2024 Running Wrapup

To be honest this is also an excuse to post a bunch of photos.

After finishing Coast to Kosci 2023 with an inclement weather finish I was about to learn some lessons on recovery and the risks of diving back into running too soon. I got back into running pretty quickly, and travelling to Western Australia for Christmas meant I used that opportunity to do some exploring on foot.

There is a short film of the South West WA Christmas Day adventure here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVc-tat3uys

Then the year kicks off with some Ultra Mediocre club runs, including the New Years Track Marathon, and the Great Garage Ultra, mixed in with some volunteering at the Kowen New Years Resolution Run.

At some point during January I managed to get sick with COVID, which knocked me out for at least a week, and in hindsight probably affected me for longer than I thought.

I had thrown my name in the hat for the Six Foot Marathon, and my name was drawn so I figured I needed to put in a training block for that. One of the more notable runs in the build up was a classic Main Range loop - always a good time.

Six Foot Marathon

In March I ran the Six Foot Track Marathon. It turns out that I didn't end up writing a race report for it, but this is an excellent event I recommend having a crack if you get the chance.

As the name implies it follows the Six Foot Track from Katoomba to Jenolan Caves. It's a 45km point-to-point with frequent aid stations staffed by the volunteer firies.

I finished in 4:33 - Not a terrible time for me. I learned a bunch in this - definitely did the first 15km too hard, and just couldn't get the legs going in the second half. Tweaks to my nutrition had gone pretty well though, so that was promising.

Overall it was a good day out.

Not long after Six Foot I realised I needed to give myself a bit of a break - I think diving back in too soon after C2K, then getting sick, then a training block for Six Foot was a little much and my body needed some time - So I stopped all running (and in fact even all cross training) for a week to see how that would go... and it turns out that's probably all I needed.

It seems like a week is perhaps not worth making a fuss over, but it's exactly what my body and mind was asking for. It's likely that if I had've kept pushing I may have needed longer time off.

KNP Adventures

To mark the end of that little break I did a day trip down to Kosciuszko National Park to do a hike/run and sunrise photography trip up to the summit of Tatangara Mountain.

For the rest of the afternoon I explored some more of Long Plain on foot (before being thwarted by an area closed for pest control), then jumped on the mountain bike and went for a ride to the source of the Murrumbidgee River. I didn't quite get there, due to the place being overgrown with blackberry bushes.

The following day I spent some time up around Mt Franklin on the mountain bike to check out some of the proposed BRuTUS course and, of course, more sunrise photos.

That was a good way to get back into the swing of things.

GUMBY

April is the month of the Great Ultra Mediocre Back Yarder - the GUMBY. I crewed Rachel for this one, not doing any running myself and made myself useful around the camp.

I also tried to take a bunch of photos for people - something I quite enjoy is trying to capture the raw emotions that come out to play in long endurance events.

I'd signed up for the Ultra Adelaide 100km which took place at the start of July, so then I was into a training block for that.

In the midst of that was running the Tallaganda 30x30, where a small group of runners ran 30km to raise awareness for the protection of Tallaganda State Forest - A section of native forest and home to the endangered Greater Glider. Being able to be involved in this was a privilege, and good fun.

After that was a resumption in training, including some fun runs like the Mt Coree round:

and exploring parts of the Gudgenby Valley - with a full writeup here: https://mtnbeard.com/gudgenby624/

Volunteering at the Kowen Winter Trails event was also very fulfilling. On the lead in to Ultra Adelaide I decided to join for a Parkun whilst down in sale, and set a new 5km PB of 18:27, giving me confidence going into UA.

Ultra Adelaide 100km

I ran the Ultra Adelaide 100km at the Start of July. I really enjoyed the course, a point-to-point from near Kuitpo into the Adelaide CBD.

The full writeup of that one is here: https://mtnbeard.com/ua2024/

Whatever I did in the training for Ultra Adelaide worked well, as I smashed my goal and placed 3rd in a time of 10:48. Pacing and nutrition went really well for this one, which has given me a lot of confidence and things to tweak for future events.

