The A.S.K. Bush Bashers and Trailwalker Sydney 2007

Well, Trailwalker Sydney 2007 has come to a close for the A.S.K. Bush Bashers and what an adventure it was! Of course, there’s lots to tell about the actual day itself but before we launch into it, we’ll give you the option of a long or short version.

The short version is - we went for a 100km walk in the mud. Skip to the end to see our photos, a video of us crossing the finish line and read our Oscar-worthy thank you speech! For all of you who really want to know what happened though and to know how the event unfolded - read on:

Start: Chowder Bay, Mosman - CP1: Ararat Reserve, Frenchs Forest
Distance: 13km

Just before 7am, the Bush Bashers lined up at the Start for their first ever attempt at the 100km Oxfam Trailwalker. We don’t know whether it was the early start or just the enormity of the task ahead but it certainly didn’t feel like we were about to walk 100kms! The atmosphere was almost party-like and the anticipation was buzzing. As the clock counted down, General Peter Cosgrove gave a quick speech to inspire us along and then with a blast, we were off.

The rain was drizzling down as we made our way up Chowder Bay Road and down to Balmoral Beach. We experienced a little congestion but nothing that really slowed us down and soon enough we were powering along over the Spit Bridge waving at all the commuters stuck in morning peak hour traffic.

We whipped up the Gallipoli Stairs, onto the Wakehurst Parkway and headed into the bush at Seaforth. Here, we first got to see the mud that would be our constant through the rest of the trail. We set a cracking pace through this section as we headed towards Ararat Reserve and pulled into the checkpoint in a quick 2 hours and 12 minutes - 20 minutes faster than our training efforts!

CP1: Ararat Reserve - CP2: Davidson Park, Roseville
Cumulative Distance: 20.5km
We were in scorching form as we whipped through this section. Overtook a few teams, blitzed through the muddy trail, got snapped by the official photographer and finished the section ten minutes under our estimated time target. As we pulled into CP2 with 20.5km behind us, we marvelled at how great we felt and that our legs had barely registered that we’d covered a fifth of the course.

We might just note here that the Oxfam volunteers were awesome throughout the whole event as they cheered and encouraged us on at various places such as at checkpoints, street crossings or junctions. They were wonderful! We also felt a bit like film stars as when we arrived at checkpoints given that as we arrived, cameras whirred into action and all the volunteers cheered. It was pretty cool! :-)

Ruth and Kerrie arriving at CP2David and Ian at CP2

CP2: Davidson Park, Roseville - CP3: Acron Oval, St Ives
Cumulative Distance: 30.5km
With spirits high, we left CP2 and headed into one of our least favourite sections of the course. Disaster struck approximately 2km into the leg when David slipped down a steep rockface and sprained his right ankle. Thinking that it may work itself out, we pressed on but it soon became evident that David was in a lot of pain and his ankle was getting worse, not better.

When we reached the Cascades, we knew we weren't far from the checkpoint and as we went up our favourite training hill (Acron Hill) we knew that a tough decision lay ahead - what to do? On reaching the CP, we met with Steve and Amir and the decision was made - David needed to get his ankle looked after and with that, he would need to retire hurt at the 30.5km mark. Although it was the right decision, it was a very frustrating one given not only all that David had put into training and preparing for the day, but by the fact that he was having a superb day and was blitzing through the difficult sections with ease.

CP3: Acron Oval, St Ives - CP4: St Ives Showground
Cumulative Distance: 41.5km
With David on his way home accompanied by Amir to get changed and have his ankle strapped up, Ian, Ruth and Kerrie took off at a run down Acron Hill. What goes down, only goes up again and with that, we turned onto Quarry Track and after ploughing straight through the creek (unlike all those other people taking their shoes and socks off or tippy-toeing across the rocks!), we charged up the fire trail. On reaching the top, we hit a bit of congestion but by keeping a fast pace and doing a little running, we were able to manoeuvre our way through the field to have cleared them by the time we got to Kitchener Road.

