TrailRunMag 21

VOLUME 6 ED21 // WINTER 2016 // AU/NZ/ASIA

OLD GHOST ROAD ULTRA // TRANSPYRENEA - VEGAN ENDURANCE ODYSSEY // RUN LIKE A TIGER - TASSIE TRAIL FEST // BUFFALO GAL GRAND SLAM // YUKON QUEST // PAUL HEWITSON // EQUALITY ON TRAIL // PLUS REVIEWS, SHOES, GUIDES, GEAR & PORN

DETAILS

VOLUME 6 ED21 // WINTER 2016 // AU/NZ/ASIA

Foundation supporters (the

Yay-sayers)

Tour de Trails www.tourdetrails.com Wild Plans www.wildplans.com Brooks / Texas Peak www.brooksrunning.com.

The North Face Australia www.thenorthface.com.au La Sportiva / Expedition Equipment www.mountainrunning.com.au

Editorial Australia Editor: Chris Ord Associate Editors: Tegyn Angel, Ross Taylor, Simon Madden, Pat Kinsella New Zealand Editor: Amanda Broughton Minimalist/Barefoot Editor: Garry Dagg Art Director: Jordan Cole Craft-Store.com.au

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Contributing Writers Sputnik Sputnik, Amanda Broughton, Tegyn Angel, Mark Hines, Mal Law, Ross Taylor, Nicki Letts, Tania Miller

cover photo Emma Lawrey takes a stride for trail running kind above the vista of Ormiston Pound, along the Larapinta Trail, Northern Territory, Australia.

IMAGE: Simon Madden

Senior photographer Lyndon Marceau www.marceauphotography.com Photography Simon Madden, Sam Bruce, Sputnik Sputnik, Mark Hines, Tania Miller, Nicki Letts, Mat Vaughn, Tom le Lievre, Felix Weber, Rapid Ascent, Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra, Richard Bull, Matt Hull, Martin Hartley, Derek Crowe, Montane, Stephen Roberts (Shakey Finger Photography), Richard Rossiter, Chandima Kulathilake, 74Pics Photography, Tegyn Angel, Lloyd Belcher

THIS SHOT: Taking on the technical stuff with gusto at the Sturt Gorge Trail Run (Trail Running South Australia) IMAGE: Sam Bruce.

Cascadia 11 Like an SUV for your feet, the Cascadia 11 delivers a cushioned, balanced ride when you go off road. The super grippy 4-point pivot system allows you to tackle tough terrain with ease while the Ballistic Rock Shield protects your foot from gnarly trail hazards.

Trail Run is published quarterly Winter / Spring / Summer / Autumn Editorial & Advertising Trail Run Magazine 10 Evans Street, Anglesea, Vic 3230 Email: chris@trailrunmag.com Telephone +61 (0) 430376621

Disclaimer

Trail running and other activities described in this magazine can carry significant risk of injury or death. Especially if you are unfit. Undertake any trail running or other outdoors activity only with proper instruction, supervision, equipment and training. The publisher and its servants and agents have taken all reasonable care to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication and the expertise of its writers. Any reader attempting any of the activities described in this publication does so at their own risk. Neither the publisher nor any of its servants or agents will be held liable for any loss or injury or damage resulting from any attempt to perform any of the activities described in this publication, nor be responsible for any person/s becoming lost when following any of the guides or maps contained herewith. All descriptive and visual directions are a general guide only and not to be used as a sole source of information for navigation. Happy trails.

Founders Chris Ord + Stuart Gibson + Mal Law + Peter & Heidi Hibberd Publisher Adventure Types - 10 Evans Street Anglesea, Victoria, Australia 3230

GO OFF-ROADING >> brooksrunningau

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CONTENTS

VOLUME 6 ED21 // WINTER 2016 // AU/NZ/ASIA

106

112

124

REVIEWS 14.

TRAIL GUIDES

Now’s A Good Time To Buy all the good gear

98.

Shoe reviews

The Crusher, Ultra Softy, Star Treka and an Aggravated Assault

118. Lerderderg, Victoria, AU 120. Thredbo, NSW, AU 122. Cathedral Rock, NSW, AU 124. Bullock Track, Otago, NZ

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TRAIL MIX 8.

FEATURES

Editors’ Columns

Australia – Chris Ord New Zealand – Amanda Broughton Australia – Tegyn Angel

32.

34. Innerview - Late starter Paul Hewitson 42. Run Like A Tiger - Tassie Trail Fest 56. Ghost Tales - Old Ghost Ultra, NZ 68. Yukon Quest - 1600km on ice 82. Buffalo Gal - Going for the Grand Slam 90. Pyrenees on Plant Power - Vegan’s mega run

Sputnik’s Spray

A matter of balance

22. Event Previews 106. Trail Porn It’s dirty

6

EDSWORD

CHRIS ORD, AU

‘Failure is not falling down, but refusing to get up’ – Chinese proverb.

I’M SCARED. AND THAT’S A GOOD THING. IT GOT ME OUT ON A BLUSTERY NIGHT TO GRIND OUT HILL REPEATS TOWARD A MIDNIGHT SALVATION. So what’s your motivation? I’m not talking about the ‘Big Why’, here. For me that is easy: I love to run through wild places. Simple and pure. It makes my soul – whatever that manifestation is – feel charged, along with all that other quasi-hippie waffle I tend to spill in these pages. Tree hugger, guilty as charged.

But when it comes to actual motivation of the moment – the driving force that in winter keeps you tramping out the front door rain, hail and – if you’re based in the southern Australian states like me – eff-all sunshine.

No matter how much you love to dry-hump a eucalypt and wax lyrical about the spiritual journey along life’s dirty highway, some days are just plain hard yakka. At that moment, when you’d rather plump on the couch and (cringe alert) guiltily enjoy reality singing schlock show The Voice while bitching about prima-donna judge Delta Goodrem while morphing into a fanboy of her fellow judge, Jessie J …arrr, did I just write that out loud? I digress - what is it that makes you cut short the brave performance by that guy with Tourette’s (amazing how singing quietens his devil, like running wild quietens ours), kill the tube and brave the sleet?

Fear. And commitment. The former seeded and sprouted, a flowering force borne from the latter.

You have signed up to something big. A relative-to-you big. Could be your first run or your five hundredth. But it’s a biggie. And you know that you are not quite ready. And you don’t have the time to be well-oiled ready. But you have some time to do something about your current inadequacies that are rising from the pit of your stomach like a badly thought-out

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Nutella sandwich at kilometre eighty-eight; you feel sick right now.

Well, that’s the fear I’m feeling and that’s my current of-the-moment motivation.

In a weird way, it reminds me of the fear felt when you first fall in love and she/he says an unexpected “yes” (to whatever your sappy or salacious question was). And you think, shit, what now? What do I do? What if I look like a dick? What if I throw up? What if I pass out?

Have I got clean undies on?

Transpose that to what is feeding my fear now and those things are all very real possibilities, and the undies factor is suddenly a resounding ‘no’.

Ahead of me is a big mountain run, in very high, very remote places, over many days in a row. That bit doesn’t worry me. I’ve (somehow) survived that before and now have a possibly ill-advised semi-confidence in terms of the terrain and my ability to move through it.

But like a semi-hard on, that bravado could be deflated in an instant when the harsh fluorescent light of reality is switched on to reveal my ill-prepared nakedness.

Like a first love, it’s the company I’ll be keeping – if I can keep up – that turns my stomach.

Timmy Olson, I’ll tell anyone who will listen, is a monster in the way only a Western States 100 record holder can be. Look at him.

He’s a running Buddha without the belly. A Zen ultra marathon man disrobed to reveal powerful piston legs, a core that is beefy yet lithe wrapped in a six-pack and packaged with a steely stare that makes mountains wilt before him; he’s the perfect running form of human being. That’s not hagiography, by the way, that’s just my insecurities sweating over the dude (and let’s face it, he’s a ‘dude’) I have somehow signed up to keep pace with on a Himalayan mission of likely little to no mercy.

For me, that is.

High fiving Timmy will be his female mirror in Anna Frost, just as accomplished and at home in high mountains having won Hardrock 100 and knocked off the Nolans 14. I’ve already had the inglorious honour of clinging on to her heels for dear life up a steep incline or twenty in the same territory we are to return to as a crew of four, led by Everest summiteer, American Ben Clark.

Here, I look for solace to the Everest of quote machines, Winston Churchill: “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”

Well, there were certainly a few stumbles running with Anna (she didn’t see most of them, being too far ahead), but enthusiasm duly got me through. That and fear, given the fact that there was no other way off the mountain – no roads, no crew car, not even a helicopter ride (Bhutan, the country in which we were running, may have a lauded policy of Gross Domestic Happiness revered above Gross Domestic Product, but its Gross Domestic Helicopter quota was also zero).

So as I head out into a blustery night, ignoring the high notes of The Voice calling my name, I hopelessly seek Everest-scale slopes in a seaside landscape that barely rises to dunes, feeling the urgency of my commitment to the team and the mission.

Of what lies ahead, I feel like a giddy lovesick teenage cross country runner about to hit some hardcore hills with his heroes. But rather than give up and return to my couchside critique of the latest contestant on The Voice, instead I go and run a 50 vertical-metre hillock twenty five times with imaginings of how Frosty and Olson would judge me should I not; scathingly, like Delta Goodrem ripping through a sour note contestant.

Ah failure. The fuel of champions.

Chris Ord, AU Editor

9

EDSWORD

AMANDA BROUGHTON, NZ

IMAGE: Chandima Kulathilake / 74Pics Photography

Sweat the small stuff 10

It’s been my dream to run a marathon, I’ve always wanted to do it! There is one in four months that I am going to do.

I’ve never run before. Any advice?

I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT ME TO SAY. “That’s amazing and exciting, good for you! You can do it! You’ll need to stock up on running gear, shorts, tights, and socks.

Join a running club, hire a coach. You will be awesome!”

But you won’t be awesome. You’ll be sore.

You will find the training very challenging and in four months you might get up to running for a couple of hours, but it’s highly likely that you’ll get injured. Your body won’t be use to the motion of running and you’ll have to take a few weeks off to rest, and you’ll quickly lose motivation. If you do make it through the four months, you’ll run the marathon and you’ll be walking with a swagger for days. Not just because of the muscle pain, it’s also because your thighs will chafe to the point of bleeding and going scabby and your toenails will fall off.

Still keen?

To put someone off doing a running event seems counter intuitive, after all I love running and I am stoked every time someone asks me for advice, or tells me that they want to start.

“I think that’s really great that you’d like to run a marathon. Can I ask you though, if it’s been a dream of yours for so long, why have you not done anything to work towards it until now? Come for a run with me tomorrow morning and I’ll talk to you about how you can make a start, I’ll show you some trails near your house that are nice and easy.

Can you please do me a favour though, and not enter that marathon?”

The point of entering a race is to test your abilities and to have a goal to work towards.

Goals need timeframes and accountability, and

races provide those when you drop a hundred bucks on an entry and you can see a date marked blackly on your calendar that creeps up faster than you can lace up.

There is a fascination with people entering long distance running events as a bucket list item. It started with the marathon, now that has been dwarfed by ultra running events.

Bigger, longer, with more scenic views, challenging hills and the camaraderie you get from spending 15 hours running alongside new friends; what’s not to love? You come in, buy all the gear, barely train for an event, break yourself entirely and leave with a medal satisfied that you have accomplished something. It’s the same as the gym buff that turns up to a half marathon with having done no training, runs it in a respectable time as they have a great general level of fitness. But what did they really achieve, and is it something worth having?

If you train for long distances what do you learn about yourself? What do you gain from those hours out on the trails that someone spending just two hours to show up on the day will never understand? What is the payback if you start training many months out from the event, build up time on feet slowly, find new places in the hills to run, make new friends, learn technique, figure out how to mentally push through a hard training day? Even if you don’t make it to the start line, what you will discover is far more valuable than simply being able to say you head-butted your way through one long distance race.

I went from running 15km to 100km per week within a year. Did anyone tell me that

was a bad idea? I wish they had. I had some natural ability and I complimented that with dangerously high levels of motivation. I wanted to run ultras so I entered one and completed it. I entered another but I never made it to the start line because that big goal had some big consequences. My body wasn’t used to the training; my mind didn’t know how to listen to my body telling me that, so I had to watch from the sidelines for six months.

At the Kepler Challenge in 2013 I saw Martin Dent glide through the beech trees to take the course record and win the 60km race on a sunny day. He covered 60km in 4.33.37, that’s an average pace of 4.33/km on a course with 1350m elevation. As he broke the tape to the cheers of crowds the commentator boomed over the loudspeakers that just a year earlier Martin had competed at the London Olympic games in the marathon running 2.16.29 – most of us can’t run a single kilometre at that speed let alone 42.

It became clear to me then how much dedication was required to get to that level, to do what I wanted to be able to do. To be competitive over long distances it was going to be more than just the physical challenge of thrashing my body. It required the discipline to know when to pull back, when to say no and when to rest. Learning that was harder than any training run. I’ve only been running for a few years and the more I learn the less I know, but I know enough that running requires patience, and a long-term view if you want to still be enjoying the thrill of it in ten or twenty years’ time.

Amanda Broughton, NZ

11

EDSWORD

TEGYN ANGEL, AU

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The Mind Game IS the game. Literally. This is going to sound ridiculously obvious, but the harder you try, the more committed you are and the more you’re willing to endure (pain, suffering, deprivation, solitude, whatever), the better you’ll perform.

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i

IMAGE: Lyndon Marceau / www.marceauphotography.com

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THE GREAT COACHES AND ATHLETES HAVE SAID IT ALL ALONG AND SCIENCE IS FINALLY STARTING TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT, ON A FUNDAMENTAL LEVEL, ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE IN ENDURANCE SPORTS IS INITIATED, MEASURED AND REALISED

BY THE BRAIN TO A MUCH GREATER EXTENT THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT. MY RACE RESULTS HAVE SEEN A FAIRLY NOTICEABLE IMPROVEMENT THIS YEAR, DESPITE MEDIOCRE TRAINING, AND I ATTRIBUTE IT PRIMARILY TO HOW I’VE INCORPORATED THIS KNOWLEDGE INTO MY RACING. Hold up, what the hell does that mean? Let’s step back for a second and break things down.

When we talk about athletic performance, in very general terms, we’re talking about those things that help us keep running, swimming, cycling etc. or that limit us or cause us to stop.

These “things” are referred to as determinants and are defined as “factors that decisively affect the nature of outcome of something.”

Scientists, coaches and athletes have traditionally looked to physiological determinants of athletic performance. V02 Max, or at least what it measures, has long been thought one of the primary determinants of athletic performance. V02 Max measures the maximum amount of oxygen an athlete can use (measured in millilitres per kilogram of bodyweight per minute). Oxygen consumption increases with effort and so, the theory goes, the higher your ceiling the further you can push your body before your effort becomes unsustainable and your output starts to plateau or fade off.

This is an overly simplistic explanation of a complicated process but, appropriately, “overly simplistic” is a criticism often levelled at the V02 Max camp. As convenient as it would be to boil all performance down to a respiratory process, most sports scientists now acknowledge it’s no Golden Goose. Maximum oxygen consumption and performance share a correlation but the former doesn’t cause the latter.

So what about metabolism? On a physiological level, performance in endurance sport is determined by the

interplay of metabolic processes in our muscles. Carbohydrate, glycogen, lactic acid, phosphocreatine and ATP all work together to sustain and modulate performance (fatigue and pacing, in layman’s terms) and thereby determine output. But can it all be explained by metabolism? Nope, sorry. As with oxygen consumption, metabolism is one of a multitude of contributing factors but is no more a Theory of Everything than is V02 Max. Athletic performance is not a 2D equation of Oxygen + Fuel = Fire but, rather, an interplay of oxygen, fuel and heat. In this, the corniest of all metaphors, heat represents intensity regulation and tolerance to endurance exercise.

The Central Governor Theory (CGT), of Tim Noakes’ fame, and the Inhibitory Feedback Model (IFM; Amann) are probably the most well known approaches that look for a way to explain how the human body self-regulates and saves itself, quite literally, from running itself to death. However, a new framework called the Psychobiological Model (PM; Marcora) has emerged over the last eight years and it is starting to gain traction.

Whereas The CGT and IFM allow for only limited psychological influence, the PM is fundamentally psychological. This approach focuses largely on “perceptual and motivational factors, and their respective influence on the conscious process of decision-making and behavioural regulation.” (Smirmaul BPC, et al). Conscious decision-making and self-regulation, those less tangible Eye of the Tiger Tony Robbins immeasurables, like drive, determination, willpower, heart and fight all directly influence Central Motor Command (or the way that the brain utilises the body to perform a given task) by decreasing the perception of effort or increasing one’s ability/ willingness to endure that effort.

The physiological factors, like metabolism and V02 Max, aren’t forgotten but rather subordinated. As Smirmaul BPC et al put it, the “Psychobiological model fits the traininginduced adaptations (e.g., muscular and cardiorespiratory) related to exercise tolerance improvement to a framework which predicts that these adaptations will influence endurance performance indirectly, by reducing perception

of effort.”

Put another way, getting fitter changes your relationship to, and perception of, effort.

Earlier this year, realised two relatively simple, largely superficial but nonetheless incredible important things. Firstly, that I’ve always raced with the subconscious, tacit objective of finishing comfortably. That is, I failed to realise (or ignored) the fact that deep down my goal was to cross the finish line with fuel left in the tank looking relatively fresh.

This is in contrast to “leaving it all out there” and giving it 100%.

Secondly, lab testing and hard data showed me that my self-awareness was a little mistaken. That is, my capacity for athletic output, and more specifically my anaerobic threshold, are higher than I’d assumed.

So what? Well, I’m convinced that these two pieces of soft, intangible, non-physical and categorically non-physiological INFORMATION have markedly improved my race results.

In all three of the races I’ve completed since my realisations (Buffalo Stampede SkyMarathon, Ultra Trail Australia 100 and the True Grit 24hr Enduro) I’ve either smashed my PB, or in the case of True Grit, landed a podium place. Nothing in my training would suggest that this was possible, never mind repeatable. Indeed, I’d say that my training this year has been inconsistent and fairly uninspiring. What’s changed is my approach; in all three races I spent the preceding week preparing to push myself slightly above my perceived tipping point and to hurt like never before. My motivation has shifted and with it my tolerance for discomfort and my perception of effort. I tried harder. I asked myself: “How bad do you want it?” and found that the answer was “More than you realised.”

A lot the ideas and concepts discussed were inspired by a book called How Bad Do You Want It? by Matt Fitzgerald. It’s a MUST READ for any endurance athlete, regardless of how competitive you are, and it will no doubt explain things much better. It’s not a how-to manual so much as an exercise in self-awareness. Grab the audiobook from audible.com.

Tegyn Angel, AU 13

NOW’S A GOOD TIME TO BUY

cold weather good gear Ultimate Direction AK Mountain Vest 3.0 If the amount of Ultimate Direction (UD) packs now being sighted at trail events these days is any indication, the brand has made a huge impact on a market once dominated, at least locally in the ‘early days’, by Salomon.

This, version-3 pack slapped with Anton Krupika’s credibility and initials, is a good all rounder, big and adaptable enough for some decent length mountain trail missions or events but small enough to be comfortable and unobtrusive. Lighter than the 2.0 Race Vest it obviously has more capacity, that allows it into ultra territory where more gear mandatory or otherwise is needed.

