Episode 2
· 59:29
Welcome to the happy trail podcast, trail running podcast that goes the distance, whether you're at the front, the middle, or the back of the pack. Hosted by Ben Kubra, an accomplished ultra endurance athlete and founder and head coach at Stroke Early Mets Coaching, and myself, Mitch Clark, very much an everyday trail warrior, gear nerd, and an unapologetic trail running fan boy. This show dives into the raw, the ridiculous, and the rewarding world of running wild. Whether you're chasing cutoffs or chasing dreams, Happy Trails is the podcast for you. Because everyone has a story, and we're here to tell it.
Speaker 1:One beautiful, dirty trail at a time. Now let's rip in.
Speaker 2:Welcome. Second How are mate? Episode. Very good.
Speaker 1:Very good. That's good. That's good. Yes. Back again for our first official Include the Guest podcast.
Speaker 1:That's quite exciting.
Speaker 2:Exactly. So having the two girls on from their UTA experiences will hopefully give everyone a good listen of their experiences.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Before we get into that and introduce the girls, what's been happening? How's the week post UTA? How are you feeling? UTA went okay?
Speaker 2:Yeah. UTA was okay. I'll go through my race in, in, at another time, but yeah, no, but pulled up better than what I, what I expected. My glute that I had the issue going in seemed to get better as the race went on. So I just needed to run a hundred K to loosen it up.
Speaker 2:And then, yeah, but it's really just standard week, just sort of turning the legs over, not really focusing on anything specific, that's what I'll probably do for the next week or so again, just to make sure I'm fully recovered.
Speaker 1:Nice one. Then five weeks, six weeks, sorry, till elephant. Yeah. That'll be of recovery.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And then yeah. And then Pretty much. Yeah. Hit hit that and then steamroll into the elephant and use that as a catapult to the next build.
Speaker 2:Beauty. How are you feeling?
Speaker 1:Good. Good. I didn't go to UTA. I had severe FOMO unfortunately, but that was good. It was really good to see yourself and track all the runners.
Speaker 1:So we had quite a few down there and spread from the mile to the All the way down to the 12 ks sort of thing, so 11 ks. So yeah, really good and some good results, some hard efforts out there and yeah, really good. But no, for me, nothing to recover from. Just, yeah, it was pretty stock standard week, a few less Ks this week. I think I only got to 30 odd K this week, but on the back of probably three or four weeks in a row around that sort of fifty, fifty five mark.
Speaker 1:So a bit of a lazy week, I must admit. But now looking forward to, yeah, another another consistent week this week.
Speaker 2:I see. I still doubled your case this week and honor recovery.
Speaker 1:Fuck, Dan.
Speaker 2:But well, surviving the weather.
Speaker 1:That's why I'm blaming the weather.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's it. Blaming the weather. Yeah. Blaming all the flooding.
Speaker 1:Yep. Exactly.
Speaker 2:Alright. Well, shall we introduce the two girls?
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Who we got?
Speaker 2:We've Alex from Pardo, and she completed the 100 ks in twenty four hours. She's been with the group for about probably just over two years or thereabouts. It was a debut 100 k. And poor old Alex did not have the best run-in to this race unfortunately. Just twins her knee two or three weeks out.
Speaker 2:So she basically did no running for the last two weeks into it and she'll tell her story. That was her first UTA one hundred and she'll tell her story. She is amazing and just to get through what been through and to get that done in twenty four hours is an amazing achievement.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely. That was a really good fun chat with Al. Yeah, just obviously the late in wasn't great, but just the story of sort of getting through it and really struggling a little bit and overcoming that was really cool to hear.
Speaker 2:And then there's Sonya. Sonya Fuller with her debut Myla and the inaugural UTA Myla as well in forty two hours on your feet. She has an amazing story. I think she's pretty much been with the group for about a year now. But I've known Sonya for almost since I've been in Newcastle, probably close to seven, eight years.
Speaker 2:And when we did Ironman and triathlon and stuff like that. She was always that She's always been one to try and slow down. She's very jumps up and always goes 100% and doesn't go anything half. It's always full on and all all best. So and she has an incredible adventure and story to tell as well.
Speaker 2:So
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Some great great little anecdotes in this one. It was forty two hours.
Speaker 1:That's a long time. Yeah, for that first one, knowing how hard that race was going to be, and obviously, as she'll get into it, probably didn't expect it to be forty two hours, but at the same time, it was never gonna be a walk in the park and I mean, that's that's one to choose from. But, yeah, she, you know, she wanted the challenge and she certainly got it.
Speaker 2:But, yeah, guys, well, we'll, move on to the interviews and I hope you all enjoy it and
Speaker 1:Awesome. Here it is. Let's do it. Enjoy the chat.
Speaker 2:Alright. Well, welcome. We've got Sonia here who recently just completed the inaugural UTA Mila in a a a rough day that had all all sorts of weather, course conditions to manage. And how are you feeling today, Sonia?
Speaker 3:Very tired. The fatigue hit, I think it was yesterday afternoon. I I came back from an appointment and was trying to work and literally falling asleep sitting up.
Speaker 2:So what was your official time? So forty two hours
Speaker 3:And eight minutes, I think it was. A long time.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And was it 02:30 in the morning or something like that when you finished? Thereabouts, was it?
Speaker 3:No. I think it was about eleven.
Speaker 2:Oh, was it eleven?
Speaker 3:Because we started We started so much earlier.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Oh, just trying to be on mats as well then.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Time for me on that night was because it yeah. I didn't leave there until 03:30. And I'll it was obviously I think I finished at about 6PM. And then was just watching everyone finish and waiting around for everyone.
