#trailsplus

Marysville Marathon Running Festival has been on my radar of events for about 2 or 3 years. It has always been held in November and this year was the perfect lead up and the challenge was perfect timing in preparation for January’s Two Bays Trail event.

The Running Festival was also in its 10th year of running after the devastations of the horrific bush fires where over 170 people lost their lives. So it was an important remembrance event to be a part of for me for this reason.

The Festival offered a 50km Ultra, 42km Marathon, Half Marathon, 10km and a 4km all starting at various times through out the morning. The drive to Marysville in the early hours was magical, the green ferns and the tallest, leanest trees created a sense of peace much before we arrived. I convinced my family to come along at the last moment and I am grateful they agreed to share the experience.

After meeting up with Matthew, Milly, Bruce and a few other running friends from Mill Park, we listened attentively to our run brief, a little history of the event and had a minute silence walk to the start area.  The 21km started at 9am and it was already heating up for the day, I wore my hydration vest and it was topped with water and 1 mix of tailwind. I packed one gel for emergency top up.

We all wished each other good luck as Milly was starting at 10am. I started in the middle of the pack as my running goal for the day was to simply enjoy, look up and enjoy the new location and scenery. I wasn’t there to race at 100% effort, so the hills/mountains were already pre planned to hike them like crazy. 1.2km in and they started, I didn’t  know how long the first hill went for but most the runners around me continued running up. Its very easy to get distracted with what every one else is doing but I stuck to my plan.

The first 10km was very open space and not too technical. Matthew and I crossed paths approximately 45 min and it was great to see a familiar face. I met and talked to a few runners along the way at this stage and they had pre warned me about the 800m mountain hike that was coming up. Sorry, Matt I found out after we crossed paths, but I am sure you embraced the surprise! 800m and 12 minutes later my quads were burning! The view from half way up and the top was breathtaking. I kept turning around to pinch myself.

I was playing cat and mouse with a few runners up to the 17km point, they left me for dead on the hills but I would catch them on the straight and down hill.  At the half way mark we passed through the starting hub, we were greeted by family and friends, Daniele and Emma, cheering us on gave me another surge of energy to finish off the second half. The second 10km I thought was much more challenging, mainly as it was warming up and we had to run on road for 3km that just went up. Similar to Great Ocean Road with no shade as a barrier break. The reward however was awaiting at the 17km, we reached Stevensons Falls and the sound of the waterfall crashing down on the rocks was energetic. There was no need to reach for a gel at this point. I had a quick photo and finished the 4km decline home along the flowing river.

All our family and friends where at the finish line cheering us all on to the finish chute. Bruce, Milly, Matthew had all come through before 12pm, totally spent from the challenges of the trail. I was absolutely pleased with this event and how I ran it. I am already looking forward to returning and running it again in 2019. The atmosphere and the organisation by Trails Plus was perfect. There were plenty of food trucks, coffee, ice cream trucks, an animal farm and a small expo.