Improvements from predecessors include two soft body bottles up front, and a larger phone pocket for today’s smartphones. Pockets galore include three on each shoulder strap (inclusive of soft flask bottle holders), a zip pocket on each hip, two zip pockets on the rear, a stretch compartment and the main cargo bay split between bladder holder and kit carrier. In total a volume capacity of 11.5L. Then there’s the elastic bungy lines on the rear to hold jackets and the like. A great shift from the norm: loops to hold any collapsible poles on the front, rather than the rear for easy grab access. The lightweight mesh vest material is lithe and comfortable, although a full mesh backing means sweat condenses through to the main compartment – so keep any down jackets, clothing or food in dry sacks. This is a strange downfall given the main bag’s waterproof material keeps the outside elements out perfectly! The wide-open double zip makes access to that compartment easy and bladder refill quick, although the lacking of acrossshoulder protection means the hard plastic sleeve of most bladders can intrude some. Overall despite a few small niggles, this is a smartly designed vest with Anton’s obvious hard-earned on trail knowledge well reflected in comfort and convenience on the longer single day missions.

Reviewer: Chris Ord

Ultimate Direction Groove Mono Belt

Unless you’re training specifically to get used to having a pack on, there’s no real reason to lug a full hydropack or vest along. So, anything under ten-fifteen kay, fair weather, a bit of water, your car key, maybe a phone and a gel at a stretch. This is the scenario where the Groove works a treat. Velcro quick straps that stay secure around the waist matched to a singular front stretch pocket with hook clasp.

This is perfectly designed to fit a 500ml UD soft flask, plus still fits a phone or other bits and bobs. Also inside this is a secondary small zip pocket for the emergency tenner and car keys. On either side of the cargo hold are drawstring ties that allow you to run with a lightweight rain jacket, which can be scrunched and stowed across the front.

Initially you’d think the water flask would bob and bounce, but in action this set up is perhaps the perfect accompaniment for taking the basic necessities on your short to mid range training run or even a half marathon race run.

VITALS

$69.95 www.ultimatedirection.com www.wildfiresports.com.au/ultimate-direction-mono

Reviewer: Chris Ord

VITALS

$219.95

www.ultimatedirection.com www.findyourfeet.com.au/

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NOW’S A GOOD TIME TO BUY Reviewer: Chris Ord

Reviewer: Chris Ord

Reviewer: Chris Ord

Bare Blends Organic Cacao Whey Protein Mix Where The Road Ends: A Guide To Trail Running

Antioxidants, magnesium, stonrg bones, relaxed muscles, healthy heart, good recovery. These are all terms we want to lap up off the back of a long run. That and chocolate banana berry thickshake.

That could just be me. Regardless, they reckon you have around 45 minutes post run in which to get into your system the nutrients and goodness needed for optimum recovery after a sapping effort.

For us, that means smacking down a protein rich smoothie. Bare Blends Organic Cacao WP1 with native whey protein smacks it out of the park for packing the essentials while tasting damn good – on it’s own in any form of milk (dairy, almond, coconut, rice…), or smashed together with frozen berries and fruits for added punch.

It’s a little decadent to have ‘single origin’ raw cacao powder but it’s a lot healthier and more natural than chocolate topping (refined sugar mostly). Their cacao is organically grown in the central Amazon rainforest of Peru, as it has been for thousands of years by the native Ashaninka and Chene people. The beans are of the renowned heritage heirloom ‘criollo’ variety, which make up less than 1% of cacao grown each year. The small family-based co-operatives in the area have shunned the lower quality hybridized CCN51 variety in favor of the delicious floral fragrance and taste emanating from the ‘criollo’. Unlike traditionally processed cocoa, which is often extracted with chemical solvents and heated to over 150°C, Bare Blends is minimally processed at low temperatures, resulting in far superior nutritional qualities. Making the most of one of the richest sources of antioxidants this mixer will help boost serotonin, endorphins, anandamide and phenylethylamine to promote quick recovery and general health. Oh, and it tastes awesome. Frozen berries and bananas, coconut milk, and the powder. Trust me.

Raw Bite

VITALS Available at Run Stop Shop www.runstopshop.com.au

$94.90

www.bareblends.com.au

$12.95 $23.95

Awesome smoothie packs with Freeze Dried Berries and Vanilla Bean Single packs 250g 500g

Flavour that makes you want more.

It’s the one thing that, no matter what the science says is good and digestible nutrition for you on the long run, is a non-negotiable part of the ingredient mix for a bar on the trail. For our money, Raw Bites’ range offers just that, and with flavours that aren’t necessarily expected. Protein or Cashew for the traditionalist. Coconut or Vanilla Berries for the sweet tooth. Apple Cinnamon for those who dig cinnamon (we know – there are some this tester included that just don’t do cinnamon mid-run. Or ever. But some do). Then there’s Spicy

VITALS

$4.95 each or $29 for a bundle of six www.goodfuel.co

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Lime, a true favourite, but also given the sweet and spicy mix a love/hate thing.

We reckon they should do an AppleLime. But that’s by the by. And then there’s cacao for those who like mature, earthy chocolate taste. So choose your taste, and then enjoy the healthy run: these are all organic fruit & nut bars made from simple, honest healthy ingredients. The bars are processed carefully with no use of heat at all and with just 2-7 whole food ingredients, are free from gluten, dairy, soy, have no added sugar and are damn satisfying.

This is the when, where and how of trail running, written by two of the most experienced trail gatekeepers in the business.

Hicks and Powell are the dynamic duo behind iconic trail and ultra media portal, iRunFar.com, a primary go to for trail and ultra runners across the globe. The pair run trail as much as they write about it be that race coverage, issues discussions or reviews, so they know their dirt chops and it shows.

In particular this is a perfect book for those just getting into trail running, covering technique, equipment recommendations, safety, basic conditioning programs and strategies for improving performance.

While the perfect tome for beginners, the book still offers great reminders for trailites who have been weaving along singletrack for years: touching on form and function and nuances that even the most experienced can get lazy on and need a refresher.

Like learning first aid, trail running is the kind of pursuit that benefits from repetition of the basics to ingrain them; Where The Road Ends is one of those books that should sit n all trail runners’ shelves, and over the years be casually thumbed through, ensuring you’re still on track. And well off road.

VITALS

Published by Human Kinetics

$30.95 www.humankinetics.com/products/all-products/ Trail-Running-Guidebook

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NOW’S A GOOD TIME TO BUY Reviewer: Chris Ord

Oakley Radar EV Path Prizm trail visibility. On trail this translates to seeing the contours, the dips and rises, the roots, and the small shifts in shadows that could spell a spill if you don’t catch sight of them and react to them before they trip you up. Ergo, the better the glasses interpret the light at play for your eyes, the better technical runner you can become, as you will become attuned to the trail’s nuances and pitfalls. The airflow gives good ventilation to keep you cool and negate lens fog and on the noggin, they are barely-there comfortable with grippy nosepad and arms meaning zero ‘bounce’ on the run. Although only tested with one

Ah, Oakley – the original (we reckon) ‘sports sunglass’. Living in a surf town I’m still a Frogskin fan, myself, and I get swayed (and generally prefer to run in) surfy designs. But after getting used to the burnt red tinge – that’s ‘Prizm Trail’ lens to be technical about it – these glasses actually make sense.

The lens has been heightened extending the upper field of view / coverage. The Prizm represents a “revolutionary technology” that fine-tunes vision for specific sports and environments, by control very precisely the light transmission resulting in colors finely tuned to maximize contrast and enhance

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lens, they can be purchased with other interchangeable lenses letting you optimize vision in any sport environment, so great for multisporters, too, (where you make use one lens for trail running and mountain biking and another for paddling or road riding where environmental contexts are different).

VITALS

$249.95

www.oakley.com.au

MAKE ALL TRAILS YOUR PLAYGROUND The Speedcross range is engineered to break the speed limit. Working with our athletes and design team, we have created a revolutionary grip that allows you to tickle every terrain from rocky escarpments, through wild forest to water-logged lowland trails. Rip up the rulebook and forge new trails. It’s your time to play the great adventurer.

NOW’S A GOOD TIME TO BUY Reviewer: Chris Ord

The North Face Ultra Endurance

Reviewer: Chris Ord

We haven’t yet tested the latest shoe from The North Face, but we’re pretty keen to slide our slabs into them, so we thought we’d give a heads up preview. These are billed as a lightweight yet protective trail running shoe that deliver stable ride and good traction. We’ve always found The North Face shoes under rated gems for comfort and ride, in the past our only real niggle being the low-grade grip for Aussie terrain. Now we’re promised much more aggressive Vibram Megagrip outsole “for durable sticky traction in all conditions.” The upper is a welded TPU with suede midfoot support overlays and a hefty toe protection unit. The sole has a 17mm to 9mm heel/ forefoot giving a leaning toward tradition 8mm drop. In the rear The North Face Cradle heel-stability carries over, as does the ‘Snake Plate’ forefoot protection.

The North Face runner Dylan Bowman labels these as a “top half of the mountain” shoe, meaning they are designed to perform best when underfoot trail conditions are at their worst.

VITALS

$230

The North Face Torpedo Jacket

P ROGRE SS B E YON D LOG IC

Great as a protective layer for when the morning run threatens to ramp from mild to a smidgen wild, the Torpedo is a weatherresistant wonder of a lightweight running jacket. A cape vent at the upper back enhances breathability with comfortable knit panels incorporating wicking FlashDry fibers down the sides completing its body-mapped ventilation system. Secure hand pockets, a hem cinch, secure rear pocket, and mediacompatible pocket complete the feature list.

This is what we would rate as a great shoulder season jacket, not for combatting the cold, more for winds and light rain in shoulder season (spring/autumn).

VITALS

$150

www.thenorthface.com.au

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SUUNTO SPARTAN ULTRA

EVENT PREVIEW IMAGE: Rapid Ascent

HOKA ONE ONE TRAIL SERIES Silvan Reservoir Park, Victoria

T

he Hoka One One Trail Series is the original big bang series that launched a bunch of others really (showing that there was indeed a market for shorter, urban based trail runs).

The Hoka series maintains its original line up with the addition of a night race this year, but it is the Silvan round that catches our eye. A stunner located up in the Dandenong Ranges, an hour’s drive east of the CBD, it is often regarded as the jewel in the dirty crown of the series despite being the hardest. You’ll race along trails that wind through mighty Mountain Ash that seemingly reach to the sky overhead, you’ll run past lush tree ferns and gullies of verdant undergrowth all in the friendly company of the local birdlife, including crimson rosellas, kookaburras and the superb lyrebird. The courses are noticeably hillier in comparison to earlier races in the series but the trails are still non-technical and runners of all backgrounds will return with smiles from ear to ear.

EVENT Hoka One One Trail Series - Silvan

WHEN 7th August DISTANCE 21km/15.5km/7.0km WHERE Silvan Reservoir Park, Victoria

Check out the event

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WITH M SELECT™ GRIP THAT CLEANS UP THE MOST MUDDY AND RUGGED TERRAIN WITH A SMOOTH RIDE.

EVENT PREVIEW IMAGES: Adventure types

MITCHELL’S MAGIC Mitchell River National Park, Victoria

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surprise packet. That’s what’s in store for those headed to the Mitchell River National Park trail run, a standout highlight of the Australian Adventure Festival in October.

Two distances – 21km and 55km give a balanced choice between a one way fast rollercoaster exploration of the main trail that sidles along the mighty Mitchell River, and an ultra that is one part wilderness run through untrammelled bush, and two parts out and back along the 21km course. Check the elevation for both (850 metres / 2500 metres), these are no easy gets, the undulations encompassing some hefty climbs, but for hefty rewards with outlooks the likes of the Amphitheatre Escarpment, high over the rapids below. Ultra runners will also get to sneak into the Old Weir, a dam relic that could easily pass as an Incan ruin, such is its size

and grandeur. Runners have to do a short climb up man-height stone bricks and run out and back to the pier-end (organisers have thought of making runners jump off, but so far, have relented!). Competitors also run amidst Indigenous mythology with the famous Den of Nargun site the penultimate attraction en route, before finishing at the delightful Echo Bend camping ground, a great spot to camp pre and post. This is truly like no other trail run in the state.

EVENT Australian Adventure Festival - Mitchell River Trail Run

BLAZE NEW

TRAILS

WHEN 21 October DISTANCE 21km / 55km WHERE Mitchell River National Park (near Bairnsdale), Victoria

Check out the event

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PEREG RI NE 6 N OW AVA I LA BLE AT KATH MA N D U

saucony.com.au

EVENT PREVIEW IMAGE: Lloyd Belcher

ULTRA TRAIL MONTE ROSA Italy / Switzerland, Europe

W

hen one of the world’s best ultra trail runners sets up a trail event set in mountains on the Swiss/ Italian border, you know it will be special. Famous for her ultra titles and running the length of the Himalayas, Lizzy Hawker’s Ultra Trail Monte Rosa is a passion project come to fruition. Says Lizzy: “I first went to Zermatt at the age of 6, and that is where my love of the mountains started. The opportunity to create a race here and to share this love means a lot to me. Having explored the trails extensively, I am convinced they are some of the most magnificent in the Alps. My intention in founding the race is simply to give people an opportunity to explore and to experience the value of challenging themselves within the context of an ultra distance race. Running and racing

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has, over the years, given me so much, and this is what I would like to share with others now.”

The route passes through Zermatt, towards and then away from the iconic Matterhorn, crosses six high passes, and has an average altitude over 2000m.

It is a circumnambulation around the huge and imposing massif of the Monte Rosa. On often technical trails, and with more than 10,000m ascent and descent, it is firmly in the “hard” but “awesome” category.

EVENT Ultra Trail Monte Rosa WHEN 1-3 September 2016 DISTANCE 116km completed in three stages or as an ultra

WHERE Cervinia, Italy

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RUN TOUR PREVIEW IMAGES: Tegyn Angel

TORRES DEL PAINE

#DUMPFRUCTOSE DISCOVER AN ENERGY GEL THAT WONT MESS WITH YOUR GUTS

Patagonia, Chile

P

atagonia is one of the most awe-inspiring, raw, visually astounding places on the planet and the wind-sculpted Torres Del Paine is the most impressive part. Trekkers usually complete the ‘W’ route around the Torres in the south, so named because it heads into the base of the towering spires at two different points. This at-your-own-run-pace, fully guided and catered multiday running tour covers those out and backs, but also runs up and around the northern section of the Park, making it the full (and less often trodden) ‘OW’ route.

You will be buttered up with some luxe lodgings beforehand, at the Conde Nast Traveller awardwinning Hotel Remota, and at the unique EcoCamp Patagonia.

Apart from one tented night,

accommodation on trail is all refugio cabins and lodges (with hot showers and restaurants!). There will be a glacier experience, plus of course the trail itself that routes around and into the base of the world famous Torres! Bookings due by 10 August, 2016.

TOUR Patagonia OW Circuit, Chile WHEN 5 - 13 November 2016 DISTANCE 120km(approx) LENGTH 9 day tour, six days on trail

PRICE US$6800 DISCOUNTED for TRM readers to US$6100 if you mention this editorial. *flights not included.

Check out the event 28

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EVENT PREVIEW IMAGES: Sputnik Sputnik / www.swashbucklersclub.com

YURREBILLA TRAIL ULTRA

180 pages of fun, colour, advice, inspiration, motivation and stories about running.

And life. But mostly running.

With pearls of wisdom from some of the world’s most awesome runners including Dean Karnazes, Lizzy Hawker, Pat Farmer and Anna Frost.

Adelaide, SA

$29.95

T

en years is a long time to have been around in the trail event game, but that is how many years the Yurrebilla Trail Ultra has coursed through the hills overlooking Adelaide, South Australia. Initially a social run outing aimed at “having a look at the beautiful Yurrebilla Trail”, the event criss-crosses the mighty Mount Lofty Ranges and is a beauty, never straying more than 12 kilometres from the City of Adelaide but always a wild world away. The trail offers stunning views, amazing gorges, waterfalls, wildlife and wildflowers.

Commencing at Belair Railway Station in the south, the trail climbs 1865 metres and descends 2060 metres before it reaches

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its destination at Ambers Gully, Athelstone. Runners are required to run on only a few roads which connect the end of one bush track to the start of another trail.

Yurrebilla is SA’s highest profile trail ultra and in celebrating its tenth anniversary, looks set to up the welcoming vibe once more, for locals and interstaters alike, with a particularly inclusive community for first timers (to the Adelaide hills or to the ultra distance!).

EVENT Yurrebilla Trail Ultra DISTANCE 56km WHEN 25 September

Check out the event

OPINION

SPUTNIK’S SPRAY

Our trailite on the rant takes aim at gender imbalance on trail and on podium. Or at least, the order of things in getting there.

GET READY FOR THE FIST PUMPS LADIES, THIS ONE’S FOR YOU! You know, we live in a crazy mixed up, muddled up world. A world where Nick Kyrgios, the most un-Australian person to walk the planet, plays tennis for Australia.

Sometimes. When it suits him. And where Chicken Twisties are still a thing. So I understand that some things really are beyond rational explanation.

And here’s another one: we bang on quite a bit about equality. About how people should be equal regardless of the colour of their skin. Or what’s between their legs. Or what’s between the legs of the person they happen to really like bumping up against. OK, to be fair, as a country we’re a bit behind on some of this stuff. But you know, we have good intentions to treat people equally. Most of the time. Well, sometimes.

Unless you arrive on a boat, in which case you’re pretty much screwed. Personally, I’d be nervous even coming back to Australia on the P&O Fairstar these days, but that’s a different story for a different day.

You see, there’s been something that’s really grinding my gears of late. I never used to even notice it, and that’s kind of the problem. It’s still going largely unnoticed and that needs to stop.

It’s something almost all industries and sports do, and it’s time to call ‘bullshit’. So, ladies and gentleman, I’m calling it: Bullshit!

And there’s a clue about what I’m so worked up about in that last bit: “Ladies and gentleman”.

I’m a bit over the pecking order and the

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not so subtle gender discrimination of it all.

I know there are double standards, because if you’re walking through a door, you should let the chicks go first. Same thing if you’re on the Titanic. Women and children, first, right?

And I’m down with that. I’m not entirely sure where Transgender people would fit into that equation these days, but let’s be honest here, if the boat you’re on is sinking, it’s probably not the time to have a philosophical debate about which toilet you should be using or if you get in the boat first or not. Whack your size 14 heels off and get the hell in the boat already, yes?

So I’m a bit old school, and I’m completely cool with women, (natural or otherwise), going first. But you know when I’m not cool about it? When it kind of denotes they’re not as good as men. I personally couldn’t give a flying toss if women can hit a tennis ball as hard, jump as high, or run as fast, I’m calling bullshit that we give out women’s prizes before the men’s.

Every. Single. Time. Like we’re kind of working up to the awards that matter. We start with 3rd and work our way up to 1st, the place that matters the most. And we start with the women’s categories and work our way up to the men’s, the gender that matters the most. Bull.

Fucking. Shit.

And yes, I know that’s how they do things like the Oscars, too. And I call bullshit on that as well. Why does Brie get announced before Leo? OK, that may be an exception because making Leo wait another five minutes for the Oscar he’d been waiting for since 1993 was actually pretty epic. But generally speaking, why can’t we work our way up to the Best

Actress award? Why can’t the Women’s Singles Final be on the last day of the Australian Open?