Speaker 2:For that nighttime perspective, just went out the door.
Speaker 3:I had no concept of what time it was when, for example, I come into Fairmont. I felt like it was about five or 06:00 in the afternoon. And it was, like, I don't know, 11:00 in the morning. Yeah. Probably around about that.
Speaker 2:You started at 5AM on the Friday morning and, yeah, finished at 11PM on a Saturday night. So for those on on your feet for a long, long time.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And we had to be up to catch the bus at 03:30 in the morning as well. So it was a very, very early morning.
Speaker 1:What's the body think of it all when you get to the end? Is it a case of you're tired for so long during the race? Do you get home and just fall asleep? Or is it your body's just riddled with sugar and caffeine and excitement and whatever else?
Speaker 3:Excitement, definitely not. Fatigue, definitely. Yeah. I think you probably like, I had to change my whole nutrition plan. So it basically went out the window.
Speaker 3:So I wasn't having any any sugar really and very little caffeine other than no dose. So for me, it wasn't that wasn't so much the factor. I think it was just that whole, it's finally over and that relief type thing. So definitely slept a lot better than I did doing the hundred kilometers last year where I was full of caffeine and sugar and aching all over. Not so much aching this time.
Speaker 3:So finished feeling a lot better than I did last year.
Speaker 2:Is this your first miler?
Speaker 3:This was my first miler.
Speaker 1:An amazing effort for a first miler. I know you've done some hundred like, you've you've done a couple hundred k's, haven't you?
Speaker 3:My first one was last year, so I've only done one one hundred as well.
Speaker 1:But that's massive one to go at, like, your first mile, and an inaugural one where you've got no idea what that back of the course is gonna be like, all we had heard. And in fact, you're a glutton for punishment because you told me when we were doing a training run ages ago when we were discussing it. I think it had just been released that they were gonna do a miler, and you were talking about just how hard the back of that course was going to be, and then that's your first one you pick.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Like a challenge. So I figured if I did this one first up, any milers pretty much after this will be easier.
Speaker 1:Love it. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, did you did you have a specific goal that you were chasing for this first mile?
Speaker 3:I did. I wanted to try and finish it in thirty six hours. I was pretty much on track to do that until I hit probably narrow neck. And by the narrow neck checkpoint, I was feeling very sick, very nauseous. Between narrow neck and six foot track, I was actually dry reaching every time I tried to eat anything.
Speaker 3:So it went downhill quite quickly nutrition wise after that. So by the time I get got to six foot, I just wanted to pull out. So
Speaker 2:Hundred and oh, no. 91 k when you first got to six foot?
Speaker 3:90 one k in. I came in very nauseous. Even trying to chew on snakes or sip tail wind, my stomach was dry reaching. So I couldn't keep anything in. And I was quite quite flat by that time, and all I could focus on was how sick I felt.
Speaker 3:So I come into Six Foot having a bit of a pity party.
Speaker 1:How did you get out of that? Because that's that's gotta be probably the hardest part or one of the hardest parts in a race to feel like that when you've been going for almost, well, probably almost a whole day by then, and you've got essentially that same timeframe again. You've still got 60 ks to go. You're feeling nauseous, you're tired, you can't even snakes. Like, how you sort of turn that around?
Speaker 1:Did you spend a bit of time there or what was that like?
Speaker 3:I did spend a bit of time there regrouping. I also picked up my first pacer there. She was an absolute godsend because she's also a medic. And, basically, she said, come on. Let's go out.
Speaker 3:We're gonna go out on this loop. You're not having any food. We'll just take Tailwind with us and see how you stomach that. And I was like, no. I don't wanna go out.
Speaker 3:And she's like, come on. Come on. We'll just start. We'll start. We'll get this loop done and see how you feel when we come back.
Speaker 3:There was never a chance that she was not letting me continue.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's what a great pacer.
Speaker 2:Do you
Speaker 3:wanna give her
Speaker 2:a shout out? Because I think she is one of the perfect peep person you could have as a crew for just who she is and what she does give the community.
Speaker 3:She absolutely was, and it was Mel Ingram. She was an absolute godsend and an angel when I hit that point, and she was just exactly what I needed. In that frame of mind, I can be quite I'm not somebody that will necessarily dig my heels in. When somebody pushes me to do something, I'll probably more or less get up and go, oh, okay. So she just kept telling me to just kept talking to me so I wasn't focusing on how sick I felt.
Speaker 3:Told me to just swish the tailwind around my mouth and spit it out, which I did. Going down to Cox's River at six foot, I do remember going, my mouth won't work, and I'm about to fall over because I'm so tired. And I think it was a slurry, Mel, I'm tired. And she said, so you should be.
Speaker 1:I see it.
Speaker 3:I need a no dose. Okay. Stop. So she fixed me up with no dose. And by the time I got back to six foot track, she said to me, that's it.
Speaker 3:No more sugar. Your stomach's not reacting well with it. It's salty, savory stuff from here on in, half strength tailwind, and let's see how you go. And by that time, because I'd had a break away from having any food and any sort of distress on my stomach, I felt much better when I came in. And by the time I got to the aquatic center, my crew said to me, you're a different person.
Speaker 3:So
Speaker 1:That's awesome.
Speaker 3:Felt so much better.
Speaker 2:Well, talk talking of Mel, who else did you have out on course with you as far as did you, another pacer and crew?
Speaker 3:So I also had Anthony Campbell as my pacer who does a lot of local community work as well. And a lot of people will probably know him from organizing Carlos', world record attempt with his lawn mowing for November. And, also, he does Bushbashers and Brews local trail running group to try to get people to engage with running and nature and having a social outlet as well. So he was my pacer for the second part, and my crew was Loretta Lott and Joe Hughes, who were an absolute godsend following me around everywhere as well.
