 Andrew Sloman tears down Challenge trail at the Redwoods in Rotorua. The Ultra Life MTB NZ Trip 2014. Image: Richelle Olsen Andrew Sloman joined us and 6 others at the inaugural Ultra Life MTB NZ over the Labour Day Long weekend in March 2014. After smashing over 400kms in 4 days, Andrew knows a thing or two about the trails of Rotorua and Taupo! Here he shares with us his top 5 trails from "The Ultra Life MTB NZ" 2014  1: Split Enz - Redwoods Rotorua Split Enz is a trail nestled deep in the Redwoods forest. Once the legs have had a beating climbing up the steep hills to get to the trail head, the smooth single track flows through 1000 shades of green ferns, over narrow bridges with trickling streams below and fat tree roots splitting the path. The joys of speeding along and earning the experience is why I rate this as the number 1 trail in Rotorua.  2: W2K and K2K - Lake Taupo The W2K and K2K trail comes in at number 2. Starting a few kilometres out of Lake Taupo, there is a short climb that warms the legs up for what is to come. An undulating surge of perfectly conditioned single track that seems to go on forever. A must is the detour that is called the Headlands. A 9 kilometre trail that follows closely along the coastline providing incredible views across Lake Taupo. If you're lucky you may encounter wild pigs and small wallabies/possums. The W2K trail inspires you to push faster and faster as the corners and surfaces are consistent and predictable. By the time you hit the descent from the lookout point you will be sliding the front wheel across every corner with a permanent smile across your face. I recommend doing this trail in full, approximately 42km, and ifyour still fresh take some lights and do it in reverse at night, you won't regret it.  Challenge - Redwoods Rotorua. Image: Richelle Olsen 3: Challenge - Redwoods Rotorua Challenge is a short 1.2km trail that is the perfect appetizer when beginning or ending a big day in Rotorua. It is an open dry trail that looks across the Redwoods forest. This is an addictive trail that keeps you coming back for more, the fast berms and table top jumps always give you a chance to go faster the next time. Take your cameras and go pros as there are some action shots to be had here! 4: Corners - Redwoods Rotorua Corners is exactly as the name suggests. About 3.7 kilometres of corners! What more could you ask for? Intense concentration is required as each fast corner will lead into the next. There are walls of berms running up the sides of the mountain and when perfected they are the ultimate in MTB fun. A good 10 minute trail that will have your forearms fatigued at the end from hanging on to the handlebars as gravity sucks you downwards. A crowd favourite amongst the riders in our group and a MUST for all riders.  5: Frontal Lobotomy - Redwoods Rotorua Frontal Lobotomy makes the top five as it is a brutal climb towards the summit of the Redwoods forest. The trail less travelled as most of the riders who do not ride with "The Ultra Life" opt to take the soft option and sit on the shuttle bus chewing on their doughnuts, shaking their heads in disbelief at our group charging up the hills. Frontal Lobotomy is a 1.8 kilometre climb with an average gradient of 9% with sections at 28%!! Is this tough, yes. Is that the reason why it should be done? Yes! Although being a brutal climb the trail is technical and beautiful which takes your mind off the gradients. Get it done at least once :) Watch the boys tear up the trails in this video taken during the March 2014 Ultra Life MTB NZ Trip
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by Richelle Olsen
Today we received a donation of $423.95 from Joan Krapf. Now I don’t know Joan. And as it came delivered with her purchase of an event ticket, I first thought it was a system error. Who would donate that massive amount out of the blue? So I dropped her an email, and got this response: “Yes I made that donation, in memory of my dear, darling husband, Conrad William Krapf. We asked for donations to Shake It Up in lieu of flowers at his funeral, at which time we donated $500, and now I wish to donate more. God bless you for all your effort” Wow. Wiping the tears from my eyes, Joan reminded me in just a few words the true reason for the fundraising Shane and I are doing. To lose someone you have spent your whole life with to such a terrible disease is simply too horrendous to imagine. There's nothing fair about it. As you know, Vaughan has been our focus for all our fundraising. The same age as me, 34, he’s young, loves his bike, the outdoors and his young family. I’ll be honest, when we started fundraising last year, he had a bit of a shake in his hand, and well, we had heard the horror stories about what happens later in life, but hey, Vaughan is just Vaughan...he’s our mate, he’s just like us, he’s invincible isn’t he? Aren’t we all invincible? But as we watch small things in him change, just in the past year, it becomes a bit more real, and we come to grips with his reality...... Bit by bit, this stupid disease will make itself front and centre. He won’t know exactly how, or exactly when, but the one thing that’s for sure, is that Parkinson’s take over his life. And that of his family and everyone around him. Man, where’s that cure already?! It never ceases to amaze me, that in the general conversation of talking to people about the Tassie Traverse, and our reasons for doing it, how many of those people are affected in some way by Parkinson’s. The owner of our major sponsors father and uncle have it, the random hiker we met on a back trail in Tassie’s father has it, my colleague’s aunt passed away from PD last year, my manager at work’s father has it, another sponsor’s mate has it, and yet another sponsor’s cousin has Parkinson’s. In fact 30 Aussies are diagnosed with Parkinson’s every day. And on average 3 of them will be under 40 years old. Its not just an old persons disease, it affect anyone. Chances are, if you don’t know someone with Parkinson’s today, terrible as it is, you probably will at some point. So wrapped up as Shane and I are in logistics, event, route and nutrition planning, run training and the like for the Tassie Traverse, I was glad I was reminded today of how raw and how human Parkinson’s disease is. Thank you Joan for sharing the memory of your husband Conrad William Krapf....we are working hard to honor his, and many others' memories, and trying our hardest to contribute to finding a cure. With the support of everyone following the Tassie Traverse, lets try our very very best to put an end to the suffering caused by Parkinson’s disease. Let’s do it so that those young people with Parkinson’s, including Vaughan, and those who are yet to be diagnosed, can have a shot at a normal, fulfilling, fully functional life. There’s still time in their lifetimes for them to see a cure. You can donate at www.theultralife.com.au/tassie-traverse Thanks to the generosity of the founder of Shake It Up, as he covers all of the administrative costs of the foundation, all donations to Shake It Up go directly to Parkinson’s research. Every cent. How awesome is that.  By Richelle Olsen, 19 February 2014 Someone asked me recently “So when are you going to do something for yourself, everything you are doing at the moment is for Shane.” Which made me wonder...is that really what people think? I’d like to say it doesn’t matter what others think, but we all know the reality on that front.... My answer to her went along the lines of this....I don’t do what I do with The Ultra Life for Shane, I do what I do to follow my own dreams, and to build on the dreams that Shane and I have together. It might seem that I am the one slaving away, doing all the logistics, organisation and support of all our events, and Shane gets to be the poster boy who gets to go out and do what he loves most, running. Yes, all this is true, but the bit thats not so obvious is the thrill I get from organising, I love making a plan, and seeing it succeed. To be honest I kinda thrive on the power too. Shane gets to do what he loves, running, and I get to build a little empire around us. It helps that I love him to death too! It’s a win-win-win! Logistics seem so boring....where do I get my buzz? The start of 2014 has been kinda nuts, here’s what I’ve been organising... The Ultra Life Fundraisers:
Oh, I have a full time job too! Still you ask, that sounds like hell, wheres the buzz?  My buzz is doing a lil dance every time I get an email saying another ticket sold to the Trail Run.
