"The One I Wasn't Going To Do" by Sue Robertson
Contributed by sue robertson
feral pig Ultra - 8 November 2025 - Perth hills, wa
Two 50 milers, one 100kms, a few years volunteering, signed up for the 100 miler in 2023 and it was cancelled due to fires, so I was not going to sign up again, so back to my favourite aid station to volunteer, until…. Delirious 200 miler 2025!
I finished that one with a crook back, but I finished thanks to my daughter. I truly thought she would have had enough of dragging me around, and that would be the end of our adventures together on the “race track”!
But a few weeks later she said what would our next challenge be, and suggested Feral 100 miler. This time I had 3 more 100 milers in my legs, and truly felt more confident in tackling this beast. I committed to building up my strength more, as this was going to be my weapon!
So on Friday night as we headed to Discovery Centre, I was more excited than scared. I was worried about the cutoffs, this was always going to be an issue, with 40 hours to complete, and cutoffs at aid stations along the way. But I was more confident in my ability to get this done. The weather predicted to be warm during the days but not as hot as my first year.
We collected our bibs, and timing chips, and put our drop bags in their respective spots to be taken to the aid stations, and then put our feet up in our chairs to wait for the bus to take us to the start. As I watched the area fill up with younger men and a few women, I truly wondered what I was doing there.
Imposter syndrome reared it’s ugly head. I pushed it away, I had worked hard for this, and I was going to make the most of it, with Bianca by my side. We listened to the race briefing, and then we loaded on to the bus.
Approximately 65 runners were starting the 100 mile event. I sat next to a friend Drew, who we hadn’t seen for a while, we had met him at 2 previous 100milers in Dwellingup. It was nice to chat, and then we both settled in to some quiet time, the bus ride nearly 2 hours, you could get some shut eye. We did the Feral Pig oath, which ends “If I die, it’s my own fault”.
A midnight start, and a near full moon, it was exciting to finally set off. Straight up Sullivans Rock, following a stream of headlights and high vis vests, it looked really cool. Once over the rock, the path is quite runnable, albeit slow, and we found ourselves with another friend Matt Jones. Bianca and Matt chatted away, while I was just happy to follow along and listen. This first section was an out and back over Mt Cook twice, approximately 40kms, with a cutoff back at Sullivans Rock of 8.00am. It was quite beautiful going up and over Mt Cook, even though it was chilly up there, and we had been warned by BK. Eventually Matt was charging ahead of us, and another couple of people overtook us as we negotiated over the top, sometimes unsure where the markers were. The other side of Mt Cook heading south also had some nice easy terrain, so we were able to jog along a little. It was so nice when we finally saw the first of the headlights heading back towards us from the turn around, and shout out to all the runners as they came past. Finally we reached the turn around point where the book of Inappropriate Affirmations was, and we had to find a page that resonated with us, and tear it out, and take it back to the finish line. Mine.. “Imposter syndrome is real, you really do suck at everything!
We also discovered because this section was slightly longer than we had gauged we would have to hoof it a bit to try and get back some time. Before long we had caught up with Matt, and the three of us stayed together jogging bits until we got to the base of Mt Cook, and then had to climb up and over. I was hoping to see sunrise as we went over the top, but we were too late, but the scenery was still spectacular. Some of the granite slopes were quite steep and I loved my new trail shoes that seemed to stick like glue and gave me confidence that I would not fall backwards.
It was a great relief to get to the aid station at Sullivans Rock with 40 minutes to spare. We enjoyed our Weetbix which we had in our drop bag, and had orange juice, quick toilet stop, and we were on our way with Matt, leaving a few people still in the aid station.
The next stage was another long haul, around 35 kms to the next aid station at Brookton Highway, with a water drop at Canning hut, around 23kms from Sullivans. There is plenty of technical ascent and descent over Mt Cuthbert and Mt Vincent, so going was slow until we got through this section, and it was definitely warming up. Amazing views and beautiful surroundings kept our spirits up. We passed a couple of runners not long before Canning hut, and then we all caught up there while refilling our waters, and just a quick 5 mins sit. It was about 15kms to get to Brookton, and we were looking forward to getting there and just having a little bit of time there. We were all feeling comfortable with how we were travelling, and Matt was looking forward to seeing his family who were crewing him, and would be there to look after him. It was lovely to finally hear the noise of cars on the road, we knew we were getting close, and then finally the tops of the marquee through the trees. Debbie was here, and as she gave us our chairs to sit, she presented us with bacon and egg muffin, and a glass of coke and ice. We were spoilt, everything refilled, and ice in our hats, and a quick toilet stop, and before we knew it we were picking up Matt, and the three muskateers were on their way again. A short 12.5kms to Mt Dale aid station, albeit a lot up hill, we hoped to get there in about 3 hours, so before dark. Bianca and Matt were definitely faster up the hills, but fortunately when the terrain flattened out I could catch up, or they rested at the top and waited for me. Matt was excited as his son in law had said at the last aid station that if Matt finished this race he would do Delirious with him, a reason to keep pushing. The last push up the hill was tough, and I was definitely lagging, and then you tip over the top and a little downhill and there is the aid station. Delight.
