Boston Marathon 2013

Monday April 15, 2013
Patriot’s Day in Boston
Pete and I left our hotel room in Copley Square to walk down Boylston St to meet our mate John. Like the other times I’ve run in Boston, John has managed to get me on to the first VIP bus with past winners. This year was no exception and I had the pleasure of meeting Jack Fultz winner from 1976. We enter the VIP tent with John and keep warm till the police are ready to escort our bus 42 kms to Hopkinton, the start of the Boston marathon.
While most runners are out in the cold in Hopkinton, we had the warmth of the school gym while we waited for our start.

Us with John waiting for the start.

Pete and I were assigned to different corrals for the start, so I went back from Wave 3, 3rd corral to the 6th… which now, in hindsight could have been a godsend. The first corral of Wave 3 was due to start running at 10:40am, corral 6, some time later.
I had given Pete a charity entry to run the marathon for Christmas and the plan was to run the whole 26.2 miles with him…. my long suffering husband. By 13 miles, he was suffering. Was he dehydrated, sapped of all energy, suffering from ITB, possibly gone out too fast? Yes folks, all of the above. I had reminded him a few times that 5 min k’s is not a great idea…..
He was hurting.
We had friends out on the course, first Bill and his sign for us at the halfway mark, then Debbie just a bit further on in Wellesley.

Photo taken by Debbie at the half way point.

It was great to have some locals we knew cheering from the sidelines.
As Pete suffered I managed to hug a Bernese Mountain Dog, Hi 5 the crowd and generally enjoy the day. Just up the top of Heartbreak Hill we saw Bill again and I knew that the rest of the run was pretty much downhill.
John had mentioned that the Citgo sign at around 25 miles tells the runners that they are so close to the finish… Not even seeing that sign made Pete smile. We passed the “1 Mile to go” sign. Running along Commonwealth Ave we were passed by Police motorbikes… Heaps of them. I was a little concerned as I knew they weren’t escorting us as “winners” to the finish line… then the ambos. Lots of ambulances.
A minute later we were stopped in our tracks. 500 metres from the finish line just before we make the right onto Hereford St and then the last left onto Boylston St and the finish line.
Standing around, Pete looked pale, felt sick and had to sit down before he fainted. He was freezing cold and generally looked like shit.
The runners were very calm at first, we heard that there had been an explosion. All those with mobile phones were madly dialling to try to get through to friends at the finish. There were very few able to connect. The news got worse. Some were crying with worry, major confusion and no official giving us info or direction on what to do.
We were in running gear and cold, we were getting snippets of info. This was bad. Somehow, we found John behind us and we decided to get out of the area….. To where?
Poppy (John’s daughter) gave Pete her jacket and we started to walk. John and Poppy decided to drive back to Cambridge and we thought the best thing would be to get back to our hotel….. Yeah, right. We walked towards Boston Common past blood on the pavement, the smell of explosives in the air and the hint of fear in the police. We asked one policeman if we could get through to the Marriott when an announcement out of his radio informed him that there was to be a ” controlled” explosion in 60 seconds. He told us pretty simply that we needed to get outta there. 60 seconds later, there was an explosion.
We kept walking towards Boston Common and then right into Berkeley St to what would be a lot further past the finish line. Starbucks! We were freezing. We had been handed space blankets but the wind was a shocker. Fortunately Pete had a bit of cash and his phone. Our daughter Sal rang from Sydney. How she managed to get through when they were suspending all cellphone coverage in fear of more bombs going off, I have no idea. Great to know that family knew we were safe and together. Coffee and a warm spot to sit for a while… Lots of grit in my eyes. Listened to a guy next to us who was right in the thick of it. He was crying and traumatized and we started to put the enormity of it together.
Next minute, the police evacuated Starbucks… Out into the cold. No warm gear as we couldn’t get to our drop bags which were in the VIP tent at the finish line. Other runners were able to collect theirs out of the school buses lined up further away from the finish area.
We decided to try to get to the Marriott on the other side of the finish. The area was shut off. We were freezing, confused and had buckleys chance of getting into the hotel as it was being evacuated as we tried to approach it. We found a bar…. with only enough money for one drink….
We were freezing. (Have I told you we were cold?) We walked into the bar and the footage on the TV was horrific. I had tears streaming down my face.
How many times had Pete told me to keep going? Maybe the smartest decision I’ve made in a long time was to stay together. We had gone through the 30 km in 2:55 before Pete started to take walking breaks. I may have finished before the tragedy but then we would never have managed to find each other afterwards. I had no phone, hotel key was in my dropbag, no cash, no credit card… BUT, I had my husband. What if Debbie or Bill had been waiting and watching at the finish line?? Thinking about what could have happened makes me sick.
So we had our one drink. Had to move away from two very loud local guys who were actually happy about being evacuated and having to leave work. Not enough $ for a second round, Pete asked the staff if we could give them our visa card # expiry date and ccv # so we could buy some food. We were the only people in the bar in running gear…pretty obvious that we weren’t trying to rip them off? They refused. He put all his cash together to buy me another wine. (amazing what a crying woman can get) It left him with $1.
A young guy came up and gave me 3 marathon t-shirts that I think he’d been given when the Marathon Sports window blew out in the bomb. Another guy gave us some gu. We really must have looked quite desperate.
Two young girls in their 20′s came and talked to us. Molly and Caroline. Molly had been involved in the Boston Marathon marketing until a year or two ago and Caroline was an ER doctor at the Children’s hospital. Molly was really upset by everything that had gone on and Caroline was waiting to be called into the hospital. They were absolute angels.
They made us sit with them and asked what they could do for us. Pete pulled the $1 out of his pocket and begged for a beer. I really wish I had video of that…. So, they gave us beer, wine and food. The most wonderful two people you could ever wish to meet. Generous, warm and caring to two cold, old, sad runners. They wouldn’t allow us to leave without them coming back to make sure we could get into our hotel room, otherwise they were taking two very cold, smelly, penniless old runners back to their place.

