Wow, amazing Thailand lived up to its name. I was fortunate to receive a call 6 weeks ago that my application to represent Australia at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championship to be held in Chiang Mai Thailand was successful. I was excited, nervous and didn’t even have a passport!
Fast forward 6 weeks and after 4 flights, numerous delays, a missed flight and 31 hours of travel I found myself landing in Chiang Mai international airport. From the start the Thai people were welcoming, proud and there to assist you to have an incredible time.
First up was the parade of nations and welcome ceremony. This was an absolute highlight of the week. It was held in a beautiful plaza with a stunning light show, music, cultural influences and a fireworks show. After the ceremony the whole team was left in awe, if this is the start, what’s to come.
There were a total of 27 Australians in the team competing in 5 events across four days. The Uphill Mountain Race, 40k Trail Race, 80k Trail Race, Up Down Mountain Race and the junior race. I was entered in the 40k Trail Race.
The information I had before arriving was that it was a 40k Trail Race with 2000m of climbing. The gist of the race was a 1000m climb up the front side of the mountain. A 1000m descent down the back side of the mountain. A 1000m climb back to the top taking a different route before the final descent predominantly what you had come up with a little side detour back to the start line. At the final technical meeting our team manager came back with the good news and the other news. It was only a 38k race so a bit shorter, however there was an extra 500m of climbing.
After completing a couple of training runs on course I had a feel for things. It was steep, really steep, technical and had large channels from recent flooding. Underfoot it was made up of tree roots, lose rocks as well as some compact dirt at different times.
As the gun went off on race day, we were flying down the 1k of bitumen before we hit the trail. From there the first 1k of trail lulled you into a false sense of security before it kicked and we were climbing. Unlike the trails in Adelaide the climbing is relentless. The first climb took us 1h15 minutes. When we topped out, we were met by crowds and applause as we ran through a beautiful mountain village. However, it was hot and the only thing on your mind was hitting the team aid station and getting water. After refuelling we were off on the descent. The same as the climbs were steep, so were the descents. While the first descent was fast, and for a large part smooth, due to its steepness you were constantly on the brakes preventing your body from going out of control. No sooner had you been glad that you were descending and getting to use different muscles than you were wishing you were climbing again to give the quads a break.
45 minutes later and that’s exactly where you found yourself at the bottom of the mountain, hitting the water stop, balance beaming across the river and going head first back into a climb to the top. The second climb was steeper and more challenging than the first. To give an indication the steepest 1.85km section clocked in as an average gradient of 23.2%, climbing 429m and took me 27 minutes – yes that was only a section of the climb. As I made my way up the climb, sweating bullets from the heat, quads burning, calves screaming I had to pinch myself, I was running in Thailand in the World Championships. I was doing this for fun!
Finally, the hill petered out and we made our way back to the team aid station. There was once again one thing on my mind, water. Due to the heat and the steepness of the terrain most people were only carrying 600ml (one bottle of water). This was achievable but, on the limit, leaving little to no room for error. After refuelling at the team stop, we hung a left-hand turn and started the descent for home. What greeted us was the most technical downhill in the course. The track was eroded and you were forced to jump from side to side, tree root to tree root to make your way down. The descent continued and became less technical but steeper before we finally hit a short kicker up a hill into the final water point. Only 6k to go! Out the aid station and we were into the easy part of the descent. I was cruising along enjoying things with only 4k to go and then suddenly I was horizontal sliding in the dirt. I finally came to rest and was relieved that the only damage was minor. With only one choice I got back up and continue to the finish line. Crossing the line, I was satisfied, pleased and it was great to be finished.
The highlights for myself were by far the experience of being able to race in the World Championships. Coupled with this the learning and knowledge that has come from racing on a World Championship course. It means that I can now take this knowledge into my coaching practice to be able to refine and improve how I coach to be able to benefit all those that I work with. And finally, the camaraderie with the other Australians. To now have people I know and can run with across Australia is fantastic. This is an experience I will forever cherish.
What’s your big goal? The one that you really hope to be able to achieve someday? It could be completing your first ultra, Ultra Trail Australia, a destination race or a multi stage race. Maybe it’s something long, 100 miler, 200 miler or UTMB. What it is isn’t as important as the fact it inspires you, gives you purpose and allows you to grow as a runner. But I certainly hope it scares you just a little but gives you butterflies when you think about it.
The key question is what steps do you need to put in place to enable you to achieve a goal like this?
Enjoy the adventure, embrace the challenge, always have fun. And don’t forget to, finish with a smile. I certainly know I did.
Nick
PS If you are keen to achieve your big goal then take the Run Fit Scorecard to start putting in place the steps needed for you to achieve success.