The Dawn of an Ultra Runner
Donation protected
In the UK I competed in a sport called Obstacle Racing which is where a course is set out somewhere out in the country with mud and hills etc with multiple obstacles ranging from sandbag carries to 10ft wall climbs. Very much like an army assault course but longer and more technical. When I moved to Perth in 2014 the only events were based on the east coast, so it became quiet expensive travelling multiple times a year to compete. In 2015 I entered Perth Marathon (42.2km) as I had always wanted to try one and upon finishing the sense of achievement was overwhelming and it got me thinking although it hurt I quiet liked the experience. I continued to run shorter distances for the next couple of years manly half marathons and a few obstacle races. In 2017 represented team GB at the obstacle racing world championships in my age group out in Canada. On my return I knew I needed to make the change and commit to a sport that I could have easy access to.
A few weeks later I was speaking to an old friend and he told me about Ultra Series WA run by Shaun Kaesler. Shaun is a race director and puts on multiple events a year throughout WA and two of the events in my challenge are organised by him and his team including the 350km event in February. I entered the Australia Day Ultra 50km that January, finished it and got that same sense of achievement and was there on hooked.
Over the past year and a half I have run approximately 8 ultra-marathons outside of this challenge all organised by ultra-series WA (an ultra-marathon is a run over the standard 42.2km of a marathon. But they usually start around 50km being the smallest distance.) All of these Ultras I have done have been around the 50km mark give or take a few KM’s.
This year was the inaugural Delirious W.E.S.T (Western Endurance Scenic Trail) which is a 219 Mile (350km) ultra that spans from Northcliffe to Albany on the Bibbulmun track hosted by ultra-series WA. After following the event for the 4.5 days the event was on and feeling the buzz that was being generated by the ultra-running community here in WA, I knew I had to give this a crack in Feb 2020. As soon as entries opened I signed up. I will have 104 hours to complete the course, will be carrying a pack weighing around 8-10kg containing nutrition and anything I may need along the way. There will be various aid stations along the course where I can have a rest, get a hot meal in me and get any medical attention I may need. Sleep deprivation will play a big part and I will take ‘trail naps’ along the course on the trail to freshen up.
As the furthest I had run at the point of signing up was 55km in one event I quickly realised I should accustom myself to the other ‘standard ultra-distances’ before taking on the big one in preparation. So I planned out 4 more ultras listed below to help me prepare and the challenge was formed.
1. Margaret River Ultra – 80km (4th May 2019) I completed this event in May and the pictures provided are from the event.
2. Run Larapinta 16-19th August is a 4 day, 4 stage trail running race along the Larapinta Trail in Australia’s Northern Territory.
- Stage 1 19km
- Stage 2 41km
- Stage 3 29km
- Stage 4 45km Total 134km over 4 days
3. Surf Coast Century – 100km 21st September along Victoria’s Surf coast and Great Ocean Road.
4. Feral Pig Ultra – 100 Miles (160km) November 9th 2019 on WA’s Bibbulmun Track between North banister and Kalamunda.
5. Delirious W.E.S.T – 219 Miles (350km) 19th – 23rd February 2020 again on the Bibbulmum Track between Northcliffe and Albany.
After setting the challenge I wanted to raise some money for charity to make the experience even more worthwhile. I wanted to raise money to help children and their families that may be less fortunate or just need extremely expensive treatment to give them the best chance of a good life. Not from any personal experience just I strongly believe we live in a cruel world where children can face such huge difficulties early on in there lives before getting the chance to fore fill their potential. So with that in mind I chose to fundraise for the Perth’s Children’s Hospital and Great Ormond Street hospital in the UK (this is the largest children’s hospital in the uk). I have set a target to raise 10 thousand dollars which will be split between the two.
By the end of February, I hope to have reached my fundraising target first and foremost as it will make all the hours of training and suffering through the events all that much more worthwhile. On a personal note just to finish all the events, meet some inspiring people and be able to raise much needed funds for these charities will make this whole experience one I will never forget. I have always wanted to see how much further I could push myself and now is my opportunity.
Finally, for training I usually run 5-6 times a week, with shorter specific workouts such as hills and intervals in the week to fit around family and work and then I try and do two longer runs back to back on the weekends to prepare myself for the distances. In addition, plenty of hikes with my dog carrying some weight on my back and I have started to become a lot stricter with my diet as I need to fuel myself correctly with the amount of energy I am using up in training. As the time gets closer to the longer events I will do some workouts sleep deprived to simulate what I will go through on the trails. Other than that with the progressive event distances over the next few months these also act perfectly as training leading up to the big one.
I have named all my pages the dawn of an ultra-runner as I believe once I have finished all this I will be able to call myself one.
