Bondi to Manly Ultramarathon 2022 - Race Report

After a few weeks of taking it easy after completing my first marathon in July 2022, I was itching for whatever was next.

The journey begins on sign-up day - it was quite an obvious choice when browsing the racing calendar. The idea of an 80 km urban ultra (50 miles) that ran through the beautiful city of Sydney, connecting two iconic beaches, had me immediately sold.

The 27th of July - registered, excited, nervous and probably incapable of running that far.

Training

Training began at the start of August, 14 weeks out from race day. Three of these weeks were spent in Europe (their summer time), which meant less volume but lots of heat, and plenty of hills - as well as only one run in the last week there.

I began following Higher Running's Advanced 50 miler to 100 km Plan (Sage Canady is the co-founder) at 11 weeks out, once I was back in Sydney.

The training ended up averaging out to around 110 kilometres a week, the peak week being 140 km. Since I live in Sydney, I was able to run through the course on some of my longer runs. Most runs were at easy pace with the goal of building my aerobic capacity, and there was at least one key workout a week - usually a tempo or fartlek.

I also did a few small strength sessions a week, prescribed by my physio (cheers Kaven) to avoid injuries.

Being my first ultra, I knew the extra distance meant I needed to get my nutrition dialed in. I kept some notes in my phone on what I ate in each long run to shape out what worked for me.

Long runs were primarily fueled by a combination of Spring energy gels (which was said to be provided on the day), naked Tailwind and the occasional cliff bar.

Logistics

First, let’s talk race day logistics.

The solo runners began from 5:30 am.

I also had four mates racing the relay, which started at 6:00 am, where each leg of the course is run by a different member. Each leg is approximately 20 km long and vary’s in difficulty due to the terrain and/or the elevation gain.

Here's the plan:
My girlfriend and my mates would meet at each aid station (at the end of each leg) and restock me with some fuel, say some nice words and send me off. They would then wait for the relay runner to finish, and the next runner would start. Then whoever had just run, would jump in the car, and everyone would drive to the next aid station.

General Race Plan

Shoot for the stars - sub 8 hours, and if something goes wrong, land on my metaphorical moon - sub 9 hours.

In practice, the easiest way to break the goal down was to attempt to run sub 2 hours for each leg.

The Night Before

I compiled my race gear and made sure I triple-checked the mandatory kit list.

I then proceeded to watch two of my mates attempt to demolish a pizza loaded with chips/fries in their last-minute attempt at ‘carb loading’.

I ate more pasta, drank some more water and headed for bed.

Pre-Race

The alarm went off at 3:15 am, a quick 20 seconds to think, ‘oh shit, it’s the day’ - up, shower, dress.

My mate, Ducky (leg 1 relay runner), meets for breakfast - a double shot espresso, a toasted bagel with peanut butter and a banana - the breakfast of champions.

We drive to the start of the race at Bondi Beach, arriving at 4:30 in time for some stretching and to catch the sunrise.

We met an older guy out to tick off his debut ultra, too; we reflected on our training and exchanged some good chats before wishing each other the best.

I took another chance to try my luck at dropping the kids off at the pool, but the line was too long - L accepted; looks like I'm taking passengers.

Floating closer to the start line and marshalling area, Ducky and I catch a good spot on the hill to watch the sunrise.

Once the sun is finished giving the race permission to start, I waited for the marshalling call.

After saying my goodbyes to Ducky and wishing each other the best, we split - that didn’t stop ducky from scouting me down 5 mins later to salute me off.

I was toeing the start line with my wave by 5:36 am.

The Race

Leg 1

Bondi Beach to Watsons Bay: 0 - 10 km
The first 10 km of this race are on footpaths, so you can hold a pretty steady pace without too much focus or intention.

I took the k's easy and had a chat with a well-seasoned ultra runner that just came off running the UTA 100k in the Blue mountains the weekend before. He suggested the best way to succeed is to take it easy early and make the big decisions later in the race.

Although, coming from half marathon and marathon racing, going easy felt like I was burning time I couldn’t get back, but I went with it. I attempted to strike a balance between starting off easy and trying not to make too much of a time hole that I wouldn't be able to fill.

Watsons Bay to Rose Bay: 10 - 21 km
My race ambitions had changed since signing up for this race, and my conservative wave selection saw me using this early stage of the race to pick a few people off. My goal at this point was to sit in a spot with people that had similar goals in mind before the race really began (the later stages).

The sun had risen enough for everyone to feel it by this point. Although early, it made itself known in the more exposed parts of the track.

I was joined by an unconscious and unwelcome visitor at the end of a beach section, a rock in my shoe. I spent the next few kilometres deciding whether it was worth stopping. Ironically, trying to land on a decision on whether to stop was proving more frustrating than the rock itself, so I eventually forgot about it and just kept running.

