This was the first time I had run at Lark Hill Dusk to Dawn (March 3, 2018) in WA, and I didn’t know the course, but I had heard it was slightly undulating, with no real hills but a few little ‘ups and downs’ and a small climb into the start/finish/aid station.
Looking at times from last year, I noted that most people who had run at ADU100K in 2017 were about 45-90mins slower on the Lark Hill course than their ADU100K time. I used this to work out roughly what pace/time I should go for so that I would be able to try and stay at a comfortable pace for as long as possible. I figured if I aimed for about 10hrs that would give me a solid run, and if I was slower than that it didn’t matter. Running 100k hurts whether you’re running it at race pace or as a training run at a slower pace. After running ADU100K only six weeks before, my plan was to use Lark Hill Dusk to Dawn as a ‘training run’.
When I say ‘training run’, what I mean is that I don’t want any pressure of hitting a particular time, I want to feel as comfortable as possible for as long as possible.
My training buddy/coach/support crew, Jenny Taplin, drove me down for the 7pm start and we set up our aid station and watched the finish of the kids race. I sat down and tried to figure out which shoes to run in, as the track was limestone but not really trail. I was trying to decide if the Salming Speed 6 would be okay, or if I went with the trail T3’S. I ended up sticking with the Salming Speed 6, the same shoe I wore at ADU100K.
There were quite a few crew members from the SquashRunningworks team, which I’m a part of, so we had a group photo and then waited at the start line for the race briefing. At 7pm the 25kms, 50kms and 100kms runners all started off together, with the runners in the 25kms event (and probably a few in the 50kms) kicking the pace up from the start.
I, however, stuck to my comfortable pace, although if I’m totally honest, while it was comfortable (and much slower than my ADU pace) it was a little faster than planned. I decided early on to ‘run to feel’ rather than looking at my watch all the time, as long as I felt good and comfortable, I was happy with that.
I was enjoying the undulation of the course and didn’t even mind the 300m section of sand on each lap, although I knew that both would become more difficult during the 34 laps. Each lap is approximately 3kms. I find long runs are better if you break them down, so I decided that I would do three full laps and then stop at the aid station (my first aid station stop was at the 9kms mark). After the 9kms mark, I also carried a small soft flask filled with water. Jen was great at the aid station, as always, making sure my soft flasks were filled and I was taking on board enough nutrition and hydration. I told her that I would be doing three full laps and then stopping at the aid station for hydration/nutrition – this meant about 50mins between stops (at a rough guess), and I hoped this meant she could get some sleep in between my stops.
Nick O’Neill, who has been showing some real talent at ultra running, was holding a good lead and was looking very strong. I was a little surprised though when at about the 52kms mark I caught up to him. I’d thought perhaps he may have just gone out a little hard early on.
By this stage my legs were starting to feel fatigued and those little hills were feeling a bit bigger, but I was feeling much better than I had at the same point at ADU100K. I was still feeling relatively comfortable so just tried to maintain the pace.
It was at about the 70kms mark that the real struggle began for me. It meant there were still 10 laps to go – and look, 10 laps might not sound bad, but when you’ve already completed 24-laps, the mental battle to keep doing more can be tough. Breaking it down was the way to get through it. Aid station stop. Run three laps. Aid station stop. Run three laps.
With four laps to go, that’s when I really hit a wall. I told myself to just get through this lap, and then asked Jen to run the last lap with me. I saw that others had pacers with them (you are allowed a pacer from the 50kms mark), and as I passed through the aid station, I called out to Jen and asked her to ‘please run the last lap with me’. I didn’t wait for a response, I was already heading out for the third last lap. My focus was now to get to that last lap, and I knew the encouragement and motivation from Jen would get me across the finish line.
Back in to the aid station and out for the second last lap. I came across runner Shirley Treasure who had been volunteering and crewing. She was going for a training run around the course, encouraging other runners, and she asked if I would like some company, I told her that would be great. She managed to get me to pick up the pace, and pushed me to get through the second last lap which was brilliant. As we came into the aid station, I grabbed a drink and Jen took over from Shirley. Out we went, one lap to go. Jen also got me to pick up the pace a bit, and we pushed up the small hills that no longer felt very small. We hit the sand patch, and I knew we only had a bit over 1km to go. The last small hill leading into the start/finish/aid station was in sight, up we went and I managed to cross the line in 9:22:19.
Really happy with the result, and really happy that I stuck to my plan (mostly) and felt comfortable for the majority of the way. Lark Hill Dusk to Dawn was a great event. Well run with awesome volunteers and crew.
Pictured: Margie Hadley (centre) talks strategy with support crew member Jenny Taplin (left) and fellow runner (Shirley Treasure). Photograph – Jeff Bremner/Facebook.