Speaker 1:Brilliant. Well done, Craig.
Speaker 2:I I know we did, well obviously did the 100 ks part of that race. And we went through some of the sections in daylight and I was thinking going through them like, how the hell did you guys do this at night? Was as far as you spoke about a hard time nutritionally with your race, but was there any other that made the race very difficult and hard or and other challenging moments?
Speaker 3:The front end of the race is really quite brutal, before you hit that hundred k's. But when I left Narrowneck, it was starting to get dark. And so we had to go down Duncan Pass in the dark. It's quite treacherous, and it was made even more treacherous as you would know with all the mud in that area. So going down there in the dark, one thing was a godsend you couldn't see over the edge.
Speaker 3:So you didn't quite know where you were. You you could only see the part of the headlamp that was illuminating where you were. The guy in front of me went over the side and, got himself back up at one point. And then the next point, we had a rope, and it was sort of curved around, and it was quite slippery terrain. And he was on the end of the rope and I was starting to go down and he actually went over the side and took me with him.
Speaker 3:So I was at a 45 degree angle hanging over the side with the people above us trying to pull us up. Luckily, he got caught in a tree growing out the side of the the cliff, so we managed to get him him back up. I think he was quite traumatized. There was a there was a lot of swearing involved. And even after that, before we hit the actual ladder bit, the rope ladders where you go down, it was just very treacherous, very slow going.
Speaker 3:I think that little bit took us about fifty minutes or more. Wonder
Speaker 1:how he if he went on to finish or or that rattled him too much. Because that'd be pretty freaky.
Speaker 3:He fell another two times, and he was the one in front of me. There was about probably 12 of us in a line that all went down together. And he actually sat on a rock in front of me, and I said, are you okay? And he goes, I just need a minute. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So I think he ended up rejoining the back of the pack.
Speaker 3:Yep. So then I was leading part of that for the rest of the sort of way down until we then climbed up the other side as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And that's yeah. And that's, like, sixty, sixty five k in. Hundred hundred giga.
Speaker 1:Was there a real highlight or something that really sort of jumps out as that sort of that real, yeah, yeah, highlight for the race or favorite part of the race besides, obviously, the finish and knowing that you can go to bed?
Speaker 3:I think just the number of people that you meet along the way that you share this experience with so many people, and particularly sort of when you're towards that that sort of back end of a race, there's a lot of camaraderie. So you get to know people by chatting to them. You run with them for a little bit or you walk with them for a little bit, and you get to know bits about their life story, why they're doing this, people running past you being very encouraging. Certainly, sort of by the time we Fairmont to QVH on, people passing you in the hundred race and realizing you're a miler. And just the comments of so much respect for you, that's incredible.
Speaker 3:It's just that that very much a community type atmosphere that's so supportive and encouraging of others. That's probably the highlight of why why I love doing it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, after seeing a lot of the miles on course as well as I when I was passing, was always I was making a conscious effort to give them a pat on the back and say, keep it up. Doing awesome work because, yeah, it's incredible to be yeah. To well, to run a hundred miles and also on that course and to go through the sections in that in in the weather that the Kutumba had experienced as well. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Because we got rained on as well. It bucketed down going up Kadumba. And, also, by the time we got through Federal Pass and various other places, it was really muddy and very slippery and boggy. And by that time, I already had extensive blisters on the soles of my feet. So it was quite painful to just walk.
Speaker 1:Wow. Is, is that something you normally Like, in your hundred k, did you have foot problems, blister problems as well? Or is that sort of Was that new this time around because of the mud and whatever? Yeah.
Speaker 3:That was new this time around. I didn't have it last year at all. And I think it was just because of the conditions being so wet, like, your shoes weren't drying out. And even though I was changing my shoes and socks, the the ones under the front of my feet were more pressure blisters than friction blisters. So it's probably a message that I need to trial a few different things to see what's gonna work next time because, obviously, Body Glide and things like that that I was using weren't quite enough.
Speaker 1:Didn't cut it. What did you what did you run-in? What shoes
Speaker 3:Didn't cut it.
Speaker 1:Were you in?
Speaker 3:Zirconi Blaze. So they don't make them anymore.
Speaker 2:They don't make them anymore. Yeah. So No. Sort of, like, women's version of the Peregrine sort of
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right. Similar. But yeah. Well and, I mean, fervor's fervor. You're just hitting fervor.
Speaker 2:I could just imagine the the relief one, you're all like, you got 1.1 k to go, but it's all uphill. But hitting that ball walk, how how did that feel? And did were you able to sort of soak it all up and run through that the finish line, or was it just death?
Speaker 3:No. Actually, I hit the boardwalk, and it didn't click with me that we were on the boardwalk until Anthony said, we're on
Speaker 2:the boardwalk,
Speaker 3:Sonia. And I was like, what? Oh, when we're here. And then I remember turning around and saying to him, right. I do not wanna finish this photo like last year because I had two guys run around past me last year to cross the finish line in front of me, and my finish line photo is of two men with me in the background.
Speaker 3:And Anthony's comment was, okay. Well, do you want me to hold them all back? And I said, yes. So when we came down, I actually ran, well, as much as I could run then, ran around to come around the corner to the finish shoot, and I caught a guy coming around behind me out of the corner of my eye. And he went to go around me, and I went in front of him.
Speaker 3:And he went to go back the other way, and I went in front of him. And then I just sprinted because I was, like, not happening today.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love it.
Speaker 2:I was
Speaker 3:quite in spoiling my finisher photo.
