ULTRA’S ‘WA GODMOTHER’ TALKS ADU 100K

Kate Dzienis • Jan 28, 2018

Contributed by Bernadette Benson, ‘Godmother of Ultra Running’, ADU 100kms Women’s Winner

I like variety. I’ll run road, track, and trail. I’ll run in circles for 24 hours. I’ll run over mountain passes at 3,000-metres, day or night. Last year I converted myself into a ‘sled dog’ to solo expedition across the sub-Arctic in winter.

All that variety means I’m often trying to get this 48-year-old body adapted to the demands of my event. My last adventure before the Australia Day Ultra (January 20) was an attempt at the Emu 48-hour. That was the end of September, 2017. It didn’t go well, so that did at least mean I was into recovery a little sooner.

At the end of October, 2017 I was back up to 100kms+ training weeks. Not that there’s any magic in 100kms. As my body has adapted, so has my training volume. And as my ‘easy’ speed has gotten faster, it means I can cover more distance for the same amount of time. I’m writing this to remind us all that he who focuses too hard on numbers might just be the first to the physio. My mates call me Mama Bear for a reason…I tend to try to look out for everyone, and my caring might come across as a bit over‘bear’ing at times.

On December 9, I set out to do a 5kms time trial – my first speed work in months, and with that result in hand, I registered for ADU. It was a slightly rushed lead up though. I could have used a few more weeks, but that was the only race that captured my motivation. I told myself I’d aim for an 8hr 30min finish – the A grade qualifying standard for women to go to the IAU World 100kms Championships. I’d run 8:32 three years ago at ADU, so if the weather was kind and all my ducks lined up, maybe I could break the 8:22:17 Australian W45 record, too.

I wrote my race plan, and then my partner showed me the detailed forecast – 71 to 77% humidity, wind starting at 26kph with a potential increase to 30kph at 3am. “That’s not record breaking weather!” I groaned.

The midnight start for the 100kms didn’t bother me at all. My internal clock is a bit ‘Euro’ anyway, I certainly don’t have the Perth clock. It’s 9pm as I write this and I’m just getting started! I enjoyed the feeling of serenity that darkness provides. It made the race start feel much more relaxed for me. I liked that it made me feel a bit more invisible. I’m always pretty quiet before a race. Introverts have to guard their energy carefully.

Thirty seconds in, Richard Avery shot out into the darkness and I was running beside Kevin Matthews and Jon Pendse. Kev had an ambitious goal, but appeared relaxed and was cracking jokes about our 4.22 pace. Yeah, we reeled that in in a hurry, but the boys were soon off in the distance as we all settled into our target paces.

The wind was forecast to be ESE and we were running an NS out-and-back that was 6.25kms one way.

I suddenly wondered if the Bibbulmun Track (WA) was closer than I thought, because it always had lessons for me, and I was being served my first ‘acceptance’ lesson. The gusty cross wind often had me feeling like I was running into a headwind both directions. It was so humidly hot I was pouring water on myself from 1.15am.

From 1.30am to 3am I mentally quit. I quit a hundred times. Silently, I ranted, I whinged, I spat the dummy and I chucked the toys out of the pram. I retired from racing. For sure this time. Really. At 2hr30 I was less than a minute off the plan. Not much, but I knew where it was headed, and then the wind picked up. The next 6.25kms section and I was nearly another 30 seconds behind. I was headed in for a headlamp swap when I was suddenly thrust into total darkness at a 4.45 pace. Not enough charge left to run the battery on full brightness, so I had another whinge. There’s no room for errors and faffing about in any record-breaking plan I write.

Luckily, I had really crappy accommodation. Every time I pictured going up to my partner (the silent, steadfast sentinel crewing me all night) to tell him I quit, I imagined driving back to our crappy cabin aka donga, and laying there all night in a worn out bed with a too-high pillow, amped up on Fully Charged and caffeine, whilst everyone else ran. I had no idea at the time, but now I know how strategic it can be to make quitting really off-putting!

