After Herdys’ Frontyard Ultra I gave myself a week off, bar the Thursday morning Yelo run of course.  You can never miss Yelo, remember traditions and runners. The usual suspects at the weekly Yelo run No thought of running or any exercise bar cutting my lawn which is an ultra in itself ! Spent time with No 3 daughter watching my favourite AFL team lose, again ! Breakfast and lunch with the family, all things you miss when you’re in training. Recovery time is more than  sitting around doing nothing, it’s also about catching up with friends and family, repairing bridges you’ve burned ..read more

My first backyard ultra was Birdy’s backyard in August 2020 where I made the fatal mistake of setting a target, which I reached, and then stopping feeling fresh as a daisy.  (  https://www.runbkrun.com/2020/08/16/most-fun-you-will-ever-have-in-running-gear/  and the 2021 version https://www.runbkrun.com/2021/08/30/birdys-backyard-ultra-wow-just-wow/ ) The following year in March 2021  I took on the sister event, Herdy’s frontyard ultra , and surpassed myself , and everybody else , by staggering to an Australian record , at the time, assist for 47 laps helping Phil Gore to h ..read more

A thorn between two roses, the Race Directors Ian and Michelle, presenting me with my boot. Start slow, finish like a train. For the last three years I have always started Delirious at a steady pace rather than  race pace. The goal is always to get to Mandelay Aid station (around 122km) and then sleep before attempting the difficult twenty kilometre or so stage to Mount Clare. As you can imagine any aid station with the word ‘mount’ in its title is going to have some serious elevation, and this stage does not disappoint. This year without my wingman Adam Loughnan, who was washing his hair ..read more

Delirious West part 3… the final push ! Parrys Beach -> Monkey rocks 17.5km (accumulated 252.1km)  I was awoken by Rob Donkersloot early and forced to leave the comfort of my swag. I was not happy truth be told and stumbled off to the shower block to be told the water was heated by solar panels so hot water at this early time of the day was not going to happen. Great, made do with clean teeth, some deodorant and a visit to the toilet, the simple things in life. Bumped into Alexis Oostenhoff in the toilets who was not overly excited about his 60km of progress so far in his 100 miler eve ..read more

  Broke Road -> Mandalay Beach 21.8km (accumulated 111.3km) Broke Road to Mandalay is a long section after you’ve been running all day and are still getting use to long days, if that is even possible. You normally run this in the dark and it can take three hours or longer as the terrain can be testing , especially towards Mandalay beach. Add in some serious gradients, serious steps into the aid station, the late arrival and you are more than ready to get your head down for some rest. The last two years I have got to Mandalay I have stopped for a good three to four hour sleep. This all ..read more

This was my fourth time racing the Delirious West 200 miler . In 2020 I had my first ever DNF when my quads seized at Mandelay aid station and I pulled the pin, far too early truth be told.  (    https://www.runbkrun.com/2020/02/26/a-delirious-failure-part-one/  , https://www.runbkrun.com/2020/03/07/delirious-fail-pt2/ ,  https://www.runbkrun.com/2020/03/11/delirious-fail-part-3/  ) Probably spent more time posting about the run than the run itself? Pingerup aid station and my hamstrings seized solid. DW 2020. I returned in 2021 in October, the wet year as it ..read more

Back in the day when I was a marathon running show pony I had my ‘old faithful’ 10k before work loop I would run religiously on week days, and most weekends. Up and out at 5am and before I even commuted to work I had 10k under my belt. For ultra trail running I have adopted this to a 22km loop in the hills above Perth and before any 200 miler I make the hour each way journey to this route on a regular basis. Perth Discovery Centre to Helen Hut is where I spend most of my Christmas break and all of January training for the Delirious West 200 miler , early February. ( https://deliriouswest200mil ..read more

  I discovered Shokz headphones just over two years ago, bumping into a couple of trail runners at the Perth Discovery Centre, with Adam surprising enough , who were wearing them. I hadn’t really ever ran with music before as I find it quite intrusive and I like to use my time running to ‘think about stuff’, having something in my ear just didn’t work. The thing with Shokz headphones is they aren’t in your ear, because they are bone conduction sports headphones they sit on the bone infront of your ear. I know it sounds ridiculous right but the first time I tried them on I was blown ..read more

The finishers left at the after party, Unreasonable East 2022; one of the highlights of 2022.  Right, numbers for 2022. Overall I’d give myself a B+ for distance, good enough to break 5,000km’s for the year, by one kilometre, but what could have been. Earlier in the year I was on target for my initial 6,000km total but after the No Time to Die Frontyard ultra I dropped off the pace and did very little training in between races. Average of 96 kilometres a week but take out the 2000km’s of racing and the training weekly total is a lot less, significantly less, more around the sixty km a wee ..read more

Running is all  about traditions , runners love doing the same thing over and over. That may be training routines, entering the same races or just spending time with friends going to the same location for runs. After a while all these routines turn into traditions, and then they have to be adhered to, it’s tradition. The 6 inch ultra trail marathon  ( https://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) is one of many traditions that the lads and I love to adhere to, albeit it use to be a family tradition (yes, you can involve the family) but the kids all grew up and no longer wanted to spend time ..read more