Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Ben Duffus Post-Race Interview: 2025 UTA 22km
305 Plays6 days ago
We’re joined by the UTA 22km 2nd place Ben Duffus to unpack his race from start to finish.
Hear how it played out, what shaped their performance, and where they’re headed next. Enjoy a front-row seat and an inspiring look into one of this year’s standout head-to-heads.
***Don’t forget, use code PPP at Bix’s website for 20% off Bix products, exclusive to PPP listeners!***
Thanks for tuning in to Peak Pursuits! Connect with us on Instagram @peakpursuits.pod to share your thoughts, questions, and trail stories. Until next time, keep hitting the trails and chasing those peak pursuits!
Follow James: Instagram | Strava
Follow Ben Dufus: Instagram | Strava
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/trendsetter
License code: K08PMQ3RATCE215R
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Ben Duffus
00:00:16
Speaker
We are joined by Ben Duffus, the UTA 2022 second place male in a very, very close second place as well to that. Ben, are you going?
00:00:27
Speaker
Good. Yeah, really excited to have a chat today. Been a long time listener to the podcast. This is your first time on, which actually surprised me when I was looking back. Just to give everyone a bit of context as to who you are and sort of what brought you to the start line of UTA this year.
00:00:41
Speaker
Can you give a bit a background to to you Sure. So in terms of running wise, I started trail running back in 2010 when I was just a junior, when I was 18, I made the world juniors championships for mountain running.
Early Career and Coaching
00:00:58
Speaker
And that was my, that was my original foray into trail running. And so I did that for the first the next two years because I was while so still a junior. But that sort of really inspired me that I wanted to go longer. I wanted to do more. so pretty much as soon as I got out of juniors, I was straight into the ultras. I ran my first ultra marathon at 19.
00:01:18
Speaker
And that first year or so, it was a real sort of trial by fire. I made all the classic rookie mistakes. um But then by the following year, was starting to put it together a bit more. I was working with Andy Dubois at Mile 27. So I had a coach in that. So it was actually starting to get some more runs on the board and have some better results.
00:01:38
Speaker
And yeah, so I've been really focusing on trial running an now for... basically 15 years and have done a lot of races, a lot of different distances. I've always enjoyed dabbling in shorter distances in the ultras and that and mixing it up. As long as there's hills, I'm generally pretty happy.
00:01:57
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. it's It's quite amazing to look back at your UTMB profile and just see obviously the number of years that you've been going. There's not many people, I think, in the sport that are still running at the level that you're running at that have got results dating back to like on UTMB 2013, as you said, even before then, but also the variety of not just distances, but also locations. It really seems like you've done a lot with what you can in trail running.
00:02:23
Speaker
It's very impressive. Is there anything that you look back on and a particular event that sticks out from your past?
Notable Races and Future Goals
00:02:30
Speaker
I mean, i think I look back at it as one of the events where I can think of two races in my life where I absolutely exceeded all my own expectations. It was just that absolute sort of flow state all day.
00:02:46
Speaker
One of them was when I was 16 in a 6K cross country. That was my first state championship that I won. And I was very surprised that I'd be running seriously for several months sort of at that point.
00:02:58
Speaker
And was just a... Perfect day. And then after that, I think i had about three years straight of constant injuries, but that was a really nice peak before that. um And then the other one was probably back all the way back in 2014, the Sky Running World Championships, the ultra that year.
00:03:15
Speaker
where I finished third. And at that point, i my previous um World Champs experience, I'd only ever been in sort of the 30s. And so I was kind of thinking, oh, if I can finish there.
00:03:29
Speaker
And so literally for that race, when I was getting told at aid stations, like, oh, you're you're eighth, you're fifth, you're you're fourth. I thought it was just a translation error. It wasn't really until I saw other Aussies who were telling me, no, third place is just up the hill that you're like, oh, okay, this is this is legit. They definitely speak English.
00:03:49
Speaker
Wow. So third place on the world stage, that's pretty special. and But even since like your UTA experience is everything from the 22 to the 100K. Have you ever done 100 event?
00:04:03
Speaker
I haven't done 100 miler yet. That's still very much on my bucket list to do. Okay. um I think part of that, well, as I think alluded to enough to 16, having a few years of injuries, i think i've often when I've sort of tried starting building up, I've either had a bit of a setback or that and so have done something a bit shorter and not quite done that step up.
