TrailRunMag 19 by Diego Lezcano

VOLUME 5 ED19 // SUMMER 2015/16 // AU/NZ/ASIA

WILD CHILD – A PRE-TEEN ULTRA // THE GREEN ZONE – POLITICS OF TRAIL BUILDING // SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST – IS OBSTACLE COURSE RACING RELEVANT? // GRAND PLAN – AN AUSSIE IN AMERICA // GO GAINE – WILD RUNNING // GOW 100 PHOTO ESSAY // SCHOOL OF HARD ROCKS – UTMB // GOING FOR GOLD – ULTRA IN CANADA // PLUS REVIEWS, GUIDES, GEAR & PORN

I TRAIN F O R Higher Mileage Y O U ’ R E T R A I N I N G F O R M O R E T H A N A G A M E . P R E PA R E F O R Y O U R N E X T A D V E N T U R E W I T H A C T I V I T Y- S P E C I F I C W O R K O U T S A N D T R A I N I N G G E A R B U I LT T O D E L I V E R B I G G E R D AY S A N D B E T T E R M I L E A G E . T H EN O R T H FAC E .C O M. A U/ M O U N TA I N AT H L E T I C S

ROB KRAR

JOE BUDD / HAL KOERNER

TIM KEMPLE

DETAILS

VOLUME 5, EDITION 19, SUMMER 2015/16

Foundation supporters (the

Yay-sayers)

Tour de Trails www.tourdetrails.com Wild Plans www.wildplans.com

Editorial Australia Editor: Chris Ord Associate Editors: Tegyn Angel, Ross Taylor, Simon Madden, Pat Kinsella New Zealand Editor: Amanda Broughton Minimalist/Barefoot Editor: Garry Dagg Art Director: Jordan Cole Designer:Josh Mann Craft-Store.com.au

Visit us online

Contributing Writers Sam Maffett, Paul Gruber, Peter Lawrence, Jacqueline Windh, Amanda Shackleton, Sandy Suckling, Stephen Day, Jo Powell, Sputnik Sputnik, Grace Welsh, Amanda Broughton, Tegyn Angel.

www.trailrunmag.com www.facebook.com/trailrunmag www.twitter.com/trailrunmag

Senior photographer Lyndon Marceau www.marceauphotography.com

cover photo

Photography Amanda Broughton, Tegyn Angel, Sputnik Sputnik, Franck Oddoux / Michel Cottin / Pascal Tournaire, Simon Madden, Paul Gruber, Peter Walton / Tourism Tasmania, Silver Vision Photography, Shaun Collins / Cabbage Tree Photography, William Eaton, Jacqueline Windh, Amanda Shackleton, Grand to Grand Ultra, Jono Wyatt, Mal Gamble, Vanessa K, Survival Run / Jeff Genova www.jeffgenovaphotography.com, Amanda Broughton, Tomas Sobek, Ian Corless / Talk Ultra, Lloyd Belcher www.lloydbelchervisuals.com, Richard Bull, Rapid Ascent, Matt Hull – www.supersportimages.com.

COVER: Aussie runner Scotty Hawker belts down from altitude on the recce run for the inaugural Yading Skyrace, slated for 30 April 2016. www.facebook.com/chinamountaintrails/ IMAGE: Lloyd Belcher Visuals www.lloydbelchervisuals.com THIS SHOT: Into the sunrise under soaring clifflines at the Surf Coast Century, Anglesea, Victoria, Australia. IMAGE: Frank Oddoux / UTMB

a M – B e Papay lu

La Sportiva / Expedition Equipment www.mountainrunning.com.au

W – Berr y

The North Face Australia www.thenorthface.com.au

Australian La Sportiva Mountain Running Team, Ruin Castle Alpine National Park

Brooks / Texas Peak www.brooksrunning.com.

Trail Run is published quarterly Winter / Spring / Summer / Autumn Editorial & Advertising Trail Run Magazine 10 Evans Street, Anglesea, Vic 3230 Email: chris@trailrunmag.com Telephone +61 (0) 430376621

Disclaimer

Trail running and other activities described in this magazine can carry significant risk of injury or death. Especially if you are unfit. Undertake any trail running or other outdoors activity only with proper instruction, supervision, equipment and training. The publisher and its servants and agents have taken all reasonable care to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication and the expertise of its writers. Any reader attempting any of the activities described in this publication does so at their own risk. Neither the publisher nor any of its servants or agents will be held liable for any loss or injury or damage resulting from any attempt to perform any of the activities described in this publication, nor be responsible for any person/s becoming lost when following any of the guides or maps contained herewith. All descriptive and visual directions are a general guide only and not to be used as a sole source of information for navigation. Happy trails.

Founders Chris Ord + Stuart Gibson + Mal Law + Peter & Heidi Hibberd Publisher Adventure Types - 10 Evans Street Anglesea, Victoria, Australia 3230

BUSHIDO

Proudly distributed in Australia by Expedition Equipment | Email: sales@expeditionequipment.com.au | Phone: 02 9417 5755

CONTENTS

VOLUME 5, EDITION 19, SUMMER 2015/16

114

120

take a run on the soft side

140

TRAIL GUIDES

REVIEWS 16.

Now’s A Good Time To Buy all the good gear

114.

Shoe Reviews

a terra for grip, a wave runner, and a nomad.

134. Warrandyte, Vic 136. Dunedin, NZ 138. Fiordland, NZ 140. Derby, TAS

Our #1 selling go-to-shoe that’s now more comfortable than ever. The BioMoGo DNA midsole dynamically adapts to every step for the perfect balance of soft cushioning and reliable support— setting you up for an unbelievably smooth ride. Learn more at brooksrunning.com.au RUN HAPPY

Adrenaline GTS 16

FEATURES

TRAIL MIX 10.

36. Wild Child – would you let your pre-teen run an ultra? 46. The Green Zone – the politics of trail building

Editors’ Columns

Australia – Chris Ord New Zealand – Amanda Broughton Australia – Tegyn Angel

34. 24.

54.

Survival of the Fittest – is obstacle course racing relevant to trail runners?

64. Beer’s Run – a photo essay from the Great Ocean Walk 100 80. Go Gaine – navigating the world of wild running 88. School of Hard Rocks – UTMB delivers a birthday lesson

Sputnik’s Spray Snap happy?

Event Previews

from Down Under

120.

96.

Trail Porn

A Grand Plan – an Aussie takes on America’s biggest desert multiday

104.

it’s dirty

Going for Gold – Canadian Ultra mixes things up

brooksrunningau 8

EDSWORD

CHRIS ORD, AU

IMAGE: Simon Madden

A general thirst for adventure led me to trail running. But technique has kept me in trail running. I WAS A GENERALIST OUTDOORSMAN – EXPERT AT NOTHING, DABBLER IN EVERYTHING. TREKKING, PADDLING, MOUNTAIN BIKING…WHATEVER IT WAS, SO LONG AS IT WAS IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS. Blame a youth spent in scouts under a scout master who threw notions like uniforms, badge collecting and honouring the Queen and Country out of the tent flap in favour of midnight madness mega-hikes and coasteering without ropes or helmets. Thanks for that, Dad (he’d never get away with it these days).If there was a running influence, perhaps it was that same scout master (I was never allowed to call him Dad, it had to be his scout name – Suba – taken from the first half of the name of his work car. His lieutenant’s name was, of course, Roo). Suba/Dad punched out eight or so Melbourne Marathons in his day. Never broke three and a quarter, however (3:17 was his peak performance). Perhaps the trail thing was seeded obliquely back in a youth spent cross-country running, the only sport I was anything better than below average at. But I was not a runner. At least I didn’t call myself a runner. So when I came to trail running – not much prior to the beginnings of this magazine – I had long lost the elasticity and supernatural recovery powers of youth. I loved being out on trail, in the bush, an environment in which I had spent so much time. But my running was hopeless. I could headstrong it through the distance. But I soon paid the price of absolute ignorance: ongoing, unabated injury. ITB was the worst, but my knees felt like I had severe osteoarthritis (or what I imagine that to feel like) – something akin to metal grinding and ceasing. It sounded bad, it felt worse. Running to the top of some steps I clearly remember stopping, and inching down like a decrepit old man. I was in my mid thirties at the time. My boss of the day bounded off ahead. He was around the same age. I thought that was me done with running before I even really started. That realisation was wrenching. 10

I wanted to run. I’d spent a mid-life doing all sorts of adventurous things, but not running. And now I’d found it (or rediscovered it if you count the cross country), I wanted it badly. So I did what any idiot runner does. I bulldozered on through the pain. I ran anyway. No idea why things just got worse. No idea why I didn’t consult anyone. Not a physio, not a biomechanist, not a coach of any description. Not even a running buddy. Then I did what any other runner does do. I consulted not someone, but something. Hello Doctor Google. Now, Medi-Googling is not to be recommended. But somehow it did indeed start the journey to rehabilitation by exposing me to one important thing: the idea of technique. I didn’t even know there was such a thing – as stupid as that sounds. I read up on how to run, even though I thought I knew. I mean, we run from the day we can walk, why do we need to learn any more about it? Okay, if you’re an elite, I would accept that technique makes you faster. But I wasn’t trying to get faster, I just didn’t want my knees to lock up whenever I took ten paces. Following the black hole of tangents that can swallow days on the Internet, I ended up reading about form, Chi running, gait, cadence, barefoot, body position, breathing, core, arm swing. And I took none of it in. This is the danger of the Internet: awash with so much information, yet so little of it sinks in. One thing that did stay with me was the danger of overstriding and heel strike. I leant forward a little. I started stepping on my midto-fore foot. Smaller, more nimble steps. It felt awkward, wrong, laborious. But then I left the screen and started my studies in real life. On a hill in Victoria, I watched elite runner Matt Cooper glide through the bush. Easy, with grace, and a smile. I wanted to float like he did. In the mountains of Nepal, I watched, me the broken runner still ascending on an out and back, ultra star Lizzy Hawker springing down the boulder field, rock to giant rock, her wrists limp, arms out in front like a kangaroo,

feet tap dancing. It was a flow of easy, efficient movement I instantly likened in my mind to Fred Astaire, Singing in the Rain. This at 4000 metres altitude and 100km along the trail. She, too, was smiling. And so it was that I decided to take my running lessons in the school of observation. I soaked up other’s technique – watching, feeling, and admiring. I chose my subjects by their lightness of being and their smile. I banked away in my mind images of those runners. On a downhill bomb, I’d project visions of Lizzy’s (and Fred’s) dancing onto my own technique. Weaving along flowing singletrack, I’d get my shoulders back, engage the core, float over the earth, just like Coops. And, of course, I’d smile. For me it was not about speed, nor winning, nor times, or even comparing performance against performance. It’s not even about being the best runner I can be, in a way. What it has been about is seeking a more natural, effortless flow so that I may tap into and enjoy the more ethereal aspects of running: the seeing, the smelling, the feeling. If I make it easy on the effort, through technique, I get to relax and enjoy the ride a whole lot more. And it’s about longevity. I’m not alone in not getting any younger. And the older I get, the more aware I am of my limited lifespan. Not just generally, but specifically as a runner. And my worry is that my lifespan as a runner will end before my lifespan as a human. And I don’t want that. I want to die on my feet. Running. In the wilderness. With a smile on my face. Thankful for the technique that allowed me to pass away while still moving freely in the environment that makes me feel so alive. Yes, I’ll die running and smiling wildly. Until that time, I’ll keep watching others who radiate effortlessly through nature and try my best to follow in their footsteps, so light they are. Your observant editor, Chris Ord, AU

EDSWORD

AMANDA BROUGHTON, NZ

IMAGE: courtesy Amanda Broughton

Way back when running was confined to school cross country in the paddock down by the river, I got my first impression of ultra marathons.

To race

run

t h at i s t h e q u e s t i o n

LIVING IN FIORDLAND ENCLOSED BY MOUNTAIN RANGES ON ALL SIDES, THE TAKITIMUS GIVE WAY TO THE HUNTER MOUNTAINS, MURCHISON AND THE KEPLER TRACK. RUNNING MEANT GRASS TRACKS AND BARE FEET IN THE SUN, NOT SCRAMBLING OVER ROCKS AND THROUGH MUD OVER ALPINE PEAKS. Did you know the other day some blokes ran that whole track in about five hours? All sixty kilometres? Wow, I thought, not quite being able to grasp how far that actually was or imagine the experience (save for the small section we walked with the school tramping club that required a bag of scroggin with the chocolate already picked out, two oranges and three adults to supervise). That’s really far. Why would anyone want to run it, it’s bloody crazy! You’d barely notice the views, how could you take in the bush and the mountains if you were running? You wouldn’t see anything, what’s the point? Running sixty kilometres didn’t sound like a good idea. But if the adults thought it wasn’t a good idea, then it must be fun. I look with admiration and awe at the people who are always at the front of the field. They race in the mountains in France and Italy, they have sponsors, they are all-rounders who also claim impressive times on roads, hold course records, feature in magazine articles. Imagine if I could fly over trails like that? Later on, back at the pub, I listen to stories told by people in the second half of the Kepler field, about how they ran the whole way with their sister and best friend, starting

and finishing together. How they stopped for photos of the scenery. They enjoyed the run, relaxed in to it, took in the vistas, went out easy and finished with energy to spare. They won’t know or care about their time or placing, they’re here and they finished, and there are chips to be eaten. Somewhere in between these two segments might be you. Training hard and striving to be better, making small improvements. Making sacrifices for your running, racing hard, pushing your limits and going through a journey of highs and lows in altitudes and attitudes throughout the day. Why do we attempt to race through these beautiful places? Why not cruise and enjoy the ride? Sitting at the finish line of Kepler, I filled the dry spot that the last spectator had imprinted on the bleachers and watched the clock slog towards the 11th hour. In the middle of Fiordland National park the coffee machines were extracting precious brown gold, pottles of hot chips and sauce were circling the crowd while children, husbands, partners, coaches and friends milled around at the finish line. I had finished my race, had a beer in the lake, gone home, showered, napped, bacon-andegged myself and here I was back at the finish line. The commentator, still sharp after ten hours on the microphone, welcomed runners home, the novices next to the 23 year veterans. Seeing the pride on each athlete’s face, the relief, and the admiration from their families as they crossed the line having given it their best was a privilege. You race and push yourself because striving

to be your absolute best is inspiring for those around you, not just other athletes but your family and friends who knew you long before you knew you had the determination to run 60 kilometres. You race it because you spent so long training for this thing that you can’t contain your excitement and you’re steaming through the forest for a 5km PB before you consider what will happen to your legs in the remaining 55 kilometres. Sometimes it’s not until you cross the finish line that the tiny bubble you’ve been in for the final stage of a race, filled with self-talk to get you through to the finish, suddenly bursts open and you put things back in to perspective. Racing serves a different purpose for each athlete; although the finishing times are directly comparable, that’s where the comparison ends. Keep pushing yourself to get towards the front of the field, closer to the mountains in France. Keep taking photos to remind you of the perfect views, keep slowing down to catch your breath so you can finish telling a story to the guy in the striped hat, keep pushing harder to chase the woman who passed you on the uphill. Races hold a different meaning for every person, each is just as valid as the next. In the end it’s all about the stories you can share over a drink later that day or forty years down the trail when your running days are nearing the finish line. Your sometimes racing, sometimes just running editor, Amanda Broughton, NZ

EDSWORD

TEGYN ANGEL, AU

IMAGE: Tegyn Angel

Australia and New Zealand have long suffered the economic consequences of being remote, island nations. If you’ve ever travelled (at all), you’ll know just how long it takes to get anywhere both within, and outside of, our little hamlets. WE’RE ALSO FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO HAVE RELATIVELY SMALL POPULATIONS, THOUGH THAT CAN MEAN SMALL PRODUCT MARKETS AND RISKY INVESTMENTS. GETTING GOODS INTO AUSTRALIA GENERALLY HAPPENS IN RELATIVELY SMALL QUANTITIES, TAKES FOREVER AND IS DAMN EXPENSIVE. ADD THE COST OF FIRST-WORLD WAGES AND LIGHT-FINGERED BUREAUCRATS AND, AS CONSUMERS, WE’RE OFTEN LEFT TO FORK OUT SIGNIFICANTLY MORE FOR STUFF THAN OUR AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN FRIENDS. So whaddya do? If trail conversation is any indication, a lot of people head online and pay a small (if any) shipping fee to have items sent directly from stores in the UK or US to their doorstep. Even with the added cost of shipping items can be cheaper than buying them retail in Australia. Win-Win? Think again. By sending our business offshore and bypassing local retailers with so-called Grey Imports, we erode a vital part of our beloved community. Swamped by a rising tide of competition from online, direct-sales warehouses that sport huge buying power and minimal overheads, local retailers are drowning. Throwing a few cigarette butts on the ground doesn’t immediately cause a rubbishladen tsunami to wash us into the Pacific; the green waste we throw into landfill and the petrol-driven car we drive to work won’t, by themselves, burn a hole in the ozone layer. It’s only when multiplied by the millions and billions that Al Gore gets something to talk about. Separated from the direct, immediate ¬consequences of our actions, we mock the Chicken Littles who run around crying that the sky is falling until we one day we wake up with waves of melanoma lapping at our feet. Until fairly recently, say the last 10 years or 14

so, buying gear online was complicated and fraught with risk. Local importers, distributors and retailers enjoyed the dual benefits of ignorance and obscurity. Most people didn’t know, or were unwilling, to buy online and outdoor equipment and apparel was a small enough market that the big, early players in the web sales sphere weren’t yet offering a big selection of gear that catered to our needs. Fast forward to 2015 and buying your kit online seems pretty mainstream. As Antipodeans, we’re the hard fought territory separating two warring factions – the Crete of the outdoor equipment market. Until now it’s mostly been a war of attrition; a measure of who can throw the cheapest prices into the machine, undercutting the other until one fails. Of course, expensive shipping prices and the inconvenience of returning products internationally has played a part, but with free shipping and returns there are less and less barriers to taking our dollar online. So how, then, do the little guys like Find Your Feet (Hobart, Tasmania), Globe Trekker (Brisbane, Queensland), Active Feet and The Running Company (Melbourne, Victoria), The Front Runner (NZ) or premium local manufacturers like Moxie Gear, One Planet and Cactus Outdoor compete? Premium shoe fitting, based on years of experience, good science and video analysis is one of the ways that local retailers can distinguish themselves. Face to face interaction with a real person that has a deep knowledge of the products they’re selling can’t be compared to buying online. Being able to easily return products if they’re not right or faulty is fair easier if the store is just down the road. And how often do you see the big offshore cookie mills supporting local, grass roots events? What about at the local distributor’s level? Aussies and Kiwis have long lived in the dark

shadow of the US and European product launch calendar. We get their summer season during our winter and vice versa, or we have to wait an extra six months. Whereas we look toward summer and the Christmas silly season for new product releases, the Euros prefer to ride out Santa’s traipse across the countryside and launch their new season gear later in the year. Barefoot Inc., local distributor of Inov-8, Vibram FiveFingers and Ultraspire have worked closely with the UK-based Inov-8 and stepped things up, taking the fight to the big guys. They’ve found a way to get the new product releases six months AHEAD of Europe rather than six months behind them! Take the Inov-8 Terra Claw 250s (reviewed in this edition): the sexy new colourways have been released in Australia and New Zealand well ahead of Europe. You simply can’t buy them online at your usual W!@@L3 or Ch@!nR3@ ct!0N or won’t be able to for months. If you’re a sucker for new gear there’s no option but to support your local in that instance. Kudos to Inov-8 UK for its willingness to support offshore distributors. Without a good reason to do so, it can be hard to spend significantly more on the same product. But there ARE plenty of good reasons. As manufacturers help with a global push to try and normalise pricing across their markets and local retailers do what they’ve been doing all along – serving their community - we start to get competitive. Just as with Crete, it’ll be agility, cunning and a Hearts and Minds campaign of local knowledge and personal service, rather than a full-frontal price assault, that help our little bricks and mortar mountain retailers dodge the bankruptcy butcher. Your shopping-local editor, Tegyn Angel

NOW’S A GOOD TIME TO BUY Reviewer: Chris Ord

the good gear Reviewer: Chris Ord

The North Face Storm Stow Jacket Ultralight and fully waterproof, The North Face’s Storm and Stow jacket packs incredibly small for emergency weather protection on long runs. With full-length YKK AquaGuard zipper and an adjustable, stowable hood with visor, this is a high performance running shell when you need it, and barely-there when you don’t.

