Eagles, Elevation, and Endurance: 100km in the High Country

I knew I had to push hard to meet cut off. Slowing down in this section of the course could mean a missed cut off at the upcoming aid station and that would mean my day in the mountains was done. I put my head down and started the 10km grind up the mountain. Focused, determined and positive that I could do it, I pushed. Then I looked up – through the trees, Mt Bogong, the tallest mountain in Victoria, loomed. I had just been up there. I had climbed to the top, then ran down the other side and now I was again climbing. The full moon was rising over the mountain top, the sky a beautiful pink from the sun setting behind me.

It took my breath away.

Not just the incredible view, but the incredible feeling that I had just been up there – my body is so incredible. What it can do is so incredible. I came around the corner and Mt Bogong was now behind me – the view in front of me was endless mountains with a golden sky as the sun dipped below the horizon. It was another view that took my breath away. I was torn between pushing hard to beat the cut off time but also slowing down and taking in the incredible view that surrounded me. The cold wind reminded me that I needed to keep moving whilst not wearing a lot of layers or risk getting cold.  

“What does it matter if I don’t make cut off?” I asked myself.

I wasn’t here to prove anything to anyone, I had had fun in the mountains which is what I wanted, I had enjoyed the day and also pushed my body hard. But was it enough? 

Yes, I didn’t have to prove anything to anyone. No, I didn’t care about telling people I came short. I didn’t run these adventures for a finishers medal, or glory, or to tell people what I had done. So why did I want to push so hard?  

“Because that’s where the magic happens Jaqui” I whispered to myself.

I knew that. I knew that pushing my body to its absolute max, taking myself outside of my comfort zone, doing hard things – makes me feel more alive than anything. When you push your mind and body hard, you realise just how much you are capable of. That’s the feeling I wanted. That’s why I was grinding up the mountain! 

My race goal coming into this run had been to experience the joy of everything surrounding me, but also push my body as hard as I could. My lead up had been super relaxed. I knew that I had a few days off around the run so I didn’t need to stress about packing or food shopping and I also had a few days of solid work that meant I felt like I was on top of my workload which takes off an added stress. My race wasn’t until Saturday morning but I headed up to the mountains on the Thursday and spent a night

camped by the river in Bright. After a shake-out run, and with a cosy bed in the back of my car, I sat by the river and cooked up my spaghetti, eating whilst listening to the trickle of the water beside me. I was relaxed, content and happy.  

With a quiet day in Bright playing tourist on Friday, and lunch at the pub in Harrietville, my car and I started the climb up the mountain to Falls Creek. With my mandatory gear checked, I had my race bib and all my gear ready to go. The mandatory gear list is a big one because of how remote this course was. I would be carrying about 7kgs of gear before I had even added my own food to the pack!  

With the briefing done – all things safety and navigation talked about, I met my beautiful friend for dinner. Sam was to be my support  crew for the event and I was excited about a weekend with my friend; we were already planning the post run pub shenanigans. For now though, it was an early dinner and in bed by 9pm with a 3am alarm set.  

I slept better than I expected, a solid 5 hours before the alarm went off at 3am ready for my 4:30am race start. Food and coffee and all my gear ready, I was at the start line early. It was surprisingly balmy for an early morning in the mountains and I didn’t even need gloves as we lined up at the start. In just shorts and a long-sleeved top with my head torch lighting the path ahead of me I felt the nerves from the group around me and smiled. I love the start line of a race. All that excitement and nervous energy from the runners, and the nervous laughs from the crowd all dressed in their warm gear, coffee in one hand, and phones taking pictures in the other hand.  

We all took off and I made sure that I hung back. I always get caught up in the crowd and go out too fast and I had a long day ahead of me. We ran some beautiful trails , the sound of rushing water beside us, the single track lit only by our headtorch for about 5kms until we popped out onto the road and started down a fire trail to the river. Whilst this is downhill, it’s covered in leaf litter and it’s hard not to pick up half a tree with every foot step. I took my poles out to help guide me down the hill and help me stay upright on the slippery leaves. I got to the river as the sun was breaking over the horizon and I splashed through, shoes still on. I would have wet feet for most of the day! The head torch came off as the sky brightened and it was up and up and up. This section is an uphill grind and I find it’s the hardest grind because the body is still waking up, the muscles were still warming up and the lungs were getting used to working at elevation. My body was not ready to wake up, it moaned and groaned at me that I was making it work and my lungs screamed at me to slow down. But still I went up.  

