Six Foot Track Marathon

The 26th Six Foot Track Marathon started with one of the largest fields in the history of the race with more than 850 competitors.

Set in the beautiful scenic Blue Mountains competitors lined up on the stat line in Katoomba. There were four wave starts and I was pleased to start out in the final wave.

There had been rain overnight and it was important to take it easy on the first kilometer as it was mostly down hill with many small steps and rocks to scale in the wet. Having successfully passed through the first downhill stage I went to overtake a lady in front who moved aside when my left ankle buckled under me and the pain was excruciating with only 1km down. I managed to keep running and hope to run it out when about eight or so runners hauled me in and I could hear them closely following in my footsteps at pace. As I pushed ahead the left ankle again went from under me and buckled badly and the pain was incredible with less than 2km down.

It was now more important than ever to take it easy and pace myself if I was going to survive the remaining 43km adventure. Having trained on much of the track previously I was prepared for much of what was ahead and paced it out with the goal now simply to make it home prior to the 7 hour cut off mark. The terrain was some of the toughest since the Sahara Desert almost a year ago with never ending steep mountains going straight up and down, creek crossings, large rocks, bushes and the rain making it even more slippery under foot!

The significant landmark of the water crossing presented a clear choice for runners to cross through the creek in water chest high or take the dry option over a fallen tree and across rocks. Having taken the dry option it was surprising to see the number of people crossing straight through the river! I reached the water crossing check point in 01:48:59.

I did not acknowledge the ankle at all and was making steady progress until around the 20km stage where I made the call to take my first salt tablet so as to help with potential cramping and hopefully this would enable me to stretch out a little! Having previously taken salt tablets that worked well for some reason today was like no other with the onset of cramping only starting after taking the salt tablets. Still no explanation for this new phenomenon!

I originally started out with my good mate Markus Schar and soon realised that I would not be seeing him again until crossing the finish line. I spent the entire race solo other than the rare moments briefly chatting at the drinking stations, walking side by side some competitors or making brief comments in passing traffic. It was clear I was in pain as the race continued with one runner offering salt tablets to help out and then another offering Panadol. Thankfully I remembered I had Panadol on me and I popped three tablets with 7km remaining to help me through the final moments.

The rain started coming down heavily over the final kilometers to increase the level of difficulty. It was such a massive relief to hear the crowds roar as we approached the finish line in the Jenolan Caves and to know that I had actually made it across the line in under 7 hours was a significant personal achievement and one to be immensely proud.

Finish time 06:49:21
Net time 06:49:07

Although a very painful test through the Blue Mountains - today had been a true test of character and a gutsy performance to remember for life!

The ankle blow up on the other hand was not pretty at all and with the x-rays thankfully clearing me of any more serious damage there is no doubt that it may be best to get a little well deserved rest and treatment prior to the next challenge ahead...