And when we run a trail race, why can’t Emelie go before Kilian? Or Kellie before Tegyn. OK, bad example, Kellie is way faster than Tegyn anyway. But you see where I’m headed with this, right?

As Trail Runners, we’re all a little different in our own ways. Some more than others.

Some a lot more than others. So why don’t we break ranks and lead the way on this? Show other industries and sports how it’s done?

Yeah, you heard me – them there are fighting words and I’m laying down the challenge to all you Race Directors out there, male, female, transgender or otherwise: I want to turn up to a race and see someone say “Gentlemen and Ladies” instead of “Ladies and Gentlemen”. And more importantly, I want to see “Gentlemen first” instead of “Ladies first”. Specifically, I want us to mix it up a little, and announce the men’s winners before the women’s winners.

You know, at least some of the time. Let’s call it about half the time. Like we were all equal.

Now wouldn’t that be something.

Follow Sputnik’s adventures (and occasional rants) @ SwashbucklersClub.com Facebook.com/Swashbuckler 33

INNERVIEW

PAUL HEWITSON

WORDS: Amanda Broughton images: courtesy Paul Hewitson, Race The Planet, Chandima Kulathilake, 74Pics Photography

Late Starter

MULTI DAY RUNNER. TEN KILOMETRE DEMON. HASH HARRIER. BIKRAM YOGA DUDE. GREENIE. DRUNK RUNNER. WANTED FELON. KIWI PAUL HEWITSON IS A MAN OF MANY FACETS AND TALENTS – HIS RUNNING ONES DISCOVERED LATER IN LIFE, AS HE TELLS TRM’S AMANDA BROUGHTON.

THE SOME-TIME VEGETARIAN PILES HIS PLATE HIGH WITH SEVERAL KINDS OF MEAT AS WE SHUFFLE ALONG THE BUFFET TABLE. “My wife’s a vegetarian, so I’m making the most of this!” he says with a sly grin.

We share running stories over plates of pork crackling and I discover that the man sitting across from me, formerly a wanted felon in the United States, the one telling the most ruthlessly bad-taste jokes I’ve ever heard, is also the man who has just won his age group at the national 10km road championships and who came second in a multi-stage race across Ecuador only a month earlier.

How is it possible to run at a highly competitive level at a road 10km and a 250km multi-stage race? How is it possible, that this guy lived right over my back fence and I didn’t find out about him until now?

So I chanced a walk over to my neighbour’s place, sat on the deck with some unruly chickens stealing all the strawberries meant of visitors’ bellies and quizzed Paul on how he came to be such an outstanding runner in his fifties.

So, you were a late starter in the running game, Paul?

work for me these days, but I still do a lot. I’ve always been hyperactive, just wired that way, so physical work and running is not an issue. I don’t sleep much and I’m always on the go.

I only started running properly when I was 35. I was good at it at school, then my priorities changed and I did a lot of drinking; all I lived for was travelling and socialising.

I got married when I was 33 and realised that I couldn’t go out as much, so priorities changed again. I use to be quite a good runner so I thought I would train for a marathon as something different to do. I think the later you start the less damage you do to your body, but in saying that had I started earlier I think I would have been quite good. Because I started later in life I have preserved it so I’m still running pretty well I did one marathon then I did about half a dozen marathons. The best I did was 2.40 something for a marathon. When I was living in Spain I tried and tried to run below 2.45 but I just couldn’t. At that point I figured that I’m not going to get any quicker so I thought I’ll go a bit further and try an ultra which at that time was 40 miles or 60km. I really enjoyed it, so I thought I’d carry on with the ultras.

When you go on your night runs, how much sleep are you getting?

I’m up at weird times – today I was awake at 3.30am so I got up and did some paperwork.

I don’t have a routine, because of my sleep patterns so nothing is regular. Sometimes I’ll go for two weeks and sleep really well but it doesn’t last long.

I never look at it as a problem. I never want to say I’m a terrible sleeper because I always find something productive to do, usually it’s running. Even when I’m not training seriously I’ll go out at night and do 30-60 minutes.

If I do a big night of running (that’s getting up at 2-3am and running for three-plus hours) I might get seven hours sleep the next night, then 6 the following night. I get fatigued enough for a while but the sleep will steadily decrease then it starts again and I’ll be awake at 2am. After 20 minutes I know I will not sleep so I go out for a run.

You own a roofing company – how do you balance such a physical job with running?

Owning a small business is hard work and that’s increasing as it is getting bigger. I’m getting staff to do a bit more of the physical

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In the 20 years that you have been running, what has been your best experience? >>

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PAUL HEWITSON INNERVIEW

<<

that stage. He told me he thought he was going to lose his lead. I had closed the gap up to 18 minutes behind him going in to the final day of 60km. He ended up blowing me away by 40-50 minutes but I still got second on that day. It was fun, because it was like the Tour de France, you add your times up each day. It is very competitive race, and people certainly don’t like to be beaten by an old man.

I competed in Race The Planet in Ecuador in 2015 – 250km over six days. I got inspired to do the race to raise money for Penny Gifkins, a Napier mother of two who lost both legs six years ago following a meningococcal infection.

She lost both legs to meningitis a few years ago. I wanted to help to raise money to fit prosthetic leg implants for her to help her to walk again. I like the idea that something good can come of the event.

Ecuador was by far the best experience, because I never had one moment where I thought, ‘Screw this, I hate this.’ I never got a cramp. I felt strong the whole time and it was all down to the training and the diet. Just the feeling of being able to beat people half my age and compete with them was indescribable.

The guy that actually won, Ake Fagereng, was under so much pressure. They housed everyone around the same age in the same tents so I was with all the 50 year-old guys and he was with a bunch of younger people. They were saying: “You can’t let an old man beat you, it’s embarrassing. It discredits the race!”

They didn’t want any of us half-asses, us old guys, to beat them. The guy that got first he really did beat me, though. He was worried after day four, the hardest day, because I won

You found a few like-minded souls amongst the competitors in Ecuador?

I met a guy, Charlie Engel, in my tent in Ecuador. He’s been on TV shows and all that, a bit of a motivational speaker. He literally ran across the Sahara from Senegal to Egypt, 80km a day for one hundred days straight, 8,000km in total. He’s an absolute legend. He raised something like $3 million for a water reticulation project and he worked with Matt Damon. He did the Sahara along with two friends. I don’t think those three talk to each other any more. Must have been some tough run. Anyway, he’s amazing, but I beat him in the Ecuador race and he couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe that someone his age could beat him. I got second overall so I did beat

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most people; I was totally surprised with that myself.

What do you put your success there down to?

It was all in the training and the diet; the hours I put in were immense. I was doing up to 200km a week in the middle of the night with a big pack on. I’d set off at 2am, come home at 4am or 6am. For the local Wellington Marathon I ran from home to the start then ran the marathon, around 51km. The next day I got up and did 35km, the next day 30km – you had to be used to the back to back runs so that is what I did.

I built up my mileage to replicate what I would be doing in the race where it was 40-50km a day. It required hauling gear, so I trained with same amount of weight in a backpack, around 10kg. What I couldn’t train for was the altitude because it was up around 4000 metres. I couldn’t train for that and I didn’t know what was going to happen. The terrain was so steep, it was way harder than running up Mt Luxmore during the Kepler Challenge. >>

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PAUL HEWITSON INNERVIEW

<<

Apart from sheer distance and backto-back running, any other training strategy?

I trained using heart rate, so with each run I was targeting 128BPM. I was doing that for three months in the build up. Interestingly enough, once you start running to the target HR you think, God this is so slow. Over time your heart gets more efficient and you have to run faster to get to the HR zone. I started running at 5.15min/km. After a few weeks it was 4.58, then 4.40 and eventually 4.14 to keep it (with a pack on) at 125BPM. My heart wasn’t doing any work but I was having to run faster and faster to hit the target rate. This training period was over thee months so it’s not long. I think you can only do this sort of thing in short bursts. I do try to have a complete break for a while after something like that, you know, try and get fat. Just do the odd ride (cycle) and that kind of thing.

How do you train in New Zealand for a race that takes place in the heat?

It’s cold in Wellington, that’s the only thing I don’t like about it. There is no way you can train to get use to the heat – it will be 40-45 degrees when I’m running in Spain (Paul is off to compete in Al Andalus, an event that takes in 230km over five days). I have found a solution.

I got a membership at the Freyberg pool on the Wellington waterfront. I go down and jog on the spot in the sauna for 45min to an hour.

People look at me weird when I’m in there wearing all my gear, sweating, and they’re all pretty much naked just wearing just a towel.

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are better for shorter distance, marathon maximum. It’s like burning kindling, you’ve got to keep feeding it.

I cut out a lot of potatoes, rice bread and pasta. I just had toast in the morning, more fruit, lots of veges and that kind of thing.

We’re a vegetarian family so there aren’t as many choices.

I ate a lot of eggs, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, and it worked. I didn’t believe it, I thought it was just a fad but I went for it because I had nothing to lose. During a lot of these ultras I was getting cramps and hitting the wall. As much as I loved them, I thought that because of the cramps that I was just better at the shorter stuff. The theory does work but you have to be disciplined. As hard as the race was it wasn’t as hard as the training, the training is the hard work, the mental side of it.

I came back from Ecuador and had lost all this weight, and when I came to do the 10km races I suddenly had all this speed! I got back from Ecuador at the beginning of August, old and knackered. A few weekends later I ran 35min for the 10km, I hadn’t done any speed work, all I did was keep my diet the same.

Nutrition is important during multi stage races, what was it about your diet that worked well?

The big benefits for me leading in to the race were the changes I made in diet. It was all about protein and sorting fat, and making sure I was eating all the right stuff. You had to take all your own food for the race – about 4,000 calories a day and the food I was running with was much denser than what the other runners were taking. They had a lot of rice and pasta which is very light, but I was trying to keep away from that food and I was eating beef jerky, protein bars and nuts, dehydrated breakfast skillet. It was gross.

I was keeping to those kinds of foods because it was all protein. Protein is stored as fat and because you’re running at that heart rate you are tapping in those reserves. Instead of using gels and energy bars and shit like that you are going straight to the fat reserves, which is the protein you have converted and stored. When I was running up to six hours I wouldn’t have anything to eat, just electrolyte drinks but that was all. I tried to do that at Kepler but my heart rate was so high that my body was automatically bypassing fat stores and looking for sugar for energy.

I followed a guy called Phil Maffetone and he has revolutionised a lot of what ultra distance runners are tending to look at. And it’s not as easy as what you think because you have to follow it for at least three months before you are going to race. When you burn fat for long distances it’s like burning a log on a fire. It’s slow burning, keep going at a low rate. Carbs

What about your worst experience?

The Great North Walk was by far my worst, that one is 174km. I went to some terribly dark places. I couldn’t believe that I was still running. I thought I would have to give running up entirely. I did it with my neighbour, Seth Campbell. We’ve done the Kepler Challenge together. The Great North Walk took 30 hours. I was determined to finish.

We had both attempted it previous years and pulled out at the 100km mark. It is a tough 39

PAUL HEWITSON INNERVIEW

TRAINING PARTNER: THELMA Age 61 in human years Breed Lab-X Boxer Achievements 100m PB 8.92 seconds (Wind -1.4), July 2011

Favourite run Wellington Skyline Coach Paul Hewitson Thelma has been down at the track with Paul for many interval sessions over the years. “She’s done some bloody miles with me,” says Paul. While she has an impressive time over 100m she has found that her real strengths lie in long distance trail running, clocking up to seven hours on training runs. Even though she has white socks she prefers the mud and the pine needles to the pavement any day.

Thelma now considers herself retired from running, but she still goes for a couple of 30-minute jogs every week. You can see her love of the outdoors when you mention a run, she leaps all over the place and races behind, around and in front of Paul as he winds around trees and over rocks climbing hills in the Wellington trails.

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bastard, 10,000 metres of elevation, the height of Everest plus some. It was a killer. During the night I was just miserable. Seth stayed with me all through the night and he was great, we just did it together.

The next morning I went to sleep for 20 minutes at a checkpoint and had some potato and pumpkin soup and I just had this energy. I remember it was 2 o’clock in the morning and Seth had left the checkpoint about 45 minutes earlier. With this renewed energy I caught up with him and we ran together for a while, then he just fell to bits.

He never once said ‘You go ahead I’m good’.

I was waiting for him to say it and he never did, so I stayed with him until the end. I walked with him for the rest. It was just bloody miserable. After the event I stayed at a nice hotel in town, I almost fell asleep in the bath; it was dangerous. I had 14 hours sleep then, I was absolutely shagged. I went out to buffets and just ate all day. Ha! That was the worst time I ever had.

I did a 40-miler in South Carolina that was pretty bad. I almost had to be carried. A really good friend of me she literally carried me, I was dead last. I was winning that race at one stage then I felt myself getting slower. So I hid in the bushes and let the next three people go past so that they would keep thinking that they were second and third, ha ha. I ended up coming last, and they were really surprised at the end that they were the winners. Shit, I was really pissed off that I did that race.

Are there any races that you dream of doing?

FLASH PROFILE: PAUL HEWITSON

I really want to run Badwater. That’s massive, man. 218km in 50-degree heat, uphill.

That is the epic for all ultra distance runners in the States, probably worldwide. It’s not the toughest. They say it is the toughest. There is Spartatalon in Greece, and a host of other races popping up that are much harder.

Charlie (Engel) is doing one in July next year that he wants me to do with him. And it’s running the whole of the Pyrenees. It’s 800km over two weeks [see our Q&A in this edition with Jan Saunders, doing exactly that race this year.

Ed]. As long as you get to check points, you camp and sleep wherever you want. It’s selfsupported. It’s insane! You’ve got to get your own food. Oh it’s just insane.

(You can tell here he is thinking about running it, shakes his head, gasps – he just loves this shit).

It’s a horrible feeling (doing ultras) but you keep coming back. I guess it must be like childbirth, I don’t know. People just keep coming back.

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Gives a lot back to the running community

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Insomniac, but sees it positively

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Runs a small business, physical job

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Tries new diets and training methods

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Nails short and long distances

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Over 50 and beating 25 year-olds

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Loves multi stage races

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Likes a drink, and will run drunk

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Was a wanted felon in the US

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Lived in many countries

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Environmentalist

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Racing CV includes: Racing The Planet Ecuador; Great North Walk 100 miler, Australia; Northburn 100, NZ,; Naseby 100, NZ; Marathon des Sables, Morocco; numerous marathons.

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Target races: Al Andalus 230km, Spain; Trans Pyrenea 800km, Italy/ France; Bad Water, US.

www.alandalus-ut.com/ www.philmaffetone.com/

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EDSWORD FEATURE

CHRIS ORD // AUSTRALIAN EDITOR

There’s nothing like setting yourself up for failure… after all, it’s the only true path to tasting success on an ultra scale, as Amanda Broughton finds out at the inaugural Tassie Trail Fest.

WORDS: Amanda Broughton

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IMAGES: Chris Ord, Simon Madden

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FEATURE TASSIE TRAIL FEST

TASSIE TRAIL FEST FEATURE

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

I HAVE REPEATED THIS TO MYSELF SO MANY TIMES NOW THAT IT SEEMS LIKE A CLICHÉ. NEVERTHELESS, IT’S WORTH FLOGGING THE CLICHÉ ONCE MORE IN THE HOPE THAT IT CONNECTS WITH SOMEONE AS MUCH AS IT DID ME, SO HERE IT IS FOR YOU. I didn’t know if I could complete an off-road marathon, much less an additional 60km as part of the multiday running event that is the Tassie Trail Fest. Even though the prospect of doing this scared the shit out of me. I thought I might fail getting injured, falling ill or just giving up. I said yes, because you know, I might not fail.

When someone asks you to do something that you think is beyond your ability, that you would never have considered doing, don’t ask yourself why. Ask yourself ‘Why not?’ Lose the fear of failure. To begin the challenge employ the same tactics that you use to make yourself get out the door on a chilly morning for that 5.30am training run. It is as simple as putting a sock on, and it builds from there. Start the process and see where it takes you. Let me take you back to my adventure at the Tassie Trail Fest.

It starts by booking a race entry, booking a flight. After steps one and two are complete, and the card has been debited, you are at the point of no return. So it’s a good idea now ask for time off work. It is better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission.

I was facing five days away in a small rural town in north-west Tasmania with four hundred other trail running enthusiasts, none of whom I’d met. Then there’s the one hundred kilometres to be run through the lush Tasmanian bush, the mandatory compression 44

in case of snake bites, and banter about what to do in case of leeches attaching themselves to your shins. If you think this sounds like the perfect holiday, well, it is.

The Tassie Trail Fest is a three-day celebration of all things trail running. Masochists came from as far afield as Wales, Germany, Mexico, Canada, Belgium, Antarctica and Karori to experience the bush and the rush of the Blue Derby trails. This year was the inaugural outing and one that I have already permanently plotted in my forward running calendar.

I arrive a day early in Derby, an old tin mining town, ostensibly so I can help to set up the event. By help, I mean sample all the different kinds of slice on offer at the local café The Tin Dragon, including one made with Malteasers.

They are right up there with Nutella in the pre-race fuel stakes and improve performance to the point that there might be Malteasers on the banned substance list in the future.

The running community I meet here are different to the ones I had just left in the inner city. They are the type who have cycling tan lines so severe they could have been inked, the explanation for these tan-tattoos brushed aside as a six-month ‘bit of a holiday’ when the true cause in this case was an inspirational feat of riding thousands of kilometres across an entire country. They are the type of people who have quit their job not because they are chasing more money in another, but because they’re chasing that feeling of giving someone else the freedom to be outdoors to enjoy the bush, the sea and the wind. People who specifically (unlike me) do not having five different sets of colour-coordinated running gear for the upcoming event because there is no way that shit will fit inside their bike >>

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there are no iron-clad guarantees for any other competitor, either: they aren’t here on recommendations from friends for no one has ever done this event before. They haven’t had this sitting on their bucket list as it is yet to earn its place on any. There aren’t hundreds of photos with smiling runners advertising the event as none have been taken (just a handful of pre-promo shots of professional ultra runner Simon Madden). This is a first-time event where anything could happen. Like any run into the wilderness, it could go awry at any point. Quite possibly just past the point of my farthest run in kilometres to date.

The start line is buzzing, the queue for the Portaloos keeping a third of the field occupied so it isn’t just me feeling nervous and uncertain about the challenge ahead. Anyone wearing a green ‘Madness’ bib has signed up for not only the marathon but the following day’s 14km, another midday half marathon, another 14km run at night and a final 2km Dash for Cash where a hangover will be near-mandatory.

Combined, these runs cover 100km in total.

It blows me away that people are doing this by choice, or have they also been coerced, as I was by the editor of a particular trail running magazine? While the marathon is running there are also options for non-Madness runners to complete a half marathon, a 6.5km and a 2km kid’s race.

My game plan is to run this race at a cruisey long run effort, take it easy, take no risks; to make a pact with myself to enjoy it, as one friend advised. Another mate took a different, more aggressive tact: Go and kick Tasmania in the Lady Balls. You are impossibly strong and fast.

Go well. Remember. Foot to the lady balls. It will suck, but you’re better than you think you are, so go f#@k shit up…

You have to love your mates. But I was worried it wasn’t me doing the F#@king, rather I’d be… well, you get the drift. Suffice to say I needed to somehow come off the first trail marathon with enough energy to run the remaining 56km. No worries, mate. This. Is. Madness. Lady Balls over logic.

