GSER2017 - What an amazing Adventure
Race Report Great Southern Endurance Race, November 2017
By Scott Enfield
The journey for this race really started in January 2017 when the real training needed to begin and to work out a way to solve an ongoing issue with my hips. In my experience of previous ultra-races, I found that at around the 40 km mark, I start getting stiff and sore in the hips which continued to build during the rest of the run. I had to find a way to prolong this from happening and with the terrain on the GSER (The Great Southern Endurance Race 100 Miler) it was going to be an event very different to anything I had run before. So I embarked on a journey that was more than just about training for the event but about body preservation, nutrition, endurance and mental approach.
Before getting into the story, I would like to lay out the scene with some key course statistics:
Location - Victorian Alps Distance - 181 km (113 miles)
Start and finish, a destination race starting in Mt Buller and finishing in Bright
Climbing 10,058m of ascent and 11,338m of descent (Everest is 8,848 metres high)
53 hr cut off time
Fast runners - 33hrs
Mid speed runners expected to finish - 43 hrs
Slower runners - 53 hrs
No support crew access between 45 km and 125 km (80 km) – I chose to not have a support crew or pacer for the race
The course was very well marked by the Race Director and by using GPS Tracking on my watch, I ran 181 km of the 182 km without getting lost
On course check points were manned well with people that had the experience to manage the remoteness of the course.
113 miles isn't too far
Just a little bit of climbing ahead for us runners
The experiment….
I had been investigating a way to reduce the inflammation in my body and hips for the last few years. Information kept popping up regarding the Ketogenic diet, a low carb, high fat nutrition plan. Scientific research indicates that the Ketogenic diet is meant to reduce the inflammation markers in the body and make me bullet-proof lol! As I was embarking on preparation for my toughest race yet, I figured this new diet could be the answer I was looking for (interestingly, the Keto diet was used in the 1920’s to manage the symptoms of epilepsy and sufferers!).
eg: https://www.perfectketo.com/ketosis-for-reduced-inflammation/
I decided to give it keto a crack!
The next few months was filled with lots of food experimentation to reduce the effects of inflammation the body creates as it burns carbohydrates in long distance running; therefore helping my hips be freer and hopefully pain free.… I know I probably sent a few of the Trailblazer Running Club members (our local running group) crazy with my experiments. When experimenting in the 2017 Ultra Trail Australia 100 km race, I was determined that I could run this race with zero carb in-take and smash the event as ‘fat burning’ running fiend. I got as far as 74km on water and could really feel the lack of fuel in the body, so I took a gel… Interestingly, I got back a lot of my lost energy, however my joints and body was near instantly filled with stiffness and then I felt the pain building.
I tried a similar experiment in the Hounslow Classic, which is another great race, put on by Mountain Sport. I made it to about 47 km on nothing but water and salt tablets, mainly because I forgot to put the food I planned for the race in my backpack and therefore had to wait till the checkpoint to fuel up on mashed pumpkin and macadamia nuts. Once I had consumed some whole foods, I took off with new found energy… Ok, I gave into the need to have carbs on this run, I figured I had to try and stick to whole food fuelling and no fructose to get me through the next event. I likened the fuelling approach to fuelling a car. What I had established was that I had two fuel tanks; one was an economical diesel tank that would last the distance by fuelling me with lots of torque and power me along economically (fat fuelled) and then the high octane premium unleaded fuel (carbs) that could zip me up and over the hills with a turbo charged engine, albeit needing to be topped up more regularly.
I also found myself lacking in iron and vitamin D. I was able to fix the iron issue pre-race, but paid later for ignoring the vitamin D deficiency.
Our trip to the start lilne
Our Trailblazer Running Group had a good representation with 6 runners planning to wrangle with this unknown beast! Five of us doing the miler (myself, David Bristow (Sarg), Joshua Stacy (Josh) , David Bennie (Dave), Byron Pritchard (Byro) and one taking on the 50 miler (Fraser)).
Heading south to the race start line at around 7pm on the Wednesday evening, I found myself in a car with three David B’s. There was David Bennie and his support person - David Beard and then another Miler Runner, David Bristow. Hmm, why was I feeling like the odd one out? Stuff this lot, not to be outdone, for this trip I thought that maybe I should change my name to David Davidson or something!
We stopped in Goulburn for the night, now being some three hours closer to the start line.
As we set off the next morning around 7am, we were greeted with a local beer swilling, ciggie wielding road repair crew having just finished their shift. I’m really feeling out of place, however, thanks to their merry misdemeanour, they charged their cans and wished us good luck for the race!
