ONCE A RUNNER

I absolutely love the mountains. But for someone who hates the cold that statement seems Incongruous. The Alpine Classic , the Four Peaks, and the Bogong to Hotham. I would like to do others as well but I am not yet sure enough about my abilities over these longer distances. I should be but I am in awe of the mountains and respect them enough that they still make me afraid. I don`t want to conquer them or do brilliantly. I want to be part of them, immerse myself in their mystique and majesty. The 1st time I reached the top of Bogong and looked either way I was blown away by the beauty. I could see across to the Goulburn Valley and then all the way across to Nowa Nowa and beautiful East Gippsland, and I was smack bang in the middle, with my runners, a backpack, a fist full of guts and determination and a few likeminded athletes. It was spiritual and filled me with a joy and wonder I don`t often feel........

 You never have to ask me twice to go for a run.I love running no doubt about it.It was the first thing I did when I first stood up, no walking for me. . Mum said I got up one day and just ran under the table just like the Mazda add, zoom zoom!!I remember I loved running with Tom Kelly who was an Olympian,(he was in the 5000mt steplechase in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics) he lived just around the corner from us in Box Hill Nth. He introduced me to the BoxHill Athletic Club and I spent alot of time there training and on the weekend ,racingI remember Reg Barlow who was the coach of the endurance squad and he and Tom spent alot of time with us youngsters guiding and encouraging.I often dreamt that I could be an Olympian some day. Dreams unfulfilled have a bad habit of coming back to haunt you with what if`s and maybe`s. Running has been a part of me and even though I stopped during early marriage and young kids it didn`t stop the love I had for it and my only regret is that I should have started back sooner.


 While I`m running I am me, not someone elses interpretation of what or who I should be, I am free well and truly. Lynne uses me as an excuse for her not to run. One is enough in a family she says. I have to smile. If only she knew how beautiful it was and not something you have to take like a pill or a course of antibiotics to kill something. Yeah sure running can be tough on body and mind and God knows runners see plenty of that but we endure because at the most unexpected times and places the act of running reveals its treasures. It hightens the senses to things around you, andto about yourself as well. You get glimpses of parts of your character that no one else sees. It`s always good to keep something to yourself in this modern day connected 24/7 world. 


Running down off Pretty Sally near home, you can see Mt Macedon and all the way over to the recovering Kinglake and Mt Dissapointment State Park. I love running up along the Main Ridge Rd in the park It has great views and it has been an absolute education to see the forest regenerate after the fires. What a lesson in creation and recreation. Running along some of these trails you can get caught up in the running or you can sense the movement around you. When you were here a couple weeks ago that branch did`nt have the leaves on it that it does now, or seeing and hearing more bird life around.I find it hard to explain except to say I feel it as my body makes its small changes in response to my training we are all part of the recreation process, but it seems to me that not a lot of people take time to reflect or even notice.


The weather becomes something that is highly sensual. Yeah I know I hate the cold and rain but truly I have had the most wonderful runs in the foulest of weather( so long as I have my jacket, gloves and beanie!! I am sure I look like a mobile tent!!)I do prefer the hot weather as all my aches and pains seem to disappear and the life around you just seems more vibrant. 


Running is a meditative experiance to really listen to your breathing, to concentrate on a bead of sweat trickling down your face, the rythmn of your legs, the beating of your heart. These days at times I seem to be able to focus on a thought and become it. Mmm… sounds silly writing it down but I haven`t got the words to explain it. It`s like you go from the past tense into the present. I guess it`s something Lance Armstrong means when he mentions Carpe Diem.

