Its been 8 days since I set out on my first race that was part of the Buffalo Stampede Grand Slam, in the sleepy town of Bright in the Victorian Alps.
This was a race I had been planning and preparing for since September last year, having set my sights with a 6 month lead time.
The Slam was made up of 3 races over Friday, Saturday and Sunday with each race being a serious undertaking in its own right. The total elevation over the three days was approx. 9000m which, if you think about it, is roughly the height of Everest!
I knew I’d set myself a great challenge, which I was determined to overcome, so I decided to seek the assistance of a running coach. Who better to help me than the current Australian Mountain Running Champion, Ben Duffus. I put my trust in his hands and he certainly delivered on his promise to get me through the task! I’d love to write more about my last 6 months under Ben’s guidance and lessons learnt, but there is so much to put down that I will have to save that for future posts. Suffice to say, I have learnt a lot about preparing for a serious race, from building a base early on, dealing with injuries and the importance of specificity as we neared the pointy end of the training plan.
My experience of the Slam was nothing short of amazing. I’ve never run/climbed mountains like these before – the last few month of my training had me hiking loops of a 150m ascent at 20% gradient in order to try to somehow replicate what was waiting for me in Bright.
The route on the first and second day had us starting off in Bright, and after a relatively flat 3km warm up run via the town’s urban trails, the climbing would begin. This is where my hiking poles, the Black Diamond Carbon Z’s, really came into their own. I’d become relatively proficient with these ‘extra limbs’ and had no issue climbing up to the top of Mystic – some 400m gain over a short 1.2km. The view from the hang-gliding takeoff ramp was stunning and gave a good idea of the elevation we had just covered.
Next came the dreaded Mick’s track downhill (and on the return leg uphill). This is where I learnt my weakness was in descending. Having had some issues with my right knee over the last 6 months, I still held onto that fear of potentially jarring my knee and this really slowed me down on the descents. I still tried to move quickly down them, but I was definitely no mountain goat – more like a wombat running for its life – moving as quickly as it could – but a wombat nonetheless! The first time I ran down Mick’s, my pole got stuck on a tree root and I fell hard on my arse. I was lucky not to dislocate my shoulder as my arm bent backwards, but I did manage a lovely big bruise on my right thigh.
Once down Mick’s, a short run of about a kilometer preceded the serious climb up to Clearspot. Climbing 517m in 1.6km, that’s a 31% gradient and left many runners gasping for breath or stopping to getting a bit of clarity. Encouraged by my earlier mystic climb, I settled into a nice little rhythm of short purposeful steps and made it to the top without stopping or feeling conquered. On the first day, this is where I turned back to stumble and trip downhill, then back up Mick’s Track (220m Climb over 0.5km w 41% gradient) and then down Mystic to the finish in town.
On the second day Clearspot was just a peak to bag and continue on towards Mt Buffalo!
We had been warned to have out BAD Weather Mandatory gear ready. We were told that in the 5 years that the Stampede had been an organised event, today’s forecast had been the bleakest and we needed to be prepared for some serious rain, winds and low temps.
The morning had actually been really pleasant with only a light drizzle and it looked like the skys were possibly clearing, so it felt a little strange when I reached Eurobin (some 16km down the track from Clearspot) and the volunteers were going through and checking our mandatory gear. The first check was for waterproof jacket and thermals and having satisfied that, I was sent on my way up the 10km single track to the top of Mt Buffalo – a little over 1000m overhead.
The going was good and as I neared the top I saw Martin Kern (eventual mens winner) and shortly after Lucy Bartholomew (eventual ladies winner). Actually when I saw these two I knew I had about 5 km to go before the turn around, so it was actually a great boost of confidence that these stellar athletes weren’t too far ahead. Little did I know that the next 5ks entails some interesting rock hopping and squeezing though boulder tunnels. This explained my false assurance that I was close to the leaders, when in fact that short 5km section and 10km difference, would take about 2 hours to complete.
As I arrived at the next checkpoint, Chalets, my gear was checked again – this time for gloves and wet weather pants – things were getting serious. Leaving that checkpoint I felt the first few drops of rain and remembered the forecast for heavier rain had the weather ramping up in the early afternoon around 3pm. It had only just gone 12pm.
Running a short lap at the top of Mt Buffalo and squeezing through boulder crevices was fun, but now the rain had started to set in and the temperature had started to drop. I was relieved I had reached the turn about before the serious weather, but now the race was on to get down the mountain and home as quick as possible.
