Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Coast2Kosci - Yikes!


It's D-day for my last event of the year, the epic 240km Coast 2 Kosci

I'm nervous as anything, this will by far the furthest and longest time I have gone 'out for a run'! Previously I've run the 175km Great North Walk and close to 22h at UTMF. I've been pouring over the details and my plan and think I have something in place that will see my finish and not be too broken!

It was nice of the boys over at Ultra168 to put me forward as a favourite, but to be honest, I'm going into an event like this very much a rookie and have only a small idea what to expect. 240km on the road is a long long way!



It looks even longer from space. See how zoomed out you have to make it just so the route fits into that space. That's freaking scary! You can probably tell how nervous I am by the excessive amount of exclamation marks in this post!

From all I've heard and from following the race in the past years, I know it will be a special journey. I can't wait to undertake it with all the other runners, crew and organisers.

I have my splits in place, my gear ready, my nutrition sorted and my Suunto loaded up with the race route. A race like this is never going to be to perfect but it's a blueprint of a plan and thankfully I have 3 wonderful crew that will be able to help me deal with issues as they arise. Thank you Stephane, Marcus and Lauren for giving up your weekend for me. I really hope I can repay the favour one day.

Last weekend I was down in the area hosting a trail running camp at Lake Crackenback Resort and the weather was superb. I hope it stays the same this weekend too. But I know too well the unpredictability of the mountains and will be preparing for blazing sun, rain, snow and wind. I've almost packed my whole wardrobe in preparation!

This is my last race for the year, and I couldn't think of a better way to end the year! Oh yes...I just did, sitting back on Saturday night downing a few Kosciuszko pale ales in the company of some extraordinary people.

Whichever way this race goes, it will sure make for one hell of an epic race report!

I believe you can track all the runners' progress here

Safe, strong running to all competitors and wishing all crew a wonderful experience with your athletes!