I have solved alot of my problems out running. These days I don`t like to come up with instant answers or solutions unless I go for a run or two first. That is at odds with todays instant society, but these days I say to hell with them, they don`t have the answers either.So as I get older the more I realise that you have to be true to yourself and not succumb to other peoples view of what you should be. Most people think I`m a bit weird and that`s why I love being around other athletes.You stand on that start line and you are accepted as an athlete. It heightens my senses.It gives me great pleasure seeing them doing the same thing. We are part of an elite group, especially as we grow older. A paragraph out of a great book I love reading.” Born to Run”.It`s a story about a tribe still in existance todayin the San Madre mountains in Mexico.They are called Tarahumara "The Running People" It talks about eighty year old men running extrordinary distances that would blow us away. The question was asked how can they do it, whats the secrect. There are two. One is, no one has said that they couldn`t or shouldn`t and the other is we are never too old to run, we only grow old when we stop. A testement to that I found at last years Melbourne marathon. Waiting in line at the loos for a nervous twinkle I overheard the bloke behind me telling someone else this was his 220 marathon and get this he was eighty four. I turned and shook his hand and felt vindicated that I am on a good track, no guarantees of the right outcome but a good bet none the less, and all the stuff you get for free, like your health.To all the stockbrokers and money makers of to day I say to you. Where on earth can you get 50% plus on your investment,less diabetes, cancer,coronary, respitory diseases. You keep your memory longer and the quality of your days are better.


We are not living longer these days, that`s a misnomer we are just being kept alive longer. Any way some day I thought to myself I would like to be that bloke and I think sometimes you can make your own luck. But wait I apologise there is no money in it so it’s not all that important( sorry I couldn’t resist that)

So here I am at the bottom of Mt Bogong with 50 other athletes at 5 am waiting for the sun to send enough light in through the trees to send us on our way. 64 kms of gut busting running, nearly 4000 mts of climbing and nearly the same in desent. I have read it is the toughest offroad ultra on the mainland. I`m sure there are others as well that make that claim but who cares.This is my 3^rd attempt, twice I have missed the cutoff at different aid stations and have been met with the most wonderfully empathetic group of people around. So will I make it today? All I can say I will give it all I can, mentally and physicaly. I check I have everything again. There was a mandatory check the night before at registration so it should be OK.Maps ,compass,coat, gloves first aid , gaterade and food, check

It`s light enough and we are on our way. Its level track the 1<sup>st</sup> couple of Kms but pretty rocky so I stay back and take it easy. 2kms in and it’s a right turn straight up the Staircase Spur for two and a half hours. It’s tough single file climbing. Go hard here and it is at your own demise later on. It`s a good time for a chat to those around you in between hard breathing. My heart rate monitor is ticking over at 145 to 155 beats per minute and I`m walking!! The trip is beautiful and ever changing as we ascend. You can feel the slight drops in temperature, the wind is a bit cooler and suddenly an open view across to the next range. You don`t have to go O/S to get these views, we have them here. It`s……… just beautiful. Your senses are hot, in tune with your body and the scenery around you. At the summit “even Clancy took a pull” what a view, you can see ….forever. A stop at the 1^st checkpoint to record numbers with the radio operaters, what a great crew strung out right across to Hotham to help look after us. The view over the back of Bogong is breathtaking. The drop offs were amazingly steep and I could picture cattlemen inching their way down rounding up their mobs. So on we run rough and downhill to flatish tracks, to the 1^st hut and another check point, a hand full of snakes and a drink and onward to the next hut. It was back down into the snow gums winding our way through them with scenery to die for. 


Then the real work begins, down to Big River. Its that steep sometimes you can`t stop yourself and it`s easy to go A over T and keep going. It trashes your quads and you WILL feel it later. What ever the weather, it`s nice to wade into the river and cool the legs, hang on to the chain this year as the water level is a bit higher and stronger this year, then…. 


Straight up hang on to what ever you can up! It sends your heart rate through the roof and for the first time your legs begin to send signals back,” hey just go steady”. This spur is a long one and I paid the price here last year by ignoring what was happening inside and I ran out of steam before the halfway mark. So slow down and steady. It`s hard because you are trying to make the cutoff and it`s a judgement thing. The group I`m with have helpful experienced advice and so we move on at a steady rate walking and running where we can. 