The first part of the marathon course is a

panniers. People sporting feet with toenails so black that they just had to belong to a dedicated ultra runner – although this one is just here to volunteer. When he’s not running ultras in the bush, he’s helping others to.

That’s dedication to a lifestyle. I am in awe; these people are adventurous, inspiring, ambitious and are completely content if not a little wonderfully mad.

It is an incredible opportunity to travel to this race. Five days spent in a remote, slightly strange town with complete strangers seems like a long time. But equally it is a short time to get to know them properly and understand what has brought them to the Fest. With each person I meet, a new story is collected to inspire and shape my own.

Standing at race registration desk in the Derby Town Hall, I greet the competitors, their footsteps echoing around the pressed tin walls as they filter in the door on a drizzling afternoon. Every time someone comes up to get their green race bib I look at them and mutter in disbelief: “Multi Day Madness? You plan to run the full 100km?”

“Yeah, I’ll just start and see how it goes, why not?”

Entire families file in, each tackling a different challenge. Friends in pairs, they trained together, and will race together, matching outfits and matching apprehensive smiles.

The festival begins with a marathon on the first day, a touch over the standard 42.2km routed along the sensational mountain bike trails collectively known as Blue Derby. The singletrack was created only a few years ago by trail building gurus from World Trail, to the tune of nearly $2.5 million with visions of the once-was-a-ghost-town being revived to a heaving popularity mirroring that of my home nation’s Rotorua.

Now, for context, arriving in Tasmania I had never run a marathon before, and I had definitely never run 40-plus kilometres backto-back, as the Madness demands.

And just like there is no promise that I will even finish the first day, let alone all three,

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a rock is the aid station I’ve been waiting for.

Two of the race organisers, Peri and Simon (he of distance running legend) are surprised to see me and are genuinely happy for me with how far up in the field I am. To have such support at this stage from two people I met not 24 hours earlier is a huge boost to my confidence. I grab a fist full of gummy worms and head back into the bush for the final 14km.

People talk about hitting a wall at the 30km mark in a marathon, for this race it doesn’t come for me until 40km. It is pretty rough.

I think back to the advice from my friends that will carry me through: you have an awesome tan! No, that wasn’t it, try again. You are impossibly strong and fast. That’s it. Start believing it, if someone else thinks you can do it then put your head down and get it done.

It is hurting a lot, it has stopped being easy, I am tired and starting to stumble a little and I just want it to be over. Now is not the time for the thought to materialise: this is only day one. I catch up with fellow runner John at the final aid station and we pull each other through the final stretch. With the finish line in sight, someone is yelling at us to turn left as there is another, unexpected 500 metre loop of despair to go. The ‘I want to give up/string of expletives’ count quickly increases from 16 to

relaxed run on speedy single track that gives way to old forestry roads. I cruise along taking in unfamiliar sounds of Aussie birds, the smell of eucalyptus wafting from the gum trees.

There are large flat rocks to run across that I decided to tiptoe over after a few near slips – it is completely different to anywhere I’ve run in New Zealand, and it’s exciting.

Bright green bouncy moss creeps over the gravel to reclaim the forestry roads and makes for relaxed running before the course dives back in to the curated mountain bike trails.

One mantra I keep returning to during the marathon is: your mind will give up 1000 times over before your body does! I am counting the number of times that I want to quit, want to walk, or utter a string of expletives (it only f#%!n counts if there are more than two). After 17 kilometres pass underfoot I have counted to three mind-breaks, but the body soldiers on, so far so good!

Around the 30km mark the trail looks like the moon. Grey-green moss covers the ground and pale trees stripped of bark stretch up high on either side. This almost surreal landscape is a welcome boost as there is about 10km between aid stations in and I’ve been running alone for a while. Through the trees, set up on 48

24. It’s amazing how someone you just met can get you through such a challenging moment just by running alongside you. We cross the line together, happy and exhausted.

I hang around at the finish line to watch and cheer other runners finishing, a laudable sentiment, but in reality it’s more so because I cannot actually move anyhere. People bring me bananas and water as I lie waiting to be embalmed on the grass verge. Death is near, and creeps closer when I think about doing all of this again, tomorrow.

I foresaw great pain and suffering on day two but once awake and moving and surrounded by runners, supporters and volunteers I am imbued with the sense of possibility not being out of reach. Facing the day’s challenge alongside the new friends made yesterday – ones who hurt the same as I did – didn’t seem so impossible.

First up on day two is the Cheetah Recovery 14km run. ‘Recovery’ isn’t the type of run, of course, it’s the sponsor’s bloody brand name.

It’s just a wee 14km of hills to stretch the legs out as a morning warm up. Who the hell warms up for 14km anyway?

This covers the same trails as parts of the marathon, giving a chance to see the final >>

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chance to see the lead runners come flying past, and to cheer on everyone as they race back past. After some time the course diverts to the left and narrows to a big flowing downhill on MTB trails. I give it heaps to finish and try to end the large amount of pain that I am in as quickly as possible. Some Aussie guys are yelling at me and giving me stick as I pass them – I’ve known them for a day and the transTasman rivalry is already apparent.

Finishing race number three in the hot Tassie sun (hot relative to New Zealand please note) is a relief. Everyone is looking at each other in disbelief: “Did we just do that?!” The total for the Multi Day Madness runners is now at 83 kilometres, no casualties yet, no dead bodies in the river or underneath the aid station table with the discarded banana peels and the soggy Pringles.

The night run is the final of day two and it starts as the sun is setting. If you are fast enough you can watch it sink below the trees from the top of the first hill climb; it is pure bush magic. Running in the dark is exciting.

Leading a race in the dark is not! I find myself leading the ladies and I have no idea how far ahead of the second woman I am. I can see headlamps winking and winding up the switchbacks in the silence as I run alone through the bush. Running in pitch black is the closest I will get to being an action hero.

I come clear of the bush and glow sticks light the way to the finish line at the Derby Town Hall. People outside are alternatively drinking and cheering. They recognise me in the dark (must have been my costume change into brights) and yell my name as I give it one last push up the hill, through the finishing chute, around the corner and into the hall. Yes, into the hall – perhaps the only trail running event to finish inside! I cross the line smack in front of a live band on stage playing to a room full of people celebrating, amid music and disco lights, all going mad, especially for the Madness finishers. Surely the best finish line ever! I have never seen anything like it, straight through the blow up finish arch and into a party in full throttle, complete with overflowing bar serving up the local micro brew in the corner. I kick myself with the 1% of strength remaining in my left leg for not having prepared

section of bush I missed during the wall-hitting phase late in yesterday’s marathon, plus some bonus kilometres.

Five minutes in and I can feel my legs again.

I slow down to the steady long run effort that I had employed for the marathon because today it’s not just a 14km run, it’s two of them spaced eleven hours apart with a half marathon sandwiched in between. Run smart, run strong.

Forget about the speed, the placings. Forget all of that because you have to endure a lot more.

I finish the ‘recovery’ run, to my surprise.

How was I able to keep running at all? Once again it was the people mingled with on trail, the same people I met yesterday whose stories about how they ended up running in Tasmania, what they’d run prior and what they had planned next, carried me through the many switchbacks and out the other side unscathed.

There is just a three and a half hour gap between the first and second races on day two. That is if you finish in a middling time.

Some of the slower Madness runners will arrive with minutes to spare at the start of the midday half marathon, appropriately enough begun beside a bush pub. This is the Running Company Launceston half marathon, so after quick showers and mandatory costume change I was off for a day out to the nearby hamlet of Weldborough and the Blue Tier Forest trail that hosted the next race and home of the Blue Tier Giant, the widest living tree in Australia with a massive 19.4 metre girth.

This half marathon climbs 680m up hills and over boulders and features four river crossings. Or rather eight because you have to cross them again on the way back. For most of this race I run with another John, a scientist based in Antarctica who trains on the ice and a treadmill to prepare for events like this. We talk about the run, how beautiful the scenery is, and we imagine where the turnaround point is. Everything is about the moment. He has no time to tell me he has run and finished the notoriously tough to near-impossible-formere-mortals Barkley Marathons (which I find out later he is only one of 14 people to do so - a time of 59:41:21 for the ultra watchers out there). John is far more occupied with how refreshing the river water is on his calves.

This course is out and back so we get the

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Tassie Trail Fest: notes for competitors • Expect to run a few ‘bonus’ kilometres over the course of the weekend, the RD is notorious for them • If you have a bad race on day one you have four chances to redeem yourself by racing again • The Blue Derby trails are purpose built for mountain biking, so bring a friend for a ride post-race – the trails are clear for most of the weekend for two wheel rollers.

• The Festival includes seminars on running, you’ll learn how you can perfect your form and your nutrition • The event caters for the crazy ultra runner and the novice walker; whatever your fitness level there is something you will enjoy • Book your accommodation early! There are limited places to stay in town, but the best experience is if you do stay in town as it is a great village vibe.

• There will be free camping in 2017 if tents are your thing!

• Organisers are looking to a special campervan special with a local hire company, so stay tuned to the website or the event Facebook page.

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FEATURE TASSIE TRAIL FEST

take outs TASSIE TRAIL FEST

11-13 March 2017 44km, 21km Saturday, 21km Sunday, 14km day, 14km night, 6.5km, 2km kids, 2km Dash for Cash, live music, seminars.

Entries open August

TASSIETRAILFEST.COM.AU FACEBOOK

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contingent lead by myself who will be back to taunt people on the downhills in 2017.

I’ll be back next year to race up and down those blessed switchbacks, I’m not sure about the Multi Day Madness… but then again, it’s quite a long way to fly just to run 2km.

What I found in Tasmania at Tassie Trail Fest, I’ve never found before. It wasn’t just another run, it was the best event I’ve ever done and what I did that weekend I never thought I could possibly do. The joy on people’s faces when they finish another stage of the race is real. It’s not for show, it’s not a mindless click on a social media post – they are there with you and are part of the action, part of the pain and part of the success.

There is a willingness by everyone to help a stranger, a competitor and after nary a kilometre shared, a friend indeed. The one you chased down the hill at top speed is the one you offer water to at the finish line, and next day the one you cross the line to finish equal with because without each other, you wouldn’t have pulled through that final stretch.

When all was done, the last goodbyes had been said and the airport at Launceston had emptied out, I felt alone for the first time in days. Spending hours solo on the trails was not the same kind of loneliness I felt in that

some dance moves to cross the line with a flourish. The race is complete with pizza and aforementioned beers handed to me, and the band doesn’t mind that we are not dancing but instead parked up on the floor with tired legs, recapping the day’s events over a shared packet of beef jerky. The next song belted out seems apt: ‘Crazy’ by Gnarls Barkly.

Everyone is up again on day three to run in the final event, the Dash for Cash. 2km to go and then it’s done. 2km when you’ve already run 100 is a cruel joke, especially with a hangover, but you’ve come this far so you might as well give it one last hit.

The Dash is the perfect course to show off your fast pace and cross country running skills. Come in fresh and steam past the poor souls dragging their feet after 100km of switchbacks, or if you’ve done your share of running you can still walk it.

Although the event would definitely be classified highly in the social event of the running year stakes, it still in its first year attracted tough competition. If you’re a serious runner who wants to run a hard marathon you’ll be up against Australian National representatives, people who have run the Barkley Marathon, locals, and the growing Kiwi 52

final post-event moment. I missed the steady rhythm of feet hitting trails, the swish of the fern fronds and giant trees fading past. The clatter of the airport and people rushing, unhelping, collided against my senses, a loud and irritating warning that real life was waiting for me once I stepped off the plane I was about to catch.

But here is what I took back home with me, undeclared at customs as it may be: two years ago, I set myself a goal that I thought was so far out of my reach that it was laughable, to run a 100km ultramarathon and win it. As I sat at the airport it dawned that I might be able to do this, it might really be possible. And I cried because I realised that a silly statement I wrote down, something I never believed to be true, could actually be a possibility. In the Madness of Tasmania, I attempted something that I thought I would fail at and I did it. So what would I have told a confused customs officer if he had asked if I had anything to declare back in Wellington? That I’m going to go for the full 100, and that I’m going to go for the win. It’s a mad thought. But Tasmania showed me that a dose of madness can go a long way to achieving crazy things.

2016

BOOKINGS

NOW!

FEATURE

Words: Mal Law IMAGES: Stephen Roberts (Shakey Finger Photography) and Richard Rossiter 54

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FEATURE OLD GHOST ULTRA

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BELIEVE EVERY GREAT RUNNING EVENT HAS THREE KEY CHARACTERISTICS: A GREAT STORY BEHIND IT; A SENSE OF JOURNEY OR ‘PURPOSE’; AND SOME CRITICAL X-FACTOR. Yet most great events only become truly Great – capital ‘G’ – after running for a number of years. Like a good wine, they need time to breathe, round off the rough edges – few years of cellaring and maturing – if they are to truly become a classic.

But every now and again, very occasionally, a new event appears on the calendar that right from the get-go entices you with a magical, heady mix of those three key ingredients and promises to be Great right from its inaugural running.

Now to be fair, I’m a sucker for inaugural events. The idea of doing anything for the first time – to be a part of something new and shiny, maybe a little bit untried, loose and experimental – promises so much more in the way of adventure that even longrunning classics like, say the Routeburn Classic, can’t offer.

But when I first heard that they were planning a race on the recently opened – or de-corked to continue the viticulture metaphor – Old Ghost Road, in the rugged, remote north-western corner of New Zealand’s South Island, I was beside myself with excitement and, along with my equally enthusiastic wife Sally, was amongst the first to sign up.

So why so much excitement and did it deliver on its promise?

First, you have to understand the great story behind the 85km-long trail along which the race is run. It’s one that is eloquently and entertainingly told in a short book by one of its co-creators Marion ‘Weasel’ Boatwright,

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which kicks off with a foreword (actually spelled, somehow appropriately in the book, as ‘foreward’) by one of the other dreamers turned co-creators, race director Phil Rossiter.

The opening paragraph of Phil’s foreword (let’s get it right, eh, Phil!) not only sets the tone for the gripping, often hilarious, story that follows but reads like an ultra runner’s call to prayer: “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will,” Phil writes.

“Never a truer word has been spoken than in the context of creating The Old Ghost Road. Whilst doubt regularly knocked on our door, deep down, I don’t think we ever stopped dreaming and believing that we could, and must, bring The Old Ghost Road to life.”

The creation of the trail was in itself perhaps the greatest ultra marathon ever conceived. From the seeds of an idea way back in 2007 to the official opening in December 2015, hundreds of volunteers led by a handful of passionate visionaries, toiled for thousands upon thousands of hours to bring to life a lost and never-completed 19th century gold miners’ road. What resulted is one of the world’s greatest hiking, running and mountain bike tracks that promises to play a big part in revitalising this onceprosperous but for so long largely forgotten (some might even say forsaken, but not me!) corner of New Zealand.

The full story – which is way too big to be told in full here – reads like part-detective story and part-epic adventure tale. It started with the chance discovery of an 1886 reconnaissance survey map for a ‘road’ from Mohikinui in the north to Lyell in the south – a route that attempted to traverse some ludicrously rugged, wild, mountainous >>

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conceived and realized remain part of the event itself – and it’s these people and the passion they pour into it that delivers the X-factor that few other events can match.

These are the same guys that dreamed, schemed and toiled the trail into existence, so turning up for their event is rather like buying a craft beer straight from the brewer rather than a mainstream beer from the supermarket. The people are truly authentic and that sense of authenticity – gritty realness and total integrity – flows through the event experience. In a world of increasingly commercialised trail running events, the honest ‘old school’ atmosphere that runs through every facet of the OGU is increasingly hard to come by and so is ever more valued, at least by old-timers such as myself.

Pretty much everything I’ve written was known or evident to me even before we even rocked up in Westport on a sunny Friday afternoon back in March. There was no doubting our excitement and sense of anticipation. But would all this expectation be backed up by the experience we were about to have? Or would these novice organisers make a complete balls-up of the whole thing? We were about to find out.

One of the first things that was evident at the briefing was that although the field was quite small – due to a relatively late announcement about the inaugural race, there were only about 55 of us picking up our hessian goldminers’ sacks that were our race packs (another nice nod to the trail’s history).

Even so, the assembled runners had come from all corners of New Zealand, with even a sprinkling of overseas contestants.

The next thing evident once briefing got underway was that these guys had thought of everything and had the runners – not sponsors or media – front of mind when

landscape that was cut to pieces by deep river valleys and clad in impenetrable bush.

The original pioneers never got far and gave up on their plans with only a few kilometres of pack track built at either end. But where these hardy forefathers failed, our heroes – the small band of west coasters who dreamed of resurrecting this audacious dream – succeeded. Eight years of hard physical yakka and millions of hard-won grant dollars later, the glorious Old Ghost Road was opened to an eagerly awaiting public.

At this point I really must make clear that what is a ‘road’ by name is definitely not a road by nature. It is trail. Glorious trail through glorious, breathtaking and varied landscapes; everything from pristine lowland bush to the rugged beauty of the open tops of the Lyell Range, this ‘road’ has it all. And by necessity ¬– as the trail has been built to mountain biking standard – it is for the most part well formed and well graded and therefore, for the strong at least, almost totally runnable.

Without doubt the Old Ghost Ultra (OGU) also delivers on the second of my key criteria for greatness: it provides a sense of journey and of purpose. True, any point-to-point race has a jumpstart advantage on out-and-back or loop-style courses as you finish somewhere other than at the start. But it’s more than this simple geographical fact that provides a feeling of purpose and achievement when completing the OGU. For apart from anything else you have crossed a mountain range and knocked off something that for so long had been dreamed of by many and yet, until recently, completed by very few.

But what of that third key factor? What provides the OGU’s elusive X-factor? The answer to me is as simple as the making of the trail was hard and the same people who

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OLD GHOST ULTRA FEATURE

Ghostly trail tale The story behind the making of the trail is brilliantly told in the book Spirit to the Stone - Building the Old Ghost Road available from

www.oldghostroad.org.nz

THE 2017 OGU EVENT IS SCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY FEBRUARY 25TH.

TRAIL FACTS: Length: 85km Ascent: 2600m

Max elevation: 1340m Start: Seddonville Finish: Lyell Race record: 7:53:21 Ruby Muir /

Ben Aynsley

The Trail The Race Video

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perched precariously atop an awe-inspiring bluff. Only shortly after did we realise that it wasn’t as close as it looked and in between there still lay a steep, hidden drop to a low saddle from which we climbed all over again to receive the warm, friendly ministrations of the aid station volunteers who were lucky enough to spend the day hanging out at this iconic spot.

Some more climbing and traversing across beautiful open tops got us within about 22km of the finish, where the final downhill began. “ “What?!” you may well query. “22km of downhill to finish?! You’ve got to be kidding?!”

No. I’m not. For all but about 5km where the gradient is so gradual that on tired legs it feels more like a slight uphill, the only egress from this point is down on a graded trail through lush native bush. Almost too good to be true.

The event wraps with more old-school goodness. Everything from the finish line BBQ to the hour-long bus trip back to Westport to the Sunday morning prize giving is embellished with the passion and humour of the dreamers who dared to dream not only this great trail, but this great race, into existence.

making race plans. All very reassuring when you’re about to tackle 85km of tough terrain, the only realistic escape from which if things go wrong would be in a helicopter.

