Five Peaks Ultra Adelaide

Myself and Lisa (who I coach) headed off to South Australia to tackle the Adelaide Hills. We picked the Five Peaks Ultra which is 60km and around 2460 elevation. We had a great time at this race and would definitely recommend to anyone wanting a challenging but scenic course that is really close to the city. We stayed at the Belair Holiday Park which was so conveniently located very close to the end and very close to the shuttle bus pick up in the morning. We were blessed with great weather (the year before it was 36 degrees).

This race was unique in that you have to pick your start time, the slower runners staring at 6am which meant a 4.30am Bus pick up time, 7am for medium runners and 8am for those quick runners and those wanting to podium. Lisa picked the 6am and myself the 7am.

The shuttle bus took about 30/40 mins to get to the start oval in Athelston. The 6am needed head torches for their start but the 7am was just getting light and we were treated to a beautiful sunrise. The facilities at the start were great and people so friendly. It was a bit daunting to see the hills just behind the oval.

With the staggered start it was not too crazy at the start line, the first peak came up pretty quickly and it was rocky and a little congested but nothing to crazy, I did not start with my poles but soon discovered it would be worthwhile using them (after a slight fight with them to get them out I was glad to have them) after the climb there were many runnable sections and once you reached the peak you had to run around a pile of rocks, then it was nice wide firebreak trails, koalas in the trees and some very interesting cobblestone’s on the decent, which made running a bit awkward. I was very happy to find the descents were very runnable and nicer than Perth’s pea gravel hills. The second peak was another tough one very steep and again you had to run around a pile of rocks at the top, we then headed back down and had some single trail which was slightly rocky but still very runnable.

The next section was my favourite with steep cliff faces, water falls, single trails, and then onto a road section to cross farm land, you passed some lovely houses and had to open and close a few gates. We also did our third peak in this section Norton Summit. This section finished at the drop bag station, and we were treated to seeing another koala (who was not as happy as us runners, he kept growling when a person came by) The drop bag station was great all the volunteers so helpful and plenty of everything. I had to stop and get some loose rocks out of my shoes but otherwise had a quick turn around thanks to the volunteers topping my water up, helping me get back into my pack, holding my poles and providing good motivation. It was then out along some country roads and heading to Mount Lofty, back on wide fire breaks, and through national parks and winding trails up to the Fourth peak. Mount Lofty was a good climb on trails that were not rocky and had a few hikers on them, you have a slow incline to get to the peak and runners are also running back down. Once at the top the views are amazing, great toilets, and wonderful volunteers. At this point you have done the hardest parts of the course and the most elevation and you can estimate that the next part of the course should be less than double the time it took you to get to Mount Lofty. It was a good feeling to get to Mount Lofty you know it is going to get slightly easier and a lot of downhill is coming, I was still worried that it was going to be technical but I was so happy to find it was lovely switch back trails with no rocks and very runnable, the only slightly frustrating part of this part of the run was the 26km runners joined the trail at this point and they were full of energy and on tighter trails it was a big hard to pass especially the slower runners on the uphills, but it soon spread out. Then it was lots of glorious downhill running on trails and then a long section on the freeway which had a wide bike lane perfect for running and was a nice change, we crossed the freeway to head back onto trails and pass another pit stop.

This section took us onto a tough climb up sheep paddocks but the climb was worth it the views amazing of the city and the coast and the bush, the run along the ridge was really fun and again the downhill was very runnable but slightly tougher with a few rocks and quiet steep, back onto trails and another pit stop. Then it was mountain bike trails along to the valley along lovely trails that followed a waterway. This is where I caught up with Lisa with 7km left she was powering along and it was so good to see her, we had a quick pic and we said our goodbyes. The next part had a nice flat run that turned off the bush onto the road and then up a winding climb which was the last climb of the day you then came into the last pit stop (which probably was not needed) then it was downhill runnable and the end was close, we had a disco tunnel to go through which I had to walk I could not see the ground enough to risk running it and I stood up a bit quick and bashed my head on the tunnel when I was coming out. But after that it was 2km to the finish through winding single trails that were super easy to run, then onto the oval for the finish chute!

Lisa was not far behind me and we were both pumped to discover we came first in our age group. I was so happy for Lisa that she got this result she trained really hard for this race and was in peak condition.

My training leading up to this event had been a bit different with a 12 day holiday 2 weeks out from the race but I did get plenty of hill training on holiday, and had some much-needed rest and recoup time. I was worried I had not got in as much strength training as I had wanted but on the day I felt great and the only niggles we both had and have never had before was cramping in VMO on both legs (fortunately not at the same time) and calf’s that were threatening the cramp, we both experienced a bit of nausea during the duration of the race. I put my cramping down to me running more of the downhills than I am used to and really pushing the pace, and possibly that I did not have the same amount of hydration fluids the day before a race as what I am used to (this was just bad planning on my part). The nausea was a new one for me I think I left my first nutrition top up slightly later than I would usually and then that was enough to set the tone for the day, I did manage to eat every 30/40 mins after this but did not enjoy as much as I would usually. Lisa’s nausea was definitely due to leaving nutrition top ups too long, so we will be trying 30 mins for her on her next race.

I went through 4.5 litres of water, 1.5 litres of Coke, 2.5 litres of Skratch Hydration, 1 vegimite sandwich, 1 piece of watermelon, 4 Cliff Blocks, 4 gels, 2 baby food pouches.

We hopped in the pool at the caravan park after the race (only up to our hips) for recovery, we both kept all toenails intact and no chaffing, no injuries and headed to the pub for a good feed after the race. It has only been 4 days since the race and we are both feeling nearly back to normal with only slight muscle soreness. So really happy with race prep, recovery and race day.

I really enjoyed this race it was a great course and very well organised.