As I looked at the Kata Tjuta glimmering on the horizon I felt my body melt into a trance. The enormity of where I was and what I was doing was sinking in. My ability to control my spirit had vanished as I allowed the colors and calmness of the land envelope me. The running pack had dispersed and I was alone. The distant hum of the race helicopter was a brief distraction. The sound of my breathing, and my soft footsteps on the sandy trails send me into a hypnotic trance. Soon I noticed the spinifex on the red earth and it was then that the years that led me to this moment finally hit.
Marathons are for mad people. That’s what I’d always thought. And I didn’t fit in that club. But when the social media bug caught hold of me five years ago I was lured by the excitement the Perth HBF Fun Run offered. The hash tag #twitfit became the calling for the group of mad runners I became friends with. Michelle soon became my running mentor. My Yoda. Michelle picked me up and pulled me along at every setback offering support and advice. It became clear early on that to be a runner it wasn’t as simple as putting on a pair of shoes and running. Unless you are Kenyan of course, which is where my online nickname came from. Cheeky Little Kenyan or #CLK.
One evening, while indulging my social media habit. A tweet by Michelle piqued my interest. “Sipping champagne, calming the nerves before the race tomorrow.” The race she referred to was the Outback Marathon. The seed was planted. I promised myself that one day I would run this marathon. A crazy thought for someone who’s longest run to-date had been the 14km HBF Fun Run.
The Outback Marathon would stretch my abilities beyond my imagination. But the desire to run through Australia’s red centre remained strong. For the local Pitjantjatjara people it is a sacred place of ancestral homage. For me, there was a spiritual pull that was almost magical.
My journey was riddled with injury after injury. Each time I achieved a greater distance another obstacle would appear in my path. My first half marathon, the Fremantle Half Marathon was one of those obstacles. The experience resulted in immense self doubt. Running a full marathon was out of the question. There was no point putting my body through such pain when that 21km was hard enough. I resolved myself to running half marathons for a while. My mental block was shifting. That’s also when I met another runner through #twitfit. Lee was training to run the Perth Marathon and encouraged me to do it. But the Perth 32km race came up and I thought I’d give it a go. I thought to myself I’ve done a few half marathons by this time. And, if I survived the Perth 32km. What’s another 10km’s? I’d be one step closer to my outback dream.
I read everything I could get my hands on about running marathons. From nutrition to how your kidneys can stop working. From how your body switches to survival mode and then sometime’s death. It was all the stuff that made me reconsider ever running the Outback Marathon. Remember, marathons are for crazy people. But I was inching closer to being a member of the crazy club.
My first full The Perth Marathon gave me such a high that I came out of it thinking I needed to do another one. I immediately signed up for the Perth City to Surf Marathon. It took everything I had and spat it out, my marathon spirit broken and my ego in tatters. In my mind the outback was now out of the question.
My online running community grew in size and #Flash was my new name! I decided to have one last go at this marathon caper by signing up for the Bunbury 3 Waters Marathon. Bonus I would get to catch up with Lee Maree (LMG) who by now looked up to me for training tips. It wasn’t my best finish, LMG fared way better. I then ended up running Perth to fix my bruised ego and I got a PB! This meant just one thing it was time to take on the nemesis City to Surf again. I was a nervous wreck before the race and even forgot my Garmin on the day. I almost equalled my Perth time and actually enjoyed that run. Revenge was sweet. I was now one of those mad people who run marathons and always talked about them.
I became a runner who wasn’t training for any particular race. Running was just something I did. Running became a social activity and my little community in Perth became the #pigrunners. People would ask me what I was training for and I would reply “Life.” Through twitter another friend Gillian introduced me to BT running club. Simon the spiritual leader of BT joined me up with Kelly. She became my Saturday morning running partner. She was the dose of maturity I needed to run long distances. She helped foster my self-belief, resist the urge to surge, and above all run run run. The Outback reared it’s head and was now on the agenda for the following year. I decided to ask my work crew at Eduka to come with me and also my online running community friends . Only two of them took me up on the challenge, Ronan and Eli. Having recently moved from France to Australia, running through the Red Centre was appealing. From my running community. My good friend Steph put her hand up. The seed had not just sprouted but the roots were also taking hold.