On the descent my fingers had started to freeze up and little needles of pain started shooting through each fingertip. I felt terrible for the runners still heading up as I was really starting to lose feeling in my gloved hands. I had the semi-comfort of knowing that I would be a little less cold with every 100m I descended, but these poor souls were heading up to the cold and the bad weather.
I passed quite a few runners on the way down to Eurobin and was a little surprised at that – perhaps I was able to better deal with the cold or maybe the ~50km of running up some seriously steep mountains had left their hamstrings and quads in a bad way. In any case that just fueled my desire to get down quick. The endorphins were firing!
At Eurobin again, I had my final check – this time for headlamp – and I was off back towards Clearspot.
The rain was getting worse and once I left Eurobin I was surprised not to pass any more runners heading in the opposite direction. At first it was a little strange as there were some runners I knew were behind me, but I had yet to see, but then I started to realise that runners must have either resigned or been cut off from the race. The Weather was getting really wild!
Heading up to Clearspot again, I was on a ridge the locals knew as Dingo Lane and I heard what I thought was a helicopter in the distance. Strange that it was getting closer and closer and even though I knew where the sound was coming from – I couldn’t actually see it. Closer and closer till it was right behind me when I realised it wasn’t a helicopter – it was the sounds of some powerful wind gusts. The sound was actually pretty terrifying. I feel like maybe a dozen of these gusts passed me and each time I thought the trees around me would fall – there certainly were little branches and twigs flying horizontally through the air.
I could either hide and wait it out – for who knows how long – or just put one foot in front of the other and get the job done. So on I want. The wind was seriously strong and freezing so I had to keep moving anyway. If I’d stopped I’m sure hypothermia was a real possibility. I had noticed my knees were looking pretty pale as I climbed up to Clearspot so it was a welcome relief when I reached the top and was offered some warm soup. The best soup I’d ever tasted!
I didn’t want to hang around for long so I headed down the muddy descent, at times sliding on my behind, down to the final climb up Mick’s track. That second day would be the most difficult version of Mick’s track ascent for me out of all of the Grand Slam days. My body temperature was seriously low – I knew by the colour of my knees and as I neared the top, the going was getting harder and harder to the point that I had to will each step with a grunt, my heart rate felt through the roof and my vision was getting a little blurrier and blurrier.
Somehow I made it to the top and just had to walk the next kilometer getting my breath and energy back. I couldn’t imagine moving any faster than snail pace – but I took some deep sucks of my Tailwind solution and slowly but surely the calories hit their mark and I started to move with a quicker pace.
I started to run down from Mystic and managed a decent pace over the last 6km to the finish line.
I had survived the big day and I knew I just had to get to the start line on the last day to finish out my challenge.
I later found out that more than half the field of runners had either pulled out or been stopped due to the weather. 51 finished out of 112 that had started. It had actually snowed at the top of Mt Buffalo and ice had formed making the conditions too dangerous for the race to continue. I had been about 1.5 hours ahead of the cut off at Eurobin.
The second night I had spent in a bit of a daze – wondering if the third day would go ahead or would the weather prove the victor. The organisers had decided that as it was only a marathon day and we were to start at the top of Mt Buffalo, the level of acceptable risk was high enough that we did get the go ahead. Albeit, the course was reduced by 4km to avoid some still icy patches at the top of the mountain.
My legs were still surprisingly strong despite some minor stiffness in my quads. I was able to run the flats and down hills and so the first half of the run was uneventful – save for one of my poles breaking unexpectedly. Luckily I was able to improvise a little with a tent peg and tape at the Eurobin checkpoint and get my pole working again!
Once we hit some of the climbs towards Clearspot and also Micks, I was encouraged that my hiking was strong and even better than the previous day’s – clearly the rest overnight had helped. I set into a steady rhythm on the ascents and even Mick’s climb was better going than yesterday’s – a climb I’d been dreading – but it actually turned out well.
The rain had really soaked the ground and a few more slips and falls were inevitable, but luckily no damage was done, and before I knew it I was at the finish line with the third medal around my neck and the “Buffalo Stampede Grand Slam” finish to my name. I had a split moment where I thought the emotions would come out, but I managed to keep it together and produce a huge beaming smile instead! 🙂
It was an intense 3 days, but also a thoroughly satisfying 3 days and I’ve certainly been encouraged by the result. Of the 24 Grand Slammers that started, I finished 10th.
Now I look forward to some flatter and faster running as I begin my next training cycle. Building towards the Blackall 100km trail race in October.
