Going Sub-10 hours: Barefoot 100km Ultra

Going Sub-10 hours: Barefoot 100km Ultra
By Dayrunner
After clocking 11h17min for my 100km split in a 24hr track race run barefoot last June, I was left wondering how long it would take to run a dedicated 100km race barefoot. This February I therefore put myself to the test at the Stromlo 100km & 12hr Race, held in the Australian capital, Canberra.

This race was designated the Australian national 100km championship, and there was excitement as one of Australia’s Olympic Marathon runners, Martin Dent would be competing and having a go at his first 100km. I was excited for other reasons too; this race was to be held on a 1km tarmac looped course within a cycling criterium, which was an irregular shape (including a hairpin bend), with a rise and fall from one end to the next. How would my feet and legs hold up on this surface? How would the elevation change and bend impact on me after 7 or 8 hours? Only one way to find out...

On arrival, my wife and I found that the designated campsite was in fact in the middle of the race loop. Assuming I finished in under 12 hours, we would be going to bed with runners still circling our tent, talk about immersing yourself in running!

The race started at 7pm (the race clock already had 30 mins on it due to the early start for the 50km runners), and I got off to a pretty quick start. It felt good running at sub-5 minute kms (just over 7min/Mi), at least that was until I copped a sharp bit of grit under the ball of the foot. As I was to become intimately aware of, there were two stretches (about 250m in total) of the 1km loop that had some coarse grit and small sharp stones strewn onto the tarmac loop. It wasn’t too bad, but once every 3 or so laps it had me dancing and using colourful language. This was going to be one long game of Russian Roulette...

I did my best to not look at the ground and stay relaxed, and clocked 30km in just over 2.5 hours.

The Race Directors had obligingly marked the Marathon and 50 Mile points on the course with signs (for when people reached the relevant lap). The 50 mile one was particularly evil. At 30km I was starting to feel a bit sorry for myself and the 50 mile sign taunted me every lap; it was still 50km away, and even when I reached it I would still be 20km away from finished. F*%king sign!

After a few laps of greeting this inanimate object with contempt, I composed myself. It was dark now and I had been going a bit too fast. In my head I had been wondering if Sub-9 hours was possible, but the surface and my pace was starting to take its toll. I reminded myself Sub-10 was very achievable and would still be a 1hr+ PB, and accordingly eased off the gas. This was to prove the right decision: not too long after, several of the fastest runners (including the Olympic Marathoner) blew up and withdrew from the race. It can be a bit of a fine line sometimes, this ultrarunning pacing thing.

Things seemed to feel a bit better as mini milestones appeared: Marathon, 50km, 6hrs (65km). And at last, that f*%king 50 Mile sign! If I hadn’t have stopped to urinate three laps prior, I would have done one right there and then on it for posterity.There were other distractions too – a large (6ft) Kangaroo bounded across the dimly-lit track at one point in the night; I realised just as I was about to tell off a fat guy with little arms for cutting the course.

With 18km to go I realised I needed to step it up to stay on target, and running faster subsequently seemed to provide respite for my sore ankles and lower legs. I felt like I still had a bit in reserve, so ramped up the last few laps and ended up in a Forrest Gump-style sprint finish as I thought someone just above me in the placings was in reach (they turned out to in fact be a whole lap ahead, but it was still fun to put the afterburners on).

All done in 9h47min, 1.5hrs off of the previous 100km Barefoot Record and 5th Male in the AURA National 100km Championships. My wife and I trundled off to the tent, for her to sleep and me to discover how many different positions I could be uncomfortable in before the sun came up. The next morning I awoke to what sounded like thundering hooves, but what was in fact shod runners. I looked outside to find that a 30km race was taking place, and the course had been diverted right past our tent, there was no escaping runners this weekend!

Dayrunner.png
Dayrunner in the tent

Given some of the challenges of the track in this race (not major in themselves, but compounded over 100 laps), I intend to push myself to go for Sub-9 hours in the next barefoot 100km track race. This will have to wait however as there’s another 24hr race just a few weeks away…
 
Wow! That's amazing!!!

Great job and congrats Mr. Runner! Keep up the great work!

The part about urinating on the sign had me laughing.
 