Speaker 2:I was quite impressed because there was a bit of a side step in the in that move too. So to move a little bit sideways and then forward again was quite impressive. And you did dart to the line, so it was very a very impressive finish.
Speaker 1:Has anyone got this footage? I wanna watch it. I didn't
Speaker 2:I see think I do, actually. Alright. I'll have to have a look. I'm pretty sure I got a video, but I'll I'll have to Rewatch
Speaker 1:We might add that as a clip as well.
Speaker 3:I'll have to well, if not, I know one of the girls that was watching in the Bushbashers group had has posted it in one of the comments there somewhere as well. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I'll have a search.
Speaker 1:That's brilliant. Cool. Was it all you sort of thought it would be, running the coveted hundred mile race?
Speaker 3:I don't know if I sort of go into anything with an expectation. I always find going into races, particularly with so many unknowns and over such a long distance, best to have maybe a goal in the back of my mind and an idea of when I should hit aid stations, but no expectation because so many things can go wrong, so many things can go south. And I think mentally, you have an expectation, you set yourself up sometimes for disappointment.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. Yep.
Speaker 3:So I've always been one to roll with the punches. So you just roll with it, and it is what it is. I knew it was gonna be tough. I knew it was a difficult course. So and it's my first smiler as well.
Speaker 3:So no matter what time I did, it was always going to be a PB.
Speaker 1:Yeah. It's great way of looking at it. Yeah. I mean, it's it's sort of actually almost answers this in a way, but is there something that, you know, there's a lot of people as the as the sport is just growing so quickly and, know, the 100 ks is now sort of that that almost a stepping stone for a lot of people to go into that 100 mile. I think that's that's a goal for a lot of people now.
Speaker 1:So a lot of firsts coming up for people. Have you got is there any sort of major takeaways from this or or advice that you would give to someone making that jump from 100 ks? And Al, this might be going directly to you. Advice on that jump up, sort of what the difference is between 100 ks and 100 miles or anything you could really let him know.
Speaker 3:I think you've definitely gotta have that that mindset to be able to roll with the punches and not let things get the better of you. Certainly, that sort of very steely determination. Also, I think it's important to know what you're in for as much as you possibly can. Definitely training on the terrain is a huge bonus as well so that you can actually familiarize yourself with that, Particularly that front end of the course, it is very nasty.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So and very, very technical is the other thing. There's not a lot of fire trail in it. So knowing what you're sort of in for and being mentally prepared, I always think is is really good. And, also, it's so much more than just a hundred k's. You think, oh, it's not not that much further, but you might as well double it.
Speaker 3:When you think of it mentally, it might as well be 200 because it's probably gonna take you twice as long as a hundred.
Speaker 1:Yeah. For sure. I wish I had you in my corner when I first did my first hundred attempt, hundred mile attempt, because as soon as it got hard for me, I quit.
Speaker 3:It's my And that's the danger.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. And it's it's funny you mentioned, like, around that doubling it sort of thing. Like, when my first mile finish was Tarawera this year, and I felt good at about 100 k's. And I was talking to someone there, we were sort of talking about what time were we going for and what time do we think we'd finish.
Speaker 1:And one of the people we're running with just said, where we are now, double it. Said, there's no chance. Like, we're we're going at this pace. We'll be yeah. Sure.
Speaker 1:We might not do this pace for 60 more k, but it's not gonna be double, and it was spot on. And it's it was I'm glad I didn't know that at the time. But, yeah, he was dead right. It was it was literally double from my hundred time to the finish.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Because Kerry Sutter was quite involved with giving advice in the hundred mile a page, which was an absolute godsend. And I originally thought, oh, maybe I'll do it in 34 until I saw a guy make a comment, and Kerry said to him, you did it in 15 last year for the hundred. Double it. You'll be looking at about 30 for this one.
Speaker 3:And when I saw that, I was like, yeah. 34 is way too ambitious. That that gave it perspective for me to go, yeah. That is that's probably not gonna happen. So
Speaker 1:If you before you signed up, if you kind if the bet if the the goal, I guess, or if the thought would be forty two hours, would you have signed up?
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:Okay. I thought you would've.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:It wouldn't it wouldn't matter to me because to me, it's about the challenge of completing something and, I suppose, testing my mental fortitude more than anything else. Whereas, as you said, a lot of people would give up, and I was I was very close to giving up at six foot other than Mel Ingram taking control and going, here's what's happening. I very well may have. But I think it's just that whole testing, what am I actually capable of? And that was the whole point of of doing this, Mila.
Speaker 3:Am I actually capable of doing this mentally and physically? I know chances are, yes, I am. Mentally, it's a very different ballgame.
Speaker 2:And that's yeah. Like, with your training and talk like, going in I know it was like, talking about that balance in training of what's too what's too much, what's not enough, what's that trying to get that balance. It's it's yeah. What you what you put your body through, and it's completely different when you come to race. You can you can train and train and train, but it's just that it's so many different things can happen during the race.
Speaker 3:Oh, look. And blisters on the front pads of my feet were not part of my plan either. So, you know, by the time I got to QVH, I couldn't really walk.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:They were that painful. So I had to stop and have them, dealt with by a medic so I could and I couldn't even run down Cadumba. I actually said to Anthony, oh, let's give it a whirl. And I've got 10 steps in, and you could feel the padding sliding out from under the blister. And it was like, oh, no.
Speaker 3:Stop. No. No. Can't do it.
Speaker 2:Well
Speaker 1:That's brilliant.
Speaker 2:Would you do it again, though?
