When I was getting a baby cut out of me the week before Christmas the last thing on my mind was running a high-altitude marathon in Colorado. Originally, I was set to take on the Silverton Alpine Marathon in 2020 but like many runners Covid saw all events shut down for the unforeseeable future. When my husband was chosen in the Hardrock lottery and we started planning our USA trip, it gave me the chance to finally take on the challenge. Any runner knows the toughest part of getting to any start line is getting to the start healthy and uninjured. But I also had to factor in a C-section that mea ..read more

This will go down as one of the most memorable races I have ever done, for all the right (and a few wrong) reasons. It should probably also be noted that this was another stupid idea in the life of Hailey. This course had more elevation than any other marathon I had ever attempted and was held just one week after the Backyard Blister. Don’t try this at home. Like all other races planned for 2020 this race had been cancelled. So when the new event company emailed us to advise of the 2021 race, Roger and I jumped at the opportunity to visit beautiful Bright and the Victorian Alps. We had been lo ..read more

I’m wondering when the older and wiser part of life begins, as clearly it’s still a long way off for me. I mean, I feel older but I still make stupid decisions, and starting the Tail Runner’s Backyard Blister was in hindsight one of those stupid decisions. In January I decided to sign up for the Backyard Blister Last One Standing, as a challenge to myself and also to mark possibly the last race in my 30s. At the time many events were still being cancelled and borders still closed in some states, so it was appealing due to its small size and NSW location. I had not run an event of this type bef ..read more

I remember reading the words “It’s going to get ugly, but it’s going to get done!” on a friends t-shirt a while back, and that phrase pretty much sums up the marathon I ran last weekend. Originally we had planned to be in Colorado (USA) by 11th July so that I could run the Silverton Marathon and Kendall Mountain Run Double, and also so my husband could run the Hardrock 100 the week after, but unfortunately Covid-19 has put an end to all overseas travel for now. So the next best thing I could think of was to organise a marathon with some running mates for the same weekend. Our original plan was ..read more

I wrote most of this before the Corona Virus, so maybe it will take your mind off it for a while. Enjoy Leaving the hospital with a newborn baby is one of the most nerve-wracking things you will ever experience in life. Sure I was sick of being in the (short peoples) hospital bed and wanted to be back in my own bed as my lower back cried out in pain each day from discomfort, but there would be no nurse just seconds away at the push of a button. We had spent 6 days in Kareena Private Hospital and the Nurses and Doctor had visited me frequently, they had been such an amazing support. But I ..read more

Ummmmm, I’m a day late. That’s okay, my period will start this afternoon or tomorrow. It doesn’t. The next day I tell myself the same thing, that they will probably start this afternoon or tomorrow. Still nothing. So when I came to being 4 days late I decided I should drinking alcohol to play it safe. I’d never been this late before, could it really be? Don’t get too excited yet. We were away on holidays over the 2018 Christmas period when I first realised I might be pregnant, but it wasn’t until I got home and took 2 pregnancy tests did I start to actually believe that I might be pr ..read more

Waking up in Boulder on Sunday at our wonderful friends place is definitely a highlight of the trip. Beat and Jill have a beautiful home up on Flagstaff Mountain, surrounded by mountains and Hummingbirds. We had breakfast and spent lots of time chatting and catching up. A nice quiet rest day after a busy day yesterday. They had some other friends coming over for dinner that night too, so we were spoiled with a lovely pasta dish and salad from one of Jill’s Anchorage friends Kim and her partner Taylor. The storm rolled in over the mountain as we drifted off to sleep. On Monday we had another ..read more

On Friday 12th July we woke up in sunny Silverton after a long sleep in. We had showers and headed into town where we met up with Bryon Powell for brunch at Coffee Bear.  We then drove down to our hotel and chatted to our favorite hotel man Andy, and after a good chat he checked us into our hotel room and we unpacked. During our earlier catch up with Bryon he had told Roger about a marathon being held here on Sunday, and by the time we got back to our hotel Roger had decided to sign up. So off he went to register for the race. We were both feeling exhausted, so we had a nap and t ..read more

On Thursday 4thJuly we said goodbye to a dark and rainy Sydney, and excitedly flew to Denver, Colorado via a short layover in LAX.  After a long flight with not much sleep and having to ask a fellow passenger to swap seats with me so Roger and I could sit together, we arrived only a few hours later the same day. We contacted Justin who was the owner of the campervan we had rented for our trip and easily found the bus to locate ‘Wolfgang’, the Mercedes Sprinter who would be our home for the next few weeks. We headed for the Boulder Running Company, which was our favorite running store ..read more

When you love mountains and it’s your birthday where do you head for a 4-day long weekend? To the Victorian Alps! On Friday 10 May I finished work early and headed home to pack and ready for our road trip south. Over the weekend away Roger wanted to hit some big mountains as good training for his Hardrock Hundred race in July, and I wanted to do some hiking and breath in the fresh country air away from the big smoke. We hit the road around midday to beat the Friday traffic and took turns driving to share the long journey (with a stop for snacks and a toilet break along the way). When we were a ..read more