The rain protection is offered via 54 g/m² 100% nylon polyester woven ripstop HyVent with full seam sealing. It cleverly stows into a sleeve cinch and will fit your smallest hydro pack pocket. Match it to a mid weight layer, and a thermal and you have a great light and fast option for running in the hardiest of wet weather environments.

VITALS

$300 AUD www.thenorthface.com.au

Cheeta Compressionwear Some brands sprout off like if you wear their compressionwear kit, it will help discover the secret to world peace and make you run the 100 metre dash at Usain Bolt-like pace. They are leggings, for christsake. And they shouldn’t cost the earth (even if they save it). That’s not to say compression wear doesn’t do something. There’s a little science behind it that can be read at ausport.gov.au. The basic premise is that compression garments increase blood flow, enhancing recovery through flushing of toxins (think lactic acid) and reducing swelling. Some athletes and scientists cite improved performance via the garment’s muscle support and improved circulation in the limbs. Let’s take it that for the average athlete,

however, where milliseconds don’t matter, compression wear is about recovery and comfort in the main. Beyond that, it’s about how expensive they are. So it’s refreshing that the Cheeta mob comes to market promising the benefits, but without the hefty price tag. As an independent, they have cut out the middlemen. No big retail chains, no TV advertisements, and no pushy sales staff. We like that grassroots approach. But the product – does it work? I didn’t knock Usain off his pace perch, but I did run day-inday-out over 200km in the Bhutanese Himalayas where I tested both short and long leg versions. Recovery was important given I was running a multiday. As was comfort. I can’t say what

proportion of my success in running the route was attributable to the compressionwear, but I know it was comfortable. And for me the big sell was not having to constantly pull them up at the rear - I suffer from no-bum sag. These had a draw string, which helped. The pressure exerted by the tights felt about right – not too loose, not too tight and they lost none of their elasticity. A great addition to the compressionwear market and pleasingly affordable.

VITALS

$45 (shorts) / $60 (long leggings) www.cheetarecovery.com.au

NOW’S A GOOD TIME TO BUY Reviewer: Chris Ord

Reviewer: Chris Ord

Safe Lace Sick of your laces coming undone five minutes into your trail run? And then at ten minutes. And on. Don’t want to have to reel out some mega knot that you can’t undo at the run’s end? A Melbourne-based company has come up with a simple solution, the Safe Lace. It is made from durable silicone that is tough enough to get the job done but soft enough so you won’t even know it’s there. The product design centres on a simple flap that loops over your tied-up lace, and hooks into itself – meaning it’s impossible for your lace knot to untie. Simple. No more explanation required. Cheap. Easy to use. Solves one of mankind’s – okay, perhaps just trail running’s biggest problems: loose laces. No longer will we be saying the ‘best thing since sliced bread’, for us, it’s now ‘best thing since Safe Laces’.

VITALS

$12.95 / pair

Suunto Traverse The caveat: this watch is aimed at trekkers more so than runners, so don’t expect it to match the Ambit functionality-wise. So with barely a difference in price, what’s the point in retro-grading, you ask? Well, thankfully, the point is a return to simplicity, core function and - so important for a navigation tool (which other brands seem to forget) - accuracy and reliability! Suunto has beefed up the satellite sensitivity, combining GPS and GLONASS navigation (accessing both US and Russian satellites). Using both systems gives the Traverse access to twice as many satellites meaning it takes less time to fix onto them for bearings, saves battery power when searching and makes it more accurate. Because the device is more efficient on batteries, overall weight has been reduced a smidge by reducing battery size (compared to the Ambit3). The antenna has been incorporated into the bezel instead of protruding onto the strap, so the watch has a much sleeker look, too. The big benefit for luddites like me: this watch is easy to use. Or, more accurately, less confusing to use. Technology products always make me feel a little stupid because I can never dive into the depths of their full functionality.

It could be lack of IQ or just laziness – either way I never get the most from my GPS units. So the Traverse is down my alley – it does the basics well, with only a few handy techno wiz-bangs added, but nothing that overloads my brain. Because the aims of the watch are simpler, the interface is simper. It didn’t take long (without reading instructions) to work out how to customise the home screen, record and view activities and use the watch for ‘reactive’ navigation – recording and figuring out where I was on the run, rather than preloading routes prior to it. There are proactive functions which, like the Ambit, need to be managed via Suunto’s Movescount, which has it’s detractors, but I find easy enough (perhaps the detractors are the data nerds who quite rightly want more subtle and expansive capabilities – I just want to record where I went, how high, how far and pin point the spot I got lost). The navigation experience is also enhanced with renewed topographic maps available, making the proactive route planning simple. Key measurements include altitude and distance, with ability to record waypoints. Altitude, vertical speed and total ascent are measured accurately with FusedAlti, where barometric pressure information is combined

www.safelace.com.au

with satellite altitude. Alerts, such as storm alarm, are made noticeable by vibration, keeping noise disturbance to a minimum. Traverse comes with activity tracking, providing daily step and calorie counts. The watch is compatible with SuuntoMovescount App for iOS and Android, enabling you to stay up to date with incoming calls, texts and push notifications. With the Movescount App, you can also adjust watch settings and transfer recorded activities to Movescount on the go. For those avid runners looking for a GPS watch with richer-data training programs and progress data functions, you need to step it up to the Ambit3. But for those who don’t want to interrogate their data nor their watch beyond core information, and for those who want it to be reliable, accurate and easy to use – oh, and let you know when Mum’s calling via the push application – the Traverse is a fair option.

Reviewer: Dena Jazmin Valente

Icebreaker Women’s Run + Light Mini Sock The Icebreaker Run+ socks are ideal for outings in cooler weather and anytime you’re likely to end up with wet feet, the merino mix of 63% wool, 35% Nylon, and 2% Lycra staying warm when wet rather than sapping heat from my feet as other synthetics and cotton can do. They not only kept my feet warm, but comfortable and blister-free in the rain and shine. I used the version with light cushioning and initially thought they would still be too thick for my taste, but once they were on the thickness didn’t bother at all. There is also an Ultra Light version for those after a more barefoot feel or runs in warmer weather.

VITALS

www.suunto.com.au Available from Paddy Pallin & Mountain Designs.

nz.icebreaker.com/

$549.99

$32.95 NZD

NOW’S A GOOD TIME TO BUY Reviewer: Chris Ord

IMAGE: Manaslu, Nepal running at up to 5200 metres. Photo courtesy Richard Bull / www.trailrunningnepal.com

Reviewer: Kellie Emmerson

Raidlight Responsiv 8L

Black Diamond Sprinter Headlamp The Sprinter sits in a sweet spot for trail runners: it packs decent punch in terms of light, it’s lightweight (106grams) and super comfortable on the head, and is unlike others, very affordable! Sure, the likes of Ay Up are regarded as the high rolling shiny Mercedes of the headlamp world but they pinch your wallet as much as the car versions. And, unless you’re a full-on adventure night runner, you just don’t need that much oomph, really. The Sprinter is designed with a USBrechargeable 130-lumen light, so you can charge it from your computer, car, solar device (if in the bush) or direct from a powerpoint. The power pack sits slimline on the back and balances the front light unit well. A red tail light strobe in the rear adds visibility for those on your heel, although it has to be said that the auto-on function (even though we can see why that choice has been made) is annoying as I kept

forgetting to turn it off straight away, much to the annoyance of my tent buddy! The lithium polymer battery recharges in about 5 hours – not the fastest, but good enough if you remember at the end of each run. The stormproof design keeps it protected in any weather. Settings include full strength, dimming and strobe. The beam itself projects a strong, oval beam – plenty enough to highlight the contours of the trail up to 30 metres ahead. It’s no blazer (Ay Ups as a comparison are 300 lumens) but compared to many other lights in its category, it’s one of the best and the most comfortable.

VITALS

$149.95

www.wildearth.com.au Other stockists: www.seatosummit.com.au

I’m excited by this pack as it has huge potential. Unfortunately at this stage there is still a ‘but.’ In some ways, the fit of this pack is the best I have worn. At only 160g, it is super-light, but the fabric has substance and structure and feels quite durable, compared to say, the Salomon Skin set. The standout feature is the ergonomic tightening system, which is such a simple and effective concept – I have no doubt we will see it on many packs of the future. For the more petite frame, it means that the pack can be tightened right in to be firm around the torso; much better than any pack I have worn to date. Here’s the ‘but’… the pack sits too high on the neck and I fear it could cause serious chafe on longer distance runs. I tried this pack with both the small and large soft flasks – the small soft flask with straw worked really well. The large soft flask is not even an option. Once I took a sip and it was no longer full, the flask folded and the straw flopped and just got in the way. The only other downfall is the lack of storage up front. There are pockets in front of where your bottles go, but because this space is already filled with liquid, it makes it difficult to put anything other than gels within reach eg. a phone or gloves. All in all, a few tweaks would make the Responsiv 8L simply awesome. I can’t wait to see what the next version has in store.

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$29.95

GARMIN epix I LOVE THIS WATCH. I hate this watch. I really can’t decide which I feel more deeply. On one hand the Garmin epix is a real “take that!” to outdoors and ultra/trail-friendly watches. On the other, why the hell was the technology left out of the more trail-attuned brother model, the fēnix 3? I get it: two watches are better than one (at least in terms of sales); adding mapping to the F3 blurs the value proposition and confuses the market targeting; a square screen is better for mapping than a circular one…blah blah… I don’t care! Perhaps it’s Utopian. Part of my not-sodeeply-buried inner Romanticist; too much Atlas Shrugged? If you’re able to produce more, more efficiently, more eloquently, and in doing so deliver more to your customers, why wouldn’t you? Okay. You’re right. Back Track. What the HELL am I talking about? Well it’s like this. The epix is a fēnix 3 heart and brain beating in an ugly, retro CASIO body*, that’s received a Touch Screen and a ridiculously huge Johnny Mnemonic boost to it’s internal storage capacity.

While the fēnix 3 carries a measly 23mb of useable space, more than enough for a few custom apps and watch faces and recording all your runs, the epix boasts a whopping 8gb. What for? A WORLDWIDE, shaded-relief basemap and downloadable Topographical and Urban maps, and Satellite Imagery. Yep, that’s right; screw predefining a route on Google Maps; download the topo maps that cover your home trails and start channelling Captain Cook. Heading overseas? Pop the local maps on your wrist and run with confidence. I had a chance to test the epix in the Indian Himalaya and it performed brilliantly. While the interface felt slightly clunkier than that of the fēnix 3 it was hardly noticeable. It’s a great device. So why all the angst and disappointment? Because it pisses me off that that Garmin haven’t included this technology in the fēnix 3. Head over to garmin.com right now and compare the two watches. The epix features EVERY SINGLE training feature of the fēnix 3, including all it’s activity tracking, phone-connectivity, swimming/running/

cycling and performance features, and add then polishes it off it something truly revolutionary. At present the fēnix 3 and Suunto’s Ambit3 are are like twins: 99% the same thing with a few minor differences in reliability, accuracy and aesthetics. In the epix Garmin had an opportunity to truly distinguish themselves and, instead, they gave birth to an anti-social, poorly dressed genius that will most likely vanish in obscurity. If EITHER company neglects onscreen mapping in the next generation of their watches it will be an insult to both common decency and basic geek morality. * Sorry 920XT owners – your watch is ugly too. The epix looks like the Rottweiler, Ford F150, Wolverine version of your watch.

VITALS

$799

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EVENT PREVIEW IMAGE: Tourism Tasmania

REHYDRATE

CRADLE MOUNTAIN ULTRA Cradle Mountain, Tasmania

one-long-day traverse of Tasmania’s famous Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair Overland Track, the Cradle Mountain Ultra is one of the small, grassroots event with a big history and even bigger heart. Passing through alpine highlands of a World Heritage-listed wilderness, it reaches elevations in several areas of the plateau greater than 1000 metres. By world standards that’s not high, but in Tasmania it means being exposed to the whims of fickle weather, even in summer, and sometimes you may feel like you were at 4000 metres. An ‘estimated’ 82km trail run, the event is limited to 60 runners – you have to be ‘in the know’ early to get a look in (and be able to prove certain entry criteria, having raced and

completed other similarly difficult endurance events). They bill it as a run not a race (but the likes of Tassie based speedster Stu Gibson, who often enters, is hardly going to dawdle!). Hills are steep, the mud can suck your shoes off and roots and stones can make the going slow unless you are a true mountain goat. Sounds like a great challenge. A bucket list event that may take years to get a race bib in, but worth the wait!

EVENT Cradle Mountain Ultra WHEN 6 February 2016 DISTANCE 82km (ish) WHERE Cradle Mountain, Tasmania

Check out the event

EVENT PREVIEW IMAGE: SIMON MADDEN

TASSIE TRAIL FEST Derby, Tasmania

assie Trail fest is a full-on, three-day celebration of the trail running lifestyle being held for the first time in the greatest singletrack state in Australia, on the sexiest, silkiest trails you’ll ever run. If you want to gorge yourself on wilderness running – including plenty of distances for all capabilities – get to this one for fern-fringed landscapes that will blow your mind and sweeping routes that will blow your legs, plus there’s plenty to entertain you off the trail. Distances include a marathon-plus (44km) through two 21km outings, two 14km (one day and one night), some 6km shorties and a 2km for the kids (which also doubles as a final dash for cash for the adults on the final day). Based on the stunning purpose built mountain biking trails of Derby, an hour and a half east of Launceston, this one is ideal for beginners through hardcore trailites, perfect for groups and

families and great for those trying to get day-on-day tired-leg training in for Ultra Trail Australia or Buffalo in April/May. You can even enter the Multiday Madness, running all possible events over the three days to capture 94km of trails in total. Run one event. Or run them all. It’s an a la carte smorgasbord of trail. The event will also feature trail running seminars, the Trails In Motion Film Festival, live music and a craft brewer!

EVENT Tassie Trail Fest WHEN 12,13,14 March 2016 DISTANCE 44km, 21km Derby, 21km Blue Tier, 14km day & night, 6km, 2km Team Relay MTB 83km Team Relay Trail Run 60km

WHERE Derby, Tasmania

Check out the event

EVENT PREVIEW IMAGES: Silver Vision Photography

ULTRA EASY Wanaka, New Zealand

f you’ve ever left a pub at 3am fearing what the sunrise the bring, that feeling will bring stumbling and leering back when you line up to tackle the Ultra Easy. The race begins at 3am at the Albert Town Pub just out of Wanaka. Heading over Mt Iron with views over Lake Wanaka, the course climbs to the top of the famous Roy’s Peak and the generous race organisers have timed it so that you should be here to watch the sun rise. There are basic aid stations around every 10km on the course as well as several with food and options for drop bags. You’ll finish the 100km back at the pub (thankfully) as the course is a complete loop. The course has been designed by ANZ Skyrunning series winner

SPRINTER • 130 lumes • USB chargeable • multiple settings • lock mode • IPX4 water resistant

Grant Guise, and while it might be a ‘Big Easy’ for the Albert Town local, you might want to study the elevation profile and make your own judgement on that. It’s worth noting that the 100k ‘Ultra Easy’ option is a 3-point qualifier (5 points in the new system) for Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc. This is just one of many trail runs that are happening over summer in Central Otago New Zealand, come here for a running holiday and you’ll be spoilt for choice.

SLEEP. RUN. REPEAT.

EVENT Ultra Easy 100km WHEN 30 January 2016 DISTANCE 100km Ultra, 42.2km Marathon and a 14km river run

WHERE Albert Town, New Zealand

Check out the event 28

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EVENT PREVIEW IMAGES: courtesy Coast to Coast

Trail Running +Trail Lifestyle

COAST TO COAST

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ant to be a part of one of the world’s oldest multisport races, but can’t paddle and not much chop on the bike? Want to be in on the buzz that surrounds an event that traces across the waist of New Zealand’s South Island, but don’t want to crack into the full 243km? Well, trail runners, you are in luck, because the iconic Coast to Coast event has something especially for you. The event has a run-only category allowing competitors to just compete in the 30.5km off road run section. Trail run is a stretch of a description as the run is mainly all off trail with a rocky riverbed often the only direct line up the valley. Starting at Aiken, competitors

encounter multiple river crossings with frigid crystal clear water and an elevation gain of nearly 800m on their way to Goat Pass and the start of the descent ending in Klondyke Corner. With the very fastest athletes taking nearly three hours, the run is as much a test of co-ordination and strength as it is outright speed.

EVENT Coast to Coast WHEN 12 February 2016 DISTANCE 30.5km WHERE Aiken, South Island, NZ

Check out the event

CMY

Gone Running Tours Japan Dolomites, Italy Chamonix, France Tasmania

Performance Seminars

Ultra Trail Australia Training Planners Webinars Podacsts

EVENT PREVIEW IMAGES: courtesy MaxAdventure

#DUMPFRUCTOSE DISCOVER AN ENERGY GEL THAT WONT MESS WITH YOUR GUTS

JABULANI CHALLENGE, NSW Ku-Ring-Gai National Park, NSW, AU

he Jabulani Challenge explores the trails of the Ku-Ring-Gai National Park to the north of Sydney. Offering everything from waterside tracks, rainforest bushland, steep hill inclines to creek crossings, it’s a great mixed back of wilderness close to the city, with distances from 12km through 22km and 45km. As a challenge event linked to a charitable cause – in this instance the Stellenbosch Community Development Programme in South Africa which does fantastic work feeding and helping to develop over 1,800 kids a day. Jabulani means “be happy” in Zulu (the funds raised from the Jabulani Challenge event feeds about 300 kids for a year!).

An inclusive community outing, the event is for hardened trail runners and social walkers alike. The start and finish is at Bobbin Head, making it logistically easy, but more importantly a great spot on the edge of the Pittwater for a family day out.

