A Long Slow 50 Miles

I had intended to qualify for Australian Centurion membership at the Sri Chinmoy 24 Hour Race at Blacktown Olympic Park in Sydney. However, things didn't work out as planned, and I withdrew from the race with just half of the required mileage and my slowest ever 50 miles.

Everything started off well. The first lap was a bit fast – that’s to be expected – and then I was circulating at around 2:55 – 3:00 per lap (7:17 – 7:30 per km). After I was having electrolyte drink from the drinks table at 30 minute intervals, and food on the hour. With a couple of toilet breaks I covered 24.0km in just under 3 hours, all seemed good.

It got hot so I took a layer off and made sure I kept drinking, having taking a drink bottle to add to the half hourly drinks. I also decided to eat some of the mashed potato on offer while my stomach was still good. I should have been able to circulate at this pace for at least another 3 hours, but in reality I had been generally slowing from about 21km onwards as the bones of both heels started to get increasingly sore. This hadn’t happened in training, or at least not to this extent, but perhaps I could just walk it out.

I changed to flatter shoes around 32km, but continued to slow through to 37.2km at which point I had some panadol. A few laps later I was back on track again, and back under 3:00 a lap by 40km. Improved further for another 2km, but then the real deterioration set in. By 46.4 I was back over 3:00/lap, and stayed that way through to 50km (6h31). A long lap (toilet break) and I was suddenly at 3:15/lap. After four slow laps I decided to try some neurofen gel on both quads. I gave that a good chance to work, but it had no effect.

It was far too early in the race for this to be happening! I started doing the maths: I didn’t need to be fast to get the 100 miles, but I was slowing to the point where 100 miles would be unattainable with the level of slowing later in the event. I needed my legs to come right and come right fast. After 7.5 hrs it was in to the medical tent for voltaren gel, a heat rub, and a pill that should aid muscle relaxation. On Doctor’s “orders” I also changed into thermal tights and another pair of long pants over top to try and keep my quads warm. 10 laps more, and still no result.

Possible indications of what went wrong. In the photo on the left I am over-striding considerably to the front, and under-striding with a low toe-off to the rear. The effort of pulling my leg through so far to the front possibly put too much strain on my quads. Also note my forward lean, which may be indicative of tight hip flexors. In contrast, note the photo of Justin Scholtz on the right. Justin has an erect upper body and near-symmetrical front- and back-stride. Justin achieved the 100 miles, plus an extra 16km.

Back into the medical tent again, this time for a good 20 minutes for massage to try and release the muscles. The muscles simply did not want to let go, and I was now at 4:00/lap or slower (some laps slower than 4:30). I had two options: struggle on and get a low mileage total, or see if a rest would allow the muscles to relax. I chose the latter.

After more than two hours off the track I got back out on the track again. My laps were slow at just 3:50-4:00, but I wanted to get to 50 miles before I pulled the pin. I counted the laps down, did an extra one just to make sure, and then stopped. I was out of the event. There was no point in continuing and possibly exacerbating whatever injury I might have.

Technically this is not a DNF, as the clock keeps running regardless. I walked 80.8 km in 15:15:47 including the time I had off the track. My slowest 50 mile ever, and no Centurion qualification.

At the time of writing, what caused my quads to rebel remains unexplained. I had been having enough electrolytes, so it wasn’t that. Tracks are always hard underfoot, but I pulled through the 8 hour session on the track in training without any issues. Several people have suggested the cold, and that was one hypothesis the track-side Doctor was working on. But I’m not really convinced of that either.

Judging by the position of the tightness and soreness, the vastus lateralis is the prime candidate. However, on the surface the quads seemed to be fine, it was deep in the muscle where the tightness was present. The area around my TFLs (tensor facia latae) is also tender. Some photos indicate that I was walking bent forward at the hip, but that could just have been a manifestation of the body adapting to take pressure off the compromised muscles rather than a cause of the problem. I was also over-striding to the front, and that would place strain on the various quadriceps muscles.

My current hypothesis is a complex web of tightness through various soft tissue structures (particularly tight hip flexors), exacerbated by lots of sitting in the week prior to the event, which just happened to manifest in the quads. Off to the physio I go to get checked out.

