It's been a long time between good drenchings up here in the Blue Mountains and I was very happy to wake up to showers on race morning. On went the Inov-8 Roc Lites. In the dry, I'd wear the X -Talons on this course but the Roc Lites offer a little more surface area that I thought would come in handy on the slick boardwalks along the Charles Darwin Walk section.
The start was pretty quick with Robbie Neill dashing off and showing remarkable ability to stay on his feet in road shoes on the boardwalks. My fellow Woodfordian and smiling marshal Jo Brischetto, who has just started running again after a bit of a knee issue, pointed us up the single track and up to Chester Rd. It was not long after here on the way back down to the Falls that I noticed Robbie pulling over to the side. I asked if he was lost (oh the irony) and he said he was a little sore in the achilles and that his day was over. He gave me some good encouragement and I was on my way.
Down the National Pass we went...deep down into the valley, down slippery steep metal staircases. You had to have your wits about you on this stuff. The sheer cliff faces around here are breathtaking. Once at the bottom, we ran under the Falls and continued on the Pass to the Valley of the Waters which was unsurprisingly wet, but is one of the most visually stunning trails in the whole Blue Mountains. Not that we had time to stop and read, but there are signboards along the way describing how the pass came to being with hardy men from a different era literally chipping and picking a pass along the middle of a cliff face. There's some photos on the boards of them doing this. Not one rope, safety harness, crash hat, risk assessment filing cabinet let alone a jackhammer in sight! Just a lot of smiling, sweat drenched faces. Couldn't think of a better work office myself...I'd be smiling too if that was my job!
From there I skipped along the stepping stones and joined the Nature Track past Lillians Bridge. It was pouring now and streams were running down the trail. I was making sure I didn't slip and fall as there are some drops off the side that would definitely be your last one ever!
Back up many bush steps and on to the section of the Nature Track on way to Conservation Hut which may be the flattest trail in the Blue Mountains. I put the hammer down. I know how fast Wes and Ewan would be along there. Once past here I hit the Short Cut Track (no joke...that is the name of the track!) for the journey home. I love this bit...fast and flowing and lots of big steps you can leap and bound down. This is where the photo was taken! Oh yeah!
From there it was onto the Breakfast Point Lookout Track down to Undercliff Track, I admired a few big drop offs and I had a few minor slips here but thankfully none at the same time! The last section was back onto the Charles Darwin Walk and I took a second to take in the lovely Jamison Creek. Last year someone dumped a whole heap of chemicals into the local storm water which drains into the creek and killed all the yabbies and water life. But I'm glad the creek is now back to a healthy state and the critters have returned.
Coming back to the finish I was smiling with absolute kiddie joy for that had been a lot of fun! I high fived RD extraordinaire Ian Sargeant as I crossed the line and gave Jo a hug. She would have loved to have run that course too, it must have killed her on the inside to see everyone there but it won't be long before she is back. Anne Mackie handed me my prize; a showbag of drinks and other no nos that I've been working off from Christmas. Oh well, just another reason keep training hard!
Racing this course is just such a different beast to training on it. This course has it's fair share of tricky stuff; boardwalks (ice rinks in the wet!), stepping stones, metal stair cases going deep down and high up, yuck stairs, stunning waterfalls and the odd rock overhang ready to concuss the daydreamers. Doing all this at race pace in the rain, and well by the end my brain was much more fried than my legs! I was very happy to take the win and share the podium with training buddies and mates Wes and Ewan.
Thanks to RunningWild for once again giving us a place to meet up and play on! See you at Kedumba!
Down the National Pass we went...deep down into the valley, down slippery steep metal staircases. You had to have your wits about you on this stuff. The sheer cliff faces around here are breathtaking. Once at the bottom, we ran under the Falls and continued on the Pass to the Valley of the Waters which was unsurprisingly wet, but is one of the most visually stunning trails in the whole Blue Mountains. Not that we had time to stop and read, but there are signboards along the way describing how the pass came to being with hardy men from a different era literally chipping and picking a pass along the middle of a cliff face. There's some photos on the boards of them doing this. Not one rope, safety harness, crash hat, risk assessment filing cabinet let alone a jackhammer in sight! Just a lot of smiling, sweat drenched faces. Couldn't think of a better work office myself...I'd be smiling too if that was my job!
Back up many bush steps and on to the section of the Nature Track on way to Conservation Hut which may be the flattest trail in the Blue Mountains. I put the hammer down. I know how fast Wes and Ewan would be along there. Once past here I hit the Short Cut Track (no joke...that is the name of the track!) for the journey home. I love this bit...fast and flowing and lots of big steps you can leap and bound down. This is where the photo was taken! Oh yeah!
From there it was onto the Breakfast Point Lookout Track down to Undercliff Track, I admired a few big drop offs and I had a few minor slips here but thankfully none at the same time! The last section was back onto the Charles Darwin Walk and I took a second to take in the lovely Jamison Creek. Last year someone dumped a whole heap of chemicals into the local storm water which drains into the creek and killed all the yabbies and water life. But I'm glad the creek is now back to a healthy state and the critters have returned.
Coming back to the finish I was smiling with absolute kiddie joy for that had been a lot of fun! I high fived RD extraordinaire Ian Sargeant as I crossed the line and gave Jo a hug. She would have loved to have run that course too, it must have killed her on the inside to see everyone there but it won't be long before she is back. Anne Mackie handed me my prize; a showbag of drinks and other no nos that I've been working off from Christmas. Oh well, just another reason keep training hard!
Racing this course is just such a different beast to training on it. This course has it's fair share of tricky stuff; boardwalks (ice rinks in the wet!), stepping stones, metal stair cases going deep down and high up, yuck stairs, stunning waterfalls and the odd rock overhang ready to concuss the daydreamers. Doing all this at race pace in the rain, and well by the end my brain was much more fried than my legs! I was very happy to take the win and share the podium with training buddies and mates Wes and Ewan.
Thanks to RunningWild for once again giving us a place to meet up and play on! See you at Kedumba!