00:04:24
Speaker
Or just also, I think as you've also heard touched on, I really enjoy dabbling in a whole different variety of events. And I think sort of doing that sort of 5K to 100K, it can be like still quite complimentary. At the end of the day, there's still aerobic endurance sports and there is a lot of overlap in how they how you train for those.
00:04:46
Speaker
once And as you get longer and longer in the ultras, and I certainly think even training for 50k or one hundred k there is specialized sort of training that you might do. But I do find I respond quite well to that and can still perform quite well at 10, 20k distance of that.
00:05:00
Speaker
As it gets to sort of 100 milers and you're starting to think about things more like good night running and things about sleep and things like those sort of factors. it does have to start to, okay, perhaps you don't focus on those other things quite as much. I mean, there are counter examples. You look at the likes of Killian who can run a world-class 100-miler and run a world-class VK two weeks apart. um But I think that's also been one thing to sort of enjoy the fact that i haven't hyper-focused on any um just going longer that have enjoyed those different kinds of challenges.
00:05:31
Speaker
Do you think that speaks to your longevity in the sport as well, having that varied approach?
Training Philosophy and Evolution of Trail Running
00:05:37
Speaker
I think so. I mean, I think one, physically, it definitely helps being able to mix up that training a bit more. But I think it's as much mental that you always have these sort of different challenges that you're tackling, that you're, I think if you're just always focusing on the same event, or I don't know, this is just me, I think I would get bored if I was just focusing on the same thing again and again. I mean, I look at all different like I look at my like career like outside of sport and stuff like that and academics and all of that I've always been a bit of a dabbler and enjoyed doing lots of different things I really appreciate breadth of knowledge breadth of experience and yeah that's just reflected in my running
00:06:18
Speaker
No, I think it's a very good lesson to to take. And I'm sure there's a lot of people that would would be in that that same boat and and that that variety, and especially from the mental element, I think can and do a lot for keeping you focused and interested and and improving long term.
00:06:34
Speaker
And I mean, part of the reason I stepped up to ultras so quickly was that 15 years ago, trail running and ultra running were pretty synonymous. Like if you wanted to take it seriously, you had to go into the ultras. UTA 100 was the one really big, serious event really in Australia. So if you wanted to prove yourself as a trail runner, that was what you had to do. Whereas now it's it's great. If I was a 19 year old now, I'd be really looking at you know, things like the Golden Trail series and things like that. And, you know, there's great ways that you can position yourself with these shorter distances and, you know, all the opportunities now even say then if you want to start stepping up, there's a lot more opportunities at 50k distances. Like we saw this weekend the at UTA how stacked the 50k was. And so, yeah, it's good to see how the sport has evolved as a whole.
00:07:22
Speaker
as a whole but Very well, very well said. ah All right. UTA, your lead up to it in training, there was a ah race kind of more locally to you, one of the Southeast Queensland Trail Series this year. Was there anything else that you've done this year?
00:07:37
Speaker
um Yeah, I've only been doing local races for the last sort of several months. So I guess to sort of contextualize why, well, first off, I started a PhD at the end of last year. So that that's that's been keeping me busy and it's been made made travel a little bit more difficult.
Balancing PhD and Running Career
00:07:55
Speaker
But also that... To be honest, i was pretty disappointed with a lot of my races last year. I tried i did ah i did the whole Golden Trail National Series last year and I wasn't really very happy with any of my performances.
00:08:11
Speaker
And to be honest, it's been a sort of a bit of a challenging last sort of few years that my last – the last result where i was where I sort of focused on a big race and I was really happy with how the race went was I probably would have to have gone all the way back to, think, 2021 six-foot track.
00:08:29
Speaker
um And that's been for a variety of reasons. Soon after that race and the build-up for – was doing UTA 100 that year, but I got a hip flexor injury in that build-up, and that just – it was just an aggravated tendon that took about a year to sort of fully settle before I could race like really confidently.
00:08:45
Speaker
And then at that point I got COVID and had about a year's worth of chronic fatigue after that. um And so that really, that, that meant a lot of subpar performances.
00:08:56
Speaker
And then after that, I sort of started feeling better, but I still, it still took a few years until I felt a hundred percent racing that the best way I can describe is is imagine like you hire a car, but it's a much smaller, less powerful car than you're used to.
