I was still queueing for the toilets when the first wave gun fired, so had a very nervous 5 minutes before our wave was to go. Just managed in time, joining the rear of the second wave as I didn't want to be involved in any mad rush down the steep first section. I thought this was the most dangerous section of the course - large loose stones, lots of people around so your visibility is very short and most people shooting off too quick. Was pleased to get to the stairs where we had to stop for short while before gently making my way down. Dennis Wylie had stopped half way down, suffering from what he described as "arse cramps". Their weren't as many steps as I had imagined, and soon found myself in fantastic running country.
Took it very easy to Cox's, deliberately slowing myself down. Had two toilet stops in the first hour which is ridiculous given I would never normally do so on an hour run, but may have something to do with all the liquids I was taking on at each aid station. As I got to Megalong Road I started to stretch it out a bit but got caught in traffic on the technical section in the 2-3kms before Coxs which slowed me down again. Waded through Cox's river which was fun but not so getting the shoes sandy on the other side doubling their weight. Passed over the mats in 1:22 and started the hills in earnest. Ran most of them up to Mini Mini - walking (but with a lengthy stride) only the very steep sections. Went past Uncle Dave and Blue Dog on this section and was surprised at how quickly Mini Mini came up. Then headed up to Pluvi where I was walking a little bit more and again was surprised at how quickly it cam around. Took on a load of fluids and snakes at the top and felt great to be running on a flattish section starting Black Range.
The start of Black Range was probably my most encouraging section as I was starting to overtake first wave runners who appeared to have slowed down considerably. I worked out that if I averaged 5:00/km until the finish I'd be around 4 hours so just tried to keep the legs rolling over and churn out the kms. This worked until about the 31-32km mark where I was increasingly looking out for guidance as to how far there was to go. There were fewer people on the track here to so I wasn't overtaking so many. By 35km I was starting to struggle. Caught a chap I worked out was called John Hill (organises the High 5 products?) by the shouts he was getting but from here any slight incline was getting harder and harder to negotiate. I was desperately waiting for Caves Road, knowing that was around 37km and I'd only have 8km to go. The two hills before Caves Road did it for me - walked them slowly and really struggled to get any pace in the legs after that. John Hill (appropriately enough) was overtaking me on the uphills and I'd catch him again on the flat/downhills. Crossed Caves Road and briefly the spirits lifted but, to be honest, from then on I was just hanging on - walking even only slight inclines. Realised that you can make up huge amounts of time if you can finish this race strongly.
The sounds of the announcers voice at about the 43km was just fantastic. Pushed down the steep section to Jenolan Caves where others were starting to cramp up (overtook John Hills for the last time here) and gave it one final burst leading into the finish line. Felt a bit emotional at this point (obviously the feminine side comes out in times of extreme fatigue) and could barely manage a word to Kirst, Dad and the kids. But was surprised and pretty pleased with the time (4:12:35).
Amazing run by Fats. I hope he never beats me by 50 minutes in a race again. Great run by MPH too - I was half expecting to catch him along Black Range but he put time on me over that section. Chris also ran really well (4:04) given the interruptions in his training in the last 6 weeks. If anyone deserves to go sub-4 it's him.
Note for next year - if trying to beat 4 hours, take it a little quicker to Cox's (1:15 I reckon), about the same up the hills and try and finish strong. This may require training runs of more than 30km rather than stepping into the unknown shortly after Pluvi.
