Brisbane Waters Bush Bash (Fatass run)
I drove to Gosford without too much idea about where I was going. I figured out it was on the water since it was a sailing club and I had a street directory somewhere in the car if things got desperate. At about 6:55 I started to wonder if I would make it on time. This would be a worry since I did not have a map and no idea where the run went. I drove around the water’s edge looking for a group of fit lean people or as my wife likes to call us “a bunch of guys who look like they need a good feed”.
I found a small gathering of runners keen for the adventure, getting gear ready for the run. I am always amazed at how light some guys can travel. Martin definitely was the lightest traveller without any water bottle, map or food. I was impressed since here I was with 2 litres of water, 3 muesli bars, lollie snakes, chocolate, mobile phone, rain jacket and Swiss army knife plus I am sure there was more in my Camelback if I checked. But hey in my defence I would be out there for 6 hours and you never know what can happen.
With a time check and a countdown we were off. I think I am simply a slow runner since what Jim described as an easy pace was pretty fast for me. We ran as a group for a while. I love running with people since my running life is pretty much a solo affair. I got to chat to Martin about his previous years trailwalker amongst other things until we hit our first off road hill. Being a good ultra runner and saving my energy I simply planned to walk it. Martin and Jim kept running and that was pretty much the last we saw of them.
We continued as a group of 4 and stayed that way for the rest of the run. I think that Kevin’s knowledge of the run was our binding thread. It was dirt track for a while until a water tank and then some quite steep downhill. I was running in a new pair of shoes which I am hoping will see me through the Glasshouse run this year but the steep downhill from the water tank had my toes pushed hard against the toe box which I am not too happy about. We were all feeling confident with Kevin’s guidance until he announced at the bottom of the hill “that house wasn’t here last time!”
We got to Woy Woy and had a quick food break where the benefits of home made sports gu was discussed. We then ran along a luxurious stretch of soft grass near the waters edge, which went on for several km.
Most of the run was dirt trail but we came out on one patch of homes built in the hills, which almost defied gravity. The views down to the water were magnificent. We meandered up another dirt hill and if it weren’t for Tony’s local knowledge and Kevin’s knowledge of previous runs we would have been in trouble. Even with all this knowledge we took a wrong turn, which ended in a dead end. But hey this was a fatass run!
We emerged from the bush at the South Kincumber shops. We picked up food and drinks and then kept going. The shop had Abba playing and the song was to haunt me for the rest of the run. Luckily for the rest of the group I only sung “Dancing Queen” in my head.
It was clear from the traffic around here why the route is not an official race anymore. I imagine the Gosford area is a tad busier than it was when the race was last run.
From the shops we ran up Kincumber Mountain, which was a nice climb now that our legs had a few hours in them. At the top was a great tree house some kids must have built but there was no time for tree house climbing. I bet the tree house had the best views in all of Kincumber.
I was so glad I was not relying on my map skills because I would still be out there now but Phil seemed to be doing pretty well with directions and when it got difficult Kevin’s memory was the only way to go.
We dropped down off Kincumber Mountain to more houses and crossed a few busy roads and then up a bugger of a hill at Clyde Road with about 5 hours running in our legs it was a hard slog. The hill spread us out as a group and we had lost Kevin by the time we got to the top.
At one point further on we thought we were got ourselves well and truly lost and we tried in vain to find our bearing on the map. The only thing we could do was to keep running and eventually we realized that we had been following the route all along.
We took the final decent down through the closed Flannel Flower trail (home was now in sight), went off track, we corrected and followed the fatass directions which simply said keep the view of the start area to your left. Maybe we followed them too literally because we dropped down too far and ended up running through Main Street. We finished up after 6:14 and a minute later Kevin followed. At the finish Martin was waiting for us in his car looking very relaxed and happily shared his biscuits. We talked of the trails and then it was time for home.
I found a small gathering of runners keen for the adventure, getting gear ready for the run. I am always amazed at how light some guys can travel. Martin definitely was the lightest traveller without any water bottle, map or food. I was impressed since here I was with 2 litres of water, 3 muesli bars, lollie snakes, chocolate, mobile phone, rain jacket and Swiss army knife plus I am sure there was more in my Camelback if I checked. But hey in my defence I would be out there for 6 hours and you never know what can happen.
With a time check and a countdown we were off. I think I am simply a slow runner since what Jim described as an easy pace was pretty fast for me. We ran as a group for a while. I love running with people since my running life is pretty much a solo affair. I got to chat to Martin about his previous years trailwalker amongst other things until we hit our first off road hill. Being a good ultra runner and saving my energy I simply planned to walk it. Martin and Jim kept running and that was pretty much the last we saw of them.
We continued as a group of 4 and stayed that way for the rest of the run. I think that Kevin’s knowledge of the run was our binding thread. It was dirt track for a while until a water tank and then some quite steep downhill. I was running in a new pair of shoes which I am hoping will see me through the Glasshouse run this year but the steep downhill from the water tank had my toes pushed hard against the toe box which I am not too happy about. We were all feeling confident with Kevin’s guidance until he announced at the bottom of the hill “that house wasn’t here last time!”
We got to Woy Woy and had a quick food break where the benefits of home made sports gu was discussed. We then ran along a luxurious stretch of soft grass near the waters edge, which went on for several km.
Most of the run was dirt trail but we came out on one patch of homes built in the hills, which almost defied gravity. The views down to the water were magnificent. We meandered up another dirt hill and if it weren’t for Tony’s local knowledge and Kevin’s knowledge of previous runs we would have been in trouble. Even with all this knowledge we took a wrong turn, which ended in a dead end. But hey this was a fatass run!
We emerged from the bush at the South Kincumber shops. We picked up food and drinks and then kept going. The shop had Abba playing and the song was to haunt me for the rest of the run. Luckily for the rest of the group I only sung “Dancing Queen” in my head.
It was clear from the traffic around here why the route is not an official race anymore. I imagine the Gosford area is a tad busier than it was when the race was last run.
From the shops we ran up Kincumber Mountain, which was a nice climb now that our legs had a few hours in them. At the top was a great tree house some kids must have built but there was no time for tree house climbing. I bet the tree house had the best views in all of Kincumber.
I was so glad I was not relying on my map skills because I would still be out there now but Phil seemed to be doing pretty well with directions and when it got difficult Kevin’s memory was the only way to go.
We dropped down off Kincumber Mountain to more houses and crossed a few busy roads and then up a bugger of a hill at Clyde Road with about 5 hours running in our legs it was a hard slog. The hill spread us out as a group and we had lost Kevin by the time we got to the top.
At one point further on we thought we were got ourselves well and truly lost and we tried in vain to find our bearing on the map. The only thing we could do was to keep running and eventually we realized that we had been following the route all along.
We took the final decent down through the closed Flannel Flower trail (home was now in sight), went off track, we corrected and followed the fatass directions which simply said keep the view of the start area to your left. Maybe we followed them too literally because we dropped down too far and ended up running through Main Street. We finished up after 6:14 and a minute later Kevin followed. At the finish Martin was waiting for us in his car looking very relaxed and happily shared his biscuits. We talked of the trails and then it was time for home.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, January 01, 2005 at 2:14 PM.
