Archive for December, 2009

Athlete: Bruce

hi all

myself, rob.d and nigel have just completed the six inch marathon, from north dandalup to dwellingup.

first of all iwant to say how proud iam of the boys efforts,it was a great day ,got a bit hot towards end.

i was happy with my time and im sure rob and nigel where to,on the day everything went well , maybe acouple of wrong turns but no one got lost.i think the best way of looking at a run like this is the friends you are running with and the ability and efforts of each runner.i enjoyed my second ultra , and would like to thank rob and nigel for being out there.

bruce.

Athlete: Rob Donkersloot

Hi Chris

Here’s my race report for 6 Inch. Bruce is a man of few words, In his report I think he down played his effort and courage in Sunday’s race by more than just a little bit. Sorry about the length of this, but when it comes to writing stuff I’m a man of lots of words, and I’m on holidays with time on my hands.

The 6 Inch race is a 46km trail marathon from North Dandalup to Dwellingup. You can read more info about the race here: www.6inchtrailmarathon.com.

I think it was just after the Kep race in May that Nigel said to me he wanted to try and take part in the 6 Inch trail marathon this year. Most of us know Nigel had some health issues since then which seriously affected his running, and so I wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to make it to the start line. That given, we decided to start training for the race about 10 weeks ago, after I had recovered a bit from the 100 mile race. Bruce and Mick Hearn also put up their hand to give it a go, so we had a great little group going, training each weekend with a 30 to 40km trail run either on the 6 Inch course, or closer to home at Walyunga or on Eagle View. Bruce also joined me for 13km of hill training at Bold Park each Wednesday. Bruce and Mick had finished the City to Surf Marathon, so had a pretty good base, Nigel on the other hand hadn’t been able to do anything long for many months.

Training went well until our “double circumnavigation” attempt of Eagle View a month ago when Mick hurt his achilles. Unfortunately despite lots of physio, some rest, and a few attempts at long runs, the achilles just didn’t come good for Mick, so a week before the 6 Inch race he decided to pull out as a runner, but he offered his services as a volunteer instead.

We had all booked into the Dwellingup Caravan Park for Saturday night. I arrived about 2pm, but couldn’t find neither Bruce or Nigel. I finally ran into them at 6:30pm when they told me they had been doing some last minute carbo loading at the Dwellingup Hotel.

Sunday morning I was up at 2am for a pancake breakfast, and drove the 30km or so to the start line at North Dandalup, arriving there just before 4am, ready for the race briefing before a 4:30am race start. The start is at such an early hour because of the potential of hot weather at this time of the year, and with a forecast of 34 degrees, I was very glad this decision had been made. That given, Saturday had been hot also, and it hadn’t cooled down as much as I would have liked overnight.

I caught up with Bruce and Nigel as well as the other 17 competitors including Big Kev Matthews. I knew Nigel was planning to run with me during the race, however I didn’t know what Bruce’s plans were. I had asked him a couple of time in the preceding weeks, however he wasn’t sure what his tactics were going to be. I thought I would just leave it, and see what he chose to do on the day.

The race starts with an ascent of what is known as Gold Mine Hill. Think the hill on Sunday Kinross runs, where you leave the beach at Quinns Rocks to head up Quinns Road to Hester Avenue. Then make it a little steeper, and 3.5km long. Oh, and slippery gravel also. I had planned to run some of this, and walk some as it’s easy to burn yourself out here almost before the race has actually begun. Last year a lot of the competitors took this approach, but this year many had other thoughts, and it looked like they were racing for an imaginary prize to be the first to the top. Nigel plus another runner stayed with me has we got going, but Bruce was well ahead, and disappearing into the darkness of the very early morning.

At the top of Gold Mine Hill we joined the actual Munda Biddi trail, and saw Mick there directing us to turn left down a track, when I very well knew we had to turn right. My discussion with Mick the previous night about sending the other runners in the wrong direction had obviously been misinterpreted.

With the fast start up Gold Mine by so many, I knew Nigel, myself and another Rob who was running with us were close to the back of the field. There couldn’t be too many people behind us I thought. Once you have climbed to the top of the scarp, the trail flattens out quite a bit, allowing for some faster running at 5:20 to 6:00 pace. It was still relatively mild as the sun rose through the trees, and everything was going dandily until the other Rob who was running to my left said “did you see that snake I hadn’t spotted it but asked him what it was. He reckoned it was a 4 to 5 foot tiger snake lying on the trail itself. I was certainly a lot more careful about the twigs and branches I stepped on during the rest of the race.

At the 13km mark we came across Big Kev Matthews and his mate Brett, stopped at an intersection. Now Kev is a lot faster than I am so I knew something was up. Kev explained they had followed the trail, but ended up at the main road, so they had doubled back. I looked at my GPS and the map seemed to show the trail veering left, and instructed everyone to follow the track in that direction. After 50 metres or so the track became very overgrown, and it just didn’t look right, so I checked my GPS again, and discovered my screen had frozen. I refreshed it, and it quickly showed us that we were about 500 metres off track. We turned around to rejoin the right trail, cursing the bonus kilometre we had just added to our run…though nowhere near as loudly as Kev who wasn’t happy at all with the extra 4km he and Brett had run, turning their race from 46km to a round 50km event.

