From: Philip Murphy (smurphs@bigpond.com)
Subject: Six Foot Track Marathon Report (longish)
Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2002 19:52:55 +1100

This was my second marathon and first attempt at anything over 42.2km.
To say I was a little anxious was an understatement. It dawned to a
beautiful day in the Blue Mountains, clear blue sky with temps in the low
teens(celsius).
Got to the start line with an hour and a half to spare, had some billie tea,
sipped on a sports drink and chatted with some of the more experienced
mountain runners. There was a record turn out this year for this arduous
mountain marathon, numbers reaching 600 plus. Two wave start 8am and 8:15am.
The reason been, the first 2k is down into Nellie's Glen, a slipppery single
file satircase down an escarpment, on which at least one runner every year
ends up in hospital.
I was in the second wave and after watching the first wave start off at a
furious pace to the staircase figured I would hold back. I regretted this as
it took almost 25 minutes to get down to the valley floor. I finally got to
stride out a little as we made our way through some paddocks.
The first 16kms to the Coxs River is mostly downhill with a lot of single
file trail
running so it was difficult to get any kind of stride happening. This was a
blessing however, as it forces you to take it easy on this section and save
some energy for later (when it's needed) .
I got to chatting with various runners along this section and was feeling
comfortable. I didn't have a time goal as such for this run, as I couldn't
predict how I would handle the hills. I spoke with a friend at the start and
explained that I had done a 3:45 road marathon, he reckoned I should do the
six foot in the 5:30 -5:45 range. Surprised me a little as I never expected
to
be running for that amount of time!! Longest training run was 3:30, it would
have to do.
Reached the Coxs river in 1:40. Water was waist high and very refreshing.
Considered taking shoes off and holding them head high as I crossed but
ended up just trudging through it in the end. On the other side I took my
shoes off, rung my socks out and tried to clear the sand out of them.
This is where the race really begins with the first major hill. Climbing
450mtrs in 3km was real tough. I walked all of this climb and ran the flat
at the top. The trail runs down into a saddle and over another river "little
river". Almost immediately we are faced with the steepest and longest climb
the Pluviometer which ascends another 500mtrs over about 5km. Almost every
runner walked this section. I reached the top and filled up on bananas and
water melon at the aid station, trying to drink at least 2-3 cups of water
too. The sun started to heat up a little here as there is not a whole lot of
shade. The next 10km are thru what's known as the Black Range which is an
undulating trail through forest. Never really get a chance to stride out
here either as its a long gradual climb to the Caves Road. I was feeling
pretty strong at this point with about 10km to go.
Chatted with a few runner along this stretch and that helped get me through
a tough stage mentally. I was starting to get those thoughts of "damn this
is hard", "can I lie down now" etc..
Got over the doubts and was running well within myself again. I decided to
try and pick up the pace for the last 6km which are mainly downhill. With
about 2km to go the trail drops down steeply to a paths full of loose gravel
and stones. I could here the people at the finish (Caves House) cheering and
clapping in the distance and it felt great knowing the finish line was in
sight. I really could not of imagined how tough those final 2kms were. I so
wanted to sprint down them but my knees and quads were screaming at me to
slow down. Got to the final 50meters which incidently is the only section of
bitumen for the entire course and sprinted to the finish. What an incredible
feeling!! 5:31 I was thrilled. The crowds were fantastic and the runners
very friendly and chatty too! I thoroughly enjoyed this run and will be back
next year (older and wiser)

 I learned a lot from this race about myself in terms of endurance and what
my body can take. I was a little worried about eating so much on the run but
never had a problem and cramping was not an issue.I wanted to try and go out
slow hold back and feel strong at the end which i did. I know I could run
further at the end which was very pleasing for ultra aspirations in the
future. All in all it was a very satisfying run. ;-)

Resting this week and enjoying my recovery. Sorry if this report is a little
long winded.

Phil