The rescheduling of the Coastal Classic from the original June 18 date to 10 September worked well with my 2011 race schedule. After the TNF100 in early May, I had some swelling and soreness around the ankles, and being able to have an easier training and racing schedule in June allowed the legs to recover well, and by early July I felt great and had a really pleasing run at King of the Mountain.
After another great outing at the Sutherland Half Marathon on 20 Aug where I ran 92.38 on a muddy, slow track, I felt really confident that the Coastal Classic was going to bring the good race tally to four from four, and a sub-three hour finish was possible. The weather in the weeks leading in looked a bit dodgy, but I ran the full course 2 weeks out (footage here and here), and while there were a few muddy patches, the track was in OK shape, and with only a few showers the week before the race, the race got the go-ahead.
After a rough outing in the 2010 event where I felt I had a poor run despite the OK finishing position (30th), I made a few changes - the Camelbak was ditched in favor of my trusty Nathan Elite V2 Plus (2 by 600ml capacity) and I resolved to take it easier in the early parts of the race, leaving enough energy to take advantage of the really runable sections are Garie. A further change was going for a pair of Inov8 Talon 190s for the event that I was trialing for Trail Run magazine courtesy of Australian Distributor BareFoot Inc (thanks Max!). I took the Talons out for two break-in runs prior to the race, one of which was a 4 minute PB over the Heathcote Loop on the Monday before the race, so I knew my form was looking good and I had 100% confidence in a 3 hour time if I could run a smart first 10km and not blow out (or have a nasty spill).
The Saturday morning of the race dawned clear and very cold, with the temperate around 7 degrees as we arrived at the Otford Primary School for registration. Everything felt great on race morning, and I eagerly anticipated the 8:30 start. In contrast to the 2010 staggered start where there wasn't much competition for a spot in the early waves, this years event saw a very congested start line, and it wasn't until three minutes after the first starters (around the 35th wave) that I finally made it to the start line. As usual, many folks were way too eager to get going early and pushed themselves too hard early on, and I was glad to be in a later wave where I wasn't going to be pressured too hard early on.
The first 2km of the race was the bit I was most concerned about. In 2010, I had pushed hard early on, spiking the pulse to an average in the mid-170s, and I had a crappy race plagued by stitch and trying to recover my legs and lungs for the remaining 28kms. This year, I dropped down into a first hike when the trail became very steep, and had 5.46 and 6.48 minute kilometers splits over the first 2kms, but with a heart rate I was very happy with (165bpm, which I knew I can hold for a 3-4 hour event), and I was confident of getting back under the 6 minute pace required for a 3 hour finish. The 6 minute pace was dialed into the Garmin as a virtual partner, and I had a race plan of getting to Garie on the 6 minute pace, drop back to somewhere around 5 minutes back of this pace on the beach and big climb out of Garie, and then slowly peel back the deficit to finish bang-on the three hour mark.
The open fire-trail after the climb allowed for some nice fast running (4.44 min/km), and with the confidence of the Talons great grip, I flew down the steep descent into the Palm Jungle passing heaps of other runners, and only coming to grief once when a vine got wrapped around my following leg. The landing was soft in the damp soil, and the only damage done was cosmetic.
The rest of the trip into Garie went by fast, with any concern about the aggressive, lugged grip of the Talons on the raised metal walkways proving unfounded - the shoes performed really well on the metal, and I reached Garie with plenty of the High5 mix still in the waist-belt bottles, the legs feeling great and the time bang on the required 6 minute pace. I race that is going well tends to pass by very quickly, and that was certainly the experience for me - the run to Garie felt more like 15 minutes than an hour.
The location of the drink station at Garie during the 2010 event was a long way off the course at the back of the beach, and I planned my hydration to avoid this drink station for that reason. For 2011, the drink station had been relocated to just where the runners come off the path under the cliff that separates Little Garie from Garie - a great example of race organisers listening to post event feedback and adjusting accordingly. I grabbed two snakes for the great volenteers at Garie and quickly ate them.
Derek Waterman does awesome photos of the event, and he captured me motoring along the sand at Garie.
In most race photos I've seen I've myself, I always look a bit bent at the waist - almost like I'm getting ready to pack a scrum, but I don't feel bent over or hunched when running, and with close to 4000km run this year with no injuries and plenty of time improvement, I've got no plans on tinkering with the current style.
