Although the Nerang 200 miler has 11,640 metres of vert and is rated as difficult as Badwater or Great North Walk (times two), it is made quite manageable by the fact that it is conducted on a looped course of 25 kms meaning that crew support, food, clothing change, a short nap, running repairs and onward encouragement can be made or provided every 25kms.
Bring a tent, food, crew and the will to succeed and the 200 miler is achievable by anyone who can run a marathon.
We provide a marquee for shelter and electric power for microwave, hot water etc.
We had 30 marquees this year (the race was held September 27 to 30) which was just barely enough.
We plan to have 50 marquees next year.
The Nerang cycle velodrome is a wonderful facility. It is just on the fringe of Gold Coast suburbia, is less than one hour by car from the international airports of Brisbane and Gold Coast (Coolangatta) and it boasts toilets and hot showers and a shopping centre just five minutes away.
The run course is through a heavily forested area which provides some measure of protection should the weather be hot.
Although we had no reports of any serious medical issues this year, we were comforted by the fact that the Queensland Ambulance Service was less than five minutes away, in case of emergency. We have a 4WD on site to cater for any evacuations.
The other major benefit of the looped course is that we can simultaneously conduct the shorter event options of 100 miles, 100kms, 50 miles, 50 ms and even 25kms. Runners in a point to point dedicated 200 miler can travel pretty much the whole duration of the event without seeing another runner.
With this event runners are always coming through and other runners are frequently in view. The major benefit, of course, is that those in the shorter events can learn from the experience and be encouraged to move up a distance the following year.
The most amazing thing in 2018 was the high finish rate.
In the 200 miler we had 12 finishers from 18 starters and in the 100 miler we had 10 finishers from 17 starters.
Of equal significance was the emergence of females.
In our first 100 miler in 2016 we had nine starters, all males.
In 2017 we had 12 starters in the 100 miler, with just the one female starter and finisher Sievland Poh.
In 2018 we had four female starters in the 200 miler and eight in the 100 miler. Astonishing! Thanks to Sievland for showing the way.
The 200 miler was hotly contested with just two hours separating the first four placegetters. Amy Strong, female winner of the 100kms in 2017 stepped up to the 100 miler and was outright winner.
Congratulations to all of the athletes.
Full results are at http://results.timingplus.com.au/event/nerang200/2018
Live timing was provided by Timing Plus and this worked flawlessly, enabling us to effectively track the runners for the duration of the event. GPS trackers won’t work in the National Park because of the dense tree cover.