EVENT Jabulani Challenge WHEN 9 April 2016 DISTANCE 45km/22km/12km WHERE Ku-Ring-Gai

National Park, NSW

Check out the event

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OPINION

SPUTNIK’S SPRAY

He swears ‘cause he can. And yes, we let him. But in amongst the profanity (call it Sputnik’s ‘quirk of character’ or perhaps it’s just Tourette’s), he’s (mostly) got some gems of fucking logic in there. Oh, swear word warning…close your eyes, turn the page if easily offended. NOW, TO BE FAIR, WHICH I CAN BE AT TIMES, THIS ISN’T REALLY A GRIPE ABOUT SOMETHING PEOPLE DO ‘WRONG’, SO MUCH AS SOMETHING PEOPLE AREN’T DOING ‘RIGHT’. AND I KNOW THEY’RE NOT DOING IT BECAUSE THEY SIMPLY HAVEN’T THOUGHT OF IT, WHICH IS WHY I’M HERE NOW. TELLING YOU ABOUT IT. BECAUSE I THOUGHT OF IT. AND IT’S STARTING TO GIVE ME THE IRRITS. Anyone who knows anything at all about me will know that, amongst my incredibly long list of faults, I am a vain prick. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I have all that much to offer the world, but I do quite like looking at photos of myself when I’m out there running. That’s despite the fact I almost always look like I’m a gorilla that’s about five months pregnant. But hey, if it ain’t on Facebook, it didn’t happen, right? So I like race photos. I’m one of those idiots who coughs up the coin for the shot of me crossing the finish line, even though by the time I get there, most people are already at home, with their feet up, watching TV and putting Vaseline on their chafed balls. Or maybe it’s just me that does that? (For myself, not for everyone else. That’s just vicious rumours.) But back to the photos. Not only do I quite like looking at them, I quite like taking them as well. So most of the races I go to, whether it be as a spectator or runner, I try and take as many as I can to share later. This serves several purposes. Firstly, I assume there are possibly other people who might also want to see some photos from out there. And secondly, it gives me a bit of an excuse for my shit performance. Taking photos along the way can slow you down quite a bit, you know?

Now, when I’m out there on the trails, I often see other friends and family who duck out with a camera also. And there they wait, patiently perched on the edge of the trail to take a photo when their loved one eventually runs past. Well, what about this idea: how about instead of sitting there like a stunned mullet, you put that little finger of yours to good use, click that button, and take a few pictures of other runners as they come past! Whether you know them or not. Unless you’re still rocking a pocket brownie or only have a FujiFilm roll of 24 in your instamatic, chances are there’s room on your photographic device for a few extra pictures. 100s probably. Maybe even 1000s. So instead of waiting around twiddling your thumbs for a half hour or so, take some bloody pictures and chuck ‘em up on Facebook later. You don’t have to print them out, frame them and send them express post. You can just share them. It’s called the Internet. It’s for sharing. And for free! And you have no idea how much joy you will bring to people who otherwise may not have a photo of themselves out there. This isn’t about undermining the prosnappers who slave over a hot 5D to make a living. And you don’t have to be TRM’s cover photo guru, Lyndon Marceau, rocking the latest and greatest. Even a quick iPhone pic as someone belts past would be nice. And trust me, if you post it, someone will see it and tag it and it will almost certainly end up in front of the person you took the photo of. So next time you’re out and about, or know someone who is, give them a little nudge in the ribs, and tell them to take as many photos as they possibly can, of as many people as they possibly can, and share them later. Us runners love that shit. Well, especially the vain pricks like me.

Follow Sputnik’s adventures (and occasional rants) @ SwashbucklersClub.com Facebook.com/Swashbuckler

Happy running. #NamasteMotherFuckers

INNERVIEW

Q&A – SHAUN & ZARA COLLINS

INTERVIEW: Chris Ord Images: Shaun Collins / Cabbage Tree Photography

Would you allow your 12-year-old daughter to have a go at running 75 of the hardest trail kilometres in New Zealand? That was the quandary for trail event organiser, photographer and Hillary Trail legend, Shaun Collins and his wife Madeleine, when their daughter Zara decided whatever Dad can do, she should be able to. Trail Run Mag caught up to get an insight from both Shaun and Zara.

Shaun, what was your initial gut feeling when Zara proposed running the Hillary?

What did you consider as your primary responsibilities as a parent in this situation?

Initially I was very hesitant. In fact my first answer was NO! Both Zara and my wife Madeleine had to convince me. It’s a long and hard way for such a little bean with 99% of adults in the world not even capable! We, as parents, were worried about the impact on her body during and after and long-term damage as well.

I guess it was our responsibility to have an adult think about it rather than the passionate ‘I can do anything’ kid. A sensibility check as to whether this was doable. And in taking that further, explaining these points to Zara in a way that she would understand. This is gonna hurt and there is potential that you won’t make it, you might get injured, or you will be very sore for a week afterward. Then we set the ground rules – she would have to train on all parts of the course, she’d have to listen to what we say during the mission – she’d have to eat and drink when we said, stop to rest when we said and if we said, ‘No, it’s all done’, then she had to listen as we’d be in more of a position to say it than she would be thinking.

What worried you the most about her running it? It was mainly worry around the impact on her body. Not wanting this mission to do any long-term damage to her.

AND this wasn’t the start of regular ultras from now on. This was a ‘oncer’ that she could have a crack at and then nothing this big for a couple of years so she recovered and didn’t keep going to become injured. Then during the run it was our responsibility to control as many factors as we could to ensure she succeeded. This in the main was keeping her at the right pace and making sure she was fuelled with food and water the whole way.

How did you come to judge her suitability – not just in terms of her running CV, but in general how you felt she would approach the challenge? This was probably the easier part as we know her well! Nearly 13 years of knowledge on what

Q&A – SHAUN & ZARA COLLINS INNERVIEW

challenges and excelled at them from a young age. So I guess the limit is based more on physical safety and mental protection rather than what society or guidelines say. We would say no to something that places our kids in danger.

a determined, gritty little human she is (this is a great attribute for some parts of life but hints at some hard work for us in the upcoming teenage years!). We knew that mentally she had it in her to push through the waves of hurt and bliss that you go through in an ultra run like this. She has run for a number of years now – shorter stuff obviously but she has done the 16km event of The Hillary race we organise twice. We ran with her on different sections of the course to familiarise herself with the route and train up a little. During these runs we gave her tips on running on technical trail and helped her learn how to manage her body over hours of running.

What was the reaction from others before she ran? I’ll admit we were a bit apprehensive about what others would think so didn’t tell many people. Just close friends. This was in order to keep the pressure off Zara more than anything but I guess we also appreciated that some people would not approve. What others thought wasn’t going to stop us letting her but we’d rather not have to deal with their thoughts before we did it. We knew we hadn’t made the decision lightly. The people we told were really supportive and understood after we’d explained it all – and they would have said if they didn’t.

Where is the parental line – what would you say no to? That’s a hard question – we try not to say no with these sorts of challenges. And it is hard to say no when her parents do some pretty crazy shit too. They have grown up seeing us do things that other adults are amazed at so they think it’s normal. Kids are usually limited by what us adults say yes or no to. From something like a massive 1000 piece puzzle at age four to a climbing wall in the backyard to running trail events – we have given all three of our kids a looser reign and they have soaked up the

How did you feel while she was on trail - what journey did you as a parent go on during the run? During the run was the same as when any of us do something like this – a rollercoaster. At the start, wondering if she would actually be able to do it, keeping a really close eye on her 38

food and water intake and that she was pacing herself right. Then when she’d clocked past her longest distance run ever starting to celebrate how well she was going. Then questioning while she was crying and in a low patch if she should stop. Calculating/thinking if this was a normal low patch that ultra-runners have, which I have been in many times, or if this really was a signal to end it. Then celebrating again as she’d pulled herself mentally past the low patch and was on a high again, striding out for the next stop, because she was getting closer to achieving the end goal.

What were the factors in the decision for Zara to pull out at 61km? The decision was based on sleep and how that would impact her as we ran the last section which is along the clifftops of the Te Henga trail. You need all your wits about you at the best of times and with it being 11pm and having 61km under the belt Zara was starting to feel sleepytired as well as legs-tired. She had just stormed up the mighty Kuataika Hills with a good strong pace so I think she was still going well but she’s probably only been up that late a couple of times in her life, so keeping on going and finishing at 2-3am, would be a bit risky. Also I’d been with >>

Q&A – SHAUN & ZARA COLLINS INNERVIEW

QUICKFIREs 1. Runner you take inspiration from and why? SHAUN: Now…it’s Zara! No, really I don’t have a named runner I look at or think about as my inspiration. My inspiration is doing stuff to challenge myself and I get inspiration from watching others succeed at a challenge they have set. It’s partly why I organise events to see people you think wouldn’t be able to do a run, complete it and love it! ZARA: Claire and Ashley Thomson because they did the full Hillary Trail when they were 13 and a half years old. 2. Other than the Hillary, long distance trail you most want to run? SHAUN: The Barkley Marathon. ZARA: The Last Desert Ultra Marathon. 3. What food do you crave on long runs? SHAUN: Fruit, a good burger. ZARA: Baby food. 4. Best runner in your family? SHAUN: Me, of course! ZARA: Dad. 5. Song or artist you would listen to or sing along to in your head to get through the hard times? SHAUN: I don’t use music in these longer runs. I really should try one day though! ZARA: Really upbeat songs like Meghan Trainor, Little Mix, The Script, Katy Perry. Songs like that. And Eye Of The Tiger.

Q&A – SHAUN & ZARA COLLINS INNERVIEW

her from the start so wouldn’t have been much better cause I haven’t been running much lately! Maybe if we had someone fresh join in then they could have helped get her through. But in the end when we explained our concerns Zara was totally in agreement. And she was just so tired that she didn’t think she could keep going for another 15km.

What do you as both a parent, and runner, take away from her attempt? I think this emphasised to us how determined and gutsy Zara is. We are so proud that she set a goal and worked towards it and then had a bloody good crack at nailing it. This shows focus, determination and some maturity above her age. As a runner it is completely inspiring. Watching any runner battle their way through an ultra is exciting and emotional, but watching a 12-year-old do it is something else altogether. It really puts all our little grizzles and worries in perspective.

To you Zara, what made you want to take on the Hillary?

can. People should recognise that. I think race directors should let people under 16 enter big runs. As long as young people understand what is involved and can prepare well and be supported by adults they really can do big challenges.

I watched Dad do it heaps of times, which made me want to try it. I also thought it would be a great way to explore the Waitakere Ranges, which are right beside where we live.

Why running, why long distances and trail, and why the Hillary in particular?

Did you have a strategy to convince your parents if they said no?

Running because it is awesome. My body just loves running. Long distance because it is awesome and more fun. Trail because it is so interesting and challenging. And The Hillary because Dad and other people have always spoken about how amazing it is – it is kind of a big part of our family’s lives and I just wanted to go and see what it was like.

Ask again. And again. And again. And again. I also wrote them a letter explaining all the reasons why I should be allowed to do it. And I wrote a plan for doing long runs in preparation to show them I knew it would be hard work getting ready for it.

Why do you think they said yes?

We’re old, our bodies hurt ridiculously so doing this stuff, and we can’t remember what it’s like to run like a kid…talk us through your journey? What was it like physically and mentally?

Because they believed I could do it and they wanted me to try. And maybe because they got annoyed with me asking.

What are your thoughts on ‘under agers’ taking on what some would say is an extreme challenge?

It didn’t really hurt physically but it was extremely tiring. I was sleepy-tired, very

Lots of people think that because we are young, we can’t do things but actually we 42

Q&A – SHAUN & ZARA COLLINS INNERVIEW

Follow in Zara and Shaun’s footsteps Enter The Hillary, an epic ultra trail run along the Hillary Track, put on by Shaun’s event company, Lactic Turkey Events under the umbrella of the Skyrunning AU/NZ Series.

Check out the event

long day-tired and every muscle in my body exhausted-tired. My body didn’t get aches or pains or niggles, it just got tired. My tummy struggled from my bedtime onwards. Mentally it was not so hard until it got dark and I should have been in bed. Then my head started spinning into “why am I doing this?”, “this is such a stupid idea”, “why did I think this would be a good thing to do?”, “I’m so tired” – round and around and around. I think I just needed to go to bed. I did stay up later doing the run than I have pretty much ever stayed up.

Do you still run without thinking, like we all do when we are young, or have you already starting to think about the things like technique? I’ve kind of had to start thinking about technique because in my Rhythmic Gymnastics training my feet started to get turned out which gave me knee issues when

running. So I’ve started to think about how my feet land and stuff. Also my mum always goes on to me about using my core to run, especially on up or down hills and when I’m tired so I’m aware of that. Plus I needed to learn how to manage my food and water to get through.

What was the high point of the run? Getting into Karekare to see Mum’s aid station. I had been struggling a little on the sand dunes and beach and seeing that gave me a massive boost and I couldn’t wait to get going again.

Aside from pulling, what was the lowest point? Pulling wasn’t really a low point because it felt right. Kuataika track was the low point. I hate that track!

How did you feel as it approached the time to call it a day? Extremely tired. I was quite upset not because I thought I might pull out but just because of how tired I was. It was a really dark night so I think everything felt like it took ages to get through. At the same time I knew I had done as much as I could and that the distance I had come was a great achievement so I was already feeling really proud of myself. My feet were wet. That was annoying me, too.

In retrospect, what will you take away from your attempt? My parents really believed in me to let me attempt this run and that has helped me believe in myself. I know now how determined I can be and that I have persistence. I have learnt that you need so much preparation for a challenge like this. But I know I can do it. I’ve already decided I will try again in a few years.

the

FEATURE

WORDS: Peter Lawrence IMAGES: Chris Ord

FEATURE THE GREEN ZONE

THE GREEN ZONE FEATURE

In the previous edition of Trail Run Mag, our Australian Editor let loose – he admits a little half-cocked – about pushing new single track into public spaces. While ex-park ranger (and active trail runner) Peter Lawrence doesn’t have a problem with the idea of new routes to explore managed wilderness, he does take issue with irresponsible approaches to establishing them.

WHAT WAS THE EDITOR OF THIS MAGAZINE THINKING LAST EDITION ROUND? IS HE FOR REAL? DOES HE REALLY SUPPORT THE ACTIVITIES OF THE MYSTERIOUS ‘SINGLE TRACK SHADOWMAN’, WHO IS APPARENTLY BUILDING ILLEGAL TRACKS IN ‘OUR’ CONSERVATION RESERVES? DOES HE REALLY THINK THAT MOST PROTECTED PUBLIC LAND MANAGERS WEAR GREY? Perhaps the esteemed editor of this great magazine had one too many caffeine-infused gels on his last run just before sitting down to pen the editorial in the September issue. [It was a glass and a half of Limestone Coast Shiraz, actually Peter. Same disastrous effect on judgement and impetuosity however. Ed.] Perhaps, but more likely it was a response to a real issue that we as trail runners need to think about and discuss openly: the construction and use of trails on Crown land and, in particular, conservation reserves. So why have I felt the need to write this piece in response? Well, mostly because I am a few years into retirement after almost four decades of working as a protected public land manager and I am also a trail runner. Oh, and dear editor, I generally wore green and I don’t think I ever had a “grey-walled office”. Most of us, I suspect, drifted into trail running at least partly because we love the outdoors and like to spend time in the bush, along the coast, in the dry country or in the mountains. Generally, the best bits of these environments are in conservation reserves – National Parks, Wilderness Areas, State Parks, Coastal Parks, conservation zones in State Forest and all the other classifications of protected public land. I can hear some of you saying, bloody hell, do we really need to know what the land is called?

We just want to go running, don’t give us all this bureaucratic rubbish. Well, I believe we all should care and understand land tenures when we talk about the use of protected areas. In my years of managing parks, one consistent thing I noticed when dealing recreational groups was how most participants had little understanding of the classification of the land they were using. So my plea to you is, before you pull on the trail shoes, take the time to find out the status of the land you plan to run through and have at least a basic understanding of the different classifications of reserves and what sort of regulations apply. It’s not hard, it’s just about having some respect and understanding for the land that you will hopefully enjoy. And while I’m sitting astride my lofty horse asking you to do things, let me make another important point, the one concerning ‘ownership’. Many a time I have heard park visitors offering the excuse when being questioned about bad behaviour: ‘we can do whatever we want in this park because it’s “our” land’, the implication derived from being a taxpayer whose collective funds in part service the parks. Well, actually it’s not ‘their’ land. The only people who can legitimately make such a claim are the Traditional Owners of the area concerned and most of them would suggest that it is everyone’s land as long as they treat it with respect. You may have noticed that I have used the word ‘respect’ twice so far. If this small offering does nothing else but makes you think about that word and how it might apply to our protected natural areas and the way that you use them then my time in front of the laptop has been worthwhile. It is no surprise that many of the best areas for trail running are in protected areas. This fairly obvious fact has not been lost on many >>

FEATURE THE GREEN ZONE

THE GREEN ZONE FEATURE

other recreational groups and consequently conservation reserves often play host to mountain bikers, bushwalkers, trail bike riders, rock climbers, four-wheel drivers and many others. Many of them believe they have a ‘right’ to practice their chosen activity in a park of their choice. Trail runners are generally no different and they are increasingly coming to the notice of the agencies responsible for managing our protected areas. There are signs that trail runners are becoming more united and getting smarter about how they deal with park managers (putting aside the activities of the Shadowman from last edition’s editorial) but they could learn a lot from the mountain bikers and yes, even the four-wheel drivers. The use of protected areas for recreational activities is a significant issue for land mangers across the globe and the challenge posed by trail runners is increasing. Geoff Roes’ recent article on ‘iRunFar.com’ in response to concerns from a local in the Grand Canyon highlights rather well the increasing influence of trail runners in protected areas. The popularity of the Rim to Rim runs has seen a significant increase in numbers of runners using the already busy trails in the Park and some of the other users are not happy. Geoff, perhaps a little controversially, suggests that trail runners should consider the possibility of running in other locations, although he openly admits that the Grand Canyon is a stunning place to visit and Rim to Rim runs are on many people’s bucket list. His argument is partly based on the busyness of the trails, which means the running experience is often compromised, so perhaps they should consider finding another trail with less activity. Thankfully we are not at that stage in this part of the world, yet. So let’s think for a moment about the construction of new trails in conservation areas. Why should park managers listen to us and our 50

concerns? Are we a greater or lesser priority than, say, mountain bikers or bushwalkers? What’s different about us; are we worthy of particular consideration? I would suggest to some extent yes, trail runners and their sport should be offered some level of consideration when looking at the development of new infrastructure. The main reason being that trail running generally has minimal impact on the land and could be considered similar in many ways to bushwalking, whereas mountain biking can have considerable impact, particularly on some soil types. It would be my contention that recreation on public land involving wheels generally causes more impact than those involving feet and I might add that if you attach a motor to those wheels then there is little doubt that the impact increases even more. And yes, I know this is not always the case – twenty trail runners running across one of Tassie’s Button grass plains can make a horrible mess but the same number of mountain bikes on a hard-baked rocky track will have less impact, but you get the general idea. If trail running can be considered low-impact then why shouldn’t managers be falling over themselves trying to help these high value ‘stakeholders’? (And yes, if you are going to deal with park managers about activities in parks you will become a ‘stakeholder’ whether you like it or not, it’s just the way it is). Well, in high conservation reserves (National Parks, Wilderness Areas, Conservation zones, Protection zones in State Forest to name just a few) the main aim of the game is to preserve and protect the areas natural resources, the plants, animals, ecosystems, the wet bits the dry bits and even the soils and rocks and everything under our feet – complete ecosystems. The best way to achieve this is to limit the impacts of visitor’s activities and one of the ways to do that is to say a firm no to any developments including the construction of tracks. Now, this is not rocket science but it seems

that some stakeholder groups take a long time to grasp this simple truth. If you want to work with park managers to develop a section of single track in a reserve find a reserve that has a lower protection classification and start there. Don’t ask for a new track up Mt Bogong, fairly obviously, it just isn’t going happen. If you want to look for examples of how to go about it, as I touched on earlier, have a word to one of the mountain bike organisations. Yes, I know what I said about them but collectively they have been successful in setting up new trails in a number of reserves, at least in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania. Another way of increasing the chance of getting your foot in the door is to educate the managers. Not all of them have a great understanding of what trail running is all about and their default response may be no to any requests. Send them copies of this journal and follow up with an offer to explain what is so great and so low impact about trail running. Let’s say, just as one example of how things might play out, you have a favourite reserve (that’s not a National Park!) and you can picture a stupendous 10km of single track going up and over the prominent hill in the middle of the protected area. You go to the local managers tell them all the good stuff about trail running, give them the latest copy of the magazine and say, how about it? You get, surprisingly, a positive response, then they look at you and say: “Well, we hope you have plenty of volunteers at your disposal because we don’t have the money to build it, but here are the regulations that apply to the reserve, here are the guidelines and ‘rules’ of how trails must be constructed on Crown Land, and we will be keeping a close eye on what you are up to. Oh, and you will have to be part of a club that has insurance and a list of volunteers that will commit to giving their time to get it

