The Jackals

A tough drive from the city to the Mountains faced us on Friday night but we managed to get there on time to register at the Carrington Hotel.

Bags checked and all ok. Then the woman asked to see one thing (a lighter) which was the only job Stu had. Spuz asked him before we went in "Stu, you got the lighter?" I sure have!! The woman asked to see it and guess what? Stu did not have it!! Ha. Everyone said what a JACKAL!! He managed to leave it in the pub!! Lol. Good carbs for the race!

Gary thinks we are staying in the Carrington Hotel but unfortunately for him we have booked into a real dodgy motel in Katoomba that is more suited to a bogan dirty weekend away hotel!!

4 pizza's and garlic bread for the team with David and his Mrs and then back to HOTEL DODGY!! Gary and Stu have already chosen their single beds and Spuz is taking the fold out. That leaves the dirty queen bed for Small'Ed and I. Small'ed decides to sleep in the kitchen!! Lol.

Alarms set for 5.30am and it was a rough night's sleep.

Wakey wakey. All jackals on the move, packing, organising and getting ready for this race. Breakfast is had in hotel cups as the room had no bowls!!

Red Jackal t-shirts are put on and we pile into Small'eds car for drive to Dunphy's Point for the start. We overtake past a Thai man who is doing about 40km in an 80 zone. Jackal!! We think he might get scared when he sees 4 guys wearing red t-shirts!!! We don't pull the windows down just in case. Ha.

Car parked at the start and jackals are out in force. Red shirts get some attraction. Gary runs for the nearest toilet which was expected after all the farting during the night!!

Not long to go until the start. Its a nice morning and alot milder than last years start which was freezing.

5,4,3,2,1...... we are off. Up the hill at the start and we are out in front setting the pace. 26km run faces us on the first leg back to Katoomba. We always have a laugh and this was no different. Topics of discussion range from farting to sports to other non important stuff. We are hitting it hard and setting a good pace. The mist starts to roll in on the mountains about half way through and it gets pretty cold. We get to the climb up towards Katoomba and it is tough on everyone except Stu who hammers it and loves it. Spuz is hurting at the back but drives on through it. We reach the checkpoint in 2nd place and did the leg in 3 hrs 50 min. 15 minutes to get some water anbd some food with the support crew (who we struggle to find) and we are off again. Jonny's lips are randomly blue from the cold!! Off we go....

Leg 2 is 22km and takes us towards Echo point and down the Giant stairs and out into the Valley. We have run this several times and know exactly how it is. We struggle at the start of it due to the cold and manage to warm up. We finish the leg in 3rd place and have an unlucky trip due to Garys knee doubling up!! He cannot run and manages to drive himself to the end. Great effort and big loss for the team.

Down to 3 men and we face a daunting 35km third leg from the Hospital down Andersons trail to the Creek and loop around up Ingar trail to finish at Wentworth Falls. Stu's only aim is to reach the creek before the sun goes down. The sun sets at 6pm and it is a 20km run to it. Jonny goes out in front for a bit to set the pace and then Stu hits it. He strides past and heads towards the creek non stop. He reaches it a 6pm and is shouting that "I made it". Jonny comes in 10 min behind and Spuz is another 5 min back running hard with no head torch and using the moon as light. Another team pass him and thinks he is mad!! They be right!! We are doing great and glad that we hit that part hard. It will save us in the end and out trainng has paid off big time. It has taken its price and Spuz has got a knee injury. Its a struggle back to the checkpoint but we all grind in, especially Spuz and we make it. A little break is is store for us. Support crew of Sari, Keefo, Small'ed and Cheryl are fantastic throughout and no different at this stage. They feed us and keep our spirits high. We fnished the leg in 5th place and still on track for a great finish. 

Time to leave the CP and complete the last leg. Its the most difficult leg of all and at night. We leave at 11pm and hope to see the guys at end at 3am. The leg starts from Wentworth Falls and makes it way along towards Katoomba, up and down a million steps, under caves and arches. It seems never ending. Spuz is hurting but strong. Stu has seized up after the rest at the last CP and Jonny has real bad chaffing and sore muscles. There is not much talking but still alot of support for each other to get us to the end. 3am, its dark, we have not much feeling left in the legs and we see the finish. Down and up more steps and we are on the home straight.

3.10am and we cross the line. 18 hours 10 minutes for the jackals to complete it and we finish an unranked 5th place. Fantastic!!

Will the jackals return??? wait and see................... 

Good Friday saw Spuz, Jonny and Stu tackle yet another mountain run. Starting at Hospital, we headed down Andersons trail and turned off towards McMahons point. Great view. Then started the track back to the turn off. We then made the choise to go and finish the Anderson trail to the creek (50km to here) and turned the loop and headed back up Ingar trail to the hospital. A 65km run which just about hurt us!! Money in the bank

End of March saw Jonny, Spuz and Stu take on 3o odd km's from circular quay to Manly via Cliften Gardens, Balmoral and through Spit coastal track. 3 hours later the team arrived with pretty sore knees and joints. Money in theb bank as Gary would say!!

One more run to come on 7 April in mountains of approx 40-50km running.

13 March saw Jonny and Spuz tackle the 35km loop from Queen Victoria Hospital around Andersan/Ingar trail in 3 hours 45 min.

11 March, Stu tackled some great uphill running in the same area.  

End of March 2010 - the team will again run the 33km loop and then head into the last section of the race at night to get some training completed with head torches etc.

30 Jan 2010 saw Jonny and Spuz take on one of the legs of of WE. Starting at Katoomba Reserve taking us through Jamison Valley over Leura and Jamison Creeks out to Kings Tableland. Memories of previous training runs at the same time last year came flooding back. From then on, hard uphill climbs faced us. Finishing back in Wentworth Falls centre. Approx 30km done in alot cooler weather.

