On Sunday March 7, starting at 5:30am, the above mentioned five runners set out in an attempt to set the first ever known time from Mt Baw Baw to Warburton using the Upper Yarra Track. As expected, there are discrepancies on the distance traveled due to various GPX files and you will note that we have variations across the strava link that I sent. Mike Cardiff was the run leader and the supplied gpx file is from his garmin account.
We decided to do this supported as the area is quite remote and water was always going to be an issue. We received support from our mobile aid station operated by our dear friend Ross at 30km (Toorrongo Picnic Ground), 75km (Ad Tree), 85km (Starlings Gap) and 95km (Big Pats Creek). At the aid stations we resupplied with food and water and if required, first aid.
The run itself went very well and was completed in the approx time we felt it would.
The first 30km is a slow hard slog through rather overgrown track and in fact the first 21.1km took the best part of 4.5 hours. Once onto the open 4WD tracks we moved along more consistently however a 30min stop was required on the northern side of Mt Horsfall as we came across a juvenile platypus stranded in a puddle on a 4WD track. Due to this we took it upon ourselves to report this to wildlife Victoria and do what we could to ensure its safety.
Once the platypus incident was done we moved our way up and down the course on our way to Ada Tree. This was a long slog and the weather was quite warm. Water was the issue on this section of the course and we all only just made it to the next aid station with water in our bottles.
After Ada tree, the run went smoothly. We had aid at every 10km and with the sun going down, the weather cooled which made it very pleasant. Due to the fact that the Warburton Trail Fest had been on recently along this section, the course was in fantastic condition.
Once past the 95km check point we hit the bitumen road into Warburton and to our eventual end at the COG cafe. At approximately 11:15pm we arrived to our finish where many of our friends were in attendance to celebrate what we had achieved.
Please note that I have attempted to add photos from the day however the photo upload area on this page is not working. I am happy to send these through on e:mail if this is an issue. The pictures are important as it proves that all five runners were in attendance.