Right: Muscles of the upper leg. The vastus lateralis is on the left, above the knee. The tensor facia latae is also on the left, above the vastus lateralis and below the hip.
Source: Grey's Anatomy.

New NZ Walk Records and Centurion NZ C16

How to sum up a race that lasted a full 24 hours but only went round in very small loops? Perhaps the best place to start is the results:

• NZ 50 mile walk record (9h:49m:16s);
• NZ 12 hour walk record (97.940 km);
• NZ 100km walk record (12h:15m:22s);
• Completed my first ever 100 miles in 21h:37m:55s;
• My 100 mile walk qualified me as Centurion NZ C16;
• Completed a total distance of 174.460km for the 24 hours.

I had divided my race into three stages: the first stage to 100km; the second stage was from 100km to 100 miles; and the third stage was from 100 miles to the finish at 24 hours. I had time goals for the first two stages and a total distance goal for the third stage.

Stage 1: the first 100km

Before the race I had been very careful to tape any places on my feet that I thought might blister, including double-layered telfa pads so that they would take the friction rather than my feet. But after only a few of hours I could feel a hot spot on each heel and knew that I was still going to get blisters. I could stop and deal to the hot spots, but I didn't know what I would do differently. I was also aiming for various records and stopping would cost valuable time. So I kept on walking.

Heather checks on me as I go through 50 miles

My target pace for the 100km would give me the NZ walk records for 50 miles, 12 hours, and 100km. Everything went pretty much to plan and I steadily closed in on 50 miles. A few laps before the 50 mile mark I was told I was about 10 minutes under the previous record, and so it proved to be. The existing record was 9h:58m:28s (Gerald Manderson, 1999), and I recorded 9h:49m:16s.

By this point I had noticed that my left foot was feeling a bit wet. I assumed that this was because a blister had popped. I'm getting used to such things so I didn't give it too much thought and just carried on towards 12 hours and 100km.

As 12 hours approached the fatigue was taking its mental toll. Mark Gray stood at a point on the track just before the start/finish line and told me that the record was 5km from that point. 5k on the track is 12.5 laps, which means that the existing record would be at about the 200m mark in 12.5 laps time. Simple. Except it took me a while to figure that out at the time! Mark was standing at the record marker as I got there, and from memory I was able to complete another 500m before the 12 hours was up.

No time to rest after the 12 hours, as the 100km target was only a few minutes away. I had hoped to do 12h10m - which seemed a reasonable target given my road time - but I never seem to do as well on the track as I do on the road and was a few minutes slow. As the 100km approached I picked up the pace again and went across the line in 12h:15m:22s. This was a good 5 minutes faster than the existing official record of 12h:20m:33s (Peter Baillie, 2005) and also faster than my time at the Taupo 100km earlier this year.

After the 100km and the first view of my feet

It was now 9:30pm and time to prepare for the night. I stopped (relatively) quickly to change into warmer gear. The seat was ready for me, I sat down and got my first look at my feet: my shoes were blood soaked! Never mind, it might have looked gruesome but my feet weren't particularly painful and I couldn't think of what could really be done to fix the problem that wouldn't take a long time to do. So it was warm top on, jacket on, shorts off, Skins tights on, shorts back on, shoes on, and go.

I was expecting to slow a bit after the 100km but, oh my goodness, this was something else again! It was so difficult to get going again, my feet were sore and my legs were stiff. My average lap time instantly increased by 33 seconds a lap and I couldn't bring it back down.

Stage 2: Centurion Qualification

The next target was 100 miles. I had a time goal for 100 miles and wanted to break the record, but after a while it became clear that I was going too slow for that. Not to mind, 100 miles marked another very important aspect of the race: qualification as a New Zealand Centurion. Centurion qualification is generally awarded to those who walk 100 miles in under 24 hours, under the scrutiny of judges to ensure that the person actually is walking. Prior to the race only 14 people had qualified as Centurions in New Zealand, and I wanted to be C15.

There were three walkers aiming for NZ Centurion qualification: myself, Rudy Schoors (Belgium), and Caroline Mestdagh (Belgium). Rudy and Caroline have both walked 100 miles multiple times and are Centurions in the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, USA, and now New Zealand. I had a large lead on Rudy by the time I got to 100km, but then I slowed and he did not. As 100 miles approached he was closing rapidly. The lap count on the day indicated that when I reached 100 miles Rudy was less than 400m (1 lap) behind me! But subsequent checking of the scoring showed that one of Rudy's laps had been missed and he was less than 400m ahead of me.