The next section of trail involves a lot of uphill work and this is where we started to see the smiles on the faces of other participants slowly disappear as the hard work set in. At this point, we decided that we still didn't feel any different to how we did in training and on entering CP4 ahead of estimated time yet again (and to the strains of the Rocky theme music courtesy of the volunteers at the check in station), we all agreed that despite the mud, rain and strangely, some humidity, we were feeling great!

Kerrie, Ruth and Ian at CP4

Ian, Ruth and Kerrie

Support Crew and Team in Action! Steve, Ruth, Ian, Amir and Kerrie

CP4: St Ives Showground - CP5: Mt Ku-ring-gai High, North Turramurra
Cumulative Distance: 51km
After a super-quick stop at CP4 thanks to the organisation of Steve and Amir, we took off again on the next section which involved a couple of kilometres of retracing the previous leg, another fire trail climb, and then undertaking the tricky descent down Warrimoo Track and subsequent ascent up the Sphinx Track.

In planning the perfect day, we had a goal of clearing Warrimoo Track and the creek at the bottom during daylight and we were really pleased to actually achieve this on the day. We did take a bit of an alternative route over the creek given it was up so high that the normal crossing was virtually impossible but the rest of the leg was fairly straightforward. As we walked into CP5, we were all feeling really good mentally and physically having now completed just over half the course.

Kerrie, Ruth and Ian at CP5. We are STILL smiling!

CP5: Mount Ku-ring-gai High - CP6: Apple Tree Bay
Cumulative Distance: 59km
With fresh socks and replenished supplies, we set out on this next section and promptly bumped in Steve's friends Ross and Ash who walked with us for a bit. Ross told us to look out for a team he was helping out who were only a few minutes ahead of us, and as we hit the fire trail, we said goodbye to them and headed down the trail commonly known to us as the Blair Witch Hill.

It was completely dark now and all was going well in our tricky descent. It was almost as if someone had been through and swept the path of pine needles to make it easier for us. Heading along the Gibberagong Track, we soon came across a team of girls - the team that Ross was helping out - and it was great to chat with them and swap stories as we headed towards Apple Tree Bay. We managed to overtake a couple of teams' here and on making the clearing, we soon sped in front of the girls and found ourselves at the checkpoint right on estimated time and still feeling good with nearly two thirds of the course done.

Checking In at CP6 Checking Out at CP6..
In the meantime, back at the ranch... David is... getting PIZZA?!

CP6 didn't look anything like this when we came through!

CP6: Apple Tree Bay - CP7: Berowra Community Centre
Cumulative Distance: 72.5km
With only 41kms, two checkpoints and the finish line ahead of us, we were in good spirits on leaving Apple Tree Bay despite the fact that it had started to rain again. We organised to meet Steve, Amir and David at Lyrebird Gully and so we undertook the Mount Ku-ring-gai ascent knowing we'd be seeing them soon. The track was fairly clear of people at this point as it seems many of the teams had decided to stop at CP5 or CP6 for an extended break. It was good to walk with some space around us for a change.

At the top of Lyrebird Gully, we met with our wonderful Support Crew who gave us some chocolate and encouragement to keep us going through the next tough section. Heaven knows we needed it with what as about to unfold.

Into Lyrebird Gully we went and onto the Benowie Walking Track where we suddenly found that unlike the previous section which was well-marked and clearly lit, there were hardly any markings along this leg despite 4 creek crossings and with the track at times, being completely under water and impossible to tell where it went. Combine that with lots of squishy mud underfoot, spitting rain that looked like little white lasers shooting into your eyes, and a pea-soup fog so thick that you could barely see the ground on which you walked, and you've got yourself one tough situation. In coping with these conditions after walking for 14-15 hours, it's little wonder our mental concentration started to lapse and Ruth started responding to questions in German instead of English!

As we pushed on, we knew things were getting difficult when within a couple of minutes of each other, we all had a prang of some description. Ruth slipped and landed on her backside, Kerrie rolled an ankle, then Ian took a dive in the mud tripping over a tree root. Ian gets the points though for best fall - it truly was spectacular! As frustrated and annoyed as we were (we'd covered 70kms by this point), we knew Berowra wasn't too far away and dry socks would once again be ours. As we steeled ourselves and tackled the notorious ascent into Berowra, we hit the top of the climb and into Berowra itself - a little behind schedule - but to the encouraging cheers of the volunteers no less.