Speaker 3:I've already said I would when I finished, which is very unusual for me. As soon as I cross the finish line,
Speaker 1:I went, yep. I'll do that again. I'll have another crack, and I wanna try and
Speaker 3:do it for a time next time.
Speaker 2:That's awesome.
Speaker 3:Take what I learned.
Speaker 2:Yep. Yep. Put it together.
Speaker 3:Love it. That's awesome. And have another crack.
Speaker 2:And well, now you are someone, yeah, that has that mentality, and then someone that's always just trying to push the envelope of what they can do, knowing you for a long time now, back when you were doing Ironmans and stuff like that and just stepping up the same through. And, yeah, it's, incredible. But what's next then?
Speaker 3:Anslow.
Speaker 2:Anslow. What is this?
Speaker 3:'42 in September?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Mhmm. And having done more familiar.
Speaker 3:Well, I was gonna say I did it last year as well, but now I've had the benefit of doing it yet again. So yeah. And I know how brutal that part of the course is. So
Speaker 1:Amazing. And then back to the MILA next year or give it a little bit of time?
Speaker 3:No. I'll do the MILA again next year, I reckon.
Speaker 1:Love that. Give it another crack. Yep. Awesome.
Speaker 2:Don, you're you're amazing. You're That was, yeah, huge. So congratulations. And is there any anything else you wanted to add?
Speaker 1:You gotta be cracking there, Benny. I don't know whether that was
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah. Was that me? Alright. Sorry. Was but I don't know how much you got.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But no.
Speaker 3:Pretty much none of it.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay. Well, I was just saying congratulate congratulations. It's an incredible achievement and a massive, massive yeah, it's just huge. But is there anything else you wanted to add? I
Speaker 3:probably think I'd be encouraging people if they're sitting on the fence of doing something and thinking they're not capable to just have a go. Definitely to put themselves out there and have a go that once you're surrounded by a bunch of really positive like minded people and supportive and encouraging people, you'll be amazed what you can actually achieve.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's awesome.
Speaker 2:Thank you very much for sharing your story. I'm sure a lot of people have got a lot of takeaways to either scare them or inspire them.
Speaker 3:Or both.
Speaker 1:Yep. I've learned a couple of things. That's for sure. Harden up is is the is the easiest way to to summarize it, I think, for me.
Speaker 2:And saying yourself as the right team.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Exactly. That's that's so important in making friends and training with other people and maintaining sort of that positive attitude and and outlook as well. And I think Yeah. Training with other people is always really good for for me because it pushes me harder during training sessions than I would if I was doing it by myself where I'd go, oh, I don't know if I can really be bothered today, etcetera.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So
Speaker 1:For sure. Couldn't agree more.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Thanks, Sonya. That's
Speaker 2:that's Thank you.
Speaker 1:Brilliant. Ellie. Hello. Thanks for being patient But
Speaker 4:No, that's all right.
Speaker 1:It's good to hear another story, that's for sure. I appreciate Really super excited to hear your story and your experiences from UTA, so we'll get into that side of it now.
Speaker 4:Go for it.
Speaker 2:I was just gonna so you did the hundred k?
Speaker 4:Did. So UTA one hundred. What's that? Sorry.
Speaker 2:And your first hundred k?
Speaker 4:First one hundred k, first UTA as well. So it was all a lot of unknowns. I'd never ever foot set foot on any part of that track before as well. So I had no idea really what I was going into aside from that little course kind of breakdown that that you get.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And what was your time?
Speaker 4:I did it twenty four hours, fifteen minutes.
Speaker 2:Amazing. Wow.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. That's awesome. Was the overall experience? I know you kind of went in with, I guess, not a lot of expectations or knowledge, but did you have a time goal? Did things go somewhat to plan?
Speaker 1:Yeah,
Speaker 4:I had a goal. I was aiming for the twenty to twenty two hour mark. I secretly wanted a bronze buckle, but I also knew going into it that I was gonna have to be flexible given that I hadn't done it before and I didn't really know what I was in for. Came out not too far behind that. And yet, a bit of an up and down course for me.
Speaker 4:Mentally, it was probably a lot tougher than I had really anticipated. So that was a new experience for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I I guess that's why we do these silly things, right, test that mental side of it as much as the physical. On the time, though, I think that almost feels If you're going for 22, you got 24. It almost feels like where most of the people I've spoken to ended up, like that five or 10% slower than they expected just due to the mud, the rain, the terrain, the holdups, all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 4:Yeah, exactly. So some of that we got bottlenecked because I was the second last group to start. We got bottlenecked for almost two hours at that Duncan's Pass section, think. So just standing there, lost two hours straight up and that was a big mental shift for me too, just thinking, God, that's another two hours. I'm already off target.
Speaker 4:I'm gonna try and make that time back up. That's two hours less daylight. So it just sort of kicked that panic into gear a little bit more. Just felt you could just feel the time slipping away standing there. So that was kind of tough to come back from and it had been a really great start up to that point.
Speaker 4:It was a sunny morning. It was beautiful. 13 ks's in was feeling great. And then, yeah, just got stuck at that section for a couple of hours, but can't do anything about it.
Speaker 2:Gonna throw you in a complete like, I spoke to a lot of people that were in the same situation. Some were only, like, forty five minutes, but, like Yeah. Such a split in the race to then it just changes everything because you're sitting there, you're standing there, waiting, you're you're cold, but also your mind starts
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Just starts everything starts compounding. But was there anything that you did in that situation to sort of get you back in the zone, so to speak?
Speaker 4:I mean, look, the people that I was standing there with were actually really lovely. So it was it was nice just to have a chat with them, and I think that we just tried to keep each other's spirits high a little bit. And you just had to just had to let go of it. Like, That was what I spent the next section doing was just trying to be like, Okay, this has happened, it's happened, it's out of your control now. Try and make up what you can sensibly without ruining yourself for the back end of the race, but just get on with it.