As soon as the places for 2015 opened we jumped on and made a booking. I was holding out hope that Vanessa would take the plunge later on so I booked the Emu Apartments that slept six. My dream of running the Outback Marathon was another step closer. An epic adventure was imminent. My training schedule was set and I planned to run the Perth and City to Surf Marathons. I then fell victim to the runners worst nightmare – injury. I only managed a few small runs and did not take part in any marathons. Luckily for me Vanessa was training for the Disney marathon in January and that was just the tonic I needed. I helped Vanessa train for the Disney Marathon in Orlando. Those slow long runs were what I needed to get some confidence back.
The year I planned to run the Outback finally arrived. My plan for 2015 was to just run that race. Kelly suggested I do the Bunbury Marathon as a training run. As I was not only dealing with a post injury comeback but those mental demons had been instilled again. The Bunbury marathon turned out to be the most enjoyable marathon I had run. It was the also the first marathon that I ran without any prep. So, I didn’t take too much convincing to sign up for the Perth Marathon in June. The proved to be a great decision. I ended up with another PB and a huge ego. We eventually convinced Vanessa to join our adventure. Her parents and husband flew in for extra support. Bruce would run the half marathon and Jeremy would do the full. Each marathon takes a little bit out of you and each run is chipping away at you. Given the proximity of the Outback (end July) I cloaked myself in bubble wrap and hardly ran. But my fitness took a hit.
There’s no direct flight from Perth to Uluru. We flew into Alice Springs and spent the first night there. Ronan and Eli relaxed and Vanessa and I ran on and around the river bed. Running there was special and we knew we were in for a huge treat in two days. That evening we celebrated my 23rd wedding anniversary and I was sad Deepa was not there. I drank a few wines too many and should have stuck to water!
Steph almost didn’t make the journey from Sydney due to a bad bout of gastro (that turned out to be her gall bladder). We met at the race briefing. The race briefing included an introduction to every country that had a representative running. We were told what to do and what not to do as we were running on traditional land. Traveling Fit, the organisation that owns and runs this event had built a UN of runners. The camaraderie of all those at the Ayers rock resort was incredible. I ate the biggest feast I had ever eaten the night before a marathon. There was buffet dinner with eat as much as you want and $10 champagne. Once we had dinner it was off to bed. Vanessa and Jeremy took one room, Eli opted for the lounge near the kitchen and Ronan and I shared our room.
Ronan could not sleep and watched movies on his surface for hours. It was a struggle to fall asleep. No sooner had I snoozed off I heard Vanessa up and about. Making it to the breakfast table following a sleepless night was hard. It made me question my moment of wisdom in booking an apartment that sleeps six. Next time one bedroom will do.
I passed Ronan at 32 km he was struggling. I stood next to him for a bit and asked if he wanted to run together. Ronan had done no training for this marathon and was just going to wing it – I was impressed he had got this far. I met two ladies from country WA and had a long chat about the running and was still overtaking people. I had overcome the wall. But sometimes in the run there is a bigger wall ahead and when one of the markers for 39km did not appear when I expected it. This was the last straw I started walking! The two ladies caught up with me and coaxed me to carry on. I did. As I got across towards the finish line, Vanessa high fived me, I was so happy to see her. I knew she had got her PB and broken 4hrs!
For me no records were broken, but yet some deep friendships were formed. Those friendships will remain for a lifetime.
The Outback Marathon was not just about dreams coming true. For me it was also having the self determination to overcome obstacles no matter how big or small. I look back at the experience as my own dreamtime as much as that of the traditional custodians of the land.
