Coast to Kosci 2024

Coast to Kosciuszko is a 240km ultramarathon that starts on the beach at Twofold Bay, near Eden, and runs to the summit of the highest point on mainland Australia - Mt Kosciuszko - before finishing at Charlotte Pass. It takes in varying terrain and roads, and being limited to about 50 runners has a real community feel to it.

Initially after finishing last year with an inclement weather finish, I wasn't sure about going back this year. I still loved the race, but I just wasn't sure about putting myself through that again. I even had some indecision and listlessness around which events to run early in the year, and what would qualify me for C2K 2024 should I decide to do it again.

Eventually though, I decided I would run a qualifier and then apply. I think I had actually decided long before, because I wanted to both try for a full summit finish, and to do the proper course without the detour from last year so that I could say I'd done it completely under my own power.

So there we have it. I ran the Ultra Adelaide 100k to act as the qualifier, applied the same day I finished Ultra Adelaide, and then was absolutely stoked when Greg called me to offer me a spot (although I was sick at the time so probably didn't sound stoked...)

The preparation and training probably wasn't perfect, but it never is. Balancing work, life and other things going on I think I had done less running than last year, but I felt fitter. I was also much more relaxed about the race, and part of that will be knowing what to expect.

This year, the weather was forecast to be much better. In fact, it was almost looking a little bit on the warmer side. We arrived in Eden on Thursday afternoon, and checked into the accomodation before I had a bit of a nap and prepared everything for the next day.

Later, we ambled over to the registration area where the crew could get some beers and a feed and we could chat with the other runners and crew. We picked up the race kit, snacked on some food and then turned in for an early night.

At 4AM the following morning the caravan park was a hive of activity - probably much more so than normal at 4AM. After the usual preparations we head over to the beach to be greeted with a cracking sunrise and the smoking ceremony. Uncle BJ Lyle talks us through a Welcome to Country, and we take some photos.

Then, at 5:30AM, the journey begins.

Tip for new players - take it easy off the beach unless you like sand in your shoes.

Only 2 or 3 kilometres in, the fire trails had been freshly graded and a few people nearly missed the turnoff onto Brandy Creek Fire Trail, especially since we were so busy chatting. Luckily Pam and a few others noticed and we quickly called back the people ahead of us.

After joining the road, there was lots of chatting and catching up with folk as the support vehicles start to go past. In these early kilometres there's lots of energy and excitement and people chatting, especially given we're all still mostly bunched together, as well as feeling fresh!

To keep the fun in ultrarunning I had decided to run in a bright pink running kilt - something that received a lot of compliments!

After what feels like hardly any time at all, we roll into Towamba - the first checkpoint 25km in, and the point where we meet our support crews prior to the crews leapfrogging the runners for the rest of the race. This was a super quick stop for sunscreen, water, to ditch the vest I'd been wearing from the start, and then I figured I might as well continue heading down the track.

From Towamba, the support crews stop approximately every 5km (although it can be a bit shorter or longer - particularly in the heat of the day some people were shortening the stops to manage water intake, which can be a wise move).

The day is certainly starting to heat up, and I'm going through about a litre of water an hour at this stage. I'm keeping up the nutrition, but not really eating the solids I was planning to eat since it was hot, I was dehydrated and just didn't feel like eating. There was only one point where I felt like I went a bit too long without water, but the crew picked that up and we started guzzling more water at each stop.

This is a beautiful area to run through. I'm possibly going too fast, but I'm settled into a decent rhythm. Although you don't want to go too hard, there is also an element of making hay while the sun shines. Since my strategy was conservative from the start anyway, I figured I'd crack on and ease up as the day gets hotter.

Having said that, Matt Pilley's crew would yell at me to slow down as we go past. In my defence, I was having fun on a downhill section...

Every time we passed each other the crew would offer top-tier banter, and the way all the runners and crews support each other is one of the great things about this race.

It sure was hot though - Since this is such a glamorous sport, and with how much I was sweating I needed to get some more anti-chafe onto my nipples early as I was detecting some early signs of chafe...

The next checkpoint is Rocky Hall. Here I have some more deliciously cold oranges, put on more sunscreen, and I took the time here to make a few adjustments and put on my arm sleeves to try to keep me cool and protect me from the sun. There's no need to rush these early moments.

I knew it wasn't too far to the start of the Big Jack Mountain climb. Just before the start of the climb we had a stop where I was taking a bit too long to chew on a piece of watermelon (cold watermelon was going down an absolute treat). I had decided just to carry the leftover bits for the kilometre or so to the bottom of Big Jack, but I didn't really communicate that to the crew.

So, Rachel was yelling at me to "Drop the watermelon!". No, that's not some kind of code. She actually did just want me to drop the watermelon.

Anyway, the base of Big Jack Mountain was only another kilometre or so down the road, so there I handed in my watermelon and picked up Rachel as the mandatory pacer for the Big Jack Mountain section, and we start the climb.