There were plenty of blue-bottles blow onto Garie, and I was careful avoiding them - having a trail run go badly because of a blue-bottle sting would be a weird way to go! As with the rest of the race, the climb out of Garie to the cliff-tops was surprisingly easy, and I got to the top with a consistent effort, power hiking most of the way and reached the top only a few minutes back of 3 hour pace.
The trip past Eagle Rock and into Wattamolla went smoothly, and with the field spreading out, I was running comfortably by myself, which I really prefer in races. While a social run is nice, being able to stick at precisely the pace I was comfortable with was great, and having a clear track in front made avoiding any potential tripping hazard easy.
Linda was on the climb up to Wattamolla from Curracurrang, and it was good to see her and say hi. I caught up with a few runners around here, and we ran into Wattamolla together. One guy asked if we were almost finished, and was pretty disappointed when I said that we were just over half way. I felt like we'd just got started, and was now super-confident the race was going to be a great one. I sucked down a High5 gel at Wattamolla, and still had enough fluid left to not need a refill.
One of the great advantages of running with a Garmin virtual partner set to goal time is that you can reach a point where you're so far ahead of the virtual partner that a good finish is all but guaranteed. Traveling along smoothly to Marley, the time in the bank grew to over three minutes, and with a pulse rate comfortably around 160bpm, everything was going great. In anticipation of the aid station at the end of the Marley fire trail, I drained one of the bottles completely in preperation for a re-fill, and also sucked down my second and final gel. I managed to cross the creek flow out of Marley without getting wet feet, and the refill was very quick. I'm convinced that waist-belts are the best option for trail events - bladders are very slow to refill, and hand-helds deprive you of the use of your hands to climb and soften falls - both important elements in trail races.
Coming into Bundeena it was great to see Kevin Tiller manning the last aid station, and as I took off on the final 3km section around Bundeena headland, I was extremely conscious of the tree roots that had caused a nasty spill in the 2010 event. As with the rest of the race, there were no dramas, and I burst through the foliage onto Jibbon beach feeling great. The sand on Jibbon was great to run on, and with a five minutes over the virtual partner, I relaxed and enjoyed the final phases of the race.
Running up the path from Jibbon, I noticed my hip flexors were tight, and the legs were starting to give some indications that they'd be happy to be done for the day. The final few hundred meters into the finish at the RSL weren't overly taxing, and I crossed the line in an official time of 2.54.52 - a result I was absolutely stoked with. While its a bit of an arbitrary comparison, I'd slowly been creeping up on the lead female racer in many of my 2011 events (excluding super-starts like Beth Cardelli who are way quicker), and as I relaxed on the lawn, it was satisfying to be able to watch the first female cross the line for the first time in a major event I'd run (Shona Stephenson won in a time of 2.57.30, a female course record).
The elite male field had been extremely strong - Andrew Tuckey continued a dream introduction to trail races with an incredible 2.17 finish, smashing the old course record. Young Kiwi racer came across in second place in an awesome 2.20, and it was great to see Brendan Davis (who seems to be in the top 5 in every NSW trail race) agsin make the top 5 with a 2.27 finish.
Many of my mates also had great days - Denis Martin took close to twenty minutes off his 2010 time with a 3.41 finish, and Naomi Eastment (recovering from both a flu and an awesome run at the Husky Half Marathon the week before) had a great run with 3.10 and a 2nd place in her category. Justin Low (who often accompanies me for my CBD runs for Miranda during the week )volunteered as sweep, and did a great job bringing the field home safely and ensuring the Coast Track was left in good shape after the race.
The Coastal Classic has secured an early September date for 2012, which in a great outcome. Winter in too wet, autumn is dominated by 6ft, and summer is way too hot. Having the race a couple of weeks before the Sydney Marathon and a month out from Fitzroy Falls works really well both weather- and race schedule-wise. With a family trip to Canada planned for August 2012, I hope to make it back for the third running of this wonderful event.
Well done to Gary and all the crew at Maximum Adventure for another great event!
Linda produced a really great video to cover the event. Filming as a one-person crew, she captured some great video, and the final product really shows the beautiful nature environment the event is held in.