My buzz is the satisfaction that I have built my own website (and designed my own logos), something I’ve been wanting to do for as long as I remember Its receiving amazing emails of support for what we are doing from total strangers Its coming home after work to find hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of Clif Bar products in a box at my front door..Walked like an Egyptian on that one Its each and every single donation we get for Shake It Up, if only you could see the little Irish jig that goes on behind closed doors when we get a new donation! Its Karen from Woolies ringing to say they will give us $50 for the snags in bread! Macarena! Its asking Moxie Gear for some of their awesome gaiters for free, and them saying what’s your address...definitely worth a Hokey Pokey. My buzz is feeling like its Xmas when unwrapping the new state of the art ultralight hiking tent, sleeping bag and sleeping mat, with a combined worth of more that many first cars, generously donated by Bogong Equipment Its Shannon from Par Avion telling me he will fly me into Melaluca in a tiny plane at a highly discounted rate, just so I can spend the night in the wilderness with my boy, and feed him some decent food! Its Gerd who owns some of the most luxurious beach houses on the north coast of Tassie, offerring one of his Azzure Beach Houses to Shane and I for a night for the Tassie Traverse, entirely for free! Its people liking The Ultra Life on Facebook......that warrants a great sprinkler rendition, and for those who actually subscribe to the newsletter, lookout Nutbush here we come! But all in all, Im not sure that theres a dance to describe seeing the elated grins on 4 faces after climbing one of the most spectacular mountains in NZ.... Gangham Style??!! Theres a LOT of effort in everything I do, with what seems proportionally to be little reward....but the rewards are awesome, and most days theres a jig of some description going on......it may be a little like a drug, but I love it. THERES THE BUZZ!! Want your own buzz, but don't know where to start? Drop me a line, always happy to lend a hand to anyone looking to organise their own events!  Here at the Ultra Life, we finished off 2014 with a bang......trails, Tassie devils, blizzards, bush bashing, cows and massive burgers! So with Boris the X-Trail packed to the brim, we made the trek over to the Apple Isle on the Spirit of Tasmania....I tell you, the overnight cabin is the way to go! Going to bed in Port Phillip Bay, we woke up in Devonport, all refreshed! First task....checking out the start of the Penguin to Cradle trail. After a small detour to visit Santa the Penguin, we discovered the start of the trail out the back of Penguin. A false start took us to what looks like an awesome MTB park, but alas, we weren’t there to ride! Check....yes, its a real trail, with real signs, what a relief!  Then it was on to check out the ultra-boring road route from the Northern-most point, Woolnorth, to Penguin. Following a never-ending dirt road to what seemed the end of the earth, we were offered our first Tassie devil experience, albeit a very flat, dead one! Enough to get us excited though. That was until we got to the “STOP!! Private Property do not enter” sign.....ummmm. Owned by The Van Diemans Land Company (what a cool name!), Woolnorth houses a big dairy farm, a Hydro farm, and is home to the Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station (whats with all these cool names!) – and is famous for being the cleanest air in the world! No wonder they don’t want anyone in there! We have since had a chat with the CEO of Van Diemans Land Company, and now have permission to access the area for the Tassie Traverse. He promised to lock up the bulls (phew!), but warned us that there are a lot of snakes up near the tip so be careful! Eeeeek! Did you know that all Tassie snakes a venomous? Shane’s excited at that! After several mumbles of “this is going to be boring to run on”, we stumbled across the train line...wouldn’t it be awesome to avoid the Bass Hwy, and run through the fields? A quick google, and Bingo! Its a dis-used railway line from Smithton to Burnie! Running along the railway sleepers for nearly 100kms could get interesting, but hey, it sure beats dodging the trucks on the highway! Winner!  And then it was onto Shane’s Dad’s dairy farm at Western Creek, with a quick call into the Cradle Mountain village (where we basically sold our souls for a ¼ tank of petrol!) A few days of cow milking, Christmas celebrating and climbing of the mountains in the back paddock, it was time for some more reconnaissance adventures! After picking up the planned trail again at Derwent Bridge (the end of the Overland Track), we were off in search for an unmarked track that would take us down the east bank of Lake King William.  It was vaguely on the map, so it had to be there somewhere....so after plenty of bush bashing, we reckoned it was the big gate marked “No Entry. Private Property. Offenders Prosecuted.” Is there a theme here??!!! A bit of asking around town, and a bit of gorging on a yummy burger at The Hungry Wombat, we were finally pointed in the direction of The Derwent Bridge Hotel....the owner there owned the land we wanted to trespass! A few mins later we had our permission!
TO BE CONTINUED.......Blizzards, floods and bush bashing...  by Shane Hutton June 2013 Well I have now sat inside on my couch for 2.5 weeks. It has been an eye opening experience for me I don`t think I have ever sat still for so long. It started off with me thinking I had man flu, a common problem for males all over the country at this time of year, but I quickly realized it was something a little worse. After having fever & sweating for far too many hours to count & a few kilo`s dropped it was time to see the Dr. He was quick to diagnose the problem...Pneumonia, gave me an injection in the bum and sent me on my way with the promise of injections to follow every day for 3 days yayyyyyyy.... I had x-rays to confirm the problem & was told to rest. I was also told I would not be running for 6 weeks. Now there`s a problem as most people know I am doing a charity run around Port Phillip Bay 240km ish in 6 weeks. :( So the time has come for me to make the call. I am going to delay the start of the run to either the middle of August or the end it will depend on how quick I can get back to it. I am very disappointed but whilst I am feeling a lot better I am assured that this illness will have lasting effects on my fitness. I do not want to rush back & start my run only to be forced out & possibly hospitalised by a dodgy lung or 2.  It has been a tough decision but I feel it is the right one. so now I will look for positives in this scenario. One positive is it gives me a few extra weeks to raise money :) Also whilst sitting on the couch I have put together our first Ultra Life overseas trip. New Zealand mountain biking for 3.5 solid days. Hit me up for more details we are looking for 1-2 more people to fill spots.