Yes, we did look quite desperate…just looked at the photo with Molly and Caroline which was taken when we managed to get through the back entrance of the Marriott around 8pm. The space blanket isn’t quite as stylish as the Skirt Sports gear underneath….
The next day, after very little sleep we ventured out to the closed off streets to try to get our drop bags. It was a war zone.

Photo of the Marriott foyer the morning after.
Cameras, police, bomb squad and yellow tape everywhere. Tents of post race food, Gatorade, bananas and rolls stocked like the race hadn’t finished…

I had no phone or Internet from before the race till Thursday. Pete had email contact but I really sort of shut down. I’m still exhausted. The TV coverage over here has been continuous. How those guys could kill an 8-year-old kid waiting for his dad to finish a marathon makes me sick. I told Pete what I’d like to do to these guys… maybe not what you people want to hear. The dead one got off easy. These two cowards have changed the lives of so many people witness to this and also to sports events worldwide. Arseholes.
So, what good comes out of this after so much despair and devastation?
I have a family that will always be first and foremost in my life. A marathoner lost his 8-year-old son, his 6-year-old daughter has lost a leg and her brother. His wife has sacrificed a child and has some brain injury and a daughter that can’t walk down the aisle at her wedding like ours will in September . The marathoner dad must have the world on his shoulders … What should have been a proud moment has been violated and turned into the most painful day in his life.

Run For Tomorrow

I have been asked for more info on what I’ve been invited to be part of!
All this info is from the website. I’m pretty stoked to be one of the 10 runners.
“r4t is a continuous relay run around the world by a 10-person team of experienced distance runners. The 10 runners will complete the 26.2 mile distance and then give the scroll (baton) to the next runner, who runs the next 26.2 miles, and passes the scroll to the next core runner and so on. The scroll never stops moving. Each day, the team will cover approximately 120 miles as the runners continuously pass the ‘Commitment Scroll’ to one another (through night and day).
For all the info have a look at

http://www.r4t.org/

“The R4T ‘Big Run’ is scheduled to begin in September 2013, in Ottawa, Canada, and returns to Ottawa in April several months later. The runners will run through southern Ontario, Canada and the United States in the Fall of 2013. We head to Toronto form Ottawa, and move our way down to the US border at Windsor. We enter the United States via Detroit before heading to Los Angeles via Chicago, Kansas and Denver. From there we head up to Vancouver via San Francisco, Portland and Seattle, and then we head to NZ and Australia and Southeast Asia. We run through India and fly over to run through South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania. We then fly up to southern Europe and run through numerous European countries before heading into the United Kingdom. We return to the US in April, in New York, and head to Boston and Montreal before returning to Ottawa, 32 countries and 360 million people later, as well as having a new Guinness World Record for a relay run!!!

