MATTHEWS’ CHANGE OF TACTIC AT KEP ULTRA V2

The first 15km to the Bellevue aid station is nearly all downhill and deceptively so in some places. I knew this would be a different story on the way back with 90kms in the legs and over eight hours running, so I made a mental note to prepare myself for this and as already mentioned, break the race into the four sections.

After Bellevue it’s an uphill slog to the halfway point passing through John Forrest (23km), Mount Helena (35km) and Chidlow (41km) aid stations before reaching the turn-around at Wooroloo (52km). Because it’s an out and back there were more than enough aid stations and you always felt like you were either just leaving one, or just arriving at the next. This made a big difference to what you needed to carry and also the conditions helped being cool, meaning you didn’t need to be constantly worried about hydration, which is the norm in WA.

As I mentioned earlier in the piece I settled down into 6th place and put on Taylor Swift’s greatest hits on the shokz headphones to serenade me to halfway. On a side note if you’re a runner who listens to music, pod casts etc., you must buy a pair of these headphones, they’re so good! I think we have three in the house at the moment, I may even get a pair for the dogs.

Three weeks prior I’d won the 24hr Lighthorse Ultra with a distance of over 200km and was in no state to put it all on the line again so soon. Pre-event I was also battling a head cold and I even had thoughts of pulling out earlier in the week. This was not an A Race and was certainly expendable for the greater good if needed. Luckily I held my nerve and rocked up at the start.

Racing wise, I started to feel the urge when I saw my good friend Charles Bosveld, he was the Delirious West 200 miler third place getter, but he was struggling coming into Chidlow aid station. He certainly didn’t look great and he would eventually finish well over 12 hours which is pretty special given he looked finished at 40km. Mentally strong, he decided to change his strategy from racing for a podium to just finishing, a hard thing to do mid-race. Massive kudos to him, sometimes it’s not the runner first past the post who is the real winner.

After leaving Chidlow, I then spied my drive buddy to the event, Simon Bennet. Simon has a great pedigree and has placed top 10 at the Margaret River Ultra twice, which is pretty special. He’s returning from injury and we ran to the halfway together. I entered the aid station 5th but with a quick turn-around left in third place, with Simon hot on my heels. 

It’s funny how all the talk of a ‘long run with a medal‘ goes out the window when you suddenly find yourself on the podium. All of a sudden it became a ‘You ain’t getting any younger and these opportunities may not present themselves again‘ type run, basically it was ‘On like Donkey Kong‘.

After I picked up my poles I really started to motor, first to drop Simon, and second Trevor Bosveld was probably only a few minutes ahead of me. Jumping to podium contention had reignited my competitive spirit and with Mind Focused Running’s Rob Donkersloot at each aid station, I had the perfect tactician to aid my cause. It’s so funny how a race can change so quickly and the goals are reassessed and changed. Charles was initially gunning for a podium; now all he wanted was a finisher’s medal while I was the polar opposite.

I managed to catch Trevor coming into Helena aid station and after giving him some advice on how to run the rest of the race I left him there and really put my foot down. Rob had informed me the lead runner had been disqualified so I entered Helena aid station third and left in the lead, the pressure was on now big time. I started doing the maths in my head, 35km to hold on for the win. This is when course knowledge comes into play, I was faced with 20km of decent running virtually all downhill or flat before the climb to the finish. I had done it before and knew what to expect so I did enough to maintain my lead but also put some distance between me and the chasing pack giving me a buffer for the last climb. I actually felt pretty good surprisingly enough and maintained a good pace all the way back to Bellevue aid station, the last before the finish.

At Bellevue I put the headphones back in, dialled in Taylor Swift again, and off I went, the final uphill slog to the finish. It wasn’t pretty and I was certainly suffering but I managed to keep moving forward only really walking, for a hundred or so metres at a time, for the last four to five kilometres when I knew I was going to win, well…first male anyway.

Crossing the line in first place, will it be the last time? It felt great to place first male as it was so unexpected but also the race panned out so well with all the cards falling into place. Can I do it again? Not sure. Circumstances on the day just gave me the win – lead runners getting disqualified and fellow competitors being either under done or just not feeling it, everything conspired for me to get to the line first. Of course you got to be in it to win it and I have a base fitness now that if these opportunities present themselves, I can take advantage but I’m still in shock truth be told.

These events take so much time to organise, setup, run and clear away and they need a legion of volunteers who have to be managed. The race directors on these events put in massive hours before the event and on the day will be there for nearly the full 24 hours – actually, probably longer. You need a passion to pull these events off and the Ultra Series staff and volunteers have this in spades.

So that’s the KepV2 2022, one of the races of my life coming so soon after another one of the races of my life…this is becoming a thing. I hope I can continue my good form into the Unreasonable East 200 miler in late June as I will need to be ready for this bad boy of an ultra. This event, in its inaugural year, looks so epic but also a tad daunting, massive elevation with probably freezing conditions, both test you. 

I am more excited than worried but I also understand I need to be at the top of my game to finish, forget racing but then again you never know what happens when the bib is stuck on my chest…

Pictured: Kevin Matthews crossing the finish line at the 2022 Kep Ultra, taking 1st Male in the 100km event. Photograph – Heath Watkins/Supplied.