CREHAN RECAPS HIS CRADLE VICTORY

Contributed by Matt Crehan, 1st Male Cradle Mountain Run and AURA member

Cradle Mountain Run 80km, 6 February 2021, Cradle Mountain Tas

Last February saw the 41st edition of Australia’s oldest ultra marathon, the Cradle Mountain Run. A running event that traverses the entire length of Tasmania’s iconic Overland Track, from Cradle Mountain to Lake Saint Claire, approximately 80km. As a group of around 60 runners gathered at the pre-dawn start line, a sense of nervous excitement hung in the air. Overall, I think people were relieved to be racing again after Covid-19 put a spanner in the works of everyone’s race calendar. But there was also a real apprehension of what lay ahead, with 90mm of rain falling the previous night. For the second year running, it was going to be a wet one!   

This was my third time running in the event, although fourth time over the course, having hiked it a few years back. I remember thinking at the time that it seemed crazy people could cover a week-long hike in a single day, but now I guess I am one of those crazy people.

I first ran it in 2019, treating it much more of a running adventure than a race. I took my time and soaked it all in, stopping for roughly one million photos. I had so much fun that I was back again in 2020, this time deciding to try and be a little more competitive with it. Still appreciating the landscapes and taking a few photos, but with a more focused mindset. A successful campaign then led to me lining up again in 2021, which really shows the pull that race has on those that have run it before.

And for good reason – the course is spectacular! I was a little weary of signing up for this year, not sure if interstate travel was going to be possible by February. This sentiment was probably shared by many, as reflected in the largely Tasmanian cohort for this year’s event. However, I do have to commend the Cradle Mountain Run Committee for having a very generous refund policy in the case of a withdrawal.

So, on a cool February morning we all lined up on the boardwalk outside Waldheim cabins. A thin ribbon of boardwalk through the Button Grass plains, the Pandanis growing along the creek line reminding us how unique this landscape is. With no room to overtake in the first kilometres, participants self-seeded and I found myself up the front. This suited me okay as I was keen to run a quick time, and also keen to not get held up on the early climbs. I had put down 8:15 as my predicted time, hoping to improve a little on last year.

Leading in to the race I felt that training was going well, and I was confident that I could hit that time, or at least give it a crack. But the weather forecast, and the previous night’s deluge certainly put a big chink in that armour. Regardless of this, I took off pretty quick as dawn broke, with local runner Damon Whish-Wilson hot on my heals. Last year Damon and I ran together for the first 20-30 km, and this year would prove to be the same. We were running pretty much stride for stride up and over Marion’s lookout, the first and biggest climb of the day.

The boardwalk and rocky track towards the start teased us with the possibility of keeping our feet dry, but before long it was time to embrace the wet as much of the track was basically a river bed. As we got up on the plateau and past Cradle Mountain to our right, we were greeted to a magnificent sunrise. The clouds parting enough to light up Barn Bluff to the west. Damon took the lead around here, and I was happy to tuck in behind him, stopping for the occasional photo but not letting him get too far out of sight. We stayed together all the way to Pelion, the first cut off point around 30km in. I hadn’t really been paying attention to my watch up to this point, just focused on keeping up with Damon, when he mentioned that we had run that section pretty quick, and it turned out to be around 3 hours. Quicker than I had anticipated but I was feeling good so when Damon stopped to refill his bottle in a creek just after the checkpoint, I pushed on ahead.

I find the section after Pelion quite difficult. It is undulating and the tree roots make getting into a rhythm rather difficult. However, running through the sections of cool temperate rainforest really makes up for any low points physically, as it feels a bit like you are running through a dream. The only downside of experiencing the course in this format is not deviating down any of the side trips, which were highlights of my hike years earlier. But I told myself I’d come back again for that soon. At around 40km, with the help of the descent down past Mt Pelion East, I started to feel good again. I decided to take advantage of this, popped a caffeinated gel and came into the Windy Ridge campsite (52km) in a little over 5 hours.             

One of the great things about the overland track is the diversity of terrain. When hiking it seems that each day is different, and when running it, the landscape changes every couple of hours. As I approached Narcissus, on the top of Lake Saint Claire, the forest became dryer, dominated by tall Eucalypts rather than southern rainforest species. Still feeling good, I thought I’d set myself the arbitrary goal of trying to get through that final checkpoint in under six hours. Anticipating it around every corner, I narrowly missed this target and went through in 6:01. Close enough I thought. I went straight through without stopping for anything other than to swipe my timing card, despite it being the only aid station on the course.

I’ll admit after being this ahead of my original time goal, thoughts of Andy Kromar’s incredible 1996 course record of 7:25, started floating through my head. Trying to do maths on the run three quarters of the way through a technical ultra is never a good idea, and while I may have thought it was in reach for a split second, a couple of kilometres on the windy technical terrain alongside the lake quickly threw that out the window. I tried moving as quickly as I could, but I find this section really hard to keep up momentum. There are lots of roots underfoot and the trail changing direction every few metres. My goals quickly changed to trying to duck under 8 hours. This seemed a lot more feasible, although definitely not a given with the pace I was moving. I was also beginning to worry others in the race might be moving better than I was and coming up on me any minute.

After 17kms of winding trail through the beautiful Nothofagus forest, I finally popped out onto the gravel paths leading to the Last Saint Claire visitor centre. I could taste the finish! With a big grin on my face I managed to come across the line first in a time of 7:49. So stoked! Stoked as well to see my training partner Matt Dunn come across the line in second, on his first time on the Overland. Damon rounded out the men’s podium, with Amy Lampretch taking out the female race, followed by previous winner Emma Flittner, and La Sportiva athlete Gill Fowler.

Well done to everyone who completed the course on the day, in what were quite wet and trying conditions. Thanks to the Cradle Mountain Run committee for once again putting on such an amazing event, and thanks to Bogong Equipment and La Sportiva Australia for helping me get there. Look forward to lining up again next year!

Pictured: 2021 Cradle Mountain Run winners Matthew Crehan and Amy Lamprecht. Photograph – Cradle Mountain Run website/Supplied.