Big Jack seems to go faster than I expected. It's still bloody hot though, and I keep trying to eat and drink through this section. Upon getting to the top, I go to the crew vehicle to get a nice cold ginger beer out of the fridge, and then keep running towards Cathcart.

Despite the Cathcart Headwind on the road in the trip into Cathcart goes quicker than I expected. I see the buildings in the distance and know my crew would have gone into the checkpoint rather than stop just short of the town. I decide to have a bit of a sit down at the checkpoint, and get some cold juice and a frosty fruit in.

As I'm leaving, I spot the public toilets and figure now is a good as time as any to see if I can use them. Unfortunately, all I manage to do was drop my nutrition flask in the toilet...

As I'm trying to juggle flasks and all the bits and pieces, the flask holding my gel slips out of my hand and I watch almost in slow motion as it plunges into the toilet bowl. I look at it for a moment in disbelief, and then figuring that the nozzle is above the water I just shrug and grab it out.

I gave it a rinse under the tap and I haven't died yet, so I'll take that as a win!

I generally think of Cathcart as a pretty good milestone. You're about 70km in, and are now off the coast up on the Monaro Plain after Big Jack Mountain. It's mostly gravel roads between here and Checkpoint 4, and aside from a corrugated section between Cathcart and Bibbenluke, the roads were in pristine condition.

Not too long after leaving Cathcart we cross the Monaro Highway.

This is a beautiful part of the run, and to top it off a bit of cloud cover starts to come in which cools things off considerably. Along here there's no need to rush, I'm just keeping a consistent effort conscious that it's still a bit warm and I've got some replenishing to do.

I cross over the creek crossing that was flooded last year which means it looks totally different, and then not far after that reach the 100km tree (a prominent dead tree on the side of the road that marks about 102km) where I have a chat with the stellar commentary crew Rob and Brent, who marvelled at the sheer number of flies hitching a free ride on my hat.

Honestly I reckon those flies cost me a good few minutes of time...

Shortly after passing the 100km tree, the road winds, climbs and then descends its way down to the main road of The Snowy River Way. The intersection marks Checkpoint 4, and I planned this to be a stop where I make a few changes.

The first point of order was sitting down in the most excellent chair. Then I changed my shirt into a long sleeve, donned the mandatory hi-viz vest, changed my shoes and ate some solid food.

Overall we're only in the checkpoint for a few minutes. So I hobble up, cross over and then start running down the Snowy River Way. This is the longest leg between checkpoints, but I'm hopeful we can take a few decent bites out of the road to Dalgety before the sun sets and it gets properly dark.

I still find this area quite pretty to look at, even though we're on a major road. It felt good to climb the long hill up to the wind turbines while it's still light, and I continued on my way to Dalgety into a delightful sunset.

I did have a moment with my head torch, where I thought it was still locked (for transport) and I couldn't unlock it. It turns out Rachel had already unlocked it for me, and somehow in that process I managed to lock it again. We sorted that out pretty quickly though.

It got dark, and the world narrowed to just my head torch and the flashing lights of other runners and crews off into the distance. The last 10 or 15 km or so into Dalgety felt like they took forever, but eventually I arrived! I was determined to ignore the warm, inviting allure of the Dalgety hall, and had communicated that to the crew so I sat down outside with my feet off the ground, and got in a few bites of noodles, some oats, and a bit of rice pudding.

I honestly wanted to keep sitting but my crew did an amazing job of kicking me out of the chair at the right moment, just before I started to get too cold. Getting up I was super stiff, but tried to get a jog going over the Dalgety bridge to try to loosen things up.

It's an uphill drag out of Dalgety, although it is pretty runnable so I tried to get a run going where I could. Later, I could see the crew vehicle parked at the base of Beloka Hill, but the road winds around to the side so it felt like it took an eternity to get there whilst being taunted by this orange flashing light in the distance. The ascent of Beloka hill is a mandatory pacer section, so Rachel joined me for the ascent.

The hill seemed to go a bit quicker than last year, and I wonder if that's just because it wasn't cold, raining and foggy. The weather was fantastic, and the stars above in the night sky nice and clear.

Having said that, I was feeling a bit rough so I decided to have a very short sit down at the top and eat some more food.

There's a lot of runnable terrain until it gets a bit more hilly into the back of Jindabyne. Through this section there wasn't anything overly eventful that I remember. Occasionally I'd get a glimpse of a red flashing light ascending a hill of a runner ahead.

There's a couple of hills to climb as the area starts to get more populated, and then again onto Barry Way, before heading down to Jindabyne itself. Once we reached Jindabyne the marshalls pointed me in the right direction across onto the bike path (a path which seems to go on forever), winding its way into the Jindabyne Checkpoint, CP6.

At the checkpoint my crew had thoughtfully prepared some warm oats for me to snack on. I took a caffeine tablet and then kept on rolling. It felt awesome to be through Jindabyne with still a couple of hours until sunrise.