We assembled for the 5 a.m. start at the lovingly-built Rough & Tumble Lodge (owned and run by the aforementioned ‘Weasel’) and with little fuss were soon on our way. Within a hundred metres, as we transitioned from gravel road to the single-track bush trail that marks the start of the Old Ghost Road proper, we were given our first surprise – Weasel playing a ditty country number on his fiddle at the side of the track; his unique way of saying “Go well you mad bastards.”

From there the delights kept unfolding.

Perfect underfoot conditions, pristine bush illuminated by dozens of bobbing headtorches and, an hour or two in, a sunrise as memorable as any. Add to that the abundant birdsong, quirky track signs and the knowledge that we were all the time gradually rising towards a mountain range that few of us had even known the existence of until a month or two back, and we had the perfect recipe for a cocktail called Trail Bliss.

From the 32km mark the trail steepened into one contiguous climb and then equally leg-blowing descent to the half-way mark at Stern Valley Hut. Then the real work began, climbing out of the bush and on to the spectacular open tops of the Lyell Range.

Sooner than expected we got our first sight of the much-vaunted Ghost Lake Hut, 65

EDSWORD FEATURE

CHRIS ORD // AUSTRALIAN EDITOR

Sometimes the trail calls out your name not to race, nor even to rush; rather its sheer length and intense environment are enough to test and slow the hardiest of ultra adventurers. Such is the case with the Yukon Quest trail, the North American setting for a famous dog sledding event and the end-to-end aim for ultra explorer, Mark Hines.

WORDS: MARK HINES IMAGES: MONTANE â&#x20AC;&#x201C; MARTIN HARTLEY, DEREKCROWE.PHOTO, MARK HINES

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THE YUKON QUEST TRAIL IS, TO A WINTER ADVENTURER, A PATH THROUGH PARADISE. THE 1000 MILE (1600KM) TRAIL BEGINS IN FAIRBANKS, ALASKA, US, AND PROCEEDS FOR A THOUSAND MILES THROUGH A PRISTINE SUB-ARCTIC WILDERNESS TO WHITEHORSE, YUKON TERRITORY, CANADA. IT IS THE ROUTE OF THE TOUGHEST DOG SLED RACE IN THE WORLD, ACCORDING TO ANY DOG MUSHER WHO HAS RACED IT AND THE EQUALLY FAMOUS IDITAROD DOG SLED RACE FURTHER WEST. IT IS A FROZEN LANDSCAPE ACROSS RIVERS AND LAKES, OVER FOUR MOUNTAIN RANGES IN ANY ORDINARY YEAR, SOMETIMES FIVE (THE ROUTE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE YEAR-TOYEAR).

The Yukon sits in the top left corner of Canada, beginning above British Columbia and finishing on the Arctic shores of the Far North.

It is a territory almost the size of Spain, with a population of less than 35,000 people, twothirds of which are found in the capital city of Whitehorse, the rest spread out in smaller towns, villages, and remote cabins.

The Yukon is home to lynxes, mountain lions, wolves, elk, moose, caribou, bison, wolverines, coyotes and, away from the capital, there are more bears than people. The land is a backcountry of mountains, lakes, rivers and spruce trees. By night the Northern Lights hang down like a swaying green curtain stretching through the atmosphere, or billowing across the night sky like the mists rising out of a magic lamp. It is one of the world’s last true wildernesses, and it is truly vast.

The decision to fastpack – or sledhaul – the Quest trail was an easy one. I had completed a foot race, now called the Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra, that takes place along 450-miles (724km) of the trail on the Yukon side on three occasions, and the rookie’s section of the Iditarod (350 miles / 563km) once. I needed

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to see what I had been missing out on, and wanted to experience the rest of the trail.

My options were to cover the 1000-mile Iditarod route or the Quest. The latter was more remote, more mountainous, and the most beautiful. Only one other guy I know of has traversed the whole thing in one go, a German called Roachim who finished the 450-miler with me back in 2009. The trail had beckoned, and I had to go.

There were times when it was cold, there were times when it was dangerous. Sometimes bad things happened that could have ended the expedition and me along with it. As with all truly great adventures, the moments of abject peril were fleeting moments where damage was either avoided or not, had their repercussions either way, and dwindled into obscurity amongst a journey where, for all the rest, nothing exciting happened. Nothing but the plodding of a man dragging a heavy sled through a soft trail, working hard and sometimes exhausted, across a landscape where no hardship could possibly detract for more than a few minutes from the triumphant pleasure of experiencing this earthly paradise.

There is something about moving across a landscape by one’s own toil that makes the feeling of being there and seeing those views exponentially greater than can be felt by getting there any faster or easier. Choose an adventure, choose to be scared by it, step out onto the trail and start getting through it. I only have sympathy for those who fell over the edge, none for those who were too scared to go looking for it.

The terror mostly fades and is replaced by something else, something rare and alien to most; a feeling of freedom and responsibility for the self that surpasses anything the ordinary person ever feels in a lifetime of living out the same days and years. I am compelled to fill my life with adventures, with journeys into the lands where I feel most at home, where I express myself to myself, seek-out the me who >>

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I only have sympathy for those who fell over the edge, none for those who were too scared to go looking for it.

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a cabin I would sleep in a single-skin, two-pole lightweight mountain tent, in a big Arctic sleeping bag.

This was a warm year, with temperatures rarely colder than minus-25 degrees Celsius, even at night. There were exceptions, but for the most part it was not cold by local standards.

Although it was an Arctic climate, the closest I came to being at the Arctic Circle was at Circle City, still 50 miles (80km) to the south.

The warmth created more problems than it solved. The benefit was a reduced risk of frostbite and hypothermia, and more time to enjoy breaks before feeling cold. The negatives included a soft trail, which allowed the sled to dig-in and feel as though it was considerably heavier than it really was. When I raced these trails I had mostly the experience of a cold trail, packed-down by snowmobiles and dog teams to feel like a pavement; the sled gliding easily over the top. Not on this trip.

The first few days were extremely tiring.

Still, I had no ambition to rush this. I have raced enough in Alaska and the Yukon, and this journey was about experiencing that trail with minimal time pressure, and truly seeing and enjoying this magnificent environment. There would be no three-hour sleeps on this trip, or a majority of night-time running. This journey would be the sort of beleaguered plod familiar to many trail ultra-runners, and it lasted 39 days.

The first day on the trail was one familiar to any adventurer. I was making progress away from the big city, the houses becoming fewer the further I went. I was passing along a river, the Chena River, for about 27km for most of that day. A highlight was when an Arctic owl flew gracefully from a tree on the left bank of the river, close to me, and headed to the far bank before coming back. There were thrilling moments when pressure in the river ice

I could never know about by living in a home and working a nine-to-five with a couple of weeks of holiday each year. It is unadulterated selfishness, and it is wonderful.

How did I feel dragging that sled from the Fairbanks hotel to the river? I felt like an idiot, like an outsider, like I was doing something to be embarrassed by. How did I feel when I was on the river, all harnessed up to the sled and making progress? I felt scared, I felt trepidation; a fear of the unknown â&#x20AC;&#x201C; of what lay ahead that might put an end to my journey. The further I went, the more such feelings ebbed away, being replaced by a strength of pride in myself that I was making progress, any progress, and that I could at least say that I tried; that I had achieved something, however much or however little.

For those who might imagine 1000-miles of Arctic sled-hauling sounds tough, I need to add some perspective. I can run almost half that distance in a little over a week, in a supported race in perfect conditions in that environment.

I would make this Quest harder by dragging all my food from the start, with a sled maybe three times heavier than its racing weight, yet still half the weight of what any Polar explorer would lug around behind them. The starting weight was between 40-50 kg, and I gave it a few diets along the way, the first after three days, another after five, bringing the weight down closer to 30kg. My racing sled weighs-in closer to 10kg. Still, I wanted to experience what it was like to drag a full weight of kit, to get an impression of how it would be if I were up on the sea ice.

But this was not some Arctic wasteland. This was a land thousands of people called home.

There would be cabins I could sleep in along the way, some public access, some private, most empty with nothing more than a bed platform and a wood stove. On nights without

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RUN IT? RACE IT! Although it does not cover the full 1600km Yukon Quest route, there is a 100/200/300/430 mile trail run event covering the guts of it, the Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra, next held in February 2017, inviting all of runners, mountain bikers and XC skiers to have a go: www.arcticultra.de/en/event/race-info

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Arctic sunrise, and that gave me some comfort.

That day I passed through a village and out into woods and foothills. The second night on the trail I was uneasy but fine. The third I was in a cabin, eating well, drinking plenty, checking kit. The fourth night I was clamouring up onto Boulder Summit and Rosebud Ridge, one of the toughest climbs of the whole expedition.

During that climb I found myself on sections so steep that a slip would have had the sled pulling me down to the base of the climb, and with a soft trail and little purchase, such seemed a likelihood. My face had been blasted by strong winds that threatened an instant frostbite, causing me to pause and pull materials over my exposed skin whilst desperately trying not to slip from the trail. It was night time when I reached the summit.

As I moved along the ridge the winds had died down. The rock faces of the mountain range all around me were a metallic grey in the starlight, the white snows adding the contrast.

Up ahead two dog teams came over a ridge summit towards me; they had passed me during the day whilst training on this section of trail ahead of the Iditarod the next month. Now they returned for home. In the darkness all the dogs were wild black shapes running hard and fast to stay warm. Their mushers’ headlights lit up their backs and a white circle of trail ahead of them. The dogs’ eyes were mirrors of white light from my own headtorch against their black bodies. In the darkness nothing has ever looked so untamed to me, yet so ordered, so right, as these two teams charging soundlessly over the ridge and past me, the mushers standing still and their faces buried within the furs of their down jacket hoods. That night, as I descended, the Northern Lights welcomed me over the first mountain range, and I camped shortly after passing where the dog teams had turned. Dog prints had been replaced by the largest wolf prints I have ever seen, and it seemed right to let the wolf make more progress along the trail ahead of me.

The following night I stayed at a checkpoint for the Yukon Quest dog race, which was due to start soon. The next day I headed over the

released booms like a shotgun firing beneath my feet. I paused in one spot and hammered my trekking poles hard into the ice to leave them free-standing whilst I took a photograph, the sound of ice cracking across the width of the river, the reverberations of the poles, and the brittle cracking sound were a sign to move on a little further before coming to a rest.

That evening I left the river and as I took a moment to scrutinise my GPS and consider my direction, I caught sight of two pairs of long legs walking through the woods. A thought occurred to me that it was not two people out for an evening stroll, and soon enough a moose hove into view, walking towards me.

Moose are not nature’s thinkers. They react, sometimes territorially, sometimes defensively, often dangerously. They regard the trail as their own, and suspect hikers of being out to get them, initiating their pre-emptive war strategy by charging and battering the weary traveller.

Unlike the sleeping bears, rare cougars and wary wolves, the moose are the animals most likely to attack. Thus, the moose is the most dangerous animal to encounter. Taking no interest in the opportunity now presented to socialise with the lumbering brute, I headed away along the trail, soon to re-check my GPS and establish this was not the way. I turned back and ran along the trail, hoping the noise would be enough to ensure the moose was not surprised by my being in close quarters and attacking reflexively. Indeed, the moose heard me some distance away and ran off across the trail and back into the woods, as we passed out of each other’s lives forever.

That first night was the worst. Perhaps I had not eaten enough or was dehydrated, and perhaps I had not ensured the lofting of down in the back of the sleeping bag was as it should be. I had set up my camp at around eleven in the evening, and woken shortly after four in the morning, shivering intensely. With more than two thousand sled-hauling miles accomplished in the Arctic and sub-Arctic, this had never happened before. I got up, got moving and got warm.

There is little better than walking into an

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I thrust a hand into my underwear as I sat upon my sled and ate my breakfast with the other.

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second mountain range during a white-out, and struggled with man-handling the sled that wanted to make its own way off the mountain and in all the wrong directions. During the next three days I was passed by all the dog teams as I reached and left the northernmost point on the trail, Circle City.

What followed was the frozen Yukon River for more than 160 miles (260km). Mostly the river was easy going, and I spent my nights in cabins along the way; some wonderful, some a wonder to still be standing, in various stages of disintegration. During a night about halfway along the river I was confused by dog tracks that seemed to leave the trail at the sides, making me wonder how the harnesses had permitted it. Then realisation caught up with me. These were wolves; lots of them.

They had been following the last dog team, now perhaps a day ahead of me. One by one the wolves left the trail to head out across the river, and I counted prints from about fifteen in all. Gradually they re-joined the trail further along. So many wolves. The chances of an attack were infinitesimally tiny, so small as almost to be discounted as a possibility at all.

But out there, alone, with little other signs of prey animals for them, save a few caribou and the occasional moose, and the dogs far enough ahead that the wolves could easily turn back, I felt vulnerable, yet not deterred. My eyes would scan the riverbank above me to my side, the wall of woods that blocked my view within, and I wondered at how many eyes were looking back at me. Not deterred, but simply aware, fantasising about all the possibilities.

Everything here was friendly this time of year, or so someone had told me.

A couple of days later and snow fell. The trail was all but lost beneath the thick blanket, and progress was exhausting, almost impossible.

On the worst side of the river for the snow, at

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times I would manage only a hundred yards or so of wading through, hauling that heavy sled through a barrier of snow inches deep, and I would pause to regain my breath, sometimes collapsing onto my knees and wondering how on earth I would fare with more 700 miles (1100km) remaining if they were all like this.

Nothing lasts forever. The trail improved further on, although it was still soft and slow.

A snowmobile rider had been visiting a cabin near the river, and the trail he had broken at least guided me along to the city of Eagle, where I took almost a full day to enjoy my first shower and to gorge myself on food.

The climb over American Summit followed, and the winds howled and the trail was soft and deep, sometimes with snowdrifts a metre thick, sometimes with side-hill conditions that pulled at the sled. Still it was soon done.

That night I had spectacular Northern Lights, but could take no photos due to an unusually cold change of weather. The next morning I was delayed strapping on my snowshoes, and before my first hour along the trail I realised I had frostbite on my fingertips. I swore at myself, simultaneously enraged and embarrassed by my carelessness, on the verge of panicking that the whole expedition was in jeopardy before I was even half way. I thrust a hand into my underwear as I sat upon my sled and ate my breakfast with the other. It was impressive what a few minutes of playing with myself could achieve.

As I moved off my fingers continued to re-warm, the thawing ice crystals replaced by warm blood and a resurgence of life into the nerves. The resurrection of my fingertips was accompanied with almost howling pain as it felt as though my fingers were in a furnace. For two days I thought the expedition was over, not because of the fingertips being in harmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s way, but because I was no longer able to unclip my >>

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Check out more of Markâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s adventures at

Markhines.org See the Yukon Quest trail route at:

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harness or drybags with ease, and the increased risk of not preventing or reacting to problems was a risk to my health. I had found myself close to the edge and backed away with the realisation it was all over now. It had not even been that cold, probably not even -40 degrees Celsius, a temperature I usually relished and laughed in the face of. Not this time.

I arrived at a homestead and was given a couple of nights to stay and think about my immediate future. The temperatures were due to rise, and I was confident I could make it to the halfway point of the trail, Dawson City, the finish line for each of my three races from the other direction. The route had been changed for this section though, and instead of continuing along the river it went over mountain ranges instead. Here I was met with the worst conditions, as I passed the summit and found myself lying over my sled, digging my knees into the snow at the side as my face was torn at with high winds and the ice crystals it bore. The trail was lost beneath snowdrifts and my sled would turn over and over on the steep side-hills and jumbled drifts. Within minutes I was back on the trail, out of the wind, and on undulating terrain beneath the summit.

I had passed through the storm and found myself in heaven; a purest white and mountainous landscape in all directions, the azure blue sky above becoming the most beautiful sunsets in the evenings, as the sky passed through every shade of purple, reds and pinks beneath the darker blues above. All this land and all to myself.

I awarded myself two days of rest in Dawson before moving on. The trail was better-packed on the Canadian side, and easier. Another mountain range and the Black Hills, and all was fine, almost too easy for that familiar stretch through the last of the highlands. It was with 350 miles (560km) remaining that I carelessly slipped on ice on my way into a cabin, landing heavily with my back onto a section of tree trunk used for splitting logs. The penalty was broken ribs and agony.

I rested a day at the cabin to help ruleout internal injuries beyond the bones.

Acknowledging time as the only treatment, and pain regardless of whether I was moving or not, I resolved to finish the game. Another fall would have spelled disaster, but I played the odds and reflected that fortune favours the brave. It hurt, and never more so than when I slipped and braced myself on overflow and glaciation, sections where water had broken through from creeks and refrozen over the trail. It would have hurt more if I had quit though, and it would have hurt forever. The physical pain of the trail would pass and I would heal, or so I felt obliged to convince myself.

As I neared the finish I came across roads and the sound of occasional traffic. There were two small towns between Dawson City and the finish, and a lodge a hundred miles from the end. The weather was so warm I was racing the spring, and the trail during the final hundred was replaced in spots with grass. I dreaded the end, because I had felt something special on the trail. I had enjoyed remote places, the solitude, the being better than I had been before, and soon it would all be replaced with noise and the reality of city life. Still, I had friends waiting for me, and the end is the time for thinking about that next great adventure.

I would be back to the Yukon again, as I always am, because it is a place I think of as home, and a wilderness where I long to spend more time. I love the life out there, and I love the time on the trail, whatever I am doing there.

I had visited a winter paradise and I had stepped close to the edge, but for the most part I had simply been one man moving steadily along a trail, over mountains and through the woods, rarely experiencing true danger or hardship, with all the trials and tribulations melting away within a storyboard of higher things.

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FEATURE S WORDsa s i Mel tson Rober

s IMAGLEievre e Tom l

In only two years of existence, the Buffalo Stampede has built a reputation for being a tough outing, attracting ultra cowboys and enduro cowgirls from across the nation. Its main attraction is a brutal 75km leg belter, tough enough in its own right to put the fear of serious training into you. But what about the nutters who decide to take on all of three of the rostered runs totaling 144km over three days. Melissa Robertson hangs on for a steep learning curve.

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I DANCED WITH A GAL WITH A HOLE IN HER STOCKIN’, AND HER HEEL KEPT A-KNOCKIN’, AND HER TOES KEPT A-ROCKIN’ I DANCED WITH A GAL WITH A HOLE IN HER STOCKIN’ AND WE DANCED BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON. BUFFALO GALS, WON’T YOU COME OUT TONIGHT - BUFFALO GALS BY JOHN HODGES (PERFORMED BY MALCOLM MCLAREN)

THE BUFFALO STAMPEDE GRAND SLAM. IT IS BY ANY MEASURE – EVEN THAT OF ULTRA MASOCHIST FANATICS – A CRAZY IDEA. IT IS A MONSTER MULTIDAY WITHIN WHAT IS A MONSTER EVENT. THE BUFFALO STAMPEDE IS BASED OUT OF VICTORIA’S TRAIL HUB TOWN OF BRIGHT, AT THE FOOT OF THE VICTORIAN ALPS. Three races over three days including the Sky26’er (25km), Ultra Skymarathon (77km) and Skymarathon (42km). It’s 144kms in total boasting more elevation than Everest.

The only race the Grand Slam doesn’t include is the Sky12’er which is raced at the same time as the Sky26’er, and of course the children’s race (although I’m sure I could have taken on those kiddies).