We arrived at the 23km half way mark aid station to be greeted by my wife Sue and my trail running buddy Bernadette. We tried to refill our water as quickly as possible, however Rob had a spare fuel belt here, so was out of there in seconds, while Nigel and I messed around with bottles and stuff. I found out Nigel and I were in 15th and 16th position, and I asked how far the next runner was ahead, expecting an answer of maybe a minute or two…the answer was a disappointing 9 minutes, well over a kilometre in front of us.

One thing that ultra running has taught me is you need to run at your own pace. Chasing others who are running faster is a quick recipe for disaster. That’s all well and good, but here was Nigel and I with just about all others (Bruce included) seemingly a long way ahead. I found out after the race that Bruce had gone through here 24 minutes ahead of us.

Not long after leaving the aid station Nigel turned to me and said he thought we weren’t going to be catching anyone ahead, as they were all fast runners. I replied I reckoned there was a big difference between the 23km mark and the 40km mark in a race, and that we would be sure to catch a number of guys who would have to start struggling sooner or later. As I said it, I wasn’t sure if I actually believed it. Nigel was right, the guys ahead were good runners, and 9 minutes was a lot to make up. Maybe they were just running a lot better than we were.

Within a couple of kilometres we caught the other Rob who had shot ahead at the aid station, and ran past him on a 3.5 kilometre dead straight, but up-hill section which runs parallel with the Alcoa conveyor belt. It was at this point I also noticed that the temperature was becoming very uncomfortable. The day was heating up, and it was only 7:30am.

Soon after the conveyor belt, you run towards Oakley Dam, and start a quite technical climb up some reasonably steep hills. It was at the end of this section that Nigel started to experience cramping in his legs. Nothing too serious at first, but it was a sign of things to come. Despite Nigel’s cramps we maintained a reasonable pace and I was surprised when at around the 32km mark we saw a runner ahead. He was walking, we were running and it didn’t take long for us to overtake him. A few hundred metres further there was another runner who we recognised as Aaron, another one of our training partners. As we ran past I asked Aaron how he was, and though he said he was fine, he certainly didn’t seem to say it with much conviction. My thoughts re some of the other runners having gone out too fast seemed to have been correct.

The next aid station was at 35km, and as we arrived there we saw Bruce sitting in a chair. My good friend Suzy who was running the aid station said Bruce had stated he couldn’t continue, though as an experienced ironman triathlete and ultra runner she didn’t take that as the end of the story, filling him up with Endura energy drink, water and electrolytes to see whether he would recover. Nigel and I refilled our hydration packs with water, and as I asked Nigel whether he was right to go, Bruce jumped up and said, I’m going too. And so the three of us set out for the last 11km section to Dwellingup, which included some of the very worst hills of the race in the next 4 kilometre section. By now it was getting seriously warm also.

After about a kilometre or so, Nigel and Bruce started to fall back a bit. I looked behind me and there was about a 50 metre gap. I was a little concerned for Bruce, and was starting to doubt the wisdom in his decision to continue. I kept running at my own pace, and was flabbergasted when all of a sudden I hear Bruce just behind me, with a full head of steam. Soon he was 100 metres ahead, and we kept this distance between us for some time. I slowly started making up the difference, with Bruce slowing slightly, but when I got to within 10 metres, he took off again. It was only with 1.5km to go to the finish line that I finally overtook Bruce for the final time. I finished in 5:13, with Bruce coming in just a couple of minutes later.

Nigel in the mean time had succumbed to his cramps, with them coming more often and becoming more serious, and this reducing him to a walk for a bit of the time. Nigel’s final time was 5:30.

Just an amazing effort by Bruce to recover and finish the way he did. Incredible. And for Nigel to have to fight leg cramps for the last 10km, but still to battle on and finish, outstanding.

Given the extra bonus kilometre and the hot conditions I was reasonably happy with 10th position out of 19 runners and with my race time of 5:13, which was 4 minutes slower than last year.

Our training partner Aaron also managed to finish, though he said he had suffered from some serious hallucinations, where he reckoned the leaves on the trail had turned into fish, and a Subaru Outback kept appearing about 200 metres ahead of him, and then disappearing again as he approached. It was a tough day at the office for everyone who ran this race.

A huge thanks to Nigel, Bruce and Mick, the last couple of months of trail runs have been great, really enjoyed your company.

5 months to Kep, where we can do it all again.

Rob

Athlete: Bob Edwards

Hi all

Thought I would try and put together a report for all to read about Ironman WA that I went to last Saturday. It was about 20 weeks ago that I signed up to participate in this year’s ironman WA held in Busselton. First thing that struck me was the $600.00 it was to enter, I thought this must be a combination of a rip off and to put people off who were only a bit interested. However I paid up and I was in.