It was only about 5km to the Thredbo River, where I planned to pick up my poles and don a vest to make it easier to eat and drink with the poles. That 5km certainly went faster than last year, although the funny thing about running on roads is that things go much slower when you're not driving in a car. I descended down to the river, where my crew were waiting to suit me up in a vest and hand me my poles, then I started hiking!

I felt really good hiking initially, although I think that wore off a bit eventually and I slowed down, despite that I was still moving at a faster rate than last year. It was a good feeling passing places where I struggled last year. Somewhere along here, I came across Robert Ormsby, who after a valiant effort leading the race for so long, was starting to have some issues. Pretty incredible effort for him to go on and finish.

Eventually, the sun started to come up and we were treated to a pretty special sunrise in the mountains. I knew I was getting closer to Charlotte Pass, but first I ran into the checkpoint at Perisher to grab a bite to eat and change my shoes. Changing my shoes here at Perisher was to cut down on the amount of messing around at Charlotte Pass, so we could just confirm mandatory gear and go.

The trek across to Charlotte Pass also went much faster than last year, and I was running a lot more of it so I got up to the checkpoint sooner than I expected. It was a hive of activity up there, and to be honest quite overwhelming in my sleep-deprived, and physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted state.

We swapped vests to the one with some of my mandatory gear in it, and then left the checkpoint quite quickly on our way for the final 19km.

I could see Kay in 5th place up ahead, but at the time I wasn't particularly interested in trying to pass him. The mind was willing but I was unsure how much the legs had left to give. Honestly I don't think I wanted the stress of trying to pass someone at this point, I just wanted to finish and to sit down...

During the climb, we passed the leaders heading back down - Benn Coubrough, with Allie only a couple of minutes behind, Cassie not far behind Allie and then Matt Pilley bringing home 4th overall / 2nd male.

We kept chipping away at the gradual ascent. Occasionally I'd try to run from one pole to another to speed up the average pace, and although I wasn't speaking much and was truly exhausted I knew it was not long to go now!

The weather was beautiful and clear, although with a bit of wind around - it felt like I was struggling on the climb up to Seamans Hut into a headwind, but we continued around and then passed Australia's highest toilets and started the last kilometre to the top.

At this stage I was grappling with the thoughts that I may not be able to do much running on the way back down. My right quad is giving me grief and every part of my body hurts.

Coming up to the summit I see that Kay and his team are not far ahead, just coming off the summit, and as we pass each other we exchange a hug on the scaffolding. I walk the last bit to the summit and have a small moment with the cairn.

It takes a moment to take in what has just happened. I've just gone over 230km, starting from the beach near Eden, and I'm now standing on top of the highest point on mainland Australia. I've achieved this completely under my own power, using just my legs, and with the support of my crew.

After a moment and taking a few photos, it's time to finish this thing and get off the mountain. As I walk back down the scaffolding my right quad is really giving me grief, which is concerning for any attempt to run the remaining 9km. I'd already decided to walk the "cheese grater" section because I didn't need to trip over and mess myself up on the metal walkway.

As soon as we got off the cheese grater though, I started trying a jog and... it didn't feel too bad. Although the surface here is a bit rocky, but I knew it smoothed out. Once we got to Rawsons Pass I walked the stepping stones (again, because I didn't trust myself not to trip over), then started running again.

Just before Seamans Hut we overtook Kay and his crew, and then kept on running.

I still don't know where I got this run from, but the main thing in my head was that the sooner I got to the bottom the sooner I could sit down. And I really, really wanted to sit down. I didn't even look back at this stage, I just kept running, with a brief walk on the uphill bit after the river.

I kept running, occasionally drinking and seeing the distance markers slowly coming down. Although I wasn't worried about position, there's a competitive spirit in everyone, so with about 700m to go I asked Rachel how far back Kay and his crew are. She said they weren't in sight, and I didn't need to worry about it.

Either way I kept going, and then realised we were at the road with only a few metres to go until the finish. I ran the last little bit, where Brent and Rob were holding the finish banner. Channelling last year's effort, I jumped through the banner, finishing the 240km Coast to Kosciuszko Ultramarathon in 29:10:38. 5th place overall, and 3rd male across the line.

The 2024 edition of Coast to Kosci was an incredible race. With 5 out of the overall top ten being women, and 5 being men. To see Allie finish in 2nd only a few minutes before the winner Benn was absolutely incredible, with Cassie in 3rd overall not far behind. Both Allie and Cassie led the race at various points.

The presentations the following day are always special. Greg and Mickey take the time to talk about each runner during the presentations.

A massive thanks to my crew - I kept it compact this year, with just dad and Rachel, and only had a pacer for the mandatory sections. An event like this is a team effort and can't be done without a good support crew. Big thanks also to the race directors Greg and Mickey, the volunteers, race officials, communities we pass through and all the other runners, crews and spectators.

Two pins on that hat looks better than one. But, would three pins look better?