Well I went back to the Dr today & I have the all clear to go back to work tomorrow woooo. He has also told me to resume training just on a reduced level. There are still signs of the Pneumonia & it will take time to be 100%. I am very excited to be back at work tomorrow & training again :) As the old saying goes you don`t know what you got till it`s gone :) This minor set back just helps to re affirm the things I want to get done in my lifetime & has also given me a chance to do research on a few very long multi day adventures :) Train smart Shane  by Lyndal McKenzie (superstar guest blogger) Saturday Arvo... I had a nap today. I’m not normally a napper, but I needed a nap. We headed off for a bit of a walk this morning. A short hike. It had rained all night so the trails were likely to be slippery and inaccessible. So I thought we might be gone for an hour or so. But the trails were just perfect. We wandered along one. Then another one. Then – oh look! There’s another one! We played at waterfalls and climbed through a canyon. We marched our way up steep single trail and jogged down cruisey fire trails. We got rained on a little, but it was refreshing, not cold. Was really good of Richelle to organise the weather the way she did – well done Richelle!  So anyway, three and a bit hours later, we were back in this more-than-a-little-bit-luxurious house, and I was in that happily worn out state, that saw me waking up sometime later from an accidental nap on the couch. There are nine of us here. Each with a different connection to the Ultra Life, but all with the shared interest of getting outdoors, away from the hassles of the working world and just having a fun, laid back time. Everyone is getting along like a house on fire and swapping stories about our everyday lives. Some are pretty standard (where do you work), some are really interesting (what wonderful places have your hiking boots seen?) and some too funny to do justice in print (frisky animals at the zoo and an unfortunate incident with Giraffe….fluids….?). The stories started as we all rolled in last night and sat down to a delicious home cooked risotto and a glass or two of wine. The stories picked up where they left off when we sat down again this morning to some more home cooked goodness, layered apple porridge. The food Richelle is serving up is just divine and I can’t wait for the desert I can smell her preparing for tonight! We’ve got a surprise activity in store for us tomorrow morning, so I intend to fuel up in preparation, just in case!  Sunday Arvo The desert was even better than it smelled! I licked my bowl. Far too good to waste a scrap, homemade toblerone mousse is definitely on my favourites list. Last night involved yet another amazing meal, this time a Mexican feast. There was a spontaneous show of couples fashion (ladies mix’n’match), followed by a soak in the hot tub, the delicious mousse, then some down time with a Mount Everest documentary and a couple more drinks. In the afternoon, some of the girls had taken off for a run, one out for a ride and some for another walk. The rest of us, happy with our day’s adventure, chilled out in the luxurious house, sniffing the mousse as it was prepared. We woke up this morning, buzzing with excitement for the surprise activity and itching to head out on the next adventure we’d each chosen for our last day of the girls’ weekend. We sat down together for a breakfast of savoury quiches – filling and tasty, which was lucky, because by this stage, there were expectations! As we strolled on down to the beach, we encountered our first kangaroo. Not out on the trails, in the forest where you’d expect, but hopping through a car park, then very all very civilised up the footpath in a residential street. Straight towards us. He was a big fella and I wasn’t so sure how I felt about one of the girls, who will remain nameless (though it starts with St and end with acey), hiding behind me…..but luckily he wasn’t interested in us and hopped off through the back of a block of units and disappeared into, well, suburbia somewhere.  So on we continued, down to meet Richelle on the beach for our surprise – flying kites! It’s been a mighty long time since I flew a kite, but I tell you what – it was a lot of fun! There wasn’t much wind about, so we had to run a bit more to keep them up in the air. It was fantastic! The faster you ran the higher it flew and the more spectacular when it came crashing to the ground! Saying our first goodbye, we split up next, one heading home, the rest heading off for our selected adventures. Most chose to go on hikes again, fanning out through the forest in different directions. Some even chose to visit the local posh tea shop. I chose to run today, taking off along the beach front then cutting up into the trees and along some of the many wonderful trails in Lorne. I had studied the map and figured I could wing my way through. Mostly I was right, one wrong turn added a 20 minute, particularly steep loop to my journey, but hey, it was all part of the adventure. I bounded my way through the beautiful landscape, pausing occasionally to take in the spectacular views, with the biggest grin you ever saw – if you were a bird that is, because I didn’t see another single person. It was heaven.  It occurred to me about half way through I’d taken no water, no phone and no map…..but once again, it was all part of the adventure, right?! I trotted up the road (then wheezed up the steepest driveway in the history of driveways) in perfect time for a massive spread of all the weekend’s leftovers. Oh, it was so rewarding. I ate with glee – 9km on the trails will do that to a girl! And yes, there was left over mousse.....  Richelle says:
Thanks Lyndal for such an amazing blog. I cant believe its your first ever blog, theres some untapped talent there! Thanks also to all the girls who made the weekend so awesome, I wouldnt change a thing! Check out the photos of the weekend.  by Richelle Olsen So the Lorne Outdoor Retreat Weekend (for the girls) was all about getting outdoors, hiking, trail running, mountain biking and kite flying right?? Well not entirely..... There was also a ton of hot-tubbing, adventure DVD-ing, posh tea shop visiting, drinking and, last but not least, eating! Ill let Lyndal tell you all about it in her role as guest blogger in the next week or so, but in the meantime, let me tell you a little about the food! Food and cooking has always been a passion of mine. In fact my dream house is mostly made up of one massive kitchen! So when I began organising the Outdoor Retreat Weekends, I wanted to make the food a significant part of it. But I had the dilemma that I wanted to share in the adventures of the weekend, rather than be chained to the kitchen while everyone else has all the fun. The solution - Mr Slow Cooker! With a little preparation I was able to create most meals for the 9 women on the weekend in my trusty slow cooker. And if the lack of leftovers was anything to go by, they were all a roaring success. So based on many requests from the girls on the weekend, I thought Id share some of the recipes.....and in doing so, you will quickly realise I'm no chef, I just know how to Slow Cook! Enjoy!!! Oven baked chicken risotto, with roasted pumpkin, leek, semi-dried tomato and basil (gluten free).