Andrew was here looking after this one, and although I wasn’t really hungry, I was thirsty, and ginger beer hit the spot. Matt and Bianca were treated to coffee, and I had an Anzac biscuit. We had plenty of food with us, and I was taking gels and eating lollies, and the occasional muesli bar, but probably should be eating more. Morgan and Roy both arrived while we there.
Happy to see them both, but sadly that was the end of Morgans journey. We left there still in daylight, which was great, and headed out to Beraking Aid station approximately 11kms away. We caught up with Roy who had left just before us and the four of us pushed on to Beraking. It was quite a lovely section from memory and gradually dusk settled and the light faded, so head torches were activated, we already had on our high vis vests. Plenty of single track from memory, and certainly Matt got his march on, and he was soon way in front of us, and moving well. We were very happy to eventually see the fairy lights of the aid station guiding us in, and welcomed by Zoe, Jutta and Marty.
I was so very tired, I just wanted to close my eyes, but was also hungry! Marty found a chair and put my feet up on a wall, and enveloped me in a blanket. I just wanted 5 minutes, we had about 40 mins here before cutoff. I tried to eat some noodles after a quick nap, but failed, and Marty tempting with everything I finally ate a hash brown. Zoe informed us it was 16kms to the next aid station, we had about 4 hours to get there, that was going to be tough, so we left a bit before the cutoff here, told Matt to go as he was moving so well, and we would see him at Allen Rd. John Hertzfeld had also left before us. A quick visit to the toilet on the way out, and we knew we had to get our march on, or we weren’t going to make the next cut off. We caught up with Matt too soon, and he had slowed considerably, sadly his hip, and his lean had gotten worse and he was worried about tripping and falling. John was behind him, so we unfortunately had to leave them both behind. It was quite a nice section, plenty of single track, but no sign of the moon tonight. We eventually passed Waleigh hut, and we didn’t need to stop there, so marched on. It was a welcome site when out of the darkness we hit a gravel road and in the distance we could see the glow of the aid station, a couple of kms away. The best news it was only about 13kms not 16kms, so we were in with at least 45 mins to spare. A few people in there already, Lindsay and Kylie who we know well, and they were all rugged up, and looking comfortable. Willah was aid captain and offered us a cup of tea, that was so good.
While there Matty came in, not looking so good, and he was placed in a chair and wrapped up in blankets, his day sadly, was done. We didn’t hang around and John had left already, so we scooted off after him. We knew this was actually 16kms as we had recon this section only a few weeks previously, knew we still had to get a wriggle on. It was just after midnight, and cutoff at Disco was 5.10am, but we did need to rest a bit when we got there. This section was quite hilly and also technical in parts, and we were tired and it was dark!
I could remember some bits from the recon run, and I knew there were some nasty little sections, so I was mindful of where I put my feet. Thank goodness for poles, I am sure they helped keep me upright. We got to Helena hut and decided we would have a 10 mins nap, but there were people in the hut, so we went up to the toilet block which sat on a large slab of concrete, and laid down on that. It was just nice to lie flat and look at the stars with no weight on our feet! John came and used the facilities, and then trotted off in to the night.Bianca had set an alarm, and we just closed our eyes.
After the alarm went off, we had a quick bite to eat before struggling to get up, and then get on our way. We did eventually catch up with John, and past him, and marched on towards Disco. It was a relief when we reached Ball Creek hut, we knew we had about 2kms to go to Disco. Here, we were also going to pick up Abdhul who had offered to pace us, and Nick, Biancas partner, (who had got in early enough to have a sleep)!
No time for us to sleep, we refilled our packs, I don’t think we even ate anything, but we did take some food with us. Bianca also had a change of clothes, but I still felt ok, so just changed my shirt over. My feet were feeling fine, Bianca on the other hand had burning feet, which was very uncomfortable. Daylight had arrived while we were here, which was lovely, so torches and high vis rolled away in our packs, and we set off for the “death loop”, 38kms round trip to Kalamunda and return via Camel Farm aid station. Mentally we knew this was tough, but we were determined that we could do this section, and then we would finish. I enjoy the single track to the pub, and the views are sensational, especially with the sun coming up.
We were too early for the weir gates to be open so we had to negotiate the steps which are not the easiest with over 100kms in the legs, but we did it! It is 10kms to Camel Farm, and really it is quite a pleasant section, but it was warming up quite early. We had runners coming back from Camel Farm, Andy, Big Kev, who said turn around, go back hehe. We passed Graham Boulton who was happily on his way back, and he said bacon and egg rolls at Camel are awesome. Oh wow, this gave us an incentive to get there as soon as.