FEATURE THE GREEN ZONE

THE GREEN ZONE FEATURE

Taking care of trails As responsible trail runners, what can we all do to ensure the environment and trails we love so much, remain wild, untamed (and unblemished)? • Join a trail group and get involved in what’s going on in your local area. • Take the time to find out who the local reserve managers are and report to them if you see anything that needs their attention. Vandalised signage, illegal activity, like trail bike riders or fire wood cutters to name just two common activities. If you see a vehicle involved, get the rego number, it is the best thing you can do to facilitate the prosecution of offenders. Park managers and rangers simply can’t be everywhere and really appreciate the help of reserve users. • Don’t cut corners on switch-backs or run around fallen trees. This only creates new, unnecessary tracks. • If you are not attempting a PB (or FKT!) take the time to throw off dangerous limbs and sticks from the trail and if you discover a potentially dangerous obstacle lay some branches in front of it to warn to the next runner to come along. • Take the time to learn if there are any indigenous sites of significance in the area you are using and respect the wishes of the traditional owners when it comes to how you move through their country. • Think about not running a steep trail if it is very wet, as you will have more impact on the local natural water catchment than in the dry. • Don’t run in the bush on days of Total Fire Ban. If the reserve has to be closed due to a fire it is better that you are at home watching the cricket with a coldie than part the way up the side of a mountain with a fire spreading rapidly below you. • If you see a plant that looks like it might be a weed or you see an introduced animal like a pig run across the track let the rangers know. • And all the usual ones I hope you already know: don’t litter, bury your human waste off the track, don’t destroy the vegetation and don’t play with the animals particularly the long thin ones without legs.

done before winter…. Oh and by the way, we will let mountain bikers use ‘your’ track as well as bushwalkers and we might have to consider horse riders because that reserve allows horse riding….” Yes, okay, I went a bit overboard with that scenario but all those things and more can and do happen. I never said it was easy but selfishly going out and building unauthorised tracks (are you listening Mr. Shadowman?) that very few people will even know about is not only illegal but ultimately counterproductive because it gives the great majority of law abiding trail runners a bad name. The other issue that is almost universally forgotten about when it comes to the construction of tracks in reserves is their on-going maintenance. It would also be true to say that sometimes reserve managers can be guilty of the same mistake. There is absolutely no point in developing a track in a reserve unless you can maintain it in the long term. This inconvenient truth has been demonstrated repeatedly by many who, after starting with great ideals and enthusiasm, walk away at what they see as the completion of the project only to see it disappear over the preceding years due to neglect and lack of basic maintenance.

Walking tracks in particular are more prone to return back to their former state due to the fact I mentioned earlier, bushwalkers and trail runners generally create less disturbance so vegetation has more chance to re-grow over the formally cleared track. There are a number of other scenarios in park management where trail runners might need to ensure they have a seat at the stakeholders table if they want to help further the sport. Occasionally, when politicians or people with power and influence get involved walking tracks are developed in parks and significant funding is made available. These tracks are mostly bushwalker and family-focused but how often are trail runners consulted about how and where the tracks are constructed? If you and your local trail running group are just slightly convinced by my arguments and want to try to approach your local park managers to develop a new track in a local reserve then good luck, be patient, but it can and does happen. The author, Peter Lawrence, is a retired Parks ranger, having worked for numerous government land management agencies in Gippsland, East Victoria, in various capacities for almost forty years.

FEATURE WORDS: Tegy n

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Is there any truth to the statement that trail running and obstacle course racing (OCR) are two sides of the same coin? Associate Editor Tegyn Angel takes things to the extreme to find out, by taking on a bunch of OCR outings, culminating in Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very first Survival Run, an event where the promise is made: you will not finish. ALL IMAGES FROM SURVIVAL RUN NICARAGUA 54

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What a joy it is to feel the soft, springy earth under my feet once more, to follow grassy roads that lead to ferny brooks where I can bathe my fingers in a cataract of rippling notes, or to clamber over a stone wall into green fields that tumble and roll and climb in riotous gladness! – Helen Keller It sounds like a scene from The Lion King or some Utopian, Thoreauvian fantasy; a romanticised, halcyon connection with nature. A dream world full of verdant forests weighed-down by hyper-real, hyper-saturated fruit and Meerkats dancing the cabaret. An Avatar planet that, in the absence of chain guns and pterodactyls, we’d be called hippies for describing. All crystals and incense. At least to some extent though, it is visions like these, and reclaiming our place in the natural order of things, that is at the heart of all things trail running. Each step is a statement of intent that helps to remake our place in the world hierarchically, physically, spiritually. Trail running, obstacle course racing (OCR) and Parkour are all expressions of this same philosophy. There have always been those who run for pure pleasure and physical expression, but the vast majority of runners in modern society have arrived at that point with some awareness, however limited, of running as a more formal physical activity. OCR is no different. While modern interpretations like Tough Mudder and the Spartan Race series are what most people imagine when you say “Obstacle Course Race”, as an organised sport it can trace its origins to the Olympics. In turn the Olympics was built on the traditions of organised warfare and standing armies both of which are, of course, an evolution and systemisation of the skills and preparation necessary to survive as a pre-

historic human. Both running and OCR are the inherited legacy of thousands of generations, passed down to us through the fires of time, conflict and necessity. Have a look at the steeplechase, for example. It has been an Olympic event since the birth of the modern Olympics in 1896. While in its current format the steeplechase is a 2-3km event where runners sprint along a flat 400m track hurdling barriers and completing “water jumps”, the original steeplechase was far more like a modern obstacle course race. It was called a steeplechase because the spires of village churches were used to mark the start and finish of an event, their height making them visible from afar. Runners would race between villages and across the countryside jumping creeks, low walls and whatever else got in their way. It’s not hard to imagine hunters chasing (or being chased by) prey in a similar way. Through the centuries we’ve separated and compartmentalised these fundamental human abilities, eliminating the need to practice them for survival and, instead, turned them into separate sports. Climbing, jumping, carrying, crawling, swimming, throwing and grappling, generally with running as the common denominator, were all necessary to keep us fed and alive. There was a direct, causal relationship between our bodies and the world around us; screw up and you’re dead. >>

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As a child, one has that magical capacity to move among the many eras of the earth; to see the land as an animal does; to experience the sky from the perspective of a flower or a bee; to feel the earth quiver and breathe beneath us; to know a hundred different smells of mud and listen unselfconsciously to the soughing of the trees. – Valerie Andrews It was curiosity that led me to OCR. I had a sneaking suspicion it was a runner’s game and that, with a little pinch of functional strength and a dash of technique, I’d be competitive. I also needed a break. My trail race calendar in 2014 was intense and I went pretty close to incinerating my love of running trails, extreme burn out swooping like a territorial magpie. I needed something else and OCR seemed a perfect fit; a way to reinvigorate my passion for running. I was right on both accounts but at the time I had no idea what the hell I was getting into. “Spartans, what is your profession!!!???”, screamed Max DeLacy, Australian Spartan Race franchise operator and regular MC at these events. “WE! ARE! SPARTANS!!!” we screamed in return. I’d signed up for a Spartan Race with my mate Matty Bell and here we were, ready to see what all the hype was about! With a 1-2-3 we were off, bolting under the massive red starting arch emblazoned with the Spartan Helmet insignia and… we’re trail running! Finding my running rhythm, I forget where I am. Until we hit a series of wall jumps and shit gets 3D! Oh baby, I think I’m in love. At first glance most OCR is running, generally on trails, with some challenges thrown in to challenge us in different ways and reproduce the challenges of war of the hunter-gatherer. Cross a moving river, scale a low cliff face, climb a tree to harvest food or escape a predator, drag or lift heavy objects to build shelter or fashion some form of weapon. Running, always running, through the forest or across open grassland, moving with and responding to changes in the landscape. Over it, under it, through it, run, lift the heavy thing, run, carry the heavy thing, run, climb the rope, run, drag it, run, carry it, run, lift the ridiculously heavy mother fricken rubber ball, and then run some more. You get the idea. OCR is a risk assessed, pasteurised mimicry of the Noble Savage. 58

Here I am, sitting here around the metaphorical campfire, spinning a yarn about how OCR is a means for humanity to reconnect with their forgotten origins. I’ll tell anyone who’ll listen how much I’ve loved Spartan Races, the barbed wire scars down my back evidence I’m loving them still. But I realise how ironic this is! I’m eulogising the natural condition whilst screaming lines from a movie, throwing tethered spears made from shovel handles and tackling obstacle after contrived obstacle. Maybe this is no more a simulation of nature than the SIMS is of modern life. I think I need to step it up.

Must we always teach our children with books? Let them look at the stars and the mountains above. Let them look at the waters and the trees and flowers on Earth. Then they will begin to think, and to think is the beginning of a real education. – David Polis Survival Run Australia was never going to be a matter of sign up, show up, climb a rope and do some burpees. With a motto like “Adapt or Die” and a creed that goes a little something like “If I get hurt, injured or die it’s my own damn fault”, the race directors and crew make every attempt to ensure you know that this one’s on you. They will screw with you, it will be very hard and there is legitimate and everpresent risk, all of which you willingly, piously accept when you join the Survival Run Tribe. I’d first heard about the original Survival >>

FEATURE SURVIVAL RUN

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Run around 2013 while researching a trip to Nicaragua. Held on Ometepe, an island in the south of Nicaragua, the Survival Run sounded like a weird hybrid of trail ultra marathon, adventure race and social experiment. Just describing the place, never mind exploring its landscape, it quickly becomes clear how the Survival Run came to be. While it’s not particularly hard to get to from the mainland, once you’re there you feel like you’ve travelled a lot further than the 90 minutes or so you spent on the ferry. The two halves of the roughly figure-8 shaped island are dominated by jungle-clad volcanoes (which you can bet the course makes the most of!) and surrounded by a rough, razor sharp coastline patrolled by bull sharks and crocodiles. Giddy up boy, you wanted authentic!?

According Fuego y Agua, the crew behind the Survival Run: Survival Run is not an obstacle course race, an adventure race, an ultra marathon or a survival skills event, but an adaptation of all of these. Survival Run is all about adapting to the environment and taking on challenges that are part of the culture and location where the event takes place. Survival Run does not pretend to be dangerous, it is dangerous. The objective of this race is to strip you of all comforts and to put you in true survival mode. The obstacles/challenges are natural and based on the daily survival of the traditional local culture of Nicaragua.

So, what you’re telling me is that you’ve created something that incorporates ultra trail running, crazy mountain terrain and weather, obstacles and intellectual challenges that mimic true survival and packaged them all into a well branded, almost-impossible-tofinish event that delivers most of its pertinent information via a secret, invitation only “tribe”? And now you’re bringing it to Australia?! SIGN ME UP IMMEDIATELY! 2015 was the inaugural Survival Run Australia, so finding information was pretty tough. One of the best race reports I read of the Nicaraguan event was by Nickademus Holon, the 2014 winner of both the Survival Run and the 100k trail race a few days later (known as the Devils Double). He was also the 13th ever finisher of the Barkley Marathons and in 2014 placed 2nd at the Tor des Geants. When someone like this declares that “The Survival Run is unparalleled in difficulty and its connection to the natural environment”, you’d better listen up. Putting it simply, Survival Run Australia was hands down the best event I’ve ever had the privilege of being involved with. I went in expecting to be pushed to my absolute limits in terms of endurance, tolerance and patience, and I wasn’t disappointed. I went in expecting an event that came as close to a natural survival situation as possible, and I wasn’t disappointed. I went not expecting to finish, and I won. [Read Tegyn’s full race report on his WildPlans website, see breakoutbox]

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society, where none intrudes, By the deep sea, and music in its roar: I love not man the less, but Nature more – George Gordon Byron Trail running, OCR, events like the Survival Run and even Parkour, all share a common heritage; necessity. They’re exploding in popularity on a global scale because they’re helping us to re-establish the two-way connections we’ve severed both with nature and with each other. But they also pose a surprisingly profound question, one that has a direct correlation to life in general: how do you move through this environment as efficiently as possible, with nothing to help you but your >>

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own capacities? Certainly not by ignoring the realities of your environment, the extremes of weather, the flow of water, the tug of gravity, the demands of your peers? Certainly not by fighting against these things, by arguing with them and forcing upon them your own expectations? Where will you find that balance between sustainable exertion and fatigue? When I first proposed an article on obstacle course racing, TRM’s editor was reluctant, his concern that I might try to squeeze an article about OCR into a trail running magazine predicated as if the two were mutually exclusive. He insisted I focus on the crossover element, or a least pen a piss take on how I ventured into OCR and then scurried back. He needn’t have stressed; at the heart of things they share the same world view. I’d argue that you could even stretch things as far as suggesting that trail running and OCR share more in common, at least philosophically, than trail and road running. Don’t worry old editor mate, I’m not moving across the border; I’m trying to dissolve it completely.

TRM’s editor, Tegyn Angel, chopping his way to victory in the inaugural Survival Run Australia. Image courtesy Survival Run Australia

SURVIVAL RUN AUSTRALIA REPORT FROM THE EDGE There is no way in hell my whole race report would fit in Trail Run Mag – it would fill it to the brim. In fact, the whole thing is over 8000 words and features absolutely no editing or respect for word limits whatsoever. If you want to read it in spite of these warnings, you can do so at:

FULL STORY MORE DETAILS EVEN MORE DETAILS Click Play to watch a video of the original Survival Run.

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Interview: Amanda Shackleton Images: Amanda Shackleton / www.amandashackleton.com.au

What do you do when your first ultra ends in failure? You back up, look at the calendar, re-asses your goals and double down. After not even making the start line of the Surf Coast Century, Aiden Beer looked further down his hometown coastline to the iconic - and more difficult - Great Ocean Walk 100, and pressed the reset button. Amanda Shackleton documented his journey in this photo essay.

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“I GOT INSPIRED BY OTHER PEOPLE’S EFFORTS – I had friends who completed ultra-marathons. I just wanted to see how far I could push myself – could I do it too or not?” “I SURF AND ROCK CLIMB SO I’M GENERALLY FIT, but I haven’t always been a runner. I started about four years ago.” “A FRIEND’S BROTHER WAS COMPLETING 52 MARATHONS IN 52 WEEKS, travelling all over the world doing one on each continent including Antarctica. I thought that was exciting. He was running his last marathon in Melbourne. So 12 weeks before he arrived, I started running so I could join him. I got through it, but it was a painful experience.” “I DIDN’T EVEN GET TO THE START of the Surf Coast Century. A lot of things went wrong. I wasn’t experienced enough. This year I decided to pick a different event and give myself enough time to train. I’d always wanted to hike the Great Ocean Walk. When I found out you could run it in one day, I thought that sounded more efficient. I TRAINED SOLIDLY FOR JUST OVER FOUR MONTHS. I ran on average four to five times a week. The biggest week was 95km with the longest run being just over five hours. >>

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“FOR ME THERE WAS NO PARTICULAR DIET FOR TRAINING, it was eat as much as you want to. I averaged half a block of chocolate a day, which is probably not the best but I craved sugar. Otherwise I just tried to eat healthy and get enough carbohydrates so I had enough stored energy for the long runs. Then after the longer more intense runs I’d eat protein heavy food to help with muscle repair.” “GENERALLY I AM REALLY BAD AT BEING MOTIVATED to go running for running’s sake. But having an event to train for I could focus on it. I had quite a strict, regimented plan that I tried to follow. Even if was hailing and cold I was able to get up early and get out there. In hindsight pushing through the bad weather days was a good thing, because I didn’t know what the conditions would be on race day – it could have thrown anything at me – so I got to experiment with all of my equipment in all conditions.” “I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE COURSE. Early reports were that it is quite difficult compared to the Surf Coast Century, taking comparatively longer to complete and is very weather dependent. Everyone says that the section from Johanna Beach through to the Gables, the 55km to 80 km stretch, is the hardest section with a lot of steep hills so I was most concerned about that.” “RACE DAY WASN’T WHAT I EXPECTED. I thought it was going to be really tough and it was hard, but I never hit The Wall, I never ran out of energy. I felt good, surprisingly.” >>

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3-DAY FESTIVAL OF TRAIL RUNNING PRESENTED BY

“I HAD MY LOWEST POINT IN THE SECOND LEG quite early on around the 35 km mark. No one talks about how hard that second leg is and you look at the profile and there are no big hills but there are just so many little ups and downs and it’s sandy. It just takes it out of you. I kept pushing through and got to the 40km checkpoint and started to feel better.”

“I RAN ALL OF THAT LAST SECTION AND EVEN PUSHED A LITTLE HARDER. It was in the dark now and I fell over twice but I just kept going.” “COMING OVER THE LINE FELT AMAZING, because I was pushing so hard for that last kilometer. I didn’t have time to think about everything that had led up to that point, I didn’t think about what to do when getting to the finish line, I just wanted to get across before that timer ticked over 15 hours. Once I crossed the line I just had to take a moment, catch my breath because it was hard work. I was just amazed that I had the energy to do that at the end.”

“I HAD ALWAYS PLANNED TO WALK THE JOHANNA BEACH SECTION to bring my heart rate down a bit and have a relax from the running.” “I GOT TO THE 80KM CHECKPOINT AND I KNEW I WAS GOING TO FINISH IT. Leaving that checkpoint was the most emotional part because it was cemented from there. I could have walked the rest of the way and still got in under cut off.”

“WOULD I DO IT AGAIN, WOULD I DO A LONGER EVENT? I’ve thought about it, I haven’t committed to anything yet! Because I got through it feeling so I good, I thought I could do it again. Then I start to think I could go back and do a regular marathon and see how fast I could go now I have gone further.”

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FEATURE WORDS: Stephen Day IMAGES: Jono Wyatt

Mountain masochists

Skyrunning is the hottest ‘thing’ on the trail scene and like the latest hipster Kombocha Kola infused with the jus of Kale, everyone’s doing it. But before there was the Sky, there was the Mountain, and enough of a mob dedicated to running them in a set format to create A World Championships. One of them, Kiwi representative Stephen Day, lets us in on what it is to be a mountain runner on the world stage. Which this year, was in Wales.

t h e s p o r t o f M o u n ta i n R u n n i n g

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just what is mountain running? NZ and World Mountain Running Championships alternate each year between up-and-down and up-only. Uphill courses are roughly 4km for junior women with 400 metres of ascent, 8km for junior men and senior women with 800 metres of ascent and 12km for senior men with 1200 metres ascent.

suddenly filled up with athletes. International athletes who casually discussed their mile PBs and did complicated running drills in the hotel lobby. And then it became real. No amount of shiny Athletics NZ kit or bravado was going to hide me from a world championship race with thousands of spectators. The race itself was not at Llandudno, but a small village, Betws-y-Coed, nestled in Snowdonia National Park. The course was made up of short 4-kilometre laps, each climbing about 250 metres altitude through the Snowdonian bush to a misty lake on top of a hill and then racing back down to Betws-y-Coed’s mossy old stone church. The junior women ran one lap, the senior women and junior men whipped around the church and climbed back up for a second lap, and the senior men did three laps. The trick with this type of (standardised) mountain running course is recovering from the ferociously fast down hills with enough rubber still left in your legs for a second or third steep climb. Mountain running is not a big sport in New Zealand. It sits somewhere between popular-but-low-key trail running and competitive-but-forsaken cross-country running. It either represents the best or worst of both genres, depending on your perspective.