Walking a lap with Rudy

I slowed again immediately after completing the 100 miles, allowing Rudy to catch me up. Having both completed 100 miles we shook hands and walked the next lap together. I then needed to leave the track for a few minutes for a bathroom break while Rudy continued on.

Caroline was some distance behind Rudy and me, but also went on to complete her 100 miles and qualify as NZ C17. Both Rudy and Caroline completed only a couple more laps after reaching their 100 miles, enough to ensure that if there was a lap counting error they would still have made 100 miles.

The new Centurions: Rudy Schoors NZ C15, Andrew Shelley NZ C16, Caroline Mestdagh NZ C17

Stage 3: The Remainder of the 24 Hours

I had thought it was hard getting to 100 miles, but everything suddenly became so much harder again. There was still just over 2 hours remaining in the event and there was a significant temptation to stop now that I had achieved 100 miles. It seemed that I thought about stopping with every lap. But I also wanted to see what total distance I could do, and I was now in 4th place on the leaderboard and didn't want to just give that placing away. So I trudged on.

Graeme Butcher had a bad time of it during the night and I had eventually caught him and passed him as he just slowly walked laps. But with the sun appearing and obviously feeling better he started to run again. He pulled back the laps and eventually caught and passed me, relegating me back to 5th place - the same place that I had been seeded at the start.

24 hours was fast approaching and it would soon all be over. Sandy Barwick walked my second-to-last lap with me and we talked about things I cannot yet remember! Then it was the final lap and time to put in a final sprint. I charged around the last lap faster than I had walked for many hours, crossed the start/finish line again with a few more seconds on the clock, and made it 60m down the straight. The hooter went and it was all over! I put my finishing block down where I was, marking a total distance of 174.460km.

Lap Times and Speed

The chart on the left (below) shows my lap times throughout the event. Up to 100km the laps were generally under 3 minutes per lap, except for the odd lap where I had a short break. Immediately after 100km there was a longer break as I changed into warmer gear for the night. My lap times then increased by a bit over 30 seconds a lap and then slowly drifted up. The chart on the right provides an alternative view, plotting speed for 10km blocks. Up to 100km my average speed was a little over 8km/h. After 100km my walking speed immediately dropped to 7km/h, and then after 130km continued to drift down. There was another drop after 100 miles, but then a pick up in speed over the last few km.

Time per lap. The upward spikes show laps with stops for reasons such as bathroom breaks.

Average speed over 10km blocks. The heavy line shows my walking speed. The lighter line shows the average speed including stops.

Acknowledgements

Page 2 of my food schedule. The time
schedule recorded every lap!

Many thanks to Heather Andrews who did a great job as support crew, keeping me fed and watered, and a wonderful job of keeping on top of various schedules. She continually monitored my position and checked in with the official lap scorers to ensure that my records were timed. And she kept on top of food schedules and drug schedules in a way that would have been impossible by myself. Checking back over the food record it turns out that I ate more than I thought I had, which can only be a good thing in an event that lasts this long. And thanks also to the racewalkers who came along to the track and offered their support, especially David Sim who also assisted Heather with record keeping and Mark Gray who could give me feedback out on the track. It was a long and very cold night for supporters. Thanks also to the Sri Chinmoy marathon team for their efforts in organising and running the event. Each and every lap was acknowledged by our lap scorers, and they were positive and cheerful throughout the 24 hours.

Links:

Official race report and detailed results

Preview article in the NZ Herald

My photos on Flickr

Great Naseby Water Race

Ida Range

The Great Naseby Water Race is held over a 10km course through the Naseby forest, with a number of hills, but also several km of flat trail beside water races on each lap. There are 50km,80km, and 100km options; this year I elected to do the 80km event.

Naseby takes a while to get to, but is a great setting for a race. On several of the forestry roads there were clear views of the snow-covered Ida Range, the conifers are pretty, and there are several very picturesque small lakes.

A small lake on the way to Coalpit Dam.