Before I knew it, I was closing in on the first aid station, and I’d already worked through a few gels, my Tailwind and water. It was time for a re-stock, and boy, did I have a support team waiting for me.

I completed leg 1 with a time of 1 hr 48 mins, 52nd position.

Leg 2

Rose Bay to Sydney Harbour: 21 - 30 km
Before I knew it, I was off again.

The pre-race plan was to pick up the pace for this leg, to make the most of the flats and sealed paths and to create some minutes for the inevitably slower legs to come (call me Jay Z).

Lots of this section was run alone until the botanical gardens, in which I struck up a conversation with an Irish lad who lived in Sydney. It's hard enough to understand an Irish accent on a good day, but pair it with the thumping of shoes on concrete, and you've got some issues.

We had a good chat about this and that as we chased our pot of gold before I lost him while running across a few lanes of traffic, nearing the state library.

Sydney Harbour to Kirribilli: 30 - 40 km
When I look back, this was undoubtedly the honeymoon phase of the race. With one leg down, some fresh love from the crew, a tonne of overtaking and not to mention riding the flats amidst the most beautiful harbour in the world - it's safe to say I had a lot going for me at this stage.

And I bloody knew it.

By the Opera house, there were no more big packs of runners to overtake, and the field was thinning.

A cruise ship was docked in Circular Quay, which meant there were a sea of people around the path, and I wasn’t set on if I was on course at this point, but I kept the legs moving and did my best to dodge the suitcases. One lady even tried to ask for directions to somewhere - as if the running vest, race bib and spaceship-looking Oakleys weren’t enough to make me look busy. I’d love to know what else I’d have to be doing to not be called in as her Navman.

For real, though, I hope she found her way - I found mine immediately after the dock, still on track.

Coming over the harbour bridge, I felt I was closing in on where I wanted to be.

On a downhill through Kirribilli, a runner who I can best describe as a badass-looking older man expressed his hate for aggressive downhills, which I couldn’t agree more with.

Knowing where the next aid station was, I was surprised to hear Ducky cheering me on about 1 km out from the end of the leg. He had just caught me in a state of reflection, wondering if I was going to pay for picking it up on this leg.

After a few more twists and turns and we arrived at the rest of the crew.

I finished leg 2 with an elapsed time of 3 hrs 38 mins, 36th position.

Leg 3

Kirribilli to Clifton Beach: 40 - 50 km
I was still feeling great by the start of leg 3, but I was aware of my impending demise.

Upon reaching the top of a flight of stairs only 500m out from the aid station, I was cheered on by a spectator in an Ironman shirt, I said, 'I'm feeling good now, but it's all downhill from here'.

She then responded cautiously, as if not to break my heart, 'Haha, not really'. I was around the next corner before I could respond and spent the next few kilometres reflecting on my poor choice in words - completely aware that it is most definitely not 'all downhill from here'.

While I'm at it, here's the course grading - I can see why she was nervous for me.

As I hit the trails around Taronga zoo, it was nearing 11 am so the sun was well and truly out to play. As a result, I ended up running out of water only 10 km into this leg, so I knew I had to refill ASAP.

It is through these trails that I met a guy who I caught up to and was tailing, he offered for me to overtake on the single trail, but I was pretty set on staying with him. At this point, this guy was the red-shirt, pommy bloke to me; more on him later.

We didn't say much - probably nothing at all; we just both stuck our heads down, working through the tracks. At one point, he mentioned we could refill our bottles after the trail's end, at the next beach. I'd run this track before, but at this point, each beach felt the same in my head, and I couldn't remember which one was which, so it was encouraging to know I wouldn't be out of water for too much longer.

Finally, I arrived at the beach and proceeded to fill my two bottles with the tap that must hold the current world record as the slowest public faucet that is still in operation.

This resulted in my slowest kilometre of the race, but as painful as it was, it was worth the hydration. During this ordeal, I had time to figure out whether sub 8hrs were still possible - I decided that it was still on the cards.


Clifton Beach to Clontarf Beach: 50 - 61 km
If there was one thing I learnt about training, it's that I told myself I was going to hate Middle Head on the day.

Well, it's the day, and I did my best to set myself up to try and enjoy it. I had another NoDoze, opened up another gel and somehow convinced myself I was about to have a good time. But what helped more than the fuel was catching up to who I now know as Nick, previously known as 'the red-shirt pommy guy'.

We talked about our recent races, and he told me about some amazing ultras he'd completed. After telling him it was my first ultra, he gave the most simple yet effective advice. Advice I already knew, but needed to hear again;

Just keep eating.
- Nick (red shirt, pommy bloke)

While nutrition is an essential pillar of running an ultra, hearing those simple words in the thick of the race helped ensure I didn't forget for the remainder of the race. The novelty of 'It's ultra time, I need to eat x amount of calories in the next y minutes' had worn off and plans now seemed foggy, but eating, oh, I know how to do that.