N SEPTEMBER A TRAIN CARRYING A MOTLEY BUNCH OF KIWI MOUNTAIN RUNNERS AND SUPPORT CREW PULLED INTO THE WELSH SEASIDE TOWN OF LLANDUDNO.

Victorian-era Britons purposely built the seaside town of Llandudno as a holiday resort. The Victorians’ idea of a seaside holiday was a long pier upon which to promenade, fish and chips with mushy peas, and a Punch and Judy show. A century later little has changed, including the clientele. The first night our New Zealand mountain running team arrived at the hotel our fellow guests had an entire parking bay outside the hotel restaurant for their mobility scooters. We joined them for mashed spuds and gravy, followed by bingo and an in-house Irish singer who crooned hits from the 1940s and 50s. But we weren’t in Llandudno just for the sea breezes and singalongs. Llandudno was the base for the athletes’ village for the World Mountain Running Championships, at which New Zealand had nine representative runners, including me. And of course, representatives from every other country on Earth hearty enough to field citizens who run in mountains. So, two days before the race, Llandudno

Up and downhill courses are roughly 4km for junior women with 250m of ascent and descent, 8km for junior men and senior women with 500 metres of ascent and 12km for senior men with 750 metres ascent.

But what it does have is an IAAF-sanctioned world championship event – like the Olympics but with steep mountains. And despite its niche status, some countries do take mountain running seriously. Not for them the disparaging remarks about egg-and-spoon races. The British call it fell running and have a long and rich history of charging up mountains. The Americans have a massive population, money and the Rockies – a pretty good combination. Some of the African nations have started to take notice of mountain running in recent years. Olympic and World Marathon champion Stephen Kiprotich represented Uganda at mountain running before his gold medal fame. And he wasn’t even the fastest Ugandan in the team. Chief among mountain running nations is Italy, where the Dematties brothers are superstars on the mountain running circuit. I have never seen a runner with the same ability that Bernard Dematties has – to completely disregard that part of the brain that tells you to stop doing something because it hurts. All runners have it to a degree – but his is another step up. Sometimes mountain running does hurt. We like to claim we are doing it to be in touch

New Zealand has an incredible history of mountain winning with nine individual world champions (Kate McIlroy x1, Melissa Moon x2 and Jono Wyatt x6) as well as several team medals. Next year’s NZ championships will be on the 14th of May at Ben Lomond Station Near Queenstown. Check Trail Run Mag’s trail guide for a way to experience some of the course

CLICK HERE Web: WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE AND RESULTS TV COVERAGE OF THE 2015 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

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with nature, but the honest truth is that it is the M (masochism), not S (sadism), that most of us mountain runners get our thrills from. The ‘hurt’ part about training for any race is the repetitions. I think this is especially so for a mountain race. I’ll happily trot up a hill, gawp at the view and roll down the other side. But ask me to do it five or six times in a row at race pace and my joie de vivre feels like it is escaping down a plughole. Training in New Zealand for the world mountain running champs took place during winter, so to fit the hill reps in with the rest of my life I had to do them early in morning, and on the tarmac. I’m not a natural downhill runner, so I spent the last few months training my hips to get forward, to lean into the hill and get onto my toes rather than my heels. And, most importantly, teaching my legs to recover from a fast downhill quickly enough that they could go straight back up again. Wellington’s notorious Tip Track became, for me, a feared downhill rather than uphill trail. The muddy hills around Island Bay received multiple batterings as I fell time and again on my bum while running in winter drizzle. Even my normally graceful pet greyhound Tammy occasionally landed on

her arse as she chased me through the mud. By the time I got to Wales I was confident that, while my downhill running was not world class, it was at least no longer God-awful. The start of a World Mountain Running Championship race is intimidating for many reasons – the international athletes, the large crowds, the TV cameras and announcers (suddenly the sport doesn’t seem so small fry). But chief among the intimidations is the sprint start. Five hundred metres down the course the track suddenly gets very skinny and very steep. Anyone who was not at the front was stuck behind up to one hundred other runners, some of whom had overcooked it and quickly became trampers rather than runners. For most runners, the goal was to get to the front as quickly as possible so they didn’t get hemmed in by slower runners as they made their way up the first big climb. The irony, of course, is that the more people sprinted at the start, the less chance they had of running full pace up the hills, thus perpetuating the problem they were trying to avoid. The result was, after that 500 metre sprint, I was about 114th out of 118 starters. And from there, as the song goes, the only way was up. And down, and up… Luckily for me while my sprinting was

rather poor, my climbing was better. One by one I passed Slovakians, Russians, Irish, so many different countries’ runners and, most importantly, Aussies, all the Aussies. I lost a few of those places on the fast and furious downhills. But not many. At one point I looked at my watch as I hurtled down the steep gravel trails and it indicated that I was running 2.40 minute-per-kilometre pace – and yet people were streaming past me like I was walking. When I came down that hill the third and final time, past the little stone brick shops onto the village green and into the throng of people, I was in 54th place. Nothing that would make the newspapers back home, but still in the top half of the field. My legs were shattered and I was pleasantly dehydrated. Apparently the scenery was breathtaking, and the race at the front of the field was ferociously exciting. I couldn’t tell you. What I could tell you is that I, along with a bunch of other Kiwis, had been part of an amazing race, and played our part in a sport that will never be as glamorous as 1500 metre track races or big city marathons, but nevertheless has a unique appeal to me and many thousands of other runners and supporters around the world.

GAI

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Words: Jo Powell Images: Sputnik Sputnik / www.swashbucklersclun.com, Mal Gamble, Vanessa K.

No arrows, no tags, no ribbon, certainly no kilometer markings â&#x20AC;&#x201C; this is wild running, so pack your compass along with a sense of direction and a sense of humour.

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AM A ROGAINER. CHANCES ARE YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF US, BUT WE LIVE AMONG YOU AND MAY EVEN TRAIN WITH YOU. SOME OF US RUN IN ULTRAMARATHONS, WHILE OTHERS ONLY WALK LONG DISTANCES. WE ARE ALL AGES, FROM 5-YEAR-OLDS THROUGH TO MEN AND WOMEN IN THEIR 70S. WHAT UNITES US IS OUR LOVE OF THE OUTDOORS, BEING PART OF A TEAM AND THE THRILL OF THE CHASE. My sister is also a rogainer. And she came at it from a direction that could be familiar. She discovered the joy of cycling in her late 30s and soon found herself coerced into being the fourth team member to compete in the 36-hour Red Yeti Adventure Race. Adventure racing? This from the woman who won a prize at the Royal Adelaide Show for cross-stitch! The 36-hour race was hard. And it hurt her. A lot. And the team didn’t finish. But in the process, my sister learned to navigate, push through pain and dream big. Next thing I knew, she was dabbling in long, slow runs. The reasoning being that she needed to cross-train to become fitter and faster. Plus, she wanted to include weightbearing exercises to increase bone-density. Cycling just wasn’t enough. Then my sister heard about an upcoming rogaine. Always up for something new, she

formed a team and registered. She found the navigation aspect reasonably difficult, but she was competitive and had fun. She was hooked. Rogaining is an adventure strategy sport. Teamwork, endurance, strategy and map reading are the key elements. A long distance cross-country pursuit, it’s traditionally set in rural and forest environments but increasingly is popping up in metropolitan settings. Events range from the ‘fast’ 3-hour metrogaines, where cross-over runners usually claim podium positions, through to the conventional 24-hour event where strategy, navigation and stamina come more into play than does running speed. The objective is to achieve the highest score possible by finding checkpoints within a set time limit. Everyone starts at the same time and has to finish within the set timeframe, otherwise they are heavily penalised. Teams of two to five members travel on foot, navigating from a topographic map and compass. Each team plots their own route – therein the strategy lies. Maps are distributed between one and three hours before the start, depending upon the event length, and teams formulate the route they will take to gain the highest possible score. They take into account the terrain (is it undulating plains or steep hills?), the openness of the countryside (is it predominantly thick scrub, tricky mallee, open farmland or easy >>

GOGAIN FEATURE

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pine forests?), the number of tracks and roads, and how many rest breaks they anticipate taking. Then they guestimate the speed they hope to sustain and the distance they hope to travel resulting in multiple routes being calculated then fine tuned until the ‘perfect’ route is found. My sister is a classic example of those who love the challenge. After she had competed in a few, a four-hour event was scheduled for a metropolitan district close to her home. She suggested that I’d like this new sport, so I agreed to form a team with my cross-countryrunner daughter and a runner friend, and compete against her and her husband. On the afternoon of the rogaine, we registered and received our maps. My sister pointed out the circles on the map and told us that they were worth different points. The aim was to find as many ‘controls’ (orange and white flags located somewhere within those circles on the map) in the allotted four hours. We mapped our routes and at the 4pm start time, 250 competitors took off in different directions. My sister went one way, we went in another. My team’s only goal was to beat my sister and brother-in-law. Settling into a jog, we found the navigation quite easy along the roads. It was exhilarating finding each control and we grew more confident as we went. Soon, we figured out there were often pathways along creeks, at the end of cul-de-sacs, or in the vicinity of schools and we grew more

Rogaining Fast Facts Rogaining originated in Australia back in the late ‘60s and has grown into a sport boasting tens of thousands of members around the world. Each Australian state has an association and each year an Australasian 24-hour championship is held. In 2016, Australia will play host to the World Rogaining Championship and 800 competitors from around the globe will converge on Ross River Resort in the East McDonnell Ranges, Northern Territory. It’s going to be great.

Rogaining is: • • • • • • • •

A strategy adventure sport Teams of 2-5 members For all ages Navigation on a BIG scale Exploring new environs Setting your own pace Self-sufficient From 3 to 24 hours in length

adventurous in our route choices. It was so much fun exploring a district far from our own stomping grounds; discovering parks linked by creek-lines, admiring views from the hill tops, noticing different flora. Before we knew it, our time was running short and we had to head back to the Hash House – aka the start/finish line. We were fairly buggered after four hours of jogging and fast walking. Sitting down enjoying a cooked meal, we compared our total points with teams around us and realised we had a decent score. Once the results were announced we were absolutely stoked that we had come 14th out of 65 teams. And yes, we had absolutely annihilated my sister and brother-in-law, who had come in 37th. I was hooked. The next couple of years saw us compete against each other in four- and six-hour rogaines. It was such a buzz, competing against awesome, experienced navigators, or superior trail runners; young families and old dudes. The beauty of rogaining is the adventure, the exploration of new areas – both bush and suburban – and the ability to set your own pace, whether a stroll or a kilometre-eating run. In amongst the rogaines, my sister set her sights on a half-marathon. My cross-countryrunner daughter gave my sister some running tips. Relax and drop your shoulders. Let your arms swing naturally. Ball your hands in very gentle fists. Don’t fight gravity on downhill slopes. Use nice, easy flowing strides. Listen to

your body. The running didn’t come naturally, and my sister didn’t particularly enjoy it, but she kept at it. Next, she thought she would attempt a full marathon. She sought out a coach to achieve that goal and I have to say, he must either be a sadistic bastard, or he knows his stuff. Possibly he’s both. My sister is not a graceful runner. She’s not fast. But she is bloody determined. So, while she was off running, I was hiking up and down hills, going on the occasional jog or two and making derisive comments about her excessive exercise. She certainly didn’t set the world on fire with her times, but for a nonrunner, non-athlete, she did bloody well. Her comment to me after the marathon race was “Don’t EVER let me do that again.” Obviously running long distances is a bit like childbirth – time dulls the memory of the pain. So here we are, three years later and my sister is being broken by her coach yet again in readiness for running her first ultra. This week she’s just started tapering her training, but she’s coming out with me to compete in a 12-hour bush rogaine on the weekend. This time we’re a team and we’re competing against my cross-country-runner daughter and her friends for the first time. Our only goal is to beat them. We’ll wait to see if youth and extreme fitness win, or age, superior skills and a measured pace. I can guarantee that we will choose different routes – and may the best route >>

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19th-25th MAY, 2016 <<

make the top 20, we’re pretty stoked. Rogaining opens up a new world. Who of you has run (or walked) through ALL of the parklands surrounding Adelaide’s city centre, including North Adelaide, in one afternoon? PLUS visited all five downtown squares? (All while wearing silly outfits to gain an extra 50 points?) Alternatively, who of you has marvelled at the scenery on the private properties surrounding Mt Plantagenet and Mt Craig east of Hawker, been unexpectedly ‘bitten’ by electric fences while crossing private farming properties near Kuitpo Forest, or seen emus, wedge tailed eagles, lizards galore and mobs of kangaroos east of Peterborough? We rogainers have. If you are a runner who gets their fix of the ‘great outdoors’ via the TV at the end of a treadmill, then rogaining probably won’t be for you. But if you run outside, no matter the weather, no matter how buggered you are after yesterday’s run, and you also like to exercise your brain and enjoy the company of others, then give rogaining a go. After all, you just may end up a winner, in more ways than one.

win! It never ceases to amaze me how 400 competitors can set off together but within 30 minutes you’re all alone. How is it that 150 teams can all have a ‘perfect’ route, yet not have the same route as you? I’ve discovered that rogaining teams have different agendas. Some are out to win and collect every control on course – if they can. Others want to head to the hills and see as much of the picturesque scenery as they can. Yet others want to hit the flatter areas hard and fast and stay out of the hills. That’s the beauty of rogaining. You and your team create the journey. The setters provide the location and you choose your adventure. I have to admit that ultra-marathon trail runners do exceptionally well in the 24-hour style events, where they cover in excess of 100km. But it tends to be those who have meticulously planned their route, display great stamina, and have exceptional navigational skills who actually win. The rest of us just enjoy the challenge, the fresh air, the camaraderie of the team, and the stunning scenery. And if we

World Champs Check out the website for the 2016 World Rogaining Championships at worldrogainingchamps.com.au for information and pictures.

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SAM MAFFETT PUTS PAID T O T H E M Y T H T H A T Y O U CAN’T TEACH AN OLD(ISH) RUNNING DOG NEW TRICKS WHEN HE TAKES ON ONE OF THE BIGGEST ULTRAS, THE ONE EVERYONE WISHES FOR ON THEIR BIRTHDAY – UTMB.

WORDS: SAM MAFFETT IMAGES: COURTESY UTMB/FRANCK ODDOUX/MICHEL COTTIN/PASCAL TOURNAIRE 88

UTMB FEATURE

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HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A RUNNER. I USED TO RACE CROSS-COUNTRY AS A KID AND WAS EVEN CAPTAIN OF THE RUN TEAM IN MY FINAL YEAR AT SCHOOL. I REMEMBER DOING TRAINING RUNS AROUND THE PADDOCKS OF THE FARM I GREW UP ON, RUNNING HOME FROM THE SCHOOL BUS AND TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH MY OLDER (AND FASTER) BROTHERS. AS A KID I DREAMED OF RUNNING A MARATHON. I THOUGHT THE OLYMPIC MARATHON WAS THE ABSOLUTE PINNACLE AND I USED TO GET UP AT SILLY-O’CLOCK TO SEE THE ETHIOPIANS RACE THE KENYANS FOR OLYMPIC GLORY, DREAMING THAT ONE DAY I WOULD ALSO RUN A MARATHON. Fast forward to 2011 and it dawned on me I had never run that marathon. So I got serious, racing three road marathons over three years until I hit the PB I wanted. Tick. But then like with all ticks, ‘what’s next’ soon followed. It was at about this time that my company, Rapid Ascent, organised the 2013 Surf Coast Century and I was inspired by the challenge of running 100km. I’ll also admit to having a few moist eyes as I watched some runners cross the finish line with their tearful smiles of supreme satisfaction at achieving their goal. Yup, I knew I wanted to be an ‘ultra-runner’.

Then it dawned on me that I was turning 40 in 18 months’ time and I wanted to set myself a massive challenge to celebrate. Some people throw a humungous party, others take a holiday on a tropical island and dissolve into a hammock for a week. Bugger that. I wanted something to remember and decided to race the biggest ultra marathon in the world – the 170km and 10,000m vertical ascent of Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc. So for the next two years I lived, breathed and dreamt my goal. I did the qualification races, scored a spot in the field and convinced the wife we should turn it into family holiday with our two young sons. I used to hate training. I’ve always loved racing and the surge of competitive endorphins as the starting gun goes. But this time around I was Mr Commitment when it came to the preparation for my 40th ‘birthday race’. Sure, I could have trained more but considering I am also a father, husband, business owner and boss I did about as much training as I could without getting in too much trouble. Come race day I was full of life and ready to go. When I am standing at the start of a race I like to think I am the best version of me that has ever been. Fitter, wiser, stronger and faster than ever before. So standing on the line with 2,300 runners around me, all of us lifted by the cheering of many thousands of spectators, I was loving it. These moments were the best

40th birthday present I could wish for – and then BANG, we were off. How many times have you started a race saying ‘I mustn’t go out too fast… the flyers will go off the front, don’t sorry about them. Run your own race’? And that is exactly what I did. As plenty of runners streamed past me through the first 20km I told myself, ‘Argh, I’ll catch them, they’ve gone out too fast’. In fact, I found myself running along with Nurias Picas and knowing that she had finished (and won) UTMB in 25hrs last year, a time similar to my own target for this race, I blithely thought, ‘Yup this is good, I’ll stick near her.’ One of the many highlights of UTMB is the crowd, especially in the first 30km. As we descended into Checkpoint One at Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, it seemed the entire township was lining the street clapping, cheering and ringing their cow bells. There was a massive TV screen in the middle of the town square and about as much noise coming from the crowd as from the MCG on grand final day. The main question is whether you are smiling back at them, and by the 30km mark I was not. I had set ambitions targets for my 170km lap of Mont Blanc, targets I now realise were a bit unrealistic for my first miler and my first attempt at a big race in big mountains. I had set a target time of 26hrs. I arrived at this by comparing my times in earlier races

with competitors who had also done UTMB. For example, if Andrew Tucker beat me at the Buffalo Stampede by 1hr over a nine-hour race then scale that up to 170km, contrast his UTMB time and you get 26hrs. I’d then studied the race results from last year, found someone who had finished in 26hrs and adopted their checkpoint splits as what I would have to hit to reach my goal. But right from the first check I was lagging behind. Five minutes behind at my first time check, then 10 at the next, then 20 and so it continued. I felt I couldn’t go any faster and still have any energy to finish. I kept chipping away but as we climbed up Col du Bonhomme, with the sun dropping down behind us, the time gaps got inside my head. All I was thinking were negatives and all I could say to myself was how damn hard this thing was. So. So. Hard. I tried over and over to rid myself of these negative thoughts and employed all the tactics I’d learnt from a sports psychologist I’d seen whilst training – listening to music, hat on / hat off, visualisation, talking and even singing. But I just could not stop thinking about how I was trailing behind my target times. And how damn hard this thing was… But wow – I do also have some terrific memories from that long night. We were blessed with the weather as a full moon shone in a clear sky. The light was strong enough

that I could turn my head torch off and run for 10km along a U-shaped valley with a full moon lighting the way and awe-inspiring French Alps looming up all around me. It felt like we were in this translucent alpine cathedral with the shimmering silver moonlight reflected off the glaciers above us whilst towering rocky summits pierced the stars like church spires reaching to the heavens. Way back when this race was just an idea, I thought that if I am going to run 100 miles anywhere I want to run it in the most jaw-dropping mountain scenery there is, and the UTMB course certainly provides that. It was simply incredible. But then the incredible scenery is not enough by itself. There is nothing like seeing your support crew when you are feeling shit. Descending into Courmeyer at the 77km point this was just what I needed. I was now two hours behind my target time and still feeling a bit overawed by the size of the climbs and the distance remaining – we weren’t even half way yet! My support crew consisted of my wife Kate and Jim, a great old friend who had flown over from the UK for a couple of days just to be part of the action. Despite the camaraderie on the trail and the magnificent scenery all around there is nothing like a couple of familiar faces to inject energy into your stride. I changed clothes, reloaded with plenty of Perpetuem, >> electrolyte and Hammer gels and shot

FEATURE UTMB

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back out onto the trail with a bit of spring in my step. By now the sun was coming up and it revealed more of the extraordinary scenery we were running through. We were now on the southern, Italian side of Mont Blanc and enjoyed spectacular views up to iconic peaks like Mont Blanc, The Grand Jorasses and Dent du Geant. This section of course was one of the more runnable stretches as we worked our way towards the head of the valley and the highest point of the course at 2537m – the fearsome Col du Ferret. Standing at the base of this mighty col I was honestly beginning to wonder how I was going to make the finish. It was probably half way up that I felt at my lowest, not just because I was behind my target times but because of the size of the challenge that still lay ahead of me. It cut to the bone how far 100 miles really is, having just passed the 100km point, 65km and three more massive climbs were in front of me still. This course, these mountains, my competitors… they were schooling me. Here’s the strange thing though, I was wondering how I was going to finish but deep down I knew that I would finish. I just couldn’t fathom how. Over the next 50km I started to learn just how capable the human body is. One of the reasons I love racing is because it pushes you to find your limits, to find the edge of body, mind and soul to learn what you are capable of. To learn something about yourself that can’t be found by typing into Google. I distinctly remember feeling a bit light headed and dizzy, wondering, ‘What happens if I continue, will I make it to the top of the next climb or will I just collapse because my body says it’s had enough. What will happen… oh well, let’s keep going and find out’. It was through these three climbs I realised how much my body can give because it didn’t collapse. I kept pushing onward and upward. I learnt that I could keep my concentration, continue eating and drinking and forever moving forwards. It was also through the last 50km that I finally snapped out of the negativity I’d carried for so long. I remember the moment quite

clearly, Jim said to me (for probably the 100th time), ‘You’re going well, you’re passing people and on track for a top 100 place. Let’s get this thing done.’