We arrived in Mt Buller in Dave’s car with plenty of time before check-in. The accommodation was cosy but great…well done on the booking Byro. The weather was like the middle of the ski season, cold, windy and some rain.
Nice day to get a sun tan
Doorway to the runners sleeping quarters
Beardy having a quick sit-up gramps-nap while pre-race planning is happening
For this event, I decided that the only way I was going to make it was on a real food diet. I was lucky to have some help from Penny, a fellow Trailblazer Member, who posed the question on a training run, “well what did you use to eat in your runs early on, when Barry Golding was around?” (Bazza was my mentor early in my ultra-running pursuits)….. Such a simple question yet so important too.
The night before the event while pre-race prep was underway, I was making sandwiches with Burgen Chia Seed Gluten Free Bread (carbs) with Freedom Vegemite (good salts and electrolytes) and a healthy layering of Olive Oil Nutalex (dairy free butter with lots of fats) which should fuel both my diesel and petrol tanks for the race.
These were distributed to each of the drop bags prior to the gear check and race debrief. I also had two packets of GF /DF Chocolate Chip cookies that I would use as my turbo charger since they contained some sugar. They say never try anything new in a race, and technically these weren’t new but I hadn’t trained using this type of fuel for the last 3 or 4 years as I usually used Tailwind mixed with Maltodextrin (which is also a good fuel mix).
We headed down for the race debrief. Just thought it would be the same old routine, covering rules, the course and areas to be a bit more mindful. Sean, the Race Director, did a great job managing the crowd of people; however I found out that I was going to get a lot more than I and indeed, all of us, bargained for. Sean mentioned that there was a 6 metre ladder we would be climbing on the course and there were narrow trails that would likely shred our legs and trails with steep drop offs on both sides and there were areas that were practically inaccessible to all. This is a little more than I bargained for, but hell yeah this was exciting!!
The walkway to the check-in
Paying great attention - Just behind me was Samantha Gash who was in Survivor in Samoa at the same time I was holidaying over there. We had a brief chat.
Race debrief the night before we kick off
The race
5 am kick off for the race- we had picked up our GPS Trackers and were advised that the trackers would be live and opened up to family, friends and support crew. This was fantastic news and did create hours of thinking and passing time quickly for me during the race. Would the audience be following our every move, watching how we were competing? What would they think when I had my pre-planned sleep? Would people wonder if I had been injured and pulled out of the race?
Could I go off track on purpose and see how long it might take the RD to pick up the phone and call me to ask me where I am going? Probably not a good idea, but an entertaining thought, none the less. What if I did really get lost, would a Trailblazer be on the phone telling me to go back and find the track. Where was Sarg, could I catch him or stay ahead of him…..
These thoughts provided hours of mental entertainment for me during the race.
The race started with a little trot to the top of Mt Buller. I couldn’t believe how much snow was still around.
Just a little bit of snow still around at Mt Buller and other parts of the course too
Head torches light up our way
The following recount is done to the best of my recollection; however I may have gotten things out of order due to the fact that time seems to disappear during these longer events. Right now, the event in my mind seems like it all happened in the space of an hour, time compressed for me out there, one of the mind's coping mechanisms.
In the Victorian Alps
The run to Gardeners Hut (CP1) was pretty uneventful despite the steepness of the first decent being very full on. Many people seemed to be struggling with the decent and the pace was frustrating so I decided to push past a few of the slower runners and then found my rhythm for rest of the decent. I was being very conscious of looking after my quads at this point to save them for later in the race so I was doing a few ‘Michael Jacksons’ where I run with the hips pushed forward and tilted back to engage the glutes soo they would take the brunt of the decent.
CP2 – Upper Howqua
I ran with Fraser for quite a bit of this section and joined up with Natalie from the Gold Coast – a lovely German girl who married a Kiwi and moved to Australia – and she is a concreter… interesting mix hey (excuse the pun), Natalie was full of energy and great to chat with. We found that one of the common saying we have is "Holy Moly" which occupied us for more than an 1 hour of our discussions - LOL. Holy Moly, the carbs were kicking in now, I was consuming about a third of a sandwich an hour with one chocolate cookie (GF Leader brand sourced at IGA). This seemed to be the perfect mix to push me up over the first big climb of up to 1,726 metres. This is where I said goodbye to Fraser and wished him luck and advised him to look after his knee. (So proud of you Fras, that is one hell of a comeback race to tackle).
