Painathlon Race Wrap.
Hi All, I have been on holidays since the Painathlon, so apologies for this late thankyou note, but here it is. Better late than never.
Firstly thankyou to all. Your generosity astounded me, and as a result I was the highest fundraiser for Variety WA in the event by far. At last count from Variety after the event you donated $1481 in my name. So again thankyou. The event has raised over $10,000 so a fantastic effort.
If you are interested in how I went on the day; It was by far the toughest event I have attempted to date. On the start line I was thinking if I get through the course within the 10hr45min cutoff I would be happy. It was a cool morning. We arrived in the dark at City Beach. Mici was nice enough to get up far too early for her own good and drop me off.
We began with the Beach Run and Reabolt Hill. I was interested to see competitors walking already on Reabolt Hill. I was trying to pick who was doing the Half (kiddies) Painathlon and who were the idiots doing the whole thing with me. In hindsight I think the other idiots were long gone. I got through the first 5 challenges City Beach, Reabolt, DNA, Mount St, Bridges Run feeling quite good in around 3hrs. Caught up to Nigel on the Bridges Run and was keeping a pace a little quicker than I expected but feeling good.
I again got on my bike, this time for the longest cycle leg of the day out to Brigadoon. I started to feel the pinch here punching into a stiff breeze with no-one else around to work with. A guy leading a horse was dragged along until the horse escaped as the horse was startled by the figure of me on my bike. They were both fine, and a welcome distraction for me. I glanced down to look at my new Garmin edge 705 mapping cycle computer to see a blank screen. Oh no! I had my course mapped out on here and the second half of the course would be a struggle not having any maps. The last thing I wanted was to go further than I had to. I set out on the Truth and managed to keep up a run until the roundabout near the top, then gave in and walked on the steep uphill parts. By the time I got back to my bike around an hour later I was really feeling it. This was when I started to think I might not make the 10hr45min cutoff. To my dismay my Garmin was still dead, and a guy who was pulling out of the race was kind enough to give me his paper maps. Thankyou! I was really worried about taking some wrong turns.
As soon as I got on the bike after the Truth I was in Cramping hell, and I kept cramping for the next 6hrs. I now resigned myself to the fact that I was not going to complete the course. But I thought I would just do as much as I could and see where I ended up. I was at a little over 5hrs in and I was not looking forward to another 5+hrs of this! Another withdrawal by a guy riding near me. His parents were driving to each major intersection ahead of us and making sure he was ok. The lure of his parents house nearby was too much for him to resist and he withdrew.
I kept the pedals turning but had no strength to hold a decent pace. Any time I tied to push hard I got a massive cramp, and my legs were taking turns in accommodating those cramps. This was survival mode.
Zig Zag was a welcome relief from the bike. Running down through the bush didn’t feel too bad. Steady ride to Quadcruncher. I actually was looking forward to Quadcruncher, I had no intention of even attempting to run up it. On entering the bush area I came across a competitor who had taken a wrong turn and run an extra 4km. I set him on the right track and was quite happy I managed to get a little distance on him during the stage in my pathetic cramped up state. On the return leg I offered him a drink as we passed from the bottle I was now carrying on the runs in an attempt to keep me going a little longer. He eagerly accepted as he had now done around 7km without a drink. At this point I was thinking I will be doing well to make Jacob’s Ladder at all, and I will definitely be pushing my bike up Mount St NOT riding it.
Back on the bike and I jumped on the back with the team of 3 belonging to the guy a gave a drink. This was the first time in the race I had managed to get any help on the bike at all. A little chatting and a bit of entertainment as the guy on the Felt time trial bike fell off at the traffic lights helped me to forget the body issues of the moment. I managed to hold on to the back of them all the way to Raffles, and good old Nigel was waiting for me.
A little cola and the Mt Henry Bridges run was a struggle. Run, run, run, walk, run, run, run, walk, run, run, run, walk…… Nigel rode next to me and tried to encourage me and distract me with a few funny stories like little Will’s attempt to help him count his laps of Jacobs Ladder. Nigel rode with me to Jacob’s. When we got to Mount St I told Nigel that there is no way in hell I would get up it on my bike. But as for the rest of the race I gave it a go and just would see how far I got. I gritted my teeth and Nigel gave me some “Your doing well”s. To my utter disbelief I did make it, and the rest of my loyal support crew Mici and Chris were waiting at the top for me to arrive. Seems the first day of August was too much for our Dry July Champion Emma!
I think Mici and Chris were a little shocked to see how bad I looked, but I was still going and pretty chuffed to have made Jacob’s Ladder and to have ridden up Mount St when I had been convinced I would do neither. Johno the tireless race organiser who had also did the half saw me at the bike rack and said to just do as many laps as you can. The race was about seeing how far you get inside the cutoff. I was at just over 10hrs now and had no hope of completing the 10laps of Jacob’s required to complete the course in time. I thought I might get in 2 or 3. So I set off and the team I had ridden with hi5’ed me as they had just finished.
1 lap turned into 2, 2 laps turned into 3, and all of a sudden I was looking at getting 7 laps done. Chris and Nigel did a few of the laps with me in support. A guy on the steps was amazed that we had been going for over 10hrs already. 242 steps each lap. I had 7laps done with 5min to go.......Off I went again with Chris saying “I knew you’d do that”. Got the 8th lap in and the cutoff 10hrs45min fell. I headed to the finish line. I was done. Literally!
I began thinking another 11min. 11min was all I needed to get the final 444 steps in. Bugger! Lying on the grass recovering Chris asked if I was going to do it again next year. I immediately replied NO! Mici and Chris were both a little surprised at the conviction in my no. Neither had ever heard me say no to an event. That lasted about 2days. I’ve got unfinished business. Off to the pub, and a few beers and as much food as possible with my friends, I had a great day.
So in summary I didn’t complete the course. I did all but the last 2laps of Jacob’s Ladder before the 10hr45min cutoff. I placed 13th of the 23 solo entries being the first of the competitors who didn’t complete the full course. Josh Randall won completing the course in 8hrs38min. All in all I’m really happy with my result. It was a massive undertaking. I did a hell of a lot of training at ridiculous times of the day before and after work and on days off. I look forward to going back and finishing the course inside the cutoff.
Thanks again to all who donated. Mici and I had a great holiday and I’m looking forward to the next challenge!
Pete
