240KM ULTRA, THROUGH THE EYES OF A RUNNER.
Coast to Kosci is an iconic Australian ultra marathon that attracts local and international runners from all backgrounds within the sport of ultra marathons.
This prestigious event is limited to 50 runners who have shown, through previous results, they have what it takes to make the distance. Coast to Kosci is a 240 kilometer race that starts on the beach in Eden, on the New South Wales far south coast and finishes at the Mt Kosciuszko summit which is Australia's highest peak at 7,300 FT.
This event, for me, has been a personal milestone for the following reasons;
*Mt Kosciuszko became my second continental summit this year after I conquered Mt Kilimanjaro earlier this year. These two mountains are a part of the "7 Summits on 7 Continents" challenge.
*The race itself, the Coast to Kosci is one of the best organised and most respected Ultra races in Australia. It's a race where finish times don't matter and for all runners it's a personal journey, experiencing all the highs and lows that are thrown your way throughout the race.
*Racing to raise funds for the "52 for Blue" charity supporting the Beyond Blue organisation that is tackling male depression.
*Finally racing in preparation for BADWATER 135 in California, USA which is recognised as the most demanding and extreme running race offered anywhere on the planet. It covers 135 miles (217km) across some of the most inhospitable landscapes on our planet.
Coast to Kosci 2014.
The morning of the race start, making final checks with support crew who would spent the next 40 hours running around headless to keep me moving forward and running. This phenomenal "crew" consisted of :
RUNGOATRUN. Ultra marathon runner and half goat, Ben Malby, pacer
52FOR BLUE. Brendon Martin, fundraiser and pacer.
FUNCFITNESS, Jaime Martin, Nutritionist, masseuse, and pacer.
Friday the 5th, 5:30 am in Eden, NSW we all lined up on the beach as race director Paul Every signified the start of what would be a very long 2 days ahead , as we all left the start running up the beach to the main road and onto the trails, in which would be short lived as the trails became unsealed road that would set the scene for the next 24 km.
Due to the realisation of what I was about to endure my lack of concentration resulted kicking my toes straight into a rock , not knowing at the time and to only realise at the race finish that this had completely separated the end of my toe, removing the nail and some flesh.
At the 24 km mark our support crews rendezvoused to then start the arduous task of crewing for their runners. Our plan of attack was to have crew vehicle meet along the route every 5km's and aim for 100 calories per the hour in nutrition as this works well for me personally.
As myself and David Kennedy ran together, we both had a comfortable pace going, chatting about all the weird wonderful things and making jokes that probably didn't make sense. Having someone to pace with definitely made the first couple of hours go smoothly ,heading on into Rocky Hall as the checkpoint indicated the 50km mark.
Running strong with David for the next 10 km we hit the first big climb, Known as "Big Jack" 7 km in length of straight up running flatter sections when possible and speed hiking the majority of the climb. Being able to have a pacer for this section helped with keeping the tempo up and not slacking off, Crew member Brendon came for the push.
After reaching the summit of the first range it was out onto open hot, long stretches of road into Cathcart for the next checkpoint. This indicated that just over 70km had been ticked off, meaning a quick change of shoe from my low race flat (Adidas prime knit) into Altra Zero drop one2. This change was made due to change of conditions as there was a long stretch of uneven road also unsealed roads to come.
After leaving the checkpoint on route to Gunningrah Road/Snowy River Way intersection – approximately 106.7 km ,I decided to up the pace to catch back up to David, finding myself at an intersection not knowing what way to go I stopped and waited for a crew car to come through, David's team came through and we happen to make the wrong call only to find out close to 5kms later after running down the wrong road and having to back track.
This mentally set my race backwards as I had lost a lot of time and distance dropping back quite few positions in the field. This lead to my pace increasing and maintain 4 min 40 pace for the next 20 km through the thick fog that had set in, cooling things down. Then the heavens decided otherwise and sent sideways rain , gale force winds and frightening electrical storms across the open plains. This would set the climate for the following hours to come until night fall would hit and the weather calmed down to just cold rain.
Ben Malby was the first to pace after 8:30 at night, joining me for the next stint as we head into the major check point at Dalgety (147.2km ). Leaving the Memorial hall Brendon took over pacing me, who would soon be in for a surprise and slight amusement, but firstly to conquer the steep Beloka Range that ran for 7km almost straight up.