I made it the first aid station, Warby Cnr and was welcomed by a friendly face - which is always a bonus. Some watermelon in my belly, and water bottles filled up and I was off fairly quickly trotting down the hill towards Roper’s Hut. I love this Hut – nestled above

Big River and surround by gums, it’s a reminder of the history of the area and I just imagine all the adventures had out here by those before me! I was on snake alert as I made the trek down and down to the river. It was very dry, it was very overgrown with trees fallen on the track. I would slide down the leaf litter, wishing I had skis on instead of shoes, and then would climb over fallen trees, or crawl under precariously perched fallen trees. I would laugh at the adventure of it all, then hold my breath as little snakes slithered away from me! I was moving well when my right foot slid out fast from underneath me, caught in the slippery leaves as my left arm stayed still, my pole catching me from going down but at the same time ripping my left shoulder away from my body. My shoulder screamed, my hip screamed and my right hamstring moaned all at once. I had caught myself from going down, but the body had taken a hit to catch me.

I kept moving and the hip and shoulder groaned the most but they were ok whilst moving. Nothing was broken – I was ok. I made my way down the steep section to the riverbank. I could hear the rush of the river as I descended and I looked forward to the icy water on my hot body! As I got to the river, I assessed – it wasn’t very deep. Just over ankle deep in the shallowest section so an easy walk across. There is a chain that from tree to tree across the river to help people cross as it can get very deep, and very fast.

Today, however, she was not the raging river she can be, but a gentle and soothing gush of welcome relief. The cold hit my feet as soon as I got in the water and I squealed with delight. I made my way across the rocks carefully and when I got to the other side I dunked my hat and my buff in the icy water and relished the ice cold water running down from my scalp to my neck. It was a warm day in the sun and this was a welcome relief!  

From the river I had a climb – up and up and up again. I was heading to the top of Victoria! The first few kms are steep and after a few steps up I realised that my hip and hammy were not impressed with uphill. The hip screamed at me, and the pain moved up into my core, feeling like a constant painful stitch in my right side. My hamstring complained every time I took a big right step and the left shoulder struggled to take any weight on my pole. I took a deep breath and just took it one step at a time. I knew I was slowing down but I could only focus. The ice cold river water soon dried and I was hot once again, focused on each step and occasionally stopping to look around me and marvel in the beauty of the mountains that were popping up with every ascending step I took.  

I came around a bend, butterflies smacking me in the face, little lizards and snakes slithering away and heard the creek before I saw it. I knew this little spot. I had spent a special night by this creek on a hiking adventure last year and I had the most magical night camping there in the mist of the mountains. I smiled at the memory, put my buff and hat in the cool water again and kept pushing to Cleve Cole Hut. The next aid station.  

I came into the aid station, smiling and almost singing. The crew there were very friendly, filling up my bottles and giving me chocolate and we joked about the nightclub aid stations that I would be hitting at midnight. Despite the body hurting I was in good spirits as I danced out of that aid station and started to climb the summit to Mt Bogong.

I looked around me at the endless mountain peaks, all standing tall and proud in the beautiful sunshine. The breeze was a welcome treat and as I looked up I noticed a wedge tail eagle soaring overhead. With a wing span longer than my arm span he swooped down in front of me, gliding down the side of the mountain before swooping back up above me. I watched in awe as he continued this dance above me. It was absolutely majestic and I couldn’t stop just saying ‘wow’ out aloud. He stayed with me for a while, as I climbed up and over the summit, snapping a quick selfie to send to Sam, Hubby and the coach and I waved goodbye to him as I started to come down Quartz Ridge. This can be very scrabbly, rock hopping your way over the top of the mountain range, and I needed to take my eyes off the eagle and watch my feet as I started to come down the other side of the mountain and descend to the river again. I know this section and I usually comfortably run down the trail, however once again there was a lot of leaf litter and a lot of trees down. I found I would get a rhythm and then I would be stopping to crawl under one fallen tree, then climb over another fallen tree, slowing me down considerably! It was nice to get to the bottom and have a few kms of runnable track before hitting the river again and splashing my way through the water.  I topped up my water and began the grind that would have me pushing to meet the cut off to get to Warby Cnr before 8am.  

I made cut off. I smashed it. I was in about 7:10pm. I knew I had about 7kms before I would see Sam so I very quickly got on my thermal top as the temperature was dropping and I know I feel the cold! With my beanie on I had a few bits of watermelon, I grabbed a packet of chips and headed off, keen to keep moving. I knew I had not been taking in enough food. The technically of the course, sections where I would normally take in some food, as well as the grind to beat cut off, had meant that I had not eaten as I would normally eat. I knew I needed to get food in, but I also didn’t want to start throwing too much food in my stomach as I also knew that could create some stomach distress. I munched on some Doritos as I headed into Langford's Gap. A relatively easy section, off the fire trail into some beautiful single track. The full moon lit my way overhead, helped by my head torch as I trotted along. I was getting close when I started running next to the aqueduct and I looked up, the light of my head torch reflecting on the water next to me. Across the water suddenly my head torch lit up two eyes watching me. Not a noise, but these eyes followed me as I ran past. I picked up the pace just in case!  It wasn’t long before I saw the welcome lights of Sam at her car. I was cold. Very cold. I was VERY happy to see her.  

