Dirtworks 2009 100km

Well this turned out to be a better effort than my previous 100km efforts. I had been a bit lazy on the training since the Mont so I had no idea how prepared I was.

I started in the 2nd group on the freezing foggy startline with Tien and Sean. Sean immediately dissapeared into the fog so Tien and I continued on as a pair. Soon enough we go to the massive hill. I turned around and Tien was not there so I continued to push up the hill myself. Many steps later I got to the top and continued on. Got to the 28km mark and pushed on without stopping. Got into the 50km stop in 2hrs 45min which was a bit fast in hindsight. Here I bumped into Sean, Whisperer, Cupcake and Don.

After filling up my camelbak and bottle I headed on up the hill past the Buddhist temple. Here is where I realised I may have pushed a little hard and my legs were not feeling the best. I got caught by Cupcake when I got to this rock section:

I struggled on up and down all the technical rocky sections. Finally I got to Shephard's Gully. This was crazy fun and I managed to overtake a few people down there. I was a bit cautious where Rob managed to open his arm up last year! Onto the canoe bridge where I found a massive queue. The problem I believe was that various people wanted to ride it to get their wristbands which caused delays. Bruce and I were standing there for around 10min.

And then onto Womerah Range. I was feeling pretty damn stuffed by now. I rode up half of the first climb and then decided to walk to rest. The rest of the track up to the Jack's track was all a bit of a struggle. Legs were on the edge of cramping and I walked anything that resembled a hill. I was very relieved when I got to Jack's Track finally. This was shortlived though as I managed to get a puncture down Jack's Track. The Stan's sealant was a bit old in the tyre so it did not seal. So I had to spend a few minutes putting in a tube. I was quite annoyed as I thought I was on schedule for a 6.5hr finish. Tube in and I continued down to the road. I then pushed as hard as I physically could to the finish.

Time was 6hrs 38min which I am still pleased with. I guess the commuting to work has paid off a bit. Guess I'll keep it up as I'll need the training for the Angry Doctor!