The lead up to Kokoda had been somewhat of a dream run. Early on we had decided that we would just be hiking the event, and all of our training runs were completed without a hitch. Support crew was locked in and ready to go, matching outfits sorted (VERY important!) and discussions around nutrition and supplies were ramping up. We had zero goal times, we just wanted to finish all together, but put together a very rough time guide for our crew – times based on 4km an hour average, and times based on 3.5km an hour, just so they had an idea of what time to be at each of the four crewed checkpoints. The first time we would see them would be just before we went up Polly’s, at 30km. Based on our estimates, somewhere between 2:30pm and 4pm. Our goal for each checkpoint was no more than 15 minutes before moving on. We thought as a very rough goal, maybe 27-28 hours total.
So to then find out a week before the event that I had/have Planter Fasciitis in my feet was a real blow :( The pain I had been feeling in the mornings that I put down to getting old and tired was something much more and really rocked my confidence. Having never experienced it before myself but had heard many the horror story about it, suddenly I was faced with a potentially very different race. I had a last minute catch up with my coach to strap my knees (always a factor in ultras for me) and discussed my feet. We could try to strap them but having never trained with strapped feet, we decided against it and just see how the race went. Whenever I hike, I often develop an internal blister on my left heel, just where the foot starts to wrap around underneath – never when I’m running though, so I obviously have a different stride when I hike. It’s given me grief in the past (my first 100km DNF was due to the mother of all blisters that developed in that spot!!!) but I was hopeful it wouldn’t today as it had been fine in our training sessions. Two days beforehand, I also had the dreaded defecogram (pooping on camera) and had been advised the solution I had to swallow for it could cause dehydration so to be on alert for that. Great, the perfect lead up had just turned not so great. We got to the race precinct in Mudgeeraba as the sun was just starting to rise. Our team seemed eager to start, some nerves from some members but strangely, I felt no nerves. We spotted one of the army trucks and it was a nice reminder of what the history of the event was all about. Thanks to Covid, masks were mandatory until we crossed over the initial start line, annoying but in the scheme of other events being cancelled, a minor inconvenience really. Standing there listening to the Last Post, tears formed in my eyes. And then we were off (well in wave 4 lol). A last minute change of course had us walking through my local walking paths and streets, literally 1km from my house. Excitement levels were high, as was the chatter levels (sorry to anyone trying to sleep!). 2km down the road and suddenly men started ducking off into bushes, clearly not being bothered to wait for the toilets at the start precinct. Men have it so lucky in situations like that!! Over the hill, we saw my coach and his son on their bikes, which was a nice little pick me up as we rounded the corner to start heading up a road hill towards the first water checkpoint before heading onto the first trail section. It was this section that we first realised that our strength on hills was both a blessing and a curse. As we had decided to only hike the event, we found ourselves amongst other large groups of walkers. I don’t do well in group settings at the best of times, but in times of Covid and people huffing and puffing around me, I was starting to freak out and feel claustrophobic, as was some of our team. So we put the foot down and hard-hiked the crap out of that first hill. Unfortunately, at the top of that hill was the first steep down, causing another bottle neck as many people seemed a little unconfident going down them. Only being new to hiking poles myself, I’m not sure I’m qualified to comment on pole-etiquette, but nearly getting taken out by swinging poles a few times was not fun :( We managed to get ourselves into a little pocket of space and instantly felt more relaxed. Lots of laughs and chatting, just cruising along enjoying ourselves. We tick off the first of the 5 really big hills of Kokoda, and got to the next checkpoint and saw that there was only 1x water refill station operating, so I grabbed the empty flasks from the team and filled up while they all waited for the toilets. In and out in 12 minutes, not too bad but a bit frustrating having to wait for the water. Coming out of the trails onto Tallowood Rd, we fall into step with some people playing music and having a great time. We got to the base of the Austinville trail section and I pulled out my poles for the first time. Cruising along up the hills, chatting to people as we passed them, getting sooooo many comments on our bright matching outfits! All that know me, know I love a good matchy matchy and I’m definitely not one for the black on black on black look. Looking around us though, we definitely stood out as pretty much the only ones in colour – a great way to spot each other as well. One down section, it curved around a corner and I lost sight of Carman momentarily. I then hear from a random person “your team member is just here, I spotted her outfit!” lol it seems we also received the nickname of “fairy floss girls” somewhere along this section. We popped out at the end of that trail to the next checkpoint and the line up for the water was even longer, with still only 1x water refill station. Seeing how long the line was, we made the decision to carry on without refilling as we figured we would be seeing our crew at the next one in around 10km. We start the climb up Fairview (2nd of the Big 5 hills), one of our least favourite climbs. It’s long, it’s steep, and often very hot. Today was no exception L we pass quite a number of people on this climb that seem to be really struggling, given how early we are into the race. Someone commented to Sue as she passed them “you’re so strong on the hills!”, to which she replied “because we trained on hills, didn’t you?”