Cow fields, creek crossings & muddle puddles for Kruse at Yandina

Contributed by Nicole Kruse, AURA Member (Hornsby, NSW)

YANDINA FIVE ‘0’, YANDINA (QUEENSLAND), 26 March 2022

On 26 March I took part in the inaugural Yandina Five ‘0’ in Yandina on the Sunshine Coast put on by Run Queensland.

I was very excited to finally be able to get into Queensland from NSW for a race and I was not disappointed.

The race started and finished at Terella Brewing which was very handy for pre and post-race drinks which I enjoyed.

Terella Brewing even created a delicious Trail Ale for the event!

When arriving at the start line I was greeted by lots of excited runners waiting for the 6am start for the 50km with the shorter distances starting a little later.

The first couple of kilometres I was running through cow fields and had my first creek crossing – not to be outdone, it was the first of 12!

I passed the first water stop at the 4km mark and shortly after that the first of two massive climbs greeted me  where the rocky trail went up and up and up until I got to the Point Glorious lookout, where I was treated to a stunning view and the first checkpoint just after the 10km mark. 

Afterwards the trail continued to go up and down with more creek crossings and lots of mud thrown in as well as another water stop at about 17km where I filled up my water.

It was a nice mixture of single track, sometimes technical, and forest roads to give the legs a break and got some faster kilometres in.

Another checkpoint awaited me just under the halfway mark at about 23km which was a very welcome sight as it was quite humid by this point and one of the volunteers had a spray bottle with water to cool everyone down.

After a quick refill and refuel I was off again where the trail took me along the Cooloolabin Dam, which was followed by a steep and rocky downhill I found quite challenging and I was very relieved once I made my way down there without falling over and breaking a bone and shortly after I reached CP 3 at 36km for another refill and refuel.

The trail continued to be stunning with more single track and mud and my quads started to complain a bit after all the hills I’d climbed so far.

Unfortunately for my quads I spotted another big uphill around the 40km mark when looking at the elevation profile so I knew that was coming up soon. 

When I got there I just went for it without thinking about it too much and was very happy when I reached the top knowing that it was pretty much all downhill from there.

There was another water stop 4km from the finish where I took some more electrolyte to get through the last kilometre.

As the last 5km were the same as the first 5km I knew the trail and what to expect, including that first creek crossing.

Once I got to the cow fields again I could see the finish line and was looking forward to a nice cold drink.

I crossed the finish line in 7:52:51 and was delighted because I had been aiming for a sub 8hr finish.

All in all it was a very well organised event with a challenging but amazing trail and great volunteers!

Pictured: Run Queensland’s Simon Kluckow and Nicole Kruse at the finish line of the inaugural Yandina Five ‘O’. Photograph – Supplied.