Please donate and help me raise as much as possible for these two extremely worthy causes. I have set the bar high and aim to raise $10,000 by the time I complete the last event in February 2020.
Follow my progress on the Facebook page & Instagram.
https://www.facebook.com/The-Dawn-of-an-Ultra-Runner-543098489515425/
https://www.instagram.com/thedawnofanultrarunner/
A few weeks later I was speaking to an old friend and he told me about Ultra Series WA run by Shaun Kaesler. Shaun is a race director and puts on multiple events a year throughout WA and two of the events in my challenge are organised by him and his team including the 350km event in February. I entered the Australia Day Ultra 50km that January, finished it and got that same sense of achievement and was there on hooked.
Over the past year and a half I have run approximately 8 ultra-marathons outside of this challenge all organised by ultra-series WA (an ultra-marathon is a run over the standard 42.2km of a marathon. But they usually start around 50km being the smallest distance.) All of these Ultras I have done have been around the 50km mark give or take a few KM’s.
This year was the inaugural Delirious W.E.S.T (Western Endurance Scenic Trail) which is a 219 Mile (350km) ultra that spans from Northcliffe to Albany on the Bibbulmun track hosted by ultra-series WA. After following the event for the 4.5 days the event was on and feeling the buzz that was being generated by the ultra-running community here in WA, I knew I had to give this a crack in Feb 2020. As soon as entries opened I signed up. I will have 104 hours to complete the course, will be carrying a pack weighing around 8-10kg containing nutrition and anything I may need along the way. There will be various aid stations along the course where I can have a rest, get a hot meal in me and get any medical attention I may need. Sleep deprivation will play a big part and I will take ‘trail naps’ along the course on the trail to freshen up.
As the furthest I had run at the point of signing up was 55km in one event I quickly realised I should accustom myself to the other ‘standard ultra-distances’ before taking on the big one in preparation. So I planned out 4 more ultras listed below to help me prepare and the challenge was formed.
1. Margaret River Ultra – 80km (4th May 2019) I completed this event in May and the pictures provided are from the event.
2. Run Larapinta 16-19th August is a 4 day, 4 stage trail running race along the Larapinta Trail in Australia’s Northern Territory.
- Stage 1 19km
- Stage 2 41km
- Stage 3 29km
- Stage 4 45km Total 134km over 4 days
3. Surf Coast Century – 100km 21st September along Victoria’s Surf coast and Great Ocean Road.
4. Feral Pig Ultra – 100 Miles (160km) November 9th 2019 on WA’s Bibbulmun Track between North banister and Kalamunda.
5. Delirious W.E.S.T – 219 Miles (350km) 19th – 23rd February 2020 again on the Bibbulmum Track between Northcliffe and Albany.
After setting the challenge I wanted to raise some money for charity to make the experience even more worthwhile. I wanted to raise money to help children and their families that may be less fortunate or just need extremely expensive treatment to give them the best chance of a good life. Not from any personal experience just I strongly believe we live in a cruel world where children can face such huge difficulties early on in there lives before getting the chance to fore fill their potential. So with that in mind I chose to fundraise for the Perth’s Children’s Hospital and Great Ormond Street hospital in the UK (this is the largest children’s hospital in the uk). I have set a target to raise 10 thousand dollars which will be split between the two.
By the end of February, I hope to have reached my fundraising target first and foremost as it will make all the hours of training and suffering through the events all that much more worthwhile. On a personal note just to finish all the events, meet some inspiring people and be able to raise much needed funds for these charities will make this whole experience one I will never forget. I have always wanted to see how much further I could push myself and now is my opportunity.
Finally, for training I usually run 5-6 times a week, with shorter specific workouts such as hills and intervals in the week to fit around family and work and then I try and do two longer runs back to back on the weekends to prepare myself for the distances. In addition, plenty of hikes with my dog carrying some weight on my back and I have started to become a lot stricter with my diet as I need to fuel myself correctly with the amount of energy I am using up in training. As the time gets closer to the longer events I will do some workouts sleep deprived to simulate what I will go through on the trails. Other than that with the progressive event distances over the next few months these also act perfectly as training leading up to the big one.
I have named all my pages the dawn of an ultra-runner as I believe once I have finished all this I will be able to call myself one.
Please donate and help me raise as much as possible for these two extremely worthy causes. I have set the bar high and aim to raise $10,000 by the time I complete the last event in February 2020.
Follow my progress on the Facebook page & Instagram.
https://www.facebook.com/The-Dawn-of-an-Ultra-Runner-543098489515425/
https://www.instagram.com/thedawnofanultrarunner/
Organiser
James Kenkx Coffey
Organiser
Roleystone, WA