C2K 2012

It has come to be tradition in the Trumper house that Christmas stays on the back burner until after the first Friday in December, plus a few days.. It is also tradition for Charlie, my son to receive a prize at Speech Day… and for 4 years I have missed it to do this crazy race. I’d had a bad cold, temperature and bad cough for the last 10 days. Was I going to be well enough to run?
I didn’t want to let my crew down.

I had my running mate Adam who I met “online” as “Kaos” a couple of years ago. He’d offered me a lift up to Mt Solitary 45km ultra but warned that there were finger nails embedded in his dash board. My girls were horrified and made me text his Rego plate when I got in his car….. fast forward to this year and we have done some great runs together. Enough for me to ask him to pace me for the last 75 kms of Great North Walk (175 kms of tough hilly trail)

So, he knows my highs and lows pretty well from that…. and I like his wife. He farts, but apart from that, he’s a pretty cool dude and knows when to encourage and when to just shut up. He knew I wasn’t well and I was confident that he would have severe words with me if he was concerned about any serious health issues.
Next on my crew was Sarah Jane, my competition for the happiest runner. Every time I had been at a run with her we’d had a great time. I asked her to crew at the CP Ultra in September and she’d said yes before I’d finished the question …always happy, positive and full of beans.

She also had the organisation skills of a hardened C2K crew member with EVERY box ticked. The sort of person that just makes you happy to be alive.
My third crew member was a guy called Ron. We were lucky enough to have some great training runs together on the GNW before we ran the 100 miler in November. Nice guy. Walks on water…

Relaxed, pleasant chatter and I could happily run with him for 100kms or so before I got bored He’d told me that if I knew anyone that needed crew at C2K to let them know he was interested…. as I had 3 crew already I let another runner know…. silly them didn’t take up the offer and when my third crew member had to pull out with some trying times with her partner’s health issues,(fortunately all good now) I grabbed him. 3 awesome crew, none of them had seen C2K before and really didn’t know each other. Recipe for disaster? Nah, fresh enthusiastic awesomeness. Hey, I’d run this 3 times now, they can just listen to orders, right?
I was prepared to journey down to Eden on the Wednesday and make my mind up on the Thursday afternoon if I was well enough to run. In the back of my mind I knew I should be a DNS. I’d rather not start than be a DNF. My crew were quiet, they were happy with whatever decision I made… supportive, but aware that it needed to be my decision. By Thursday I was definitely improving and took a cup of concrete and decided to get on the start line and see what happens.
Friday came and we were all in high spirits as we congregated on the sand at Twofold Bay. What were the next 240 plus kms going to be like? I had decided to wear my “lucky” dress. I’d started and finished the Simpson Desert in this dress and wore it again for luck at GNW and done close to a 4 hour PB. Had it run out of luck?
The countdown came and we were off.

I do love the first 24kms to Towamba playing leap frog with Jan as he powers up the hills and then we all overtake him on the downs. (He’s the big tall dude in white striding out next to me in that photo) He must have passed me around 6 times before I was ahead and didn’t see him again. Ran a bit with some old mates including Roger, my #1 wingman from the last two years… reckon he knew all my secrets after crewing for me for two years.

Met Kerrie from Qld. Smart girl that one. She ran a great race, hanging back early on then powering through the field. The first meeting place with crews was at 24kms. Last year my crew had decided I’d be there around 8.30am, 10 mins after I had arrived… my crew this year decided the same I ran past all the other crews swearing that my crew were useless (just wanted to give the crews something to talk about, it was going to be a long day….)
I had my pack on and needed nothing.. but it was nice when they finally decided to show
The rules this year had changed and we couldn’t have our crew run with us until sunset, so Friday was going to be hard for them, squashed in a car for the day. Fortunately I had hooked up with my mate Kieron by the marathon mark and we had plenty to talk about and enjoyed having some company. We ran the 56 kms to the bottom of Big Jack Mountain where we met our crews. This was the only 7kms of hill our crew could walk with us until sunset and it was a welcome distraction from the slug ahead. Kieron’s crew of Joe, Emma and Lise had pretty much teamed up with mine and were all having a ball.

Looked like Kieron and I would have to run together for a bit longer to keep our crews bonding ….. which we did.

