I had a busy November and I kept going until 1 December just to be sure. In November I did Carcoar Marathon, Marysville 50 km, weekend off, Lilydale Marathon and then I ran the Bruny Island Ultra 64 km on 1 December to end my year of races.
Bruny Island was a bit different from other ultras in having only two (very modest) aid stations on the course so we had to bring our own support. I took Dom. He drove while I ran, and we met up at intervals so that he could hand me lollies and drinks. Most of the field is made up of teams whose members run segments of the course which can range from two kilometres to doing 32 km each as a couple, or any variation in between. So it’s a fully supported relay race with a contingent of solo runners.
I was nervous about how it would be to run with so many cars (one per solo runner and often several per team) sharing the road, whether I would spot Dom among the support vehicles and whether he would spot me. In the end none of these became issues, the cars didn’t throw up too much dust on the dirt roads and I didn’t feel as though I were running in heavy traffic. Although there was a bad bit of snarl up as I approached the lighthouse right at the end of the race where I had to weave through the cars. And as we drove away from the finish after the race this problem had become much worse with the cars unable to move forward or back and the runners having almost nowhere to run (or walk).
A great deal of the route was on gravel roads and almost none of it was flat. The hills were gradual and longer in the first, northern, half of the course and shorter but steeper on South Bruny. I was keen to see how long I could run without walking and I didn’t walk until after 52 km. Not sure if this was wise, but even then I only walked a little.
You have to nominate your own start time for the race, based on finishing between 11am and 2.30pm. It’s hard to pick a start time without knowing the course but I thought eight and a half hours should be adequate and I ended up starting at 5.45am. When I checked in at the start I was surprised that 3/4 of the solo field had already started. I got passed by several runners early on, which made sense as they should be faster, but this also suggested I had started too late for my pace. I hardly saw any of the solo runners until much later on when I picked off a few.
I strolled down to the start at the pier in Dennes Point at the top of North Bruny Island and got going. Daylight was well under way. There was an immediate long uphill and at the top a great view of little islands and bays to the east. It promised to be a lovely day although still quite cool. Ups and downs followed and I got into a rhythm as I progressed alongside farmland. I saw Dom at the 12 km point and from then on every six kilometres. Crew were permitted to stop every two kilometres and I found if handy to look forward to these points even when I ran through them, as the supporters were friendly and these short chunks of distance gave me something to focus on. I tended to see the same team support crews at each stopping area so we established quite a rapport. It was just peaceful pastoral scenery with a lot of sheep.
Close to the Neck, which links North and South Bruny, we were again by the water and had a bit of flat. My stomach was playing up, unusually for me, and then my left foot started to hurt. I tried to push through. The foot pain went away but the stomach issue remained. I think it may have been the horrible tap water at the place we stayed. The Neck was an impressive sight, lots of water on both sides of a narrow causeway.
South Bruny had more civilisation than the north and I was keen to see what the small town of Alonnah would be like. Actually it wasn’t much but there was a small aid station with cups of Gatorade and a huge bowl of lollies at the 40 km mark near the island's only pub. There was also a suggestion of more hills. The road was sealed for a short while then went into forest and was gravel the rest of the way. There were stretches of farmland and another small settlement, Lunawanna, where there was an impromptu aid station with water and Gatorade by the community hall. I grabbed a bottle of water since until then I had been drinking exclusively sports drink (because I thought that we had only brought the awful tap water in our water bottles).
In the final kilometres I had to dig deep but I was also pleased to be passing people. It may not have meant much because they would have started before me and intended to run slower but it felt good. I walked a few of the steeper hills and Dom was meeting me every four kilometres. Kms 58 to 60 seemed the shortest of the day as there was a long steepish downhill, but the ground was sometimes a bit slippery due to the crushed gravel surface which was very dry. The day was warming up.
Around 62 km I had my first view of the lighthouse, my destination. It was perched on a hillside, of course, lighthouses are not generally on the beach, but it looked far more than two kilometres away. So I greeted Dom at the 62 km aid point with a big expletive. Actually it was about the right distance, although I had to fight through cars to get there. By the time I reached the final push Dom had parked and was walking towards the finish; I saw him just before the final hill up to the lighthouse so we did this bit together. This was tricky as the narrow path was also the only way to leave the lighthouse for runners and crew. Full teams of runners in some cases.
It was great to finish. Lovely views in all directions of bays and beaches. Beautiful lighthouse. I forgot to turn off my watch because I’m not used to wearing one, but I found out later that I ran 7 hours 18 minutes.
After a short while we went to Cloudy Bay to relax on the beach and then back to the pub in Alonnah for chips and beer.
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