Welcome to the dark side... The Glasshouse 100km trail run

Ok, so this is a bit long, but enjoy!

This was it. My first foray into the side of running that is known as the ‘dark side’. I’ve never been above 42kms in my life in a race, and like most people venturing into the 100kms for the first time, I wondered if it was a step too far? However my mindset for these things is that you really just have to get your head down, grin and bear it. I knew it would be painful and that it would test my mental resolve, but this was exactly the kind of challenge I needed ahead of the marathon des sables next year. If I could get through 100kms here, then the long day in the MDS would be a piece of piss!

So off to Brisbane I flew on the Friday night, picked up my accommodation in the form of a tent from some very generous cool runners, and arrived at Beerberrum School at 6pm, barely knowing a soul, and the reason why some English lad had rocked up in the middle of nowhere.

I soon started chatting to people and it was great to see Ray, whom I’ve met in a few races now down in NSW. The plan was to sleep in the tent at the school, and recreate what I’d be doing in the desert, but minus the sand bit! However even the weather couldn’t get it right as it started to hammer it down before I’d even put the tent up! So after a very jovial briefing and some pasta, I got my head down at around 9pm, eagerly waiting for the 4:30am alarm call.

I actually slept pretty well and got a good 6 hours in, got kitted up and stood nervously at the start line, not really knowing what Id let myself in for. I didn’t know the course in terms of terrain, all I knew was that I just had to run (as best I could).

The first 30kms…
Straight in we were issued with a curve ball, and lovely short sharp climb up Mount Beerberrum, which had everyone walking in the first 2kms! From there I ended up running with a great chap, Glen from Brisbane, and we pretty much stayed together for 30kms. The trail was OK, and despite getting hotter, I actually felt pretty good and the legs were holding up well. There were another few short sharp hills thrown in, but nothing too awful. We reached CP5, with another quick break, refueled up with more water, and I was looking forward to the section called ‘Powerlines’, which on the grapevine I’d heard was one of the hardest sections. When we reached there I knew why. Glen knew these trails like the back of his hand and had run most of the sections. The first 50 metres or so were a sheer rock face drop down. Not more than 10 metres into the climb down did I skid, fall over and cut myself. That kind of knocked my confidence a little, and over the next 4kms of up and down, I started to struggle. It was really starting to warm-up too and we were exposed. It was at this point that Glen started to pull away a couple of hundred metres or so, and it was a long, slow jog up to CP8, where we would begin the two loops.









The next 30kms…
At CP8, I knew things were going downhill. It was hot and I was feeling dehydrated somewhat too. The pack was also taking it’s toll, and although I only had around 4kgs in there, my back was really starting to hurt. With two loops that both finished back at CP8, I made the decision to dump the pack for the next 18kms of the two loops and focus on getting round.

The first loop was 10kms, and it was tough! I didn’t take enough water with me, and coupled with the dehydration already, I suffered badly on this section (8a), but the highlight was definitely seeing a 3 metre long python crawl along our running track! In the end however, I was just pleased to have made it back to CP 8 after that section, although at this point, I started to lose it somewhat. I’d never been above 42kms, and I’d just done 47kms and was feeling like utter shite. I’ll admit it became a little emotional, so I gave Melody (the missus a call), and I was as on the verge of losing it. She calmed me down though, in only the way she could, and made things seem much clear (God I love that girl ).

I needed to sort myself out though, so I stayed here for about 30 minutes, the longest stop of the lot. I needed to get the fluid back in me, and I must have guzzled nearly 2 litres of water and some Sustagen to get some energy back in me.

I said to myself that I’d see how the next section went, and if I was still feeling crap, then 54kms was a pretty good show in my book So off I set for the next 8km loop, and again, more difficult decent and the heat taking it’s toll. It was about 3kms in where I met up with what was to be my running partner for the next 25kms or so, Kelly. He was suffering like me in a big way, but his mental resolve was amazing. I’ll say it now, but this fella is responsible for getting me through this race. So many times I wanted to chuck it in, but he refused to let me do it, and made me promise that I wouldn’t DNF.

So on we trundled through the 8b loop, which was made a lot better by having someone to run with, something I don’t normally do. A very quick pit stop at 8 again meant that any thoughts of chucking it in where quickly quashed by Kelly who was keen to move onto CP7, and what would be the start of the trip home. This next 9kms or so was relatively flat, and both Kelly and I tried to run what we could, but both of us suffered from very sore feet, again neither of us very experienced over this distance at all.