Pretty sad to pass Chilliman spewing what I could only describe as 5 litres of orange gatorade. Kieron and I continued to run together until the dead tree at 103kms where I scoffed down a cup of noodles. I was on a mission to put as much as possible in my mouth. Small but often. I had been in enough ultras to witness other runners plans go to the pack by not putting in enough fuel. Today was not the day to worry about too many calories…. quite the oppposite.

It wasn’t long after the dead tree that I had picked up Adam at the next checkpoint at 8.30pm and we were running on bitumen. I had felt pretty good during the day but the night air had me coughing consistently. The coughing had me retching…. consistently. Poor Adam. He had waited all day to go for a run and all he got was a few downhill runs and a lot of heaving and walking from me and hardly any conversation. I don’t think he’d ever seen me not upbeat…. except for a few kms around the 165km mark near the end of GNW.
Just get me to Dalgetty in one piece. My words for the night were a boring “oh dear….” Never had I been sick enough to not put a few four lettered words together. I had thought more than once that it would have been a good idea if I hadn’t started…. I was tired and thought that maybe I had bitten off more than I could chew with not being 100% healthy. I knew my fitness was pretty good after finishing GNW in a PB of 31:43. The chest infection was a bigger issue.
Dalgetty…. I felt like shit. I had to eat, I wanted to sleep. Sapped of energy, I put my head on the table and had a good talk to myself. I could walk the rest of the way… all 100kms of it and finish…. the thought of being out there for another 22hours?
Shit no.
Notice how there is a lack of photos around now??
I’ll stick a nice happy shot that is obviously NOT from about now….
Get up and get out of the chair. It was Ron’s turn to run. We started off ok, but after nearly 10kms I couldn’t understand what he was saying and wanted a seat in the car. Just give me 10 mins. I jumped in to the back seat (Adam and Sarah were attempting to sleep in the front) and put my head down.
12 minutes later I got out of the car and felt so much better. It was getting light and Ron and I were off again to find the bottom of Buloka Range and the 100 mile mark. Walking up the hill Rhian (Medic) drove past and asked how I was…. what a stuid f#@^ing question to ask someone who has been moving for 24hours and going up the steepest hill of the whole race. I gave him an earful, so he obviously knew I still had enough energy for a bit of verbal abuse This was the time I also passed Lisa. A much better runner than me, sitting on the guard rail on a steep section. “She’s a tough bugger, she’ll finish” I thought.
The top of the range and there was some nice running down to Jindabyne. My feet were hurting. Should have kept to my Hoka Bondi B’s like last year, where I was still able to run at the 210km mark near Perisher.
It was getting hot. There was some guy running into Jindy with me and Ron… a bearded guy that had crewed for some guy in the Westfield Sydney to Melbourne years ago. My feet hurt… I wasn’t really interested in talking. Jindabyne… the start of one huge bastard of a hill.
I popped a few blisters when we got to the caravan park. Then my feet REALLY hurt… but at least they could fit in my shoes.
Sarah Jane had the pleasure of my miserable company for the trek up to Thredbo River. It was hot. I was there a few hours before the cutoff. As long as I didn’t collapse I was going to get a hat pin. Really? A hat pin??

I’d mentioned a spray water bottle to Sarah a few days before we left Sydney, she’d organised it and I enjoyed getting sprayed. I hadn’t seen the sweeps since early in the race and was comfortable knowing that Rod and Rob’s jokes were behind me and I didn’t expect to see them again. Two great guys…. giving the what I thought about 8 or 9 people behind me grief… This really is the only race that you want everyone to finish. The entry criteria is so tough that all the competitors deserve to finish. I had no idea what was happening behind me.
Like last year, I hadn’t been passed by anyone since the 50km mark before Big Jack …. and that was Peter Bennett….again. I was pretty happy knowing that I wasn’t dropping off pace any more than anyone else.
There’s nothing nice about passing someone doing it tough. … Don’t know when I passed Trevor Allen but it wasn’t as memorable as passing him last year as he did his zombie walk down the hill to Jindabyne.
I passed Arnie at Perisher and then enjoyed seeing the awesomeness of fast guys driving down the mountain…. especially Michael West. What a great guy. Had a good chat with him as I bullshitted my way into looking happy walking up a hill and he shone like a gold star in the front seat of a comfy car…. Great guy… just like Ewan. Love the humbleness that these fast guys have. Then there was my mate Rob Mason… Mr Happy and why not with such a gorgeous wife?
Getting to Charlotte Pass gives me a sense of fullfillment…

It’s the first time in 220kms that you have a minute with Paul and Diane. I don’t know how these guys do it but they seem to make every runner feel like they are the only person on the planet when you get to the start of what can only be described as a pilgrimage … 9 kms up to the top of Australia and then the torturous 9km trek back down to the finish.
This race is about the people. Not just the runners, but the crew support given to us all. Kevin and John had gone back up to the snow drift to cut stairs and peg rope to keep it safe.

