Run the Ellery Monster

Race Report

TLDR: I had to retire after completing 90.4km, 3,434m climbing, and 28hrs and 14mins on my feet, due to extreme exhaustion. Nonetheless, I loved the event and might try another adventure one of these days.

The last two days, have been an amazing experience for me and for all the other participants in the event.

I work up at 5:30am on Saturday morning and drove out to the start line at about 7am for a 1 hour drive to Ellery Big Hole. At 9am, 37 competitors left the start line for the 128km journey back to Alice Springs.

For me the day started off well, with a 30km run to the first check point at Hugh Gorge. This part of the trip was fairly was a fairly routine run, with about 400m of elevation. The temperature was a mild 22 degrees, clear skies and the flies were out in force. I arrived into the first station at 3:30pm.

The next section was when it starting to get tough. It was 15km to Birthday Waterhole. About 4km into the journey there was a water crossing that require me to get waist deep in the water and gave me wet shoes. After this the rocky gullies and steep hills started. At around 6pm, I got mobile coverage at the top of a major hill. I had completed 39km and 1,264m of climbing. The sun was just setting, with 7km to go to the next check point. After scrambling along a ridge line for a couple of kilometres, we ascended a steep gorge, with multiple scrambles. I was joined by another runner and got to the 2^nd aid station around 9:45pm, where I was met by my crew and got some food, dealt with blisters but also had a change in shoes since the first set were still quite wet from the river crossing.

Next section was 17km, with another 1,000m of climbing, but mostly on single track. It would be all in the dark. We mostly ran as a group of 3 competitors, plus the sweep (we at the back of the pack by this time). We crested Brinkley Bluff at midnight under an amazing clear skies and a big moon. To add to the challenge, it was really blowing, probably 30 to 40 knots at the peaks and saddles. It made it challenging to keep your footing and was cold. By 3:45am we were at the next aid station at Stanley Chasm.

The next stage was suppose to be easier, but given how tired I was it felt much harder. Initially we had two very steep hills that was a mix of stairs and scrambling to get up and down. We then dealt with some difficult river and gorges before having to make one final major ascent. It is know as the high route and it pretty much went straight up the side of an extremely steep gully. It was a massive 255m of climbing in 1 km (with grades up to 50%). Halfway up dawn broke and we put away the torches. We then travelling along this ridge line for about 3km before ascending down a much easier path. At 75km, we had completed the last of the major climbs, and only had 55km to finish. It was about 8am. Unfortunately I was stuffed.

From then on, it was mostly runnable country, with just a few short climbs to get around obstacles. Any other day I would have run it, but not today. I did manage to run a few short sections and got the pace down to about 12 to 13 min/km, but I was so weary. Mostly I was hiking at between 17 to 20 mins/km. I got through Jay Creek Aid station at 80km at about 10am, then pressed on for the end. Simpsons Gap was still 25km and I would not make it by the cut-off for continuing, but it was the target since the next check point, only 10km away, was not publicly accessible and getting picked up at the location not possible.

After about 3-4km from Jay Creek, I started really struggling. Jay Creek was also not accessible, so I had to push on, but I got slower and was mentally drained. I managed to get to Mulga Camp at 1:14pm, 28 hours and 14mins after starting. I had completed over 90.4km, 3,433m of climbing, but I was stuffed. The volunteers tried to encourage me to continue and provided me some food, but I knew I didn’t have it in me to do another 15km to Simpsons Gap. It would have been a minimum 5 hours and I was quite worried that I might simply not continue somewhere along the track. Fortunately, I was the last placed competitor at this time and they had a spare seat in the vehicles, so I could retire and they would drive me back to Alice. I would have to wait about 3 hours as they packed up and also waited for the sweep to come through (a couple of competitor had dropped out at a previous check point, so the sweep was still a long while back). Eventually I got back to Alice Springs about 5:30pm.

I had been awake for 36 hours straight and had far too much caffeine in the system. To avoid exposing my blisters, I had left my shoes on, so it was so nice to take them off and clean the feet. I probably had 6 blisters on the right foot and about 3 on my left. I was able to soak in the bath, have a lovely dinner, then eventually went to bed around 8:30pm (39 hours after waking up on Saturday morning). Of the other two competitors I was running with, one made it to Simpsons Gap at 4:15pm and had to retire. The other got through Simpsons gap before the cut-off and pressed on for the end, but unfortunately did not quite make the final cut-off for the race. I hope she made the distance.

It was such an amazing adventure and really taught me that I could push myself to quite a feat. I will take a few days off running and might start doing shorter distances for a while. Will I try this again? Who knows! In the lead up to this event I had a few injuries and was very fatigued. I think I could have completed it if I was in a better state, so more than likely I will try another adventure.

Live Tracker

My first vlog

I’m fundraising for Cancer Council Victoria to help stop cancer.

On May 17th, I will be running the Ellery Monster, a 128km Ultra Marathon Trail Run, along the iconic Larapinta Trail in Alice Springs.

https://westmacsmonster.com.au/index.php/register/event/128-km-ellery-monster/

In honour of my father and as motivation to go further than I have run before, I have decided to fundraise for Cancer Council Victoria.

Every year more than 35,000 Victorians hear the words ‘you have cancer’, and unfortunately my father did not survive, but hopefully through your generous donations, others may survive.

Cancer Council needs our support more than ever this year. Every dollar raised gives hope for a cancer free future. By supporting my fitness activity, you’re funding life-saving cancer treatments, prevention programs, and support services that ensure no one has to face cancer alone.