00:09:13
Speaker
When you're just driving around the suburbs, you don't really notice, right? It can do the job fine. And that's how I felt in training when I'm doing, because you don't push to 100% really in training. And that that felt fine. But then when you go to race, it's kind of like, you know, if you're trying to accelerate up a hill or you go to overtake a truck or something, you put the foot down and it's like,
00:09:31
Speaker
where where's the power? Where is it? It always just felt like the rug got pulled out underneath you and you're always 5%, 10% off where you expected and it sort of didn't quite feel like your body was your body. And that sort of went on for quite a while. really only the end of last year. I can pretty much pinpoint the race. It was the first of the Southeast Queensland Trail Series, the race around Inogra.
00:09:52
Speaker
That was the first race since, yeah, really 2021 where I'm like, hang on, that felt like my body again. Like I wasn't necessarily... as fit as i was back then but i it it felt like my body again and so it's been nice to just gradually build up since then and so it was fun get this was the first time to sort of really test it against some deeper competition jesus that's that's a long journey it's it's impressive that you've stayed so committed to it as well in that time i can imagine that has not been easy to keep pushing
00:10:23
Speaker
I think it's where you just got to really enjoy the process and enjoy
UTA 22 Race Experience
00:10:28
Speaker
training that, and as sort of tell a lot of athletes that I coach, whether you're turning up to the start line at your absolute fittest or coming off, you know a horrible training block, you are just trying to do the best you can with what you've got on the day.
00:10:42
Speaker
That's all everyone's doing. The first place, last place, doesn't matter. You're just trying to do the best you can with what you've got. And so it's just sort of trying to keep that in perspective that it's, you know, just doing what I can.
00:10:54
Speaker
I like that ah that perspective. Definitely. So what did you line up with? Do you feel like you were pretty, pretty ready to go? i was As I said, I was feeling really good. I saw this as sort of the real test to see, okay, where are things at? I genuinely wasn't sure. I mean, there were certainly some good signs from my last hit out in the local race, but it was a different course to what I'd done before, so I couldn't like directly compare times for anything.
00:11:23
Speaker
And I was really just trying to focus during UTA on the sensation. So as I said, it didn't feel like I was racing in my body basically for a few years. And to finally have that sensation again is like, oh, I am just tapping into that. And that's what I'm focusing on, how how it feels. If I cross the finish line feeling like I raced really hard all the way the line and I finish in you know a time way off what I've done before, that's okay, because at least I've got those feelings back. And that was sort of what I was telling myself during the race that even when it starts to hurt, know, sort of like, oh well, this pain is a privilege because I thought I'd lost this.
00:11:59
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Interesting. All right. Now the way that the UTA 22 went, it was brilliant to watch. Like I wish from a spectator's perspective, there were about 10 more timing points because seemingly you and Leo were neck and neck the entire time.
00:12:16
Speaker
And you look at your Strava as well, the way that the 22k course starts and You guys set a sub 15, 5K. There was an 845, 3K in there. like You were shifting. so I'd love to hear what that but that start was like and if it was just you and Leo or if it was a bit of a pack at that point.
00:12:33
Speaker
Sure. so I guess those who know the course, starting QVH, you start off with just a very gentle incline for the first few hundred meters. and so Of course, we go hot calm done up that incline. There's probably...
00:12:49
Speaker
You know, there there's probably 10 of you together at that point, though Leo was definitely the one setting the pace. Like he immediately established, like, I am here to race, which is to be expected. Like he's been he's he's been the big dog of like 20K races in Australia recently. So that was no surprise to anyone.
00:13:08
Speaker
um Nathan was also then very hot on his heels no surprise there because he's really good on those sort of flatter sections and that and then there's sort of a group of us sort just trailing you know maybe five meters and that behind them for that first little incline and then it was then once we started then started the very gradual downhill because you've sort of you're still sort of rolling for those first kilometre couple of kilometers that was when First off, Leo started sort of separating, but as soon as we had a bit of a downhill, that was when I sort of went up and caught up with Leo.
00:13:40
Speaker
And we were basically just repeating that sort of thing that when it'd be slightly uphill, he'd pull away a bit. When it was slightly downhill, I might reel him back in a bit. And you've got those rolling first couple of Ks before you um get to, I don't know the name of it but there's sort of a bit of a clearing where you start the, you do a sharper right-hand turn. And that's for me where Kadamba properly starts.
00:14:03
Speaker
And so Leo was leading there and had a bit of a gap of maybe 10 metres or so, but it was going downhill then that I started to roll and reel him in and caught up with him there.