Click. The switch flicked. I came out of that checkpoint with those words ringing in my ears, let’s get this thing done. I suddenly felt I could attack the climbs and get on top of the course. The negativity was gone and I felt the strongest and most capable of the whole race. With 125km and 20hrs in my legs, my body had come alive. I have some great memories of those last three climbs, charging the uphills and swooping down single track drenched in jaw-dropping mountain views. My quads were completely blown thanks to all the descending and night was upon us but still my energy levels remained high as we raced towards the finish line. In fact, I was that desperate to achieve my sub-30hr goal that I ran the last 8km faster than the first 8km. I crossed the finish line shortly before midnight, 29hrs and 36minutes after I started and in 88th place overall. I thought I’d be emotional but more than anything I was simply proud. Proud and happy. Proud of what we’d achieved – my support crew and I – and happy that we’d got this thing done. Those thoughts continue to enter my mind whenever I think about the race and it remains amongst my greatest achievements. I still would like to have run faster but there will always be wishes in life, some are achievable and some are not. Either way, if you wish for it, on your birthday or otherwise, you still have to have a go at cutting the cake. That is, you have to put serious effort into the wish if you’re ever going to taste the reward. Author’s note: I’d like to thank those who helped me achieve my 40th birthday wish – my wife Kate and family, support crew Jim Watson, my brother and coach Campbell Maffet, the team at Rapid Ascent, as well as my sponsors: Compress Sport, AYUP, Suunto and Hammer Nutrition. And to Trail Run Mag and its editors for assisting with entry into UTMB.

EDSWORD FEATURE

CHRIS ORD // AUSTRALIAN EDITOR

Australian Sandy Suckling learns the ‘stage’ in stage race as much describes the procession of emotions as it does the procession of days in North America’s only multi-day desert run, the Grand to Grand Ultra. WORDS: Sandy Suckling IMAGES: courtesy Grand to Grand Ultra

FEATURE GRAND TO GRAND ULTRA

GRAND TO GRAND ULTRA FEATURE

“CACTUS SPINES, SANDY! WATCH THE CACTUS SPINES!” IT WAS MY MANTRA AS I DODGED BRUTAL BUSHES, NO EASY TASK WHEN YOU’RE ALSO CONCENTRATING HARD ON FOLLOWING PINK FLAGS DOTTED THROUGHOUT A DUSKY ORANGE LANDSCAPE. MY MIND WANDERED AS I CLIMBED A STEEP HILL BEFORE THE TRAIL BROKE SHARPLY TO THE RIGHT. I WAS ENJOYING THE SOLITUDE OF ULTRA RUNNING. OUT HERE ALL I NEED WORRY ABOUT WAS GETTING INTO CAMP EACH DAY, EATING, THEN SLEEPING. OR TRYING TO. SCHEDULES, MEETINGS AND LIFE COMMITMENTS WERE LEFT BEHIND IN AUSTRALIA. AS THE MANTRA GOES: ONE STEP IN FRONT OF THE OTHER. MIND THE CACTUS. Wrapped in these thoughts, I misjudged my footing, the silence broken by screams of excruciating pain. My screams. Someone had stabbed me, surely? No. Something. I looked down to see a big cactus ball, full of long spines, penetrating my calf. The sensation was intense. I gritted teeth but nothing could stop tears rolling down my dusty face, splashing into a micro-puddle of human misery on the desert floor. What was I going to do? How was I going to get this out of my leg? I started hallucinating. I could hear voices but there was no one around. As I turned hoping the spell would be broken by some vision of reality, two competitors neared. I mentally checked off that indeed, they were real and not a figment of my pain-infused imagination. Thankfully, I was not hallucinating. My fellow runners jumped into action. Peter, 98

also Australian, soon realised he couldn’t pull the cactus out with his hands and started to look for two flat rocks. His plan was to push either side of the cactus ball to grip and yank it from my leg. Ronnie, a Canadian, looked on horrified. I was screaming as Peter pinched and pulled. The result was a loud yelp, but the desert expanse quickly swallowed my call of agony as the needles came free. I managed to hobble over the day’s finish line and straight into the medical tent. The altitude, the heat and the cactus spines were testing my limits: and this was only the first of six days of running across the famous but unforgiving desert landscapes of Arizona. I had signed up to the Grand to Grand – a self-supported 273km multiday adventure running race – for the obvious challenge. I was also attracted as it offered the opportunity to run through parts of the Grand Canyon wilderness, a growing target for trail and adventure runners. Of course, the Grand Canyon is a landscape that lures visitors of all types, but its trail networks and the lure of the now-popular rim to rim runs (which have cause some consternation amongst other trail users) have raised its visibility on the community running radar. The Grand to Grand, being the only staged race of its kind in the United States, offered not just a chance to run highlight sections of the Grand Canyon, but also to explore its intricacies over a period of time; the six stages giving ample opportunity for the desert to take hold and enter your bloodstream, be that through the visceral daily experience, or, if you’re unlucky or lack concentration, via >>

FEATURE GRAND TO GRAND ULTRA

GRAND TO GRAND ULTRA FEATURE

sure I had one other than just getting through each day and eking out every bit of strength I could muster at each moment until the end. Every day brings new challenges so at the end of a stage I would think about how the day went and then reassess if I needed to change something for the following stage. I took care of the physical, dealt with any blisters or cuts, got some food in and – most importantly – got some rest. Note that is rest not sleep, as my mattress was thin and I was sharing a tent with eight other competitors. It’s amazing, though, how even without much sleep the body can keep going day in, day out. And living and running like this you build bonds with many other competitors as well as the volunteers, medics and event staff. They are all there to wipe a tear away or share in the excitement of you finishing each stage. Another critical strategy is packing. This was a self-supported race, meaning you carry everything you need on your back through the course of the event. The only things you are given are water and a spot in a tent each night. Oh yes, and as if running the equivalent total of six and a half marathons across thick sand, ankle busting dry rocky creek beds, scrabbling up and down mountains, through slot canyons, descending gravelly vertical drops on my butt, bush bashing, cutting up my legs, dodging thunderstorms, crossing rivers and climbing on all fours up massive sand dunes, then stumbling down the other side to just do it all over again each and every day was not enough, why not make it a little tougher and carry a fully loaded pack? This is not simply trail running, nor just an ultra. It’s pure adventure running, being that you really are never sure of the outcome each day. You soon discover that your pack is far too heavy. You swear, then turf out every little luxury. Then the real obsessing over each and every gram begins. Do I go hungry and have just the minimum calories physically required or do I want comfort food which helps get through the mentally tough patches? You start trading off one thing for another in the hope of having a lighter pack. The obsession grows as it seems others have packs lighter than yours. How did they get their pack so light? These thoughts go round in circles over and over again… and again… and again… until the race starts and you get pack rash and aching shoulders and back. Why do we do this again? The night before Stage Three we were told the top 19 runners where going to leave two hours

cactus spines skewering you. So at the end of Day One my primary concern was that the remaining spines still ensconced in my leg were taken out. The next day’s 43.3km stage would not be possible otherwise. The line-up at the Grand to Grand is a brutal one by any multiday measure. Each of the first five stages are technically ‘ultra’ distances – greater than a marathon. If you make it through them all, the final sixth stage is a seemingly innocuous-on-paper 12 kilometres straight up a mountain goat track. The reward being the most stunning view of the famous Golden Staircase, an immense sequence of sedimentary rock layers that stretch south from Bryce Canyon National Park through Zion National Park and into the Grand Canyon proper. I was a long way from relishing that view. First, I had to stop thoughts questioning my ability to finish this race. Instead, I needed to focus on why I do these races, to challenge not just the physical but also the boundaries of my mind. And I had to bring the focus back from the days ahead, to concentrate on one day at a time, or better one hour, or even one minute at a time. The tough-talk (and full cactus spine extraction) worked. I did bounce back the next day. I stuck to my hydration and food plan and pushed the body hard. Other than grabbing water at checkpoints I didn’t stop lest thoughts of stopping completely creep in. Indeed, the more I hurt the more I found I wanted to push, but this is the strange thing about stage races – there comes a point where you have to tell yourself to back off or you are not going to recover enough to push again the next day and tomorrow’s stage – the third and longest – was a whopping 84km. Stage races are not about a day but days of running and pushing the boundaries only far enough to where you can still back up the next day. The other thing is the need to control – or recognise and manage – your emotions which magnify intensely at times. My first day had been slower than expected and I was angry about it. I needed a good day today to banish the ‘woe is me’ thoughts. I gained forty minutes on the female leader and was only 10 minutes adrift. The challenge was put before me, not to win but just to stay somewhere close to the female race favourite, a French lady who had won Marathon de Sables multiple times. At some point, someone asked me what my overall race strategy was. Being honest, I wasn’t

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I didn’t make sense. I remember saying that all I wanted for Christmas was some long legs and raved about how we all must be crazy and when I grow up I want to be able to run down hills as fast as them. At other times I was silent, lost in my own headspace, thinking of nothing. Finally we made it to the last few kilometres of the stage, but not before the course had us bush bashing through dense scrub searching in the dark for the pink flags that would lead us into camp. It was an incredible feeling when we could finally see camp, like a beacon lighting the distance, and it gave a burst of energy so that we could make the final push, all running in together. I found my tent and lay there, resting and thinking about the day, eventually drifting off into much-needed sleep. As the days went on there were many DNF’s. You feel for competitors that simply cannot go any further. Their pain becomes yours as you know the sacrifice it takes just get to the starting line. After all, every single competitor represented a range of Regular Joe’s – professors, students, surgeons or the local garbage collector – all trying to achieve something extraordinary. All would have foregone many things – nights out with friends, nights in with partners, time with kids – just to test themselves in a harsh desert.

later than everyone else and although it was nice to know that I was in the top 19 runners (along with only one other female), mentally it threw me. All I could think was that means missing two hours of the coolest part of the day and also two hours more in the dark at the end of the stage. Heat, light – every little element matters to your estimations of daily success on a magnificent scale. The brief was for lots of running through loose, deep sand and over some massive dunes. Not only would it be long and tough but it would also be slow going. On top of that, the forecast was for rain and thunderstorms. As promised they hit with a fury in the dark of night to give a spectacular light show but a scary one to be exposed to as they passed overhead. After the storms we entered the Coral Pink Sand Dunes following little lights in the distance. The only way to tackle these beasts was on all fours, crawling forward two ‘steps’ and then sliding back one. At one point all I could do was laugh but somehow I managed to edge my way over and run down the other side. Again and again. I was lucky to have my two saviour runners with me, Ronnie and Peter, and it was great to have company. Instead of talking to myself someone would answer – even when 102

The final day came, Stage Six, and I was happy that I had made it this far. I hadn’t dared to think about the finish line for so many days, but there I was so close, lined up at the final stage starting line. My pack finally felt light – I had eaten all my food. A shower, a real bed and good food awaited. I could feel the excitement that buzzed amongst us all. Those demons in my head that I fought along the way, I had beaten. I had learned much about myself and more about others. In the desert, we shared stories, felt the pain of others, laughed, and often cried. As beaten up as my body was, I was on a high. The desert is a magical place that you want to capture and bottle up. As I approached the finish line I couldn’t stop smiling. Pain, what pain? The crowd cheered and screamed, I held back the tears but for the first time in six days, they were tears of bliss and so I was happy to spill them on the floor of the desert that had squeezed them from me. Sandy Suckling won the female category in the 2015 Grand to Grand and came 12th overall in a collated time of 42:15:16.

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CHRIS ORD // AUSTRALIAN EDITOR

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Jacqueline Windh takes on an inaugural multi-day ultra through the Canadian Rockies, one of the few races in the world where packing pepper spray is a mandatory.

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Day Two was a classic mountain ultramarathon – 55km with a cumulative gain/loss of 2700m. Nearly all of the elevation change was around one huge mountain climb at the 32km mark before dropping rapidly for 1000m descent over the 4km. This day would require climbing legs that still worked, and robust knees for the big descent. Day Three was an easy 20km trail run on rolling single track – ‘easy’ that is for anyone who had managed themselves well on the two days prior. But for anyone who had troubles with knees, or blown quads by going out to hard, or feet that had swollen over night...Day Three could mean big trouble. In addition to those registered to race the full three days, each stage was open to single-stage racers. In other words, we multiday runners had to share the course with competitors who weren’t pacing themselves for the coming days, and arriving on fresh legs; a perilous mix for those prone to holding the heels of runners just ahead of them. Every new race – especially those under the helm of first time Race Directors – brings uncertainty. Can the organisers deliver what they promised? Will the trails be properly marked? Will aid stations be where they are supposed to be? Are there appropriate safety procedures and qualified medical personnel in place? In particular, for our long second day, with much of it spent on ridgelines in excess of 2000m elevation in the unpredictably changeable weather conditions of Canadian autumn, racers wanted to know they wouldn’t encounter anything too dangerous. We were a crew of 67 runners lined up at the start on Day One. Only 51 intended to race all three days. Most, including me, were relatively local, but there were a few internationals, including one of the favourites, rising star Jorge Maravilla, from California. There was one representative from Europe, Frenchman Vincent Pagot, now living in the ski resort town of Whistler, BC, as well as several other Americans, including one from Alaska. The day was cool and overcast, threatening rain. We jumped nervously about the line and I was surprised by how many runners were wearing packs or carrying water for a race that

THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME I’D ATTENDED A PRE-RACE BRIEFING WHERE THE MAIN FOCUS WAS ON HOW TO FEND OFF AN ADVANCING GRIZZLY BEAR. “Your bear spray must be within reach, strapped on. You have only seconds to use it. It’s no use stashed in your pack.” The presenter was an earnest young woman. “If the bear is advancing, fire a quick burst to create a wall of capsaicin 18 feet in front of you,” she continued. “If the bear proceeds through that, try another quick burst.” It did not sound promising, but she went on to elaborate on the statistics. Bear spray is nearly 100% effective in preventing physical contact between humans and bears. “In fact, the few injuries incurred have happened as people back away from the bear. They trip over a log or something.” This was the briefing for the inaugural edition of the Golden Ultra: a three-day staged race in the mountains surrounding the small resort town of Golden, in British Columbia, Canada. A town of around 4000, it is nestled in a forested valley alongside the pale blue, glacialfed Kicking Horse River and in the shadow of giant craggy peaks. To get here, I flew into the prairie city of Calgary, Alberta, where I picked up a rental car for a spectacular two-and-a-half hour drive through the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Multi-day staged racing is by far my favourite type of ultra marathon event. As a trail runner I am, at best, mediocre. That said, I’m more experienced than many and love the challenges of race management that multiday racing demands. What attracted me to this race in particular was its unusual format. Each day of the Golden Ultra would present a completely different profile, each favouring a different type of runner. Day One was a vertical kilometre, the lung-busting, up-only run that is gaining in popularity all over the world. We would climb steeply for 1080m over 4.7km to top out at an elevation of 2339m. Not a long day, but gruelling nevetheless. My aim was to get through and still have juice in the legs for the following day.