It truly was a joy to reach there. Jesse, one of our first pacers when we did our first 100miler, was there and fussed over us. Juliette was also here, not sure who else, but we were well and truly looked after, even with a coffee. We had a yummy roll, although Bianca and I struggled to eat the second half; cold drinks, and refill of our packs, and Nick had us on our way again. The four of us now heading towards Kalamunda. I was grateful for Abdhul as Bianca and Nick were happily chatting away at the front. It got warmer, and this section gets technical and hilly, with plenty of steps, so I was definitely getting slower! We also knew at some stage the 23kms runners were going to come running towards us, as they start their race in Kalamunda. Eventually the first fast runners started to come through, so kind, so genuine, so respectful to us all. It was lovely to see friends who were doing it, and all shouting out how well we were doing, and all moving aside so we could come past first, it really was a very special time. I actually got teary as they were so kind.
As we got closer to Kalamunda we still had the occasional runner coming back towards us, jealous they were on the finish leg, but we were still doing ok. Eventually we made it to Jorgensen Park, and followed the flagging and signs that would take us to the aid station, thank goodness. I was definitely feeling the heat by now, and was spoiled by Carl who was on this aid station, along with Jill and Frank. Carl had wet buffs on my head, and I had been put in a reclining chair, and I was given ginger beer, ice, and fruit. We were doing alright time wise now, so long as we didn’t hang around too long. Bianca and I made the trip to the toilets, and then we really needed to get going. Gabe and Byl arrived and gave us hugs, sadly Gabe had pulled out at Allen Rd, I was gutted for him. Hugs and thanks to Kalamunda Aid, we were on the downward path back to the finish line, hell yes. Lots of downhill steps, definitely easier than uphill, but legs were feeling it all. Hot now, it was midday, and I was being careful, making the most of shade, and stopping if I needed to rest and recover. As we got closer to Camel Farm I asked if Nick could check out the Camel Farm café and see if they had ice poles….
They didn’t but he came back with a drumstick, oh that ice cream was so very good. We got to the aid station and Marty was there in full swing. Chairs to sit on, cold water, ice in zip lock bags, and ice poles, heaven. We were well cooled off here, and it definitely lifted our spirits, so with ice in bags, and wet buffs we left on the last stage back to the finish line. Only 10kms to go, there was a pic that told the story! I was being very conscious of the heat, as the last thing I needed now was to get heat stroke and not finish. So if there was shade I would stop for a bit, Nick gave me a zip bag of ice and put it under my neck buff, that was heaven too. The last section seemed to take forever, why is that!
The weir looked so far away, I thought we would never get there, along this gravel road for what seemed kilometres. Bianca was charging ahead with one mission in mind get to the finish line and get her shoes off, her feet were burning! It was a relief when we finally turned off the gravel track to do the single track down to the weir. This time the gates were open, and we could go straight across, people there were cheering us on, it was lovely.
Finally past the pub, and it was the uphill single track towards the finish line, we were nearly there! This section also seemed to take forever, and at one stage I wasn’t even sure we were going the right way. I was with Abdhul, and I could hear Bianca but I couldn’t see her, but eventually we got to the pathway that leads to the finish arch. Nick went on and through by himself, he had done a great race. Finally Bianca said come on lets run through here, it was more a shuffle. I thought I would cry, but I think I was so exhausted I couldn’t, but oh my god, we did it. The hugs were special, thank you all, I have never felt so very proud of myself and Bianca, to finish a race that I truly thought I would never get done. We were taken to have our after photos, and then Jacqui took us to our chairs, took our shoes and socks off, and put our feet in cold water, omg, that was heaven. Cold water, ice, coke, to drink, so very good. What a finish.
It was definitely the toughest race I have ever done, the technical elevation, the heat and the cutoffs, all played a part. I was so grateful for Bianca, Matt, Nick, and Abdhul for their company. Thank you to all the Event Team, all the volunteers, and all the runners that make this run the beast it is.
Total distance: 164.85 kms
Total Elevation: 4,423m
Time on Course, Cut off 40 hrs: 38:40:56
Calories burned: 11,234
The Plus’s:
My shoes and socks were awesome, I never took them off, end result one blister only.
Strength training definitely paid off, I never had any issues with my body, apart from just sheer tiredness, and being careful not to overheat on Sunday.
Hiking with purpose during training also pays off.
The icecream that Nick bought at Camel Farm was to die for !!
Ice, icey poles, cold water, at last 2 aid stations was a game changer, thankyou Camel Farm and Kalamunda Aid.
Company is the best, and I am so lucky to have Bianca to run with, but added extras definitely helps!!
I finished, so I never have to do it again!
The Minus’s:
I don’t eat or drink enough!
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