A WIN FOR MCCONNELL AT AUSTN ALPINE ASCENT

Contributed by Andrew McConnell, AURA member (Watson, ACT), 1st Male in the Australian Alpine Ascent

AUSTRALIAN ALPINE ASCENT 73km, CHARLOTTES PASS (NSW), 11 March 2023

I’ve been finding this race report hard to write. And I think that’s basically because everything went well. The race went well and the lead up was smooth. So I don’t have any tales of death marches, travel delays, pre-race gastro, missing aid stations, missing crew, getting lost, taking the wrong medicine, or anything else that seems to happen more often than not. But given the challenges of training and racing now as a father (which I know are miniscule compared to training and racing as a mother) it was a relief to have everything go so smoothly and to have such an enjoyable race.

This race was significant for a couple of reasons: it was my first trail ultra in almost two years, and it was the first event that Dominique and I have both run since Sigrid was born a year earlier. And really, that was the sole reason we chose Alpine Ascent.

Now having done the race I would recommend it to anyone and can confirm it’s a brilliantly organised event with a great atmosphere and a stunning course. But when choosing a race to do, all that mattered was that there were different distances held at different times, so that we could both race and take turns looking after Sigrid. And while for most people that might not be a factor, and I can understand the appeal of having all distances be held at the same time and everyone finishing at the same time, it would be great to have a few more events that enable people in our circumstance to both be able to run (another option, which I can absolutely guarantee will get us and others signing up, is to have a creche at the start/finish area, something I know at least one event is considering and I encourage others to as well!). 

My last trail race was the Brisbane Trail Ultra in July 2021. After that, almost by accident, I ended up focusing on the roads for a while. I ran Coast to Kosci at the end of 2021, then in 2022 I just ran two flat road 100km races in Sydney in April, then the 100km World Champs in Berlin in August. While each of these road races were amazing experiences for different reasons, I was longing to get back on the trails and back into the trail scene.

I chose the 73km race at Alpine Ascent, being the longest option and with my A race for the first half of the year being UTA100, it seemed like a good distance a good amount of time ahead of UTA. Going into the race I didn’t really know what to expect, for several reasons.

Before an ultra I usually like to have had a block of a couple of months of high mileage – 140-160km+ a week, depending on elevation gain. Prior to my two 100km races last year I had several weeks over 190km. Before Alpine Ascent my longest week was about 130km, and I only had a couple of weeks over 110km. And really it had been a very long but slow build up since having a bit of a spell after World Champs in August last year.

So in some respects I was fresh, having not raced and not trained a lot. But I was also a bit worried about what would happen in the back half of the race – my longest run in the last 6 months had only been 3 and a half hours, and I thought this race would be around 7 hours.

The other aspect of my lead up that was a bit different was that three weeks before the race we went to NZ for 10 days. It was hard to fit in my running over there, however I did do a lot of walking with Sigrid on my back. We walked 70km over hills across 4 days, with I think about 15km on my back. I thought maybe this would make up for my lack of running. Especially since one of my concerns was my lack of practice running with any weight at all. So I thought maybe the hilly walking with weight would help condition my legs for running with a vest again.

The race started at Perisher at 7am. One of the nice things about these smaller races is the simplicity and ease of logistics. I arrived at Perisher about 20 minutes before race start, parked about 50 metres from race start, lined up for zero minutes to hand over my drop bags, lined up for the same amount of time to use the bathroom and still had 10 minutes to spare.

I decided to wear super shoes for this race. I’d worn carbon plated shoes in my two 100km races last year but never for a trail ultra, so wasn’t sure what to expect. I chose the New Balance RC Elite 2, simply because they were the ones I’d done the least mileage in. I went for a 5 minute warm up jog before the start. My first thought was how good it feels jogging in super shoes. Then that thought was replaced about a minute later with noticing how puffed I was! I had thought altitude might be a factor in the race, given the low point on the course was 1400m. And this was now confirmed.

The gun went, it was a small field of about 30 or 40 and I found myself leading straight away. Withing a few hundred metres I had gapped the field, which is always a scary moment – have I started way to fast? I felt like I was running at a comfortable pace though so tried to settle into a rhythm. Again, I felt myself breathing hard for what felt like a comfortable effort level which I decided must be the altitude and thought I was best to ignore it, and get used to the feeling of being more out of breath than normal in such a long race. I know in these races it’s never the lungs that are the limiting factor.

