If Aus Mtn Running Champs Were One Week Later...

Fresh Autumn snow blanketed kunanyi / Mount Wellington a couple of Sunday's ago.  It was exactly a week after our mountain hosted the Australian Trail Running Championships.  What if the snow and the championships coincided?  

Panorama Track

Settled snow would have been encountered at the event's halfway mark on the steep Old Hobartians track.  Front runners would have encountered fresh powdery drifts approaching knee deep in the lee of bushes for the final stretch along the Zig Zag Track.  Winds approaching 100kph would have greeted runners at the finish with apparent temperatures below -20°C.

Loo with a View!

I'm sure was not the only one having those thoughts as I reveled in the conditions and enjoyed the irony of the timing.  I passed several other trail runners and hikers en route but, with the road closed and some good timing, I had the summit area to myself.

Leaving first prints in fresh powder - My Salomon SpeedCross 4s

A particularly nasty snow shower had greeted one of my trail running mates for his arrival at the summit a little earlier as I was battling my way up the road between The Chalet and Panorama Track in relative shelter.  Timing was on my side as blue sky and sunshine accompanied the icy winds for my brief summit visit.  Running down the road from the summit invoked a strange, euphoric feeling as the freezing conditions on my exposed skin contrasted dramatically with my core which still felt toasty from the uphill slog.

Summit selfie

The euphoria lasted for half the descent before sudden demotivation shocked me at the junction of Old Hobartians and the North-South Track.  My phone battery went flat - no Strava!!!

My Strava track with tell-tale straight line indicating battery failure half-way home.

The trudge over what Kylie and I call Priests Hill behind our house became unusually arduous.  The steep descent on the other side lifted my spirits briefly before hitting the more gradual drops on our backyard trails.  These became a snails-paced grind as I got annoyed at my Strava-induced withdrawal symptoms.

Actual stats were more like 21km in 3:23 for a respectable 9:40/km with 1300m ascent

My final kilometre struck a happier chord as I went low-tech, looked at my trusty Big W watch and started running some numbers through my head the old-fashioned way.  Despite feeling much of my descent was a drag, the overall average speed for my outing was a respectable 9:40/km - not terrible considering the  harsh conditions and overall ascent.  I arrived home a very happy trail runner!