With no 100km world championships in 2017 and my likely best running years ‘running’ out fast, I spent 2017 and the first few months of 2018 focusing on shorter races and the specific training required to nail them. This worked well and I was rewarded with PBs at C2S, JPMCC in 2017 and then times of 15:53 over 5km and 32:36 over 10km in April and May this year.
With good speed and enough 35km long runs under my belt, my marathon form was looking good and the Gold Coast marathon was on the cards. However, a week after the May NSW 10km champs I started thinking about ultras again. I had never run a 100km on home soil and never genuinely raced 100km, given realistic expectations at the world champs each year has been a top 30 finish when only putting in 100km of training each week.
The Australian 100km champs on the Gold Coast on June 10 was enticing me. Potentially taking a minute or two off a marathon PB was a strong draw, but a potential Aussie 100km medal was winning me over.
I decided to start training as if I would run the 100km and then make a decision.
So I had three weeks to back off the pace and up the kilometres and squeezed in 130-150km weekly totals including a 50km long run, 45km long run and a weekend of 25km hard on Saturday and 35km hilly on Sunday. Hopefully, I thought at the time, it was enough to prepare the legs a bit.
I felt alright and locked in some flights and committed to the race having called the race director, Ian, and him confirming a bit of depth in the field with four other guys hoping to go under 7hrs 30mins and snag potential Aussie team qualifiers.
The race started at 6.30am with 16 laps of 6.25km ahead of us, fairly flat but with a few little pinches, some nasty sharp turns and a fun lap of the athletics track.
I arrived at 5.45am but there was a 20min queue to register and the clock was ticking. With no promised personal drinks table available I took matters into my own hands, went up to the grandstand, grabbed a table from the bar and carried it down to the track and set out my supplies. With no support crew, I needed to be able to grab stuff easily as I passed each lap. Stress levels started to rise with only 5mins left for a toilet visit and 5mins to the race start.
From the gun, five of us went out at around 4mins 20min per km pace which felt about right, but with stormy skies and 80% humidity, I was worried soon after as my heart rate was higher than I wanted.
Kilometres ticked over and we averaged 4.18 for the first six. Next lap saw kilometre splits of 4.15s on the flat and 4.20s on the hills and same again for laps three and four. I took an Endura gel every 6.25km-lap, and tried a neat little system that I learned from Callum Hawkins at the Commonwealth Games marathon – I screwed the gel sachets under the lids of small 250ml water bottles and as I pulled the gel off each lap they tore open perfectly.
The clouds were clearing and I grabbed a visor and sunglasses on lap five. My head had been a bit foggy, but seemed to be clearing a bit. Twenty-five kilometres done and four of us together and chatting, that’s the camaraderie of ultra, competing but looking out for each other too when the odd bike or dog walker came up (we were on footpaths and a lot of it was concrete, which I figured was going to take its toll as is harder than bitumen).
Fairly uneventful through the next laps and through the marathon distance in 3hrs 3mins and 50km in 3hrs 38mins. At this point, two of the guys (Darrel and David) pushed on with a couple of sub 4.10 pace kms and I decided to let them go, so was two groups of two, with my fellow Aussie teammate from 2016, Scott Britain, alongside me. I chatted to Scott and said best to let the other two go (David and Darrell).
My 58th and 59th kilometres slowed below 4.30 pace for the first time, not helped by dropping a gel and feeling a twinge in my hamstring when I stopped to pick it up. Scott admitted that he was starting to feel it too, having run quicker than he planned to at this point.
The clouds had totally cleared now, but the wind that shifted them was particularly rough along one exposed section and the section where it would have been behind us was sheltered, doh! The Queensland sun was starting to make its mark, and I started pouring water over my head as my head was heating up. At least the urge to urinate that had lasted the past 10km seemed to have disappeared. I took a ‘Revvie’ caffeine hit to focus my mind and some CurraNZ blackcurrant capsules to help the muscles in the later stages. The 6.25km loop lacked areas to see the competitors ahead and behind except for the 400m on the track so I just had to push on and keep the kilometres ticking. Pace was biting at 65km and dropping into the 4.30s.
Soon I came up on one of the two front runners, David, who was taking a walking break. I slowed and checked he was okay, and told him to jump on behind me, which he did! Told him he still had a chance of an Aussie team qualifier if he hung; yes it was a race, but great to see new faces pushing for an Aussie team position. I pushed a bit on, and David soon dropped off, and now Scotty was around 400m behind, just entering the track I left.
I was now in second and just focused on not giving up my position. I was prepared to give up a PB shot and risk blowing up, to ensure I held second as a podium finish was the goal.
At 70km I was dropping into high 4.30s and the odd 4.40. On the next lap, I saw Scotty sitting in a chair on the track, and he confirmed he had pulled the pin. I wasn’t sure how far behind third was, but just made sure I didn’t fade any further.
Two of my toes were starting to bother me, and had clearly blistered; I wish I hadn’t looked down as there were two red blood patches on the mesh of my white shoes.
Four laps to go, and I hit a mental hurdle when one of the officials called out and asked if I had stopped and taken a rest as he didn’t see me on the last lap; bothered me for 5 mins, but my timing chip and Garmin wouldn’t lie. I needed some mind games, and decided that had just two hard laps to go as the last two would feel easier as being close to the end. In all honesty, it was now lonely. Most of the runners from the shorter distances had finished, and I wanted to stop and walk a bit, but refused to give in to the signals.
I hadn’t got sick of the 12 gels, but took on my first cup of coke.
Another mind battle arose as a guy was lying motionless on the side of the course, and receiving paramedic attention (turns out he had heart murmurs and went to hospital). My heart rate was up and my head pounding, so again I decided not to over push it and I let the pace slip a bit again to ensure I would hold on to second place. I was mindful that my likely finish time had slipped beyond 7hrs 30mins, but I wanted to stay under the 7hr 40min world championships ‘C’ qualifier, which is a mark of a respectable time so I did the maths to work out what I needed to do.
It was only 22 degrees, but it felt warmer and I kept grabbing two cups of water at the aid stations now, one to drink and one to put over my head.
With quads feeling heavier and heavier the urge to stop and take a walking break grew and grew, but I had to be stubborn and not give in. This was a race, and I wasn’t going to walk a step of it.
I held on through the penultimate 6.25km lap, which was the hardest, and then onto the final lap. I started to thank every marshal and volunteer on the final lap and with 3kms to go pushed the pace back below 5kms per minute. It felt good when I hit the track for the final 300m and knew I had an Australian second place in the bag.
A well organised race, probably one of the flattest and fastest 100km courses in Australia, and it was good to tick off a new race. Running 100kms is never easy, but it’s very satisfying to get it done again. It was also great sharing the day with some old and new faces.
Pictured: Andrew Heyden (left) finished a proud 2nd at the Gold Coast 100k Run Festival, with Darryl Hill 1st and Kevin Muller 3rd). Photograph – Supplied.