I hadn’t studied the course much before the race. I knew most, if not all of it would be on roads and trails I hadn’t been on before, so was looking forward to seeing new areas. I did have a rough idea of the elevation profile – basically broken into 10km segments it was down up down up, up, up, down.

The first 10km to the first aid station was mostly downhill, largely on road, so was pretty quick and uneventful. I filled two soft flasks at the aid station, knowing it was about 20km until the next aid, and a 400 metre climb coming up. There was a little out and back section during this stage and so a chance to see how far ahead I was. I worked out I was about 10 or 15 minutes in front after 20km, feeling comfortable.

I should mention the weather. I remember jogging along fairly early in the race, all by myself, thinking this must be the most perfect weather anyone has ever had for a run. It was cold enough that I kept gloves on for the first hour and a buff for the first 4 hours. But not so cold I needed layers or sleeves. There was not a cloud in the sky, barely a breath of wind even up high, and the air could not have been clearer. And knowing I had a decent buffer on the rest of the field I was able to just run at an enjoyable pace, not feel pressure to push too much.

I reached the aid station at Guthega still feeling good. About 39km in, a bit under 3 and a half hours. This was the one aid station with drop bags on the course, and it came just at the right time. I was finally ready to do away with my buff and replace it with my super broad brimmed hat that I bought for Western States in 2019 (I think this was the first time I’d worn it in a race since then!). I was still feeling really good at this point, and even better after a quick catch up with Sigrid and Dom.

The race had very much been smooth sailing up to this point. But after Guthega the trail got technical, with lots of rocks and roots to navigate, steps, and the ‘cheese grater’ sections. These cheese graters were actually great to run on but we had been instructed to walk on all of them due to the consequences of a fall. This was a bit frustrating in this section as the technical sections were such slow going and the cheese graters would have been a great opportunity for some smooth running. But I made it through this technical part ok, and then started the long climb up to the Main Range and Mt Kosciuszko.

By this stage it was starting to warm up, I was very glad of my hat, but wishing I had taken more water at the Guthega aid station. It was only about 20km between aid stations but it must have taken me 2 and a half hours or more, and I noticed with the altitude and dry air than my mouth got dry very quickly. I had set myself a goal to try and run if not the entire course, at least as much as possible. It turned out some of the steep sections towards the top were certainly not runnable (at least not for me), and as I realised I might need to ration my water a bit I decided not to push it too much either. I also started to feel a bit queasy in the stomach, and knowing the last 10km were downhill decided to basically stop taken on any more nutrition from about 15km to go. Up until then I had had a gel every half hour and been drinking mostly strong tailwind, so I know I probably had enough in store to get me home.

It was a relief to make it to the top of Mt Kosciuszko were a couple of reasons: 1) because it meant I was very close to the aid station and water, and 2) because I was still scarred from Coast to Kosci 16 months earlier where bad weather forced an early finish at Charlotte Pass. This was my first time on Kosci during a race!

At the summit I found out I was at least 40 minutes ahead of second place, so decided to try and enjoy the descent down to Charlotte Pass and the finish. The 20km from Guthega to Kosci summit had been steep and technical so it was a relief to have a gradual downhill on firetrail to finish. Going into the race I didn’t really have a good idea of what sort of time to aim for or expect, but I thought maybe around 7 hours. So I was happy to finish in about 6:50, and even more happy with the way I felt afterwards.

I often have trouble walking or even standing up for hours, maybe days following an ultra. Usually both from sore legs and smashed toes. But after this race I had neither. It really just felt like I had done a Sunday long run. I’m not sure what to put that down to – maybe the super shoes, maybe the hiking in NZ with baby on back, maybe 73km isn’t the same as 100 or 160.

And that’s that. I feel like this was a much more mundane, even boring race report that some of my previous ones. Maybe that’s just a consequence of a race where everything goes to plan. Next stop UTA100, where the last time I raced, 5 years ago, I got gastro the week before and struggled just to finish the race. Here’s hoping I have another boring leadup and uneventful race!

Pictured: Andrew McConnell with his daughter, Sigrid, and wife Dominique. Photograph – Supplied.