RACE BRIEF-BRISBANE RIVER RUN 100KM ULTRA MARATHON

Ok- I promise to TRY & keep it brief as my FB posts have most likely clogged your news feed☺
Thank you for all the messages I have received throughout the last 48 hours. I am truly grateful & overwhelmed.
I entered as a running buddy to support an amazing friend coming back from injury and eager to get back out in the running field. Unfortunately a secondary injury prevented her from having that opportunity. My heart broke for her so I was determined to do my best to still run & in a good time for both of us. Wearing both our race bibs to remind me why I was out there.
A Midnight start does mess with the body clock. Along with running 10x 10k laps on pavement with a 5k turn around (20 times over the Goodwill Bridge) also can do your head in. But with my running buddy now my support crew I knew I would be well organized.
So 12.01am the 100k run began. Lap 1 was exciting to get to meet some amazing people. No one in a rush as we all knew it was going to be a long night. Lap 2 we spread out, some of us had plans in place others just hoping to get to that finish line & being there for a good cause. I decided for a 1st that I would run on Heart Rate rather than pace. I had a predicted pace in mind but never done a 100k Road Race only Trail. Lap 3, 4 & 5 were all in the dark. With volunteers on bikes circling to keep us feeling safe and entertained until sunrise & other runners were on the course.
The weather was perfect. Running around the river in the night was amazingly quiet & the lights were a lovely view. Lap 5 & 6 were tough, with the sun rising behind the clouds we soon had to share the path with cyclist & other runners including non-event runners. It became busy and confusing with fatigue setting in. For 5 hours we had serenity, now in fatigue mode we had to remind ourselves to listen out for the cyclist on the shared paths. I thought I would be looking forward to daybreak but I dropped my pace until my anxiety settled down and got settled in. Still sticking to my HR plan. Lap 7 seemed easy. Meeting new faces & finally seeing faces in the light after being in the dark, now being able to put faces to names.

Lap 8 was the wall hitter. The pavement is unforgiving on the legs. The sun sneaked out warming us & with forgotten sunglasses the glare was rough. Lap 9 was when total determination set in. My crew bestie knew I was struggling even behind my smile. So on the bike she got & pushed me through. Supporting other runners as well who were also battling. Her presence was felt by lots of others & inspired myself to push through. Finally Lap 10 adrenaline kicked in along with a boot up the rear to get to that finishing line. Crossing that finishing line with my crew bestie friend was the most amazing feeling to share. I could not have done it without her. Yes I carried my nutrition on board so I was self sufficient for most of the way & avoided time delays with congestion on the turn around. But your crew is all about seeing behind your smile & making decisions for you when you can’t. Knowing when to push you & what you can achieve.

Katherine Stark had been my crew and watch me race at many events & knew my potential better than me by 80K. My Garmin results showed my HR plan was a success. My nutrition in take was perfect as I was still able to walk after I finally stopped running. ☺ I successfully ran the entire race with only 3 laps of a 50m walk at the 5k turnaround to stretch out some tightness. It was an amazing event & I was proud to be part of the Hummingbird House Team. Thank you Denny Neave & Brendan Hopp for putting on such an amazing event. And of course Katherine Stark for booting me up the rear and keeping me going. Your are truly an amazing lady & I know your presence at the event was felt by many. WE DID IT…