Last year it was a casual idea punted around the trail traps and deftly encouraged by race director he-who-likes-to-hurt-people, Sean Greenhill. It quickly transitioned to reality as an unofficial category. So sixteen runners started the Grand Slam in 2015. Only two finished.

With those statistics, you just knew what was come next. Runners attracted to impossible-ish challenges stepped up in bigger numbers and the race organisers threw out the Grand Slam out as an official category to see who was crazy enough to take the bait. In the end, 30 jumped on board for this year’s outing.

Having already completed the SkyMarathon in 2014 (4th Place) and the Ultra Skymarthon in 2015 (7th Place), there was only one option 82

for me if any. The Grand Slam.

My reasoning was that it would be a great adventure, but the true motivation was I wanted to see what my body was actually capable of when truly pushed. Can I do a multi-day event?

How do I cope knowing I will be back on the same tough course for three days? Pumped up by thoughts of could I possibly, I registered the day entries opened. Not until I’d received entry confirmation on email did I let coach, Matt Murphy, and my mum (who would have to be my support crew over the three days of racing) know what was ahead.

I’m always ‘in training’ but had not been specifically training for the Grand Slam.

Other big races had been pre-booked so my approach was to continue training for them and the Buffalo Stampede Grand Slam and its requirements would fit in somehow. Tarawera 100km came and went in February (2nd Place), backed up with a Six Foot Track run in March (6th Place). A few off-schedule but warranted long runs were added to the mix on top of the regular training, which is usually a full mix of easy runs, long runs, hill repeats, track work, strength work and tempo runs. The menu of pleasure and pain was put together by my coach, and I mostly followed with diligence.

The extra stuff – perhaps unapproved by said coach – I justified as ‘stretching’.

Come the Grand Slam in April, I had an ‘It’s holding together’ confidence with a combination of recovered/tapered/lots of kilometres in my legs. I was ready to race.

The Buffalo Stampede takes place in the

small hamlet of Bright, ensconced in the Ovens Valley, in Victoria, a gateway town to the alpine resorts perched higher up the nearby mountains. Bright is seemingly a patch of Europe with its giant deciduous population, with poplars, maples, silver birches, pin oaks, golden and claret ashes and liquid ambers thriving in the rich acidic valley soils.

The event’s namesake, Mt Buffalo (1723m) towers above nearby, a looming reminder of what faces runners who must ascend its flanks – repeatedly in the case of the clutch of Grand Slammers. The town itself is situated on the banks of the Ovens River, jam-packed full of quaint little shops, cafes, restaurants and a brewery (coincidentally where most of the runners in town local or otherwise are to be found).

My coach, Matt, now lives in Bright, lured from the warmer climes of his native New South Wales by the endless array of mountains to run and the access to ‘vertical’. That, and the great food and coffee at runner hubs like Velo Bright (yes, a cycling hub originally but trail runners have slowly ingratiated themselves to the café, with trail stars Mick Donges and Blake Hose both having had stints as the barista, pumping out coffees for caffeine deprived athletes in between hitting the hills themselves). Apart from the temperature, which can drop well below freezing, it’s a great place to be a trail runner.

All three of the races included in the Slam take place on the exact same course, starting >>

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The Buffalo Stampede The History The Grand Slam was conceived by the Eastham brothers, David and Jim, in 2015, when after spectating in 2014 at the inaugural event they considered it a worthy challenge. Despite their best efforts and those of 16 starters in the inaugural Grand Slam, only two runners – Matt Grills and Marina Brun – finished that edition proving it an absolute monster of a challenge.

The Challenge Three days, three runs consisting of: • 26.9km / 1850m ascent • 75km / 4545m ascent • 41.4km / 2924m ascent Total distance / ascent: 143.3km / 9329m

www.buffalostampede.com.au

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The other two races continue on with a speedy run through Buckland Valley as the ominous sight of Mt Buffalo looms in front the whole time. There’s a gentle climb, which can be run or walked over Keatings Ridge before tackling The Big Walk. This is a 10km contiguous climb to the Old Chalet on top of Mt Buffalo. The Big Walk isn’t as steep as Mystic or Clear Spot, it just goes on forever with switchbacks aplenty and some spectacular views closer to the top.

On top of Mt Buffalo runners face a more palatable 7km loop, which includes the impressive if cramp-inducing Chalwell Galleries. Chalwell is something different, and perhaps more in tune with the original spirit of Skyrunning as a movement in that it is a rock climbing component where you drop through a hole then chimney down into a chasm which drops to a corridor below, the massive slabs of rock rising up each side, walling you in.

The trick is to be first to the hole as runners are known to cramp as a result of the strange body positions required to clamber down and the toll that takes on weary muscles looking for excuses to cease up and stop altogether.

The result: Chalwell can get clogged with whimpering runners. For the marathon, the finish is at the mountaintop chalet after completing the loop. For the ultra leg, it’s a run

in Howitt Park by the Ovens River in the heart of town. It’s a short run out of civilisation and then a hike to the top of the first peak, Mystic, which has gained a reputation among trail runners across the State.

As with every steep uphill there is always the corresponding down hill and this one is stupidly steep and treacherous. There are plenty of “I think I’m going to die” moments when bombing down (then again, there can be a few of those on the claw up the track to Mystic, too!).

The downhill bomb is shortly followed by a climb up to Clear Spot; a deceitful sort of climb where you think you’re almost at the top, come around the corner and groan when you see more hill. It wouldn’t be so bad if it was just one false summit, but for this hill it happens exactly four times, and the climb does not get any easier with each wave of ascent – 99% of it is not runnable (especially if you want to use your legs again the next day).

Once over Clear Spot, volunteers at Buckland Aid Station get to watch the entertainment as runners come slipping and sliding down something that couldn’t really be called with any accuracy a track; it’s more a drop off the side of a mountain. Buckland aid station is the turnaround for the Sky 26’er.

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all the way back to the start line. For Grand Slammers, that means running up Buffalo two times across the three races that tick off the Slam criteria.

For the three days of the Grand Slam this course became my home, a very painful and mentally challenging home. My pre-race ‘warm ups’ were by the strategically placed heater trying to get feeling back in my fingers and hoping that by the time we started I would be able to feel my toes.

In the first race, the Sky26’er I found a guy crying on his way back into town. It was halfway up the Mystic climb and he’d stopped and sat down on the edge of the course. What was he thinking? He was only doing the one race and that certainly wasn’t going to get him to the finish. I told him so and while I may have been a little harsh, at least my scalding prompted him to started moving again.

During the 75km Ultra Skymarathon, Grand Slam leader, Frank Bittner, puked the entire way back up Clear Spot. Of course, he was not the only vomit-producer on course. There were, it seemed, half the field cramping and stopping on the side to stretch it out.

A fellow runner, Charlie Brooks, proved to be the canary in the cave for all of us. He went into the marathon with a race plan “to go easy >>

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on a lot of bushwalks as kids; we called them ‘Forced Marches’, but still went along. Turns out it was a useful skill to learn.

Mentally, the Grand Slam didn’t become a challenge for me until the ultra on day two. I’d prepped my support crew for when I thought the race would go bad, which was at the Buckland Aid Station, about the 65km mark.

Coming into this aid station was the only time I thought about not racing again the next day and forgoing a Slam finish. I was tired, dirty, and struggling with the thought of having to summit two more peaks before I could finish for the day, and then having to come back the following day and summit those exact same two peaks again.

I had to switch to ‘don’t think about it’ mode and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. It helped that I was currently leading the Grand Slam women’s competition and I race much better when I’m the mouse being chased. In this case the cat was Susan Keith in second place. Knowing that she was somewhere behind me made me dig that bit deeper and push myself. I’m sure there’s something different in the minds of ultra runners, where you can switch off the whole reasoning part of your brain, because really there’s nothing sane about doing these sorts of races. My body is telling me it wants to stop, but I have to completely ignore those impulses, I know I’m not injured, I’m just very tired and in pain. But

to Eurobin and then race The Big Walk.” Instead the pulse of competition got the better of him and he was the first to the top of Mystic, to only then struggle to make it to Eurobin Aid Station.

He was far from the only runner to blow up.

I saw lots of the glassy eyed ‘Is it over yet’ looks as zombie runners dragged themselves through the final parts of the course. I’m pretty sure I was one of those for my marathon leg, the last in the string of Grand Slam Runs, and therefore while not the longest (that was the 75km), it was the hardest. In an attempt to ‘just get it done’ I attempted to ‘get it done faster’ than the other marathon runners who I’d at least in my head challenged. They didn’t necessarily agree to the challenge – I just set my sights on them and tried to run them down or stay in front.

A note for those looking to any distance at the Buffalo: learn how to bushwalk. This was the biggest failing I saw out there: plenty of competitors could run fast, and they could run up hills, but Buffalo Stampede is different.

It’s not all running. Strategy comes into this event like few others. A priority is to conserve energy and powerwalk rather than trot. Being able to hike at a good pace up the side of a mountain for an extended amount of time counts for a lot more, as they say, in the long run. Fortunately, I have a mother who took us

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it’s manageable and I need to focus instead on moving forward, just keep moving forward.

During the marathon on the final day I was desperately hungry on my way up The Big Walk, but the thought of having another gel or Nutella sandwich made me want to puke.

What was this race doing to me? I love Nutella!

Instead I started thinking about burgers, a real tasty lamb burger; when I finished running I was going to go and hunt down that burger. In the meantime I forced in some pretzels and a few jellybeans and hoped that would stop me from ‘blowing up’.

By the time the Grand Slam winners crossed the finish line after three days of running and 144km, the media had mostly moved on with no photographers and not much fan fare to greet our achievement. But it didn’t matter.

To reference back to the opening song Buffalo Gal lyrics: I may have had a few holes in my stockings courtesy of Buffalo, but my heels and toes somehow kept a-rocking and I achieved my goal not only finishing the Grand Slam, but also winning the women’s badge. I reckon I earned the title of being a Buffalo Gal. Melissa Robertson finished the Grand Slam as 1st Female (course record), and 6th overall in a total time of 22:35:01. Winning the men’s Grand Slam was Frank Bittner in a course record time of 19:24:12.

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JAN SAUNDERS

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Victorian adventure athlete and dedicated vegan, Jan Saunders, is looking to become the first Australian to run 866km through the French Pyrenees in an inaugural endurance event that will test her endurance and that of her plant powered engine.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO RUN 866KM AND CLIMB 65,000 METRES IN UNDER 400 HOURS? Fruit and vegetables. A lot of fruit and vegetables, according to vegan athlete, Jan Saunders, who will rely entirely on plant power to fuel her way through this audacious endurance challenge as the only Australian entrant in the inaugural TransPyrenea, a mega-trail running event to be held in France’s stunning Pyrenees mountain range.

The 54 year-old from Smiths Gully, Victoria, is no stranger to endurance efforts, having competed in numerous adventure events from the Costa Rica staged ultra (250km) to local endurance challenges including the 100km Alpine Challenge and the brutal seven-day XPD Expedition Adventure Race. Most recently Jan fast-packed the 230km Larapinta Trail in central Australia in just five days, a journey that is usually undertaken at a pace that takes more than double that time.

But nothing comes close to what lies ahead in the French Alps: Jan will have to run an average of 55km per day, climbing more than 3500 metres each day. Overall she will climb the equivalent of Mount Everest from sea level more than seven times over.

Unlike other endurance events around the globe, there will be no aid stations. Jan will

be self supported allowed only one fifty litre re-supply bag that she will have to prepare and made accessible every 200km. The event’s race director expects only one quarter to a half of the 300 entrants to even finish.

The fuelling challenge will be a minimum of 6000 calories between drop bags somehow contained in a pack that, due to the ‘fast and light’ requirements of the challenge, will need to be restricted to approximately 11kg, barely more than a domestic flight’s hand luggage allowance.

Jan assures that being vegan makes no impact on sourcing the high calorific intake, pointing out that some of the world’s best athletes share her vegan lifestyle, including Serena and Venus Williams (tennis), endurance running legend Scott Jurek, Jason Gillespie (cricket), Carl Lewis (Olympian), Murray Rose (swimmer), Martina Navratilova (tennis) and, Morgan Mitchell, a vegan bound for Rio Olympics after winning the national 400 metre titles.

“Being vegan has really helped with everything: energy, health, the environment. I am one of those people who actually cares. It’s what I chose to do,” says Mitchell.

Saunders agrees that protein and energy requirements demanded by either intense sports like Mitchell’s or endurance pursuits like her ultra running can easily be delivered by a vegan diet.

“On these hard ones, I aim for calorie dense

foods – a minimum of 140 calories per 30g weight,” says Jan. “ My favourite is a rolled oats mixture usually with chia seeds, Vanilla Sunwarrior Raw Vegan Protein Powder, coconut sugar, good quality salt, raisin or goji berries, sunflower seeds, coconut shreds, and powdered coconut water. I just add a little water and then eat on the move. It fuels me super well.”

Since becoming vegan in 2012 for ethical reasons, Jan – a former member of Victoria Police Mounted Branch with 33 years of service – has investigated the culinary terrain of veganism by opening a vegan B&B in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, hosting guests who are seeking something a little different from beer and beef.

Jan’s guests will be well catered for in her absence with yet another plant powered trail running athlete, raw vegan John Salton, taking over the kitchen as she takes her plant powered approach to the French Pyrenees for what will no doubt be more proof in the vegan pudding of how plants can perfectly power extreme sporting pursuits.

Jan Saunders will begin her TransPyrenea challenge on 19th July. More race information (in French) www.transpyrenea.fr >>

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JAN SAUNDERS Q&A

&

QA

Name: Jan Saunders Age: I turn 54 the day before the race! Happy birthday to me.

Occupation: Vegan B&B proprietor From: Smiths Gully, Victoria The Race: Transpyrenea – www.transpyrenea.fr

JAN SAUNDERS VEGAN ENDURANCE

Tell us a little more about the Transpyrenea, Jan. It’s an inaugural running event taking in 866km with 65,000m+ ascent along the GR10, a long distance hiking trail that weaves through, up and down the Pyrenees mountains in France.

Sounds tough, especially as a first edition event!

ADVENTURE

Yes, the cut off is 400 hours to complete it, or 16.5 days, which sounds like a lot of time but I know the time will slip away quickly trying to tick off 866km! There will only be 300 runners in the field – I’m the only Australian that I know of and the Race Director expects only 1/4 to 1/2 of field to complete within cut off times.

ATHLETE

So no aid stations or support crews – how do the logistics work on that?

My goal is to complete on average 55km per day, dependent on total ascent, which on 90

average will be 3500 metres, keeping in mind most days will have equal amounts of descent which can be just as tough on the legs, especially the quads!

In terms of supplies, I’ll have one 50L accessible approx. every 200km (or every 3–4 days) and mostly be self-supported. Being vegan I cannot rely on having the food I want to fuel me available in the public refuges and villages we pass by and through. So I will be carrying most of my four days’ worth of food for each section between drop bags with me.

Wow, so you’re running with a fair whack on your back, then?

My pack weight I anticipate – or hope – will not lurch over 11kg. It needs to include compulsory items of clothing for bad/wet weather, sleeping bag, safety items such as first aid kit, GPS and compass, map, head torches and spare batteries, water filter, portable charger, phone and minimum of 6000 calories between drop bags. >>

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JAN SAUNDERS Q&A

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Blisters and tendon/ligament over use issues.

trek) in 2006. Plus I trekked in Nepal and climbed Kilimanjaro in Tanzania around then.

My foray into adventure racing only kicked off in 2008 at 45 after deciding it would be fun to do something different as I’d stagnated a bit.

At that stage I had never paddled or ridden a mountain bike or navigated. In fact I hadn’t ridden a bike for 18 years!

Then the adventures just followed: I climbed Aconcagua (Argentina, 6962m) in 2009 and Ausangate (6384m, Peru) in 2011 and did the XPD for the first time in 2010.

And sleeping – what is the plan?

I want to get an average of 4-5 hours’ sleep per night plus 1.5hrs-2hrs cumulative rest breaks to tend to feet and eat per day. I have a bivvy bag, a borrowed light sleeping bag, an Ultra Light Tarp from Terra Rosa Gear and a ultra light hip mattress that I used in XPD last winter.

What’s the eating plan look like?

Being vegan I don’t reply on anything external – be that the event organisers’ offering or on a race like this we go through villages and past refuges, so there is access to food in general. But I need to guarantee that I have vegan food, so I pre-plan and prepare. [Check out a list of Jan’s vegan race lunchbox in the break out. Ed.] In terms of how I eat on the run, I tend to graze. A little something every 30minutes to on hour keeps the tummy happy. I have something liquid early in the morning; I intend to hit the trail each day around 04:00 and eat my special oat mix when the sun is warm, maybe 8-10am.

So your nutrition seems well under control, what is the biggest threat to finishing?

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You seem to have a lifestyle that works well around your endurance training…

I’ve been training in a way for the Transpyrenea for two years starting with with Alpine Challenge 100km in 2014. I then undertook multi day solo hikes in high country and on the Larapinta trail plus competed in the XPD expedition adventure race in 2015. This year I’ve done a few more mini solo missions as well as a 48-hour adventure race and a second go along the Larapinta Trail - 223km end to end in 5 days with a 15kg pack. That was about 9000m ascent and averaged 50km most days on rough terrain and warm weather so was an excellent training session!

Sounds like you jumped in the deep end – did you encounter any big dramas while navigating your way into the world of endurance sports?

I injured my back at work – I was a policewoman in the mounted (horse) division – in 2011 and had 18 months off recovering with plenty of setbacks. As an active person who had not long discovered a pure love for adventure sports, it was a difficult time full of doubt. But it was also a time where I reassessed a lot in my life – from my career to how I lived. It was the time, in 2012, that I became vegan for ethical reasons.

Have you always been an endurance athlete?

Not really. I only really started undertaking serious endurance challenges in my mid forties – I’m edging into my mid fifties now. I was always active with gym and aerobics in 80’s/90’s and a bit of running off and on. Then I got into some hiking in the 2000’s and did an Oxfam (100km

>>

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JAN SAUNDERS Q&A

PLANT POWER IN THE PYRENEES WHAT DOES JAN SAUNDERS ENDURANCE LUNCHBOX LOOK LIKE?

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is possible to survive without consuming any animal product at all it became a no- brainer that I would become vegan. But it didn’t really click over in my mind till a few days after my 50th birthday as I contemplated a leftover spit roasted lamb.

I suddenly really thought about who it was not what…I’d simply assumed without ever investigating it for myself that we needed to eat animals and milk and eggs to be “healthy”. After all, that’s how all the advertising and traditional health advice went. I just “swallowed” that, like most people do.

But once I knew it was possible I knew I didn’t want to be the cause of animals suffering and being killed simply because that’s the way I’d always eaten. So I stopped. I was relieved and excited though when I read Scott Jurek’s Eat and Run and Rich Rolls Finding Ultra, which gave me the confidence, that endurance pursuits and veganism were not mutually exclusive concepts!

So you quit your job, went vegan, and started a vegan B&B – talk about a life change! How did you get back on track in terms of the ultra adventures?

In 2014 I signed up for the Coastal Challenge in Costa Rica, which capped off 11 months of backpacking the world. All the time while travelling I was getting stronger and deciding on what direction I wanted to take with my life as didn’t want to stay in the Victorian Police (I joined 1983). I finished 10th Female in Costa Rica and my back was great! So I ran a few more ultras in 2014 including GOW100, Buffalo Stampede 75km, Wilsons Prom 60km and another Alpine Challenge 100km. I’m hoping it all stands me in good stead for the Transpyrenea!