1/2 (about 800g) butternut pumpkin, peeled, deseeded, cut into 2cm pieces 2 tbs olive oil 1 leek, pale section only, washed, dried, thinly sliced 2 garlic cloves, crushed 3 (about 500g) single chicken breast fillets, coarsely chopped 330g (1 1/2 cups) arborio rice 1L (4 cups) Gravox Real Chicken Stock 1/2 cup finely shredded fresh basil 70g (1 cup) shredded parmesan Finely shredded fresh basil, extra, to serve Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Arrange the pumpkin on the tray and drizzle with half the oil. Season with salt and pepper. Bake in oven, on the top shelf, for 20 minutes or until tender. Meanwhile, heat half the remaining oil in a flameproof ovenproof dish over medium heat. Add the leek and garlic, and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the chicken and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until browned slightly. Add the rice and stir to combine. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Add the pumpkin and the semi dried tomatoes to the rice, Cover the dish and place in oven and bake for a further 30 minutes or until the rice is tender. Remove the risotto from the oven. Add the basil, and ¾ cup of the parmesan to the risotto, and stir to combine. Divide among serving plates and sprinkle with the remaining parmesan and extra basil. Serve immediately. Serves 4 Slow Cooker Apple Layer Porridge This is such a quick and simple way to prepare a yummy breaky the night before. It seriously takes about 5 minutes to prepare, and you wake up to the aroma of freshly stewed apples..mmmm.... Many thanks to Pintrest for this recipe! 2-3 apples, roughly chopped (skin on is fine) 1 ½ tsp cinnamon 1-2 tsp brown sugar (to taste) 1 cup rolled oats (use regular oats, not quick oats) 2 cups water Throw apples in bottom of slow cooker. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over the apples Pour the oats evenly over the apples (do NOT stir) Pour the water evenly over the porridge, again do NOT stir Cook in slow cooker on LOW for approx. 8hrs. Serve hot first thing in the morning! Serves 2. Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken (for tacos) Theres a pattern here - this one take no time to prepare either! It takes about 5 mins to open packets and pour them into the slow cooker! Many thanks to Bindy for this recipe! 2-3 chicken breasts 2 x 300g jar salsa (or the equivalent homemade salsa) – you could also replace 1 jar with 400g tin of crushed tomatoes 1 sachet taco seasoning 1 x 400g tin of red kidney beans, drained 1 x 200g tin corn kernels ½ bunch fresh coriander Place the chicken breasts in the base of your slow cooker. Pour salsa and taco seasoning over the chicken, and stir until seasoning combined. Make sure that the chicken breasts are covered bottom and top by the salsa. If your breasts are thick, you may need to use a rolling pin or a mallet to flatten them slightly so they are covered Cook in slow cooker on low for approx. 8hrs. 15 mins before serving, using a fork, shred the chicken, it should easily fall apart. Then add the kidney beans, corn, coriander and continue cooking on Low for 15 mins. Serve with tortillas, guacamole, sour cream and fresh greens Serves 4 Mini Breakfast Egg Muffins (gluten free) These little guys are great for baking a batch of, then reheating for the next couple of mornings. Great for those wishing to avoid carbs of a morning, or seeking a high protein snack. You can put anything at all you like in them, they are that flexible, but heres what I used on the weekend Lightly grease 12 muffin tray 10 medium eggs salt/pepper to taste Few shakes of mixed herbs 100g cooked bacon bits 4 button mushrooms, chopped and cooked 50g chopped semi-dried tomatoes 12 olives, chopped 50g grated cheese Beat eggs together with salt and pepper and mixed herbs and put aside Distribute all other ingredients (except cheese) evenly through muffin pan. Pour even amount of egg mixture into each pan, to cover all other ingredients. Do not overfill, as these will raise slightly. Sprinkle cheese on top of each muffin Place in oven at 180 degrees for 10-15 mins, until cooked. They are cooked if you cant see any runny egg. Do not overcook, as they will become rubbery. Serve immediately. Serves 4  By Shane Hutton It has been a week since the longest training run of my running career to date. 190km of The Goldfields track. This was supposed to be all 210km of the trail but due to some self preservation & crawling along at 4km hour for some period the decision was made to finish the run in Ballarat a mere 20km short of the summit of Mount Buninyong. Here is my recount on a multi day unsupported adventure. I packed my Salomon Slab12 to the brim on Fri even managed to get a 3ltr bladder squeezed in there. I packed it on the chair and made sure ( well I hoped) I had enough food within easy access. Once it was full I picked it up for the first time HOLY CRAP this thing is heavy. I put it on the scales & it tipped a lazy 6.2kg wow how am I going to run 210km with this???? I put on my thermal long johns a long sleeve top and my Montane Minimus jacket & strolled down to my train station wearing my pack. So in 500mtr I realized 6.2kg is a lot hahahaha I am glad I was wearing all these clothes to the train as there was no more room in the pack. I jumped on the train receiving a lot of strange looks & met my partner in crime Michael Collins at Southern Cross station. After laughing at each other looking stupid at the station for a few minutes we boarded our Vline train headed to Bendigo. We arrived in Bendigo walked out of the station & were greeted by the marking the start to The Goldfields Track hmmmmm well that was easy. Thought it would take a bit more searching than that.. We found our Motel checked in laughed some more about what the hell we were about to undertake oh & the fact we had to go to the pub for dinner in all our running gear. Amazingly enough there was a convenience shop just down the road that was open 24 hours a day.. Woooo we ordered a bacon & egg roll for 4.30am Sat Now that was a stroke of luck. We went back had a parma for dinner & were tucked up in bed ready for our 4 am alarm and around 3 degrees brrrr chilly.  Picking up my backpack was a shock although It felt comfy on my back & shoulders. We started our watches & GPS spot tracker this is it we are off. We quickly made our way out of Bendigo & to the first official part of track our first yellow post marked Goldfields Track :) Now this is exciting. I was running at a fairly relaxed pace just trying to soak it all in. It was hard for us to talk to each other with the 3ltr bladder in the pack it made a lot of sloshing noises so quite quickly we were running in silence sometimes in single file sometimes side by side. We made it out of town quickly and into the single tracks of the forest. It was fantastic I was struggling with the weight of my pack but was also constantly reminding myself to just take it all in. As much as I hate the cliché this run was about the journey not the destination. It was about seeing if we could run back to back long days and be self sufficient. we had a goal of making it to Daylesford 120km on the first day & Mt Buninyong on the second 90km. After 2 hours of running the sun slowly peaked over the horizon It was great to see and an absolutely spectacular sunrise as you would expect out in the country. We had been running along following the aqueduct for a while by this point. The aqueduct leads you almost all the way into Castlemaine which would be our first break hopefully for lunch. As we ran along I noticed MC getting faster & faster and looking at his watch continually. He was in a hurry. The only other person to have run the GDT unsupported had done this first section in 6 hours, MC wanted to do it in 5. I ran along for a while still struggling with the weight of my pack trying to keep up with MC before I decided to address the situation. Today was the same day The North Face 100km race was on and we have a lot of friends doing it. This race attracts 1000 competitors & I have run in it once. It has this wonderful set-up where if you are not a lead runner you get stuck in a bottle neck 5km in and are reduced to a staggered run / walk, this part of the race sucks. I decided that in order for my point to be effective I would use The North Face as my reference point. I got up to MC & told him if I wanted a race I would of gone to TNF. Lets slow it down a bit, we are here to enjoy the scenery & test ourselves over the next 2 days. Who cares if we make it to Castlemaine in 5 hours or 10 as long as we can back up tomorrow & get some running in. We laughed about how everyone would be enjoying the bottle neck at TNF