You should make it clearer that your time was 1.5hr UNDER the previous record. As in, faster than and as in, your time IS the new record. World Record. Wooo Hoooo! :woot:

Thanks Willie, I think you just did that for me ;)


Thanks for the supportive comments folks, it's an honor to contribute to the collective awesomeness that is the barefoot runners' movement! If I can give back as much as I have taken from it I will be a happy man.

24hr barefoot track race in 3 weeks now. Just puttin' it out there in public to put some pressure on myself... I am chasing 180km :nailbiting:
 
So, how do you eat and drink for something like this? NOT that I'm thinking of trying it. I still have to finish my first 1/2 marathon in May!

The flippant answer would be "however you damn well please!"

But seriously, these are the principles I generally follow:

For races up to about 10 hours I usually only consume liquids and a few gels. For 10 hours plus then I will usually also need to eat otherwise will end up feeling a bit hollow.

There are two things I am looking to get out of my food/drink: (i) nutrition and (ii) refreshment. I've raced in temperatures from -3C to +31C here in Australia so refreshment sometimes means hot and sometimes means cold.

For this race (16C and humid) I was taking 250ml of Hammer Perpetuem every half hour for the first few hours - purely for nutritional value. When it started to taste a bit chalky I then alternated it with gel and water (still around every half hour). 5 or 6 hours in I was in need of "refreshment", for which my preferred drink is ice-cold ginger beer (Bundaberg Ginger Beer for any Aussies reading). I can down a 375ml bottle in a matter of seconds... the satisfying burp comes out about 500m later. Then back to alternating the Perpetuem and gel/water. I think I drank all 3 bottles of ginger beer I brought with me over the next few hours, and had to raid my wife's soda water thereafter.

For races longer than 10 hours I will usually eat whatever is laid on; preferably nothing too dry; savoury is always a welcome change. Hot food examples have included salty mashed potato, cooked pasta, scrambled eggs and sausage rolls. Cold food has included watermelon, sandwiches (a bit dry though) and creamed rice (you can "pimp it" with energy gels and chia). Bananas always seem like a good idea but in practice I find them either too ripe or too green.

Some other beverages I use include beetroot and apple juice with maltodextrin powder mixed in, plain water with maltodextrin powder mixed in, Early Grey tea (white with one sugar please) and Coffee. I also *love* coconut water - I drank 4 litres in my first 12-hour race but it is a bit expensive and also can be impractical to take with me to interstate ultras. Its also not as high in the energy stakes (although good for electrolytes), and it just seems like sacrilege to mix maltodextrin in with it.

Over and above all of this I should add that I carb-load with 10g carbs per kilo of bodyweight (ie 780g for me) per day for the 2/3 days prior to the race, easing off a bit the evening before the event so I am not too bloated. I use maltodextrin powder to achieve about 1/3 to 1/2 of this intake (it's cheap, low GI, doesnt taste too sweet and isnt bulky).

On this regime I typically finish a 10-24 hour race at the same weight or even sometimes heavier than I started. Then I lose a mystery 2 kilos a few days later...
 
@Dayrunner Wow. I'm not sure I could go that long without regular food. Thank you very much for the thorough response.

I'm sure your body will tell you fairly bluntly what it wants/needs if you ever do give one of these a go Happysongbird!

After a proper carb load you have a nutritional a head start so there's not quite the same level of hunger as you'd expect (especially if you proactively take on carbs in the race by sticking to a timed regime rather than waiting for hunger). Plus this race started at 7pm and I wouldn't normally eat between 7pm and 5am, at least not unless beer or wine was involved!
 
sorry mate but I cant find the 24hr barefoot track race. :( Can you give us a link?

Hi Murls, haha, yes you wouldn't find it if that's what you were searching for! Rather its a regular 24 hour race that the organizers are happy to let me run barefoot in. I convinced them I wouldn't wear out the track as much in my bare feet...

In fact it's not just a regular 24 hour race but the historic Coburg 24 (this is its 35th year), held down in Melbourne. Course record is held by the great Yiannis Kouros, who broke 5 world records in that race (1996), running an incredible 294km in 24hours. It's also host race for the Australian National 24 hour Championship so I'm really excited to be a part of this one.

Aura page here: http://www.aura.asn.au/Coburg_24hr.html
Race site (I believe they do hourly updates during the race if you're having trouble getting to sleep on 13 April): http://www.coburgharriers.org.au/joomla1/content/view/55/39/

I have to say, at $80 for 24 hours running its incredibly good value!
 
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