Taking on a wild, wild earth
wild earth coastal high 50 - 31 august 2024 - gold coast hinterland, qld
contributed by riccardo messora, AUTRA member (bald hills, qld)
After the Brisbane Marathon this year, I was contemplating which trail event I would sign up for.
There are so many to choose from these days, and I generally am not one that like repeats as I always like to explore new places. I have volunteered at the Brisbane Trail Ultra in June, and while, awkwardly, in a very long line for the toilet I was chatting with one of the runners about to embark on the 60k race.
He told me that one of the best ever places and events he has participated in, was the Coastal High 50, stating that it was in a “breathtaking stunning national park”, and that was it… I was sold. I then checked with our special Trail Guru Connoisseur, Christy McFadden, (does she ring a bell?) and she was quick to confirm that it was definitely a MUST DO, that ticket was mine!
In July, I was having a yarn with Rodney about it, at the pub after the J2J and he decided, there and then, to come too (good call Rodney) Now the anticipation started building, I had already in program to train hard for …well, something coming up, so this would have been a good test for it.
When race weekend came up, Rodney came to stay at my place. We had to leave really early and that would have made things much easier for both of us, we had to be in Nerang by 4am to catch the bus to the start line, which takes 1 hour to get there.
In the 2 months prior to the event, I’ve had the biggest volume of running I have ever had and, while doing all the right things to stay on track (Christy may question that), I wasn’t in the freshest of form standing on that start line, but the excitement was big and I felt ready to tackle this beast of 2000 m of elevation.
After the race briefing, where we were told to be mindful of ticks - leeches - snakes and dangerous cliff edges, a violinist started a live performance of a momentum building melody to the countdown, and off we went.
All up hill for almost 3 k, that’s right, nice hey! We walked, I wasn’t going to be a hero and run up the hill and spend precious energy that I would have needed later, as some others runners regretted.
The legs were calling for merci, at many stages, and it took me a good 15 k to be on top of my briefing and warmed up, but the beauty around me kept me going and I took so many photos and videos, I constantly had the phone in my hand. There is so much I could say about the course, I could go on forever, it had it all, rainforest, single tracks and switchbacks, amazing views, creek crossings and rocky down hills, 900 unforgiving steps that never end and make you question why are you actually there, caves, spectacular huge waterfalls, slippery cliff edges (don’t look down!), stone walls, unshaded sections with no escape from the sun and lots of wildlife… and did I mention it was hot? 35 degrees.
There were many highlights during the journey, one being finding out that Linda White was volunteering on course, which was unexpectedly re energizing, a friend from the club and home turf definitely gives you a boost.
At another checkpoint, a woman recognised me and Rodney from the Dead Cow Gully, and we shared a few laughs; we ran together at the DCG and would tell me “looking fresh Ric” at the start of every lap and she complimented our new trail shirts ( this is the 4th time that we received good feedback while out on a course).
Lastly, I picked up a pair of sunnies by a creek, and carried them to the finish line, and asked the DJ to make an announcement that they were found. A guy came to collect them and hugged me saying he was so sad that he had lost them as they were his favorite and wore them on top of mount Everest.
That’s trails for you and that’s why we like it, when I got the the finish, I was exhausted and absolutely euphoric; probably the best trails I have ran so far. Only pity was, I missed the sausage sizzle as it was all gone by the time I got there, only a banana for me.
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