It was a long hard slog to 7, and about 2kms from the CP, my feet started to hurt badly. I was having trouble walking and the thought of doing another 35kms then just seems like utter craziness to be honest. This is where for the second time I made my mind up to stop and finish here. 65kms was a great result I thought, almost the longest day distance in the MDS, and a good show I thought. Kelly however saw this in my eyes and again made me promise that we would be crossing that finish line later tonight. It was gut wrenching, but I couldn’t say no, so I promised that I would carry on. However I had to rest up at CP7, the feet were in so much pain and I needed to get painkillers down me fast.





The final 35kms
CP 7 saved my race to be honest. 4 painkillers and 2 cheese sandwiches later and I was like a new man. With dark approaching, I made the decision to dump the ruck sack entirely. OK, so on the MDS I can’t do this, but if I wanted to finish this race respectably then the ruck sack had to go. So I pulled out bare essentials: water bottle, head torch, fleece, phone and hat and off I went. I caught up with Kelly in no time who was hurting at this point and could barely muster a run. I don’t know what happened to me, but I was now flying and I ran the next 4.5kms at pretty much normal pace, I was bouncing here!

Back at CP 7, I had another quick rest and another cheese sandwich and went off to catch Kelly again who was about 1km up the road. He couldn’t run, so he told me to carry on. I felt bad, the guy was in pain, but I knew he’d finish up. I promised to wait at the finish for him (if I made it!). So off I ran, and for the next 10kms kept a good 5:1 run/walk strategy going. However it then got dark quick, and in the bush with the dense trees, it was very dark. This is where I found out that my small and lightweight head torch was actually pretty shit. It made running impossible because the ground was so undulating, and it wasn’t bright enough to give me the light that I needed. Plus the fact that my eyesight is also pretty shite!

So after a long 4kms or so of walking, I made it to CP6 where some beautiful veggie and pasta soup was on offer, along with a rissole. The food at each of the CPs was amazing and I was surprised at just how much I could eat along the way. Makes me realize that the MDS will be so much harder without hot soup! Anyways, another little rest and I was off again into the night along. The next 20kms or so varied between open trail and dense bush. I was pleased that I was able to run most of it, but had to walk where I couldn’t see properly, which really slowed me down. At 85kms I saw the most beautiful sight of the whole race. On the open trail, the full moon shone through brilliantly on the backdrop of a few of the Glasshouse Mountains, and it was such a sight. I remember standing at the top of one of the hills and thought that the last 85kms were worth getting to this point for – it was so beautiful.

However with 15kms to go this was thrown back out of the window, and another final curve ball was thrown our way with 5kms of really tough goat track, and with my shite light, this slowed me down so much. It was here that I was caught by another Cool runner, Brick and with his powerful torch, we got through to the last CP at 5, refueled again and went off with just 12kms to go. This is where I knew it was done. 12kms to go was easy and texts from Melody and my mate Nathan came in, which again lifted me immensely.

Again I ran about 7kms of the last 12, but again was slowed down by the dense bush. In the end, Brick caught me again with about 3-4kms to go, and we walked in together. He however had another 53ksm to go as he was doing the 160km race – nutter!

As we came out onto the road, I knew it was done, so I broke into a jog and ran through the finish line in 16hrs and 56 mins. At the start of the race I really wanted to finish somewhere between 12-14 hours. That was in hindsight a stupid call to make. I have no trail running experience, and have only ever done one trail marathon in my life. Doing this kind of event has made me learn so much respect for the guys who’ve been doing this for years. No wonder they call it the dark side, you really find out about yourself and what you’re made of. Overall, the time was fine, and I don’t care. I learnt so much from this race, and it proves that a bit of mental resolve and ‘can do’ means you can get through it, even if you’ve never really trained for an event like this before. In fact, how do you train for an event like this? I know come the long day of the MDS, I’ll be so much better prepared for what it throws at me.

I’m annoyed at myself for getting dehydrated at the start, that was stupid. I wouldn’t do it at a marathon, but in hindsight, I didn’t drink nearly enough water on the Friday, which is why things went wrong after 47kms. Silly boy! I also spent too long at CP’s I think, but during the race reaching each one as like a saving grace, so I can’t complain. I just need a better strategy next time.

Overall, I feel immensely proud to have completed that course and take that journey. I met some fantastic people along the way and I guess the reason you relate to them so much is that you see each other at your worst. Glen and Kelly were rocks for me, what would I be like if I did it on my own? It’s also great that the last 35kms were probably the best of the race. That’s encouraging for me and proves to myself that I have the inner strength and physical strength to get through that 100kms. The body is still an aching wreck, but already I’m thinking about returning next year and stepping up to the big one – 160kms!