Absolutely beautiful day for giving this a go - stunning autumn colours the whole way around the loop
I started at the stepping stones (after waiting for the families to clear them), so had the hardest climbs in the first 8km. This worked fairly well as a strategy, but it was pretty demoralising as I was behind target pace until the last 2km! Pushed hard uphill and took it fairly easy downhill - it was hard to see the roots underneath fallen leaves and I was very worried about rolled ankles.
Felt strong through to the end, and pushed hard along the last little road bit to the finish by the stepping stones. Grand day out!
Fuelled with 500ml of homemade carb drink mix: approximately 100g carbs and 200mg caffeine. Had 500ml of plain water with me too, but jettisoned most of it on the final couple of climbs when I knew I wouldn't need it.