• Get organised, communicate, have team meetings etc in the lead up.
• Have an awesome support crew. These people are as important as the racers and should never be taken for granted. Don't sell crewing as a nice weekend away as its not. Crews need to know they will get their share of the sleep deprivation as well. See below for the tips for crew.
• Train and work on improving for your weaker legs. You will see the biggest gains in your overall race.
• Lots of rest the week before.
• Eat and dink copious amounts leading up to the race
• When racing, eat before you get hungry, even if you find it hard, which you will. Some teams set an alarm every 20min just to remind them.
• Get to know your body eg when are you about to bonk, what food stays down.
• Do rogaines for navigation experience - cheap and a fun way to see new places.
• Look after your feet - Tape ankles if you are prone to rolling them. They are going to hurt until you toughen them up.
• Team dynamics play a huge role. If your team doesn't get along and work together your race is affected and the fun factor dies off.
• Keep an eye on your team mates, help them before they ask for help.
• No brand new gear on race day, have at least trained with all the kit you are using.
• Check and double check your gear well in advance.
• Basic layer principles for warmth - synthetic or wool next to skin layer through to a windproof outer with layers in between as required. Polypro is your friend as well.
• Regulate your body heat - In cold look after the hands, feet and head. Even a bandana makes a difference under a bike helmet.
• Race smart. Adventure racing is long, so don't get to carried away at the start. Hitting the wall in the early stages messes with your head. We've found out the hard way.

Tips for support crews

• Write lists, check lists, and more lists. Allocate who brings what gear.
• Meet with the whole team and work out the logistics for everything.
• As a crew member you are an important member of the team. The whole team should work together - support and competitors.
• Work out who is responsible for what within the support crew. Allocate yourselves competitors who you are responsible for. If possible know that person well. This is your person for the race. Unless asked, leave the rest of the team to themselves in transition
• Race food - each competitor is responsible for suppling race food. Go shopping with your competitor before the race so you know what they eat. Use your judgement on what they might have forgotten but if they don't have it on race day they probably don't want it.
• Get your competitor to write down mix ratios for Hi-5 or Gu sports mix - when its 5.30 am and you haven't had any sleep, it helps to have things written down. Laminate these instructions and keep them with the sports mix.
• Remember to eat, sleep and be merry. When it all gets going and your trying to pack cars, sometimes you forget to do things for yourself.
• Listen to others - some people have done this many times before, learn from their experience.
• Remember the better job you do the happier your team as a whole will be. Whether your there to help them win, place, finish or just survive the support crew is what makes it all happen.
• During the race, keep food and water/mix in a tub, and gear in another tub. Simple but effective, it helps the support crew pack a semi trailer worth of gear into the back of a car in a matter of minutes.
• It is better to be organised 3 hrs before your team turns up in transition, than 5 minutes after.
• Fast transitions are good transitions - don't burden you team with useless information, don't give them too many choices or ask to many questions. Ask them what they want and follow it through. Your job is to get them back out there in the quickest time that might mean telling them to hurry up.
• Give all members of the team space to do what is needed. If your not needed stand back and wait.
• Know where other teams are so the team knows if it has to push or if they can slow down.
• When you have a problem talk to other support crews, its amazing what skills you may find.
• Find someone else to drive home with at the end of the race. When everyone's tired and there's still a long drive home, keep an eye on each other so you can both go to the next race.
• Finally what happens at the race stays at the race- GOMO- Get Over it and Move On.

 Brenton Cherry Manly Daily

A QUEENSCLIFF-based group of fitness fantatics will be hunting down a top finish when they take on the grueling WildEndurance event in the Blue Mountains in May.

Nicknamed "The Jackals" the team consists of captain Jon McEvoy, Mark Spees, Stu Macadam and Gary Morrisroe.

Wild Endurance on May 1-2, is a 100km 48-hour team trek in the Blue Mountains World Heritage area. The challenge starts in Megalong Valley and takes competitors up on to the Narrowneck ridge, under the Katoomba Cliffs, around the Three Sisters, through Jamison valley before returning via Leura and Echo Point to finish at Katoomba Oval.

While an opportunity to test one's stamina and fitness, its also the chance to raise funds for the Wilderness Society's various campaigns. Captain Jon McEvoy said his team hoped to break their time of 22 hours achieved during last years event.

Our first team hit out after Christmas and team captain Jackal Johnny decides on a short 28km run from Circular Quay to Manly/Freshawater along the foreshore.  Awesome training run with stunning views and alot of places that we never knew about on the harbour, one that we will do many times leading up to May.  Unfortunatley some slight injuries we where carrying had Stu & Spuz calling it a day at Balmoral (Yes we caught a cab!) while Johnny proceeded to knock it on its head and finish the run. Time for some serious training now which will see the team running at least 3-5 days a week and a long run on most weekends.

The jackals will now be known worldwide due to a media release published by Wilderness Society about the team.

Another run completed - Jonny and Spuz completed run from Bundenna to Otford via Palm jungle in Royal National Park. One of the toughest tracks around with some amazing views. Well worth getting to the cafe at the end having run out of water along the way. Best smoothie at the cafe!!

We are taking part in the 2010 WildEndurance event and will be completing a 100km trek through the Blue Mountains to raise funds for the The Wilderness Society.

The Wilderness Society (TWS) is a national, community-based, environmental advocacy organisation whose purpose is to protect, promote and restore wilderness and natural processes across Australia for the survival and ongoing evolution of life on Earth.

Please DONATE by clicking on the button to the right and help The Wildnerness Society continue their work to protect the wildnerness for all of us and  future generations.