I spent a few days staying with a friend in Brisbane who has the envious position of living in a suburb that is surrounded on three sides by forest. Toohey Forest Conservation Park is comprised of eastern and western sections separated by a major road. Continuing through the eastern section of the park it is possible to cross under a highway to reach the Mount Gravatt campus of Griffith University, and then to climb to the top of the peak for views out over the city of Brisbane.
During my time in Brisbane I managed a number of runs in the area, covering many of the trails on offer, which vary from bitumen paths to gravel trails to beautiful single track. The trails wander around a couple of ridges, descend into gullies, and climb to the outlook at Mount Gravatt.
Through Toohey Forest and around Mt Gravatt
My stay in Brisbane certainly reinforced an idea that I would love to live somewhere with easy access to trails right from the door of my house.
In January I will run the 64 km Bogong to Hotham, which shares significant parts of the route followed by Australia’s toughest 100-mile race, the Alpine Challenge. I decided that the race weekend for the Alpine Challenge would provide me a great opportunity to head up to the area, hopefully perform a bit of a recce for Bogong to Hotham, and give back to the trail running community. I would join fellow sweeper Clare for a 60 km loop including Mt Hotham and Mt Feathertop. The section is known as Mortein Alley (after a brand of insecticide), since it generally constitutes a considerable portion of the drop-out rate within the race (i.e. people drop like flies).
I headed down to the starting line to watch the runners set out at 4:30 AM, but then was able to return to sleep as my leg of the race would only commence after the sun had risen and then set once again. In the afternoon I headed over to Pole 333, one of the old telegraph poles in the area where our loop would start and finish. I set out for a solo run to see a bit of the Bogong to Hotham course, heading back towards the oncoming runners. I encountered some confused runners as I went but made sure to comfort them that they were headed in the right direction, and it was in fact me that was heading the wrong way. I chatted with a few runners, some tourists out for a hike, and one of the aid station volunteers further along the course. The last section of my run as I returned was particularly challenging, as the dipping sun shone brightly in my eyes to cause sun spots while the trail was already in shade. When I returned to the aid station I put on some warm clothing to wait.
Alpine Challenge – Pole 333 Aid Station (photo courtesy of Clare Weatherly)
Just after 11 PM we set out for our loop, 2.5 hours after the last runner had departed. I was carrying VHF and UHF radios, while Clare carried first-aid, spare food and warm gear. We set out rugged up as the temperature and wind had been cold while waiting at the very exposed aid station, but by the time we reached the river below we started to shed layers before commencing the climb to Mt Hotham. We arrived at the aid station, located in a hut on the mountain, where we were updated on the status of the runners ahead of us, and were given a SPOT tracking device that would allow us to be followed by race headquarters. As we followed the road away from the aid station, Clare pointed out that we would be taking a turnoff following huts on both sides of the road, and marked by a large sign. There was “no way” we could miss the turnoff, but shortly after we turned around and tracked back almost a kilometre to the turnoff we had missed.
Without Being Chased 