Jessica Smith takes women’s record in the backyard ultra

Just weeks after taking on the Delirious W.E.S.T 100 miler in mid-February and taking 2^nd Female, Jessica Smith conquered the backyard ultra over the weekend of 18-20 March and claimed her name to be first Australian woman to reach a backyard distance of 275km and 41 completed loops.

With well-known West Aussies names Margaret Hadley and Jen Millum right alongside her as the last three women to battle it out at Herdy’s Frontyard Ultra, Smith bowed out with class and grit as she made the decision to DNF after 41 laps.

Her goal for Herdy’s was to simply make the second sunrise on Sunday morning (the event began on Friday, 18 March at 4pm).

“For these types of events, I don’t like to set a distance target because I think it becomes too easy to quit once that’s been hit,” she said.

“Knowing that the hardest hours are between 1am and 5am, I set the goal of sunrise, knowing that the sun should hopefully be able to perk me up for a few more. To actually get there requires a lot more short term goals and milestones that I then aimed to reach along the way.”

Keen to learn what Smith’s training was like? She shares her strategies.

“For me, the training for a backyard ultra is all about time on feet. As much as possible, I tried to do double days and back-to-back long days,” she explained.

“Because of work and study commitments, I did find it hard to fit the training in, but I firmly believe that if you want it bad enough, you’ll find the time. For me this would often be 4am runs before a 12 hour shift on a mine site, followed by 1-2 hours of study in the evening.”

Some of her stats for those who love numbers:

Fastest Lap:              Lap 1 (43:58)
Slowest Lap:             Lap 41 (57:07)
Avg Lap Time:      51 minutes
Avg Lap Pace:       7.30/km
Calories Burnt:     19,029

It’s interesting to note that Smith used a number of different strategies throughout the race, but in the end, all were some sort of variation of a walk/run.

“Over the course of the race, I tried a 4/1, 4/2, 2/2, 3/2…for one lap, I tried running the sunny sections and walking the shade, but I found it didn’t really work for me,” she said.

“I like the structure of timed laps. I also found it really helpful to jump on with different groups doing different strategies, seeing if I liked it and trying it out for a few laps. The variety absolutely helped!

“When my crew told me that both Margie and Jen had decided to DNF, I just remember looking at them both and saying to myself that I had really and truly better give that sunrise goal a good crack! At this point, there was still about 15 hours away, so the thought process switched to okay – how do we get there. What do I need to do mentally and physically to make that happen.

“I was very fortunate to have a fellow runner in Chris Martin who had the exact same goal as me – make the second sunrise. We worked together through the night, picking each other up when the other was down and just supporting and motivating each other to see the sunrise. That 6am lap was pretty special.

“Coincidentally, it was also the record lap.”

After 41 laps, what was Smith’s deciding factor to DNF?

“In my head, I’d quit and un-quit so many times between laps 39 and 41. Lap 42 started, I walked the first 200m and it took 5 minutes. I wasn’t able to actually run and the legs had finally just said enough. I took a big deep breath and made the decision to turn around back to the start and ring the cow bell.

“It’s hard to put into words what that felt like. Happy it was over, proud of what I’d achieved, and just really looking forward to sitting down and not having to get up!”

Recovery has been going well for Smith, who was focusing on eating and hydrating as soon as she finished. She went for a recovery walk a day later to test how the body had pulled up, and she was happy to report that despite some general swelling and soreness, nothing was broken, fractured – no injuries.

There’s nothing on the cards at this stage for Smith, however with the Lighthorse Ultra coming up in late April, she may look into entering that.

“For now, it’s just rest, recover, and enjoy the moments!”

Pictured: Chris Martin with his 3rd Male boot trophy and Jessica Smith with her 1st Female golden boot. Image – Supplied/Facebook.