The North Face 100 (50km)

My decision to embark on TNF50 2014 was borne in late 2013 when in Busselton for Ironman WA.  Coming to the end of 2013, I began to wonder what more I could achieve having felt disappointed in my performances at Melbourne and Auckland marathons. So, inspired by the endurance of those competing in the Ironman, I convinced Flo to come tackle TNF50 with me. I looked forward to a change of scenery from running on the road to hitting the trails.

We arrived at Sublime Point in the Blue Mountains (BM) about 4:30pm the afternoon before the race. Although I had driven several times through the BM, it was in fact the first time I actually stopped to take in the scenery and boy were we stoked with the accommodation. Our deck literally looked out to the cascading mountains around us, deep into the valley. It was at this moment I actually realised what we were in for…

The sun had begun to set when Flo and her partner Nath arrived. Soon we were organising our backpacks and I could feel the nerves setting in because I just knew I was no where near in peak shape for this event, in fact I hadn’t run since April when I finished The Australian Running Festival marathon in Canberra. And even my prep for that event was tainted with sickness and injury. But I felt I could rely on my mental strength to get through in tough situations.

Soon we settled in for the night and surprisingly I had a great sleep. I usually find the morning of events, there is no time to be nervous by the time you’re up, showered, dressed, double- check you have everything then your out the door to the start line. My initial thought at the start line was damn, I have to carry this backpack 50km! Through the mountains…

The start of the race was actually quiet testing, but I always try remind myself it takes a while to get moving and into the groove. The start was great for supporters because for about the first 5km us runners are constantly turning back on ourselves – before we hit a steep decline down the escarpment.

The next 10km was really technical, down – down – down narrow stairs as other competitors are trying to either keep the pace or take over. It constantly felt as though we were going over gullies, up- down- up – up stairs of all different lengths and inclines which proved difficult for someone with short legs! However,  we had some magnificent views of Leura falls, but it was along this point that the pain I initially convinced myself would ease up – just kept getting worse. I really struggled to keep up with Flo and I could just feel the range in my knees was not natural. At this point if this was a taste of what was to come, I seriously began to doubt if I could actually finish what I had set out to do. For those unfamiliar with the TNF100/50 course, the race finishes with pretty much a 9km climb along the cliff face, to a set of stairs almost 1km long.

At 15km we carried ourselves up and out of the technical inclines where we met our support crew. It was here I had to stop and try and stretch and release the tension in my ITB. This helped for a moment, but it was obvious my ITB was going to tighten up constantly as the day went on. We left the boys and morally I was really defeated, but just before we were out of their sight, I heard the crew  yell “C’mon, you have been through tougher things than this”, and that really resonated with me, because it was less than a week before that I had actually lost my dad to cancer. I thought to myself, if I can still stand after enduring the losses I have in life, than there is no way im going to stop running in this race!

As Flo and I proceeded to chip away at the race km by km, we gained some momentum from seeing the boys and she did a great job of keeping me focused along the way. I can not imagine completing it without her! She really understood me- im not one of those runners who wants to chinwag the whole way, I just wanted to get the job done. She knew that! It was along this section of the run where I manage dig up a bit of self- belief, but physically I continued to struggle and I felt my posture dwindling and my legs surmounting to a shuffle. Naturally, I fell over and from count it was about 4 times and at one point it was a great full body face plant into the ground, leaving my hands grazed. But Flo just picked me up, and we kept going.

Just before the next checkpoint (CP) we seen the support crew and their looks of doubt had surpassed when they seen us marching up and onwards past the halfway mark. I knew by this time I was only a “long run” away from getting to that finish line. From then we sailed down Kedumba, which to any average person you would usually be relieved at the thought of going downhill and not up. But the constant pain in my feet, knees and quads was excruciating and you could just tell from the slow pace of others that I was not the only one feeling the pinch on decent.

In fact descending was torture because the more you went down, mother nature also threw in some cheeky inclines at every corner. And the further into the gully you went, the more you realised the only way out was to carry yourself up! Just before the next CP at 41km we gave ourselves a cheer and a massive *High 5* because we were now down to single digits and a 9km climb from finishing. Soon enough we fueled up, hydrated (I managed to take some Ibuprofen) and asked Flo to give my ITB one more salute before demanding it hold itself together to get me to the top.

Although the pain never eased, I felt my spirit rise because I could really see the end in sight. I was just worried about one thing- those final stairs! Having never seen them prior, I was hoping they were not as steep as the ones we encountered at 5km-10km. We sailed on and throughout the last part of the race, Flo found us some sticks we could use to carry along that would effectively support our backs. Our entire bodies were aching and in these kind of events, you really discover what you’re made of.

As we crawled along the cliff face, we were swiftly passed by 2 men, so we cheered them on! “Keep Going”, "Woah"! It wasnt until they were out of sight, we realised they were the leaders of the 100km run! WOW! It was soon after we were told it was the first time there was a sprint finish in the 100km! Incredible. I thought to myself, this is why I run. Not to beat a time, not to please any one else. But to achieve the things I set out to achieve. Not by others standards, but my own.

Eventually, we came to the stairs I had been dreading the entire race. There was a volunteer at the bottom who cheered her little soul out for us (credit to all TNF volunteers!) I asked her ‘was this it?’, she was like ‘yep, about 900 to go’. At that moment I looked up and my spirit just burst with gratitude because they were not like the stairs we had previously. They were relatively smaller and I knew I was going to finish and not just sit and cry like I have imagined. As I looked at Flo and encouraged her on, I could see this was her first moment of the entire race she struggled. As we came to the summit, there was a man sitting at the top who was 150m from finishing but his body had ceased up! I gave him some words of encouragement as 1st aid attended to him, I hope they relieved his cramping to finish, but he wasn’t going anywhere soon.

As we realised we were almost there, you could feel the energy of all the supporters. It was like a Mexican wave of cheers as runners one by one ran up the chute. I gave a few fist pumps, found my  Black & Deadly Aboriginal Flag and as we crossed the line Flo and I gave each other a massive *High 5* and hug! WE DID IT!

In honour of my dad, the man who raised me.
Geoff Rutherford
Always loved – Never forgotten!

My running group: Sweat Sydney – http://www.sweatsydney.com.au