Monday 28 October 2019

Race Report - 2019 Blackall100 50km

The first few things that I will say about The Blackall100, is that it would not be the event it is without the wonderful race organisers, indigenous elders, volunteers and running groups such as Brisbane Trail Runners (BTR), SunCo RunCo, NUTRs and whoever else I can't remember. These people make the event so warm, welcoming and memorable, it has definitely become my favourite event.

I didn't really have time to dwell on the disappointment of the Gold Coast Marathon. I needed to get back into training as soon as I had recovered, as I only had 12 weeks before the Blackall 50km race. It would be the second time I would be doing the event, after my successful sub 7 hour attempt last year.

It was to be a very eventful training block, something I didn't know a week after completing Gold Coast. But I had to start from scratch with my training and re-assess after knowing that I had overtrained leading up to the marathon.

I looked back over my early marathon results where I had run under 4 hours and decided to go back to the first training plan I had used. The Garmin Connect intermediate heart rated based plan. I decided to reduce my training from 6 days back down to 5 days, meaning I had two rest days - Mondays and Fridays. All the training would be based around heart rate zones, rather than pace zones. This meant that if my body was tired and my heart rate was too high, I just naturally ran slower. This was difficult, although once I submitted to it I found it quite refreshing, especially when doing intervals.

I was also doing most of my training with Pete, a fellow Everton Park Running Squad (EPRS) member who had also signed up to do the Blackall 50km race. He had done the marathon with us at the Gold Coast, and is always up for any challenge.

The first few weeks of training went really well. I decided to cross train on Mondays by cycling to and from work. Tuesdays tended to be some sort of interval set, which I did at a grass track with Pete. Wednesdays 8 to 10km easy on the flat, and Thursdays I mixed it up a bit with either hills, tempo or trail depending on what I felt like, the time I had available and usually by myself with my trusty dog. Saturday's were mainly parkruns, and Sundays were reserved for either a long run on the flat or trail with Pete, usually alternating each week.

After only 3 weeks of training, I started to feel a strange niggle in my hip. Usually hip pain for me is associated with the Ankylosing Spondylitis (a form of spinal arthritis) I suffer from with Crohn's Disease. The pain usually disappears after around a week, so I took some anti-inflammatories, ignored the pain and kept training.

The pain didn't disappear though. It kept getting worse, and was in a place on my hip which wasn't usual. I was also in denial, as I didn't want to stop training. After about another week of pain, it became apparent that I would need to stop running. The pain while running got really bad, even though I could manage it I was worried about doing permanent damage to the hip.

I stopped running and had a break to see how things went. I had signed up for the Bridge to Brisbane 5km with my son in late September, so decided to rest until the day of that race. It turned out to be 9 days, probably the longest break I've had from running in 3 years!

I worked out that after the Bridge to Brisbane I would still have 8 weeks of training until Blackall, so all was not lost even if it wasn't ideal preparation.

Running the 5km Bridge to Brisbane with my son Reuben was a lot of fun. We had no plans whatsoever to run any particular time, in fact we decided to make it very cruisy. This was Reuben's first major running event, so the main thing was for him to finish it. I was still concerned about my hip, given that I hadn't ran for the previous week and a half. I had no idea if there would be pain or not.

We lined up with thousands of others at the start under the Story Bridge and off we went shortly after 9:30am. Within about 200 metres I could feel the pain again in my hip. I was devastated. I didn't let it show for Reuben's sake, I was able to run but the pain was constant in my hip and I knew that I would need to do something about it.


I decided to stop running again, but started cycling instead. Oddly enough, when I cycled I didn't get any hip pain. I had recently found out that the winner of the women's UTMB this year; Courtney Dauwalter had trained in the lead up to UTMB on a bike due to a hip injury after Western States, so if it was good enough for her it was good enough for me!

I swapped my running workouts and did them on the bike instead, as my training plan was heart rate based I found this pretty easy to do. If I had 5 x 5 minute intervals at Zone 4 Heart Rate to do, I took my bike to the Nundah criterium track and did it there. Easy runs became easy bike rides, the same with long runs. The only difference being that I travelled further. In the end I managed to keep this up for 2 weeks, with 6 weeks remaining until the big day.