. They said they didn’t want to answer that lol It blew my mind that people could sign up for an event like Kokoda and not suitably train for it. Getting to the top of Fairview we had all pretty much run out of water, and were regretting the decision to skip the queue at the last checkpoint, but it also meant we only had 4km of road down to our crew, and so Carman called ahead to let them know our location. We were about an hour ahead of our best case estimate and so they had to make a beeline to get to the first crew checkpoint. Coming down Mt Nimmel Rd, an idiot in a large 4WD deliberately swerved at us while doing easily 80km an hour, with their passenger hanging out the window yelling as well. It was actually a really scary experience and we spent the rest of that hill wondering if they would come back for another try. Around this time the roaring wind really picked up and had us wondering just how cold it would be come night time. Arriving into Pollys checkpoint was a fantastic feeling, feeling really good except a bit parched, and in great spirits knowing we were tracking so well for time without even trying. I stopped for the toilet and noticed my urine was bright orange. Not the best sign but as I hadn’t peed all day yet I figured it would be ok. Our support crew were fantastic at helping us to refuel and repack all that we needed, including torches and fluro vests for the next leg as we wouldn’t get to our next crew checkpoint until after dark. As we’re about to head off, Carman couldn’t find her head torch and was starting to freak out. Between us we had a number of spares, and assured her we would be fine and they will find it once we’ve left. We start heading up Pollys and Carman suddenly stops dead and re-checks her pack and finds the elusive head torch lol crisis averted phew! Heading up Pollys, we fell in step with another lovely team called The Intrepids, whom we share mutual friends with. Between Pollys and Raw Challenge, we would cross paths with them a few times, they were amazing as they had trained as a team of 5 to have a back up and one of them got called in at the last moment when an original member was too sick to start. What a team!!! Heading down Pollys, I was doing a light shuffle instead of hard hiking to protect my knees and feet, and it definitely helped. Anyone prone to knee issues knows the pain of the decline when they’re flared up! Hit the bottom and that’s the 3rd of the Big 5 done! We get to the Pine Creek Rd checkpoint and still travelling well, refill up some water so there’s NO risk of running out again and start the trek along Waterfall Circuit – which despite its name, has zero waterfalls lol but quite a number of creek crossings but the poles came in handy for making sure were no wet feet! As we started along this section I started to feel really cold, which isn’t like me as I usually run quite hot. A little strange but nothing too bad, I put my thermal top on and then also added my gloves and we kept moving. At this stage I was still following my fuel plan and feeling great. As we get to the top of Chesters Rd, we figured we had about 3-4km to go until the next crew checkpoint so we contact our crew who say we’re travelling very fast but they’re on their way there now. Tammi had a quick look on Find my Phone and it showed they were over 45mins away eeeeeeek. We head on down into the valley as the sun was setting, and arrive at Raw Challenge just on dark. Thankfully we didn’t have to wait too long for our crew to arrive, and even more thankful they were able to drive down to us and not make us walk up to them up the hill where other cars were parked. By this point, I had developed a hot spot on that left heel and so I decided to try and put a Compeed bandaid on it, but it wouldn’t stick. So we had to try and do a make shift strapping over the top of the bandaid and pray it stayed on. My daughter Ruby had written me a special note of encouragement with instructions to open it at halfway, and so I got to finally read it at this checkpoint and it said "Mum, I love you alot and I miss you, you are doing great" nawwwwww :) After sitting for a few minutes, we started to cool down very quickly, so everyone added some additional layers before we headed off, though still under the 15min time limit we set ourselves. Heading back to the Pine Creek Rd checkpoint again (that section was a loop, the only one on course), I could feel my heel getting a little more sore and tried to land my foot a little differently so it didn’t rub so much. Through that checkpoint we hit Nerang Murwillumbah Rd ready to take on Army Land climb, meaning we had about 4km before we saw our crew again. Carman called ahead to let them know, though this would take a bit longer as it’s a steep climb. Confusion