Sam threw me in the car with the heater on, the seat warmer warming my butt. We had a tight turn around because I needed to get through the next aid station by 10:30pm and we were cutting things fine. She was like a well oiled pit lane crew, getting me changed into my tights, and throwing on my warm vest, as well as feeding me noodles and topping up my water. She kicked me out there and told me get moving. I needed to push hard again. With new shoes and socks on, and now feeling warm, I felt like a new woman and I ran out of there thinking I was moving at a sub 5min pace. I looked down at my watch and it was more like a 9min pace but hey, it felt good! I pushed on and easily made it through the cut off at Cope Hut. 2 lonely volunteers in their high vis jackets lighting up the path as I came through.  

“Need anything” they asked 

“Nope”  I replied and kept going. Sam was right there in the carpark behind them and walked me across the road, slipping Turkish delights into my pack as a treat. I didn’t need to worry so much about cut offs anymore and I breathed easy. I knew I had this – I just had to keep going. I yelled a thankyou to Sam over my shoulder and headed across the top of the range – next goal was Pole 333. A lonely figure that sits in the middle of the arid bare terrain that is the alpine. Usually manned only by one person from the Alpine Search and Rescue Crew, they hike in with everything and watch your head torch bob along until you reach them, and then send you back out into the dark.  

The full moon lit up the terrain around me and I could hear wild dogs barking in the distance. I continued to just smile at how cool this was. It was late night, in the middle of nowhere and I was all alone, trotting along at my wombat pace on top of the mountains. I told myself I could have my Turkish delight after 5kms of this section and I basically counted down the metres to give myself the reward of the chocolate, which was hard as a rock from the cold! With that in my belly I followed the ski poles and saw a number reflected in my head torch. 450.  

449, 448, 447, 446….. I began to name every pole out aloud as I shuffled past it, knowing 333 was coming. I saw the lit up tent in the distance and knew I was getting close. A lone figure, snuggled against the cold wind greeted me a hello, wrote down my bib number and sent me on my way. I left the single track, the moon highlighting the cloud gathering around the peaks. It was so incredibly beautiful. “Click” I whispered to myself, taking a photo in my head to remember this moment for ever. I turned onto the fire trail, full of big rocks that tested my ankle strength with every step. As I started to come into Pretty Valley I saw the lights of the aid station in the distance, I could see the reflection of the lake from the moon light and I could feel the temperate drop with every step closer. It was stunning.

Sam was there, ready for me, with the aid station crew huddled by the fire pit they were using to keep things from freezing! I felt like it had dropped by 10 degrees and I enjoyed the warmth of the fire as I was fed and drank ginger beer. My stomach was now struggling to take in food – which was due to not fueling early. I knew I just had to manage energy and so it was nibbles on lollies and sips of soft drinks to get the energy in. I was now on the home stretch. Less than 10kms to go.  

The race director had thrown in a little ‘out and back’ up Mt Mackay which was a lovely bonus in the last section – the gruelling climb when your hip and hammy scream at you and your stomach starts to cramp in pain. It was an incredible view from the top however, the moon once again showing me the beauty and eeriness surrounding me. As I came down from the mountain I realised the body was happy to run downhill so I felt comfortable shuffling down where I could see Sam’s car guiding the way across the cross country section. The soft trail felt beautiful on my feet after the hard rocks of the previous fire trail and I smiled, knowing the finish was coming.  

My stomach cramped more and I knew I was close to vomiting. ‘Hold on’ I told it as I took tiny bites of a lolly. I hit the road and Sam drove past, “just down the ski run and you’re done” she yelled at me and took off. I kept looking for this ski run, scared that I would miss it and then realised I had a few kms of the road to get down first! I finally hit the ski run, overtaking a man as we turned off. My strong quads were managing the downhill just fine! My stomach churned at me as I came around the bend, saw the finish chute and ran down across the finish line.  

Sam was there and put the medal around my neck as I smiled.  

“What a run” I exhaled!  

What a run indeed. Not my toughest event ever, not my longest event, but another adventure that took my body to the line, worked it hard and took my mind to that place where the magic happens. The feeling of pushing hard, the joy of the beauty of being in nature, the feeling that my body and mind can do hard things. The pride of my body and what it can do. The joy of my mind and what it can accomplish.  

The body was pretty spent. A restless night sleep with some vomiting because the stomach had given up working. I was sore, I was tired, but I was so content.  

Recovery day would be the girls day that I wanted. Food finally settled in to the stomach, prosecco was drunk and we told stories of the adventures had in the mountain.  

Cup full, body tired. Time to rest up for the next adventure.