Finally, at 3am, it hit me. I was fixated so hard on the 8:22:17 AUS record time that I just wasn’t accepting the conditions. I widened my lens and remembered my mantra written on my toes: BESTDAYEVER. I held on to the aspiration of the 8:22, but shifted my mindset to fulfilling my mantra. What would it mean to have the best day ever? Run as solidly as possible for the conditions. Don’t stuff up nutrition or hydration. Run efficiently. Don’t back off and slack off, but don’t get into a heart rate zone that will destroy me. Finish strong. Smile.

The birds sang and the sun came up, so headlamps and high-vis vests could be dropped, and I could finally see the other runners clearly. By now, the 50kms racers had joined us (they started at 3am), and the 25kms entrants appeared at 6am. There was still plenty of space on a long course like that to run on my own, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Loads of smiles were shared with passing runners. The camaraderie and other good mojo were outstanding. I mean, the mountain-ultra-trail community is known for that, but in this race it really shone through. Maybe it had something to do with the 19 stuffed kookaburras that were hidden in the trees for racers to find and bring back for points. Nothing like seeing someone running at you with a big white stuffed animal to make you smile.

Our community has grown. In May 2008, when I moved to Perth from Canada, I had one connection: David Kennedy. He took me on my first trail run. He told me about his wild dreams and schemes for ultra events. I then met Rob Donkersloot, and we became regular weekend running mates for probably a couple years. You could count all the ultra runners in WA on your two hands in 2008 and 2009. Comrades was pretty much the only ultra anyone in WA had heard of, and funnily enough, it was the only one I hadn’t heard of!

I went trail hunting by looking for green bits on Google maps. I went to the topo store to get maps and dove into the bush armed with a GPS with breadcrumb functions, a pencil and paper for drawing mud maps on the go, a useless flip phone, and boatloads of water. My circle of running mates widened. Though most didn’t stick at first, when they found this trail running gig involved one-kms splits that didn’t start with a 4, 5, or even a 6. We all found our niches – road, flat double-track trail, hilly single track….but we still all knew each other. David Kennedy’s dreams of multiple ultras in WA couldn’t be realised until we had more mountain-ultra-trail runners, and so I birthed the Perth Trail Series, in large part to introduce people to trails and to create a way for people to get into the sport without having to do a 46kms race as their first event.

At ADU this year, I was reminded just how much our sport has grown in WA. I don’t recognise everyone anymore. I probably can’t even recognise 10% of our local ultra runners. I don’t know your history or your stories. That has bothered me, but I’ve had to reconcile with it. Many of you know me, or at least know of me. Shaun Kaesler, ADU assistant RD, introduced me by saying I am ‘pretty much the godmother of ultra running in WA’ (though I felt like a grandmother, perhaps, hobbling after my 8:27:39 run). It was a comment that I felt really honoured by. It’s one I worked harder for, in some ways, than any record-breaking title. I believe very much in the power of mountain-ultra-trail running for self-exploration, mental and physical health, and community building. Ultra running is a privilege, not a right. We earn it through dedication to training, strengthening, and recovering, and in our dedication to each other and the goodness we can bring to the fold. Thank you all for your goodness.

Featured Image: Bernadette Benson tackles the 100kms out-and-back course at this years Australia Day Ultra, held on January 20. Photograph – Rolf Schatzmann.

Image Above: One of the kookaburras runners had to spot and grab along the course of ADU. Photograph – Supplied.

Ultramag contributor Bernadette Benson is a Canadian-born ultra runner living in Perth, WA who has competed in numerous road, track, and trail events around the world. Benson has broken numerous records, including the Canadian W40 100k record in April 2011 at the Coburg 24-hr track race in Vic, and the FKT (fastest known time) record for the 1000k Bibbulmun Track in November 2011, completing it in 15 days 9 hrs 48 mins.

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