Up on the High Plains now past the next checkpoint. Running at a steady pace amongst a thousand acres of wild flowers is just the most spectacular thing. Mist comes over and you can`t see in front of your nose, then it drifts away and the beauty is revealed again. Snaking along the high planes track there are signs up showing the direction of the cattlemens huts. There are 30 or so brumbys a hundred yards away just grazing. They look up happy to share the picture with us. The mist is back again swirling and the beanie goes back on. Its flat to undulating here and very rocky underneath. Someone has fallen over up ahead I get up there and she has a beaut egg on her cheek and her eye is closing, but she is going again and we run for awhile together chatting away to pass the time. We part company at the next check point and she gets a bit of First Aid. We are down on the Aqueduct Track that follows the water supply for Falls Creek. 


The legs are starting to feel it now and I`m worried I will miss the cutoff at the halfway mark. It`s just a battle to keep going one foot in front of the other. I could use some hot soup and fruit cake something else that’s different with ultras they use real food, and as I round the next bend people are there clapping and cheering us in. Phew, nice to stop and I have 15 minutes up my sleeve. So I have my soup, fill up my backpack and grab some cake and walk for 5 minutes while it goes down a treat. Its cold again as the mist closes in and I put my arm warmers and wind jacket on. 


This is a tough bit to the next checkpoint. Its only 5kms but there are some pretty steep sections and your legs are pretty weary and heavy. The mist is pretty thick now and everyone is getting wet but at least the track is well marked here. At the top of the hill and the checkpoint appears next to the Omeo Hotham road. I feel OK here, this is where I missed the cutoff last year. I am looking forward to the new country across the road. 


So we head off. We are still on the high plains but back to a very narrow track and very rough, you could do an ankle here very easily. I`m walking more now but so is everyone else. I catch up with a really nice bloke and we chat and jog along. The next checkpoint soon comes up and there are another herd of brumbys only a few meters away from us and they are so beautiful and calm, just looking at us. 


It`s pretty windy from here, but the mist lifts and we are climbing again at a steady rate. Its walk a snow pole then run one. We are soon at the top of the Plains and we head down the spur into Cobungra Gap. It`s pretty steep and it`s slow going. There are some steep drops and you can go over very easily and take your knee out. It`s beautiful country here, really good strong Mountain Ash.


 Cobungra Gap is a place that I could retire to. A lovely hut and small valley that is just a gem. We cross over the river which is just a small creek and cross valley then it`s straight up Shindlers Spur and it`s really hard work. The legs have had it now and I have hands on knees as I climb. It`s really hard. My backpack is hurting my shoulders and everything aches. The scenery is spectacular up at the top of the Spur. It`s only 6 kms left and we are out on the Hotham ski runs. There is a lot of sharp rocks and I walk a fair bit as my legs are now that heavy I can`t trust myself tripping over.


 I can see the summit now, what a thrill. It`s very windy and I have to hang on to my hat. I really struggle the last couple of Kms. I approach the last bit of track then up to the cairn and then it`s over...... It`s that windy I have to hang on to the stones on the cairn. Its clear now and I can see Kosiosko. I can`t believe I can see that far, its so clear like crystal clear water.Time was 11hrs 10mins, but the rewards are so much more. 


These days my reasons for running are more than times and places. It`s to be in the moment, easy to say but hard to do.These days I find that easier because I have accepted it as my reasons to run. I am absolutey wreaked I sit down and the volunteers give me a lemonade and fruit cake, perfect. 20mins later it`s a real effort to stand up then it`s a very slow shuffle 400mts back to the bus. I am so sore now. I get up the steps of the bus and the driver wakes me up when we arrive at the Caravan Park an hour later. 


I am really satisfied and happy. What ever the degree of difficulty it was a tough day and I would do it again tomorrow, well a couple of weeks !! anyway. I have met a lovely group of people who are very different from triathletes and road runners. There is an empathy among everyone and an understanding that what ever ability each of us have it`s tested to the absolute limit.

We were Born to Run !