Solo, Unsupported.
Kicking off just before 6am I was an hour behind my original schedule. Being in a hurry to get going, I made my first mistake of leaving may pouches of puree apple in the esky back in the car. This was key nutrition for me and I didn't realise until hours later. Taking off you follow a winding trail until a short time later you head across Carlo Sand Blow, a large sand dune which is quite difficult to run at any pace up it due to the soft sand. Approximately 8kms in you come across Poona Lake on your right which was incredibly calm. The first walker camp you come across on your left was Kauri, around 15km in and around 100mtrs off the main track. Not needing anything I just continued, until my planned rest stop at Litoria Walkers Camp 20kms later and 35kms into the Great Walk.
I arrived at Litoria walkers camp (80mtrs off the track), around 1005am and refilled my soft flasks out of my 1.5 ltr bladder. At this stage I was 4hrs 18 minutes into the run. 1013 I continued.
Dutgee Walkers camp was the next stop and the longest, arriving at midday.. Using the water tank, I refilled my 1.5 litre bladder topped up my flask and put a purifier in there. The day was starting to heat up now and the section was becoming exposed. Those who know me, know I don't fair well in heat whatsoever. The next section was definitely the most scenic with you running alongside a river, across sand dunes and over hills with views looking down over the ocean.
Heading out of Dutgee it was a gradual uphill as I made my way up to the Cooloola Sandpatch around 9/10kms from the walkers camp. I was feeling the heat has there was not much in the way of shade along the way. Heading into the Cooloola sand blow was one of the highlights of the run. Running across a large sand patch, with views of the sunshine coast to the west, and the ocean to the east was a spectacular view. Coming out of the sand patch had you running along soft sandy single track with ocean views from high up, spotting paragliders in the distance south towards Noosa.
Heading into Brahminy walkers camp at 322pm and 70km in, it was quite busy, families and hikers all set up enjoy, being not too far from the beach, it was the perfect spot. I walked in and cooled off under the tap from the water tank (Which had quite the smell!) but at this stage didn't care. In my head this was the final stop before Noosa! All the hard yards where over with most of it being flat or downhill. The last part of the track takes you onto the beach before cutting back in a couple of kilometres later.
Heading into the last 2 Kilometres i managed to make it to the Southern Entrance of the Great Walk finally finishing in 12hrs 25 minutes
A few lessons definitely learnt from this run! The track is 95% single trail, and due to being sandy, very soft underfoot. So if you're a road runner and used to the bitumen, this will slow you down greatly. Not double checking my nutrition cost me, as the puree was my nutrition of choice, I struggled without it. Im glad I packed a couple of different flavours of tailwind, due to the fact everything you drink will be warm and some flavours don't go down as well as others, so get used to that.
In the grand scheme of unsupported runs go, its not the craziest distance, but its definitely experience in the bank and a bucket list run ticked off. Knowing you have no way to opt out (Of course unless its worst case scenario), or there's no cold drinks and aid stations, definitely makes you run and manage yourself smarter.
Nutrition i used tailwind as my main source, several packets of lollies, 2 x cliff bars and 1/2 packet of cliff chews. I did bring pretzels, but due to the water being warm i couldnt quench my thirst enough after eating something salty. I did have 2 x puree apple sachets but forgot them. I used a 1.5ltr bladder, with 2 x 600 ml soft flasks with tailwind, 1 x 600ml soft flask with an energy drink to sip on.
Overall,a very scenic route definately worth doing!
Watch - Coros pace 2
Shoes - Altra Olympus
Hydration vest - Ultimate Direction Mountain Vest