https://www.facebook.com/alyson.webster.94/posts/1029732487177285
On the 17th of April I confirmed with Paul Heymans (President of the BVRT association) of my plans to run the BVRT on the 5th and 6th May 2018. He and my two crew members were the only people to know of my intentions. It’s Your Shirt handled the crew shirts without asking any questions. We were now on the countdown to one big adventure, reuniting the crew from our Tassie adventure in 2017.
A couple of days out one of my crew members Lauren Dawson was unable to participate. Lauren has a heart of gold and an amazing uplifting spirit that ultimately needed to be replaced by two people, Jacquie Shaw and Cheryl Lanagan. Having three people as my support crew (Janelle Hooper was in from the get go) was a blessing in disguise.
The weather in the leadup to my run was perfect. After a full day at work standing on my feet in the pharmacy we headed to Ipswich on Friday night to get one last good nights sleep. One polaramine tablet settled a sniffly nose and I slept pretty soundly. I woke at 5am, had an Up&Go milk popper, brushed my teeth and dressed.
My plan was to tackle the BVRT one train station at a time, solely focussing on the next station which would ultimately lead to the finish. Janelle drove me to the Wulkuraka train station. After working out where to start and chatting to Paul how to configure the GPS satellite tracker/safety device we were off. Janelle ran the first 5kms with me as darkness became daylight. This section to Fernvale included some concrete paths and rocky runnable paths. I spotted one wallaby and lots of birdlife. Thoughts of my family and the scenery passed through my mind as I ran most of this section solo. I got to Fernvale station with 23kms in the bank. The crew just made it to switch vests and off to Lowood I headed.
8kms later and at Lowood Cheryl joined me on the trail. We saw quite a few railway sleeper nails which could be made into a memento. My lift hip flexor was a little tight possibly due to most of my training being on smooth dirt trails with greater undulations. After a few stretches it improved but there was some concern in my mind that this journey may not turn out with a silver ending. Thanks to Cheryl who was the ultimate gate keeper, opening and closer so many gates without fuss. There was a bit happening as we got to Coominya with lots of motorcycles parked at the pub. Another 12kms banked. Janelle taped the balls of my feet with Fixomul tape as I could feel they were a little tender. I was wearing New Balance Leadville Trail shoes which have reasonable cushioning but didn’t think to switch to my Hokas at this stage (silly billy
?).
Cheryl and I headed off to Esk. It was quite hot by this stage, 27 degrees. We got some respite in shady spots and from a cool cloth. I was so focussed coming into Esk that I didn’t even feel or see the rain that was headed for us. The noise of the local gymkhana from a few kms out of town helped us get into town.
I got my headlamp at Esk and put on my rainjacket as the rain began. Jacquie drew this wet shift and off we went. The rain was a little disheartening and a few 100metres after we set off I realised I didn’t have my trusty small bottle of coke – on we went. A few kms out of Toogoolawah I said to Jacquie I’ll see how I feel after some dinner but a motel could be on the cards. Luckily some of Cheryl’s hot chicken soup, a bottle of coke, some dry socks, Hokas, a thermal and full-length skins did the trick. Jacquie and I were back out on the trail by pass. We didn’t see one car on this stretch. Our headlamps managed to cause a cattle stampede at one stage in the paddock bordering our way, quite an interesting experience. At 103kms Janelle took over the pacing duties, a pep talk from Paul to confirm we were on the route and he was off to bed was reassuring too. A km out of Moore we could hear a semitrailer approaching in the 100km zone so off the road and headlamps off so not to distract the driver. After stopping at the park in Moore on many a roadtrip in the past it was nice to see a familiar place and use a toilet for the first time. Gum leaves up until then was nothing compared to this.
Some more hot soup at Moore and Janelle and I were off into the coolest part of night just before dawn. We saw some great spiderwebs and lots of cows eyes. Just as dawn arrived we hit Linville and met the organisers of the duathlon event that was being held that day. Thanks to the rangers who had opened all the gates, Janelle got off lightly. Some of the concrete paths around the disused rail bridges were a little steeper in this section. A highlight was one magnificent sunrise behind our right shoulders and seeing deer out on the mountains.
Onto Benarkin and it truly was slow going, one foot in front of the other. We cheered on a lot of duathletes in this section and saw a few familiar faces from the trail running scene.
At Blackbutt Jacquie found me a pastie and then Cheryl and I headed out on the final leg with my Helinox poles making their first appearance for the journey. It was warmer than the previous day and no shade whatsoever. A few people from a house near the trail gave us a shout out. Some quite nice scenery in this section and the thought of the finish in sight kept me going.
The last section to Yarraman took quite a while with Jacquie and Janelle coming out to walk the final few 100metres in. Thanks to the local photographer for coming out to document my arrival. My goal of finishing a miler had been achieved on my terms: no pressure, no bling but great company. Thank you Janelle, Jaquie and Cheryl from the bottom of my heart for making this adventure fun and possible, I definitely wouldn’t have started let alone finished without you.
Now to enjoy some peppermint ice-cream and learn to sleep with some very sore muscles. Not one blister and only very minor chaffing that didn’t hurt in the shower (winning).
Thank you to the local councils and associations for an amazing trail for all to enjoy. The condition of the track is to be commended.