[...] Saturday, June 27th. 5:00 am. Literally the moment for which I’d been waiting for three consecutive years. It finally came. When it did, a crazy, chanting group of some 450 eccentric runners started up the face of Squaw Valley, destine for the small town of Auburn exactly 100.2 miles away. We would travel on foot over mountains, under forests, across canyons, through a river, beneath the blazing sun, and then into the darkness of night. It was a surreal feeling to be there at that moment, with so much anticipation. As I pushed up the mountain, I couldn’t help but think to myself, will I get through this? [...]

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[...] The race started out with perfect temps. It had rained up to a few minutes before the race and was clear the rest of the day. The temps were not bad and we had a nice breeze for much of the day. I heard a lot of people complain about the heat. It was warm but, I really didn’t think it was all that bad. I was well hydrated despite severe muscle cramps from mile 21 on to when I dropped out. [...]

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• Mohican 100 Trail Run

Topped off a great Colorado vacation with this run which is part of the Trail Runner Magazine Trophy Series I’m trying to win this year. My preparation consisted of a horribly hard and slow 1h15 run in Denver the Sunday before and 3 days of hikes and camping in the Rockies at about the same altitude - about 9000′ (~2500m) - as the race. I was a bit concerned about the elevation but it turned out OK. Took it conservative on the way up and out on the wide dirt road. Cranked it up on the way back and was promptly stopped by a train crossing the road at exactly the wrong time at about 8 miles. I decided it wasn’t worth diving in front of a train for the sake of a few seconds.

Anyway, the break did me good and I was able to reel in 3 more guys and finish 3rd overall, 2nd in my age group. Justin Granger, a pro Australian triathlete finished in front of me so that was cool and his champion wife Belinda was there too. Was a bit huffy puffy in the last mile but other than that coped well at altitude. Results here.

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[...] When I hit the Crags I was in 5th, but felt really good and started to push it, especially when it was very technical because I tend to be strong in the more difficult and technical terrain. I passed one runner about two thirds of the way through the Crags and decided it would be a good time to turn it up a notch. [...]

[...] With my quads worsening, the descents, usually one of my strengths, became more of a weakness. I focused on running as smoothly as possible to avoid more damage to my shredded muscles. The 50k course overlaps with the 50 miler over the last 10 miles, so I had regular traffic to pass, and the trails were pretty muddy. I was still running most of the moderate hills as I passed through the 45 mile aid stop, but definitely walked Timp’s pass, and I’m not talking about the uphill. [...]

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[...] When we reached the river (which was not the rolling rivers I expected but shallow water that, at the most, reached the ankles) we first tiptoed like ballerinas (even the men) in a futile attempt to keep our shoes from getting soaked. After many more little river crossings—and with wet shoes and socks to boot—we weren’t as careful and enjoyed the experience. [...]

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Returning to the World Heritage listed Blue Mountains in its second year, the extreme endurance race was deemed a huge success and saw an incredible 333 solo runners and 31 pairs embarking on an exhausting but ultra-rewarding journey. Determined and geared up to face gruelling hours of running through the absolutely relentless terrain and rugged environment, the 395 ultra-runners departed on Saturday 16th at 7.00am in crisp and cold conditions, with blood pumping and feeling more alive than ever!

Winner Andrew Lee, 39, from Warrimoo in the Blue Mountains, powered through the whole race and conquered the torturous distance in an amazing 10 hours, 20 minutes and 51 seconds beating last year’s record by only 2 minutes! Surprised by his stunning result as he had never run longer than 45 km in his life, the father of 4 was just hopeful of finishing around 11 hours.

“Winning and picking up the race record was a real bonus and I am pretty happy about that. I was in the Six Foot track marathon a few weeks ago, and that was a 45 kilometre race where I came second. After that I kept up some training for the Canberra marathon and straight after focused on The North Face 100 so I did a fair bit of trail running near by at home for the past 3-4 weeks, leading right up to the race. I didn’t know what to expect. I was hopeful that it wouldn’t be too hard, but it is a tough and gruelling course, relentless at times, particularly coming out of the Kadumba Pass up near Wentworth falls. It was a bit of pain coming up some stairs, I was getting sick of stairs towards the end; the last leg was really hard. Overall it was a really good day: the scenery is amazing, the organization very professional. I would recommend the course to anyone who is into this type of endurance.”

Winner Andrew Lee had never run anything more than about 45km!

Defending champion Andrew Kromar was forced to pull out due to a pre-existing ankle injury after pushing it hard to the 54th kilometre. A shame as he was flying on track to beat his 2008 record.

Special guest Dean Karnazes, who stepped off a 14 hour flight from his hometown San Francisco a day before, set a steady pace and arrived approximately four hours behind the leader with a final time of 14:42:56. The ultra marathon man, who had warmed up with a 350km race in the U.S. the weekend before, and run The North Face 100 in China two weeks ago, said of the race

“I would rate this race as the toughest hundred kilometres I’ve ever done without a doubt, so I applaud anyone who finished”

The women’s race was taken out by Julie Quinn (ACT) who smashed the record in an outstanding 12:13:26, taking the 8th position overall.

Runners continued to trek throughout the night and into the morning, with some finishing the race up to 26 hours and 30 minutes after they had begun. All together, 282 participants made it over the finish line. Congratulations to all!

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[...] Storm on Bird Knob. Without the rain, things warm up quickly, with humid conditions and a steep climb. Then the first big storm of the race hits, with lightning and rain heavy enough to reduce visibility. I am amazed at how quickly I go from being too hot to shivering in the cold and struggling to get a rain coat on. (It’s not often you get heat exhaustion and hypothermia in the same race.) With just my thin top and the waterproof jacket, I have to push the pace a little to keep warm. [...]

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• Massanutten 2008

[...] The route then turned inland leading up onto the summit ridge of Bheinn Bheiger. From sea level we would climb to it’s peak at 2500??? feet, all within a couple of kilometres. It was here that I discovered 2 things that would play a dominant role for the entire event; peat bog and tussock grass. To understand tussock grass, imagine running through a pineapple plantation (without the spikes). Each tussock has a round head with long fibrous tufty grass hair. If you are experienced then you can run on top of the tussocks, but if you misjudge one they can be an ankle breaker. [...]

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[...] So, I picked my way through the rocks and headed back out onto the trail. This section is where my ITBand began to bother me quite a bit. So, I decided that if I needed to I would walk/run for a bit until it loosened up. It did loosen up, but on/off the tightness came back. Probably each downhill affected it more and more. As I hit the Wolfshoals AS, I decided with the heat having more and more of an effect on me, I would take an extra S-cap per hour. [...]

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