Canberra Sri Chinmoy

13th September 2020

“Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.”
~ Franz Kafka

My second Canberra Sri Chinmoy 100km and fourth overall 100km race turned out to be a fantastic race day.

The Sri Chinmoy 100km race is broken into four sections:
Leg 1 – Rond Terrace to Mt Taylor north side (24.4km)
Leg 2 – Mt Taylor north side to Kirkpatrick St, Weston (27.8km)
Leg 3 – Kirkpatrick St, Weston to Cnr Majura & Phillip Ave, Dickson (25.05km)
Leg 4 – Cnr Majura & Phillip Ave, Dickson to Rond Terrace (23.1km)
It can be run solo or as a relay of 2-4 people.

Leg 1

Filled with excitement at the start I lined up next to top runners like Brendan Davies and Stephen Redfern, eager to begin and test my training against these two.
Race director Prachar Stegeman set a serene atmosphere and counted us down to the race start. A large group set off at a 5:00/km pace with my Dad following close behind me. This large group is brief as it separates into smaller groups over the first 6km, my Dad pulling back to keep at his own pace, we weave through the heart of Canberra closely running past Parliament house.
Around 6km a small group of us hit the first fire trail section, Brendan waved and sped up to move away from the group, Stephen followed suit and I decided to stick with Stephen.

Along this section of fire trail we ran Red Hill and Davidson Hill leading to a long waterway tunnel spanning the entire Hindmarsh Drive, continuing onwards to Isaccs Ridge ascending a brief steep incline and then crossing Yamba Drive through an underpass to reach Farrer Ridge.
On the descent of Farrar Ridge I could hear some faint cheers as I approached the Athlon Drive crossing. I was cheered on by my personal cheer squad (Ellen, Bethan & Jaran) and several Pioneer runners. These cheers spurred me on as I overtook Stephen when he refilled his water. I power hiked Mt Taylor up the Sulwood Drive side and proceeded to power down the steep gravel side of Mt Taylor with an enormous smile as I run second place into the first checkpoint.

At the first checkpoint I met with Kristy Janzen my support crew for this race. I refilled my bottles with Tailwind (a carbohydrate drink), stocked up on spring energy gels and checked in mentally and physically with Kristy.
My time at this checkpoint was short lived as I heard Brendan Davies was less than ten minutes in front of me.

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Leg 2

Taking off from Mt Taylor Kristy yelled “slow down”, I responded with a loud “Woooooo” as a big grin spread across my face. I didn’t want to listen I was feeling on top of the world and I was determined to continue on the pace I had set through leg one.
The fire trails continued on for another 2km from Mt Taylor where I approached the Kambah suburbs.

In the middle of the suburbs the first of the relay runners flew past me. I recalled last year’s relay runners passing me later in the course, I was also thought I was running faster than my previous year, frantically I check my watch to see whether my mind was playing tricks on me and I had lost time or slowed too much.
A wave of relief spread over me as I realised I am still on great time and this year’s relay runners are doing exceptional.

Crossing Drakeford drive via an underpass I approach another one of canberra’s mountains, Mt Arawang, a small mountain in the grand scheme of things.
While climbing my mind wanders to last year’s race and more specifically about Mike, a comrade made through shared suffering and perseverance, I wondered why he was not racing and what he was up to on this day.
I was abruptly brought back to the present as my Coros Vertix watch beeped signalling I completed 29km just before the summit of Mt Arawang.

Descending down Mt Arawang to another section of fire, this section weaves through the Cooleman Ridge Nature Reserve. It felt good to be on these trails, I had run several training runs at this nature reserve in the lead up to this race.
I flew through these trails keeping a steady 4:30-5:00/km pace while also keeping an eye on my heartrate displayed on my watch, because I know once it hits over 170bpm it is challenging for me to get back to normal and feel good again.
I continue on the fire trails running through Narrabundah Hill I cross Cotter Road and into Mt Stromlo.