But, 3 km on, eating didn't appear to be the thing I had to worry about anymore. Upon climbing up a set of trail stairs I got my first-ever experience of cramps while racing. I'd had cramps after running, but never during, and it drastically slowed me down as I forced down a packet of salty chips.

Looking back, besides physically slowing down, this had a bit of a mental toll. I'd never been able to sympathise with getting cramps during a race and always heard the stories of cramping ruining people's races. As a result, the doubts on sub 8 began to creep in.

I rolled through the last few kilometres, over the spit bridge and was approaching the 3rd aid station; it felt like the game had begun at this point.

Leg 3 complete, 6 hrs 12 mins, 33rd position - 61 km down, 19 km to go.

Leg 4

Clontarf Beach to Manly: 61 - 71 km
Off again, this time with a companion, Luke.
The relay guys decided to forfeit the race by having Luke run the last leg with me rather than waiting for relay 3 runner, Angus, to finish.

I didn't realise until about 3 km of running with Luke into leg 4 that this was the plan. I said, 'Hey bro, you better run back now before Gus finishes', to which he replied, 'Nah bro, I'm running with you till the end; we forfeited'.

I'm not sure what was said after this, but I was happy to hear I'd be finishing off the job with one of the lads.

The next 6 km of trails through Balgowlah were a bit stop-and-start, in order to fight off the returning cramps. This was certainly the lowest point of the race. Luke heard a bit of complaining from me at this point - I now wonder how much complaining I would have done if no one was there to complain to.

It's 90% mental, and the rest is in your head.
- Ray Zahab

Hitting the paths sparked a big high due to the amount of encouragement we were getting from people walking by. Luke and I were soaking in the comments that resembled something like, 'Wow, you guys ran from Bondi?'.

For the first time in the race, I allowed myself to think about the fact that the finish was close.

At the final aid station (an extra one to get you ready for the final 9km), I had some extra electrolytes and drank 2 cups of coke; nothing will compare to how good the coke tasted at this point.

Manly to Manly Beach: 71 - 80 km
Up next, the largest hill of the track. I had to walk up most of it to hold off the lingering cramping; This was a real low point that I somehow allowed to happen, but think I could have pushed through to get up it a bit faster. As a result, to me, this meant I would have to run the rest of the course once reaching the top, and probably faster at that.

Waiting at the top was Gian (relay runner two) and a lady holding a large bag of ice - saviour.

After stopping to put some ice in my hat, we were off again. It wasn't long before I started to get in a rhythm again, and we were knocking off the km's out in the exposed sun on the headland.

As Luke was immersed in the beauty of the city that was shimmering in the distance, I had my head down at the tarmac, focused on completing the next stride.

The preceding section was one of the least inspiring stretches of track in the entire course; on the left were dead plants, and on the right - well, more dead plants. This part was an out-and-back on a wide fire trail, and the demons were biting the ankles at this point, but I saw myself out the other side with the help of Luke in my ear.

With 3km to go, Ducky and Gian joined us to help finish what we had started. It began to settle in that I was about to finish, and I decided to pick up the pace that little bit more through these single tracks.

It is this part of the race that I will never forget.

We flowed through the trails together, stepping with intention, ensuring we didn't let the technical parts of the trail slow us down for this final section. We were quickly spat out of the trails and onto the path next to the beach, about 1km out from the finish line.

It was busy, very busy, and being a squad of four running with race numbers on, we attracted some heads. Words of encouragement were thrown in from every direction as we did our best to clear a route forward.

Despite the finish being close, it was not visible until reaching a sharp left that revealed a view of beautiful Manly beach. A few hundred more painful strides and it will all be over, and what a joy it was.

The final 200 m was as straight as an arrow, and it was time to hit the gas to get over the line.

Manly Beach, 80 km, 25th position in 8 hrs and 16 mins.

Post Race

Smiles all around, a few hugs and an ice bath at the recovery tent.

This was followed by a pizza, a pint and walking around like a tin man. Plenty of chat to catch up on at the watering hole.

Although I didn't get sub 8 hours, looking back at the first note I wrote after signing up titled 'Project Ultra', it had the note: 'Sub 9 hours?'. I'm well under that, so that's gotta count for something for past me.

I am stoked at such an amazing race. The course was a pleasure to run; the support was next level, and the people out there racing were top tier. Also, another shout-out to the best support crew & relay team on the track; it was a special day.

Wrap Up

If you're a runner, you know it's not just about finishing the race.

It's about progressing towards something, challenging what you think you're capable of, inspiring others, being part of a community, and so much more.

And sometimes, you don't even know what it's about at all.

Finishing a race is a temporary moment that celebrates hard work, but just because it's the finish, it doesn't mean it's the end.

5th of November 2022 - capable of running that far.

Time to chase the unicorn 🦄