I had hoped to be walking about 7m:30s per km (about 1h:15m per lap), but with a very hilly first half to each lap I was only managing just fractionally quicker than 8m:00s per km. I quickly took a number of photos on the first four laps; I wasn't particularly worried about the time taken in these stops, as each one was only short and also provided a mini recovery break.

50k runners waiting for their start.

What the 50k runners saw. (Photo: Paul Charteris)

I reached the end of my first three laps (30k, so 50k to go) just a minute or two before the 50k race was about to begin. I took a photo of everyone as a photo was being taken of me, and then went over to the aid station table to get some pizza and boiled potato before heading off again. I kept moving quickly, as I wanted to cover some distance before the 50k runners came through. The lead runners came through about 700m into the lap, and the main bunch passed within the next few hundred metres.

My longest training sessions heading in to Naseby had been of marathon length, and that showed in my lap times. I recorded the first four laps as 80m:12s, 78m:44s, 78m:21s, and 78m:20s. The 5th lap rapidly became a lot harder and my lap time increased to 82m:51s. The final three laps were 89m:19s, 89m:28s, and 88m:07s.

Map of the 10k loop.

I always know when an ultra has taken a lot out of me as it takes a long time for me to write the report. This happened with Naseby, but more because I was already tired before the race than because the course was difficult. Work had been hectic in the weeks leading up to the race and I had been short on sleep on a number of occaisions. I was also treating this event as training for the 24 hour race on 2/3 October, so rather than tapering as the race drew near I walked a total of 50km (over 4 sessions) earlier in the week. All told I was happy with my time of 11h:05m:25s. I had hoped that I might be about 45 minutes faster, but that didn't take account of my already tired state.

Links:

Race website

Preview article in the NZ Herald

My photos on Flickr

Photos and report from Paul Charteris

Dawn ‘till Dark at the Tarawera Ultramarathon

My first trail 50 miler, this was the second longest event (by time) that I have done. I walked the 86km event in 13h:40m:11s. The start at 7am was just getting light, but still reasonably dark in the trees, and by the time I finished at 8:40pm it had been well and truly dark for quite some time.

Starting in the dark

The start was slow and I had to weave my way through and past runners who were walking very slowly up the early hills. They’d be catching and passing me later on; but for now I needed to play to my strengths and get ahead while I could.

I soon caught up to Vivian Cheng. I would catch and pass her on the uphills, and then she would pass me again on the flat. A few photos, and soon after 5km Vivian moved off ahead. I thought I might see her later on the long climbs after the Miller Road aid station.

Heading towards Blue Lake I found myself alone on a nice section of single track through the bush. Course markings were few and far between along here and I wasn’t always entirely confident that I was on the right track. Not long before the track came out at Blue Lake I was caught by Belinda Archer. We were both glad of the reassurance that someone else was heading in the same direction! It turned out this was Belinda’s first 100km event, having decided to do this in preference to TNF100 in Sydney. In retrospect there wasn’t actually anywhere to go wrong along this section, but that would soon change...

A short distance along the Blue Lake track and we reached an unmarked major intersection. Down and to the left towards the lake, or up and to the right? We went right for 100m or so, and still not having seen a marker went back to the intersection and tried the other track. Perhaps 300m along that track split into three branches, and none of those had course markers either! So it was back to the intersection and back on to the uphill track again.

Heather, Norman and Belinda

Emerging on to the right track I saw that Norman Chan and Heather Hope were just up ahead. Belinda and I slowly caught up and we travelled as a largely as a group through to the Tikitapu aid station (although they would run ahead on the flats, and I would catch up on the climbs).

Coming out of the aid station I somehow made some time on all three, but they all caught back up again as we stopped to ponder another unmarked intersection. This time the reasoning of “stay close to the lake” proved correct.

The trail popped out on to the road and along to Lake Okareka. Again I got ahead on the uphill, but was caught and passed on the downhill. Belinda, Heather, and Norman checked into the aid station before me, but the girls went off to use the toilets and I had left before they re-emerged.

A short distance up the road the surface turned to gravel (yay!) and then came another aid station marking the start of the Western Okataina Walkway (Millar Road). It was 18km to the next aid station at Okataina Lodge, so I made sure I stocked up. A drink of coke, a drink of water, top my bottles up, a banana, some Ems cookie, and a few jellybeans.