00:14:14
Speaker
Though I could hear behind me, i could hear that there was at least one or two other people like sitting right behind me. Like it wasn't like it was just just us at this stage. the whole The whole descent down Kandamba, then like so once I've taken that lead, I could hear footsteps behind me the entire way.
00:14:33
Speaker
I, at one point, I think it was, um, um, one of the Barnett boys, which one was racing. Yeah. James Barnett was racing. Sorry. Cause there's the, yeah.
00:14:43
Speaker
James Barnett. I saw, i saw him come up in sort of my peripheries and say, and then he sort of like dropped back just a little bit. And so the whole time I thought I was sort of, is that James? Is that Leo? Are they running together? i wasn't sure the whole, the whole way down.
00:14:57
Speaker
Um, And I could, though I suspected it might have been Leo because every time it would sort of flatten out, that was where they would sort of catch me up. And when we'd start descending, that was where it might, you could hear it sort of getting a little bit further away.
00:15:10
Speaker
And just knowing, um you know, James knowing, being known for being a very strong descender and Leo being known more as very strong. on his flats, at least relative to each other.
00:15:21
Speaker
So that was sort of my suspicion, but it wasn't, it stayed that way all the way down to Jamison Creek. And it wasn't until 50 meters past Jamison Creek where then Leo sort of comes up next to me and like and takes the lead that it was like, okay, I guess it was Leo. And cause I couldn't hear any anything behind me at that point. I assumed we were alone, but From what I've heard from some of the other boys racing, like Nathan said, he was you know a couple of people back, but he could certainly on that climb, as soon as turned to the corner and looked up the climb, could see us there. So we certainly didn't have a big gap by any means at that point. Everyone was fanging it. And yeah, I mean, that's sort of the way it is at the moment. If you want to be at the front, you have to be able to do the sub three minute Ks down Kadamba. Yeah.
00:16:09
Speaker
and So you've started off like that and you've noticed that every time it goes up or it's flat, Leo's getting that little bit of ah a gap or he's closing in and down. As you're coming down, Kadamba, are you thinking, okay, Leo potentially is a stronger climber here.
00:16:22
Speaker
Should I be pushing harder to make a gap or try and burn their legs off a bit? um Not really. As I said, I was just focusing on how how am i feeling at this stage because it's this really fine line because last year last year i wasn't nearly as well conditioned when I did the 22, but I was one of the ones who got to the bottom and you're like, oh, no.
00:16:41
Speaker
now my calves are on the verge of cramping already and I've got 13 k's of climbing to go so it's sort of that real I always describe it it's like a game of chicken really that first 8k that it's like how fast are you willing to take it who will come with you and just trying to read your body to find that fine line between how fast you can push it without putting it over the edge because you we have a lot of A lot of people end up cramping on that climb or really slowing down a lot just because your legs are so hammered from the descent.
00:17:13
Speaker
So the fact that he wasn't passing me, I just sort of said, well, if I'm pulling away, hopefully that means I'm slightly better conditioned for the downhill. So maybe that will take the sting out of his legs on the uphill. We'll find out.
00:17:28
Speaker
And what did happen? You have the climb up to emergency aid station and then up towards the Lura Forest. You guys stayed neck and neck. Is that right? Pretty, well, I don't think we were ever more than like 15 seconds apart, basically. that um So it's sort of rolling to get to the like net uphill, but you do have some decent downhills still between that and the emergency aid station. So on that the first climb you do, though, after crossing the creek is the longest, and that was where Leo tried to pull away, but I sort of then made a really concerted effort that sort of mentally that was a no, I'm not going to let you
00:18:04
Speaker
get away I think I can hang with you and sort of try to catch up and just push past just a little bit, perhaps digging a little deeper than I wanted to at that stage. But I sort of figured, you know, you if I let him get away, I'm probably not going to see him again. So I may as well just go for it.
00:18:22
Speaker
And it was then then that case that if from there, though, every every time it was a downhill, I would pull away a little bit. And then as we would then start climbing again, he would sort of catch up.
00:18:33
Speaker
be and give sit right behind me but would never quite pass um I guess when I mean I don't want to put the words in his mouth when we chatted afterwards he said that he was every time he was sort of like ah do I pass now do I put in a move feels like I'm also on the edge so I don't know but yeah so it was sort of that I think he played it smart basically that he let me do the work and and pull us through that whole whole way Okay. And, and at this point it is just you and Leo, there's nobody else featuring here.
