Half-way, 11pm, it's raining, this must be Berowra!
It's been a week since Trailwalker and that's enough time to sort through and make sense of all the emotions, experiences and aches and pains of the event. During the event, although I was blogging live from my cameraphone, I was trying to tell the story with pictures, which means many of our supporters are probably still in the dark about how it all went!
So for the benefit of those who haven't had a chance to chat to one of the Glutes this week and get a debrief in person, here's a summary from my perspective. I've also asked Flick, Bride and Rog to take some time to give us their impressions too, so stay tuned for that in days to come.
First up, massive thanks to our supporters, both the financial supporters and the hard-core loonies who met us at checkpoints, fed, watered, rubbed and inspired us to keep going to the next checkpoint. Fund-raising support keeps coming even after the event (if you haven't already donated, we're accepting sponsorship donations right through until 25 September, you can do it online here.) Supporters making donations immediately before, during and after the event have so far lifted our total donations from $2,000 to $2,760! Big, sweaty thanks then to Stephen Lowe, Erika Andrade, Rodesca Dionisio, Penny Gray, James Cooper, Suzanne Walsham, Tyswan Slater, David Dew, Aaron Quirk, Jane Dawson, Jessie Mahjouri, Helen Brady, Katrina Dawson and Mark Hudson. That's an extraordinary average of $40 per donor in that time, and includes several $100 donations. Oxfam can use that $700 to start vegetable gardens for seven poverty-stricken villages in South Africa and train the families there to plant and grow their own sustainable, healthy food. Here's some other ways the money can be used.
The hard-core loonies who helped us at checkpoints included Helen and Norm (Rog's stoic parents fronting up for a second year as the Soup Nazis), Nick the Native Guide (who brought with him two wonderful massage therapist friends of Flick's to rub us into bliss at Berowra), Zoe King, the Super Trooper, who with Nick and Flick stuck with us through a long, dark and rainy night and early morning, and Carol and Graham, in-laws of mine, who helped out on the Friday afternoon. Youse are all legends!
Thanks also to all the friends who logged-in to the blog during the event and left words of encouragement in the comments section of each post. We were able to read them, though not respond, during the event, and it was great to know you were watching out for us!
6.00am, short stop at Cascades, 30km to go!
Now, to the event itself. I'll begin at the end: I crossed the line feeling good, like I had enough petrol in my tank to go another 25-50km. Later, when the excitement of finishing wore off, I was mentally very tired and desperately needed to sleep, but physically I felt relatively good, and the following day I woke up without muscle pain or significant stiffness - I've been more sore after one game of basketball. Why? Well, I have the benefit of experience, having done Trailwalker once before, I knew how to prepare myself physically and mentally. I was able to time my peak, so I'd have enough left in the tank for a big push to the finish. And I had a combination of socks, shoes and foot lotion that I'd proven before would allow me to walk 100km without blisters, and that formula came through for me once again.
That's not to say it was all beer and skittles! Far from it. The new course takes you from sea level at Berowra Waters to the Pacific Highway in one massive climb of 225m in 6km and then back down another 225m the other side of the ridge to Apple Tree Bay, and we hit that horrendous climb right about midnight, when your brain is saying "lie down and sleep, you fool!" while it was also seriously chilly, windy and rainy. That was much harder than last time. It was no surprise that Flick made the brave decision to retire from the event at the top of this hill - it was only surprising that she'd made it this far, on determination alone, as her feet were a mass of painful blisters the size of 50c coins. Flick really showed us how strong she could be in gritting her teeth and getting on with it, when she could have easily pulled out 25km earlier. She then proceeded to tag along with the support crew all night, when she would have been forgiven for retiring to a hot bath and bed. Full marks for effort!
One thing hasn't changed from last time: the amazing difference an iPod can make when it's just before dawn, you're knackered, and your whole body goes from zombie to dancing queen as soon as you hear one of your favourite songs. Just like last time, I loaded up my iPod with my all-time favourite songs, and I basically boogied my way from St Ives to the finish. Even the dreaded 'time warp' section along the river before Davidson Park, where the river bends just seem to stretch on and on forever, seemed to be just a great excuse to wave my hands, jiggle my hips, and sing loudly and tunelessly along with the morning bird chorus, much to the horror of other trailwalkers (but believe me, by that point, you're past caring about embarassing yourself.)
