Blackall100 2021 - Great Expectations and Glorious Failure

I had very high expectations for the Blackall 100km ultra this year. 2021 has been the best running year ever so far for me, confidence was high after a number of milestones and personal bests achieved in the months prior.

June saw a marathon PB, July saw a 5km PB, 10km and half marathon PBs achieved in August topped off a very successful winter. The 5km in particular was a time I thought I would never get close to again, having set my best time back in 2017! Things were looking good, I had also managed to stay injury free all year and my training had been very consistent.

My first event back in 2013

I recently responded to the question "what is your most memorable sporting achievement?" Even though I have ran over 240 parkruns, 6 marathons, 3 ultras and a few triathlons, I was surprised to find myself thinking of the very first event that I entered; The Queensland Triathlon Try-it-Out, a very short triathlon back in 2013. 

Jolly's Lookout and Township Break

Here's a rough (and I do mean rough) video blog of a recent trail run I did on Mt Nebo in South East Queensland. It was a beautiful morning, running on trails I don't usually drive to. It is a little further out of Brisbane, but worth the drive.

6 months of 2021 and the Brisbane Marathon race report

I entered the 2021 Brisbane Marathon by default as it was cancelled last year due to COVID-19. Although I ended up running a Marathon anyway on Kedron Brook with a bunch of mates. So having deferred, I was more than happy to give it a go this year.

Race Report - Blackall100 Ultramarathon 2020

2020 has been a very strange year. I would be remiss to not mention the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it’s had on every part of our lives, in particular us runners and the events in which we enjoy taking part.

Running through Mt Glorious trails

This post is a little different, it's a video blog rather than a written piece. It was supposed to be a video of running on trails around Mt Glorious, but includes my musings on Crohn's Disease and the current Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. I also manage to fall flat on my face as well!!!

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.

2019 Gold Coast Marathon, training and other reflections

2019 was supposed to be a triumphant year. Although 2018 had finished well after having completed my first ultra marathon, I was still disappointed with my performance at the Gold Coast Marathon last year.

I had unfinished business to take care of.

Race Report - Twilight Running Festival 2019

It is over 2 months since the Twilight Running festival this year, and I am only just writing about it. No other reason than laziness to be honest. I sit here in front of a roaring fire at a Farm stay holiday near Maidenwell in Queensland and feel the urge to write.

The Twilight festival was to be my first race of 2019, I was taking on the half-marathon distance as a test to see how I was progressing towards the Gold Coast marathon, which is my main event this year. It is the first race since the Blackall100 50k ultra I did last year, which is unusual as in recent years I have entered various trail races early in the year. I also hadn’t run a twilight race since 2014 at Wynnum.

Race Report - Blackall100 50k Ultra Marathon

When God made you, He made you a runner. 

Feel His pleasure when you run and may you do so with fire in your heels and hope in your heart.

I am not sure where my desire to run an ultra marathon came from.

I have completed 3 traditional road marathons now, so I guess the "ultra" was the next logical step in how far I could push myself.

Race Report - Gold Coast Marathon 2018

I recently read an article on the Runner's World website called "Sometimes the Marathon wins". Fortunately I read it after I completed this year's Gold Coast Marathon given the race I had on the day. It served as a confidence building reminder than some races do not go according to plan, ultimately if you don't respect the marathon distance it will bite you hard!

Race Report - The Pinnacles Classic 2018

There are races when you might not achieve your goals, such as beating a PB or finishing in the top 50, but still enjoy the day and classify it as a success. This was one of those races.

The Pinnacles Classic is a trails race starting at the Gold Creek Dam in Brookfield. I did this race a couple of years ago as my first trail event and really enjoyed it. Back in 2016, I felt like I really overachieved having never raced on trails before. My finishing time then was 1 hour 58 minutes, which for an 18km trail race with over 800 metres of elevation was pretty good in my books. I was aiming for around the 2 hour mark and was very surprised to cross the finish line in under 2 hours.

Race Report - Mt Glorious Trails Race 2018

I recently changed the focus of my blog from the thoughts of being an "Average Runner" to that of "Running with Crohn's Disease". Essentially what it's like to love running, but doing so whilst affected by a chronic illness. Hopefully, if you are suffering from something like I have or any other illness, these posts may ring true and provide some comfort in times of discomfort. I make no apologies for some of the content below, it is personal but I feel it is important to share.

parkrun - some thoughts

There's probably not much more I can say about parkrun that hasn't been said already, but I'm going to give it a go as parkrun is something that means a lot to me and gives me great joy.

Race Report - Brisbane Half Marathon 2017

I hadn't intended on running the Brisbane Half Marathon this year, but here I am writing about it.

Thing is, I had planned to run another Marathon this year, with the aim of getting under 3hrs 45mins. I have run the Brisbane Marathon twice before, both efforts quite similar time wise. The first in 2015 at 3hrs 56mins and the second in 2016 at 3hrs 54mins, at least I am consistent it seems. Although I ran the 2016 race much better than I had done in 2015, I still felt like I had unfinished business and knew that I could do much better if I got the training right.

Race Report - Walkabout Creek Trails Race 2017

The Walkabout creek trails race actually took place back in early July. It is only now in August that I decided to write about it!

This was another race organised by the wonderful Trail Association of Queensland or TRAQ for short, the same mob that put on the amazing but gruelling Mount Glorious trails race back in February.

Injury Woes

I began marathon training in early April as one of my main running races for 2017 was the Brisbane Marathon, aiming to go sub 3 hours and 45 mins. I had started using Hal Higdon's training plan for an Advanced marathon runner, I have run 2 marathons, therefore I consider myself advanced :)

One week into the training and I started to feel something not quite right on the top of my right foot. At first I did what all good runners do and ignored the pain, thinking it would go away by itself. The next training session it was still there, and the one after that. It got to the point where I decided that if I continued on it, it would cause some serious damage.

Race Report - Mt Glorious Trails 2017

Apart from countless parkruns, my first running "event" of the year was the Mt Glorious Trails race run by TRAQ; the Trail Association of Queensland. I had run The Pinnacles Classic event hosted by them last year as my first trail running race and thoroughly enjoyed it.

These races are much smaller than the usual mass participation events around Brisbane, like the City2South or the Bridge to Brisbane so they have a much more intimate feel to them. Having said that, the standard of the runners was much higher than I was used to. Usually every age, size and shape is represented, but in the case of Mt Glorious although all ages were present, almost of the runners were thin and lean.