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should not take much more than an hour. I chose to go light, counting on the body heat generated by the average 23% grade to keep me warm, and elected to use one pole. We had only 30m of flat before the climbing started. The route curved left, and already the field was spreading out ahead, led by Jorge distinct in his bright turquoise jacket. I was soon pleased with my gear choices. It got increasingly chilly as we ascended, with the wind blowing up and sporadic patches of drizzle transforming into light snow flurries. We rose along the steep slopes below the skirun gondola and my temperature was fine as long as I kept climbing hard. My pole served me well, helping save my quads and assisting with balance over the rugged, hummocky grass-and-mud slope. I had trained well for climbing and gradually passed people as I rose. Around two thirds of the way up, we veered right of the gondola to ascend a scrubby, forested ridge via huge steps constructed of irregular slabs of the pale pink quartzite this whole mountain is made of. Tiny snowflakes swirled about my head. Abruptly I was alone, amazing on such a short route. I climbed in silence then crested one more rocky outcrop to suddenly come upon flags under which an announcer and a small group of valiant onlookers huddled cheering in the wind. In just a thin nylon shirt I had dressed perfectly for the race but had no reserve to stand around. I hopped on to the next gondola for the trip down, a chance to survey from above the route I had just taken. I was pleased with my time of 1:15:35 and even more pleased that my legs felt great. Jorge, however, did not manage to maintain his early lead, finishing third of the multi-day racers. It was his first-ever vertical kilometre. “Everyone ahead of me had poles,” he told me later. Day Two would present completely different challenges. I was pleased to wake up feeling amazing: legs not tired at all and I had gotten a great nine-hour sleep. This time our start line was in the village down in the valley, far below our ski resort accommodation. The original forecast had been for a day of rain, but that had been revised to a prediction of only 3mm. We all know, though,

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that conditions can change quickly in the mountains. I loaded my pack with my required gear – all of which I would have carried up here anyway: nylon shell, hat, and mittens, as well as my snacks. Three of yesterday’s multi-day racers had chosen to DNS so we were down to just 48 attempting the full three days. We headed out at first light from Golden’s Spirit Square on the pavement alongside the Kicking Horse River, before verring left onto trail and the climbing began. After an hour or so, the path led out of the forest. To my shock, I found that we were travelling along the rim of an immense canyon, a jagged and eroding edge above a sheer 500m drop to the rushing river below. If you stumble... don’t lean left! I climbed for some time with a runner named Jen. She was from the event’s hometown of Golden and it was nice to have someone local to chat with. The terrain got rougher and rockier and after one hour Jen and I were in the clouds. All you readers have been there, you know the routine when climbing a new mountain – this one has got to be the real summit. But it isn’t. I think it was the fourth summit that actually was the ‘real’ summit, but it was still not the 33km mark – Aid Station 2 – that we were hanging out for. Jen scooted ahead of me on the downhill, along a very narrow and rocky ridgeline with rugged quartzite stairs that made the stone steps from yesterday seem like fine masonry. Eventually I came to the station, which turned out to be yesterday’s finish line. I was very cold when I arrived. Fine as long as I kept moving, I thought. But, like yesterday, I had no reserve to stand around and eat. Fortunately, there was a toasty little room. The safety director was inside, assessing every racer. “I’m fine,” I had to convince her. “I just need to be in here to stop and eat.” Placated, the medic busied herself checking the pulse of another racer who was hypothermic and deciding whether to carry on. Now I had only downhill ahead – but a massive 22km of it. Heading out, the icy wind piercing my nylon shell shocked hard. Had I really been running in this for so many hours? Stone steps and rocks, then a switchback path >>

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not that great a runner. However I am adept at the race management, which plays such a crucial role in multi-day racing. I love the one-week races in particular because by the fourth or fifth day, I start moving up in the field. But even in this ‘shorter’ multi-day, as the third and final day dawned, I was feeling pretty good. This was the ‘rolling trail run’ – 20 or so kilometres, no big mountains, along hilly single track. Of the multi-day racers, a total of seven had either DNF’d or chosen not to start today. So we were down to 44, a number swollen by another 34 single-day racers, amongst whom, impressively, was a 9-year-old! Beginning again in downtown Golden, we headed out in the opposite direction from previous day, over a covered bridge to cross the Kicking Horse River (the longest in Canada, apparently), then along a short section of groomed track alongside the river before we hit the trails proper. I had feared I would be too tired to run much of this third day, but feeling surprisingly good, I passed many who had finished an hour or more ahead the day before. Spent after giving so much in the previous stages, they walked the gentle uphills that I was running.

below the gondola, then curving downhill mountain bike tracks, back down into the trees. It wasn’t long until the effort combined with the lower elevation helped to help warm me as I made my way along muddy tracks weaving through forest. Abruptly I emerged at the bridge crossing the Kicking Horse River, marking 3km to the finish. There’s nothing like that feeling when you cross the finish line after a tough race and the tears well up just a little bit. Lots of 50km races have this amount of elevation gain and loss, but few of them as a single mountain – 2700m up and then 2700m down. Spectacular. It was the multi-day racers who killed it that day. In all four categories (male and female, regular and masters), they took the top placings, finishing ahead of the supposedly fresher-leg single-day runners. Jorge regained what he had lost on Day One, tearing the course to shreds. “I’ve never done a race with so much vert,” he told me. The women’s winner, Canadian Ailsa MacDonald, put out an equally impressive performance to take second overall. Unlike the podium placers for each day, I am

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The route was scenic but not overly technical. Hard-packed dirt trails meandering through forests brilliant with the autumn colours that give Golden its name. When we hit the downhills, the 9-year-old rocketed past me. Oh, to have those knees. If I had them – I thought while crossing the line with postcard memories of course highlights rolling through my mind – then I’d surely return to the Golden Ultra to tackle its all-sort trail mix, more than just a few times. Jorge Maravilla won the final stage, cementing his overall win in near-on eight and a half hours cumulative. Just as astounding was the performance by Ailsa MacDonald – a veteran marathoner, but newcomer to trail running. She finished with an overall 9:10, the first female by over an hour but also second place overall. Next race: 23-25 September 2016 www.goldenultra.com

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TRAIL SHOES // SAUCONY NOMAD TR

Image: Chris Ord

take outs SAUCONY NOMAD TR

Great for: Grip, hard-packed dirt and gravel trails, comfort, trail response, those wanting more toe room, long runs. Not-so-great for: Hardcore mountains and seriously technical trails. Test Conditions: Groomed trails (MTB), fire roads, semi-technical singletrack.

Tester: Chris Ord, Trail Run Mag editor.

Tester Mechanics: Mid foot striker, tends to more technical style running.

Retailers: The Running Company Clifton and Geelong www.therunningcompany.com.au

VITALS

$199 AU Information online at: www.saucony.com.au

TRAIL NOMAD

Saucony Nomad TR

Other, more important and notably functional aspects noticed before getting them on trail: the sole construction is like nothing else out there and the toe box shape is a new direction for Saucony, especially for those used to slimmer Kinvara architecture. First, to the grip. Where others look to get traction from spiking things up with bigger (or more) lugs, Saucony has looked to an elongated hexagon made of so-called (nonsensical capitalised marketing claptrap nomenclature alert!) PWRTRAC outsole – a tacky rubber compound that’s “engineered to adapt to various terrain types while providing excellent traction and durability.” Sure, the rubber is a softer, stickier yet seemingly durable compound, but I think

WITH A MODEL STAMP CARRYING THAT KIND OF MEANING, I JUST HAD TO TRY OUT SAUCONY’S NEW NOMAD TRS BY KICKING THEM ALONG A FEW OF MY ‘TRADITIONAL ROUTES AND CIRCUITS’. One thing made me wary at first – the fact that the colourway looks like I’ve had a night on the turps and thrown up all over them didn’t tickle my fancy, but then fashion sense is not my strong point – maybe that’s what all the trail hipsters are wearing these days? Of course, as one trailite buddy pointed out, they actually just look pre-muddied, as though they’d already sloshed through a paddock of mud before being put into the sales box. Instant cred, perhaps? 114

Nomad: a member of a people or tribe that has no permanent abode but moves about from place to place, usually seasonally and often following a traditional route or circuit...

what gives these such awesome grip is the design of the hexagons and the interlocking between four separate plates of grip. This allows the hexagons to open up as the curved foot lands and then close up as the foot flattens out, effectively making the grip ‘pinch’ the ground as it moves through the impact motion. For smoother surfaces – groomed trail, packed dirt, slippery rocks - it works in the same way that road bike tyres have more grip in bitumen than mountain bike tyres: there’s more contact area between rubber and ground. In mud there’s less clogging if any as no ‘cleats’ for mud to get stuck between. But whereas a road bike is useless in the mountain biking off road territory, take the Nomads off road

and their grip remains strong on most trails. Sticky wet, claggy clay is the only kryptonite, but then that is a hard ask for any shoe and who wants to run in it? In terms of ride, the Nomand offers a highly agreeable balance between cushioning and response. It runs firm enough so as not to feel unstable on semi-technical terrain, but also runs forgivingly on flatter, smoother trails. In many ways this is a door-to-trail shoe, given the mix of comfort and flatter grip, yet it can easily push deeper into wilderness than most other door-to-trail offerings, making it more versatile than most trail shoes. No rockplate means where it starts to struggle is in the steeper, more technical stuff where sharp rocks are a puncture and bruise

problem. Even so, those with strong technique will be able to take these to the very edge of roughness. The shoe does have a ‘heavier’ feel to it – not by the grams as much as in how it feels on the foot, in the same way a Brooks Cascadia feels like it has a little beef. For those who like a feeling of some structure especially around the rear if the shoe, this may be a good thing. Then there’s the new up-front expansion, in terms of the toe box widening out (unlike Saucony’s traditionally more narrow toe box, especially the Kinvara). The Nomad sports what they refer to as an oblique, toe-shaped last. It’s a wider fit in the tradition of the Altra brand, although not quite as big. Where the Saucony trumps the Altra is that from

the midfoot to the rear it reverts to a more average corridor width coming back into a snug heel. Just because you have a flatter, wider slab of meat up front doesn’t mean you have fat ankles. To me this fits with a broader range of foot shapes, gives a much firmer overall fit, and also allows for the swell of the forefoot on longer and ultra runs. The drop is a lower end 4mm but the stack height 22mm at the heel and 18mm at the front, is where the cushioning is found. So a good shoe for those trying to transition to a forefoot strike but liable to get lazy and drop technique as tiredness sets in. Saucony’s Nomad TR – despite a label hinting at homeless wandering – have found a place in my home. Welcome to the tribe… 115

REVIEW

TRAIL SHOES // MIZUNO WAVE HAYATE 2

Image: chris ord

take outs MIZUNO WAVE HAYATE 2

Great for: grip, flowy, technical trails, soft packed, shorter runs, racing, cross country Not-so-great for: steep mountains, hard-packed, long runs

Test Conditions: groomed trails (MTB), fire roads, semi-technical singletrack

Tester: Chris Ord, Trail Run Mag editor

Tester Mechanics: mid-foot striker, tends to more technical style running.

VITALS

$199 /AUD Further information at: http://mizuno.com.au

RIDING THE WAVE Fast forward a few years and I bump into newly-employed Mizuno staffer, Ash, whom I know from the trails. I know she runs trail. She loves trail. I know because I’ve shared some great singletrack with her. So we catch up and chat. She flings the shoes to test. Maybe, if they’re now hiring trail peeps, they actually – at least peripherally – care about trail? And everyone deserves a second chance, even big, brash commercial brands. Of course, a shoe’s performance on trail and its design heritage has zero to do with whether or not the local mob selling invests in a niche sport or not. Nike invests nothing in trail in Australia. Zero. Squat. But its

I WAS READY TO DISLIKE THE HAYATE. WHY? NOTHING TANGIBLE, ADMITTEDLY, ASIDE FROM YEARS AGO, I HAD AVERAGE EXPERIENCES WITH AN EARLIER WAVE (TOO SNUG A FIT ELICITING HOT SPOTS), AND RIGHTLY OR WRONGLY, I NEVER ASSOCIATE MIZUNO WITH GRASSROOTS TRAIL RUNNING – IN TERMS OF PRODUCT OR COMMUNITY SUPPORT (TWO BAYS BEING THE ONLY REAL INVOLVEMENT WITH TRAIL RUNNING I’VE SEEN FROM THEM IN AUSTRALIA). ERGO, I THOUGHT THEY AS A COMPANY DIDN’T CARE ABOUT TRAIL, SO WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT THEM? 116

Mizuno Wave Hayate 2

trail shoes work for many. So let’s get these Hayate’s (meaning ‘fresh breeze’ in Japanese) on the dirt. They plug the Wave Hayate 2 as the “thriller of off-road. Built for agility on difficult terrain, and speed on everything else, it is the ideal shoe for the off road race day and cross-country seasons.” Its racer positioning on the trail totem pole is immediately obvious – put them on and the lightness, suppleness and comfort makes you want to trot off at pace immediately. The upper presents as a fairly traditionally running shoe: mesh, straightforward lacing, a little too-minimal toe coverage for

my clumsy liking. But on foot it is, as mentioned, comfortable as heck. You smile when you lace up. Turn the shoe over and some of Mizuno’s more unique design features present: luggy X-grip traction up front bridged by an X-shaped separation under the arch which allows the fore and aft to move independently according to the terrain (more on the pros and cons of that in a minute). The lugs are spaced widely, allowing enough channel to clear mud easily. Up back the grip eases off some. On trail I was a big fan of the performance in latching on to all styles of terrain. Apparently the compound used is a carbon rubber for increased durability – I haven’t run far enough in them to date to comment. In the midsole, the Hayate sticks with Mizuno’s signature ‘Wave’ technology. The genesis for the Wave was apparently inspired by the way nature deals with impact forces. From Mizuno’s website: “From sound waves to tidal waves, waveforms spread and dissipate energy incredibly quickly. Inspired by nature’s simple efficiency, we created the world’s first … mechanical midsole.”

suited to highly-technical terrain that is not in the Big Mountain category – think 28km Two Bays rather than 100 mile Alpine Challenge. The fit on the Hayate 2 is snug – something common to Mizuno trail models – the forward box on the smaller, pointier side; so these are not for runners with big, wide toe splays and those wanting them for the long run need get a half to full size bigger than than their usual size. Overall the Hayate 2s are an awesome racing flat equivalent for trail running – light, fast, grippy with great feedback and comfort, but their benefits fall away the longer the run, and on firmer, steeper terrain. As a runner who mostly runs medium-range technical stuff (20-50km) they are a great choice, especially for event days and when headed to my favourite, fun, fast, flowy trails.

The idea is that as the shoe impacts the ground, the Wave inside the midsole actually reduces and redirects impact forces away from your foot, much like your car’s suspension does, offering high-end cushioning without bounce and keeping your foot centered throughout the stride. Most of that technology works through the rear and into the mid foot. Up front, for forefoot strikers, the ride is fairly firm – too firm for long runs on firm surfaces unless your conditioning and technique is up to scratch. But on flowy, technical trails, especially those with some give (soft bush ground or rainforest carpets, for instance), these are a stellar choice. The feedback is first-class, making your run nimble and full of agility. Some of that response is down to the X-groove under the arch. Designed to give independent movement between fore and aft, it certainly gives your foot the flexibility to do its natural thing. Sometimes this can backfire a little if you are seeking a bit more platform support from your shoe – especially in steep technical terrain where a little underfoot rigidity can benefit. Thus your foot sometimes has to work harder, making the shoe more 117

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TRAIL SHOES // INOV-8 TERRA CLAW 250

Image: Tegyn Angel

take outs INOV-8 TERRA CLAW 250

Great for: all variety of trails; rough, slippery, loose, muddy, dry. Ultras and longer runs. Not-so-great for: Super technical, break-neck racing. Roads.

Test Conditions: Technical and non-technical single track, urban “City” trails

Tester: Tegyn Angel, admitted Inov-8 fanboy, grip junky and Associate Editor

Tester Mechanics: mid foot striker, downhill banshee.

VITALS

$199 /AU Further information at: www.barefootinc.com.au www.inov8australia.com.au

CLAW TO THE TOP WHILE THE TERRA CLAW 250 CAN BE FOUND IN THE MOUNTAIN RUNNING SECTION OF INOV-8’S WEBSITE, DON’T LET THAT DISTRACT YOU FROM THE FACT THAT THIS IS A TRUE ALLROUNDER. BUILT FROM THE GROUND UP TO HANDLE HIGH MILEAGE AND HARDER TRAILS YOU CAN BE SURE THEY’LL HANG ON TIGHT ONCE YOU HIT THE SLOP.

courtesy of the welded X-Lock overlay, modern colour-ways and updated materials, the 250 is definitely dressed to impress. According to the marketing spiel, the Terra Claw 250 has been designed to perform on the “widest range of trails imaginable”. If you turn it over and take a look at the moderately aggressive outsole (and you’re a massive Inov8 nerd) you might be forgiven for thinking they’d borrowed the sole from the Mudclaw range. The latter, designed to slosh in and out of sticky slop without clogging up the cleats, is an industry classic that offers unparalleled traction in muddy conditions but which truly sucks on the hard stuff. In the Terra

For those used to the look of earlier Inov-8 models (like the eternally awesome grey/yellow X-Talon 212), this thing looks legitimately space-age. With a big fat ‘X’ across the toe box 118

Inov-8 Terra Claw 250

Claw Inov-8 have taken what they knew to work, halved the height of the cleats and then played around with the rubber compounds. One part soft and sticky, one part hard and durable, the new hybrid sole strikes a great balance between durability, ground-feel, terrain appropriateness and grip. Sandwiched between the outsole and the newly formulated EVA midsole (that supposedly sucks less energy out of your stride) is a Dynamic Fascia Band (DFB), previously seen in Inov-8’s Tri-X-Treme range. The idea here is to embed, under tension, “fingers” of a stretch-resistant plastic that tighten during dorsiflexion (i.e. just before we

toe-off) and in doing so mimic and support the Windlass Mechanism. There’re tonnes of articles on the Windlass Mechanism and all the ways it contributes to proper functioning feet, but the one most easily understood is the way in which it helps to absorb/release elastic strain energy with every step. While I couldn’t find any research to support their claims, the logic is certainly sound. At 8mm the heel-to-toe drop of the Terra Claw is at the mid-to high-end end of what Inov-8 offers. With 16mm under your heel and another 6mm of footbed on top of 5mm cleats, the ride is pretty chunky if you’re used to a thinner shoe but in testing the shoe still felt very stable and responsive. The relatively soft and comfortable ride is further supported by the generous “Standard Fit” last that’s becoming more common in Inov-8 shoes. While I love the sensitivity of the traditional “Precision Fit” common on earlier models, this wider fit is definitely the ticket for those of us

with hobbit feet or who are prone to swelling after long hours on the hoof; you might just have to play around with your sizing and/or sock thickness if you’re used to a tighter fit. Speaking of toe boxes, Inov-8 has clearly listened to my complaints (okay, so perhaps it wasn’t just me… ) about the durability of their shoes at the weak point. While I haven’t put enough kays into them to know for sure (my old 212s have almost 1000kms and have only just started to fail; I consider them tested!), the build quality and reinforcement around the arch and toe box all seem top notch. A combination of rubber and extended, heavy duty synthetic reinforcement should prevent premature wear in the toe crease, though the junction of materials always exaggerates stress. Beyond the toes, the upper is made of a highly breathable yet comfortably padded mesh. The aforementioned X-Lock welded over the top of this mesh to add durability and stability without undue weight or bulk. Best of all,

the lace bite I’ve felt on a lot of other Inov-8 models (where the laces bite into the top of your foot) was beautifully absent! Red/Black/Silver! Yeah, there are a few other colours getting around (like Black/Blue, Yellow and Black/Blue/Red) but really, how can you beat Red/Black/Silver? This thing is made for speed and, as was alluded to in my editorial, this particular colourway has been released to us Aussies and Kiwis months ahead of the European release so we can feel loved and keep our dollars on local shores. Run a lot of different trails? Loose, wet, muddy, dry, dusty and hard pack? The Terra Claw 250 has been designed as a Jack of All Trades and surprisingly manages all of them pretty well. If you’re in it for the long run these would be a great addition to your ultra and training shoe quiver, though if you want something more minimal, definitely check out the lighter, faster little brother, the Terra Claw 220. 119

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TRAILPORN

YAN LONGFEI TESTING THE TRAILS IN THE SKY FOR THE NEW YADING SKYRACE, SLATED FOR 30 APRIL 2016. WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/CHINAMOUNTAINTRAILS/ LLOYD BELCHER VISUALS WWW.LLOYDBELCHERVISUALS.COM

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PRESENTED BY

LIZZY HAWKER RUNS HER NEW COURSE, THE ULTRA TOUR MONTE ROSA, A DOUBLE-UP 116KM STAGE RACE AND ULTRA MARATHON IN ONE. NEXT EVENT 1-3 SEPTEMBER 2016. WWW.ULTRATOURMONTEROSA.COM LLOYD BELCHER WWW.LLOYDBELCHERVISUALS.COM 122

ON THE CLIMB IN THE PRESENCE OF GLACIER AT THE NEW ULTRA FIORD, A MULTI-DISTANCE TRAIL RACE ALONG THE PATAGONIAN COAST. NEXT RACE 14-16 APRIL 2016. WWW.ULTRAFIORD.COM COURTESY ULTRA FIORD