and here we were just the 2 of us and 120km of trail :)  We had perfect weather it was mild a bit overcast but no rain in sight perfect. We ran along & were surprised with the amount of elevation we seemed to be getting. We climbed to the summit of Mt Alexandra I stopped countless times on the run just to enjoy the silence & the fact we were really doing this. Very strange this project had been in mind for around 12 months now and here we were finally doing it.. I reigned MC back a few more times before I think he got my point :) The countryside was so diverse one minute you were in granite boulder fields then you were in pine plantations then it was tea tree and soft beach sand. Fantastic We made it into Castlemaine in 7hrs 30 odd minutes & decided a pie and coke was in order. We got the most expensive pie of our lives $8 bloody hell if we could be bothered we would go somewhere else but we have just run 59km hahaha. We ate the pie drank our coke and went next door to the supermarket filled up our 3 litre bladders and walked our way out of town. Again following an old Aqueduct. Now I am not sure if it was the coke or the $8 pie but I was off. Finally I had found my running legs wooohoooo MC & I had traded places he was having a few difficulties & I felt great. We followed the old Aqueduct trail along for quite some time it was great fairly flat and twisting & turning all over the place. Some of the best single trail we had come across yet. Fantastic Probably would enjoy it more if we didn`t have 60+ km in the legs but oh well. We climbed and descended our way along until it started to get dark then we stopped for another short break to get our lights on our heads and some warm clothes on. Again the scenery just continually changing from forest to shale and granite boulders. At around the 90km mark for some reason we started to talk about whether we thought we could push on & go straight through...... We had a bit of a time constraint regarding pick ups or possible train timetables from Ballarat. It`s funny because for around 5km we discussed the pro`s & con`s of going all night. Could we do it ?? Would we slow down too much & be reduced to crawling?? If we stop & rest as planned we could seize up & not be able to move in the morning??? This was great we had gone from doing 210km with a stop to now thinking we were a possibility of going straight through. Then BANG we hit the 100km WALL hahahaha. It`s interesting what happens when you have only run 3x 100km races and 1 x 100 miler You hit 100km & your body says no more I am done. hahahaha We quickly changed our tune & decided a rest would be the best option & whatever happens on day 2 happens. It didn`t help that the final 20km into Daylesford was some of the best technical single trail we had seen since we started. There was some steep rocky stuff. You run along the edge of what seems like a huge cliff. Probably because we had headlamps on at this point & you couldn`t see the bottom you run along this for around 10km then hit the sign to the Lake wooooohoooo a couple more k`s and we were there When we got within 45min of Daylesford I gave my mate a call to order us pizzas & a coke. He then met us at the boat house at the lake and we jumped in his car to his place. Thankfully it was not far from the lake. It was around 10.30pm when we got there. We sat down ate pizza, talked had showers & hit the sack around 12.30.  It was a very restless sleep I even jumped out of bed at 1.45 thinking I had slept in & started to get ready to run until I worked out the real time hahahahahaha. I was wide awake by 3.30am & it turns out MC was as well. We should of just got up & started running then. We got up at 4.15 did some stretches packed our bags, rugged up & for some reason felt totally ready for the second day. We left my mates place & jogged the short distance ( 2km) back to where we were picked up from re set our watches & started a slow jog out of there. I was feeling great could not believe it I guess the slow pace on the sat had done the trick. The quads were feeling a little worse for wear as we had a total of 3000mtr elevation on sat. But all in all feeling good. Again counting down the time for the sunrise. This is something I always look forward to catching the first glimpse as it peaks over the horizon just gives that special feeling. We ran on feeling good & enjoying the ever changing scenery Quietly confident that we had done the hard part, getting started on the second day :) The sun came up & again a beautiful sunrise as we were in the Wombat state forest. We had one moment when we felt we had gone wrong so got out the etrex gps and yep sure enough we missed a turn. It`s what happens when you get a little complacent or over confident hehehe We walked back up the hill lucky for us only around 500mtr found the right turn & went that way. We ran along some of the best single track so far it was windy & just small ups & downs perfect great terrain. Unfortunately this is where it popped out onto a road. Arghhhh a road?? What is this strange thing & much to our delight it was an 8km stretch of STRAIGHT road. So boring It lead us all the way to Dean. Once we got off this part it returned to some sweet trails. It was about this time that we had been trying to figure out what time we would be arriving in Ballarat knowing we had to go 20km out to Mt Buninyong & potentially back to catch the train. Once again we were back to racing the clock, something I had really wanted to avoid. Back to the ol North face comment :) Mc put an idea to me that if we missed going into Creswick for lunch we could save 30min or more getting us to Ballarat quicker. Now there is one thing I am not a big fan of... Missing out on my FOOD especially since around 20km in I was thinking about lunch & a coke hmmmmmmmmmmmmm I was not happy with this suggestion at all. After cruising along for another 5 or so k`s I told MC that if we were going to miss lunch I was sitting down to eat some rice I had left and take a load off for 5min. I was pretty disappointed to think I was going to miss lunch. So we stopped sat down ate some rice took a load off & then got going again. We ran on for sometime before we saw the turnoff to Creswick. It seemed to take a lot longer than it was supposed to. We got I reckon within 800mtr of the town turned our backs on it & headed off toward Ballarat. That was a tough call but once the decision was made it was made.  The sun was shinning and it was starting to get a little warm. It must of hit about 12 degrees hahaha. By this point we were continually commenting on how amazing the trail was so well marked and easy to follow it was great. I think we got the handheld GPS out only a couple of times. We had expected the trail to be roughly marked & be struggling along but it was quite the opposite. And then it happened just like that...... Around 15-20km from Ballarat MC`s ankle decided it had had enough. It swelled up and he could hardly lift it or put weight on it. We limped along for a while doing a fair bit of walking. We sat down a few times in the hope that the short break would fix it but it wasn`t to be. We came across some prospectors who were very keen to show us there gold & find out where we had come from. The looks on their faces when we said Bendigo hahaha priceless. They started to tell us that prospecting was a lot of work for little reward Then we told them we were running for 2 days with no reward hehehe except the pain we were feeling in our bodies. :) I was super excited we have gone from Bendigo to Ballarat 190km this was crazy. We limped along at approx 4km an hr very slow going. Whilst Mc struggled with his ankle I struggled with the decision to go on alone to Mt Buninyong??? It was only 20km past Ballarat.... A big part of me thought we started as a team & I would like to finish as a team. There was also the thought of damaging my knee more ( I have had a niggle for the last few weeks ) After all this was just a training run. MC battled on & even contemplated walking to Mt Buninyong hehehe at 4km an hour. He is a stubborn bloke. At around 4km out of Ballarat we both decided that the train station would literally be the end of the line for us. I also had to think about The Around The bay charity run I am doing, this is far more important to me than the GDT. After what seemed like an eternity we finally got there 36hours & 9min after we left Bendigo we had made 190km  I was thrilled it did not matter that we did not get to Buninyong we had a huge back to back run & smashed ourselves in the process. What a weekend. We went to the nearest pub & ordered 2 big steaks with chips to eat whilst we waited for the 7pm train home.