Speaker 4:That's what you could really do. So yeah, I just tried to reframe my my sort of mental state and then kept going.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I remember we got we got stuck there last year. Nothing like that. Like, not two hours. I think we were about forty, forty five minutes somewhere around there.
Speaker 1:It was it was really interesting to watch the two different sort of personality types or people with patients or whatever. And there was a lot of people getting really, really frustrated around it, you could just tell that that's And look, I think we all did to some extent, but the people I was with, like you, sort of, we all kind of buoyed each other up a little bit and just made a bit of fun out of it and used it as a break as opposed to focusing on that time slipping away and I was gonna do this and whatever, because there's so much it's so early in the race. Like, if you get mentally, if you, you know, put yourself down there, it's going be a very, very long day out.
Speaker 4:Absolutely. Yeah. %.
Speaker 2:Just, I mean, for you personally, like seeing you get through this, because I mean, your prep and your build up to this was different to what a lot of people would have had as well. But just I think that's more even more testament to you and how special your achievement is on what you did to get get to the start line and to actually finish it. Was how do you how was that must have been an incredible feeling in yourself.
Speaker 4:Thank you. Yeah, I I pretty much told myself I will die before I don't finish that race, essentially. That's kind of the mentality I had going into it. I had I had my ITB surgically released late November, so I didn't really start running back up until mid January. So then I was trying to find that balance of building slowly enough, but getting enough mileage under my belt to feel even remotely ready.
Speaker 4:And I had, Buffalo Stampede forty two in March as well, and the lead up to it as well. So I'd booked all these races and things were going great and my body was doing really, really well. Then, yeah, that's when I got thrown in the works. But, yeah, it was the training and then I just felt like I could not miss a session as well. So even on the bad days, even when you didn't want to do it, you just had to.
Speaker 4:And I think like what Sonia said, having that group support is just so crucial in those times. And it's yeah, it's the thing that gets you through. Then yeah, just slipped. I slipped two weeks before as well and landed awkwardly on my other good knee. And so that just completely threw me out all over again.
Speaker 4:So that was just a really forced taper. I think I ran about two Ks maybe in those two weeks in the lead up as well. So I was just trying to damage control that situation and yeah, but got there got there in the end and pulled off feeling okay. That was really Yeah,
Speaker 1:did feel going into it? Not like knowing that you have had that sort of, you know, up and down prep for, like, for a long time, really.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then the knee two weeks before. And did you sort of yeah. Were you nervous at the start line or the night before? Or or I'd like we we I don't think we ever get to a race going, nailed training.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, how how did you feel going into it? Were you confident or
Speaker 4:No. I felt I felt scared, and I'd never felt like that going into a race. So I just I just felt so scared of how my body was gonna go and just the whole unknown and how long I going to be out there for. Just, yeah, it was I took a lot of fear into that race with me, which I'd never done before either. So it was tough mental space to even sort of start from.
Speaker 4:But
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah. I just knew if I started and took things, you know, each checkpoint at a time and just see how things went.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's great.
Speaker 2:Was well, going through, like, you obviously had the bottleneck. What, like, what would you what was some other harder harder parts that you experienced in the race?
Speaker 4:Yeah. I think I also got my period on race, so which I discovered at Checkpoint three. So that was just another sort of thing to have to manage along the way. And then the hardest part for me was that last 22 leaving QBH. It was just I was tired.
Speaker 4:My ankle tendons were absolutely shot. I just couldn't handle the impact. So I had to walk that entire descent and then the climbs back out just took so long. It just felt like I was there for hours. It was just the longest five hours of my life that back end.
Speaker 4:It was just so slow and it was so treacherous with all the mud. It was dark. The people that were out there were just like zombies. It just felt honestly like a zombie apocalypse. Like just people staggering up these hills and in the dead of night, and there weren't many people around either.
Speaker 4:It was just a really just, yeah, a very lonely experience, I would say.
Speaker 1:That's the emergency aid station right at the end there is an interesting place. The first time I tried my hundred, I pulled there. Just couldn't I started pulling and I just could not get the body to move again and ended up passing out in the tent for a while. But I remember getting there and it was just probably similar time to what you did really. And it was dark, cold, the bin fire was there.
Speaker 1:There were just four homeless looking people around, no one talking. Was just so for eight kilometers left in a hundred k race, you'd expect it to be really up and about, and it was just the most miserable spot.
Speaker 4:It was. And I was crying. And the volunteers, like, full credit to them, they were just amazing. They just sat me down. They got me coffee.
Speaker 4:They were just, like, pep talking me the whole way, breaking down their, like, the next three segments. And they got me going again because, yeah, I was just I was a mess. I just did not wanna keep going.
Speaker 2:Like, everyone I spoke to going to that last because, like, I think and I oh, it was about 07:30 at night you guys had that that second that round that rain would just pull it down. And everyone I spoke to that came in a couple hours later were just they were, like, slipping and sliding everywhere trying to climb up Kadumba. They said if you didn't have poles, you were just sliding backwards. And those people going up going up sideways, it was just I can't imagine how, like, it would've just people would just want they felt like you as you said, you weren't you feel like you weren't going anywhere. It's just Yeah.
Speaker 2:All
Speaker 4:It was interesting.
Speaker 2:Adding to the challenge.
Speaker 4:That's it. That's it.
Speaker 2:Bloody hell.
Speaker 1:Was there a major sort of highlight for it? Like, know, your favorite spot of the race besides the finish?