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PRESENTED BY BLUE BIRD RUNNING AS A COMPETITOR IN THE MANASLU TRAIL RACE POWERS DOWN FROM A 4800-METRE CHECKPOINT. RICHARD BULL / NEPAL TRAIL RUNNING WWW.MANASLUTRAILRACE.ORG

GOLDEN HUE OF THE EARLY MORNING START UNDER THE CLIFFS OF ANGLESEA, VICTORIA, FOR THE SURF COAST CENTURY ULTRA. SUPERSPORT IMAGES / RAPID ASCENT WWW.SURFCOASTCENTURY.COM.AU

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PRESENTED BY

TRM’S EDITOR SCOUTS THE OLD DAM WALL TURN AROUND POINT OF THE TASSIE TRAIL FEST MARATHON, IN THE FORESTS OF DERBY, TASMANIA. THE INAUGURAL EVENT WILL BE HELD 12-14 MARCH 2016. SIMON MADDEN / ADVENTURE TYPES WWW.TASSIETRAILFEST.COM.AU

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PRESENTED BY THE HIMALAYAN RANGE LOOMS LARGE OVER A TRAIL RUNNER ON A 180KM MULTIDAY TRAIL RUN TOUR AROUND THE JOMOLHARI-LAYA-GASA ROUTE OF BHUTAN. CHRIS ORD / TOUR DE TRAILS WWW.TOURDETRAILS.COM

EVENTUAL WINNER OF THE GROWING-IN-STATURE BERGHAUS DRAGON’S BACK RACE IN WALES, JASMIN PARIS, GOING STRONG ON DAY THREE. IAN CORLESS / TALK ULTRA WWW.DRAGONSBACKRACE.COM 128

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TRAIL PORN

PRESENTED BY

NEPALI TRAIL RUNNING STAR, MIRA RAI, ON THE LOWER FORESTED REACHES OF THE NEW YADING SKYRACE, SLATED FOR 30 APRIL 2016. WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/CHINAMOUNTAINTRAILS/ LLOYD BELCHER VISUALS WWW.LLOYDBELCHERVISUALS.COM 130 130

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TRAIL PORN

PRESENTED BY

STONE TSANG CROSSING A TRAIL BRIDGE ON THE YADING SKYRACE COURSE, SLATED FOR 30 APRIL 2016. WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/CHINAMOUNTAINTRAILS/ LLOYD BELCHER VISUALS WWW.LLOYDBELCHERVISUALS.COM

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A LONG CLIMB NEAR SUMMIT OF THE INAUGURAL ULTRA TOUR MT SIGUNIANG (LITERALLY FOUR GIRLS MOUNTAIN IN CHINESE) IN SICHUAN PROVINCE, CHINA. XIAOJIN YUAN WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ULTRASIGUNIANG/

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TRAILGUIDE IMAGES: Paul Gruber

BLUE TONGUE TRAIL

1 hour 20 min

Your Guide: Paul Gruber Warrandyte, once a bustling mining town and a place known to the Indigenous as being where a great eagle “the all powerful, ever watchful creator of the world” Bunjil “once gazed down… saw wrong doing (and) with a mighty crash of thunder, he hurled down a star to destroy them”. Where the star struck created a gorge in which much of the town today is located. Warrandyte is speculated to mean “that which is thrown”. There are many options of running the area’s trails, so to mix it up and explore, but one of the simplest introductions is a loop starting and finishing in Yarra Street.

RUN IT:

1. From Yarra Street, head upstream on the

Yarra River walking trail towards the bridge. This trail continues for approximately 1km to The Stone House (also a lovely place to grab a bite to eat) on the corner of Tills Drive and Warrandyte Ringwood Road.

2. Turn left down Tills Drive, which also

happens to be a popular street to live on if you are a horse lover. The Jumping Creek Trail starts half way down Tills Drive where there is a modest car park on the right hand side of the road. A short way down the track, the trail splits. Keep left to head down to Blacks Flat in an open woodland area located just on the river edge. Keep an eye out for old mine relics including historical diggings and an old boiler from the Caledonia Gold Mine, Warrandyte’s largest mine which operated from 1904-1909.

3. At Blacks Flat the trail turns from a fire trail to a meandering riverside track weaving 134

Warrandyte, Victoria, Australia

Post run goodness:

its way through the wide variety of wattle and gum trees. As the trail climbs slightly up from the river’s edge, the angular rocks typical of the Anderson Creek Geological Formation begin to jut out from the ground, instantly creating a trail that demands concentration on each foot placement. As a result, it could be easy to miss the spectacular views of the river as you approach Jumping Creek, so be sure to stop and take a look.

Head on down to the Warrandyte Bakery for a post-run coffee and a flaky sausage roll (193 Yarra Street). The quaint woodfired Warrandyte Bakery is a Melbourne institution and along with pies and pasties, it’s hard to go past some sweet baked goods. If you’re more after the parma and pot experience, the Grand Hotel is only a stone’s throw away too.

4. After 4km you will reach Jumping Creek car park, at which point continue on along more single trail towards Blue Tongue Bend. If you run this section early morning or at dusk you’ll have a good chance to come across a wobat of the “hairy nosed” variety.

TRAIL TIPS NAME: Warrandyte Blue Tongue bend loop NEARBY TOWN/CITY: Warrandyte (29km or

5. When you reach Blue Tongue Bend, head

35 min from Melbourne CBD)

up the stairs and you’ll end up on a fire trail climbing up the hill. Just over the peak, go straight on at the intersection and continue up along the ridge.

EXACT LOCATION: Yarra Street, Warrandyte. Park in car park either opposite Warrandyte Grand Hotel or at the end of Webb Street.

6. The vegetation opens up and it’s more than likely you’ll begin to see the odd kangaroo or ten. Follow the track along the edge of the state park and it will take you to the site of the old Stane Brae dairy building at about the 7.6 km mark where you can have a stretch or look around. Locally, this area is just affectionately known as “The Dairy”. A group of large oaks marks the location of the old homestead but keep your eyes peeled out here as it’s not unusual to spot one of the local deer that also frequent the area.

TOTAL ROUTE DISTANCE: 13km TOTAL ASCENT/DESCENT: 179m TIME TO RUN: 1hr 20 min TYPE OF TRAIL RUN: Loop / out and back DIFFICULTY: moderate DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS: rocky single track opening out to rolling hills on fire trails

FEATURES OF INTEREST: within easy

7. Heading for home, and a good option is

reach of Melbourne, yet a unique setting taking in the gentle Yarra river rapids and a feast of wildlife

to make a left turn at the T-intersection and take the fire trail back to the Jumping Creek car park. Once you reach the car park rejoin the river trail and take in your surroundings as you head back along the rocky river trail and continue on to the main street of Warrandyte.

Online / Map

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TRAILGUIDE IMAGES: courtesy Grace Welsh

trail tips

1 to 3 hrs

NAME: Pineapple/Swampy Summit track

NEARBY TOWN/CITY: Dunedin EXACT LOCATION: The track starts at Booth Road Car park

PINEAPPLE TRACK

DUNEDIN, NZ

TOTAL ROUTE DISTANCE: Can be anything between 10-20km+

TOTAL ASCENT/DESCENT: Flagstaff summit: 650m/~495m Swampy summit: 740m/~585m

YOUR GUIDE: Grace Welsh

TIME TO RUN:

Located on the lower east coast of New Zealand’s South Island, Dunedin’s outskirts are home to some of the most magnificent bush settings. Perhaps the most popular trail to get a good taste of it is the Pineapple Track, a challenging yet rewarding course, located within minutes of the city centre. You find yourself overlooking the Taieri Plains and the magnificent harbour while being secluded amongst idyllic native environments a world away from the hustle and bustle of the CBD.

Flagstaff summit: 1-2 hours Swampy summit: 2-3 hours

TYPE OF TRAIL RUN: Can be run as a loop or point-to-point, depending on how far you want to run. DIFFICULTY: Moderate to hard DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS: Native forest, great views over Dunedin city and Taieri plains, tussock country above the tree line of flagstaff hill.

FEATURES OF INTEREST: It is a historical route, often used in earlier days for pioneers to view the harbour. Tins of pineapple were often eaten and left upturned on posts to mark the track, giving the track its unique name. ONE LAST TIP: Pack a thermal top, it can get quite windy on the top once you are out of the bush. The track can also get rather muddy and icy during the winter months.

WEBSITE ONLINE MAP

RUN IT: There are a couple of ways to access this track, but if you are anything like me, then you will want to take the steepest and gnarliest option. Starting at Booth Road is a great option for this. If you are after a more leisurely run, then accessing Pineapple Track from the Flagstaff–Whare Flat Road car park would be your best bet.

1. Starting at Booth Road car park, a five-

minute drive from central Dunedin, follow the well signposted track ‘Pineapple Track’. You will begin the gradual ascent up past an old water treatment plant before entering a steeper track through sheltered bush.

2. There is also the option to start on

McGouns Track (at Booth Road too), which after a short windy 1.2km, connects onto the Pineapple Track.

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3. Continue following the Pineapple Track up through native bush. You will then break out through the bush and enter a grassy area about halfway up – here you will witness magnificent views of Dunedin City encompassing the CBD and views toward northern areas of Dunedin and over the harbour.

Ross Creek to Pineapple track: From the North West end of Ross Creek, follow the track away from the reservoir for ~100m before taking a right turn at the signpost ‘Craigieburn track’. This will take you uphill, through the bush trail and bring you out to the Booth road car park after about 1km gradual climb.

4. The steep track carries up into the saddle between Flagstaff and Swampy Summit. Here you reach a signposted junction amongst tussock terrain. This is perhaps the steepest portion of the track, but the views certainly make the extra effort all the more worthwhile.

POST RUN GOODNESS: You can’t go past The Perc (www.perc.co.nz ) for its great coffee, bagels, and delicious array of cabinet food including healthy salads and rather indulgent baked goods (142 Stewart Street, lower Octagon, Dunedin). The Good Earth Café (http://ojb.co.nz/goodearth) also has an excellent selection of meals made with fresh seasonal organic produce and they make a great coffee (765 Cumberland St, North Dunedin). If you are in Dunedin on a Saturday morning, hit up the Farmers Market located down at the iconic Railway Station – they sell heaps of great fresh local produce and baked goods.

5. Here you have the option: turn left, following the trail which divides the mountain range and tussock terrain guiding you onto the Pineapple–Flagstaff Summit (1.5km further), or you can continue ahead to Swampy Summit (4km further), which is another great route, albeit less populated. 6. Flagstaff summit is marked by a plane

table and is a popular place for photos with the stunning backdrop for those who reach the summit. From here you can continue down the hill to the car park on FlagstaffWhare Road, (~2km) or loop back downhill heading back toward Booth Road and/or the very popular Ross Creek Reservoir

7. There are many small connecting tracks

so you have the option to run the track as a point-to-point track, otherwise you can run it as a loop track and head back down to Booth Road in Leith Valley.

OPTIONAL: Begin your run at Ross Creek Reservoir. There are many tracks leading you here and it is a great place to warm up and do a few laps around the reservoir. This is a great trail running area for beginners as it is easily accessible, close to town and flat, with the option to do a few small hills by following one of the side tracks. 137

TRAILGUIDE PHOTOGRAPHY: Amanda Broughton & Tomas Sobek / www.tomassobekphotography.co.nz

GREEN LAKE

2 to

Lake Monowai, Southland, NZ

2.5 hours

YOUR GUIDE: Amanda Broughton Green Lake is located in the Hunter Mountains in the Southland region of New Zealand. The lake is a basin in the debris of the Green Lake Landslide, which is the largest known above-sea-level landslide on earth. Part of Fiordland National Park, you access this trail from Lake Monowai. These Lakes are near Borland Lodge, which is used every year for a pre-Kepler run camp hosted by local running personalities. The Green Lake trail is challenging but good preparation for events like the local Kepler Challenge (www.keplerchallenge.co.nz). While it can be slow going in the terrain, the views are rewarding.

RUN IT:

1. The trail to Green Lake starts near the

Lake Monowai cark park via the Rodger Inlet Track. Yes, the entrance is that incredibly steep muddy rocky face that looks like it could have a waterfall running down it. After this abrupt introduction you’ll enjoy some smooth single track through the manuka trees and over soft beech forest floor.

5. There is a relatively steep downhill taking you to the edge of the lake, where you can follow the shoreline to the Green Lake Hut at the far end of the lake. The letterbox will let you know when you are close, then you’ll see a boardwalk to the hut.

TRAIL TIPS NAME: Green Lake Nearby Town: Te Anau 67km, or Tuatapere 59km.

6. You have the option here to carry on to

Exact Location: The trail begins

Borland Saddle and Borland Road (5.5km), but you need to arrange transport back from there as there are rarely more than 10 cars using this road on any given day, and it is often closed due to wash outs and bad weather. Or you can run the return, bomb the downs, and feel it in your quads!

250m before the Lake Monowai Car Park

Total Distance: 12.4km one way, you can combine this trail by linking it with the Borland Road up to the Borland Saddle to add another 4-5km. Total ascent/descent: 1000m Time to Run: 2-2.5 hours

Post run goodness:

Type of trail run: Out and back or point to point if you arrange transport from the Borland Road end.

This is definitely a BYO drinks and food trail run. If you are desperate for an espresso you can drive 67km to Te Anau and head to Sandfly Café (9 The Lane, Te Anau). I have been drinking their coffee for years and it stacks up against anything you will get in Wellington – it’s bloody good.

Difficulty: Moderate- Advanced. The track is rough and steep in places and includes unbridged creek crossings. It is marked with orange markers on trees, pay attention as they are at times hard to see. Weak ankles need not apply to run this route. Defining characteristics: Single track through beech forests and Manuka, can be muddy all year round and is not maintained regularly but updates on track conditions can be found on the DOC website.

2. The trail is knotted with tree roots and

punctuated with little bogs at least every 500 metres. You can try stepping around these but you can’t avoid the mud for too long. Respite is offered with smooth beech single track in sections that is very runnable, but only for the first 3.5km.

Features of interest: Dense beech forest, views over Lake Monowai and Green Lake, some that are inaccessible unless by boat or foot.

3. Around 3km along the Rodger Inlet track

there is a signpost diverting to Green Lake, turn right here. Soon after this you will start to climb. When we say climb, it’s not too unlike the climb to nearby Luxmore Hut.

ONLINE / MAP

4.The trail to Green Lake ascends steadily

(with a few steeper sections) to a saddle near Mount Cuthbert. If you scramble a short distance up the hill to the north you’ll get a great panoramic view over the Green Lake. 138

VIDEO

ELEVATION PROFILE

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TRAILGUIDE Images: Simon Madden

trail tips

3 to 4 hrs

NAME: Dambusters-Krushkas NEARBY TOWN/CITY: Derby is at the trailhead; Weldborough is 20km / 15 min drive further east (great pub); Scottsdale is 32km/25mins back west towards Launceston; Launceston is 95km / 1 hour 21 minutes back west.

EXACT LOCATION: Park at the main trailhead, southern end of Derby’s main street or start from the Corner Store / Tin Mine Museum, in the middle of town (where there are public coin operated hot showers and toilets). TOTAL ROUTE DISTANCE: 28km TOTAL ASCENT/DESCENT: 797m/797m TIME TO RUN: 3 -4 hours TYPE OF TRAIL RUN: Loop DIFFICULTY: Moderate DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS: Groomed and well marked flowing single track, with a few good berms in the back end and small mildly technical sections, but mostly graded mountain bike trails.

FEATURES OF INTEREST: Cascade Dam, plenty of viewing points, tin mine history, fern forests, berm running, big trees

ONLINE / MAP 1 ONLINE / MAP 2

DAM BUSTER YOUR GUIDE: Chris Ord The trails of Derby, in north-east Tasmania, call out like a prayer siren from atop a mosque. The calling cannot be ignored. They may have been built for mountain bikers but by golly they make for the best running. Flowing through big fern country, Derby’s trails weave and undulate, climb slowly, and drop with punch using berms aplenty – the 40km-plus and growing network of trails snaking off from the small once-was-a-tin-minehub township are like nothing else you have ever run. No wonder we (being the publishers of Trail Run Mag) decided to put on Tasmania’s first trail running festival there (www.tassietrailfest.com. au). This guide hooks you in to the guts of the marathon course (leaving out a smidge up the back) to run perimeter on the main trails circumnavigating Cascade Dam. The trails are multi-use, but always be wary of other trail users, run in the same direction as riders and always give way. Never run with music earphones when on trails shared with riders.

Derby, Tasmania

RUN IT:

rainforest charactersitcs, big boulder features and moss-covered giant trees. The trail takes you to numerous viewpoints looking back across the dam, not to mention on some super fun and sweepy singletrack.

1. Start from the trailhead, located at the

end of the main street heading east toward Weldborough and the East Coast (look for the Blue Derby trail arch - you can’t miss it). You can also start from the Corner Store Café / Tin Mine Museum, in the centre of town – it has a trail out back leading to the arch and main trailhead.

7. Dambusters eventually leads you back to a huge rocky crossing of the Cascade River, downstream from the dam wall (approx 14km). This is where you get to make choices about your run distance. For those ready to go grab a coffee, cross the river where you will find an intersection you reached earlier. Take the route signposted Relics and Sawtooth, which lead north back to town via a rejoining of Rusty Crusty. You’ll end up doing about 18km.

The great thing about freshly-built mountain biking trails is that the signposting is pretty good all the way – so this descriptor uses trail names to guide you.

2. With your back to town and facing the

8. If you want the longer perimeter run, before crossing over the rocky river bed, hook right where you can take on another 7km on Krushkas, add a further 3km on Rattler and Howler. They link back on to Sawtooth which leads you back to the car park via the back end of Rusty Crusty. There is a small detour onto Berms and Ferns – worth taking for the fun of it, and it doesn’t really add any distance.

hills (south), take the trail veering off to your right along Rusty Crusty, towards Axehead. A few hundred metres in, Rusty Crusty veers left. Keep on the right hand trail. You’re now on Axehead.

3. Continue along Axehead, where you’ll be taken up the famous ‘snaking’ section seen in all the promotional photos. At about 2km you will pop out at a major junction. Continue to veer hard left onto Long Shadows. Another 1.5km further on (at 3.5km) you will come to a fork – take the left hand uphill, which leads you onto Flickety Sticks.

POST RUN GOODNESS:

4. Once again you will reach a fork in the trail

(at 5km) – this time keep to your right onto The Great Race which leads you firstly to a huge hill call Heartbreak, and then to the namesake of this guide, the Dambusters circuit.

The best coffee, cakes and lunches in town (and beer – it’s licensed) is The Corner Store, located within the Tin Mine Museum (www. thecornerstores.com.au/locations/derby). Michelle’s Beetroot Brownie is heavenly. If you’re up for exploring more trails and a hearty dinner, head to Weldborough, 15km further east, where the Weldborough Pub (www.weldborough.com.au) does sensational homely meals and offers a range of on tap and in bottle craft brews from around Tasmania. It has basic accommodation, too, and is the start/finish for the Blue Tier trailhead, also worth exploring.

5. Dambusters loosely follows the Cascade dam shoreline. This is the dam that broke its wall after flooding in 1929, killing 14 people. 6. The trail weaves up the western side of

the dam before popping out onto a dead-end dirt road at the very rear. Take the pedestrian bridge to the left, which leads you quickly back onto the singletrack on the eastern side of the dam. This section is spectacular as it gets more

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