Next, I found myself a 20 week programme, weighed myself at 89kg and then started swimming at obscene hours in the morning before work, sitting on an even more ridiculous uncomfortable bike seat for hours and running with what always seemed to be aching quads. The programme was based on 3 training sessions for each discipline a week, so 9 sessions a week. When I first read the programme I thought it must be wrong because 9 into 7 doesn’t work but you soon realise that with one rest day you have to train twice a day on 3 days of the week. The basis of the training was every week the hours would increase slightly to a maximum of 18 hours 4 weeks before the race, with every 4th week an easier rest week. In total over the 20 weeks I clocked up 115kms in the pool, 105 hours in the saddle and 72 hours on running.

I was happy that I stuck to the programme (give or take the odd beer and a missed early morning swim session) and headed down to Busselton last Thursday weighing 84kg. Registration was on the Thursday. Then on the Friday you had to rack your bike and take your 2 kit bags, one for the swim/bike transition and one for the bike/run. Then back to our unit for more pasta and an early night.

Race morning I got up at 4.00am, had my brekkie and headed down to the start with Deb at 5.00. Here I pumped my bike tyres put my drinks in the cages and did one final check of the bike. Then it was on with the wetsuit and down to the jetty for the start. At this point with 1250 competitors waiting for the start you can feel the anticipation in the air. It was a perfect morning and ocean was like glass. I positioned myself at the back and when the siren went I slowly walked out until the majority had gone and the started swimming. I am not a swimmer and I just wanted clear water all the way. I have recently learnt to swim bi lateral and started like this but after about 500m went into breathing on the one side as I found it more relaxing and comfortable. It didn’t seem to take too long to get to the end of the jetty (half way) and make the turnaround then I realised there was a current as it was definitely slower go back into shore. It is an amazing swim and you can see the bottom the entire way. I finally made it onto the beach and clocked a swim time of 1:27:28 which put me 998th overall but I was rapped.

Then it was into transition, drink, eat, change, toilet, rest, more drink, more rest and onto the bike. My transition time was 10:15 which I thought was not too bad but obviously not as I was now down to 1,059th position. The bike was flat but it didn’t take long for the winds to start pushing into your face. My first 60km lap on the bike was just over the 2 hours which was what I planned but then it started to warm up and I thought that would slow me down, however I seemed to keep a reasonable even pace and clocked a riding time of 6 hours and 15 minutes. This had pushed me back up the field a few places only to be thrown back towards the end of the field again following the next transition. If you thought the first transition was slow this one was 13:41. 8 hours had passed since the start and I was just having a bit of chill out time thinking about the marathon to follow when I heard the announcer calling the first pro over the finish line. Apparently he had run a 2:45 marathon. Obscene!

Running gear was on, one quick look at the watch which told me that if I could run close to a 5 hour marathon I would have a chance of getting under 13 hours which I have always said would be a bonus on top of finishing in one piece. As soon as I came out of the transition tent the first thing to hit you was the heat again. It seemed to bore straight into you. I was able to get into a bit of a rhythm and went through the first 14km loop in about 1 hour 25 mins. Then I hit a really bad patch feeling sick and like I was overheating. At this point I was seeing the casualties throwing up at the sides of the road and ambulances becoming more active. In a strange way It picked me up a bit knowing it was not just me suffering. I looked at my watch and at 18km I had been walking far too long and had just done a 9 minute km. I knew that I had to move faster or I would be there all night. Then I saw my two sons Bob and Harry who were cheering me and giving me as much encouragement possible. It was here I started running again somehow the sickness went and I was only left with the pain of running. From here I ran/jogged/shuffled to the end, walking through aid stations every 2km to fuel. I finally turned into the finish chute and clocked a 4:50:18 marathon and an overall time of 12 hours:57 minutes:46 seconds. I was so pleased to finish and to get under the 13 hours was even better.

This was an extremely tough event but an amazing experience that I would recommend if you want to try something different. If you do decide to give it a go a couple of tips are, make sure you have heaps of time. It may be 18 hours of training at the peak week but that doesn’t include the extra recovery time and the time you can’t socialise because you have to train next morning etc. Also you need a cash surplus as you will not get away with just the $600.00 entry fee, there is accommodation, possible new bike, new tyres, new tubes, new training clothes, nutrition etc. As for the $600.00 entry fee I have a complete different attitude to that now. Unless you do it you cannot see the organisation that goes into this event and the enormity of it and I have no problem with this fee now.

Finally the thankyou’s. The 1500 volunteers and the people of Busselton were amazing for the entire 4 days we were there. The support on the course from the North Coast Tri Club who I trained many hours with. Fiona, Julie, Ali and Simon who were popping up everywhere. Northern suburbs running group who are inspirational and are the reason why I still run after all these years (big thanks to Chris and Ali for all the years of dedication to the group.) My kids Bob, Rhiannon and Harry who came down and made it very special for me. And the biggest thanks to Deb who has helped me through the entire 20 weeks with nutrition advice, supplying me with the food and meals I need, encouraging me to train when you have the off day, putting up with me falling asleep on the sofa at 8.00pm on a Saturday night and for being at the finish chute on Saturday evening for me to hug and x before crossing the finish line.

Will I do another? I have too because I have to improve on the 24 minutes I spent in transition!

Regards,
Bob