Speaker 4:It was actually the checkpoints. My family crewed me, which was a first for them too. But having them there and to share that experience with them and just how supportive and encouraging they were was just like I that changed the race for me and that very much became an experience instead of a time. And just to be able to enjoy those moments with them. They were so pumped and they were telling me all the stats when I got there and they were amazing.
Speaker 4:They brought like a bloody camping table in and set it up with all my gears, so it looked like an expo when I walked in. I had everything exactly where I needed it. So I did stay for longer than I should have at those checkpoints, but that was it was a highlight of me and my favourite part of the race, so I don't regret that time spent there at all.
Speaker 2:I did see a video of you sharing and you were I think it might have been at six foot where you were dancing.
Speaker 4:Yes. That's when everybody was feeling good.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Was that their was that their music choices or was it what was played at the age
Speaker 4:of That was what was playing. Yeah. But, no, it was yeah. It was they made it a lot of fun and they were chasing me down the track when I went off and they were cheering me in every time and it was it really special.
Speaker 1:When you say family, that mom, dad, siblings? What
Speaker 4:was that the It was my mom and my brother and his partner. And then it was also my partner Pete as well. So yeah, was a good solid little crew. And they didn't sleep either. They stayed awake the whole time.
Speaker 4:They would just watch that little dot on the map move all night. So full credit
Speaker 1:to how was mom when at the sort of, you know, the QVHs and these sorts of bits where you are just busted and you know, I can see your daughter's in a hell of a lot of pain, tired. It's been raining. It's gonna rain again. It's muddy. It's you know?
Speaker 1:How how's how's mom coping with all that?
Speaker 4:She did so well. She'd had a a warning talk in the lead up, like, it's gonna be ugly. Things are gonna get bad. You're not gonna be able to tell me to stop and create as much as you want to. And I think having like everyone else around her as two was super helpful for her and just to be able to have to release and let go of any of that fear that she might have had.
Speaker 4:But yeah, she she was a true path they
Speaker 2:all were.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome. I can't picture Mama Clark doing these, so just being any help at all. Came to Mum and dad came to Tarawera and it was just They babysat. They didn't want any part of the race sort of side of it. We didn't really yeah.
Speaker 1:I can't imagine them being encouraging. It'd be more just I'm Mitchell. Just quit.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Just
Speaker 2:Cuddles are, you've done enough. You've done enough.
Speaker 4:That's Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Just trying
Speaker 2:to take
Speaker 1:the bib off every time you say that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. Oh, no. That's that's awesome. It's okay.
Speaker 2:And, mean, that hitting that finish line, I mean, I unfortunately, I missed it. I I just like
Speaker 4:That's okay.
Speaker 2:I was I did have an issue to getting getting back up, but I'm so I'm grateful that Ben made it down and rushed rushed down to see you finish. So that would but, yeah, hitting hitting that, like, finishing further stairs, hitting that ball walk, how did you how did all the emotions just hit you all at once?
Speaker 4:I just wanted to get it done. I was so over it by then. I was just like, thank god that is over. It was just pure relief for me. I yeah.
Speaker 4:I walked I was walking at that point and I just I heard my family again before I even saw them and then just gave all of them a really big cuddle and just kind of jogged across the line at the end. It was yeah, I was just stoked to get there at that point. I wasn't feeling too celebratory or anything like that. It was just pure relief at it being over.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm sure the family were proud as punch seeing what they Yeah. It's even more special, I think, because they would have seen, obviously, seeing you go through those highs and especially the lows and to see you get up further stairs at the end of it to finish. Yeah, it's a different perspective, I think, that they they get to understand that, which is cool.
Speaker 4:Yeah. I think so.
Speaker 2:Such a long that section, it's such a long time between seeing you from QBH as well. So, like, I know we're all sitting there watching the tracker and going, oh my god. It's pissing down with rain. How's she going? And then we're just watching it, getting little updates.
Speaker 2:I'm like, oh, she's moving forward. She's going.
Speaker 4:It's getting slower and slower. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2:But, no, that's but, I mean, you got
Speaker 4:it done.
Speaker 2:Finish. You can make sure yeah. Many, many, many tears at the finish line, which is good. Yes. I'm along the way.
Speaker 2:Just means much. Yeah. And and you felt alright afterwards? Last this week's film?
Speaker 4:Yeah. Pretty good. Like, super stoked. I I had my ankle was a little bit swollen the couple of days after. It's still a little bit tender.
Speaker 4:The cars were a little bit tight, but physically, I was really surprised. Actually, I've pulled up better from that than quite a few other races as well. So that was really surprising. A little bit fatigued as well, not like Sonia said, probably nowhere near as as badly as she is, but still just trying to get some decent sleep through the night to catch back up on that. But, yeah, mentally, was a little bit shook afterwards as well.
Speaker 4:That's kind of taken a couple of days to process the whole thing and unpack it a little bit. But overall, yeah, did really well. So super happy.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. Are you at the stage where you've you're over the I guess that the shock and the the excitement and everything else of finishing and and the dread and and replaying it in your head? Are you are you at the stage where you can sort of look at what the next step might be and have you have you thought about another goal or another race or?
Speaker 4:Not yet. To be honest, just after everything kind of happened with the injuries, I just wanted to get these out of the way and see where I stood at the end of it. And I think I realised during that race I just need a bit of a break. Like that was a bit of a revelation for me, that I probably have been pushing running literally quite a bit too hard. So I think I'll just pull back for a little bit, just ease up, take care of myself and see what I'm feeling next.
Speaker 4:I have a feeling that 50 ks is my sweet spot, so I'll probably be looking for something back around that distance just to get my head back in the game, I think, for anything else I'll do in the future.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So there's nothing so not to say that you will do another one again?