ensues as they thought they were meeting us at 65km not 58km. After a bit of back and forth, I realise I had given them the wrong information for Army Land as there’s technically 2x Army Land checkpoints, one with crew and one without. Ah crap!!! They assured us they would be there in time but I felt like sh*t about getting it wrong. Half way up Army Land and Sue started feeling quite dizzy and unwell which was a bit scary, we traced it back to her having not eaten enough since we had left Raw which was a few hours ago. She had some shot bloks to get some energy and sugar in her, and while we waited for that to kick in, I had my hand on her back behind her and Carman and Tammi either side her as we slowly climbed up. It really reiterated to us that this was a team event, and we would do whatever was needed to get us all through. Along the way we had passed a number of people by themselves and when we asked where their team was “oh they’re up there somewhere”. I remember thinking to myself what would have happened if Sue had been by herself at that point, how do they manage to continue when they’re no where near their team? We finally make it to the top and into the next checkpoint and it is FREEZING up there! Beechmont is cold at the best of times but that icy wind was making it next level! Tammi revealed later that she was singing Christmas Carols to herself as it reminded her of Christmas in Canada weather lol But the views as you come across to the checkpoint were amazing!!!!! As we sat down, I had some hot coffee and took some pain relief as my hot spot was really hurting now. I swapped out all my food for my next packed lot and waited while the others had some noodles. I was really wishing I had packed my noodles by then, but stupid dodgy tummy prevents me from eating most regular food lol The next section was one of only 2 sections of the course we had not been on, as we had decided not to do the Army Land open training session day. It starts with a slow steady gravel decline for about 5km, which sounds nice and easy and probably would have been if my left knee had not decided to start niggling along with the soles of my feet starting to hurt from the planter. Damn. I chucked on some Linkin Park to keep me distracted and it worked enough that we got to the bottom (4 of the big 5 done!) before hitting over 3km of steep unrelenting up. This section was probably the only section that was poorly marked, maybe not so bad if you were familiar with it but as we had never been on this section before we had a few moments where we were second guessing ourselves that we hadn’t taken a wrong turn. Inclines suck, however they do not hurt my knees or the hot spot as my feet lift slightly, so I was actually happier on that section despite how long it seemed to go on for. I had started to feel a bit nauseous around the bottom of this climb, but figured that I had been fuelling well for the last 60km so I could back off a bit on food. Getting to the top of that climb and coming out to Freemans Rd checkpoint, it was like a battle scene. There were people sitting around all over the place in various stages of distress, from groaning to outright sobbing to laying down with eyes shut or staring vaguely into space. I have to say it was a little unnerving seeing that and thinking damn we still have about 30km to go! I stopped for another bathroom break but thankfully my urine was much paler this time as I had been sipping a lot of water. At the end of Freemans Road was the section I had been dreading the most – Hellfire Pass, 5km-ish of just down. For some reason I thought the last crew checkpoint was at the end of this trail section, about 6km away so we messaged our crew to let them know. I had hoped to get past here before my knees started giving me grief but alas that didn’t go to plan. So I spent the majority of this section either backwards standing up, backwards with my hands on the ground looking down between my legs or doing a weird straight leg shuffle as it hurt my knee less to not bend it. The nausea was starting to get worse along here, as was the hot spot on my left heal and a new one on my right. We get to the bottom (5 of the big 5 done!!!!) and there’s no checkpoint. Ah dammit, I stuffed up again :( we had to message them to say sorry we’re still coming, don’t actually know how far away we are as the km on our watches didn’t seem to be matching up with the signs we had been reading (remember the last minute course change at the beginning? Well that threw the markers all out!). We have another few km of up down up down up down which was exhausting and painful, but we finally get out to the last checkpoint that our watches said was 73km. If the race had ended here I would have been very happy indeed! Alas it did not. I made the decision to swap from my trail shoes to my road shoes to try and add even a smidge more cushioning to my poor feet, and added more bandaids and strapping to both feet, and additional strapping to my knees. I was feeling really sick by this point and also felt a new tell-tale cramps up in upper thighs and groin, and so I tried to have a few sips of Crampeze and nearly vomited it back up lol we took the timer off this checkpoint as we knew we all just had to do whatever was needed to get through the last 20km. Eventually we start moving again and hit the climb up Mt Nathan, the only other section we had not done before. At that time of the night (morning lol) and with that many km in our legs, this section