I held it together until about 4 kms from the finish. I was totally stuffed. Adam threatened to carry me (which I knew was mechanical aid …. so I was still functioning mentally….well sort of… The finish is always a bit of a blurr…. a drunken memory of fullfillment… I think. Lots of love, hugs and a bunch of caring people. Diane giving me sweet black tea that came up so nicely when I got to the hotel back at Jindy Shower… wet hair… bed.
Sunday….What could be better than having Mick Donges serve you breakfast…. what a God like creature…. So, that set the day up right? Seriously the best day in the year.

Surrounded by my crew and fellow runners and their crews… nothing beats the presentation. This race is the pinacle… it is Christmas… December wouldn’t be the same without it.
To have Paul call me “bomb proof”…. probably really meant I was an idiot to start the race unwell…. but I’ll take it as a compliment Farewells on Sunday are for those silly enough not to hang for another night…. and then dinner with the stayers.
To Paul and Diane, I love this race. Thankyou for making it so special.
To my crew, Adam, Sarah Jane and Ron, thankyou for a fabulous weekend, all your help to get me through what was the toughest race I have finished. There were plenty of times I had wished I hadn’t started, but now I am just so glad I did. When is enough enough?

My 100th Marathon. Sydney. September 16th.

So it’s just a number. My 100th marathon was really all about being surrounded by so many great running friends and my family. One of my great running buddies, Keith Hong, had arranged special bibs for people to run with, drinks at the finish and made my day special. Before the day I was really looking forward to doing marathon #101 and moving past all the hype, but when September 16 came, it was just like going to a big party. I had never not finished a marathon and even thought it could be kinda fun to make today the day….. fall over just before the finish line? I did feel I’d hit 100 a while ago with some of the “unofficial” marathons like Great Ocean Road (45kms) and 6Ft Track (45kms)
I was a member of North America’s 100 marathon club ages ago as they count all ultras like Coast To Kosciuszko (250kms) as a marathon!
I had decided that it would be more fun to be one of the official pacers and run around with a flag encouraging runners than trying to get a good time. What a great decision. The pressure was off and all I had to concentrate on was keeping each kilometre split evenly paced. I ran as the official 4:30 pacer with Duncan and had a ball. Lots of runners on our bus and off our bus…. It was great to encourage others. Last time I’d run around 4.20 in Sydney for the marathon, it involved stopping off for a beer in Oxford St at 10 am with Blue Dog, so 4:30 should be easy

Photo taken by mate Marcus Warner in Centennial Park.
There were plenty of friends running and the out and back sections gave me time to see lots of mates. With daughter Sal doing the 21kms, I had her better half, Todd, running with me in his first marathon, Pete my husband, mates like Richo all made for a special day. The last km to the finish was lined with so many friends. It was like my own wedding reception line…..
So, what’s next? My crazy mate Ray is up to around 150 marathons and has already talked about wanting a lot more. I blame him for some of my craziness… including running my 1st 100 miler with him. I don’t know what’s next. I’m not planning on stopping anytime soon. One of my kids asked me the other day “When was the last time you went away for a night that didn’t involve a run?” I don’t know the answer…. I can’t remember.
I think I’m looking more towards a few more outback adventures which may slightly slow down my marathon count. I need to mix it up a bit and hell knows at 51, maybe I might start to enjoy crochet?…. doubt it though…

Great North Walk 100 miler (176kms of torturous fun…)

 

Wow, what a weekend. After a few months of solid training with some great mates, the weekend went well for most of us. Huge congrats to Beth and Brendan, two of the most humble legends in the game.
Drove up with Andy Bowen and grabbed some lunch before checking into Warners and repacking CP bags. I had decided this year to make the most of running mate Adam (Kaos) pacing after the state I have ended up in the last two years. Surely I could get a third finishers medal and make it 3 out of 5 GNW 100 milers? As the evil RD mentioned in the Race Briefing, this is the only event I have ever DNF’d. This race is tough with over 20,000ft of elevation.
The weather was perfect, the race start as laid back as the RD. Photo of me and Gordi at the relaxed start.

