Six Foot Track Marathon 2010

The Six Foot Track Marathon is recognised as one of the best ultra marathon events in Australia. What has been described as "the toughest marathon in Australia" is held each March in the Blue Mountains, Katoomba, NSW, Australia, between the brutal bush fire season and Easter. With more than 25 years of experience under its belt, this is the premier trail Marathon in Australia, and it is expected that the full quota of 850 runners will start each year's event. The runners will run along the Six Foot Track, a bridle trail originally cut in 1884 starting from the Historic "Marked Tree" at Katoomba to the Jenolan Caves, a distance of 45 kms.

The gruelling race was launched in March 1984 to mark the centenary of the opening of this historic track. Since the first race, which fielded a mere seven runners, the event has attracted much acclaim for its toughness, its stunning scenery, challenging conditions and great camaraderie. The event now attracts a field of local, national and international entrants who travel from as far as Germany, New Zealand, Japan, Ireland, England and the USA.

They come from all walks of life - business people to triathletes with many runners returning year after year. Females account for 15% of the field and this is increasing yearly. There are steep hills to go up and down, and the mighty Cox's River to cross. There is dirt and dust, and heat and humidity, as the event is at the tail-end of the long hot Australian summer.

Following completion of the event for the first time in 2009 it was always important for me to return in 2010 to test myself on both feet after seriously rolling my left ankle in the opening stages last time around.

This race started cautiously with the priority to take the opening 5km steadily to ensure success over the 45km distance. Starting out with Doug, Michael and Dennis we were later to run our own race.

There are seventeen aid stations and logistics support is ably carried out by the NSW Rural Fire Service. They do a great job, and all proceeds of the race go the NSW Rural Fire Service Brigades in the Blue Mountains and the Six Foot Track Heritage Trust with approximately $40,000-$50,000 being raised each year.

The course is always challenging and with the recent rain Cox's River was flowing strongly with no other way across other than swimming across. Now after 15km I may not have been paying close enough attention to the fact that my new ipod around my waist was soon to be submersed in the River! Oh well - I had not had the chance to even test it out and would never get the chance.

The remaining 30km would be a test although compared to the previous year on one leg I was driven to succeed in the lead up to the ultimate human challenge over twice the distance of the Six Foot Track with the Comrades Marathon in South Africa soon approaching.

It was great to meet up with other runners along the course and share stories and the challenges of the adventure. There was nothing sweeter than hearing the roar of the crowd as I approached the Jenolan Caves finish line crossing in 6:24:24.