz currently is the right to pay a lot of money. huge bill.
01:11:56
Speaker
Yeah, but saying that, you know, which we still had, you know, 50 people go to Austria and pay. Exactly. It's amazing, the commitment. I love it, the commitment. But at the same time, I'm just saying it's such a different thing when you look at the money you're forking out to go for a chance.
01:12:13
Speaker
at something that is really, like the the reward is huge. yeah And yes, the reward of representing the country is still huge, but there's a massive financial barrier for us, um for some people that really they go, well, I'd love to go have a chance, but I literally cannot afford to then get to the world.
01:12:29
Speaker
So it feels like there's no point. Whereas as an American, you can be going and go, I'm just going to go for a chance because why the hell not? Because if I get it, it's there and I get to go and it's all good.
01:12:40
Speaker
So I would love it if Oz gets there at some point. yeah Absolutely love it. But we're not there yet. Yeah, I think a thing that we saw that with this whole World Champs, you know, coming up that, you know, we're very far away from it. And I think we're going to be talking more about it as we get closer to the World Champs and the teams gets announced and all that.
01:13:02
Speaker
um But taking us to the US, the US have been doing it. You know, I've been growing and and you can see the growth comes from, Western States, which you know always has been a big race. um Obviously this year, a pretty big event, um but also um Broken Arrow Sky Race, which is a week before.
01:13:21
Speaker
And now it's all combined together with the TrailCon. So as I guess all that tension goes to Chamonix at the end of August for UTMB.
01:13:32
Speaker
Now the US has really pushed this attention around Broken Arrow and Western States and connected it all with TrailCon, which is a trail running conference where brands can showcase new products specific for
Growing U.S. Trail Running Events
01:13:47
Speaker
trail. So obviously the US has got some big um running shows, um but this one is very specific for trail and looks like a big event um that that will will grow really quickly over over the next few years, just with how big trail running is becoming in the US.
01:14:05
Speaker
You know, it's already big, but it's growing very, very quickly. Yeah, it'll be exciting to, I feel like you do you do really have those two separate sort of times. you get really excited for a race in some ways, but also now i love the addition of almost combining the two together because it encompasses all distances again.
01:14:23
Speaker
It's like once again kind of combining everything so that all aspects of the sport get celebrated within this short period in a certain area, like the US for this one.
01:14:35
Speaker
um And it's also divided between three different
Western States and Broken Arrow Weekend
01:14:38
Speaker
parties. So obviously Western States um and then you got um broke and the Skyrace, the Broken Arrow Skyrace, and then you got Free Trail with the Trailcon. So they all kind of came together, made this big, big massive double weekend event and it's not just like one race organizer they kind of work together to create that hype to yeah and then there's the fact that broken arrow is a golden trail race so you've got a golden trail race tied into that a world series race and it's their qualifier for the short trail yeah exactly so oh yeah 46k so it's like it's a bunch of really really competitive races
01:15:16
Speaker
yeah again yeah it was it last year was for so someone that hasn't heard it before it was that the first year they did it and they kind of just dipped their toe in did a few live panels and they've like scaled up probably 20 30 times on what they did um but it's still free it's still free to go along to which is quite nice and from listening um dylan bowman free trail he did a podcast with doug emsley who's I think they're kind of the main investor
Collaborative Trail Events
01:15:45
Speaker
in this. And it's really interesting to listen, but essentially Dylan and Brendan Manigan, who's the race director for Broken Arrow, had the same idea at the same time. And they, rather than try and fight, they combined forces, which I feel like that's very much the trail vibe, which I did like to listen to.
01:16:02
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I was kind of wondering where could this happen in Australia? Like, you know, kind of in my head, I was listening to some of the podcasts, you know, kind of, don't know if that's true, but they're going to have 65 brands at that tail con, very trail specific. Last year they had no brands. It was a small panel, you know. I couldn't even name 65 trail brands.
01:16:24
Speaker
Were you throwing in like, yeah, nutrition in Darren? i Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you could, yeah. you know, they'll be on trial. Would you consider going over there next year, Vlad?
