As a veterinarian working on equine athletes I often advise trainers on making decisions in regards to horse health including how long a horse should have to recover from illness or injury. My job as a vet is to try and make them give the horse as much time as needed to get back into training. This can be a hard task as there is always a race somewhere that needs to be won.
I definitely didn’t practice what I preach when I got ill early December, I just finished a block of solid training with massive and consistent improvements, I did not want to give in so I tried to train through it. A simple respiratory virus led to a secondary bronchitis which led to spending most of my time between work and bed over the Xmas and New Year period. My recovery wasn’t helped at all by a nasty near death crash on the road together with my partner Ray which resulted in not just having a sick body, but also having a very bruised one. I still stubbornly tried to get back to training as fast as I could which ended up in me depleting myself from all ingredients which make a good athlete: iron, haemoglobin and red blood cells. Not a good way to start the season and a lesson well learned, when sick don’t train. It might cost you a couple days instead of months.
The Mt Baw Baw Seasons of pain was a race which I really did not want to miss. I knew it wasn’t the smartest choice to go ahead and race but I really wanted to support an off road race as it is hard to find good multisport races and this one looked just awesome. The quality of athletes they managed to attract was very strong which made me even more eager to check it out. So off we went, our Subaru packed with bikes and gear for a long drive down to Victoria.
Hanging out with Renata Bucher after a lot of email correspondence was a great opportunity.
As goofy as it sounds I was also very excited just to hang out with the top girls like Adventure Racing Champion and Tough Mudder World Champion Deanna Bleg, elite Multisport athlete Peri Gray, trail running guru Jacinta O’Neill to name a few. On top of that I managed to get Xterra’s star Renata Bucher down for the weekend and after lots of email correspondence I couldn’t wait to finally meet her!
We arrived on the Mountain around lunch time for a 4pm race start, we couldn’t have been welcomed any friendlier by Chris Ord who showed us our rooms with a lovely welcome pack and gave us a run down of the event. We were informed that the lovely Jacinta O’Neill had come off her bike practicing the course and had possibly fractured her wrist. Although a major setback this did not ruin her enthusiasm. With her endless amount of energy she helped marshalling the course during the race and supported every competitor passing, what a champ!
Whilst getting ready for the race I ran into the friendly face of Sue Pretto who spends her time racing from podium to podium in multisport and MTB races and as a grandmother, she shows girls half her age how it’s done. Talent doesn’t just stop with her as hubby Jeff Pretto races equally as well and son James Pretto – who is the current National Multisport Champion. They all travelled to Mt Baw Baw to line up for the first race of the Seasons of Pain.
Enjoying the riders lounge…
Before I knew it, it was time to race. I usually get a bit intimidated lining up at the start of any race and this one was no exception. Was my body recovered enough to attack a race like this in a competitive way? Absolutely not. Did I expect my body to attack a race like this in a competitive way? Absolutely. The competitive mind has no rhyme nor reason.
The race started with a 8-9km trail run, followed by a 8km MTB and this was repeated with slight alterations in the 2nd legs. If this wasn’t enough, to finish the race off (and most competitors) there was a 1.5km run with 400m elevation up the downhill mountain bike course!
Off we went on the first run of the race and within the first km I knew this was not going to be my day, the pace was fast and I was running like a duck. I felt like throwing up after km2 which is never a good sign. I realised I could not depend on my body to pull me through this race so I decided it had to be all will power. I am getting quite good at this “mind over matter” business! Painfully I watched the top girls run away from me in the distance as if I was standing still.
There is only one word needed to describe this course: brutal. But in a way that adventure racers, multisporters and trail runners love it. It was filled with steep climbs, ankle breaking downhill runs, bush bashing sections and pure single track, the only way to make progress was going hard, there was no easy way to go around this course. I loved the MTB loop, brand new made single track to test the technical skills, fast downhill sections and challenging climbs. The mountain was beautiful and although the sun was missing, the fog which was present gave the race an extra edge.
I was seriously struggling on the second lap of the run and was pretty much done when I rode into the last transition to run up the final 1.5km of the course. I was pleasantly surprised to find Peri Gray in the transition zone and was about to say something, but before I could open my mouth she was already halfway up the mountain. This girl can seriously run hills!!
The last leg of the race was very well named “the sting” and was basically straight up the downhill mountain bike course which included stumbling over the obstacles. The finish was on the platform at the start of the downhill, I could hear the supporters cheering the finishers in front of me, and although I was hurting everywhere, I couldn’t help but smile, what an awesome race! Over 3hrs of hard, hard racing was done, and I only had good things to say about this event, which doesn’t happen that often when you just finish! Awesome course, very well organised, awesome supporters and a super quality field of athletes, what a day!
Deanna Bleg gave Renata Bucher a good run for her money in the female’s race but the Xterra Champ was too strong on the day. Peri Gray, resuming from an injury came a solid 3rd.
Sue Pretto in true Sue style won the Masters division yelling “first GrandMa over the line” whilst she jumped on the platform
It was close in the men’s race, but Jarad Kohlar managed to claim the victory holding of James Pretto for 2nd and Alex Horton for 3rd.
My Ray Neill had a super race and finished in 8th place, an amazing performance considering who he was racing against. I came in 4th female and I was stoked with this result also.
The fun didn’t stop here as the following morning we were allowed to take revenge on the downhill track and run down it. Jacinta O’Neill showed what a skilful runner she is, even with a broken wrist being beaten by seconds by Renata Bucher. Both girls smashed my slippery performance for 3rd place just finishing in front of Vicky Saunders. Rob Preston run down the hill as if he was chased by a bear holding of Jarad Kohlar for 2nd and Trail Runner Magazine Editor Chris Ord for 3rd. A big thank you to the organisers for putting up such a great event, I will definitely be back!