During those two weeks I had Physio treatment, which did help a little. Lots of stretching, massage, dry needling and pummelling my muscles to try fix the hip.  I was eventually diagnosed with Hip Bursitis. I would need either complete rest for weeks, or I could try getting a steroid injection directly into the Bursa to reduce the inflammation.

Towards the end of the 2 weeks riding, I got the injection. Initially, the pain actually got worse but after two days it settled right down and I tried to run. Success, the pain in hip was gone. There was some residual pain around my groin and hip flexor, but that I could live with. The most important thing was that my hip was ok.

I had 6 weeks left until Blackall at this point and needed to get some decent running done. I managed to get back into my training, meeting up with Pete the following week for some intervals and trail running at Ironbark Gully. Pete had his issues as well, he had been suffering from the 'flu for a few weeks and was only just returning to running himself. He was getting concerned about running 50km, but I was convinced he had it in him to finish it, even if it took all day.

The next 4 weeks went well, I was able to do some decent training. I even managed a good 4 hour 33km run in the trails around Enoggera Reservoir and Mount Nebo. That was really encouraging, it ended up being my longest training run all year. I recovered well from it, with no pain at all.

With 2 weeks to go I began to taper, then disaster struck. Reuben had a gastro bug the previous week and I caught it. For the following 3 days I was either horizontal in bed or running to the loo, I couldn't eat and felt awful. This was the last thing I needed so close to race day, I couldn't believe it after recovering from hip bursitis that I would have this to deal with.

After 4 days, I began to feel a little better but still couldn't run. I still couldn't eat properly and lost over 3kg of weight. On the 5th day of the illness I felt better and decided to go for a 10km flat run at a very easy pace. I made it to 4km and decided to turnaround and make it 8km. After running only 6km I had to stop and walk, I was utterly exhausted. The race was in 8 days time and I couldn't run past 6km, I realised I just needed time to recover and hopefully I would be ok.

The next day I ran parkrun in just under 25mins. Not a great time, but it gave me a bit of confidence. By now I was just about recovered from the gastro bug. It had affected me for 6 days, but I was eating again normally and could feel my strength returning. The next day I managed a 12km trail run around Mt Cootha with some of the EPRS gang. That was good. A pretty quick pace for the run gave a lot of confidence and settled my nerves. I just needed to continue to rest a bit and only run what the plan had for me, which were only 5 km runs on the Tuesday and Thursday and a short 3km run on Friday the day before the race. They all went well with no incident. It was time for The Blackall100 50km.

I met up with Pete at the Mapleton QCCC on the Friday evening for event check in and the race briefing. Like last year, the race briefing started with a welcome to country by Uncle Al, a local indigenous elder. This year's briefing was outside, it brought a very special atmosphere to the event. Especially with the smoke ceremony by Uncle Al and having ultra-running celebrity Dean Karnazes present to run in the 100km event. Then it was off to bed to get rested for the big day ahead.

I arrived back at the Mapleton QCCC the following morning, my wife dropped me off nice and early, she would be back later to see me finish. I made my way into the start precinct, met back up with Pete and had a chat with some other runners before I headed to the loo for my pre race routine. I had a couple of Imodium, which nowadays I didn't really need now I was taking Humira for Crohn's. But the Imodium did give me confidence that I wouldn't have any issues during the race. I headed to the start line.

There were over 400 people running the 50km this year, almost double that of last year. Due to the increase in numbers, the race organisers had us all self-seed ourselves into rough groups to try and avoid congestion. Under 7 hour runners at the front, 7 to 9 in the middle and over 9 hours at the back. We put ourselves roughly in the middle, as I had no idea what I was capable of due to the less than ideal training block I had. Pete had never run this distance before so he decided to stick with me at least at the start.

The weather was completely different to last year. No sunshine this time round, there was heavy fog the air was damp and humid. The temperature wasn't too high which was good, but there was the threat of rain and maybe a storm.

At 7am precisely, we were off. With Pete at my side, we went through the start gate and started our watches. Down through the QCCC entry road turning left onto Obi Obi Road. I didn't really have a race plan in mind, but had made a note of all my split times for each checkpoint so I had an idea if I was close to last year's time. Last year I ran the first few km extremely slowly, so I decided to try and run them a little quicker this year knowing it wouldn't affect me too much.