As we made our way into the checkpoint, suddenly, it didn't feel like training any more. It felt real and it felt hard but were we lifted a little when David and Amir told us that we looked fantastic compared to some of the people they'd seen in the past hour. We were just happy to know that the treacherous terrain was now behind us. Or so we thought!!!

Ruth and Kerrie coming into the top of Lyrebird Gully

Ian is STILL smiling at the top of Lyrebird Gully!

CP7: Berowra Community Centre - CP8: Cowan Primary School
Cumulative Distance: 86.5km
Well, as they say, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going! It was now after midnight and with yet another change of shoes and socks, we set off to tackle the hardest leg of the course - the grade five climbs between Berowra and Cowan. As the trail had changed a little, Amir accompanied us on the first 1.5km and just as well because going down the fire trail, Kerrie twisted her ankle yet again. Amir decided to walk with us for a while to ensure our safety and organised to meet Steve and David at Berowra Waters to do some running repairs. It was nice to have a change in conversation actually and before we knew it, we were at Berowra Waters getting Kerrie's ankle strapped while Ruth made good use of the bathrooms!

On leaving Berowra Waters, the real work started. Up, up and up we went in the fog and mist. Even Ian who is a superb climber agreed that this section was difficult. We had a few teams around us as we started the climb but as we continued, a lot of them dropped off with only a couple of them keeping up or overtaking. It was tough going climbing up steel rungs, rock hopping and clambering over boulders at 3am in the cold and dark but it actually really interesting to see that a lot of the young, sporty looking guys were struggling and that we actually had it within us to overtake them given our pace on the flat and downhill sections - most satisfying!

Throughout this whole section, we could hear the 'clink.... clink... ' in the distance of people's walking poles striking the ground. This reminded us of David and it was almost like he was there during the whole section. As we soldiered on towards Cowan, we all decided one thing - the only good thing about doing this in the dark is that you can't see how much further you've got to climb! And with that, we hit Cowan and pulled into the checkpoint sometime before 5am.

CP8: Cowan - End: Brooklyn Park
Cumulative Distance: 100km
Another fairly brief stop and at a little after 5am, we gathered ourselves up and set off to conquer the final section. Down to Jerusalem Bay we went and on reaching the bottom and turning the corner, we were met with the most beautiful sight of the rising sun shining off the crystal clear water all the way down the river that's ringed by hills. It was a spectacular sight but a short lived one as we came upon the final, challenging 2km climb out of Jerusalem Bay to the fire trail that would take us to Brooklyn.

As the sun was rising and colour seeped into the morning, we climbed up and concentrated on just putting one foot in front of the other. We passed more teams at this point - people who were sitting with their heads in their hands, people who were waiting for team members' to catch up and people who were just willing themselves to the finish line as their legs had given up on them long ago. We did well to stay together as a team through this section and only for a brief moment, were we separated when nature called for the girls. On catching up with Ian, they found him perched on a rock having a little nap looking just like Rodin's sculpture of The Thinker!

Coming into Brooklyn on the never-ending fire trail, our legs were all feeling the strain and were starting to give us grief. It was about now that all three of the little trail warriors decided that walking 100kms was a ridiculous idea and that only idiots would do it more than once. The soles of our feet were sore and our knees were aching but we kept on at good pace knowing that we wanted to go under 26 hours until finally, the last little trail down to the road appeared on the left. Descending the trail, we walked towards Brooklyn Park giving Steve a heads up that we were nearly there and finally, Brooklyn Park came into view. To the cheers and applause of the crowd, we made our way down the funnel and across the line in a time of 25 hours and 56 minutes and placed 109 out of 502 teams.

Watch us cross the finish line!

What a moment! There were a few tears, a lot of smiles, a dose of coffee for Ruth and a great sense of achievement in having done what many people only dream about - completing the Oxfam Trailwalker. The rest of the story though is pretty brief - we went home, had a shower and slept for a long, long time!

