Blackall 100

Well my year of running was to be capped off with a new and what was shaping up to be a beautiful event called the Blackall 100.  100km through the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, some of which I had run in training.  The start of my year was fairly inconsistent with various niggling injuries so I have been excited about the back half, now running injury free and training well.Blackall was being put on by my friends Alun and Brett.  I had a lot of friends going and a number of us commented that the race lead up felt more like a long group run with a heap of besties than an actual race!  I headed down to the coast with mum, dad and my ma and pa as Tegan had to work the Friday and would come down later that night with the girls.  We arrived mid afternoon, relaxed, went down to register, had some dinner and then returned for race briefing.  All pretty standard.  It was shaping up to be a hot day and with 3k of vertical gain, this course is no joke.I awoke on Saturday morning pretty cold actually and went through my usual pre-race-get-ready routine.  We all headed down to the race start where I met with all my buddies and the party was about to start!  After a short time, the bell was rung and off we went.  The leaders went off at a crazy pace but I was happy to hang back a bit, get in my rhythm and bide my time a little.  I ran for a little with Jody, the guy I have been coaching the last few months who was doing his first 100k.  He was excited and stoked to have things underway.  After a little, I took off and found myself running on my own for a while, enjoying the foggy, cool morning, knowing it would heat up soon.After some k's we completed a loop of the Kondallia Falls where on the way back up I met up with an Irish guy named Ian.  We got chatting and stuck together.  He was doing his first 100k and was a cool guy so I thought I would hang with him for a while.  We arrived back at base (23k) in about 2hr 30min.  Good time.  After saying a quick gday to Tegs and the girls, it was off again, Ian and I sticking together.  All went pretty uneventful up until about 35k, apart from a pretty decent stack, when things started to go a little south.I started to feel the pinch a bit around this time due to it being hot, and going through a dry section of the course with no breeze.  I battled through to Checkpoint 3 at about the marathon mark.  I was hot but was able to douse my body in iced water and get some food in which felt good.  Ian and I then left the aid station and what a surprise we were about to get!We then started a climb of switchbacks which was an unrelenting 2.5km straight up!  I suffered through this and haven't experienced a climb like this in these conditions.  We eventually made it to the top however I was dizzy, had blurred vision and in a pretty ordinary way. At the top there was a bush toilet with a tank and tap.  There were some people there and I asked them about drinking the water which they said was fine.  I basically laid under the tap and refilled my bottles.Nearly my whole body wet, Ian and I then head off again, feeling a heck of a lot more refreshed and running again.  This lasted for about an hour maybe, moving through some good trail, another good climb and un-relenting heat.  We were constantly looking out for a place we could dunk our bodies to cool our cores however all the waterholes we found were stagnate and we weren't willing to risk it.  We got to a point, Im not sure what k mark, where there was to be a unmanned water station.  Upon arrival.....NO WATER!  We tried not to think about it, just focusing on moving ahead.After a short time, things started going bad again.  We were already using fluids sparingly but ran out about half to three quarters of an hour out from Checkpoint 4.  I wasn't good.  I was again dizzy, couldn't see properly and had pins and needles in my whole arms as well as my lips....a bad sign of severe dehydration.  We basically had to walk the last half an hour into the Checkpoint as I was on the verge of passing out and didn't want to rise things anymore.  I worked out that this section took us nearly three hours......too long without an aid station!We got to Checkpoint 4, saw my good friend and aid station captain Ann and needed fuel.  I loaded up on fluids, food and tried to cool myself as much as I could.  After a short break here and catch up with crew, we headed off again out to Checkpoint 5.  This section had some sharp ups and downs and was here that Ian started to slow a little on the climbs.  I was committed to stay with him until the end however it was pretty clear that he was in his own headspace and happy to go his own pace without me pushing him.  We arrived at Checkpoint 5 (70k) and I had come back to life!  Although I had only gone to the toilet twice the whole day and it was nearly brown, I felt good again and ready to rock.  My legs felt great all day, it was just the heat and dehydration that wrecked me!After leaving Checkpoint 5 for a lap of the lake, Ian said to go, that he appreciated my company and help but that he didn't want to hold me back.  He had done an amazing job in his first tonne!  I felt bad leaving him but was keen to get this party started.  I then began to lay the hammer down.  The lap around the lake back to Checkpoint 5 went well, hiking hard and running all the downs and flats.  I arrived back to Checkpoint 5, refuelled again quickly and then was out of there.  I had a good chat with organiser Brett and my mate Marty (White Caviar) who were driving along in the car.  After they left, I continued to run/hike hard before arriving back at Anns aid station.  I enjoyed getting back into a good rhythm and was loving the back half of the race.After a quick stop off at Checkpoint 4 and grabbing my vest and headlamp, I started the 8-9km last leg home.  It was here that I really started ripping in and based on feel, was knocking over sub 5min k's quite easily.  This section is some beautiful, technical single track which I ran pretty ambitiously.  I got back to the road section and keep the hammer down all the way into the finish, still not needing my safety gear or headlamp.  I ran through the finish chute, stopping the clock and ringing the bell in 12hr 35min 41sec.  6th male and 8th overall.  Done and dusted!On reflection, although I suffered in this race like I never have before, I worked my way though, suffered proper but got the job done.  I have never done it so tough in a race before and was ready to quit twice, something I NEVER consider.  It is events like this that build you into the person you become.  If ultra trail running was easy, everyone would do it.  One of the lures is just that, it is bloody hard!  Especially when you throw Queensland heat and good quality climbing into the mix.  In my opinion and a number of others, although it has 2k less climbing, because of the heat, this event is harder than The North Face 100 in the Blue Mountains.  I persevered, did what I could with what I had and came out on top.  A rough day at the office, but one I will remember for a long time....at least until next year when we do it all again!A big thanks to Alun, Brett, the volunteers and all the team at Run Queensland.  Also, to my sponsor Injinji Performance Products for hooking a brother up with gear.  To my beautiful family and friends who supported us out on the course, I love you all.  To my buddies that finished and gave their all, well done!  Meagan, Sammy, Andrew, Tylana, Jody (MASSIVE effort on your first 100 mate, AMAZING), Dad, Lee, Ian (pleasure to get to know you mate), Karly (50k), Anna (50k - her first and she crushed it!) and anyone I have forgotten, I love you all and its a privilege to call you my trail family!Here ends racing for 2014 and it has been a blast!  I can not wait to continue on this path of exploring, racing, training, building a vegan running body day by day, and loving life with my friends, family and nature.  Run free friends, love God, bless others and smile always!  See ya next time!