The Power of a Dirt Nap

Contributed by Jessica Smith, AURA member

Delirious W.E.S.T 100 miler, 9-13 February 2022, Western Australia

The Delirious West 100 miler would be my first ever miler and whilst I’d covered that distance in a backyard ultra, all reports suggested that the stand alone miler would be a different type of beast.

So where to begin? This wasn’t so much a race but felt more like one giant adventure to me. The goal was just to get from aid station to aid station, and try and have some fun along the way!

Starting at 7pm, we had about an hour of light before the head torches came on as we descended into the Giant Tingle Forest. My plan early on was to run at a comfortable pace, walk the hills and not to go out too hard. I settled into second place and was feeling really good running through the forest. I had a giant smile on my face and just kept thinking there was nowhere in the world I’d rather be! I hit Walpole (30km) feeling good, met my crew, refuelled and continued on.

From Walpole I made my way slowly up to Mt Clare. It was a steady incline and I walked a lot of it but was still feeling okay by the aid. Again I was in and out. It was this next section, at about the 50km mark in the dunes leading up to Mandalay Beach, where I first started to struggle. The sand was really soft and I just couldn’t get momentum. It was 2am and I was at a pretty low point. I messaged my cousin Carly (who happened to be awake) and she sent me the most encouraging messages, she told me that it’s meant to be hard and that’s okay, reminded me that I’m tough, and that the morning would come. This was just what I needed so I put on a podcast and slowly started to feel better again.

With the sound of the waves crashing I got a burst of energy as I trotted down into Mandalay Beach and climbed up the stairs to the aid station. The man at the aid station was an absolute gem, he was there on his own in the middle of the night, doing what he could to help all the runners. I love the community in these ultra events. He made me a delicious Nutella sandwich and sent me on my way. I knew dawn was close.

60km ticked over and the body was hurting. I was able to jog slowly and just kept plodding on. I was comfortably in second place at this point – first was a long way ahead and third was a bit behind so I knew I just had to keep making forward progress to hold this position. I hit some granite boulders just as the sun was peeking over the horizon and the mist was thick amongst the trees. I stood for a minute just to take it all in and appreciate the new day. 

I hit the Broke Inlet aid station (85km) at about 8am. This marked the halfway point, and I could now have pacers. I had my longest aid station break here with a full change of clothes, socks and my first foot inspection. Very happy to find no hot spots or blisters and overall my feet were in pretty good nick. I left this aid station feeling like it was a new race. The next section was a 16km section and I had my sister Katelyn along with me. She was a little nervous about the distance as she hadn’t been doing much running lately but she quickly realised that my pace was pretty slow and that her pacing was going to be absolutely fine. We settled into a rhythm of running the flats/downs and walking the hills. The kilometres ticked away and this section felt good. 

We made it to Pingerup (100km) and Katelyn tapped out for my cousin Carly. The hurt really kicked in again in this section. There was a lot of long straight fire trail through here and I think this got to me. It just felt monotonous and we walked a lot of it. Carly did such a great job of keeping the chat going and providing a welcome distraction. Pacers really make such a difference mentally out there. With a few kilometres to the aid station we started jogging again and hit the Dog Road aid station (120km). I ate some watermelon and a baked potato, had a quick shirt change and continued on with Katelyn. This section shall be called the parkour section! There were SO MANY fallen logs. I was hurting but in pretty good spirits and just found all the logs hilarious. They just seemed never ending. I was getting super tired and with 1km to the next aid station I knew the last two sections were going to be tough. 40km to go and I’d be finishing in the dark.

Leaving Chesapeake East (130km) I really wasn’t feeling good. I was running behind Carly like a zombie, just watching her feet and following along blindly. My head kept dropping and I slowed to a walk. Carly suggested a nap and I happily agreed and plonked down right where we were. I put my head down and just remember thinking how immediately calm and quiet it seemed. I was lying down for 5 minutes but only dozed off for about 1 minute. This was my first ever dirt nap and I can’t believe the effect it had. My running legs came back! I started slowly and built up to a 7min/km pace. Basically sprinting at this point! We ran about 8km, feeling strong into the last aid station.

The sun was setting as we set off, 23kms to go and so close yet so far from the finish! I was going okay but with about 12km to go I was down to a walk and just couldn’t run – my knees had finally said enough. This was probably the lowest point of my race and the closest I got to crying in frustration.

Carly honestly kept me going and I just focused on her feet and kept putting one foot in front of the other. I had another 5 minute lie-down but didn’t get any more sleep. I realised that the last 9km was still going to take another 2 hours and was feeling frustrated. I said to Carly that I wanted to try running the flat sections. It was hardly a run but the kilometres were ticking by a bit quicker. We saw the customary Bush Chook station, snapped a pic and kept moving forward. We had to be close now. With about 2kms to go, the trail diverted onto the other side of the road. This part was really mentally tough. To know we were so close to the finish, but heading in the wrong direction. Just keep going, one foot in front of the other. We hit the train tracks and this was it! I made it! We ran the 700m together and through the arch to finish the Delirious West 100 miler. 

After 28hours, 27 minutes, and 19 seconds I was finished. The roller coaster adventure was done and I was a Miler finisher! Double or nothing next year? 

Pictured: Jessica Smith takes a dirt nap during her 100 miler. Photograph – Supplied.