Lots of non-vegan athletes are skeptical about how you can maintain the required nutritional input from a vegan diet when undertaking endurance sports. How did you manage the transition?

•

Calorie dense foods - minimum of 140 calories per 30g weight

•

Jan’s favourite is 2 zip bags of a rolled oats mixture with chia seeds, Vanilla Sunwarrior Raw Vegan Protein Powder, coconut sugar, good quality salt, raisin or goji berries, sunflower seeds, coconut shreds, powdered coconut and water.

•

Turbo Super Food mixed with the Sunwarrior Vegan Protein Powder and Vital Greens in a concentrated liquid mix.

•

Tailwind for pick-me ups.

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Turbo and Hammer electrolyte.

•

Various raw vegan bars or Fruit Leather I buy or make myself.

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A tube of Vegemite to suck on.

•

Nut butters.

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Active Green Food bars. Hammer bars on occasion.

•

Fresh and dried fruit. I crave fresh fruit and hope to source some at villages. If I can get avocado I will be over the moon!

•

Salty pretzels and nut mixes at the end of the day.

•

Coconut water in drop bag if I can fit it in!

•

I never feel the need to cook or have warm things but if the weather turns bad I will have a couple of emergency soups and an instant cos cous to treat myself with.

You take that lifestyle a step further with your vegan B&B retreat…

I believe in leading by example and supporting people where they are at without sugar coating the facts. At my B&B, The Beet Retreat (www. thebeetretreat.com.au), I provide a safe and friendly space for people to sample the lifestyle

When I found out late 2011 into 2012 that it 94

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JAN SAUNDERS Q&A

TORQUAY

BELLS BEACH

3 SEPTEMBER 2016 | ANGLESEA VICTORIA EDITION 5

POINT ADDIS

100KM RELAY TEAMS 100KM SOLO

ANGLESEA start/finish

50KM SOLO An ultra marathon for everyone on the stunning Surf Coast and Great Ocean Road region in Victoria. ®

WWW.SURFCOASTCENTURY.COM.AU

AIREYS INLET

<<

Not just living the dream then Jan, but walking – or running – the talk!

and ask questions without fear of being judged or ridiculed. We have great conversations over meals and around the kitchen bench as I prepare food! I also use my endurance adventures as part of my advocacy to show a) what is possible and b) to fire people’s imaginations and awareness of both their health and the plight of animals and the many amazing organisations doing incredible work on their behalf.

I’m passionate about both animals and humans thriving and living a full and beautiful life. I have found my niche doing what I do although it is a juggle doing both the adventures and running a business!

I believe that to live a truly healthy, happy and meaningful life we need to not only be authentic, but to align ourselves to our deepest core values and live by them, not just in our down time but all the time. It won’t usually make you wealthy but it will make you love and be very grateful for your life and your place in the world.

run the great lake trail

Read Jan’s blog about her vegan and adventure life here: www.thebeetretreat.com.au/blog/

Indeed – your Pyrenean adventure is in part about raising awareness and funds for?

Ah – glad you asked … five organisations that I am personally connected with: Animal Liberation Victoria; International Anti Poaching Foundation; Gunyah Animal Healing Sanctuary; Freehearts Animal Sanctuary ; Project Hope Horse Welfare.

New Zealand

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www.taupoultramarathon.com

REVIEW

TRAIL SHOES // ADIDAS TERREX AGRAVIC

Image: chris ord

take outs ADIDAS TERREX AGRAVIC

Great for: technical trails, grip, racing, all round fun Not-so-great for: if you want to try and buy them – they are hard to find once stock is out!

Test Conditions: singletrack, lots of technical, soft ground, rocky, approx. 125km

Tester: Chris Ord, Trail Run Mag editor

Tester Mechanics: mid foot striker, tends to more technical style running

VITALS

$200/AUD Further information at:

www.runstopshop.com.au

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT It’s a common thing in the Australian market amongst bigger sneaker brands – the Nikes, New Balances and Adidas of the world – where their stock-in-trade units (footy boots, road runners, fashion) hoover up all the local marketing team’s attention. The poor cousin trail models are begrudgingly taken on locally at brand-HQ insistence only to gather dust in a disinterested sales rep’s car boot. If only they knew that trail running is one tenant of what researchers are now calling a ‘megatrend’ movement away from traditional team sports and towards individual, nature-based outdoor pursuits. Hello, trail running. Hello sales opportunity going wanting.

FIRST UP: WHAT THE HELL IS THE USE OF A PRETTY DARN GOOD TRAIL SHOE IF IT’S HARD TO COME BY, TRY AND BUY? WORSE STILL, IF YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW THAT IT’S IN THE MARKET? WHEN IT COMES TO THE ADIDAS TERREX AGRAVIC I DIDN’T, UNTIL I WALKED INTO RUN STOP SHOP IN MELBOURNE. AND MY EYES LIT UP. Spoiler alert: it’s a top end performer. But who knew? So when I tell you it’s a contender, you’d better be quick in your purchase because they are as rare as a heartfelt apology to an illegal Mexican immigrant by Donald Trump.

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Adidas Terrex Agravic

Anyway, away from the failings of big brands to recognise an emerging market (and do something about it), to the shoe, the sexy if hard to find beast it is. [Yes, I know you can order it online, but who’d do that without trying one on, no matter what a reviewer says! Ed.] I went in with a notion that Adidas not being a mountain sports pedigree brand would fail dismally at off road. But then, overseas they play in the space much more and they do a handy football boot to boot.

With that in mind, let’s start with the obvious on these suckers: the grippy sole. Lugs protrude handsomely, 6.5mm to be exact, and have been smartly designed.

There are enough of them to dig deep into all forms of terrain, but spread enough across the sole to drop mud clumps quickly. The forward lugs are tapered providing excellent up front toe-in and transition to acceleration.

Further back they work hard for better control including laterally, when on the brakes and when bombing downhill. Interestingly, the compound is as sticky as any other on market and was created in collaboration with Continental, the technology mimicked and adapted from that brand’s mountain biking tyres, including the shape of the lug. What works for one dirt warrior…

Moving through the sole, Adidas heralds its ‘Boost’ technology which most pundits agree delivers on its claim for better ‘energy control’, meaning you get a measured return of spring, enough to give increments of energy return but not enough to destabilize your foot on landing nor impinge on ground feel. This balance of bound and sensitivity on the foot strike is what for me makes the shoe a sure-footed choice.

In a way it is very much in line with the Salomon Sense Ultra – nimble, racy, with

particular foot won’t agree with the shape, but I believe for most average Aussie slabs, (not too fat up front), the shoe will fit.

The ride is as mentioned fairly supreme, its only weak spot is super hard and flat surfaces that drag on – here the shoe can feel a little ‘slappy’, the overall undercarriage preferring more technical or soft ground underneath.

Lacing is solid in design. Despite looking a little weird, it seems to pull in where needed and give some where required. No issues there.

The rock plate in the forefoot is slim and flexible, but combined with the substantial outsole offers bomb proof protection from the hardest hits on the sharpest rocks, while still maintaining relatively good trail feel and torsional flexibility. If anything it can become too firm on the forefoot when running flats.

The Agravic is a seriously strong performer on most styles of Aussie trails. It’s just aggravating that the try and supply equation is somewhat restricted – but check Run Stop Shop in South Melbourne (or online) as a first port of call.

trail feedback providing confidence and grip nailing your cornering and downhill. Where the Adidas excels further here is in giving a smoother ride than its competitor, assumedly courtesy of the Boost and some added EVA in the rear carriage.

Even so, it remains little stiffer through the sole than other more conservative trail runners, making them disciplined enough to take mountainside where a little ‘platform performance’ can help, but not so harsh as to give bruised feet over longer distances.

Beneath your feet, after all, is a 24.5mm heel/18mm forefoot rigging. This delivers a mid-range 6.5mm drop, perfect for those leaning toward better technical running form, but enough up back if you still get the leanbacks on tiring.

Inside the foot fits snug, without being restrictive and the overall comfort factor is high out of the box. This is one of those shoes that feels like it instantly connects with your foot becoming an extension of rather than an addendum to your appendage. Of course, the snugger a shoe, the more chance there is your 99

REVIEW

TRAIL SHOES // MERRELL ALL OUT CRUSH

Image: Chris Ord

take outs MERRELL ALL OUT CRUSH

Great for: grip, softer trails, door to trail, training allrounder, wet runs, obstacle courses Not-so-great for: sharp, hardcore rocky or mountain terrain, thin feet, ultras

Test Conditions: singletrack, mildly technical, some hardpacked, some fire roads, approx. 155km

Tester: Chris Ord, Trail Run Mag editor

Tester Mechanics: mid foot striker, tends to more technical style running

VITALS

$179.95 AU Information online at: www.merrellaustralia.com.au

CRUSH’N IT

Merrell All Out Crush

There was a brief aborted attempt to reemerge last year with a shoe that was more fast packer than runner (Capra). Now, Merrel has realigned with the release of its All Out Crush, a shoe originally designed with the mob behind – and specifically for – Tough Mudder.

It is however, one that defies my middling expectations on trail as a solid sweet spot performer.

Traditionally styled, this lightweight dirtmuncher was, according to the blurb, targeted squarely at the obstacle course market. I can’t attest how they go tackling the fire and pseudo brimstone of a muddy paddock packed with pyrotechnics, but I can say that taken out on singletrack, these are a great all round performer that firmly places Merrell

IT’S BEEN A WHILE SINCE THE MERRELL BRAND HAS IN ANY SERIOUS WAY POPPED ITS HEAD UP IN TRAILLAND IN AUSTRALIA. WITH A FAIRLY SUCCESSFUL OUTING IN THE MINIMALIST CATEGORY YEARS BACK (WITH ITS BROADLY WELL-RECEIVED TRAIL GLOVE RANGE), THEY SEEMED TO DISAPPEAR OFF OUR RADARS, CONTENT TO CONCENTRATE ON THE URBAN WANNA-BE ADVENTURER CATEGORY (COMFORTABLE SHOES FOR PAVEMENT TO PUB THAT GIVE THE ILLUSION THE WEARER IS ABOUT TO HEAD INTO THE WILDERNESS).

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back on the consideration radar, especially for the recreational (as opposed to pointy end competitive or extreme) trail runner.

A fairly firm forefoot ride means these are on the touchy-feely side, great for trail feedback (proprioception), and excellent when on soft trails that provide their own mulch cushion. The 5mm lugs – reminiscent of but not quite as aggressive as Salomon Fellcross models – back up on that kind of terrain, too, giving excellent grip when they have something to bite into.

Where the midsole’s firmness starts to bite back is on hard-packed surfaces or pebbly, sharp rock terrain that continues for long stretches. On such surfaces your feet feel the pinches and prongs after a while and

The Crush’s pre-disposition for mushier ground makes sense given these were aimed at folks running around obstacles in mucky paddocks at distances at most stretching to 20km tenderfeet types will certainly notice the incursions. It’s fine for sub-30 kays on flatter, firmer surfaces – indeed I found these a measured balance of trail feel, grip and comfort on fast paced runs in this range – but anything longer requires a more forgiving undercarriage, in my opinion. The Crush’s pre-disposition for mushier ground makes sense given these were aimed at folks running around obstacles in mucky paddocks at distances at most stretching to 20km.

The Crush are also for runners who have a broader, squarer forefoot as there is more room in the toe box than many other narrower Euro-brand shoes which traditionally have narrower lasts. In general, the Merrell would be considered a more traditional, conservative

shoe, but it’s no lesser option for it and may actually service a wider array of runners because of its no frills approach.

Where these are not as conservative is in the heel-toe drop – a lower range 6mm (traditional being more in the 12mm range) means that you need to at least be striving toward better midfoot strike and good general form.

Those with small slabs up front may find these swim a little in the toe box with the ability to tighten the hug across the middle of the foot barely there, as the first rung of laces and general upper design doesn’t allow much adjustment.

The obstacle course considerations prove a benefit to trail runners via drainage ports wicking away water quickly once plunged

in puddles. The mesh upper layered with a perforated pliable rubber lining allows the shoe to release heat just as quickly. Overall, the shoe remains comfortable on the foot at all times in anything except the coldest of weather.

If any concern, it would be that of longevity.

Being lightweight, the upper and the sole are supple and if one were to guess, may not be the longest wearing of shoes. Hard to tell after only 150-odd kilometres.

Overall a great shoe for those tackling the many short course (5-25km) trail series taking place across Australia and New Zealand where event terrain tends to be softer, the trails less extreme without hard rocky sections, but where a need for grip, comfort and all weather wear is primary.

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REVIEW

TRAIL SHOES // TREKSTA SYNC

Image: chris ord

take outs TREKSTA SYNC

Great for: groomed trails, Korean-shaped feet, training and general-purpose running, door to trail Not-so-great for: if you want to try them before you buy them, technical hardcore trails, squarer slab feet

Test Conditions: singletrack, lots of technical, soft ground, rocky, approx. 80km

Tester: Chris Ord, Trail Run Mag editor

Tester Mechanics: mid foot striker, tends to more technical style running

VITALS

$229.95 /AUD Further information at: www.snowgum.com.au http://treksta.com/

SYNC INTO IT THE TREKSTA IS A SHOE YOU WON’T HAVE HEARD OF NOR SEEN, UNLESS YOU’RE THE BIGGEST TRAIL SHOE NERD IN HISTORY WITH A PENCHANT FOR KOREAN BRANDS. AND EVEN THEN… ON THE HOME FRONT THESE ARE HIDDEN AWAY FOUND IN AUSTRALIA ONLY IN ONE STORE – SNOWGUM – AND THAT BRAND HAS ONLY ONE STORE, IN SUBURBAN MELBOURNE. ERGO, IT’S A HARD SHOE TO TRY BEFORE YOU BUY – EVEN HARDER THAN THE ADIDAS MODEL TESTED IN THIS EDITION. So on test, the Treksta would really need to

sparkle to turn a reader’s head, because getting it on your feet is hard to do and a risk to purchase untried.

That said, we are informed that Snowgum has circumvented the problem with a pretty good customer service solution: “We offer free two-way shipping,” says Ross Elliot, Managing Director. “That is, free post to the shopper and if they don’t fit, free post back. In fact, they can buy two pairs and we would pay to ship the non-fitting pair back. We have had special cartons made to ship two or one pair of shoes for this purpose.”

That makes the shoes worth a shot.

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Treksta Sync

Now, weird and unexpected can go either way – you can go in thinking, nup, nothing doing here and yet come away unexpectedly impressed. Or you can be off-the-bat wowed by it on the shelf, and then be surely disappointed.

There’s a bit of column A and column B going on here.

Firstly, the Treksta brand is as mentioned Korean. After scanning 20,000 feet (assumedly Korean!) the company developed a unique shoe ‘last’ or mould that Snowgum claims just happens to suit the Australian foot shape.

Koreans, Australians…same foot shape?

Hmmmm. Weirdly it worked for me. Eventually.

On the foot, the shoe first-up feels awkward.

Not bad, not good, just awkward, a high arch imposing more than most, a little stiff and when you look down it seems like your little toes have been cut off, but doesn’t feel like that. What’s going on?

The answer is the Treksta’s approach is to follow the more natural line of your foot as it curves down to your outer little toes. Now, that’s fine for me, as that’s my shape. But I have also seen other foot shapes where the little toes protrude out in front as far as the big toes. This shoe may be a problem for them.

For me, it was actually comfortable and roomy enough for all my toes.

Trotting off in them the shoes quickly, if strangely, seemed to morph, becoming more supple and indeed comfortable the more I ran in them.

Was this due to the “nesFIT platform and terrain-sensing Independent Suspension Technology (IST) sole’? Maybe although let’s face it, no shoe incorporates Artificial Intelligence that reacts independently to anything. We’re talking non-living matter here. What they mean is a sole designed in parts that can move

naturally balanced and stable foundation, allowing the transition of cushioned energy through key strike zones.

Upstairs the mesh upper keeps feet cool and dries relatively quickly on a dunking. The GoreTex membrane is, in my opinion, overkill on any trail shoe unnecessary for anything bar a snowy or super cold day run.

Treksta has its origins in developing lightweight hiking shoes, and this shows in the Sync being a (mostly) straightforward shoe that looks a little weird but in terms of performance delivers middle of the road dependability and slightly better than average comfort. Even the high arch initially softened to a comfortable support.

Note that the Sync now comes in an updated V2.0 version, but the model on test is still available.

Overall, the shoe performs well on flat, groomed trails, dirt roads, or pavement. It lacks the high-end performance on steep or rocky terrain that a shoe with a more aggressive outsole would allow. Still a good if unusual buy…if you can get your hands on it, and thus feet in it.

independently across the last to match the uneven terrain it lands on. That last is also more definitively shaped to cradle the feet on an averaged design according to all those scans to get the best middle-ground fit. And worn in these are surprisingly comfortable and foot hugging. The other layers of the mid and upper combine quite cohesively to give further credence to the comfort factor.

Whatever the independent suspension system is, it delivers good ground feel and feedback, mainly on sedate trails of middling technicality.

The weak factor here is the grip – on flat, hard, and smooth surfaces (yes, including rock) the own-technology ‘HyperGrip’ is actually pretty sticky, a low profile pad design with mini grooves working well, but come the soft, dirtier, more technical stuff and these lose traction somewhat. So for tight, twisty, loose and organic trails you’ll find the lateral stability lacking.

The heel-toe is reasonably low-drop 6mm, again aiding trail feel for those who dig that.

Obviously these are not for maximalists although it is noted that Treksta have brought out a Hoka-like model to hedge their bets.

The ultra light EVA midsole gives a fairly 103

REVIEW

TRAIL SHOES // SALOMON SENSE ULTRA SG4

Image: chris ord

take outs SALOMON SENSE ULTRA SG4

Great for: as it says on the tin, soft ground; technical, rooty, muddy, racing, ‘shorter’ runs up to a marathon Not-so-great for: ultras, hard packed trails

Test Conditions: singletrack, lots of technical, soft ground, rocky, approx. 180km

Tester: Chris Ord, Trail Run Mag editor

Tester Mechanics: mid foot striker, tends to more technical style running

VITALS

$229.95 /AUD Further information at: www.salomon.com/au

SOFT SPOT IT’S A CLICHÉ TERM: FITS LIKE A GLOVE. USUALLY TAKEN AS A POSITIVE DESCRIPTOR, IT’S APTLY APPLIED TO THE SALOMON S-LAB SENSE ULTRA SG. THESE RACY NUMBERS CUDDLE YOUR FOOT, LIKE A FULL BODY CONTACT SPOONING SESSION FOR YOUR FEET. I MENTION THIS UP FRONT BECAUSE IT’S THE FIRST ‘FEELING’ YOU GET PUTTING THEM ON A NOTICEABLE ‘WOW’ FACTOR OF SILKY, FORM-FITTING COMFORT.

Salomon Sense Ultra SG4

The precision fit is created by Salomon’s Endofit upper, which basically acts like a sock.

Now, apart from the sheer comfort of this upper, there’s a performance aspect: cuddlier fit means better hold on to and connection through the sole, translating to better feel and reaction to the surfaces spinning beneath. This gives you more confidence on knarly, changeable terrain where action is varied and landing and take off can be in any direction on any kind of slope.