Speaker 4:Look, I'll never say never, but it's gonna have to be a pretty bloody compelling case for me to do it.
Speaker 1:Can vouch for Cozzi as another a good hundred k.
Speaker 4:I do love Cozzi. I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 1:That's an I'll get in your ear about it. That was just such a a beautiful race. I think we're very spoiled with the races we've got here that, you know, with the Blue Mountains being one of the major races and Cozzi being another one. Like, it's both incredibly beautiful terrain and views and everything else, but both so varied, you know, having that Alpine as well. You know
Speaker 4:That's it. Very spoiled.
Speaker 1:Goes on people. Spoiled for choice. Exactly. Exactly.
Speaker 2:Well, is there anything that you would like to pass on to anyone that's attempting their first hundred or felt that that's a step too far?
Speaker 4:Yeah. Again, just echoing Sonya's comments, think just give it a crack. Have a go. What's the worst that can happen? Just as long as you're putting the training in it, it's a bit of a step up in the training.
Speaker 4:I think that it does get a little bit time consuming so you have to be prepared for that too. But yeah, just I think register, you're probably more capable than you realise. I just mostly walked the back half of that track just because I couldn't run a lot of it. There was a lot of elevation, a lot of stairs. So I just took my time and just break it down and chunk by chunk you'll get there.
Speaker 4:I also had my nutrition plan. Had sort of, I did a lot of organising as much as I could to try and prepare myself in the lead up. So that was really helpful. Most things went to plan as much as they could within the controllables, which was awesome. My nutrition was solid.
Speaker 4:I didn't have any gut problems. And I also built in just regular Panadol and caffeine every four hours just to try and keep on top of that side of things too, which was super helpful. And I also took those sea sickness ginger tablets and I just popped a couple of those towards the back end just to really keep that nausea under control. I found that was really helpful. And I think just be careful of those secret standards that you have for yourself, like that time that you don't tell anyone but that time that you're actually aiming for and you're like, oh no, I'm just happy to finish but actually I want sub 20.
Speaker 4:Just be really careful of those because anything can happen. Things change. A lot of it is out of your control and I think you have to really come to terms with being okay with that and just being happy with the end result. So,
Speaker 1:yeah. Yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome. I certainly agree as well on that. And you both said it.
Speaker 1:The chain being able to adapt on the fly with your goals, it's something I struggled with early, going out, having a goal that was just unattainable. And then when you realize you're not gonna do it, getting all in your head and things like that. And I've learned a lot better with that now. And it just makes life a lot more fun out in the trail as well when you give up on Not give up on your goal, but you let go of that A goal and you just get to enjoy it. Exactly.
Speaker 1:Saying you walked a lot of that last half of the race, most people do. I'd consider twenty four hours still a pretty healthy time. It's really well done. So if you can walk half of it or walk a lot of that back half and still get in twenty four hours, That's awesome. And it does show anyone can really do it.
Speaker 4:That's it. And I think as well, I was talking to Nikita about it and she said something really good, often you forget that you're such a small percentage of people who do something like this. And when you're in a group and around people, it just becomes familiar and second nature. And so you can start comparing yourself and getting down in yourself, but you do forget how much of an actual achievement it is to do something like this and how few people actually do it. I think, yeah, just be gentle to yourself and take credit where credit's worth because it's an achievement.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Absolutely. Well Well, thanks both for your time. Really, it's so much fun, I think, for both of us to talk to you both around your experiences and awesome to hear two strong finishes. Yeah, it is quite inspirational, I think, to hear different people's stories.
Speaker 1:Forty two hours and twenty four hours out on a very hard trail is Yeah, it's great for so many people from the mid backpack and and, you know, do I do this? Do I not do it? To hear that, I think it's something that people can take a lot away from.
Speaker 3:Probably Just do it. Just adding as well. I know for me, I'm always very hard on myself, and nothing I ever do is good enough. So I'll tick one thing off, and I'm already focused on achieving the next before I celebrate the first. But I know for me, you also forget how much you inspire other people as well with what you do and what you achieve.
Speaker 3:So I know Jess was saying to me she was doing the hundred as well. And every time she come into a checkpoint, she was asking her crew where I was. Was I still on course? Had I finished yet? And making sure she was following my my journey.
Speaker 3:And she was saying, you know, if you were still out on course, I could definitely do this when you'd been out there for so long. You were my inspiration. So I think when you achieve something and you think I didn't get my goal time or it wasn't quite good enough, you forget how many other people are following you that actually think what you've done is incredible.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Absolutely. And even even out of the race, like, there's it's going back through the Facebook chat around, like, people, you know, where's where's Ali? Where's Sonya? How's you going?
Speaker 1:Going? It's just everyone from inside out, our Facebook group or community sort of thing, everyone was checking on everyone. Was so nice to see. So it's not only inspiring people on the course, which I completely understand and agree with. Yeah, it's all of us going to kid's soccer, still checking, and, you know, all those sorts of things.
Speaker 1:It's really it's really, really cool.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Amazing.
Speaker 4:It means a lot.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you very much again, guys.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Thank you.
Speaker 2:And, oh, yeah. That's a wrap. Perfect. Guys Awesome. Get get back to your day.
Speaker 4:No worries. Thanks for that.
Speaker 2:No. It's really cool. And no. I really appreciate you sharing sharing your stories, guys. It's no.
Speaker 2:As we all said, it's incredible.
Speaker 4:Too easy.
Speaker 2:And just rest up and recover for now, though.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Deserved rest.
Speaker 2:Yep.
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