As befits all things associated with the vastness of the Red Centre, the Australian Outback Marathon is one hugely awesome event. A marathon with a difference. Even my time was massive! I never, ever thought that I would be proud of a time of a few seconds shy of 6 hours, but proud I am. It was tough, lots of soft sand (and even more soft sand), complete with sand dunes. All athletes were rewarded by the deafening silence of the desert and totally breathtaking vistas of Uluru and Kata Tjuta on the horizon. The brainchild of Mari-Mar Walton of Travelling Fit of Terrigal, the Australian Outback Marathon is Travelling Fit’s flagship. The team at Terrigal has every right to be totally proud of this event, the 10th anniversary edition of which will be held in 2019. It is a tribute to the diligence, dedication and attention to detail of the Travelling Fit team. It is a terrifically well-organised and well-supported event by any standard. Water/aid stations are every 3K, with sunscreen, Vaseline, lollies, gels and large collection boxes in which runners could deposit gear and reclaim it the following day. Each kilometre is clearly signposted. The course is tough with sand dunes, sand and more sand. Oh…did I mention the sand dunes?
Ziggy and I made the most of every precious minute we spent on this 4 day escape. Thank you to Sue O’Donnell for the kind lift to Sydney airport. On arrival at Connellan airport (a 5 min bus ride from the Yulara Resort), we checked in to our lovely hotel, Sails in the Desert and got our bearings. It was great to meet the Travelling Fit team. Race/event registration was seamless. We kicked off with a not-to-be-missed pre-race briefing by Michael Walton, Race Director and the team: the things you learn, too late to back out now…. followed by a carbo-loading dinner. Always a great opportunity to meet like-minded individuals and calm the nerves. These carbo-loading dinners are not usually a gastronomic feast, but this one more than compensated by the fact that we met a thoroughly charming 26 y/o UK athlete, Emily Reed, clearly a seasoned trail runner. (Note to self: Look out for Emily tomorrow!)
The event itself: Saturday, 28 July 2018, saw the 9th consecutive staging of the Australian Outback Marathon. At 6:30 am, in the 3° cold and dark of a winter desert morning, we were bussed to the race start. Plenty of nervous chatter with Race Director Michael Walton keeping up a warm and funny, upbeat narrative on the mike, very welcome! As the sun’s rays appeared stunningly over the horizon, at 7:45 am, the race start was, naturally, by didgeridoo! I was in for a shock: I experienced self-doubt in the first 500 metres. The terrain was compacted fire trail but on a heavily corrugated base such that no single footfall was reliably stable. I could not imagine fretting about the prospect of a twisted ankle/face plant for the entire 42K ….as my quads began a stern conversation with me, I did some astral travel and composed myself. It soon became clear that the quality of the fire trail and the depth of sand on it, was variable. Never easy (for this soft snowflake of a road runner) but then, this event was never going to be about a fast time for me.
The running gods were smiling on me as I met up with Emily from the dinner the previous evening at about 15K or so. We turned out to be excellent jogging/walking/chatting companions. Emily was plagued by a bad ankle (which quickly made firm friends with my bung knee!) so she was happy to dispatch this tough course at a sedate pace. I was entirely focussed on ensuring that I did not have a repeat of my Adelaide experience in August 2017. No wheelchair in the Outback for me! I ran lots of the course but I walked all of the soft sand sections, stopped for photos and a bit of small talk at aid stations. The ever-present vistas of Uluru and Kata Tjuta on the horizon were surreal. It was a total privilege to experience the desert scrub, spinifex, anthills, boab trees and awesome vegetation at the close range which 6 hours spent on the course, provides…. I am so glad I had my phone with me (a marathon first!) so that I could take photos. I was also able to ascertain when Ziggy finished the race: in a stunning time of 4:31. What a guy he is to wait for his mother, in the middle of the desert, for an hour and a half, while she finished her date with the Outback. I am also glad that I wore gaiters: although not critical, I saw a number of runners stopping to empty their shoes of sand and other accumulated desert gunk. We bussed back to our hotel, Sails in the Desert.
