Home   Contacts   Calendar   10km Series   Super Series   Blister   Results & Ladders   Sydney Runs +Maps

1995 Brindabella Classic 53km

by Phil Hugill

Some people may disagree with me, but having just completed my first Brindabella run I would like to know where the ‘downhill’ sections were?

To clarify for the uninitiated, the Brindabella Run is a 53K trail race, starting at the Summit of Mt Ginini which is approximately two hours west of Canberra. It then undulates along fire trails until the finish at The Cotter Hotel which is about thirty minutes from Canberra.

I travelled down to this race with Kevin & Dawn Tiller and as usual we shared some classic conversation, ie “what’s your race plan Kevin” answer “go out hard and hang on”. I won’t share anymore with you as it’s all too embarrassing, as Dawn pointed out “stop whingeing and get on with it”. I think this was directed at both me and Kevin , Dawn has a strong humanitarian streak in her, almost Mother Theresa in magnitude probably summed up with her view that “if you’re still able to moan about it you have’nt suffered enough”.

Anyway moving along to the Race Report, Ultras are so much more than the run itself, for all you runners yet to experience the pain and the pleasure of an Ultra, try it, you won’t regret it. Well maybe, but after a few months your toe-nails will grow back and you’ll treasure the memory.

The event actually started on the Saturday night, when about 20-25 Striders, Family, Friends & Guests got together for a Pasta dinner (many thanks to Mike Ward for organising this) The meal was an Ultra in itself, the Garlic bread starting the night, which we slowly devoured as we waited and waited for the soup. We settled into the hard long endurance part of the night , after 1-2 hours the pasta arrived on large communal plates.

I’m unsure as to the consistency and flavour of the pasta, but anyone who has seen the original ‘Alien’ film where the green object explodes from the stomach of one of the crew will be able to visualise the food moving in front of us. There followed a slow tiring decline in our performance, suddenly interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Chicken and Fish main courses, (much to this vegetarians delight!) this was around the three hour mark. We felt duly satisfied that we had completed this arduous meal journey when we were caught out by the appearance of Salad, at this point I gave up, unable to stay the pace and face the Prospect of coffee at dawn.

The next day, ready to face anything after the previous night’s test, we gathered at the Cotter Hotel for the coach transport to the race start. The race is quite unusual in that you start with a steep decline over loose ground for a few hundred metres then proceed for 2-3Ks along a flat fire trail. Relay teams also compete so you find yourself racing far too quickly, not remembering that you’re going the full distance and the relay runners drop off after 9K, (well that’s my excuse). In this early stage there’s also a steep climb and descent to the summit of Mt Franklin, though only about 1K in both directions, followed by a long up-hill climb which took nearly an hour to complete (remember this is a down-hill event)!

After some two hours of running I was going along steadily with Jonathan Worswick from the Striders, when we were joined by another runner (non-strider) who amazed both myself and Johnathon as he proceeded to urinate mid-stride, the skill and dexterity of this runner was quite something as he directed his stream high and left with not an apparent drop touching him, he informed us mid-stream that he was just training in preparation for the Hobart Marathon, hoping to beat his PB of 2hr 32, In total awe of his skills and ability, both running and bodily we dropped off his pace and wished him well.

At this point I basically ‘blew’ and was unable to stay with Johnathon, with my chest going tight and legs like lead I struggled into the half way point at Bulls Head.

I have yet to confirm this but my memory of Bulls Head aid station is of a large crowd of People being entertained by a Jazz band, which is a bizzare sight in the middle of an Ultra. Anyway several squeezys later I was still going and remember just a long slow grinding couple of hours as I struggled through this never ending section, a mostly dusty fire trail through a valley and down hill to Vanity’s crossing.

This is followed by a steep up hill climb with my head never once raised, at this point in an Ultra, I have to say scenery the environment, other runners or anything become irrelevant as you focus totally on conserving energy and keeping going. After what seemed an eternity plodding along a rolling down hill section, suddenly the fire trail ends and you come out on to the road and can see the finish.

The finish, what can I say, well thank you to the organiser Trevor Jacobs and to all his helpers and volunteers at the aid stations. Much as usual I remember little of my conversation or actions, at this point I basically lay down and wished my legs could be transplanted onto somebody else, anyone would do.

All the Striders competing, I believe about 23 in all, seemed to enjoy themselves and complete the event successfully, though some did need medical attention for cuts and bruises.

My personal thoughts on the run are :
* it’s a wonderful challenge and a good experience.
* The run is well organised and supported.
* The up hill sections should not be under estimated.
* The relay team idea is a very good concept and more Ultra’s should adopt this, as it introduces more people to the events and means there’s always runners about on the course so you’re not left isolated and lost.

That’s all, and thanks again to Trevor Jacobs for all his efforts in putting the run on.