Lark Hill - A Mental & Physical Test

Lark Hill for me was a test, a mental and physical one.

Coming off Yaberoo 50km two weeks previous and feeling good, it was not enough. I had been struggling with my preparation for Delirious West (my first 100 miler), I was keen to get a 100km training run in but found the logistics of doing it solo and balancing the rest of my life difficult. So, by chance, I found Lark Hill Ultra.

Initially I wasn’t going to do it, but I came across the entrant list and saw a familiar name: ‘David’ who was listed in the 50mi Multi-Stage Rager.  

I always got out of my way to say hello to fellow David’s at an event, usually something like ‘great name’, it almost always elicits a smile at least, at Yaberoo there was one David who I ran with on the last 12kms of Yaberoo, we motivated each other and got through the spiders and pain, we had a great time. As I hear runners frequently say, “you share the road together for a few kilometres and you end up with new friends.”

So, with a longer distance needed for my Delirious prep and a familiar name on the list, how could I refuse?

As I looked at the event details, it was clear there were cutoffs during the day; cutoffs always stress me out. I could see that stage 3, after having done a marathon’s worth of running was the ‘test’, you had to run 7.8km in one hour. On a fresh set of legs, no problems, after running approx. 43km, I wasn’t convinced.

So, the strategy for me was simple, come in on the first two stages with only about 10-15 mins to spare before cutoff, so as to not burn myself out and save a bit in the tank for stage 3. If I made the stage 4 start, which was 30km in 6hrs, I was home free, I knew I could walk it if push came to shove.

I had never done anything longer than 50km and I still had things to sort out for my Delirious prep, this seemed like the ideal place to safely try them out with each loop being only 3km long.

Nutrition for me was still a concern. I had felt like a flat battery during some previous ultra’s and knowing I was going into a 100miler it was something I had to understand and master. I used to cook/prepare my own real food but found it did not help me on the electrolyte side, so I thought this was a good time to try using Tailwind across the whole event. As each loop was 3km, if I ran into issues I could just stop or quickly adjust my strategy, or dare I say it, DNF.

Race day was a reasonable 29 degrees, with Lark Hill being a few Km’s off the coast, you can count on the ‘Freo Doctor’ coming through in the early afternoon to take the heat out of the day. Lark Hill Ultra is run in what is best described as a quarry, more or less high sides with bush and gravel, meaning the heat can get a little trapped and no shade, a perfect albeit more or less flat, heat trap.

With the 50 Miler’s and the 100km runners starting together, then entire group was a meagre 25 runners, it was nice, I always find you to learn more about people when the group is smaller. Even with such a short course and the start/finish of each loop on a hill you rarely ran passed other runners. As the day went on the shorter distances started and the course came a little busier.

As predicted it was the 3^rd stage that filtered many runners. What was 12 runners, came down to 5. My friend David saved his legs for a future race at dropped out ¾ into stage three. Another runner Peter, I had met that day had like me, committed to finishing. We completed stage 3, with ~ 4 minutes to spare.

The predictability of the course helped us get through the night. Peter and I walked/ran at the same sections on the course on each loop helping us maintain a good time on the last 30km.

I remember joking with my fellow runners, that if enough people dropped out, a podium finish was a real possibility. Turns out I was half right. Peter and I slogged it out on the course, as we crossed the finish Peter got 3^rd and me 4^th and for the first time ever, DFL.

I loved the day, the social vibe around the house on the hill, the event organisers were fantastic and as always, it’s the people you meet, runners, partners, volunteers, just a great bunch of people.

I got through the entire day, I proved to myself I could do a longer distance, both mentally and physically and my nutrition worked well and it all just came together, setting me up mentally and physically for Delirious West in a few weeks’ time.