The Western Okataina Walkway started innocuously enough, and much of it seemed to be a good surface for walking, but it was deceptively brutal. My memory is of long climbs, and very few flat areas for respite.

Lake Okataina

Okataina Lodge aid station was a welcome site. Saw Richard Wall – he offered salt tablets (which I declined) and a casual warning that the trail ahead was perhaps not as easy as I thought. He didn’t tell me at the time, but apparently Vivian was only 5-10 minutes ahead at this point.

On to the Eastern Okataina Walkway. What was Richard on about? This was a lovely trail.... but then came a hill, a big hill, then a few more undulations, and when the trail flattened out it was a little more technical with roots and rocks. Up another climb, drop down into a fairly narrow chasm, then out to the lake shore again. This was the Humphries Bay aid station, 48km, on the shores of Lake Tarawera.

I stocked up on drink and supplies then on my way again. The track goes inland a short way from the lake for a while. When it comes back out to the lake there is a sheer rock wall to the left and I lost the GPS signal. From memory this was pretty much flat, just a little technical with rocks and roots once one was already tired. I can’t remember too much about this section, so I must have been fairly tired.

At some point we reached Tarawera Outlet and from there we had the noise of the river running close to the track. The surface generally seemed to be good along this section, and the river was a welcome distraction. I stopped to take a photo of a small set of falls, shining brightly in the sun. A bit further down the track was the main set of falls – spectacular – but my camera battery died!

Tarawera River

The low falls

Across the 60km finish in 9h55, some 2 hours slower than I thought I might be. Stopped to regroup, refuel, and talk to Mick Finn who had decided to call it a day rather than carry on for the 100km. As I was there a couple more people came through, including Michelle Dickinson and Michael Cartwright.

Michael is most recently from Seattle and was over here on holiday with his wife Tamara, a vacation conveniently timed so that they could both run Tarawera. I had only met Michael a few days earlier but it was good to have a familiar face to continue on with. We set off along the forestry road. Although wide, arid, and dusty, it was also nice and flat, so it seemed like travel would be straight forward.

A sharp turn right on to a side road and soon we were on a long, long hill. Four runners – two wearing yellow and two wearing red – were walking up ahead. I dropped Michael and managed to catch and pass all four runners. After we finally got to the top of the hill the runners in red caught and passed me, but I never saw the two runners in yellow again.

Michael caught up again some way down the road, and then ran on ahead. I then caught up when he stopped to walk, and then I would edge ahead. We left the Titoki aid station together. Signs on the road indicated turn right for the long course (100km) and left for the “short course”. We were just here for the short course so we turned left. More sections of forestry road, but also some single track beside the river – through ferns under a canopy of pine. On to another forestry road that felt like a long straight avenue, and then the Fisherman’s Bridge (70km) aid station. Michael was ahead of me by this point, and was already heading out as I was just arriving.

A quick chat to the RD Paul Charteris, a few moments to catch my breath, drink, and eat, and then I was off again. A very nice, little used road along this section. The light was starting to fade.

I caught Michael with about 8km to go (so probably at around 78km) – I couldn’t be sure of the exact distance as my GPS had run out of juice, and this last section would be done without any electronic feedback as to time or distance. It sounded like Michael’s legs were toasted and he was planning on walking the remaining distance to the finish. I kept on going and soon it was sufficiently dark that I could no longer avoid getting my light out.

The Finish
Photo: Richard Wall
 

In the world of torch light the markers became a lot harder to spot – generally not a problem along a lot of the narrow single track, but much more of a problem as we reached Kawerau and the track ran alongside some wide open grassy spaces – where to go. The last 5km in the dark were definitely very slow, but then ahead was a group of runners (walking). I caught up to them and we soon found ourselves on a street. A short distance down the street, across another field, and there was the finish!

More photos available on Flickr.

Marlborough 50 2005

I had found it a little difficult to get as much training under my belt as I had hoped for, not least because it had been so hot in Upper Hutt leading up to the race. There were also some days where the training just did not go as planned. With a longest training run of only 42km, I thought I might be a little under done.

Running past High Field Estate, a little before the
7km mark.