So, if the shoe fits for you, technical terrain becomes a carpet ride in these puppies.

The downside; they need to fit your foot 104

and a more precise fit, as these offer, means more chance that your podiatric idiosyncrasies may not match those of Kilian Jornet and the other top flight fliers these shoes were designer around. What does I mean for you? If your foot doesn’t take an instant liking to the shape within, you’ll get hot spots.

Even if your planks of meat are a perfect match, you may not want to run into the ultra zone in them given foot swell will turn that spooning session for your foot into a painful exercise in ‘outgrowing one other’. Hence, while the word ultra is ingrained in the name,

and emblazoned on the side, these are perhaps not for big-banger ultras per se, unless you have a second upsized pair to swap into half way!

What they are specifically for is what the ‘SG’ highlights: soft ground. Find some sloppy, technical, mulchy, muddy, springy singletrack carpet and ride these hard. They will sing on this type of terrain. Why? Because that tight-hold around your foot means there is no movement within the shoe, the trail feel is a beautiful balance fine-tuned to the point of twitchiness. Like a pair of Formula One tyres on a Ferrari, they make you want to race on the limit of your performance capabilities.

The 4mm drop means that, just as an F1 car should not be driven by a P-plater, these aren’t for everyone. Your form has to be fine and your strength and muscular spring through the lower legs strong.

Indeed, fall over on your form or be unaccustomed to the low heel-toe drop and these shoes may well bite back. But if you have the control on tap, and the confidence to

upper is more durable on the SG4 than on previous models, although arguably it’s also less breathable – great for cold weather, not so for summer forays and stinky feet.

The grip is, as always with Salomon across its range, excellent, but particularly so on these.

The Contragrip lug pattern has deeper lugs for additional spike, particularly relevant – as you’d expect – for when the ground is softer. That said, on super muddy patches they can fail to shed the gloop as quickly as we’d like.

The rubber compound has been revised from past models and seems to have slightly better bite on smoother surfaces like rock and on dry, hard trail the lugs aren’t too intrusive (as on the Speedcross), the ride remaining fairly comfy for 10-20km outings. Longer than that and you’ll be seeking the softer stuff.

A crisp performer for those who want to up the ante, fast and furious style, pushing the envelope on technical trails. Great for a lot of the ‘sprint’ trail series going round these days!

push out at the edge of your technical running capacities, then the Ultra Sense is a sublime shoe to go at pace with.

The ride is 9mm up to 13mm cushion in the heel, giving that 4mm heel-toe difference. On terra more-firmer – fire roads, hard packed, groomed surfaces – they can start to tenderise the forefoot some and you’ll notice that hardness upfront from the get-go. The increased size lugs do give a little more protection and cushion than the regular Sense Ultra, but only by a smidge.

The shoe’s Profeel Film balances well as a protective layer shielding feet from bitey ground while also maintaining excellent feedback – again these being a lightweight race shoe means they will never be accused of being maximalist, and you need to be okay with that fact.

The upper on the SG4 has been revised some giving additional support through the forefoot.

According to the product notes, the Sensifit design – already market leading in our opinion – has been tweaked, too. It all lends to better securing your foot and that glove-like feel. The 105

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DISTANCE RUNNER, SIMON MADDEN, TASTING THE TRAILS OF BLUE TIER, TASSIE TRAIL FEST, TASMANIA. CHRIS ORD WWW.TASSIETRAILFEST.COM.AU

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PRESENTED BY

TOM LE LIEVRE PUSHES HARD ALONG THE AUSTRALIAN ALPINE WALKING TRAIL, SCOUTING FOR THE NEW OSCARS 100 HUT 2 HUT EVENT. CHRIS ORD WWW.HUT2HUT.COM.AU

CLIMBING TOWARDS MANASLU BASE CAMP ON THE MEGA MULTIDAY THAT IS THE MANASLU TRAIL RACE RICHARD BULL WWW.MANASLUTRAILRACE.ORG

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PRESENTED BY

HIGH OVER THE CHASMS OF THE UPPER MUSTANG VALLEY, IN NORTHERN NEPAL, RUNNING IN THE MUSTANG TRAIL RACE. RICHARD BULL WWW.MUSTANGTRAILRACE.COM

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PRESENTED BY

CHASING WATERFALLS ALONG THE ROB ROY TRACK, MATUKITUKI VALLEY, SOUTH ISLAND, NZ. SPUTNIK SPUTNIK WWW.SWASHBUCKLERSCLUB.COM

FINDING THE FAST LINE AT THE STURT GORGE TRAIL RUN, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. SAM BRUCE WWW.TRAILRUNNINGSA.COM

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PRESENTED BY

THE GREEN CURTAIN RIDE OF THE ROUTEBURN TRACK, NZ. IMAGE: SPUTNIK SPUTNIK WWW.SWASHBUCKLERSCLUB.COM

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PRESENTED BY

COURSE RECORD HOLDER, KELLIE EMMERSON FINDS HER FLOW ON THE TRAILS OF THE SURF COAST CENTURY, VICTORIA. RAPID ASCENT WWW.SURFCOASTCENTURY.COM.AU

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PERI GRAY TAKES FLIGHT AROUND ORMISTON POUND LOOP TRAIL AS PART OF A RUN ALONG THE 230KM LARAPINTA TRAIL, NORTHERN TERRITORY. CHRIS ORD WWW.TOURDETRAILS.COM

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PRESENTED BY

THE BIG, STEEP LANDSCAPES OF THE VICTORIAN HIGH COUNTRY AND THE AUSTRALIAN ALPINE WALKING TRACK, PART OF THE NEW OSCARS 100 HUT2HUT EVENT. WWW.HUT2HUT.COM.AU CHRIS ORD

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TRAILGUIDE IMAGES: Ross Taylor

GORGEOUS BLACKWOOD

2 hours 15 min

Blackwood Run, Lerderderg State Park, Vic, AU

Your Guide: Ross Taylor Lerderderg State Park is hidden gem not far from Melbourne, making it an excellent option for a sneaky weekend morning run. There are a number of excellent tracks in the area that twist and turn above or along the Lerderderg River. This particular loop takes you along the southern side of the Lerderderg from O’Briens Crossing to the small township of Blackwood and its Mineral Spring, before looping back on the northern side of the river, finally meeting up with the start of the run and O’Briens Crossing.

RUN IT:

1. The run begins at O’Briens Crossing on the Lerderderg River (which is marked in Google Maps). It takes about an hour and half to drive to the crossing from the centre of Melbourne. To get there, take the Western Highway from Melbourne for 67km. Take the Greendale exit and drive 7km to Greendale. At the roundabout, take a right on the GreendaleBlackwood Rd and follow it for 7.5km (towards Blackwood). Turn right onto O’Briens Rd (it’s a gravel road, which can be a little rough, but it’s okay if you take it slow). It’s about 6km down to O’Briens Crossing, park here.

2. From the car park, take the track up the

ridgeline (to the left of the toilet just above the road). Follow the track steeply up the hill, ignoring the first junction you come to (the circuit walk). Instead, keep climbing up the ridgeline until you hit the top and a sign indicating Byers Back Track and Blackwood.

Follow this trail rightwards and the trail soon levels out. Byers Back Track is a section of old water race. Built during the gold era, thousands and thousands of kilometres of these water

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POST RUN GOODNESS:

races were dug across hillsides to carry water to where gold was being mined, often only dropping a metre per kilometre of distance.

It’s only a short drive north to the township of Blackwood for a coffee brew and the excellent ‘Pig Dog Breakfast’ option (it’ll sate the hunger, promise) at the Blackwood Merchant (www. theblackwoodmerchant.com).

3. The next 7km winds along delightful single track above the Lerderderg River (ignore a number of 4WD tracks that cross Byers).

You will pass an old gold mine tunnel before you are finally deposited into a car park and hit Golden Point Rd. Turn right and follow Golden Point Rd for 2km, until you can turn right and run steeply down Hugget Lane into the (signposted) Mineral Springs (opposite the caravan park). Stop for a quick drink from one of the springs, before crossing the footbridge over the creek.

trail tips Nearby Town: Blackwood 9.5km Exact Location: O’Briens Crossing on the Lerderderg River

4.

On the other side of the bridge, turn left and follow Hard Hills Trail (staying right at 200m) as it gradually climbs to Shaws Lake. At the lake continue straight along the gravel road (Shaws Lake Track). The road keeps climbing for about 800m until it hits North Blackwood Rd (also gravelled), continue straight ahead (left), following North Blackwood Rd, until you can turn right onto the 4WD Tunnel Point Track. This is followed for about 2.5km, until you hit the end of the road on a knoll, from where single trail leads steeply down to the Lerderderg River and the Tunnel – a tunnel dug during the gold era through a bend in the river.

Total Distance: 20.6km Total ascent: 687m Time to Run: 2 hours 15 minutes Type of trail run: out and back with a loop section at the Blackwood end

Difficulty: easy to moderate Defining characteristics: The gold mining era is ever present, from the old water races that you run along, to old gold works and tunnels to the Mineral Springs at Blackwood (which are great for rehydrating). If there’s water in the Lerderderg and it’s hot, you can also stop for a quick swim. A mix of 4WD tracks and single trail.

5. Ignore the track that leads left down river

along the banks of the Lerderderg (which you can take back to O’Briens Crossing, although it is very rough and hard to run) and go straight ahead, climbing over a small hill before crossing the Lerderderg (you can nearly always keeps your feet dry) and climbing up the opposite bank on the steep 4WD Gribble Track. A couple of hundred metres up the track you meet back up with the Byers Track, turn left on this and retrace your footsteps earlier in the run back to O’Briens Crossing.

Features of interest: The Tunnel on the Lerderderg River, where gold miners cut directly through a bend in the river.

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TRAILGUIDE IMAGES: Mat Vaughan and Nicki Letts

CRAZY TRAIL

2 hours

YOUR GUIDE: Nicki Letts, www.runoldgirlrun.com It’s a long way from anywhere, but then, isn’t that the aim of trail running – to go get wild? Thredbo, in the southern stretches of New South Wale’s high country, is a resort best known for its ski season. But come warmer months the snows abate to reveal a plethora of trails, with big alpine views and spectacular rock formations the reward.

RUN IT:

1. Your start line is the Thredbo Valley

Terminal, opposite the Visitor Information Centre. Follow signs for Merritts Nature Track. The start of the trail can be a little confusing, as you skirt around the tennis courts and bobsled. But keep following the signs and you’ll soon be amongst the trees and heading on a very definite uphill.

2. Merritts Nature Track is 4km of solid up.

There are a few short flat sections of runnable trail with only roots and rocks to worry about.

The rest is good old-fashioned stair training at its best. The rangers say the track was built by a guy who’s 6”7’, which explains why the steps are so deep. But if you’re game, run it and enjoy the burn!

3. Cross the bridge over Merritts Creek and

enjoy the cool shade of Alpine Ash for about 2km. It spits you out into an open area with ski lifts overhead and mountain bike trails to your left. The trail continues straight up the hill for about 300m before bearing off to the right – it’s well signposted.

Crazy Horse, Thredbo, NSW

4. Leap up the gruelling steps all the way to Eagle’s Nest and the chairlift terminal. Don’t miss any opportunities to spin around and enjoy the sweeping views back down to the valley. Benches conveniently mark the best viewpoints.

the Thredbo River Track, which will lead you along the river for 4km on a cruisey, relatively flat trail. Pass the golf course and you’ve arrived into Thredbo Village.

POST RUN GOODNESS:

5. Once you reach the top (elevation 2037m), try to resist the temptation to grab a cold beer and jump on the chairlift back to the village.

Instead, bypass the restaurant and follow the sign to Dead Horse Gap. This takes you away from Summit Walk’s metal path (which unfortunately you are forbidden to run) and to the left.

Central Road 2625 in the main village (Shop 4 17 Friday Drive, Thredbo) brews a good coffee and muffin combo. But you can’t go past the local bakery for a hot homemade pie (hint: the steak and gravy really hits the spot!)

6. The watershed between the Thredbo

trail tips

Snowy System and the Murray River, Dead Horse Gap crosses the Great Dividing Range at 1580m. The trail itself packs spectacular surroundings into only 5.5km, so soak in every second. You start in open herb fields on a narrow trail – it’s very exposed so prepare for the elements. The view down Thredbo Valley is broken only by fences designed to catch the snowdrift. It’s easy to see how brumbies became trapped in this area during unexpected snowfalls (hence the name!).

NAME: Crazy Horse Trail NEARBY TOWN/CITY: Thredbo Alpine Village

EXACT LOCATION: Thredbo Valley Terminal

TOTAL ROUTE DISTANCE: 14km TOTAL ASCENT/DESCENT: 540m TIME TO RUN: 2 hours (if you run up!)

TYPE OF TRAIL RUN: Loop DIFFICULTY: Medium DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS:

7. Follow the open trail for a kilometre or so before coming into a snow gum forest. The scenery changes dramatically now from alpine heath and grassy fields to haunting stark white trees. You curl around on a steady down, which makes all the climbing worthwhile.

Ahead of you are sweeping views over the NSW border into Victoria.

Stairs, mountain views, snowgum and stingybark forest, river trail – a little bit of everything!

8. Is that the sound of passing cars? You’re

FEATURES OF INTEREST:

coming to the bottom, which brings you out next to the Alpine Way. But your trail isn’t over yet! Turn left and follow the signs for

Crackenback Mountain, Thredbo Valley, Dead Horse Gap

Online Map 1

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TRAILGUIDE IMAGES: Mat Vaughan and Nicki Letts

CATHEDRAL OF DREAMS

3.5 hours

Cathedral Rock National Park, NSW, Australia

Your Guide: Nicki Letts, www.runoldgirlrun.com Hidden along Waterfall Way about halfway between Armidale and Dorrigo is Cathedral Rock National Park, the formation giving the park its name an incredible pile of boulders and one of the highest points in the New England Tablelands. This place is a playground for trail runners, with a new surprise around every bend.

RUN IT:

1. Start your run from the southern Barokee campground.

2. Named after the local dingos, or “Warrigal”,

the Barokee-Native Dog Creek trail goes north, winding around the Cathedral Rock boulders and through granite woodland to a turnaround point at Native Dog campground. The trail is well signposted from Barokee campground on Round Mountain Road.

3. You start at 1352m elevation and, for the

first 2.5km, the trail (also part of the Cathedral Rock loop trail) ascends gradually around boulders, but is fully runnable. Look out for the precariously piled boulders of Cathedral Rock to your right.

4. Eventually you will sight a short walking

route (400m) that leads to the top of Cathedral Rock. The rocks can be slippery and many crevices are deep so agility is required. Once perched on the top, you are rewarded by views of the surrounding tablelands. Nearby Round Mountain, at 1584 metres above sea level, is the highest point on the New England Tablelands.

5. Coming off Cathedral Rock head further

north, descending into the string-bark forest.

6. Tread carefully on the narrow rocky trail,

the yellow and purple wildflowers. You’ll arrive at a signpost pointing right to the Cathedral Rock loop. Take the hard left to continue up along the Wild Dog Creek trail.

TRAIL TIPS NAME NAME: Barokee to Native Dog Creek

7. For the next 3.5km, follow the trail up,

NEARBY TOWN/CITY: 70km east of

down and around rocks. No scrambling required, but the trail does get steep in places.

At the sign to Woolpack Rocks, if you fancy a 300m detour up to the lookout, take the out and back for big views from this second impressive rock cluster formation.

Armidale and 60km west of Dorrigo on the New England Tablelands.

EXACT LOCATION: Barokee Campground, Round Mountain Road, Cathedral National Park

8. The narrow trail now takes you down so

TOTAL ROUTE DISTANCE: 20.8km

that the Native Dog Creek is on your right.

Unless there’s been lots of rain, you won’t see the creek through the ferns, but you’ll hear it trickling next to you.

TOTAL ASCENT/DESCENT: 714m TIME TO RUN: 3.5 hours TYPE OF TRAIL RUN: Out and back

9. With just 2km to the turnaround, the forest opens out and the trail levels. Cross the wooden planks over the creek and stride out the last kilometre into the campsite. There’s a toilet here and some picnic tables. Got energy to spare? Take the Warrigal Track from Native Dog Campsite – it’s a short 1km loop.

DIFFICULTY: Medium DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS: Boulders, narrow trail, granite woodlands, stringy-bark forest, wildflowers

FEATURES OF INTEREST: Cathedral Rock, Woolpack Rocks

10. Once you’ve refueled, turn around and

enjoy the return journey. When you reach the signpost for the Cathedral Rock loop, mix things up a bit and take the alternate path back to the campsite.

Online Map

Post run goodness: You’ll be grinning when you remember you packed your coolbox with lots of goodies to enjoy around the campfire at Barokee campground! Otherwise, it’s just 14km to Ebor village where you can drop into Fusspots (www.facebook.com/fusspotsatebor/) for a homemade burger.

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TRAILGUIDE IMAGES: Tania Miller

1-1.5 hours

BULLOCK TRACK

Your Guide: Tania Miller At Trail Run Mag, we love a good ‘ghost track’: one that has been forgotten by most and so is hugely underutilised. The Bullock is one such gem despite being found in an easily accessible location on the main road between Dunedin and Queenstown/Wanaka. Take the grind up to be rewarded by panoramic views over the valley and beyond across Otago.

RUN IT:

1. The Bullock Track starts at an information Kiosk, 3km North of Roxburgh on SH8. It is a right of way access across private land so you must stay on the track.

2. The trail launches straight into a steep

ascent of approximately 250 metres per kilometre so the chances are you will soon be reduced to a swift power hike as opposed to running. Or will you? Challenge set.

Although it is steep, the footing underneath is good. The track itself is an old pack track that was originally used to service gold mining settlements high in the hills.

Roxburgh, Otago, New Zealand

4. At the top of the track, there is a picnic table, which is a great place for a breather on a fine day. From here you have the choice of exploring across the tops to Junction Hut (you can even stay there for a night), returning via Mt Hope Road to Coal Creek and then taking the cycle way along SH8 back to the car park (a longer but gentler option) or heading back down they way you came up.

TRAIL TIPS NAME: Bullock Track NEARBY TOWN: Roxburgh EXACT LOCATION: 3km North of Roxburgh on SH8

TOTAL ROUTE DISTANCE: 7.5km

5. If you choose to return the way you

TOTAL ASCENT/DESCENT: 755 metres

came, be prepared for a knee-knackering, toe jamming descent! However, seeing that it’s only for a couple of kilometres you can grin and bear it! Despite only being a short distance, the legs certainly feel like they have had a hammering once you hit the bottom.

TIME TO RUN: 1-1.5 hours (longer if you decide to explore further)

TYPE OF TRAIL RUN: Out and back DIFFICULTY: Hard but short!

DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS: Steep

Post run goodness:

ascent and descent, can be snowy and icy in winter.

check in to Jimmy’s Pies – a national icon according to some (143 Scotland Street) – for their national prize winning pies and sweets.

Just down the road at 103 Scotland St is 103 The Lounge, another good café worth a pit stop and coffee.

FEATURES OF INTEREST: Panoramic views, remnants of stone gold mining huts.

Online

3. After about 2.5 km of steep ascent, the track levels a little for the final kilometre and for those non-monsters yet to pace up, you may be able to break into a gentle jog for the final kilometre. During the winter months it is at this point that you will often encounter snow on the track.

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