Fraser and I found new friends
Once at the top of the Bluff, we got hammered by rain, hail and severe thunderstorms. I kept counting the time between the lighting and the thunder trying to work out if this storm was overhead and when should I dump the poles and lay on the ground. Well, the closest the thunder crack got was about 4 seconds so figured I probably needed to run faster rather than stay put Lol…. I escaped untouched, just a bit cold and wet. I joined up with Natalie for a bit along here too, she was running so strong.
The Crossaw Ridge – this is like I see on Youtube in the European Sky Races - we ran right across the top of the ridgeline with shear drop offs in some places
The start of the ridge line
CP3 – Mt Speculation
The name of this mountain got me guessing… I could only speculate (sorry, that pun wasn’t so funny) of what I would find there along the way. If you have read David Bennie’s GSER Race Report, you will know there is a section here that had him baffled for a while and me also for a short moment; there was a rock face we had to climb up that didn’t appear to have any foot and hand holds. However I managed to wedge myself between two rocks and pushed myself up like I use to do as a kid climbing up doorways at home.
On the way to Mt Speculation, we climbed over Mt Buggery, over the Horrible Gap and past the Horrible Hollow (I feel like I’m in a Hobbit movie) to the check point at 1,572m. Those names say it all but Horrible Gap was actually really amazing, whoever named it that was having a bad day. I was guided up by a team of Girl Guides to where the checkpoint was…. You could imagine my surprise at having come across a bunch of tents seemingly in the middle of nowhere. What is the Girl’s Guide Motto “always be prepared” – it looks like they were prepared for me, thankfully!
I stocked up, grabbed my vegemite sandwich and my cookies. The plan of consuming around 100 calories per hour was paying off. This was just enough fuel to keep me going strong while not putting any stress on my gut, allowing most of the oxygen to be passed to my legs which needed it most. This also meant I stayed in Ketosis, ensuring I kept the two fuel tanks running efficiently.The fats in the Nutalex was working well too.
I caught up with Sarg by this point and we decided we should head out together as all runners were being encouraged to not run alone through the night due to how tough the next section was going to be.
CP4 – Selwyn Creek Road
This was a long night section, where Sarg and I would pass over The Viking, a treacherous mountain. I remember how the track kept disappearing; it was totally over grown in many sections and borrowing Sarg’s quote from his experience, “it was like a Tough Mudder on steroids”. We climbed over and through so many fallen trees it was like trying to get to the bar at the Manly Wharf Hotel on a Friday night. The ground was wet and the granite rocks were very slippery. There was one place where Sarg had hold of a flimsy tree to keep up upright and I started sliding down the rock to the edge of a bit of a drop off. I called out, “um, don’t move and hold on tight” as I slid and catching his foot right in the middle of my crotch, which I guess was better than sliding off the top of a mountain! This section was so tough and slow I think our slowest kilometre took us 26 minutes and we were pushing hard and fast.
There is a trail here somewhere
I'll never forget the climbs and descents on this section. My toes were getting nailed by the steep downhills that just seemed to drop off the mountain edge.
It was a game of spotto looking for pink tape through all the dead trees.
A steep zigzag decent
It was a game of spotto looking for pink tape through all the dead trees.
The tracks were gnarly and non-existent in some places but thanks to the trusty map on the watch and good trail markings, I was able to find my way. I ended up leading a few others through this section as they kept getting lost. The trail tracking skills Bazza Golding taught me were really paying off.
See, the track is right there in front of me….where though …..
One gnarly short climb
The track here is more of a water course that kept disappearing
I kept wondering when this little 6 metre ladder was going to appear, I was looking forward to the change in pace. Sarg and I got more than we bargained for… it took some time to work out how to get up and past a log that was blocking our way. There were two people behind us who caught us at the ladder. The girl had started to cry and asking if we can go back to the check point. But her pacer was great and got her up the ladder to see her running strong again.
That log across the top of the ladder made this a very challenging climb
CP5 – East Buffalo Road
I left Sarg not long after we summited The Viking and headed onto East Buffalo Road. I remember thinking that I was feeling a little weary, physically and mentally, figuring this was going to be the place to have a short sleep. I arrived at around 3:15am when the circadian rhythm just wants us to sleep. I saw Josh here and suggested a quick nap for us both. I prepared my backpack, topping it up with food and water and then went into the tent (3:30am), found a stretcher bed and set the alarm for 4:30am. It took me around 10 mins to drift off and then woke to the sound of someone snoring… Well, that someone was me, I woke myself at 4am. 20 mins sleep was better than nothing and I felt great. I jumped up out of bed, went outside to see that Sarg had made the checkpoint and I headed out.
