Gear was sorted,
bottles were filled, stretching my arms through my much loved BTR
shirt. I was ready but it was only 7am…..
The first running of
the Brisbane Trail Ultra was defiantly an exciting experience, A home
Ultra where I could put my stamp on a race in my own backyard. I was
feeling confident with having a home ground advantage even though I
was unfamiliar with the first 2 legs of the course.
I arrived at the
start line with plenty of time till the start 10:30am, im usually
well out on a course by now but I had found myself amongst the field
of elites and a start time of 12pm. The weather was cold and overcast
with showers passing over here and there, It was time to go.
The first leg into
checkpoint 1 (gap creek high school – Mc Afees lookout), was a
great opportunity to get my legs and my rhythm, a 15.6 km section
with approx. 737.1m gain and some 455.1m loss. With a good 4km of
this section bike/footpath and the rest mostly wide open fire trail,
I quickly and comfortably made my way up to the checkpoint, welcomed
but the cheers and encouragement of my parents with a spilt of
1:20:41 and sitting in 3rd position.
Next it was on to
checkpoint 2.
The second leg (Mc
Afees lookout- Gold creek reservoir), An already technical section of
the course made even more so by the effect of the rain turning Hell
Hole Break into a muddy and slippery downhill mess, throwing caution
to the wind I went for it, quick and sharp steps, feet slipping, arms
flapping for balance, I held on for dear life, once at the bottom it
was through the creek then a steep Climb up before another steep
decent before another creek crossing and another climb. As I climbed
up toward south boundary road I found myself overtaking the next
runner in front and I knew I had hit 2nd position, this is
however where things started to unravel. Somehow I had missed the
next marker and found myself continuing along south boundary road, at
some point it clicked I referred to maps.me and could see I was off
course, I eventually re joined the course only to consult some
runners and told I had missed checkpoint 6 at gold creek, from this
point I back tracked eventually finding my way to the checkpoint,
with my mind muddled and disappointment set in I forgot to pick up my
nutrition to see me through the remainder of the race, as I left I
was told I was still somewhere in the top 10 but my mental game had
taken a beating.
The third leg (gold
creek- JC Slaughter Falls), by far the hardest leg for me, I let the
disappointment of getting lost overrun me. Cramp set in and I found
myself sat on the side of the trail runners asking if I was OK….. I
was ready to give up I had given so much and felt so good and it was
all thrown away cause of carelessness, texts and phone calls were
made to my support crew “there is no point I'm going to pullout”
a resounding reply of “you can do this” came back in reply. As I
sat there with my Cramp I just closed my eyes and I remember I asked
for help from somewhere… anywhere, I took a minute and asked myself
why am I doing this, the answer to my question was quickly given ‘i
do this for fun’ its not the medals or the win its because I enjoy
it, with that realisation my cramp subsided, and I stood up, by now
30 or so runners had passed me, and now I had one goal to reign those
that past me in and not let someone over take me from this point.
(this goal I achieved). Pushing though a clear deficiency in
nutrition, hiking hills became the only realistic plan as normally
runnable hills felt like mountains in their own right, it was a
welcome sight to see my partner and our dog at the base of Kokoda,
(as I missed my parents at checkpoint 6 due to the issue),‘you can
do it hunni’, and that's all I needed, I dug as deep as I could and
left Kokoda behind and made quick work of the trails down to
checkpoint 7.
BTR wooohooo my
peeps just seeing them was amazing and again Jess and our dog Zoe
were there waiting. ‘This is whats important’ I told myself ‘this
is why I do it’. I quickly refuelled with some fruit and refilled
on by at this stage was some much needed water, the I was off.
The final leg (JC
Slaughter Falls- Southbank Maritime Museum)
By this stage the
red bull climb was of no interest to me and I hiked most of the
uphill through that section. Keeping a steady pace it was through
eugenia circuit, up stringy bark and across the road to the Maculata
track and on my way towards Bardon. Soon enough the trails
disappeared and it was into the urban part of the course. Although
the course markings seemed to have gone awol in some areas local
knowledge took over and I was able to find my way, during this
section I met up with a runner that had seen me back tracking all the
way back at Gold Creek, ‘oh you made it’ she said when she saw
me, we ran together for a little and kindly she gave me a bag of
lollies to help with my clear signs of lack of nutrition. I continued
to make my way down Given terrace, through Suncorp Stadium and
eventually I found myself running along the waterfront at Southbank,
the finish line insight then the welcome relief as I crossed it.
I don't really
remember to much after that in those minutes after crossing the
line….. the strange feeling of the accomplishment I had achieved in
the circumstances I had achieved them in was ever so slightly
shadowed by ‘WHAT IF’.
I finished a
satisfying 9th place overall, but the lessons I took out
of this event are what is most valuable. Now my sights are firmly set
on the next event and applying the things I have taken away from this
weekend.
Thank you to my
Family, my coach Ben Duffus and my BTR family (with a special shout
out to Ben Bergan), Tailwind Nutrition Australia, Inspire Athletic
and Huck Nutrition. The support from all of you makes this journey so
much easier and fun along the way.
Anthony Gordon