Recovery from that went pretty well - I did a bunch of walking, cycling, and hiking to try to get photos of snow on the mountains down in Namadgi.

The night I finished Ultra Adelaide I applied to run the 2024 edition of Coast to Kosci, using UA 100km as the qualifier.

I got the exciting yet terrifying call from Greg at the end of July to indicate that I was in for C2K, which meant I needed to get training (after appropriate recovery from UA).

Training for C2K

Training for C2K for the most part was pretty uneventful. It was a pretty busy part of the year outside of running, so most of the running was around Canberra. That's not necessarily a bad thing, particularly for an event that is predominantly road.

In October was the Brindabella Ranges Ultimate Trail Ultra Spectacular (BRuTUS) put on by Ultra Mediocre Runners of Canberra. I didn't run this one, but did a bunch of running around for course recon, course marking, and on the day.

BRuTUS for me culminated in pacing Rachel for the last 10km of her 100km race, a pretty special opportunity.

Jagungal Wilderness

I spent a couple of days using running training as an excuse to explore more of the Snowy Mountains. There is something that I really enjoy about this area, so spending time up here is always worth it.

The first day I started in the early afternoon at the Bullocks Hill horse camp, making my way out onto the open plains and crossing Tantangara Creek just before it meets with the Murrumbidgee River. After a small side-track to have a look at some of the Snowy Hydro monitoring equipment on the Murrumbidgee, I headed down the Hain’s Hut trail to take in the view at the hut.

In Hain’s Hut was a sign left asking people to call the SES regarding a search for a missing person - Once I got some phone coverage back up the hill I called the SES, and it turns out that this person had been found. Later I would learn that this was about the search for a local photographer, who was missing for two weeks before being found injured but alive.

The second day was an early start to pack up the tent and drive out along the winding Tooma Road to the Round Mountain trailhead, and head into the Jagungal Wilderness. I decided to do the loop in a clockwise direction, which first took me along the Farm Ridge Trail, descending into the valley formed by the Tumut River - an absolutely stunning vista, particularly in the early morning cloud and light.

Making my way up along fire trail (though still challenging terrain) I ran across a ridgeline with periodic sections of wildflowers, before intersecting with the Grey Mare Trail (and the Australian Alps Walking trail). This I would follow past O’Keefe’s hut, and eventually to the footpad to the summit of Mt Jagungal. After chatting with some hikers here (I couldn’t tell if they were impressed I was running the loop, or thought I was insane), I began the climb up Jagungal - Not too bad of a climb despite being a bit scrubby, and with epic views of the surrounding plains from the summit.

Descending Jagungal the remaining loop would be easier terrain to move through, though exposed as the sun was coming up. I stopped in at Derschkos Hut to filter some water from the creek and then plodded along the relatively flatter track with the prominent Mt Jagungal slowly getting smaller behind me. One last short climb, and I was back at the trailhead.

This was a refreshing couple of days running in the mountains.

Coast to Kosci 2024

Then it was C2K time!

Like Ultra Adelaide, I exceeded my expectations for C2K 2024. The full writeup is here: https://mtnbeard.com/c2k-2024/

To come in under 30 hours, in 5th place overall / third male and to witness the record-breaking runs of both Allie and Cassie was really something special.

Once again I learned a lot from this year - in particular about pacing, hydration and nutrition when it's hot. Interestingly, I think I also learned some lessons about how to push myself when deep into those late-game miles which I'm sure will come in handy in the future.

After last year I wanted to ensure I recovered properly, enforcing a two-week ban on running for myself afterwards. Then I've gradually started running again, and have also been doing more cycling and strength work and at this stage am feeling pretty good about 2025.

Looking to 2025

What's on for 2025! Great question!

I honestly haven't decided yet. There's plenty of good events to run in Australia and abroad, and there are also plenty of great routes to run that don't have to be some kind of event. That's one thing I think I'd like to get back to - running routes in the wilderness just for the fun of it.

There's a few races that I'm eyeing off, and of course there is already the question of whether I will apply to run Coast to Kosci 2025. Another pin on the Akubra will always look good...