Mt Stromlo has become my home training grounds since the fires in the Orroral Valley. I eagerly push up the hills of Stromlo not taking much heed of my pace or heartrate when my watch beeps indicating I completed another kilometer, I had just run a marathon (42.2km) in 3hr 45mins… this is far from ideal in the first half of an 100km ultra. A wave of worry hits me thinking I have pushed too hard. My mind’s rebuttal was “you have trained hard for this, your body can take the punishment”, however I slowed my pace but only slightly.
Summiting Mt Stromlo felt strong, then on the trails continuing to the far side of Mt Stromlo I started to fade away.

I entered the suburbs of Coombs where feelings of lethargic and sleepiness washed over me, I did not want to be running in this cookie cutter suburb that felt fake. I struggled running through this section and slowly roll into checkpoint two at the RSPCA on Kirkpatrick Street.

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Leg 3

Pulling into checkpoint two I hear the cheers of spectators, my personal cheer squad and crew. I wave to everyone give them a half smile and walk over to Kristy craving for something to eat. Flashback to the night prior I had planned all the nutrition I would need for the race, separated it all into drop bags plus extra and memorised everything. Coming back to my feelings of sleepiness I had intentionality pushed back the intake of refined sugars as late as possible in my race, this was a mistake and a learning point. I digress, ruffling through my drop bag I find my Avocado and vegenaise sandwich, potato chips and a clif bar. I immediately chow down on the sandwich and wash it back the last of my tailwind.
Refilling up on water and tailwind my stay at checkpoint two was brief. I checked in with Kristy again, mentally and physically, no issues with the body only the mind.

Leaving checkpoint two I ran until I was out of sight and then walked. My mind was battling this high level of fatigue my body was experiencing and backing it up with as much positive self talk as I could think of. I knew walking for a long time was going to be detrimental to my finishing time and so I alternated between walking and running. This continued for 2km until I was passed by another 100km runner, Matthew Griggs. Matt is one of the founders of the Ultra Mediocre Runners of Canberra and is an exceptional endurance athlete. I gave myself a little pep talk, to dig deep and get moving again.

The National Arboretum comes into sight around 55km. I know this section of trail well with memories from last year’s race and a solo marathon I ran through here two weeks prior. Climbing around the back of the Arboretum I power hiked most of the hills, ran the flats and cruised the downhills preserving as much energy as I could in the lead up to Black Mountain. In 2019 at this point in the race I was facing a super massive black hole of despair, I was determined learn from past experiences.
Leaving the Arboretum at 62km I cross Caswell Drive via an underpass and my left foot spasms… I immediately stop and assess how my left foot feels, no pain or further spasms. I take this as a good sign, walk for a minute and go back into a run.

Black Mountain destroyed me last year, so much I nearly pulled out of the race but this year was different. I was prepared for the beating this mountain dishes out.
At 64km I begin the ascent up Black Mountain. For the next 3km my hands were bracing down on my legs and my head looking up as I power hiked Black Mountain.

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Near the summit I was greeted by race director Prachar Stegeman with words of encouragement sending me faster up Black Mountain.

Upon summiting Black Mountain my quads were on fire and mouth parched from the sun. I had run out of water and tailwind, poor planning on my water intake.
I knew I could get more water at the top of Black Mountain because there is a bubbler.
I reach the summit with gratitude for my body’s perseverance, I unscrew my soft water bottle, fill it up at the bubbler and take a big swig… followed by a disgusted swallowing of urine smelling/tasting water. This water is hands down the worst water I have ever consumed, it was as if someone had pissed into the water reservoir and tainted every bit of water.
I was taken aback by this disgusting liquid, my mind critically thinking of the best course of action forward from this horrid situation… I reluctantly took another big swig, swallowed and refilled my bottle. I knew there was another 10km before reaching the next checkpoint, I wanted that water for an emergency.