David, Amir (camoflauge pants) and Steve waiting for us as the finish line.. Ruth, Ian and Kerrie heading towards the finish line after 100kms of walking..

The Bush Bashers Team.. The Team and Support Crew: Ian, Kerrie, Ruth, David, Steve and Amir

Finally we get to sit down and check out the condition of our feet.. Have we mentioned that Steve gives the best foot massages in town??

Final Results!
The little trail warriors did a fantastic time and place for their first attempt at Trailwalker. Here's the official results:

Here's the event summary - around 30% of participants didn't make it to the finish line..

All The Photos..
There were lots of photos taken on the day and these are now all online for you to look at. Check them out here: Bush Bashers Trailwalker Photos when you have a moment and see what it really looked like on the day. By the way, there is no such thing as fashion on the trail - it does not exist as comfort rules. Please keep this in mind and be gentle about our attire!

Thank you..
Trailwalker Sydney 2007 for the Bush Bashers could not have been undertaken without the encouragement, support and never-ending belief of a substantial lot of people! Without them, achieving these goals would not have been possible so here is a (by no means comprehensive) list of who we owe a debt of gratitude to!

Steve - who would have that that a throw-away comment 12 months ago would lead to this? You have helped us realise a dream and without your expertise, belief and commitment to the cause, it may never have eventuated. Thank you for your enthusiasm and leadership to help us achieve what we have and also for your awesome support crew / massage therapist / importer of sporting goods skills!

Our Support Crew: Steve and Amir (and David) - thank you for giving up your Friday and Saturday to follow us around and to do the thinking for us when we couldn't do it for ourselves. You were a wonderful support crew and coming into the checkpoints was so easy for us knowing you had everything under control and could provide us with relief - be it via pain medication or massages, it was all good! We appreciate all that you did because without you, we would never have crossed the finish line. Thank you, thank you! And David - although you are part of the team and have been the most enthusiastic and committed member to date, Ian, Ruth and Kerrie do want to thank you for staying with us through the night, looking after us with Steve and Amir, and helping us get over the line on Saturday morning even though your ankle was in such a bad way and you were in so much pain. It shows the strength of the team that we stuck it out in the capacities that we did - thank you.

All of our Family and Friends - who have helped us, listened to us, picked us up, dropped us off, gave us sympathy, and who always understood when we spent hours and hours on the trail and in the gym preparing ourselves for this challenge. Without your understanding and patience, this would not have been possible and for that, we are truly grateful. Thank you.. (P.S. We promise will will find new topics of conversation in the coming weeks'!)

Kerri and Ross from Team K.R.A.K. - your inspirational efforts from 2006, training time with us this year and utter faith that we could do this were invaluable to our achievement in crossing the finish line. Thank you..

Our work colleagues at A.S.K. who followed us through the journey, bought our cake and when bombarded with updates and calls for donations, always stepped up to the mark to be counted. We appreciate your interest, support and most of all, the continuous encouragement to go out there and do something extraordinary for both ourselves and for charity.

All our wonderful donors - your generosity has been tremendous and incredibly motivating. The messages of support stayed with us through those last difficult 30kms and we knew each and every one of you were with us in getting us over the finish line. We are now well on the way to raising in excess of $7500 for charity by the time all our online and offline donations have been counted which is just sensational. The amount of people whose lives will be changed by your donations cannot be counted.. so thank you. Check out our Oxfam page: Bush Bashers

All the text messagers and online trackers - you know who you are! We received so many fantastic texts out on the trail and some of them arrived at just the right time to pull us through low patches. We laughed a lot at them and were most definitely encouraged by them. Thanks to everyone who followed our progress through the day and into the night!!

What Next?
RECOVERY! Well actually, we're all pretty much recovered now except for David and his ankle which will take a few weeks. Seeing as there's some Perpetuem left over, you never know.. we might be persuaded to do it again next year. There's always Melbourne 2008... Sydney 2008... hmmmmm, never say never!! We'll be in touch...