As for my other two team mates, Rog and Bride, they were both stronger than me, and it took all my wits and dirty tricks to keep up with them, such as reciting, "It's not a race!" every time they took off faster than I could keep up!
All the way through training and the first 15 hours of the event, Rog has been a bundle of physical energy - running the flat bits, the downhill bits, and even some of the uphill bits, and always the first to jump up from a rest break and take off. Maybe this time he peaked a little early, burned up too much too soon, and wore himself out a bit, as he definitely slowed down towards the end. Nonetheless, the hint of emotion in his usually inscrutable expression as he approached the finishing line was really inspiring to see, and he knocked more than four hours off his previous time for the event, which is not to be sneezed at.
Doing Trailwalker with Bride showed me a little of the stone-hard competitive edge I'd heard of but never witnessed in our friendship and physio/client relationship. There's always a little drama and a lot of communication in Bride's life, not all of it of her own making, and it's quite spooky to see all that just get folded up and put neatly away when the going gets tough and Bride needs to get going.
Early in the event I thought I'd spice things up a bit by getting all macho about my hill-climbing ability; saying something like, "I rule these hills, you lot are just visitors." Well, you should have seen the clean pair of heels on Bride the next time the trail started up hill! Her dust had risen and fallen again by the time I caught up with her, there was no way I'd be quick enough to eat it. On the last checkpoint, I tested my luck again and made a cheeky remark once again. She didn't say anything, but the steely glint in her eye would have cut mild steel at a hundred yards. It seemed like she was going to do her best to make me eat my words.
Only my prior experience and 41 years of experience in cunning subterfuge allowed me to slip away from her at the beginning of the last stage, but you should have heard me swearing my head off when, with 2km to go to the finish, I looked back down a steep bouldered slope and saw this blonde flash jog out of the bush and start up the hill - she'd been able to make up heaps of time on me, and if I hadn't happened to look back just then she'd have been past me and away before I knew what was happening. Who the hell runs the last 2km of a 100km walk? Tough-as-nails Bride King does, that's who.
I had a split second to make a vital decision: should I be a team player, let her catch up, try to stay with her to the finish line, but risk being left behind, or give it everything I had, and try and run the last 2km myself, and bugger the team? It only took a millisecond to decide: bugger the team!
She was, is, and always will be, the strongest runner. But psychology was on my side - I knew where she was, but she hadn't seen me yet. I was able to stay far enough ahead on the open sections to keep myself out of sight, and slow down and take a breather on the sections where the track ahead was hidden, so that she wasn't able to get me in her sights and set herself a goal. For the past 30km we'd both been passing walker after walker, and she knew I hated running at the best of times. Sooner or later, she figured, if she kept running, she'd catch up with me too. But not if I put everything I had into staying out of her sight! I've never run so hard in my life! I escaped by the skin of my teeth, crossing the line just ahead.
It had been an undeclared contest - she never actually said, "let's race the last bit" - and the whole thing may well have been a figment of my fatigued imagination. Frankly, I don't feel entirely comfortable that I chose to compete with my own team when the Trailwalker is all about the team completing the trail together, it feels a bit of a ratty thing to do. I really, really hope she wasn't running to catch up and cross the line together, but I'm frankly scared to ask, now I know how tough she is!
UPDATE: My worst fears realised: Bride has let me know that actually, she wasn't racing me, she was just trying to catch up so we could cross the finish line as a team. The race was all in my fatigued tiny mind, and I was really just racing my own ego. Sorry Bride, if I wasn't in the grip of my own little hallucination I would have been happy to wait up!
Anyway, we reformed the team again as Rog approached, so that Rog, Bride and I crossed and officially finished (a yellow 'Withdrawing Team Member' form standing in for Flick) in 26 hours, 36 minutes, placing us 193rd out of 441 teams, and a very pleasing result it was too. It would have been great to cross the line with an actual Flick and not a yellow paper form in her place, but I'm sure she'll be back next year or the year after, and she'll be blister free.
Thanks for reading, thanks for your support, and I'll go away and not bother you again until this time next year!
- alan
(Oh, if you're interested, here's some more photos.)