After the first 3kms on paths we turned right into Mapleton Falls National park and headed down towards the start of the trails. I was moving quicker than last year, so I just had to check myself to make sure I didn't go too quickly in these early stages.

I had lost Pete though, I couldn't see him near me but I pressed on. We were running our own races.

We hit the single track trails past Delicia Road, progress slowed here as it was quite congested with runners. The trail is very narrow and windy in this section, plus the addition of 200 extra runners made it a little busier than usual.

We reached a T-intersection at the 7.5km mark and turned left onto some wide fire trail, where I had been taken aback last year by the awesome trees. This year we couldn't even see the tops of them due to the fog, or possibly low clouds covering the canopy. After another km or so Pete caught me up. It was really good to run with him for a while, explaining what was coming up ahead and just enjoying the trail with him. We were both moving well.

At the 10km mark, just past the Ubajee Walker's camp we started to descend to the Gherulla Valley floor. I had been very tentative on this section last year, but felt more comfortable this year so went a bit harder. I was actually able to really hit the descents well this year overall, something that would really help later on in the race.

The only thing that was holding me back during the descent was other runners, which was probably a blessing. The track was narrow and impossible to pass others, so I needed to be patient until we got to the valley floor. Once we did I was able to overtake a few people with Pete sticking close by.

After another 3 or 4 km the valley floor gets very technical, lots of riverbeds to negotiate, sharp little climbs and drops, twists and turns. It was getting congested again on narrow single track, when suddenly everyone ahead stopped. I wondered what was going on as I couldn't see far enough ahead. We slowed to a a very slow walk until we arrived at a tricky obstacle. A very large tree with lots of branches was completely blocking the trail, we had to carefully move through the branches so as not to injure ourselves. Pete threw caution to the wind and barrelled straight over the top, crunching through branches without a care. He must have gained about 10 places by now, I was still stuck in the middle of the tree and he was back running. Another couple of minutes and I was free, but it was a lot of fun.

I only had 3 more km by now until Checkpoint 3 (CP3). This part went without incident and soon enough I could hear the noise of cheering and encouraging from the CP, I got my soft flasks ready for refuelling. I looked at my watch and realised I was a good 5 minutes quicker than last year, that was surprising!

I didn't stay long in CP3. Pete had arrived already and was busy topping up his water. I found my drop bags and quickly replaced my fluids. I was using Tailwind again as it had been so successful for me last year. I didn't bother with any solid food at all knowing that I didn't handle it well last time. I had banked on 500ml of tailwind fluid per hour. I had two 500ml soft-flasks on the front of my pack, and 1.5 litres in the back. This was more than enough to get me to each CP and more in case I got stuck out on course.

I left Pete still filling his water, and set off from CP3 in a very quick turnaround time. Now for the Gherulla Bluff. Climbing the bluff was as hard as ever, but I knew what I was in for this time around. It was long and relentless. I didn't have the same views as last year, as the clouds were really rolling in now. By the time I reached the top 30 minutes later, I could only see 10 metres in front of me. My legs felt like jelly after the climb and it took me a while before I could run again. However, I had lost sight of Pete. He was a couple of places behind at the start of the climb, but now he was nowhere to be seen.

I was able to break into a very slow jog and moved as best as I could for the next couple of kms to  the Thilba Thalba camp. It was at this point last year that I was at my lowest, but this year I felt ok. I just kept moving the best I could, especially as I could hear thunder rumbling close by, it had also started to rain gently. Just as I dropped off the bluff and began to descend a little, probably 26km in the thunder and lightning kicked in.

The rain started hammering down from the trees and I was soaked in seconds, I was in the middle of a storm. The feeling of running through the storm in a rainforest was incredible, the birds sounded louder and the rain bouncing from the leaves sound like song, the trail had turned into a stream and my feet were completely drenched. There were other runners around still, either passing me or me passing them and it was actually a lot of fun. I never felt in any danger, dealing with these elements was challenging and made the kms pass quickly.