My legs were aching yet feeling strong as I cruise down Black Mountain and through O’Connor Ridge until I reach another section of suburbia. I told myself the third checkpoint is coming up soon, so disregard the aching legs and you can have a short rest once I get there. I hold on as much as I can pushing forward but it feels like an eternity before the third and final checkpoint.
I pull into the checkpoint seeing Kristy and my personal cheer squad I cross the timing mat and immediately plop my ass onto the grass.

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Leg 4

Sitting on the soft green grass felt like heaven as I chow down on potato chips and knock back a small can of red bull. Kristy explains I can only stay for 5-10 minutes here and then need to keep going.
While resting I chat with my personal cheer squad about the amazing flag waving about. Bethan had painted a replica of my ‘Run Steep, Get High’ shirt and had written “Speedy Goat” on the flag. This is their nickname for me.
Kristy speaks up and tells me it is time to go, I grab another small can of red bull and down half of it and take a quick photo with my awesome cheer squad.
Thank you Ellen, Jaran and Bethan for the flag and your energy.

Leaving checkpoint three with renewed energy I crossed Majura Avenue with a loud “Wooooo!” reminding myself that I am alive and it is great. I cruise for another 2km and reach the Ainslie and Majura nature reserves where the red bull hit me like a truck and I was determined to finish this race strong.

Running the fire trails along side of Mt Majura I pushed hard running several sub 5min/km until reaching the backside of Mt Majura where a steep climb awaited me.
I knew how steep this climb was and it was pointless attempting to run so I dropped my hands onto my knees and pushed for everything I had, one foot after another nothing going to stop me. To my amazement I climb faster than anticipated, meet a course marshal at the summit of Mt Majura directing me to complete the small detour to the trig and back down.

My body and mind could feel the finish line getting closer as I descend Mt Majura’s rocky trails. My watch beeped as it alerts me I’ve ran 90km, I look at the time and see I am close to finishing at 10hours and so I keep my effort strong despite the aching screaming from my legs. The fire trails between Majura and Ainslie seem to fly by as I find myself ascending Mt Ainslie with my hands on my knees again and legs driving hard as I imagine myself crossing the finish line, tears welling up in my eyes I use that energy to stay strong and push onwards.
My watch beeps again at 96km as I can Mt Ainslie’s Summit, knowing the finish line is less than 5km away I don’t spend any time at the summit I continue forwards descending Mt Ainslie. On my descent I push hard running sub 5min/km pace and spot a runner friend Jonathan Fearn. I yell out “Jono!”, he turns his head knowing my voice and responds with “Justin!”. We have a brief chat about our runs and I ask Jono “can you help run me in to the finish?”, he responds with a strong “hell yeah!” as we power down Mt Ainslie’s main track.
We leave Mt Ainslie nature reserve running fast and run through the Australian War Memorial holding on strong. With the finish nearly in eye sight we cross Fairbairn Avenue and run down Anzac Parade sun high in the sky shining down on us.
We take a left at Constitution Avenue, take the first right and come up to the Parkes Way underpass and warn Jono “I am going all out after the underpass”. Jono responding with a “let’s do it” gets me fired up, I let out a loud “Woooooo!” as the underpass goes by and I turn up the pace running at a 3:30/km into the finish line.

Finishing the Canberra Sri Chinmoy 100km race in 10:08:03, placing 4th overall.

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Wins

1. Completing the Canberra Sri Chinmoy 2 hours faster than my previous effort in 2019. My training has clearly payed off and improved my performance.

2. Finishing a 100km race while the sun is still up.

Challenges

1. Regulating my energy downs and sleepiness through 50-70km.

2. Running my own race and not getting sucked into chasing Brandan Davies.

Highlights

1. Chatting away with Brendan at the end of the race was like a fan girl moment.
As one of my running idols it was amazing to talk about the race and my training.

2. Running with my Dad into the finish line. His annual migration, as he likes to call it, is normally the Ultra Trail Australia (UTA) 100km. However with the 2020 fires and Covid-19 restrictions UTA 2020 was cancelled and so the Canberra Sri Chinmoy 100km was the next best thing. He finished in 15:31:47.
Love you Dad.

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