DIRECT FROM GEOFFREY LANGHANS: A DIFFERENT TYPE OF RECAP

Ultrarunning is about so many things to me. The sense of achievement, the remarkable people you meet, seeing beautiful places that very few ever get to, and finding out where our limits lie and how these change over time. I’d become comfortable with events up to 24 hours, they were tough no doubt, but I knew what I would be in for and that I could get through them. It was only logical that a 48 hour event was next on the cards and I was lucky enough that the Australian 6 Day Festival had just the duration I wanted.

The festival is held at Thorndon Park Reserve, on a 1.425km concrete loop that surrounds an old reservoir. A nice spot but a brutal surface, as I discovered in the 24 hour event last year. In that race I’d cracked the 100 mile barrier for the first time and I was hoping to push deep beyond anything I’d done before in the 2023 edition. My primary goal was to make it through the 48 hours and learn from the experience. It was not about going fast, rather about pushing into the unknown and seeing how my body and mind would cope.

In the lead up to the race, I realised that all the race reports I’d read were written retrospectively, usually after the author had had a chance to recover and could fully appreciate the experience. I thought it would be novel to do something different. Throughout the race, I made short audio recordings to document how I was feeling at that exact moment. What you read below are the transcripts from those recordings.

11am October 5 – “So we’ve just ticked over an hour. 1 down, 47 to go. Feeling really good, 2 little issues. One’s passed, it started raining at the start so got a little bit wet on the first lap but it seems to have stopped now which is nice. The other issue is my watch says I’m 25:34 ahead on schedule. I made a pace plan to go slow to keep me out on track as much as possible but the body is feeling good and wants to move.”

12pm October 5 – “Okay, just past 2 hours in. It’s spitting lightly but otherwise conditions are pleasant. I’m just over 46 minutes ahead of my pace plan which sounds like a lot but I realised I’ve got 46 hours to go so really it’s only 1 minute per hour remaining ahead of schedule. Still feeling pretty good, spirits are high. It’s incredible what these 6 dayers are punching out given that they’ve been out here for 4 days already.”

1pm October 5 – “3 hours up. Weather is beautiful right now, heavy cloud, light breeze, no rain. There was a little bit of rain earlier in that hour but nothing too concerning. I’m 1 hour, 9 minutes ahead of the pace plan so still well ahead but I know that at some point that’s going to change. It’s just a matter of when.”

2pm October 5 – “4 hours in. That was by far the wettest hour but the last 30 minutes has been pretty good so most of the track has dried out. Still feeling strong, just past 34km and very much settled into my run/walk routine.”

3pm October 5 – “Well, guess which muppet jinxed things by saying the previous hour was the wettest one yet? That wasn’t as fun, still, conditions have fined up again so that’s good. I’m very wet, just holding of changing gear in case another front comes through but will probably get out of this wet stuff soon. In better news, that’s just past 5 hours so I’m over 10% through the race and during that hour I knocked of the first full mara so not fun weather but a couple of cool little milestones.”

4pm October 5 – “6 hours! A little more drizzle which is annoying. Still in my original clothes but I can’t feel any blisters or issues at this stage so happy to push a bit longer hoping this clears. Approaching 51km so still too fast overall but may as well bank a few minutes.”

5pm October 5 – “Alright, 7 hours done! It’s been a good hour weather-wise and I’m about to do a gear change on most of my stuff. Fast approaching 59kms and ticking along nicely. Hopefully, I get some visitors soon: a couple of nieces, Dad and co will pop by which will be a nice buzz. Being Uncle Geoff is my favourite thing and I’m always happy to see them so fingers crossed they’re at my aid station shortly.”

6:17pm October 5 – “The hour 8 report is 17 minutes late because some family did rock up which was awesome. So good to see them all and they got some pizza so I’ve fuelled up and just going to do a few walking laps to let it settle. I did change all my gear and am hoping I can stay dry now.”

7pm October 5 – “9 hours in which is a little exciting because it means there’s just 39 hours left so it’s nice the time remaining no longer starts with a 4. Small things. In 3 hours it’ll be my first turnaround so looking forward to seeing the track in reverse, not that it’s changed much from last year. I’ve managed to just walk the last hour and past 72km so I’m on track to make 100km before midnight which was a little goal.”

8pm October 5 – “10 hours in, 38 left. Another walking hour to give my body a chance to relax. Still keeping a good pace, about 6.5kmph. A little soreness as you’d expect, feet going well though.”

9pm October 5 – “It’s started to rain again. I’m quite confident when I take my right sock off I’ll discover a blister on the bottom of my foot which is not welcome so early in the race. Just past a double mara. Go away, rain.”

10pm October 5 – “2 milestones. A quarter of the way through the race and just had my first turnaround so looking at the track from a different perspective which is nice. Past 91km and thinking about a strategy change.”

11pm October 5 – “35 hours to go. 97km done so well ahead and originally I was thinking I’d go until I couldn’t anymore but now I’m thinking I’ll have a short breather in an hours time to patch up my feet and put my legs up for a moment.”