Glenbrook Classic 2014
kalipyjamas
Sorry it has taken me so long to write anything about this, have been sick as a preschooler.
So....yup I did the run....ended up wearing sockwas, after the cold weather at GLow Worm taught me a few lessons.
If anyone in NSW remembers this weekend, we started getting severe weather warnings, sheep graziers alerts etc on Thurs / Fri. By Sat morning there was snow above 8oom, blizzard conditions in the mountains, 80km winds.....you name it. I actually phoned the event organisers twice on the Saturday to see if the event would go ahead ( it has been cancelled in the past due to bad weather).......Hell no they assured me! The weather would be fine in the mountains tomorrow apart from the blizzards and winds and of course event would run!!
Getting up at 5am on Sunday with the rain smashing down on the roof and the trees outside practically horizontal in the wind I seriously questioned my sanity. If I hadn't been sponosred for this run, to be perfectly honest I would have sacrificed my entry fee and gone back to bed for a cosy lie in like the rest of the state
Drove to Wentworth falls and then got the train to the start at Woodford ..arrived at 9.52 for a 10 am start.....so no waiting around in the cold. The drive up had been hellish in wind and rain, but thankfully Woodford is a little further East, so whilst it was still barely zero degrees, it was dry.
Run started with a tiny bit of weaving through the streets and then we hit the infamous Oaks Firetrail. As we climbed higher and higher the sun actually broke through the clouds, and by about 5 km I was actually down to a tshirt and armwarmers, the chill in the air providing good motivation to keep moving!!!!
I don't actually have too much to say about this event, as all I wanted to do was get it over with and go home to sit in front of the fire. I was a lizard in a past life. I don't do well in the cold.
- Possibly one of the most barefoot unfriendly courses. Sooooo much rock and gravel there was no respite. It was bearable in sockwas considering the 25 km distance. BUT stunning course as well, and well worth a visit you really are right on top of the great dividing range. Just wear sandals or something, otherwise you could be there all day .
- THE BEST VOLLIES I have ever come across - RFS crews all along the way and they were absolutely bloody brilliant. Especially the crew at 10km who had lit a big campfire and offered to make me a cup of tea if I had time to wait until the billy boiled
- Wide wide trails......no single track technical stuff which I like...but again, marvellous scenery and awesome MTB course
- Not sure how long the downhill section was but OH MY GOD I have never thought I would be praying to see and uphill stretch so much. The general discomfort after about 5 km constant downhill was practically tangible!!! However, I think that was a strike one for the Barefoot Crew, as so many shod folk at the finish could not even walk down the steps to get to the carpark, so blown out were their legs :-(
- Had to wait nearly an hour to get the bus back up to train station.....it was sooo cold, was soo tired and felt very whingy whiney by that point. Tried eating hotdogs AND chocolate but even that couldn't perk me enough to enjoy being stuck in the Blue Mountains, in winter, half naked, sore AND with no one else to whinge to.
Overall though a really really well organised event and a HUGE THANK YOU to all those who sponsored me to run....at last count we raised OVER $30000 for Careflight!!!
Couldn't be happier about that
http://w2g14.gofundraise.com.au/page/KalNewcomb