In summary The Goldfields Track was amazing. So well marked and easy to follow. My only concern would be water. There was no water to speak of on the trail. You have to make it last until the towns. Having the train at either end is the best thing ever you don`t need a car shuffle or a lift makes it easy. Yes I will be back to complete this run. I may do it supported, unsupported, with a group or solo. That is yet to be determined. As for now this run has taught me many valuable lessons Most of all it`s about the JOURNEY :) We can do anything we put our minds to!  by Shane Hutton August 2012 Well it had been a long build up and a nervous wait but the day was finally here..L day. So after about 2 hours sleep on the Friday night we got up 2.15am sat. made some toast and an optimizer and jumped in the car for our drive from Silverthorne to Leadville approx 40Min. Arrived nice and early like i like to do, milled around drinking my optimizer and only managed 1 piece of toast. It was pretty cold morning but nothing too bad had my jacket and long sleeves on and was warm enough. The atmosphere was fantastic 802 runners all pumped and happy to be there ready to put their bodies on the line everybody knowing the reputation that Leadville has, only half of the field would finish this very challenging event, I was there to be one of them. The countdown happened and before we knew it we were off, mind you with 802 runners it was a slow start (walking) but I was not bothered by this it was going to be a long day and night so plenty of time. We jogged down the boulevard with people everywhere trying not to trip or stumble and end our day early. There were people outside of their houses cheering for us there was music blaring from cars and houses. As we crested the boulevard we could already see the front runners probably an easy 700 mtr in front with a stream of headlamps in front and behind us it was one of the best things I have seen. We slowly made our way down to Turquoise Lake trying very hard to keep a slow pace, I had to make a quick pit stop along with several hundred people darting off into the bushes all over the place, part of the joys of a well hydrated body. It was at this point I lost my good friend Michael Collins, we had agreed to run our own race and if one person stops go on. This was the last time I saw him until the halfway point in the race. After about an hr or more of running we finally got off the roads and onto some sweet sweet single track following the lake around. The trail was undulating with plenty of obstacles in the way, roots, rocks and plenty of other runners.  We would hit a small rise and the front runner would walk causing me to nearly crash into the person in front of me then a massive bottleneck would occur. Very hard to not get frustrated in these early stages knowing that you can run faster. I came into CP1 10 min behind my plan but that was fine there was plenty of time to catch up. I dropped my jacket and Ay Up lights off, but opted to keep my long sleeve shirt on as it was still relatively cool. I had a quick word with my amazing crew, asked if MC had come through, grabbed my small drop bag of gels and off I went onto CP2. The running was getting better now the field had started to space out a bit so you could actually get a nice pace up and the single trail was amazing beautiful pine trees and birch`s all along the trail, and plenty of rocks and roots to trip you over if you weren't careful. By this point we had descended from 10,200 to 9,600ft and it was almost time to make our first real ascent for the race up Sugarloaf pass getting back up to 11,071ft. I was excited to finally see the first real climb and to my surprise it was pretty easy. I slowed to a fast paced walk and enjoyed the sun finally hitting me and warming me up. I kept my Heart Rate low and powered up stopping about halfway to turn and look at Turquoise lake it was amazing to see how high we had got and I was again surprised at how quickly I had got there with little effort. I summited and looked at my HR somehow it was still very low and I was not having any breathing difficulties, I guess the altitude training was paying off. Now it was time to face the first real descent Powerline. Anyone who knows anything about Leadville has heard about Powerline, I had big expectations of this elusive Ascent/Descent. I reminded myself that I am a good descender and have strong legs but take it very easy as blowing straight down this could blow my quads for the rest of the race. I reminded myself of my new mantra taken from Karnazes book RUN " For the first 50 mile be the fish, let the other runners catch you and pass. In the second 50 mile be the Fisherman, start reeling those runners in" So all the way down Powerline I reminded myself go easy, go easy, go easy don't destroy the quads. I got to the bottom pretty quick and very easily I was very happy so far sticking with my plan. We popped out from Powerline and had another short road section to run before hitting CP2 Fish Hatchery. Coming into this aid station was amazing the amount of people was ridiculous, all shouting and cheering it was fantastic felt more like a crowd at an Ironman event than an ultramarathon hahaha. My crew found me quickly and again it was a quick change into a singlet and I switched to my nathan belt with an Optimizer and some water. The next section was short only around 5 km where I would meet my crew again and do a bigger change.  This section of the run to CP3 was along a road so I decided this is where I would practice a little of my run /walk strategy to try save a little energy. I met up with another runner who had completed Leadville before and he was adopting the same method, he guaranteed me this was the right way to go about finishing the race even though we had a lot of other runners passing us. we got into CP3 and it turns out that the time I had lost at the start I had made up, I was almost exactly on my planned time. I was not overly happy to hear this news as it meant that at some stage I had sped up and was running too fast and made up the lost time. Never mind I was not going to beat myself up over this. Another mantra that comes into my head often is one I learnt being a diver " Plan your dive and dive your plan" so slightly modified to to say race, this rings very true for me it is something I continually work on. I made the change back to my pack with a few extra rations as this section was going to be around 21 km long with a fair percentage being uphill. I left treeline after seeing my amazing crew and having covered a little over my first marathon. I felt good, fresh legs still, getting a bit hot by this point in time though, I was looking for the shady parts on the trail. I ran and walked the up hills feeling happy with my splits and then around the 52 km mark I had my first low point. It was interesting because I really was not expecting it until this point I had been feeling great. So I continued on knowing it would pass and be the first of what I hoped to be only a few. We continued on a slight uphill for longer than I had thought but it was ok because it was only gradual. We then came to a small aid station stocking fluids only and they told us it was only 3 miles downhill to Twin Lakes the lowest point of the race 9200ft. I remember asking another runner if they were serious that it was 3 miles (5km) downhill. I was shocked to think we had climbed so high with ease. Before I knew it I could see twin lakes and we came running down a very steep section of trail into the aid station. It was another amazing aid station people everywhere cheering and music blaring it was great. My crew were there and all set up with chairs ( which I was not allowed to sit on until Halfway) and everything i needed. I told them I had been really hot and they rubbed sunscreen on me gave me my pre packed drop bags and ipod and sent me on my way to Hope Pass. This part I was excited for I could see the monster mountain 12,600ft in front of me and had waited all morning to get there. I put my music on and powered toward it. I had trained hard doing altitude sessions with Tri Alliance and running every hill and mountain at home. Nothing compared to this altitude. Funnily enough I was soon half way up it passing other runners sitting and taking a break, I made sure I encouraged all of them to keep going. There was an amazing river flowing down the side, the trees were beautiful and flowers and the single track ahhhhhhhhh just amazing. I was about 3/4 up when Anton Kupricka passed me on the way back ( race leader) flying down, crazy to see how fast these guys moved. Another 6min up and Thomas the eventual winner passed me with Anna Frost pacing him. I wound my way up the side of the mountain with relative ease not breathing to hard and keeping my HR around the 130-140bpm. I was happy next thing I knew I was at the Hopeless aid station. There were Llamas and volunteers everywhere it was really quite a site very cool. I grabbed a cup of water tipped it on my head and kept walking. I was not stopping till I summitted about another 1km. I got stuck in a little traffic but that was ok they were still moving fast enough, again I was being very wary not to push too hard. I got to the summit and had a look back at twin lakes it was amazing such a great view and with Mount Hope and Mount Elbert ( Tallest mountain in Colorado) right next to us it was very cool.  