My Elephant Trail Race Couch to 100k Ultra, 9-month journey about 18mths ago. I heard that my nephew was participating in a ultra in the Blue Mountains near Sydney. I was intrigued, so I dot watched and tried to follow online. But unfortunately, he had to pull out, once he returned home, he told me that he had another one coming up. The Elephant trail, further distance, he also mentioned that some contestants had support crew, and he thought I would help, well that was me done. I told him I would be there no matter what, but I was glad it was him running and not me. As time went on, having zero knowledge of this sport, I studied the course notes and listened to everything he told me, (but really having no idea). I planned and gathered everything together and eventually headed down to Port Macquarie to head out to race hub and set up what I thought was a fairly successful race hub tent, amongst all the other teams. The atmosphere was great, Ken the Elephant being the centre of attention. So, there I sat for 3 days watching this event take place, contestants doing lap after lap. To think I looked at this mountain for 30yrs and only now it is starting to mean something to me, ‘how can such a place as Cairncross State Forest, just out of Port Macquarie have such an event with so much elevation’. I witnessed Dillon Rinn become the only person to finish the 217km Ultra. Watching him come in to transition each lap at all hours, just blew my mind that people do this sort of thing and keep going. Like I ran about 10yrs ago, a couple of marathons, half marathons, and the odd shorter distance, but now, I could not have run out a sight on a dark night. I watch as all these runners came and started their races of all di􀆯erent distances, kids to adults. One that really stood out was the 100km staged event and seeing Natasha Goddard achieve her goal. Everyone was there to achieve their goal and support everyone else and cheer them on, what a fantastic community spirit. Yeah, there were some that could not (I have since learnt how challenging this course is) and going into it without knowing the course and what you are in for, would be challenging on the mind. Well, I went home after the weekend thinking, there are not no way I’m ever going to be able to do that. I will just come back next year and support crew again if that is what my nephew wants. About 2 and a half months later it was our 26th wedding anniversary (end of September) and I struggled to comfortably fit into any of my clothes to go out for dinner and I thought, I should do something about this, so when I got home from our weekend away, the following weekend. I decided to dust o􀆯 my old mountain bike, pump up the tyres and go for a ride on some old trails I used to ride. So, I put my bike in the ute and drove for about 30 mins, got my bike out and started riding/walking up this fire trail to the start of the first track. I was so out of condition it was not funny. Once I got myself together after reaching the top, I started on this single trail down. About 150 metres in, I got a puncture, luckily the sealant took up and I was able to slowly ride the bike back to the ute, which took about 20 mins I suppose. I sat on the tailgate and thought to myself, ‘I didn’t get ready and drive all the way out here, to walk all the way up that hill to get a puncture and roll back, to then jump in the ute and drive home,’ so I decided to go for a walk. While I walked a couple of fire trails, I came across some bike tracks and decided to walk them. There was no one there, so I started to jog in my old five ten downhill impacts, certainly not the shoes to have on for this sort of thing. About half hour and probably 2ks later, I got back to the ute and went home. I think I have ridden my bike twice since. For the next couple of weeks, I would jump on the treadmill and walk/ jog for 2-3 kms and one day I decided to go down to the local bikeway along the creek. I think from there on I was back into running. I had a lot of aches and pains, thinking I was going to drop dead of a heart attack. I would plan to run after work, just so I would leave my desk. I built up my distance, (to quickly) to around the 20ks. Around the end of November, I went down to Port Macquarie and completed my first lap of the elephant trail with Death Valley with my nephew, glad he was with me, as I had no idea where I was going, I survived. That was the hardest run I had ever done, but it felt good, the kgs were dropping o􀆯 by now and now I could picture what my nephew was going to be running next year while I was support crew back at race hub. Only problem is, I never stopped my aches and pains were coming and going. Early Bird Entries were closing the end of January and by this time I wanted to sign up for at least something. I knew I could do one lap, as I already had, but I did not think I could do two, especially not quick. Thinking, ‘am I support crew, should I be a pacer? No my nephews too fast for me, I think I want to do the 50, besides he can’t decide what distance he’s doing, not knowing to much about pacers, I didn’t want to be a pacer just in case he never made it to the last 2 laps.’ I had to make a decision, and my head was going crazy, as I needed the commitment locked in, so I knew what I was training for. So, after a couple of beers, it hit me, I will sign up for the 100, that way I cannot pace, (because no one wants a slow pacer). I can have my own race tent, and if I get two laps done then that is good, three laps never ran 75ks before, so I would be happy with that, and if I start the 4th lap by 5:30am on Sunday, who knows? I have 31.5 hrs, so I broke it down, two laps clockwise, two laps anticlockwise regular food and hydration and do not stay at race hub between laps a second longer than I had to. For the next 5 months I spent every night going over the race notes and my plan, preparing for the unknown, trying to go through every lap, part of the course, race hub transition, what I needed for each lap, clothing change, weather conditions and the impact that would have, what shoes to wear for each lap, what socks go best with each pair of shoes, do i have enough food? Millions of things running through my head. It’s funny, once I used to throw on a pair of shorts, a shirt and some runners, and go for a jog, but now it’s a watch to track everything, a hydration vest, (or two, depending on the distance and elevation) nutrition and energy bars, gels, salts, poles and more than another pair of shoes, shirts, socks headlamps the list goes on. Now the weekday runs are just to clear my head from work and work was planning my all day run for the weekend. I had to go to the local hardware store to buy a box to put all my gear in, which soon needed replacing with a bigger box, sometimes even packing the camper trailer, and heading to a National Park for a week, just to run. Eventually I convinced my wife that I really think I am going to need support, at this stage I had not heard from my nephew, and I was doing this 100ks all alone, 500ks from home, possibly not able to drive afterwards. Once she said yes, I thought, our friend likes to run, I will invite her, get her hooked! I’ll sign them up as Volunteers, (can’t have them sitting around race hub doing nothing, or going to the beach all day) and volunteer they did, all dressed up, they had a ball, they saw the ETR for what it really is, a family, a community, with something for everyone. I had no idea if i was going to make it the full 108ks, but I was going to have fun trying. I finished with about 4 hrs to spare, what a journey from where I was, less than a year ago. Thanks, ETR, Standard entry is open, and I am signed up, Bring it on! Sean Templeman