During the steady climb my knee finally gave in to the pain so we stopped and Jaime taped my knee to reduce the movement and stabilise the knee so I could continue onwards with less load on the one leg.
After hitting the top the excitement for Brendon kicked in as I became dazed and fatigued and the "Sleep Monkeys" attacked. I lost all sense of direction except for moving forward falling asleep whilst running Brendon had to run holding my arm to keep me from running into the bush or up the wrong side of the road.
As time went on hallucinations kicked in as the body is trying to shut down. Firstly starting with seeing and believing mid sized Elephants were on the sides of the road and crew vehicles that were never parked on the side of the road but I believed they were there. This lead into seeing different coloured livestock (sheep that I thought were goats) .
This battle would be soon passed onto Ben who started to worry as things didn't improve with my state of mind but I kept moving forward, that's all I knew I had to do.
Ben ran with me till the 175 km mark before swapping over with Brendon who would keep me company as the sun started to rise on Saturday morning , heading into the next stretch towards Jindabyne.
After battling with the "sleep monkeys" till 7:30 little Harry who is 9 years old came along for the run as Brendon worked on sleep for the next 2 km . Mountain goat Ben joined back in for the long haul and working out to be the worst stretch of road as the roads became long, windy and the skies opened up unleashing hail and freezing cold conditions for the following 3hrs down to Jindabyne.
After pushing through Jindabyne the weather continued as storms rolled in and the rain only seem to become worse till we exited the valleys towards Mt Kosciuszko park.
Crew Member Jaime after all her hard work keeping me fuelled and supplying the remaining crew with food and drinks, came out for a stretch of road to her surprise would be 3 and a half hours of uphill, long windy, hot road through Thredbo.
After hitting the top of the snow fields that were baron this time of year Ben jumped back out to pace for the final push up to the base of Mt Kosci via Perisher Village. Once again the skies would open up to torrential cold rain and windy conditions as we ran the final ascent up to the Charlotte's Pass checkpoint (222km mark).
After getting mandatory gear checked off and applying multiple layers for warmth Brendon, Jaime and Myself started the final push toward the summit along the trail, covering ground quickly to keep warm in the rain to prevent or delay the onset of hypothermia. This pace lasted for the first 5km until the cold over came me and we had to stop in the emergency shelter to apply another set of thermals to my soaking wet layers before heading back out.
With only meters to go towards the summit we stopped to take some photos in the snowy/ice covered ground and shared the moment as we hit the summit!
What a relief knowing you have almost finished a race that has tested will power, mind strength and the drive to push further than you ever thought you could.
After spending a short time at the summit at Stezleki Monument, Brendon decided that we are going to sprint the final 9 km decent to catch up to Trevor Allen and Phil Murphy who had a substantial distance on us. So off we went bolting down the mountain , trust me after running 240 km already you don't care about pain anymore and all you want to do is empty the tank and give everything you have .
As we closed the distance, Trevor looked back and realised we were running so he stomped it picking the pace up making it harder to close, as we got down to 1.5 km to go I gave it one big push and closed the distance to 50 meters and it was on, a sprint finish was in place, with Trevor overtaking Phil in the last second and crossing the line respectively in 34:24:46- 16th, with Phil 2 seconds then myself in 34 hours 24 minutes 50 seconds- 18th.
This race has taken my body physically and mentally to new levels, as an athlete, as a person, finish times, awards, recognition don't mean anything to me, I undertake and search for these events to learn more about what I am capable of and to find the limits, breaking points of the human mind and to excel when the going gets tough, not to use excuses as an easy option out.
This race and everyone who ran in this race gave everything to be on the start line and every individual left apart of themselves out there on the remarkable course that is Coast to Kosci.
Thank you for the opportunity in running this race Paul (race director) and I will be back! Many thanks to my Crew - Crews are responsible and make these dreams possible for runners, without these dedicated persons this race would be unachievable.
Thank you to Brendon, Jaime from FUNC Fitness and their supportive kids Harry, Olivia and Georgia who came along to share the experience.
And to Ben Malby, Run Goat Run, this man got me through some dark lows along the race and kept me running forward. Congrats to everyone who started the race, it's an honour to share the roads with you all.
Happy Running!!