I started my descent and immediately had to start dodging runners coming the other way, I was always careful to give them right of way. In a number of places the trail had become very thin and I had to climb up the side to get out of the way. There were plenty of sharp switchbacks and rocks and obstacles to trip on. I made sure I cheered the return runners and continued to get out of the way these people are amazing super humans. It was just above the treeline on my descent that I came across Mike Le Roux another aussie but he is in the elite category and doing the Grand Slam. He was on his return and had his pacer Pete with him. He was looking pretty good and I wished him luck. I dropped into the treeline and continued my way down when I became very nauseaous. I am only guessing this was the altitude. I then came across Matt Meckenstock another aussie I had met before the race. He was on his return trip also and looking very strong. We had a short chat and went on our ways. I was super impressed at how fast he was and hoped he could keep it up. By this point I felt like I was stopping every 2min to let someone by I guess its a part of racing an out and back on single trail. I was by this point feeling really sick and hoping to get to Winfield aid station quickly. The next section of trail was new for this year and it meant we did not have to run along the road into Winfield After what seemed an eternity I finally arrived at Winfield. Physically I felt great but the nausea was killing me, I was also very hot. It was the hottest run/ weather I had had in a long time. The girls were great the drop bag was ready but I wanted nothing from it not even my special homemade pizza. After a toilet break and a longer than expected sit down break it was time to turn and head back up Hope pass. Again I had been really looking forward to this part of the race as I had heard that it was a huge test of willpower and endurance. I walked out of the aid station with Richelle carrying my pizza and quietly urging me to eat something as I had not eaten anything. M.C had come into the aid station shortly after me and was also having a slightly longer break. As R and I walked out to where the trail started again I was still dry retching every few minutes and decided I needed 1 final little rest before starting the climb. I ate a couple of very small mouthful's of pizza and MC came out of the aid station and we started walking together. I told Richelle to head back and I would be ok and see her at Twin Lakes in about 4 hrs. So we started the long arduous trek back up Hope pass running more than I had on the way down. Still pausing briefly to dry retch every 5/10 minutes. This was going to be a long 55 miles :) On the return people had picked up their pacers and they were full of energy. It was great we had a convoy of about 20 runners all making their way back up the pass behind us, pacers singing and joking 1 of them even had a small radio. We got around 800 mtr from the summit and I pulled too the side and put my long sleeve top and jacket on. I decided to do this before the summit knowing it was going to be windy and cold as soon as we got there. All the runners and pacers went by and it was quite nice to stop and look back on the mountains where we had just come from. The sun was now setting and the colours on the mountains were amazing something I won't forget for a very long time. I reached the summit grabbed some soup with mash potato in it ( weird ) but surprisingly tasty and found MC. We had a sit down and enjoyed the Llamas and scenery around us. Absolutely amazing you could see twin lakes down at 9200ft. I managed to get the cup of soup down and felt better almost straight away. This was the first thing I had eaten in around 3-4hrs. I took the lead and started running down the beautiful single trail with MC and started to work on making up a bit of time. Finally I thought it had passed and this would be it I could still make it to the finish in a descent time. As we were descending the few blisters I had started to irritate me a little more until I felt one of them pop. Wow that hurt haha the first time I had ever had to deal with blisters, not bad until they pop mid descent. Anyway I put it to the back of my mind and thought if that`s all I have to contend with then I could live with it.  After running down for an hour or so the nausea came back :( Man was I shattered once again the pace dropped off and I stopped here and there to try to vomit but nothing. We put our headlamps on in anticipation for the night and continued down this amazing single trail passing runners. It was a nice quick descent and aside from the blisters physically feeling really good still so I was happy. The nausea continued and I just kept running/walking and hoping it would go away soon. We ran back into Twin Lakes aid station on the return where I met the girls and decided to change shoes as we had just crossed the last river crossing and it was beginning to get dark and cold. I put a blister pad on the big blister on my heel and a band aid on my big toe where another blister had popped and a new one had reformed on top without me even realising it hahaha. I put my Ay Up headlamp on and some warm clothes and headed back out with M.C. We probably stopped for around 10min but it was worth a longer stop to change shoes. I didn`t need to grab any-more food as I had not eaten anything except the soup since the last aid station. So off we went again making our way back up the 3 mile ascent to Mt Elbert aid station. Not a lot changed for me kept feeling nauseas trying to vomit over and over again, not getting any food in and hardly any fluid. M.C and I continued to run/walk together and it started to get cold. It had reached around 25/27 degrees during the day and after a long cold winter in Melbourne I had really felt the heat so now it was dropping down to around 2 degrees I was sure starting to feel the cold. Our progress had definitely slowed down but we were happy as it felt like the fastest pace to be doing without a risk of blowing up. We came across other runners occasionally and talked and ran and it lifted everyone's spirits for a while. We went through Mt Elbert and had another 7ish miles until Halfpipe aid station. By this time I had put on all my warm clothes,beanie and gloves as the temp was dropping quickly. We could hear the aid station well before we got there. They once again had music and a lot of volunteers there and made us feel like superstars as we got in there. They had a huge mix of foods hot soup, chocolates and dry biscuits. Again I hadn't really eaten anything since leaving twin lakes. I kept trying to get small amounts in every hour now instead of half hour. I think I had eaten 4 oreo biscuits since the last checkpoint.  We had a quick stop at Halfpipe aid station and I tried some more soup and a handful of m&m`s. This again proved to be a bad idea I continued to dry retch for ages and threw away half my handful of m&m`s :( As we walked and ran along a runner in front of us was pointing out the stars we turned our headlamps off and had a look upwards, it was amazing being in the mountains with no other lights around and the stars were so bright. It certainly took my mind off the nausea even if it was for just a few minutes. We made it into Treeline and had to have a short search around for the girls. Because it was night time it was hard to work out who was who. By this point I was freezing and had been shivering for about the last hour. I put my skins on and an extra thermal top. It was only 5km to Fish hatchery aid station along a pretty flat stretch of road so my sister ( Jo) came along for a run/walk. Jo was a great pacer non stop talking the whole way. M.C and I did a bit of jogging here and there but every time I started I just felt sick and wanted to throw up. I continued to stop regularly dry retch and then keep going. M.C started running and I told him just to keep going I would see him further on. We watched his light continue to disappear into the distance until it was gone. Jo was talking and talking it was great except she kept coming back to food. There was nothing I wanted to hear less about than food. She managed to convince me that I should eat a Saltine cracker ( 1/4 of a salty SAO ) I think this was the first thing I had eaten in around 8hrs. It was dry as but at least it was something. After I ate it a few minutes later I felt like I could run a bit, it had settled my stomach some what, I am not sure how much this was a mental thing or whether it had actually done something but it didn't matter I finally got something in. Jo was still talking hahaha just giving me continual support and making me run as much as I could ( which wasn't a lot ) I was happy to walk it in to Fish Hatch as we were about 3 hrs up on the final cut off time and were averaging a Min/km pace. We got there and I was still freezing so put my tracksuit pants on. It was the last warm thing I had with me to put on. Richelle told me that MC had been in around 3 Min before. I went through the aid station quickly and started to head out toward the infamous climb back up Powerline. Richelle joined me for this section to the turn-off approx 2km. Again it was on fairly flat road. It was really great to have Richelle walk along this part with me to experience a small part of the actual run. We got to the turnoff and R turned around and headed back and I put my iPod on and headed toward Powerline. I took off 1 jumper and put my head down and powered up the hill passing a lot of runners at this stage. I am pretty sure this was the fastest pace I had moved in hours. I enjoy hill/mountain climbing and was feeling a bit better. Before I knew it I had passed all the runners that I could see and was on the trail alone for the first time in a long time. I took my iPod off and continued to make my way up. I was enjoying listening to my own footsteps and breathing which at no point had become laboured. Again I was happy with how I was physically feeling but just disappointed with the nausea.  