felt bigger than Fairview!!!! (disclaimer, it’s not. Not even close to it lol) My bowel started cramping and really hurting on this section too, and when I could finally stop it wasn’t pretty and was pure black. Trying not to freak out (but not very successfully) I started to tear up, as I knew how close we were yet just what was still to come. By this point every single step I took was like walking on broken glass, and every single tiny decline sent shooting pain through my knee. After what felt like hours we finally make it to the top of Mt Nathan and the sites of the Gold Coast are stunning once again, but I’m in too much pain to really take it in. After sitting for a bit to try and stretch out my feet, we start a slow road decline down to the last checkpoint and nothing I do is helping to reduce the pain and so I just march on as best I can. I really want to vomit to take the nausea away but the urge isn’t there, and one of the few things Sue can’t handle is vomit so I don’t lol we finally get to the checkpoint and I stop for the toilet again, more black and it hurts to go. When I come out of the toilet, there is a medic waiting to talk to me as Sue had approach them, worried about me. I remember getting really cranky at her and yelling something at her about getting me pulled out of the race. Thankfully after checking me over and asking me lots of questions, they allow me to continue and we make our slow sorry way into Nerang forest. I know the rest of the course, and am dreading it. To be honest I don’t like Nerang at the best of times as it’s too rocky, but add in those rocks when my feet and knee felt like they did, I thought it was going to be pure agony. I was right. Those last 12km were horrible; there were many tears and a number of hissy fits from me. I got disorientated at one point and thought we had taken a wrong turn and then completely freaked when I realised we were on a section that was way ahead of where I thought we were supposed to be. The sun had started to rise when we had about 8km to go, and we passed some friends of ours out for their Sunday morning trail run. By this point I seriously doubt my feet will be able to carry me even those last few km, and knowing all the downs that were coming I was so scared for the pain in my knee. I had to frequently stop to stretch out my feet, sobbing each time and in between as well. I remember swearing that I would never enter another ultra, that I was done! Tammi was also in a lot of pain, and I remember her yelling out something about the last checkpoint not being real or somebody moving it (there was a final one 5km to go). We briefly stopped for one more toilet stop but nothing but a few drops came out and then made the super slow, super painful trek back to the Velodrome. I had messaged Nath to say we were 5km out but moving so slowly don’t get out of the car yet, and that I would message him when we got to the last hill. What seemed like hours later we finally get to that last damn hill, one more sit and rest and stretch my feet and then shuffle/stomp/straight leg waddle our way down the hill. Sue had told me not to cry as we crossed that line but I knew I would lol we get out of the forest and there is 200m to go to that finish line. We all grab hands and walk across it, and I am hard-core ugly crying the entire time lol a photographer stops us for a photo, and then somebody tells us to go up on the stage for a photo op as well and all the while I am sobbing and sniffing. At some point I laugh, then we all hug and I’m off crying again. But we did it! We crossed that line as we started, side by side, and after everything we endured especially in that last 20km, we ended up smashing our rough goal of 27-28 hours and came in 24:47, which also meant we were the 5th women’s team to cross!!! I’ll be honest I don’t remember much after that, apart from sitting in a garden bed sobbing, hugging some people, sun in my eyes and then painfully hobbling to the car. I spent the rest of Sunday feeling very sick and almost crying every time I walked to the toilet from the pain in my feet, and then dozing in and out of consciousness in bed. But by the next day, everything settled and there was zero pain in my knee, the planter pain had settled to a dull ache and the two hot spot blisters were the only thing that hurt yay! We spent the Monday together as a team, in ultimate recovery mode! Started with amazing brunch at the Cardamom Pod in our matching finishers shirts before moving to Soak Bathhouse for 90 minutes of blissful spas, plunge pools, steam room and sauna, and ended with a last minute coffee and snack at BSKT. Recovery done right am I right!!!! And that my friends, is the recap of our first Kokoda. Yes, our first. After swearing off ultras and assuring them on the Sunday that this was my one and only Kokoda, by Monday I had decided to go again as long as we could run some of it next time lol Hindsight is a lovely thing and if I had our time over again, there would be a few things that I would do differently, but you can’t plan for every single thing and the one thing I wouldn’t change was our team. We all had different strengths we brought to the team and we honestly had so much fun together (minus that 20km! lol) and even through the low times we were right there beside each other.
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RhiannonMy Race Reports Archives
May 2017
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REAL GIRL RUNNER | Race Reports |