runwithdogs
11-29-2009, 10:53 PM
July 2009. We were all up at 4am on Saturday morning, and after a quick breakfast, we were off to Mudgeeraba for the start.
The start line was busy. 300 teams of four, with associated family, friends and crew can create quite a racket. After a rendition of the Last Post, and a recital of Laurence Binyon’s familiar verse “They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old”, the guns fired, and the race was on.
The first stretch was fairly straightforward, a fair part was through suburbia and flat parkland, although there was a nice bitumen climb up towards the first checkpoint. We were required to swipe our chips at each checkpoint, and couldn’t move on until we had all our team together.
After that first checkpoint, the trek went virtually straight downhill for a few hundred metres. Because it was steep and narrow, there was still a traffic jam. I unintentionally shaved seconds off my time by skidding a few metres on my backside.
Will came into checkpoint 2 around 20 minutes after us. He thought we were behind him, so waited a while for us. Note to self – stay within view of team mates! We had some snacks and drinks, and headed off again.
Then the good stuff started. Hills, hills, and for something completely different, more hills. It was a good 22km or so before we saw our crew again. Some of the views from the top of the ridges were stunning. You could see all the way to the ocean, which was sparkling in the sun. There was one of the steeper climbs in this stretch, up and over a ridge and through a couple of minor checkpoints, then down to Polly’s Kitchen, checkpoint 5. We had “lunch” at Polly’s at around 4pm, then headed off to the Numinbah Environmental Centre which was the next checkpoint.
The Environmental Centre is home to two checkpoints, number 6 and 8. My feet started hurting big time on the stretch to the centre, and I was looking forward to getting there, so I could check them out. I have bad feet, and have been almost living at my podiatrist’s office, working on a solution. We arrived at number 6 after dark, and had some hot chicken noodle soup. That’s where I found that the top of my toes had been rubbed on my shoes, and I now had a bleeding ulcer on top of a toe on my left foot. Ouch. I raided their first aid box and dressed it, then performed some radical surgery on my orthotics. This helped a lot, but I think the damage had been done. My toes were swollen, and were bumping on my shoes with every step.
The next stretch was to the Numinbah Hall, checkpoint 7, where we were to again meet our crew for dinner. We crossed 7 creeks on this part of the journey, but thanks to some branches we used as walking poles, for the most part our shoes stayed dry. This checkpoint is in a valley, so it was really cold, and the mist could be seen descending over the hall and the crew vehicles. It was really pretty, the droplets of water that made up the mist were swirling and dancing in our headlights. Will was starting to feel quite unwell, but a bit of a rest and a foot massage from Laimon really helped, and he felt he could continue.
It was a bit of a mental boost to know that we’d gone over half way. Off we went back to the Environmental Centre and checkpoint 8, but before we got there, there was yet another long tiring hill. After leaving the centre, it was off to checkpoints 9 and 10. The climb up to checkpoint 9 is long and arduous, and along a steep and narrow goat track. It was tricky going in the dark. At this stage, it was 2am on Sunday morning, it was cold, we’d been on the move for 19 hours, and we were tired. Will had started the climb, but unfortunately his nausea had become progressively worse, and it was at this point he decided he wasn’t well enough to continue, and withdrew from the event. Steve, Cara and I plodded on up the hill, through checkpoint 9 and headed up to Sid Duncan Park, to meet our crew at checkpoint 10. To add to our discomfort, it started raining on the walk up to the park, and although it wasn’t heavy, we got quite damp. We arrived at the park around 4am on Sunday.
Sid Duncan Park is at approximately 66km and the highest point on the trail, and it is absolutely freezing.
Leaving Sid Duncan Park saw us travel down “Hellfire Pass”, an extremely long and steep gravel descent which wasn’t very nice at all for sore and swollen toes. There was one good point – there’s a real lifting of the spirits when the sun comes up and the day comes alive! When we got to the bottom of Hellfire Pass we went through minor checkpoint 11 then it was quickly up again, climbing Mt Nathan. It’s not a long climb but it’s extremely steep, and when you’re that tired, it’s very hard going indeed. This is around 76km from the start, and we’d been on the move for around 26 hours.
We again met the crew at checkpoint 12, where we had something to eat, and changed into our club singlets for the finish line photos. Cara took her socks off and discovered several massive blisters on both feet. Very painful.
I found this last part of the event very hard. The finish line is almost just around the corner, but there’s a 14km loop around Nerang State Forest to walk first. Checkpoint 13 is in the Nerang State Forest and only 10km from the finish, but as we’d come to expect, it was at the top of a steep climb. My feet had somehow found their second wind, and I was comfortable (relatively!) walking this stretch of the course. Cara’s feet were very sore too, so it was just a matter of one foot in front of the other, until we got to the end. We crossed the finish line around 31 hours 55 minutes after starting the event, shortly before 3pm on Sunday. We were presented with certificates and dog tags by two Kokoda veterans, which is a really nice way to finish the event.