Australian Interest in U.S. Trail Events
01:16:37
Speaker
but so Yeah, so I didn't realize how big it was till one of our whole sellers from Australia told me that he was going there just for that. And I was like, wow, that means that it's second year, you're already going to it, means that it is getting the right attention.
01:16:54
Speaker
um And that's ah that's a running shop in in Australia that... It's fairly big. um So I guess they want to see if they can find new products, new suppliers and so on. And they're going there now, which is cool. And I'll definitely consider it for next year. Yeah, 100%. I'm waiting to see because obviously the investment of going over there as a brand and we do it for UTMB.
01:17:18
Speaker
it's It's a lot of money, you know, being a small small company, it's it's a big investment. um But, you know, we are a bit more trail focused. So this would make a lot of sense for us. And um yeah, I want to see how it goes this year. So I've been kind of reading and and listening to as much as i can about it and see what happens because this is going to kick off next weekend.
01:17:39
Speaker
yeah And then, yeah, I'm going to see. And then, yeah, it looks good. I'm going to go next year um for sure. Awesome. Awesome. Well, yeah, that that's something for everyone to look forward to that's listening to ah just keep tabs on Broken Arrow next week straight into um Western States with a whole bunch of cool stuff maybe coming out in between or things to pay attention to in terms of product drops for sure.
TrailCon's Unique Events
01:18:01
Speaker
Yeah, they've been quite smart with On being the title sponsor for it and they're releasing their new plated trail Cloud Ultra Pro shoe there. So it like creates a big hype with that as well. And It's, yeah, that it's a very nice, because you've seen like the running event, TRE has just got massive. That's done in November in Texas for like the road scene. And it is just, it it's an amazing thing to watch. Like I love when all the content comes out of it, but the way the trail market is expanding, it would be, feels like there is like the gap for maybe not that same size, but something to fill that hole and get that outdoor space.
01:18:38
Speaker
um Yeah, that what you were saying before, where could we do over here? I think the the unique thing that TrailCon has is it's Broken Arrow and Western States are in the same place a weekend apart.
01:18:49
Speaker
And so we'd almost have to, know you do, and ah you would move something in the Blue Mountains, like between UTA and say six foot track, you move those together or 1D Cross and Bright, but 1D wouldn't probably be quite big enough for that. like It would be very tricky. It would be great, but yeah.
01:19:08
Speaker
I mean, because the market in Australia is getting, it's pretty big. Like if you think about UTA and how many people run it and and all the trail races that happen, you know, on weekly basis around Australia, the market is big, but it's very spread out. So it would be cool if there was...
01:19:23
Speaker
A weekend, 10-day kind of an event that was combining few events together. Yeah. So we'll reach out to the team over there and say, hey, we've got an idea. We've got an idea, guys.
01:19:36
Speaker
ah That'll be some fun brainstorming on long runs for us. yeah How do we make this happen, guys? But
GoPro Mountain Games in Vail
01:19:42
Speaker
awesome. Well, yeah, one more one more thing that did happen in the US over the weekend that I think looks amazing. It looks like a festival combined with just all the mountain things all in one.
01:19:52
Speaker
um including like kayaking and I saw some slacklining tricks and rock climbing and all sorts of stuff and that was the GoPro Mountain Games in Vail and we had Aussie Lara Hamilton going around there in two different races.
01:20:06
Speaker
um She came third in the 10k to Courtney Coppinger and Danny Moreno was in second so she had a bloody good result there And then in something called Pepe's Face Off, which I had to look this up of what on earth is Pepe's Face Off, turns out it's you've got to climb a really crazy steep looking ski slope and then run down a single trail.
01:20:28
Speaker
I'm not entirely sure how far the loop is, but you've got to do as many loops as you can within 30 minutes. So it's like ah just a 30 minute all out up down effort essentially. um And she came second in that.
01:20:39
Speaker
So yeah. Lara had third backed up by a second over there. Some damn good results as she switches from Schemo back to trail running and starts to her season. I'm pretty sure she's going around at Broken Arrow, as is Charlie Hamilton um going around at Broken Arrow next weekend.
01:20:55
Speaker
I'm not sure who else we might have over there or not.