Ziggy and I had made a business plan of the things we wanted to achieve while in the Outback. Here is my executive summary of our achievements:
Enough said already.
No rest for the wicked! We quickly showered and changed. With plenty of red dust still in between our toes and in places we didn’t think we had places, we took off for our sunset camel tour. The camels were fantastic! Our guide, Judy was a descendant of cameleer parents and a cameleer herself, i.e., she races them! Judy was incredibly knowledgeable, interesting, warm and genuine. What Judy doesn’t know about camels, hasn’t happened to a camel. We also got a great view of an Uluru sunset on camelback. After returning to the camel farm, we enjoyed more running chatter at an outback version of wine & cheese in the form of beer damper & drinks.
A rapid turn-around and we just made our connection to the Field of Light excursion. This is uber-cool. We chose the evening option (sunrise version also available). Bruce Munro & co have done a stunning job. The Field of Light is made up of 300,000 individual components with over 380K of optical fibre. The Uluru Field of Light utilizes 50,000 stems and covers over 49,000 square metres (nearly seven football fields). All of the materials used in the Field of Light are recyclable and will be removed and used in another iteration of a Field of Light somewhere else on the planet. The website claims that the Uluru iteration has been extended to December 2020.
(Start getting used to calling the Olgas, ‘Kata Tjuta’!). There are three walking options:
Ziggy and I did the full circuit walk (for bragging rights, as well as for the experience!). It is highly variable terrain, some clambering and inclines; nothing that will phase the reasonably fit but do yourselves a favour: wear shoes with good grip as well as caps/visors and sunnies! This place will blow your mind. It is H-U-G-E!
I had been told by several friends who have done the Outback event, that it is woven into the tradition of the Australian Outback Marathon, for Travelling Fit to host a magical dinner on the Sunday evening. The magic commenced with each of us, on exiting the bus, being met by the Welcome Tunnel: the entire Travelling Fit team, clapping for each of us as we made our way, past waitstaff with trays of champagne/wine/drinks, to a sensational lookout area, past the formal round tables set for a totally swish dinner! But, before dinner, we gathered at a brilliant lookout point while Michael Walton did what he does so well, ie, ran the welcome and congratulations segment while we sipped drinks and munched delectable bush-themed canapes. Then, á table! to mingle and chat with new-found friends and to enjoy a truly delicious bush-tucker-meets-gastronomic-excellence meal. Another highlight of this evening was the astronomer who, with his laser pointer, clearly and entertainingly enlightened us as to the wonders of the night sky. We were insanely fortunate to be in the Outback for the Blood Moon, the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century. As this was truly an international audience, the astronomer helpfully explained the features of the sky from ‘Down Under’. With zero pollution of any kind, the visibility of all constellations and other treasures visible in the southern hemisphere was perfect. For those who wanted better viewing (and who hadn’t had too much wine!), there was even a telescope! Is there nothing of which they don’t think? I found myself reflecting on my great fortune to be experiencing this all with my son…. can this trip get any better?”
This is an important part of any trip for me. Although we didn’t do an exhaustive or comprehensive exploration, the best coffee which we had was from the Kulata Academy Café in the Resort Town Square.
I will wind up with some perspective as to the toughness of the course:
I am still on a high after the Australian Outback Marathon. My head is bursting with memories and images of the fantasmagorical things I saw, the people I met, THE RACE I FINISHED, the wonderful way in which the Travelling Fit team looked after us, everything. Ziggy and I had a great trip and an excellent experience. It was Ziggy’s first time in the Outback. I think it’s so cool that he did it in such a memorable fashion (and such a fast time!).
Long may that red dust linger in our clothes, our shoes and on our skin….
Don’t think about this one, JUST DO IT!
Ginta Viliunas
2018 Australian Outback Marathon Runner no 118
30 August 2018