Beyond the Black Stump

I'd been wanting to do this race since last year when Andrew and Dan both did it and raved about it. At the time I hadn't got back into running again with my injury so had to miss out, but I was vey keen for this year, especially after enjoying Quarry Road so much.

We had a hell of a turn-out this time - Andrew and Dan again, as well as Dan's wife Juliet and Kathryn. The whole crowd was over at my apartment the night before to watch the 9pm New Years Eve fireworks and we had a ball. 10 Adults and 10 kids in a 2 bedroom apartment was a bit of a crazy time, but super fun. Then we all went home (or in my case, into the next room) to try to sleep a bit before the early start the next morning. Judgeing by the stories the next day, I don't think anyone was successful in getting more than a couple of hours in.

I drove over to Andrew's place and he, Kathryn and I drove together, with Dan and Juliet in convoy behind us. We took off at 7am from Berowra on another overcast and muggy morning, that later turned to drizzle (which was incredibly welcome at the time).

Again, i felt rubbish at the start and the legs didn't want to move (there's a theme here), but once we got out of the suburbs and onto the bush track I just started to speed up a bit and pass people and quite soon got into a very comfortable rhythm. There was a long haul down the hill to the ferry which we all took easy in single file - except for the guy behind me who tripped and crashed head over heels in the bush, shortcutting a switchback. Amazingly he was completely unharmed!

Only had to wait a few mins for the ferry and then set off on the long haul up the hill on the other side. That really sorted people out, I started taking it easy but gradually winding up the pace and reeling people in. I got most of the pack from the ferry, apart from about 3 or 4 guys who tantalisingly stayed the same distance away, then near the top started increasing the gap considerably. I was definitely not in their league, so was happy to maintain my position and run solo to the start of the bush section at the top.

A nice flat bit, then a fairly technical sdescent to the castle, where a couple of guys passed me. One of them was Mark who I'd met at Quarry Road, so I just stuck close behind him and after touching the ruins, we headed back up the hill together.

Mark stopped for a drink when we came out onto the road and I said I'd see him on the downhill (he's a much faster descender than me), but I actually managed to fly down the hill at a great clip and stay away. My descending is definitely improving. Although nothing like the gy from Terrigal Trotters who flew past me like I was standing still and was out of sight in 5 minutes. Amazing. It was definitely the most fun part of the run!

Again only had a couple of minutes to wait for the ferry and the field had really thinned out by this stage so there were only about 8 of us on the boat. Off we went for the hill once we crossed over and then it was a solid hour of trying to fast walk up what felt like a sheer cliff face! I rememebered this section from Oxfam, going the other way, so I knew it was going to be tough. Thankfully the pace of the guys in front of me seemed to suit me perfectly - pushing me without being overly fast - so I just kept up with them til the top and then tried to revive the legs to start running again on the flat bush track.

It was a nice couple of kms, sticking with 3 other blokes before we came out on the road and the guy in front just scooted off on a little rise and nobody could stick with him.
After a short while I realised where we were and knew the finish wasn't far, so just set a comfy pace and crossed the line in 3:32mins, still feeling good. Stoked.

I waited a bit for Andrew and Kathryn, but then started to get cold and shiver (I was soaked to the skin from sweat and rain, and it had started raining harder) so I started jogging back trying to catch them and run the last bit together. I caught them after a while, poor K has turned her ankle 3 times and they'd had some seriously long ferry waits, but amazingly they were running pretty swiftly and my legs struggled to keep up. Especially when Andrew looked at his watch and said "We've got 3 minutes to make it in under 4 hours" and then took off in a flat out sprint!

Kathryn followed and i tried vainly to stick with them, but couldn't match the pace and quickly slowed to a jog to cross the finish again. Dan and Juliet came in at 4.29, so everyone had a great run and was really happy.

I couldn't think of a better way to start off 2010. It's going to be a very good year!