The start line was busy. 300 teams of four, with associated family, friends and crew can create quite a racket. After a rendition of the Last Post, and a recital of Laurence Binyon’s familiar verse “They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old”, the guns fired, and the race was on.
The first stretch was fairly straightforward, a fair part was through suburbia and flat parkland, although there was a nice bitumen climb up towards the first checkpoint. We were required to swipe our chips at each checkpoint, and couldn’t move on until we had all our team together.
After that first checkpoint, the trek went virtually straight downhill for a few hundred metres. Because it was steep and narrow, there was still a traffic jam. I unintentionally shaved seconds off my time by skidding a few metres on my backside.
Will came into checkpoint 2 around 20 minutes after us. He thought we were behind him, so waited a while for us. Note to self – stay within view of team mates! We had some snacks and drinks, and headed off again.
Then the good stuff started. Hills, hills, and for something completely different, more hills. It was a good 22km or so before we saw our crew again. Some of the views from the top of the ridges were stunning. You could see all the way to the ocean, which was sparkling in the sun. There was one of the steeper climbs in this stretch, up and over a ridge and through a couple of minor checkpoints, then down to Polly’s Kitchen, checkpoint 5. We had “lunch” at Polly’s at around 4pm, then headed off to the Numinbah Environmental Centre which was the next checkpoint.
The Environmental Centre is home to two checkpoints, number 6 and 8. My feet started hurting big time on the stretch to the centre, and I was looking forward to getting there, so I could check them out. I have bad feet, and have been almost living at my podiatrist’s office, working on a solution. We arrived at number 6 after dark, and had some hot chicken noodle soup. That’s where I found that the top of my toes had been rubbed on my shoes, and I now had a bleeding ulcer on top of a toe on my left foot. Ouch. I raided their first aid box and dressed it, then performed some radical surgery on my orthotics. This helped a lot, but I think the damage had been done. My toes were swollen, and were bumping on my shoes with every step.
The next stretch was to the Numinbah Hall, checkpoint 7, where we were to again meet our crew for dinner. We crossed 7 creeks on this part of the journey, but thanks to some branches we used as walking poles, for the most part our shoes stayed dry. This checkpoint is in a valley, so it was really cold, and the mist could be seen descending over the hall and the crew vehicles. It was really pretty, the droplets of water that made up the mist were swirling and dancing in our headlights. Will was starting to feel quite unwell, but a bit of a rest and a foot massage from Laimon really helped, and he felt he could continue.
It was a bit of a mental boost to know that we’d gone over half way. Off we went back to the Environmental Centre and checkpoint 8, but before we got there, there was yet another long tiring hill. After leaving the centre, it was off to checkpoints 9 and 10. The climb up to checkpoint 9 is long and arduous, and along a steep and narrow goat track. It was tricky going in the dark. At this stage, it was 2am on Sunday morning, it was cold, we’d been on the move for 19 hours, and we were tired. Will had started the climb, but unfortunately his nausea had become progressively worse, and it was at this point he decided he wasn’t well enough to continue, and withdrew from the event. Steve, Cara and I plodded on up the hill, through checkpoint 9 and headed up to Sid Duncan Park, to meet our crew at checkpoint 10. To add to our discomfort, it started raining on the walk up to the park, and although it wasn’t heavy, we got quite damp. We arrived at the park around 4am on Sunday.
Sid Duncan Park is at approximately 66km and the highest point on the trail, and it is absolutely freezing.
Leaving Sid Duncan Park saw us travel down “Hellfire Pass”, an extremely long and steep gravel descent which wasn’t very nice at all for sore and swollen toes. There was one good point – there’s a real lifting of the spirits when the sun comes up and the day comes alive! When we got to the bottom of Hellfire Pass we went through minor checkpoint 11 then it was quickly up again, climbing Mt Nathan. It’s not a long climb but it’s extremely steep, and when you’re that tired, it’s very hard going indeed. This is around 76km from the start, and we’d been on the move for around 26 hours.
We again met the crew at checkpoint 12, where we had something to eat, and changed into our club singlets for the finish line photos. Cara took her socks off and discovered several massive blisters on both feet. Very painful.
I found this last part of the event very hard. The finish line is almost just around the corner, but there’s a 14km loop around Nerang State Forest to walk first. Checkpoint 13 is in the Nerang State Forest and only 10km from the finish, but as we’d come to expect, it was at the top of a steep climb. My feet had somehow found their second wind, and I was comfortable (relatively!) walking this stretch of the course. Cara’s feet were very sore too, so it was just a matter of one foot in front of the other, until we got to the end. We crossed the finish line around 31 hours 55 minutes after starting the event, shortly before 3pm on Sunday. We were presented with certificates and dog tags by two Kokoda veterans, which is a really nice way to finish the event.