00:19:04
Speaker
i mean, I'm not looking, i never looked back during races, so I don't know how far away anyone else is. or All I know is Yeah, what I can hear and if he comes in front of me, what I can see. Yeah, yeah, okay.
00:19:18
Speaker
ah yeah It ends up, as we said, is so it ends up very close with Nathan four minutes back from you, Ian Best closing in a minute further back and then James was three minutes further further back from Ian. I think when you talk about sort of maybe – going for it a bit too, ah bit hard and and early. We definitely saw that attrition through, through the field.
00:19:39
Speaker
um You guys were setting a very, very fast pace coming through, finishing off Ferber steps. It's still just as tight. So I think once we got to Lura Forest, so about 5K to go, that was when, well, actually really from Sewage Works was when it got really muddy.
00:19:59
Speaker
And that was when Leo and I basically just the gap completely closed. And we were just sort of, i think we were probably putting the brake. Well, I definitely feel like i was putting the brakes on just a touch because you're right finding that fine line between really,
00:20:14
Speaker
racing, but also at that point, it was sort of like, is it worth taking risks? I think we have, well, although I don't consciously look back, you do have some, a couple of small switchbacks in that section where you can see, okay, we're well clear of anyone else. So it is just the two of us.
00:20:29
Speaker
So we don't need to take any risks at this stage. And although this didn't pay off for me in the end, I was sort of backing myself on the stairs that is sort of like, okay, I think at this point, there's no point taking any silly risks.
00:20:44
Speaker
Let's just bring it down to a time trial on Fervor, basically. Yeah. Yeah. Which didn't pay off, but, you know know, that was a bit of a conscious decision there that we did ease up a bit um from Lura Forest through to the bottom of Ferber. And it was sort of maybe a few, I sort of realized maybe I shouldn't have done that quite as much when a few hundred meters from Ferber, like Leo asked me, are we almost at the stairs? And I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah. They're just coming up.
00:21:09
Speaker
It's like, oh, can I come past? You're like okay, like i'm not going to make you like push you off the air. he comes past and then immediately puts like 10 seconds into me. um And then that was basically, we held that gap going up further with a slight, when was slightly more runnable, he might pull away a bit when it got a bit steeper on further. Like when you got those really steep railings, that was when I would close it a little bit. And at one point I thought, oh, maybe I am going to catch him and pass him. But then it leveled out a bit and he still could just take off.
00:21:42
Speaker
Wow. Wow. It's, it sounds like an incredible experience to get that race so close together. And and I'm assuming as a competitive person, you you really enjoyed that. Obviously would be nice to come out first, but still a chance to really get off the test.
00:21:58
Speaker
Like I was saying, like it was really as much about the sensations. And so the fact that, you know, he helped, I big believe that the rising tide lifts all boats. So i sort of see competition as you help get the best out of yourself. And that was definitely how I felt about that race, that it helped me sort of push that that bit harder. And then, yeah, it was fun sort of having that sort of the whole way up further, but you not knowing.
00:22:21
Speaker
And then even at the top, I know Leo has a much faster flat race. sprint than I do for that section. But because the fog was so thick, you couldn't see very far ahead.
00:22:32
Speaker
And, you know, we saw with Nathan, he cramped in those final few hundred metres. So in my head, I was going, well, Leo might cramp in these last few hundred metres, in which case... you know, ah he's safe, you know, he's he's innocent, so I'm not going to stop for him. im yeah You know, that that's racing. um yeah so So, yeah, so I was still trying to push it. Actually, I almost cramped in those last few years. As you try to sprint after all that, both hammies sort of just start like holding on that little bit that unfortunately not work.
00:23:00
Speaker
ah it's It was an incredible incredible finish to watch. I was at the the finish line and we just had no clue who was going to come around first. Like you said, it was really foggy. You just hold sort of heard cheers and then it was Leo's face and sort of he has just enough time to cross the finish line as you come around the corner. And it was it was great to see us separated by 12 seconds in the end. So congratulations for that. i I am interested in, you you hold the course record on here in an hour 34, 27. So that's what, six and a half minutes faster than you ran this year.
00:23:36
Speaker
That year, which was 2017, is that correct? 2019. So thank you. Was it the same course? It was exactly the same course, but it was definitely faster conditions. the The rain, the mud, and that definitely slowed you down um a little bit. It was definitely... i mean coming from Brisbane, I didn't really bothered. I wasn't really bothered by the humidity, but it was definitely more humid in the valleys than that because of all the fog.