As it turned out, the heat in Upper Hutt had been a good thing, as we were in for even hotter temperatures in Blenheim. Temperatures soared from less than 10 degrees celsius at the 7am start to an official 30 degrees celsius in the early afternoon. The temperature was 36C in the sponsor's vineyard, which must have been about the same temperature that we were experiencing on the road.

First Half
Lap 1: Jamie took off at a fast but relaxed pace, and within 50m I had resigned myself to not being first, not that I ever realistically expected to be. Of more concern was that I was in second and no one else was challenging me, not even Annie who had been to the 100km World Cup last year. Maybe I was running too fast? At any rate, I settled into my routine of running to the 5km mark, walking for 5 minutes, and then running to the 10km mark for another 5 minute walk - a routine that would be unbroken for the first half of the race.

Lap 2: Jamie had more than a 4 and a half minute lead on me by the end of this lap. Everyone exchanged pleasantries on the out-and-back of Hawkesbury Road, but otherwise it was fairly much a solo run. I had good walking form on my walk breaks and everything was going well. By the end of the lap Jamie had extended his lead slightly to 5 minutes.

Lap 3 passed without incident, and soon it was on to Lap 4. At the start of Lap 4 (30km) I started fueled up on a hot cross bun as I walked the first 5 minutes of the lap. Initially a little dry, but a nice change from sports gel. Only a few km into the lap, we found out from one of the local vineyard owners that the temperature was already at 34C!! Hailing from the somewhat cooler climes of Dunedin, Jamie was starting to feel the effects of the heat and didn't seem to have gained any extra ground during the previous lap. Much to my surprise, from about the 5km mark I started to catch glimpses of him in the distance, and the gap between us seemed to be narrowing. Jamie, Norilie, and I came together in a bunch almost exactly at the 39km mark. I caught and passed Norilie, then within a few metres I had also passed Jamie. I was in the lead! Times at the 40km mark were incredibly close: I recorded 3:35:36, Jamie 3:35:51, and Norilie 3:35:59.

Second Half

The final turn-around on Hawkesbury
Rd, about 1 mile into the last lap.

Lap 5: After a longer than intended stop at the start/finish aid station, it was off again to record my time for the marathon (3:47:49). I was starting to feel a little tired now, so the walking breaks were a little more frequent. However, I was conscious that Norilie and Jamie were right behind me, so I made sure that I kept up a good pace and passed quickly through the aid stations. At the start of Lap 6 I availed myself of the "Portaloo", providing Norilie with an opportunity to slip into the lead. The challenge was short lived, however, as I managed to regain the lead by 3km into the lap. From this lap onwards we started putting ice in my cap at each aid station. The half hour between aid stations was almost enough time for the ice to melt, and it certainly made a huge difference to just how hot I was feeling.

At the start of lap 7 (60km) I refuelled with some "Backcountry Cuisine" mashed potato - very welcome, as I had been starting to get more than a little hungry. By now the heat and lack of training were starting to take their toll, and I was down to walk 1km, run 1km. Norilie would close the gap while I was walking, and I would extend it again while running. I was also still moving quickly through the aid stations, whereas the others were stopping for a short break. However, I was feeling increasingly tired in the heat, I was also starting to wonder whether I should withdraw, but I kept telling myself that I couldn't do that now that I was actually leading the race.

Lap 8: The last lap! Continued with the walk 1km, run 1km schedule. From 9km walked 500m to the corner, then ran part of the way to the 10km mark. Walked a bit more to get to 10km, and then ran the rest of the way to the finish, 450m down the road.

Prize Giving

Final Standings
Only three people finished the 50 mile event. I was first in 8:07:39, Norilie Lopez was second in 8:12:20, and Jamie Sinclair was third in 8:38:16. Annie Faletanoai withdrew at the 50km mark, although apparently this was planned. Jim Kerse withdrew at the 60km mark.



And what they went on to do...

Norilie Lopez took honours as 1st female at the Coburg Harriers 24 Hour Carnival, 16-17 April 2005, recording a distance of 162.800km;

Karen Neale was 26th female at the IAU 100km World Challenge, Lake Saroma, Japan, 26 June 2005, finishing in 11:05:40; and

Jamie Sinclair and Jim Kerse both completed the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, 25-26 June 2005. Jamie's time was 24:04:13, and Jim's time was 29:01:07.

Some Related Links:

Omaka Springs winery

Backcountry Cuisine