Arrived at the trailhead off Great North Road in Bucketty just after 10am on Saturday 29th April 2023 to a relatively dry trail after driving through heavy rains and cold weather on the way up from Sydney. After a brief warmup and reading some of the history of Mt McQuoid and the heritage of the Old Great North Road, I set out unsupported, carrying all my gear and equipment by my lonesome at 10:18am at a relatively light pace not knowing what the day had in store for me.
The first 5km deceived me with this wide, easy to run fire trail that had me believing that it may be this cruisy the whole way through to the end. That was until the turnoff at the fork of Great North Road, where the wide fire trail became this tight technical single track with random trees snapped over the track and many small/medium sized rocks scattered all over the trail making it hard to set a stable rhythm. Regardless, the scenery was beautiful and this trail is truly unique due to its disconnection to most vehicle access, retaining its almost 200 year old history in the postmodern era.
I remember reading Julia Brock's report of her record run and seeing photos of these beautiful red Waratahs with long stems in the valleys below, however I was treated to black, dead flowers on dying stems as we're getting quite close to winter here in Australia. Gang Gang Cockatoos and White Headed Pigeons could be seen and heard in trees all throughout the run, and the luscious green valleys of Yengo National Park were periodically broken up by old bridges from early Australian Settlement and a more modern campground at Ten Mile Hollow. Devine's Hill was the ultimate demise to my initially anticipated sub-5 hour time, however with the overall record still in sight and enough legs to get me home I was able to blast through the downhill into Wiseman's Ferry to finish with a new record to take home with me. I would like to thank Dave Byrnes for creating this track as an FKT and Julie Brock for laying down an incredible time to try and beat. I look forward to seeing others come through this beautiful pocket of NSW's Central Coast, whether it be to break the current FKT records or just to enjoy a day out in nature. Whatever it may be, enjoy it. I sure did.