Australian Trail Running Scene
01:21:00
Speaker
um but for things coming up closer to home for races next weekend we've got ah but down in vic surf coast trail marathon is going on in uh essay and dina 5-0 near you i put this in because it is near you um james yeah i'm good like yeah the co-race director for that series oh really so yeah yeah so myself and i'm going to give it a plug if you don't mind quick uncle um no it's myself and um matchy dory who yeah so him and another guy were doing it for the last few years it's a series it's been around for ages and it's just been a loads of different hands um and yeah matt matt and i have teamed up this year so that's the second second of five rounds all locally through through winter um yeah it's great fun it's
01:21:47
Speaker
So it's kind of the same thing go of going to Wandi, for example. You just get to create a reason to bring the community out onto the trails. Love it. Love it. Well, if you've got the weekend free in your local, come along.
01:21:58
Speaker
that one That one's going ahead. Absolutely love the sound of that. And then to be fair, there's heaps. Charles Darwin Trail Run sounds fun up in the Northern Territory in the National Park. Eagle and Child over in WA. Is that part of the – yeah, I think it's part of your winter series over there, Vlad.
01:22:12
Speaker
yeah Yeah, that's right. Not far away from where I live and going to be down there with Bix as well. So, yeah, fun event. Nice. ah Pinnacles Classic up in c creekk Queensland. Kununurra Half Marathon is also on in WA.
01:22:26
Speaker
Cohen Winter Trails in New South Wales. Tower Trail Run in Mount Gambier. Wild Boar in Vic. Jeez, they keep going. Yu Yang's Off Road is even on. Anyways, there's a bunch of races for people to go check out. Everyone seems to jump on the winter trail races. This is great.
01:22:42
Speaker
um But yeah, what about you, Vlad? What do you got coming up? Not recovering from your 50 grade, just a few weeks, right?
Vlad's Pre-Europe Racing Plans
01:22:49
Speaker
Yeah, I'm going to keep the next four weeks race-free and trying, yeah, trying and Get ready for my trip in Europe. I don't trust you.
01:22:58
Speaker
I don't trust you not to just randomly jump in something else. Next weekend, you're going to be at a trail race. You're going to jump in. Yeah, I was going to say.
01:23:06
Speaker
Oh, fun. Well, what about you, James? Obviously, well, if you're co-race directing something next weekend, you might be busy. Yeah, we've got, yeah, get ready for Aubrey on Sunday. And then it's really just sort of getting getting everything set now for heading overseas.
01:23:21
Speaker
um So yeah, work work gets pretty pretty busy getting everyone ready. Perfect. Yeah, and just more more running, which is fun to say. More running sounds amazing, amazing.
Upcoming 5K Road Race Challenge
01:23:32
Speaker
And on my end, I am doing a complete switch up.
01:23:35
Speaker
Again, still with no taper, so my training will look the same. But as I wander across one weekend to a 5K road race the next um because I'm jumping in the XCR Lakeside 5 this weekend. So a fast, flat 5K on Sunday, which I'll be very intrigued to see how – tired legs go but I'm based on today's track session I'm cautiously optimistic that I might at least get somewhere near my pb which is very soft pb what is your pb
01:24:06
Speaker
um 17.55, I think, but I've run between 17.55 and 18 minutes multiple times, including my halfway split to a ten k so So it's a very soft PB.
01:24:21
Speaker
um I think I've even run like 17.55.6, 17.56.0, 17.58. But it's been very time. seventeen fifty six point seventeen um but um it's been a very long time very, very long time. There'd only be a couple of 5Ks ever in my first year of running where I actually was training for a 5K kind of thing.
01:24:41
Speaker
So, yeah, either way, we'll see. That's why, like, I wouldn't say that I'm going to get close to my PB if it wasn't the for the fact that it was a very soft PB. So, um either way, I'll update on that next weekend.
01:24:54
Speaker
And for now, I think that's a wrap.
Conclusion and Future Updates
01:24:57
Speaker
I feel like we what we wound everywhere in that episode, but hopefully everyone has enjoyed. Thank you so much for listening. This has been Episode 61 of the Peak Pursuit Podcast, and will speak to you next week.
01:25:10
Speaker
Thanks so much, guys. See you, guys.