Ultra-Trail Australia 22 (17km) – Ingrid Bardon
Race Date: Oct 28th Results: 2022
Preface
I wasn’t planning to run this one. After the May cancellation I deferred my 100km entry to 2023 and thought I was quite settled with this decision.
About 2 weeks before the race, on a run with Kelly and RP and we were talking about Kelly’s upcoming Queenstown marathon and RP had stories of lots of amazing adventures in NZ, and that’s when I first started to feel a bit restless, and that familiar craving for an adventure!
There were some other chats with other Flyers headed for the mountains for the weekend, and finally the FOMO won, and I quickly found myself paying full Ironman price for a late rego transfer 😊
The very next day after this transaction, we were all notified of the course alterations, and it was now going to be substantially less elevation and 50% on road. In message groups it was re-branded to URA (Ultra Road Australia). Secretly I was very happy about this! Very limited training in the trails this year and coming off some big road races, this would suit well, and in addition a favourable weather forecast, after weeks of rain, the weekend looked promising!
About 2 weeks before the race, on a run with Kelly and RP and we were talking about Kelly’s upcoming Queenstown marathon and RP had stories of lots of amazing adventures in NZ, and that’s when I first started to feel a bit restless, and that familiar craving for an adventure!
There were some other chats with other Flyers headed for the mountains for the weekend, and finally the FOMO won, and I quickly found myself paying full Ironman price for a late rego transfer 😊
The very next day after this transaction, we were all notified of the course alterations, and it was now going to be substantially less elevation and 50% on road. In message groups it was re-branded to URA (Ultra Road Australia). Secretly I was very happy about this! Very limited training in the trails this year and coming off some big road races, this would suit well, and in addition a favourable weather forecast, after weeks of rain, the weekend looked promising!
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I set off late Thursday afternoon to meet some friends on the Central Coast for dinner on the way. We went to a newly opened bar/restaurant in Gosford called Lyons Den. I was very hungry so immediately ordered us starters which was an unusual looking fare, these large chunks of fried bread, (surprisingly tasty) olives and dips. Before we could order dinner, we were informed that they needed to clear the tables as the entire place was booked out for a Drag show!
Well, the night could have taken a completely different turn, but I had to get going to Katoomba😊 |
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I arrived just after 10pm at the YHA in Katoomba which I think this was my 5th time staying there. It’s a beautiful heritage- listed building right in the middle of town, it is basic, but super convenient and clean and I spent a lot of time travelling in my 20’s so I think I kind of like the memories of that! It’s also only other runners that stay there on UTA and 6 ft weeks so it’s fun to chat with people in the kitchen in the morning while prepping fuel etc.
Slept ok, with the usual paranoia to check that the alarm was set a couple of times. After waking, and while getting ready I did have a panic. I couldn’t find my whistle-part of the mandatory gear! I messaged people in a fluster. Luckily a guy overheard me freaking out and showed me that there is one attached to the pack! It is so tiny it looks like a bit of plastic to hold the zipper. It makes a pathetic little ‘cheep’ when you blow it. I am so thankful to find it’s there, but I do hope my safety doesn’t depend on this!
Breakfast: Banana and coffee
Slept ok, with the usual paranoia to check that the alarm was set a couple of times. After waking, and while getting ready I did have a panic. I couldn’t find my whistle-part of the mandatory gear! I messaged people in a fluster. Luckily a guy overheard me freaking out and showed me that there is one attached to the pack! It is so tiny it looks like a bit of plastic to hold the zipper. It makes a pathetic little ‘cheep’ when you blow it. I am so thankful to find it’s there, but I do hope my safety doesn’t depend on this!
Breakfast: Banana and coffee
The Race
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Took the shuttle to the start, rushed around up to the KCC to get my bib, it felt a little dis-jointed having the bib pick up/expo up the top of the stairs, and then back down to the race start line on a boggy oval.
It was great to meet some other Flyers there, and we had an awesome support crew, huge kudos goes to Tamara who woke early every day that weekend to see everyone start. |
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I started in Wave 1 and seeded myself around the halfway point which was fine. The first 1.5km seemed quite hard, a steep climb right off the gun, after the turnaround, I started to overtake a few people coming downhill and I thought that was where I had taken the lead in the females from about 2.5km (but the newspaper article said differently).
I was in a good rhythm for most of the first 10km on the road with a few sharp climbs, I did walk a few steps up a short section up near Lilianfels and then got back on track. I was happy with my decision to wear my road shoes (Nike Zoom fly kids) at this point. Our first section in the trail, my heart sank, it was thick, muddy boggy slow, and slippery. Thankfully this was only the case for a few hundred metres, then we popped back onto the road again! The rest of the trail sections were largely manageable or at least I would have needed to slow down regardless of trail or road shoe. The course sort of weaved in a figure 8, and afterwards we found out unfortunately some of the back half of wave 1 were directed the wrong way! Devastating! The volunteers on course were very friendly and they had been saying I was first female from about 5km, so I don’t know if I just completely missed seeing the other female or the newspaper journalist just got confused? I did look up and take in the amazing mountain views where I could. I took one caffeine Maurten gel just after 10km, which I had actually meant to take on the start line but got caught up chatting to everyone and I just forgot to! I had just a few sips of water, the conditions were cool, wasn’t sweating, didn’t feel like I needed any electrolytes whatsoever during this run. |
There were a few short hard stair sections, but nothing nearly as bad as Furber steps from 2019. Very close to the end, I did a classic netball style pivot, (I’ve never played netball!) at the last minute seeing the pink marker to my left and rolled over my right ankle. Felt that acute pain and a wave of shock. Initially I thought, can’t believe I will have to pull out here so close to the end!
The volunteer was encouraging, he said Keep going, it’s only 1.5km! So, as I’m able to still weight bear, I figured it’s not broken and kept up the pace as much as I could.
I was really surprised to see the finish line up ahead, as we were only at 17.5km, then I started to think we were going to have to go back up that initial hill from the start! But thankfully, not, it was into the finish straight, and a great feeling to get to that finish tape.
The volunteer was encouraging, he said Keep going, it’s only 1.5km! So, as I’m able to still weight bear, I figured it’s not broken and kept up the pace as much as I could.
I was really surprised to see the finish line up ahead, as we were only at 17.5km, then I started to think we were going to have to go back up that initial hill from the start! But thankfully, not, it was into the finish straight, and a great feeling to get to that finish tape.
So, fun hanging out in Katoomba with Flyers afterwards we had a good feed at a Nepali restaurant, it turned out to be an interesting weekend food wise.
Biggest thanks to everyone who came to the presentation in the afternoon. I felt very supported and so stoked to be there. I received a beautiful hand painted trophy and a toy cockatoo 😊
Biggest thanks to everyone who came to the presentation in the afternoon. I felt very supported and so stoked to be there. I received a beautiful hand painted trophy and a toy cockatoo 😊
Post Mortem
In these post- COVID and mid- La Nina times, I am so grateful for any racing opportunity. I have had some feelings of slight disappointment that it wasn’t the ‘true’ course or full distance, but in the end, still a great experience, and another stepping stone to some bigger goals for 2023
Congratulations to everyone that was there, lots of great results over the weekend!
The next day I received a message from my friend:
“Champagne and fried bread, carb loading for champions”!
Congratulations to everyone that was there, lots of great results over the weekend!
The next day I received a message from my friend:
“Champagne and fried bread, carb loading for champions”!
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