The rain was picking up, it was getting colder and colder… conditions were getting tough.
This was going to be one descent I will remember for a long time. By the time I reached the bottom, I was laughing out loud to myself unbelieving of how steep it was when looking back up the mountain. We seemed to just drop off the mountain to the bottom of the earth.
CP 6 – Mt Saint Bernard (Hotham Ski Fields)
Things were getting ugly here... windy and cold and raining
When I arrived at CP 6, it was windy and a bit wet. Byron and Bec were kindly at the checkpoint and helped me out to pack food and water – thank you guys! During that short break, the weather had changed and I swear it was going to snow. I caught up with Ben Harris just after leaving the checkpoint and started on the 6 km climb up the exposed road, past Mt Hotham (where there was snow visible) and to the trail ahead.
When we reached the trail, we were both ‘frozen’. We put on our 200 fleece jacket, wet weather pants (first time I have ever had to used them) and rain jacket. I was still so cold I was shaking uncontrollably and knew I had to get moving.
It was probably the cold that caused my knee to start misbehaving badly and I was wondering how I was going to get to the next checkpoint. I was 8km in to a 21km section and at one point I looked back up the hill trying to decide if I should go back. I took two steps up the hill and decided that there was no “f-ing” way I was going backwards. I was not in an ambulance yet; it was 8 km back or 13km forward, so forward I went. I thought if I can make it to Harrietville, I can hop the last 34km and still make it within the cut off… I was not finished yet.
This turned out to be such a liberating moment, the doubt was so strong right then with the fear of being stuck in the middle of this freezing cold part of the track and not being able to move…. and then the fear passed in an instant… once I made the decision that forward was the only direction I was going, I was taken aback by the sudden change in my momentum.
What was surprising is that within 10 km of that steep descent, the rain stopped, it was getting hot and we were greeted with rain forest. It was an amazing shift geographically and an amazing mental shift for me as well.
A few km's later, it was like a rainforest
CP7 - Harrietville
This is a beautiful little town. It is clear that the residents take great pride in their town and should be nominated as a ‘tidy town winner’ if it hasn’t been already. However, what I did find a bit unusual was within 500 metres of arriving it was clear there were a few different functions going on in town and all of them featured banjo's playing – with the flowing river going through the centre of town, I started thinking I was in ‘Deliverance Country’ and I just couldn’t get that banjo song out of my head for ages!!!
I arrived at the check point, discovered that with 34.1km to go, I hadn’t packed one of my famous and much awaited Vegemite sandwiches in the drop bag or even chocolate chip cookies, that was a bit of a stuff up. I still wanted to stay with whole foods, so I cheated a bit. I grabbed two paper coffee cups full of plain potato chips and a coke – my second one of the race. I downed the can of coke like it was an icy cold Coopers Pale Ale and ate the chips like it was my last meal for the next 40 days, then I went back for seconds on the chips. I did have a couple of fruit-free muesli bars still in my backpack to get me through the next section plus being fat adapted, I knew I would be fine.
Heading out of town, I came across a family walking to one of the parties, walking right down the middle of the highway. They gave me a strange look, probably wondering if I was a contributor to the upheaval in the town that day, either that or they thought I was lost.
I was told there was a 13km climb ahead… I got the poles out and lined up a podcast interview with Tim Ferris and Richard Branson (my new best friends) and I was off. Before I knew it, it was dark. The knee issue had become a foot issue which became a shin issue as I had adjusted my running gait to take the pressure off my knee. I keep moving forward, “relentless forward movement’ and I could see Bright off in the distance and kept thinking I must be close, must be close, MUST BE CLOSE, but when I looked at my watch there was still like 15km to go. The shin had become crazily unbearable…. I could take about 5 steps and then had to stop to hang my foot in mid-air until the pain subsided, then take 5 more steps and repeat.
It was time to decide to try different ways to overcome the excruciating pain. I started running down hills sideways, like a crab. This worked great but then the muscles got tired. Then I ran backwards for some time, which also worked until I nearly knocked myself out on a tree branch I didn’t see. Then the final solution came into play, I would like 'skip' like a school kid for the last 10km…. which I pretty much did… skip for a few hundred metres, then walk, run a bit , then rest, then skip…
I also got out my snake bandage and learnt about 10 different ways to wrap a knee. I finally found one way that seemed to help which was to lift the knee cap up and then strap it down solidly. Then it would loosen and I would repeat this about every 5km.
