Support for Adelaide Ultra

Real mountains.

Real food.

Amazing friends.

Gatorade.

More Gatorade.

Prayers of thanks.

Salt tablets.

Perfect.

Adelaide Ultra

 Pre-race. Cold and a little nervous!

 Easy jog into one of the checkpoints (I think this one was at about 20km.)

 Putting on the speed at the finish line! (6:52:20)

A reward for all finishers!

These are some pics for mum... and any other people who still check this blog but don't use facebook!

On Sunday, September 23, Mel and I ran 56km in the Adelaide Hills. It was our first trail ultra. I never thought I'd find a running buddy who would sign up for a race this tough! It's as much a mental battle as a physical test so I enjoyed having someone to run with, talk with.. and hurt with. Seeing many people bloodied and dirty at the end, it was great to get through in a decent time without any injuries. 

We completed the run in under 7 hours and placed 50th out of a total of 239 finishers. For me, this was enough for 3rd in my age group and 13th out of the women. (There are some amazing hard-core trail running chicks out there!)

I remember at one point in the race, Mel asked, "Why are we doing this?" I replied, "To push the boundaries of 'impossible'." 

For Mel it was a "life changing experience" because she never thought she could run so far. She's kinda hooked! Mel now likes trail ultras better than road marathons and wants to do more! She said she also learned about humility.

Naomi was our awesome support crew, cheer squad, transport and photographer! (Thai for carb-loading the night before, for example. Naomi you know my every need!) Her hubbie Chris was Naomi's support crew, cheer squad, transport etc. What a team :)