00:24:03
Speaker
um So it was definitely faster conditions that year. I don't think it was six and a half minutes faster, but... Yeah, and look, at I haven't really done a detailed breakdown of the difference in my splits because I don't think it's worthwhile in the case chasing the ghost of your former self. But yeah I know just from having quickly glanced at and my splits from this year that it was I was slower across the board every single – slower on the descent, slower up to the emergency station, slower –
00:24:34
Speaker
As I said, we did kind of consciously ease up a little bit through Lura Forest in that section. So it was no surprise that it was a bit slower. slow up the stairs i mean, even going up the stairs, actually, because usually I am really using those railings as much as possible. But they were so slippery this year, you couldn't get a good grip.
00:24:50
Speaker
And so I think that probably contributed to being a bit slower up that section. Um, yeah. Oh, it's, it's, it's interesting. Now the race is done. And especially given what you've just said about the last few years, are you feeling like this race was like a very good performance? Like the legs are back.
00:25:11
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I sort of, I mean, don't call it a comeback sort of thing that you don't, um as I don't want to go chasing the ghost of your former self, but it was more like, oh, this was fun that I was able to race, you know, get pushed hard the entire, you know, for an hour and 40 minutes and the body felt good. I've pulled up probably the best I've ever pulled up from the UTA 22, which as a side note, i always pull up much sore in the days afterwards from the 22 than I do from the 100. Like the sprint down Kadamba just absolutely trashes your legs.
00:25:42
Speaker
Interesting. um But yeah, sorry that's all a really positive sign. And, you know, it makes me eager to sort of, you know, keep training, keep getting back at it. Like it it's fun that the body is responding more how I expect it to, I guess, would um I'll say rather than like it used to.
00:26:00
Speaker
But It, you know, makes me excited to sort of see what what happens in the coming months and that. But as alluded to before, when sort of things weren't going that way, it's still just focusing on the process, enjoying training and doing the best you can with what you got.
00:26:16
Speaker
Yeah, it's exciting to see to see that performance from you in a competitive field. You can obviously only race the field and the conditions in itself as well, year to year.
00:26:27
Speaker
Speaking of what's to come, or see' you're doing a PhD. What is your PhD in?
Academic Pursuits and Future Plans
00:26:32
Speaker
ah Data science. So i am working with a local health tech company who are working on manufacturing a hydration sensor. So a bit a wearable patch, a bit like a continuous glucose monitor, or so ah but using actually much finer needles and measuring electrical properties to then infer about the water content inside the tissues and inside the body.
00:26:55
Speaker
um Yeah, so that we can actually do real time hydration monitoring, as opposed to I know there are some devices currently in the market, they all measure, say, sweat rate or something, which isn't actually hydration. That's one of the many factors contributing to hydration. So this way, hopefully, people don't have to do all the maths on how much they drink, how much they guess, how much they absorb, guess how much they peed out and things like that.
00:27:20
Speaker
Okay, that's an exciting and sounds very complex. ah given Given that, is that's obviously going to be very time and energy consuming. What's the next few months are looking like for you running wise?
00:27:32
Speaker
So i guess my next race that I have sort of locked in is the BTU20. It's good to see that the yeah that they've kept that and so it's fantastic. going to be good competition again and on local trails. that'll be fun.
00:27:46
Speaker
I do have an entry to some other local races that I'll see how training goes. so It's a busy next few weeks for me. So I'll see how that all goes, whether I do those or just try to get back into some decent training to be ready for BTU.
00:28:02
Speaker
ah know Billy Curtis and I have already been like messaging other each other about like, oh, we're going to get out some ah on the course for some training runs before BTU 20. So hopefully... southeast queensland can represent at that race that's a pretty powerful training partner there yeah it's good to have him back from japan for a little bit okay well that's exciting we'll keep definitely be keeping an eye out for btu especially if you guys are training training together in the lead up that's yeah that's that's that's gonna be i've put on the podcast now billy so we better actually do this yeah yeah we we have evidence and accountability now he's he's locked in
00:28:39
Speaker
Okay.
Conclusion and Well Wishes
00:28:40
Speaker
Ben, thank you so much for running that through. i think it was one of the races that had the closest head-to-head battles. It was the closest head-to-head battles. So it was great to hear that from your perspective.
00:28:50
Speaker
Congratulations again and good luck for BTU and PhD. Thank you very much.