February 2022

03 February 2022

After a very short but busy visit to Perth, we spent the last few days of January with friends camped at Western Australia's coldest town - Wandering. But no cold this time, it was hot, and we were glad of the great facilities and the air conditioning.

With the heat still around we decided to stay another day and then made our way to the town of Narrogin, where we enjoyed two days at the RV free camp in town. Right next to the railway we thought we might have some sleep problems, but as it is only a grain line nowadays we had no such problems. With a nice gravel and bitumen surface, dump point and fresh water tap, and being right in town, this made for an excellent spot to stop.

So after only 48 hours of the allowed 72, and with the strong winds also having abated somewhat, we made our way through the countryside,stopping at Eulin Crossing for a look and then making our way through Boyup Brook and onto Jayes Bridge, where we are greeted by the wrens in the morning.

We are working our way South to be ready to crew for Michael's 200 mile run and will also be checking out some of the roads we have to go down to meet him at the crew checkpoints.And with luck, the weather will be a tad cooler as well.

13 February 2022

Well what a few days we have had crewing for our son Michael as he competed in the Delirious West 2022 Ultra Marathon, along the World famous Bibbulman Track. The course starts at 7am in Northcliffe WA and normally ends in Albany, but, after bush fires through part of the course it was changed to an out and back course from Northcliffe to Tree Top Walk and return, a distance of 350.7 kilometres.

The Start

And they are off!
Carrying his "spidy" stick to get rid of the cobwebs along the track Michael leads the pack out of Northcliffe.

Michael was running strong and building quite a lead on the pack as he went. Along with his wife Tatiana who was travelling with us, we met him at the aid stations, which are the only places we are allowed to assist him. We mostly washed his feet, popped and treated his blisters, gave him dry clothes or shoes, set up our outside shower on the van for him to use, fed and watered him, re-filled his pack with water, snacks and electrolytes, planned the next aid station routine and then sent him on his way along the next leg. We would then pack up and head off along the dirt tracks or highway to the next aid station to await his arrival, and using that time to either wash and dry his clothes, cook his next meal, or nap for a bit. This routine went on right through the whole run and through the 20 aid stations.

Along the track

Arriving at the Tree Top Walk in the dark we found the gates closed, so just found a spot up a track in the forest to camp and went to bed for a few hours sleep. Waking up we made our way back towards the gate and then eventually found a spot where the phone worked, got the text messages that the gates were dummy locked and to just come in, so we did. Michael came in a bit later and he was not in a good way. His stomach was painful again, he was barely walking and stopping often, bent over in pain. This is something he has had before, and which has stopped him finishing the race. We got him to agree to have a sleep, and after 2 hours we expected him to wake up and say it was all over, but he awoke to tell us he was feeling slightly better, and was ready to go on again.

So we got him ready and now, after his good mate Sergio the second place runner had come through and gone out again, he was now in second place and thanks to his slow pace getting there and the two hours of sleep, he was a number of hours behind. The plan now was to just keep him running and see how he went, and if possible get him to the finish line. All other goals were then off the table. We also got him to remove the electrolytes, salt sticks and gels from his diet and for him to run just with water and eat real real food either from us or the aid stations. And it worked! It seems that the amount of sodium and other things in the electrolytes, salt sticks and gels were too much for his system to handle.

The further he went the better he got. He was being paced by Jacqui and later on Josh, two runners who had volunteered to run with and pace him. Throughout the remainder of the race he gradually gained time and distance on the leader, his mate Sergio, who knew he was coming and was paranoid Michael would run him down. But it was not enough and he ran out of kilometres to catch him. Finishing 2 hours behind Sergio, who after three previous attempts, had finally won, and who was still looking over his shoulder as he approached the finish line.

It's funny but all of us, even Michael, said that if Michael couldn't win it, we wanted Sergio to, and all Sergio could say after winning was that he couldn't believe it, he had finally, after all this time, beaten Michael. Sergio is such a nice, humble man, and a deserving winner.

The home straight

Leaving some fans and his pacer behind, and waving the "Spidy Stick" Michael is in the home straight.

The Finish

So after 350.7 km's in 57hrs 7 min's 9 seconds, Michael finished with his signature Toyota Jump across the line!

Met by Sergio at the finish line, the pair embraced and chatted about the run and then settled in to settling down before heading back to our camp for a shower and then returning to see some of the others come in. We had Tatiana and Michael staying with us in our van before, and now after the event none of us wanted to sit up, and it was awesome to get a full nights sleep, more so for Michael.

The next day, after we got up and Michael went for a short 4 km run, it was back to the finish line to see the last of the runners come in and for presentations to be made in front of all of the other runners, officials, volunteers and anyone else that felt like being there. Michael and Sergio almost inseparable throughout.

The Podium

L-R Michael (2nd), Sergio (1st), Charles (3rd)

So now we are going to take a rest, catch up on some sleep (we had 5 hours in 48, Michael had 3), clean the rig and sort things out, and, figure out what we are going to do next.

Mark Twain once said "...years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do that by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - and so we will.