It was somewhere along here that I looked up and could not see or hear anybody, I actually became a little nervous thinking perhaps I had strayed off course? While I had my head down and was buried in my own thoughts, had I missed a glow stick?? I slowed right down and turned around I even turned my headlamp off to see if I could see anyone else coming. Nothing ... I decided to walk on for a bit peering as far into the distance as I could searching for a hint of life or a glow stick or a bit of marker tape. All the while thinking : How could I get lost ? Where would I of missed the turn? Am I that bad with directions??? Do I just wait for somebody? Then there it was a little bit of tape ahhhhh my saviour hahaha a small piece of marking tape. Then I saw a glow stick. So I powered on and as I rounded the summit and the next bend I came across a runner and his pacer ahhh the joy of seeing someone else around 2am ish. I said hi and had a small chat but these guys were slowing down and the runner decided it was time for a sit. I was feeling ok at this point I had managed to get a couple of saltines in and was feeling somewhat refreshed. I was also excited because I had just summited Powerline without any trouble at all. The pain started as I started to descend Sugarloaf. I was jogging down ( not at any great pace) but I could see a group of lights in front of me of about 5-6 runners. They were all walking and having a great old chat. I came up on them fairly quickly and as I was just getting to them I could see one was MC. We said hello and had a short chat whilst jogging but he was not moving so well, It seemed his knee had seized up a bit and he was having a lot of trouble descending. I told him I was not going to wait because I did not know how long I could keep jogging for and we parted ways. I ran on for about 10min and kept turning to look for him but his light had disappeared in amongst the trees. Now that we were back on steep technical single trail I was having to be a lot more careful with my foot placements and really concentrate on every step. I had become pretty sore also over the last 25km or so and the feet and knees were beginning to hurt every time I took a step. This was new territory for me I had never run this far before. It was exciting but oh so painful. The descent into Mayqueen aid station seemed to drag on forever. There were so many rocks and obstacles that I really had to concentrate on to make sure I didn't fall over. Every step was so painful and I was wishing the descent would be over. The other trouble was I had no idea where I was in regards to the cut off. I thought to myself a few times that I would be happy if I missed the cut, I had no doubt I had given it my all and this all we can hope for in a race. Unfortunately I was still feeling terribly nauseous and could not handle the thought of food. I did however manage to get a saltine in here and there and small sips of water.  Finally I crossed the little bridge and there was Richelle waiting for me. Oh what a relief I was sooo happy. She quickly informed me that I was an hour in-front of the cut. At this point I was feeling like I was going to pass out from lack of calories. It was a horrible feeling. Richelle grabbed me and we walked down to the aid station where I grabbed 3 very small pancakes and ate 1 and started to dry retch hahaha of course I couldn't eat what was I thinking. We had pre arranged for R to pace me for the next 9km as it was a fairly flat part of the track and with only 21km to go ( Really 24) it would be great for some company. R worked out the pace we needed to be doing I had 21k and 4hrs to do it in so we worked on a 10min/k pace. Sounded great in theory until the amount of time that I spent stopping to dry retch slowed me down wayyyy to much. I could hardly run at this pace and any small incline I had to walk it was like climbing a mountain hehehehe. R was great she was pushing me and we ran for what felt like forever ( 3km). It was still freezing cold but the lake looked amazing the sun was slowly creeping up and there was fog over the lake. At this point I kept looking at my watch thinking I am not going to make it, there is no way I can make it. R kept pushing me and telling me that we could do it. All I thought was how helpless I was to my own body as hard as I tried I just could not go any faster. All this and I was not going to make it, I was shattered. R did her best to stop me thinking this way but it was hard, I just could not see how I would make it. I kept thinking about MC and occasionally thought knowing him and his never say die attitude he would just come running past any minute. I ran/walked/dry retched my way along the beautiful single trail around Turquoise Lake not taking in any of the scenery. Head down feeling sorry for myself still trying to get some food in. I decided we needed to keep pushing as hard as we could so it was time to muscle down one of my favourite Endura gels and have a crack. I had not come all this way and made it to 150km to get a DNF next to my name. I got the gel down stopped retched a few times then started running. We got to Tabor boat ramp where the car was and jo was ready to take over and pace me to the finish line. I off loaded my headlamp as the sun had come up and continued with Jo. She was raring to go so excited and again non stop talking. I quickly reminded her I did not want to hear about food so she was straight onto the saltines my new found saviour. I got a couple down and we managed a bit of a run. Every time the sun hit us it was like a little bit of energy came back. By this point I had been running for 27-28hrs, I was slowly feeling stronger and more awake.. We ran and walked passed a few runners that looked worse than I did a few throwing up on the trail. That didn't help haha Jo made sure I stayed with her and kept reinforcing the fact we would make it. Even though I still was not convinced I knew the trail still had some ascent to get back to 10,200ft where we started. Jo kept talking and talking and focusing on the job at hand all of a sudden the sun was up and I was hot. I took off layer after layer and eventually got down to just 1 top and my skins. Ahhhh what a difference some sunshine can do.  Poor Jo was starting to look like my pack horse. She kept powering on and talking enough for the both of us I think I had managed a few grunts and groans maybe even a word or 2. We had got off the single trail and were now on fire trail which meant we should not be far from the finish. We came to a fairly decent hill which to my surprise I managed to power up at a 6min k pace in the process I dropped Jo and passed a half dozen or so runners. Poor Jo she had not run or walked this far in a long time and now I was feeling a bit better I took off hahaha. I asked her what the time was and for the first time in the entire race I knew I was going to make it. I got a tear in my eye. It was the best feeling ever I knew it WE HAD DONE IT. I was going to finish. I told Jo and she laughed " Of course you're going to make it " as if it was never in doubt. That was it I was now running and power hiking the fastest I had moved in hours. It was time to finish. I looked at my watch and it said we done 159km but the finish was nowhere in site. We could vaguely hear it and passed a few people telling us it was around 2 more miles. Damn that hurts. I was frustrated by this and got a little annoyed.  We met up with R rounded 2 corners and there it was THE FINISH about 1.5km up the boulevard. I had arranged with jo and Richelle to meet me before the finish so that we could cross together. This had been a team effort and without them there was no way I would've finished this race. I started running again and had so many emotions it was crazy. In 5 minutes the ride would be over. We had done it We finished Leadville. We crossed that line together and Merrilee Chlouber gave me a hug congratulated me and gave me my finishers medal. What a feeling. I had finished 100 miles after the disappointment of DNF`ing The Alpine 100 miler earlier this year I was soo happy.  We walked out of the finishers area and sat down under a tree. I was just in total disbelief I could not believe it was over and I had done it. I think I sat there for about an hour shaking my head and working out what hurt more. That was it, it was over. I want to thank my CREW Richelle and Jo I could not of finished this race without you guys. You have no idea what it meant to me to have the both of you there and all your amazing support and continual belief in me was something I wish more people could experience. So after 29 and a half hours we crossed the finish line. 55miles approx 18hrs of severe nausea never actually vomiting, countless hours of shivering and 163km with 15,600ft of ascent and descent and a lot of lessons learnt, friends made and it was over. What`s NEXT :)  Unfortunately MC `s knee decided to swell up and seize completely at the final aid station 88 miles. He tried to go on but could not bend it or put weight on it. He had made it further than he had ever run before and did not give up without a fight. I know how hard this decision would of been for him and am in no doubt the decision would not of been made easily. Better luck at the next one mate.
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