Running 100kms is a tough ask at the best of times but to run 100kms up and down the rugged steep trails of the Blue Mountains in one of the world’s most challenging elite ultra marathons and actually finishing is incomprehensible for this couch potato!
Local farmer Glenn Tully has done just that; competing in the gruelling Northface100 which is held in the Blue Mountains every year.
Glenn, who runs a sheep and cattle operation in the Rockvale area with his wide Deidre, doesn’t really rate himself as an elite runner and only found out about the Northface 100 whilst competing in a military style obstacle course event near Sydney earlier in the year.
“I was on the starting grid with a guy who was talking about how people who do well in obstacle course events usually do well in the Northface 100, so I thought I’d better register,” said Glenn.
Fitness has always been important to Glenn who trains in Armidale with a personal trainer. In the three months leading up to the event, Glenn had been concentrating on preparing for the race as best he could.
“In the 100km Northface 100 race there is 9000 vertical metres of elevation change,” said Glenn.
“It is an incredibly difficult race and nothing like running 100kms along the road.
“You race on walking tracks, there are ladders, stairs and ropes to climb down; it is not just running, it is negotiating your way along these trails.
This is the 5th year that the race has been run, with 1075 competitors and 650 finishing. The race starts at 7am and you have 28 hours to make it home. There are five check points along the race for support crew.
“It was a long way but I was determined to finish,” said Glenn.
“I got a fairly bad knee injury at about the 25km mark. The first aid people said I should be pulling out but I ran the next 75kms with that injury and I’m really paying for it now.
“It would have to go down as one of the most painful things that I have done.”
Glenn found the night running the most difficult, when it was cold, with only a head lamp to show the way.
“I was lucky enough to run with another guy that I met during the race, which was really helpful.
“My strategy was to run the flat bits and the downhill bits and walk all the uphills and I think that strategy kept me in good stead throughout the race.
“The more painful it got, the more I just kept telling myself that I have got to finish; it was guts in the end that got me to the end.”
Glenn finished the race in 19 hours at 1 minute and he placed 461st out of 1075 competitors. He reached his personal goal of receiving a Northface brass belt buckle for finishing under twenty hours.
Glenn would like to thank his wife Deidre, Tony and Colleen Duss-Forbes from Fitness Rebellion and Damien from Feel Good Fitness.
Story: Jo Harrison