At the 29km mark I started descending again back down into the Gherulla Falls valley ready for the climb back out to the Ubajee Walker's camp. I really enjoyed the descent this year, I was able to move very quickly picking up a few places and minutes of time. I really struggled last year on this section, so it was great to able to stretch my legs out and run pretty hard. I knew I would be walking pretty soon during the climb.

The climb back out of the valley was difficult but manageable. I saw a few 100km runners come down past me, I tried to give everyone of them a wave and a clap hoping to encourage them. Their day would be much longer than mine. Seeing them made the climb go quicker and soon enough I was back out onto the main fire trail leading to CP4.

I was 34km in, only 4km to go until the next CP. I was quite fatigued by now, my legs had really felt the two climbs. I tried to run as much as I could and realised that I was still doing well for time, I was due to arrive in CP4 with the same buffer as CP3; 5 minutes ahead of last year's time. I was surprised at this and decided to try my best to beat my time, what a motivation to have to get through the last 12km from CP4.

CP4 or CPBTR was just as amazing as last year. I was treated like royalty as I was wearing my BTR shirt again. I was guided to a chair next to the drop bags, where I could refuel my soft-flasks as I did in CP3. I managed to refill pretty quickly, grabbed a piece of watermelon from the food table and ran back out for the 4km loop back to CP4.

This section was the hardest for me this year, by this stage I was mostly alone and my legs hurt. The people I did see where those who were passing me, so I knew I lost a few places on this section. 40 minutes later I was back in CP4, but I didn't stop. I ran straight through knowing I had only 8 km to go. I had lost a little bit of time, but I thought that I would be ok. Every part of me was hurting now. Oddly enough the most pain I had was in my wrist where pressure from my watch had rubbed on the bone!

The last 8km seems to last forever. I had phone my wife just before the second visit to CP4 to give her an ETA on my finish time. It would be shortly before 2pm. I had just over an hour to get the last 8 km done, it would be tight with last year's time.

I left the main fire trail, turning left back into the Mapleton Falls National Park area. This section is challenging as it is but after 44km of running even more so. I felt like I was hardly moving but time was passing very quickly. I kept shuffling forward and each km went passed.

Finally I came out of the National Park onto the road leading out of the car park. This section was uphill and I had to walk. There was only 4km to go at this stage, but I could not run. I had to wait until it flattened out and then I could just about shuffle.

Once back out to the Obi Obi road with just over 3km left, I was able to break into a run and move forward quickly. There was a slight downhill before the path crossed the road, so I needed to take advantage and move as quick as I could.

I had to stop and walk some more approaching another crest, but I only had 2km left to go. I managed to break into a run and went for it, I was running pretty hard at this stage and managed a 5:33min/km amazing! Keep going!!

1km left, I looked at my watch. There was still time to beat my PB. I saw the entrance to the QCCC and turned right. 400m to go, I felt like I was sprinting but I was probably hardly moving. At this point I saw my two kids; Katie and Reuben, who immediately joined me, one on either side to run with me towards the finish line. That was awesome! It was great to have them both running with me, they were both joking around and I couldn't keep up with them.

Finally, with 50 metres to go they broke away and I saw Mor; my wife. She gave me a huge wave and a cheer. With that I turned into Conference Centre, passed the finish line and gave the Blackall Bell one mighty ring. I was finished!

My finishing time was 6 hours 55 minutes 19 seconds. I had beaten last year's time by 2 and a half minutes!!!

After the training interruptions due to injury and sickness, as well as the disappointing result at the Gold Coast Marathon. This year's 50km at Blackall was incredibly satisfying, probably more so than last year. 100km next year? you bet!

So what happened to Pete? I waited at the finish line recovering for a good hour and a half, but he hadn't arrived yet. It was getting late in the afternoon, we needed to get back to Maleny as we had plans for the evening. Unfortunately, I left Mapleton without seeing him finish. I was worried what had happened though.

As we arrived in Maleny, I received a message from Pete. He had just finished in under 9 hours but was wrecked. I wondered if he had got injured or something had happened on course as he was due to finish much earlier. It turns out he had managed to do the CP4 loop twice, which had delayed him an extra hour. What a shame, he ended up running 54km instead of 50km!!
He still enjoyed the experience, I'm sure he'll back again someday to give it another crack.


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