Next Challenge
100km in 14 hours and 24 minutes of sunlight.
Well, that’s the plan anyway.
I’ve had a few people asking me recently what my next big physical challenge was going to be and although I’ve been training for this over the past few months, I think it’s about time to let everyone know about the specifics of what I’ll be chasing.
It probably helps to explain the ‘why’ of this one straight off the bat. Back in 2019, I got the first real taste of pushing myself physically when I attempted to complete the 100km Oxfam Trailwalker with a couple of friends. Although not all of us made it to the finish line I was immediately hooked on how it felt to push through a physical and mental barrier of pain. This has led me to attempt a number of other challenges in the following years but one thing always really annoyed me about that first event which was our finishing time.
25 hours and 19 minutes.
Whilst this was a huge achievement, it always irked me that it took over 24 hours to complete this 100km stretch of trail that winds from the Hawkesbury River all the way into Manly. I always wanted to do it again and beat that original time.
So this leads us to a point of contemplation I found myself in after completing my 50km ultra back in July. What would come next? Would I try a different sport? A different challenge? Something new altogether?
It’s always alluring to try something new but the reality is I have really enjoyed my trail running this past year so the prospect of chasing a greater distance in that was something that I naturally gravitated towards. I looked into some other events, some in Australia, some abroad but for some reason, I kept coming back to this opportunity I had of returning to the Trailwalker course and seeing if I could beat that original time.
It would be all well and good to show up, run a small part of the route and come in a little quicker than the 25:19 I’d already posted but that seems a little meaningless in the grand scheme of things. So I thought about it some more and something stuck out about a lot of the challenges I’ve done so far which is that I haven’t had to deal with failure as of yet.
Is this because I’ve been doing the work required to complete these challenges? is it because I haven’t been making things difficult enough? It’s hard to answer those questions without exploring hypotheticals which don’t really represent answers if you ask me.
So I’m looking for answers.
I’ve set myself a goal of not only beating my original time but bettering it by at least 10 hours and 55 minutes. Why this specific number you ask? Because that would mean that my finishing time would come in under 14 hours and 24 minutes. Insignificant to many, but if you are one of what I assume are the very few who are keyed into the solstices, you’ll know that this specific time equates to the longest day of the year in Sydney, the 22nd of December.
My aim is to race the sun across the sky and arrive at my final destination before it sets.
And I’m not entirely sure if that’s possible for me.
But that’s okay.
Because I want this one to have more of a chance of failing than succeeding. I want to answer that question. I want to know what it feels like.
One thing I must state is that I know I am an incredibly stubborn individual and although I look at that time and am intimidated by the challenge, I do know two things:
I know I can complete the distance.
I know I’m going to do everything I can in order to beat the sun.
This is not an event, I’m running solo and I have no reason for announcing this publicly other than to create accountability.
It will be interesting, it will be challenging, and it will be an experience that will no doubt offer more learning and growth.
I can’t wait!