I had looked at Marg Chu’s splits from last year and had a wish to keep the momentum she had last year for my goal. If I could finish around 33hours I’d be a happy camper. I planned to get to CP 1 at 28.6 kms by 10.30am (4hrs 30 mins) and ran in with Kirrily after hooking up just after Heatons Gap. Best decision of the day. Talk about hooking up!
Out of CP 2 by 2pm and Basin by 8pm which could have been a disaster after Paul Every popped over with a Chardy for me…
Training on the course made navigation much easier and I knew Kirrily and I wouldn’t get lost.
We got to the 100km finish in under 17 hours and wondered what had happened to Ray as John (support) was nowhere to be seen at Yarramalong….. I picked up my pacer, Adam and keeping Kirrily with me made for a great night’s running… just needed one more bit of fun…..Sat in a chair next to some young thing and heckled him to come with the old bag until he got up and came with us….. Michael Hardie, you are made of tough stuff. We left Michael on the road after Ourimbah Creek and hoped he’d not pull out at Somersby. So happy to see he finished. The Dead Horse Creek section was tough. We lost the trail for a wild 5 mins or so. Very happy to have not been on my own. Adam had the maps on his Garmin and came in handy!
All was going well and I was pretty excited to leave Somersby still with my head torch! Wow… happy to have got so far in the night! All I needed to concentrate on was keeping the food down. Eat.
The last CP at Mooney Mooney was a welcome sight and I just wanted to get onto the last section and not look back. With my sunnies and visor in the Somersby bag which I didn’t think about (being dark) Emma (Mrs Joey) donned me in her stuff and I was on my merry way. I was grateful to have Adam with us as I kept questioning the trail. I had trained on this section but the tired mind was playing games and some sections did not look familiar.
It wasn’t until after Mt Wondabyne that I started to want to sit down. Past the tip and Adam, Kirrily and myself cracked open my coke. It was heating up. The kilometres from around 165 to 172 were ugly. There was not much talk happening and we all just silently plugged away …. slowly. That section was nasty. Once across the road and onto the single track I was excited and started to trot. Glad I couldn’t see Kirrily’s face. We were going to finish well and it was time to just get it over and done with.
The last sign to Patonga and back on trail, I grabbed Kirrily and told her we’d done it. I think she was wanting quiet time to reflect… and I wrecked her special time. There was something fabulous about how we’d stayed together without any plan to do so. Back near CP 2 I had mentioned how cool it would be to have a like minded runner to share the weekend. We hit the beach and seriously joked about pushing each other into the water…. just couldn’t be bothered. We both hit that silly little sign that means so much to those that attempt this race with 31:43 on the clock. Better race than I could ever have imagined. 3rd Female over the line… A podium finish!! Huge thanks to both Kirrily and Adam for the most fun you can have in this event. Happy, happy.
Injuries… not one blister. A black eye from a stupid fall between Cp1 and 2. and 2 Leech bites… need to rub Gurney Goo around my ankles next time, not just my feet. Leeches don’t like the stuff.
Very excited to try the 2013 Hoka Rapa Nui Trail shoe. They made me go fast!
I’d had some great training runs with a bunch of awesome people and it appears we had luck on our side. Joe, Ron, Rob, Allison (woo hooo!!) and Mike in the miler, Kieron and Sarah Jane in the 100km all successful finishers
Very happy to see Whippet continue his run, what a gentleman. Spud, Tall Geoff and Nikolay, awesome results.
My man of the day was Damien Smith… 3rd place, no pacer and not from Sydney.
Gutsy efforts from Gordi and Ridler. Mr Determination Luis told me when I passed him before the Basin that he was pulling out….that tablespoon of concrete and another 100kms to run…. Huge congrats for getting to the finish!
Disappointed for Ray and Bill, I really hope they both front up next year. It’s bad enough not having Blue Dog run but loved seeing him at the finish.

http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/jane-trumper-keen-to-see-milestone-pass-her-by/

Show serious running some love! Please donate here to Bear Cottage right now!! Thank you : )

Show serious running some love! Please donate here to Bear Cottage right now!! Thank you : )