It was during this time, I saw:
only one meerkat
many crocodiles (burnt out tree logs can be very bleeping scary)
Groot (from Guardians of the Galaxy) - every time the pain got pretty intense, Groot always showed up
Snakes – lots of black snakes, but I knew these ones weren’t real even though they looked real
The lights of Bright looked like Las Vegas from an aeroplane, man I was looking forward to that finish line and the bling
I needed something more intense than Mr Branson, so I put on a new book by Stephen King I had in my collection, aptly named, ‘Misery’. That story got me to the finish line but I don’t remember any of the storyline now.
The Finish
What can I say, I was able to guide myself for 181km without getting lost and yet, I got lost in the last 1km of the race. Once I had reached the town of Bright, I started running down the main street sideways like a crab to help my leg. I decided I would check out what types of business were in town and what types of lights they were using (not one to miss a business opportunity). My thoughts continued along this path, pondering the high power lights the Council would be using and how Vline Buses use them too, then awakening from my reverie I realised I was at the end of the street and I didn’t know where I was and where I was meant to turn.
So I started heading back down the street to try and find a course marking. I stopped and didn’t know where to go, so pulled out the maps for the first time and backtrack myself to find the right path out.
What a greeting I received, coming into the finish line a bit before 1am. I could see a “Trailblazer” sign - I wondered, “why would the race organisers be holding a Trailblazer sign”. As I got closer in a slightly dazed state, I thought I may be hallucinating, I swear that looks like my wife and kids there in front of me. That can’t be here, they are back in Sydney, aren’t they?
Apparently, I wasn’t hallucinating, it really was them, Kim, my son Todd (24), his girlfriend Niki, my daughters Ashlea (21) and Hannah (20). I was to find out that they had planned to be at the Finish Line weeks ago and apparently they are all very good at keeping a secret from me because I had no idea that they were going to be there to greet me at the End! They had driven some 9 odd hours all up to deliver the surprise of my life at 1.00am in the morning !!
I have just realised who was holding the welcome sign at the finish line
Shaken but not stirred... Finally at the finish line
A fantastic surprise and a welcome distraction, followed by the reality of a suddenly overwhelming exhaustion, as well as mentally trying to manage the pain in my foot, shin and knee and I was instantly wobbly on my feet. The sensors were on maximum over-drive. I asked for my traditional finish beverage, a beer, one sip and I was DUI and not licenced to walk let alone drive.
The sign to bring me home
I may have missed out on being at the finishers lunch at the Bright Hotel the next day however I was lucky enough to take the podium as an age group winner – no I am not sharing my age (lol) – and I’m sorry to say I missed out on the famous Bright Pale Ale.
However there is always next year – I will be back as I still have unfinished business with this event.
Well, what did I learn….
It is important good to tape your feet the night before the event and protect them with some type of waterproof gel – I wear socks to bed the night before the race to protect the tape and gunk on my feet
Sleeping on course can save your bacon making the run on day two a lot more enjoyable
Find good positive people to chat with along the way if you can. Avoid complainers.
A hill is just a hill, keep going.
Bones can get sore (I think shins in my case) when low on vitamin D. So get tested and stock up
Extreme cold can put extra pressure on joints and bones, rug up when it is cold and don’t keep thinking you will warm up eventually
Pay attention of where I am going, even in the last 1km
Respect and love my family for allowing me to prepare for this event… Wonderful surprises can happen when we do this
Real food does really work if you get the mix right
Stick to your own training plan (run by feel for me) as you might surprise yourself
Listen to what other runners say and do for their training and nutrition and then work out what might work for you. Keep experimenting and find the right formula for you.
Just because you might have a couple of bad training runs doesn't mean the race will be crap
Love and Gratitude
Thank you to the RD’s, a truly wonderful experience.
Thank you to Allan Higgins, a great mate who is like a brother to me and got me physically ready for this event.
Thanks to all those who were there on the weekend making this a trip to be remembered for ever. Fraser, for getting me through the early parts of the race, Sarg for getting me over The Viking, Dave for the entertainment when you called the RD to ask for a helicopter to get over Mt Speculation LOL, and for driving much of the trip in your car.
Thank you to my training mates over the last few months who put up with my many experiments to prove the body doesn’t need carbs – which it does but they applied at the right times in the right quantities.
Most importantly, thank you to my family for allowing me to train for this and be MIA midweek nights and a lot of weekends as well. And… even more, amazingly were there at the Finish Line for me which was the most amazing surprise I could ever wish for!! You got me totally……..
Holy Moly, the foot looked worse that it was, the ankle was worse than it looked. The next day, the foot swelled up like a baloon but at least it didnt look like Josh's post run Hobbit feet.