The Centenary of Canberra is celebrating 100 years in all sorts of ways.  In late September one of the more challenging celebrations was a 100km run – the Sri Chimnoy Canberra Centenary Trail Run. Two of the HerCanberra team took part and share with us the journey around Canberra!

Our Team

We entered as a team of four, each reasonably experienced runners.  We’re all part of the YMCA Canberra Runners Club and came up with the team name of YMCA Yaks.  It should be noted that none of us bear any resemblance to a Yak.

The team included two HerCan regulars – Alison, a HerCan contributor (check out Run, CanGirl, Run from January) and Drew, the ‘other half’ of editor, Amanda, who is sometimes referred to Mr HerCanberra, much to his annoyance.  We were joined by Paul (a great runner, but he refuses to use social media) and Damian (who tweeted his way through the event).

The Course

The team at Sri Chimnoy certainly outdid themselves designing this trail run – a 100km loop around the territory, starting and finishing at Regatta Point.  The run was broken into four legs, meaning we entered as a relay team, each running legs of 23km, 30km, 23km and 23km.

The course ran in an anti-clockwise direction starting with leg 1 in red

In running speak, a trail run = a hilly run! This one certainly ticked the “hilly” box with some of the peaks covered including:

• Mt Majura (4th relay leg) 888m
• Mt Taylor (1st relay leg) 855m
• Mt Ainslie (4th relay leg) 843m
• Mt Stanley (1st relay leg) 841m
• Black Mountain (3rd relay leg) 812m
• Mt Stromlo (2nd relay leg) 782m
• Mt Arawang (2nd relay leg) 756m
• Red Hill (1st relay leg) 720m

The run started at 6:30am and we estimated it would take somewhere between nine and ten hours to complete.  The weather was perfect with a cool start of 1⁰ rising to a predicted sunny high of 18⁰.

Leg 1 – and they are off!

Our first runner was Damian – who stepped into the team at the 11^th hour when our planned leg 1 runner pulled up with an injury.  Nice work Damian, we’re very grateful!!!

The first leg was from Regatta Point to Mt Taylor near Woden, taking in the sights of Red Hill along the way.  23km of mixed terrain including two pretty serious hills for a total of 651m of climbing.

The view from the top of Red Hill during leg one – a crisp Canberra spring morning

The transition point at the end of leg 1

As we waited for Damian to finish we milled around taking a few photos.  It was a beautiful morning but we all had a little trepidation about what lay ahead!

The rest of the team looking fairly relaxed while Damian completes leg one

And he arrives!  Damian finishes the first 23km in cracking form with a 2 hour and 28 minutes for the first leg!

Finish of leg one – hurrah!!!

Leg 2 – the long haul

The baton was handed to Paul for the second leg, a gruelling 30km dash from Mt Taylor to the Arboretum via Mt Stromlo, with 599m of climbing.  Paul was the strongest runner in the team, which is how he ended up with the longest leg!

Paul at the top of Mr Stromlo, slightly irritated that he had to pause for a photo

Meanwhile Damian lapped up the glory after the first leg and chatted with a few mates.

Doug (from a competing team!) with Damian, both having finished leg one

Alison was determined not to get lost on this run.  Her determination follows a recent incident in a 30km run called the ‘Lightning Strike’ where she took a wrong turn and ended up having to scale a fence to get back into the run!  This time she arrived with a set of detailed printed instructions and a map to ensure the correct route was followed.

Be Prepared – Alison’s new motto

And the end of leg 2 – Paul finishes the 30km in a blistering 2 hours 30 minutes.  This is a pretty incredible effort and sees Paul as the fourth fastest runner for the leg!

Paul finishes leg 2 at the top of the Arboretum

Leg 3 – the challenge continues

Alison headed off for the third leg, a 23km journey from the Arboretum to Dickson College, via Black Mountain and 446m of climbing.  Her instructions served her well, with no wrong turns at any point.

Al decided a few selfies were in order, with mixed results…

She then moved onto a bit of sightseeing along the course, getting a good shot of Telstra Tower

It was the warmest leg of the run, with limited shade a not much of a breeze.  A quick 2 hours and 25 minutes later she was finished, looking great and with a big smile on her face!

Alison claiming “Yeah I could have done the 30km leg easy….”

Leg 4 – the end is in sight!

And so Drew heads off on the final leg, a 23km jaunt from Dickson to Regatta Point via the top of Mt Majura and Mt Ainslie, including a somewhat daunting 695m of climbing.

Following from Al’s efforts, Drew tries a quick selfie, a welcome pause at the top of Mt Majura!

Following a fellow runner somewhere between Majura and Ainslie

The final leg is done, with Drew coming across the line in 2 hours and 10 minutes.  There is much rejoicing from the team as the event comes to a close!

A somewhat feeble attempt at a thumbs up crossing the finish line…

We’re Done!

Well done team – a total of 100km covered in 9 hours and 36 minutes!!!!

Our team came 6^th in the mixed category from a total of 40 mixed teams.  Not a bad result!

After the finish – a great feeling!

It was a great event, one of the most enjoyable in recent memories.  The combination of the centenary celebration, a great course and a fantastic vibe from all of the runners.  There is something about the camaraderie on long events like this that’s a bit infectious!

Time for a beer and relax after the finish…

Two final thoughts

The first is to congratulate those that completed the entire 100km by themselves, ie not part of a team.  The whole ultra running scene is pretty amazing, with Thomas Brazier the winner of the solo event, coming in only 12 minutes after our team.  That’s right – he ran 100km in almost the same time as our team!

The second is a big shout out for Sri Chimnoy for organising such a great event.  It’s no mean feat getting a 100km course setup across Canberra, they did a cracking job.  Guys, can you run it again next year?