Mt Solitary. 45kms of “fun” 3,000 metres of ascent…

What a great Sunday. Up at sparrow’s fart to meet up with chauffeur David (also photographer extraordinaire), Kathy and Colette. Thanks to Adam for his car pooling organisation. Adam or more affectionately known as “KAOS” and I have known each other since Mt Sol last year. My kids were quite disturbed when I told them last year that I was being driven to the Blue Mountains by some guy I had never met… called Kaos..  I was very quickly reminded of safety issues and #1 daughter wanted his rego # as soon as I got in the car Anyhoo… this year we arrived in plenty of time with a frenzy of trusty parking attendants. Ben has far too much faith in people’s driving skills at 6am. Seems everyone stopped before they hit him….
Sean and Mel were as usual up early smiling and directing all runners in the right direction to gear check with Jo, then to Dean and Jo for race #.
Had to put up with the typical banter from Sarge…..who is so much nicer after I’ve had a wine or two.
The weather was cold at the start but how great was it to have such a clear day after missing out on the view from the top last year. I ran with so many talkative, lovely people. What a warm fuzzy vibe the whole day was blanketed in.
The top of Furber was like a slice of heaven with a decent slurp of coke from Buzz, Dean and Julie from Pink First Aid (I think she realized that the Hoka wearers don’t get blisters after I went through…)
The last 10kms from Jamison Valley and up Kedumba is always emotional for me. Remembering the phone call at the water crossing in TNF 3 years ago to say my brother had just died just gets me….. and then Kedumba. It’s so good to be alive and surrounded by such motivated, decent, happy, inspirational people in such a beautiful place.
To finish a run like that and have Luis throwing his rug over my shoulders, Buzz giving me his parka, Jaci sitting me in a chair and giving me someone else’s hard earned coke, Marty shouting me a can of soft drink….. did I look that bad?? I felt like shit…….I don’t think it was from looking at Halfwaydown’s feet …. I definitely didn’t eat enough. During the run I had one gel (not my favourite form of calories), two electrolyte tablets, two caffeine tabs, 2L water and an Up and Go. Coke, one piece of banana and watermelon at the 24km CP.
However…. I was very happy with my time. I was hoping to beat last year’s 8:22 and sneak in under 8 hours. So 7:39 was better than I imagined. It was nice to not be worried about seeing sweepers Brick and Jo behind me.
Felt seriously sorry for Helen and Ben on the timing having to listen to Luke on the mic for so long…..BUT Luke you are better to listen to than look at.
Pretty sure the car on the way home was full of nitrous oxide. Four very happy people and great new friends.
Thanks to all involved for putting on such a tough event with so many smiling, fabulous faces.

Hunter Valley and M7 to finish off 6 marathons in July

The marathon frenzy in July continues….. even managed to throw in a “Motherly” moment by getting into the city on Saturday morning to watch Charlie receive his Gold Duke of Ed award from Marie Bashir. That kid never ceases to amaze me. Met up with daughter  Sal and (her boyfriend) Todd to hot foot it up to the Hunter for lunch at Tatler. Perfect pre marathon prep So great to see that they have the Half Marathon hype happening

Arrived at the race rego and picked up our bibs and some awesome new gear from Skirts Sports and Injinji. New dress, leggings, visor and arm warmers all got a workout the next day…. Who ever said not to wear anything new on race day hasn’t worn their gear! Not a chafe in sight

http://injinjiper.cart.net.au/store/skirt-sports/

July 22nd….. Hunter Valley marathon saw so many of the usual tragics at the start line and a virgin road marathoner. She’s a trail ultra chick but had never run an official 42.195kms on road. Great to have a mate to chat to and forget about what we were doing. We were also too busy watching a Bride and Groom start the race and get hitched at Audrey’s on the first lap. They carried on running, finishing the marathon in just under 4:30…..

Kirrily and I ran together for the first 27kms before she left me in her dust going down the hill after Audrey Wilkinson Wines. I felt pretty good the whole run and was aiming for a cruisy 4:15. Very happy to get through the 42 kms in 4:03. Could I have done a sub 4hour Hunter Valley? Definitely. Shame I didn’t realise how well I was going until the last couple of k’s. That’s a PB for the HV so pretty stoked to see that my times aren’t slowing down.

For the next 6 days I recovered and tapered with only about 30kms of running. I don’t feel at all nervous about running my 100th marathon in September, but I am in cotton wool mode to keep injuries at bay (well, sort of…)

July 29th M7 Cities marathon was always going to be a cruise. As the official 4:30 pacer, I was pretty relaxed and happy to help out. Was a lonely bus….. started with a great group of happy runners (this is the happy photo)….. and finished on my own. Everyone fell off the bus or decided to run ahead.. and most of those that ran ahead I passed in the last 10kms.  Met some great people and tried to pick a few up as I ran past but nobody seemed to want to play Gee some people just don’t know how to have a good time when they run. (won’t show you any sad photos…)

I ran in a pair of Hoka Evo Tarmacs that were couriered to me on Friday and hadn’t run a step in. Stupid? Nah, just proving the point that you can put a brand new pair of Hokas on, run 42kms and feel like you’re wearing your favourite ugh boots at the finish Feeling good for the tough Mt Solitary 45kms next weekend.

Cairns 3 Marathons in 3 days. July 6-8 2012

3 Marathons in 3 days. Cairns July 6-8 2012 #94/95/96

So what do I do to add a marathon due to the nightmare of finding out Canberra Bush Capital marathon was changing the day of their run without telling anyone until a month before?

Enter Cairns Road Running Club. Meet Race Directors Lorraine and Larry Lawson. With my son Charlie doing his HSC this year, I want to be around in the next few months. After the Simpson crossing I had decided to be at home as much as possible. 3 nights away to get me to marathon # 96 was a no brainer. Makes the next few months till my 100^th in Sydney much less stressful.

I flew to Cairns on the Thursday afternoon ready to run the first marathon on Friday. One phone call from David and Brenda from the Cairns Road Runners and I was now being picked up outside my hotel accommodation instead of lugging my gear to the designated pickup post at the hospital.  One gesture like that from the Club was the feeling for the whole three days.

Awesome organisation. Nothing was too much for the Club. They went out of their way to make sure the runners were happy, safe, supported and looked after….. all the way to making sure I had a lift back to the airport after marathon #3.

With really no idea on what to expect, I saved myself on Friday’s 1st marathon as I had been told # 2 was harder. Met so many of the runners on Day 1 from up north and they didn’t disappoint. I found it quite humbling to have someone come up and almost bow and ask if I was Jane… ran a fair bit with him, thank you for your company David. Lots of single trails to run with Lawyer vine (Wait a while) that stopped us in our tracks when caught on our clothes or skin.  Plenty of water crossings to cool the legs and slow us down… weather was great for running but crap for lazing around in the afternoon. Finishing the first marathon in just over 6 hours, I was pretty happy to get up and run the next day. I felt good.

There were a few hard core runners (where’s Josh??) missing from the start on Day 2… How much harder could it be? The profile made the middle of the run look like an uphill climb for about 7kms. I was pretty surprised to see the 27km checkpoint when I did and happily motored on home finishing 20 minutes faster than yesterday. The courses were tough, I was happy with my pace and how well I knew my body. I wore my Hoka Evo Tarmac prototype with the trail sole. Paired with my Injinji’s, feet were pristine after 84.4kms.

Had an awesome meal with some runners at Cedar Park Saturday night, Jason and Sarah from WA and Eduardo. Back to my room for the packing and organising for the next day’s run and flight home.

Sunday morning, day 3, there were again a few people missing at the start line. How cool would it be to have a race where you just fronted up each day… give a generous cut off like 6:30hrs and just put on a marathon every day. How long would it take to have one man standing?…. mmm, how much annual leave do I have ??

Marathon #3 was by far the easiest for me. The last half (apart from the last 3kms) was downhill. I had the added enjoyment of running with David, Adam and Lorraine. 2 locals and my mate from Sydney…. It was always comforting to have the talkative Lorraine nearby… she knows the route

Photo of AURA members running 3 in 3 days.

Finished Marathon #3 in 5:10 in good shape ready to take on Hunter Valley in a fortnight.  The trails were tough in spots and with no idea what to expect, I took the whole 3 days running at a pretty cruisy pace. The sub 4 hr marathon at the Gold Coast only 5 days earlier gave me confidence to just notch up 3 days of solid running and treat it like a holiday.

Great homemade food at aid stations the banana muffins at the finish!!!!??? YUMMM!!

…..Was it because we runners smell after 3 days and they wanted me back on the plane?? Well it was for the lovely Qantas man in customer service that got me on a flight boarding 5 mins after I got to the airport and blocking 3 seats for a smelly runner! Saved a 3 hour wait for my flight.

Fabulous weekend. Definitely a must do, not just for the trails but to experience the hospitality of Cairns Road Runners.