Running alone often challenges us, let alone
ultra running. And the Big Red Run, a 250km
six-day stage race, is as challenging and
rewarding as it comes. We take a look at
some of the heartwarming stories behind the
runners and the amazing women who seemed
to conquer and defeat it all!
Words and images by Chris Ord
16
September/October 2013 www.womensrunning.com.au
Carmen
,
still sm
il
ing, at
the beg
inning
of Day
4
eath is a powerful force. But
like a forsaken seed buried
under hot desert sands, it can
unexpectedly bloom into new
and colourful life, and from the barren
emptiness of loss can spring a flower
of hope.
It was a matter of death that spurred
34-year-old Carmen Boulton to run.
However, for this Yorkshirewoman,
now resident of Longreach in outback
Queensland, it wasn’t just any old run
around the block that she trotted off on.
Rather it was a 250km run through the
central Australian desert!
The passing of your father will do that.
It’ll make you reach deep into yourself to
go and do something that would normally
scare you rigid. But should honoring your
father involve inflicting more pain on
yourself ? Would he want his daughter to
suffer more? Perhaps not, but for Carmen
there was deliberate logic in why she chose
to undertake a six day multi-marathon
mission, despite the fact that she was barely
a five kilometer fun runner.
“I entered the Big Red Run in memory of
my Dad who passed away in 2011,” says
Carmen. “He was fit and appeared healthy
but he had Type 2 diabetes and ended up
with a blood clot that killed him instantly,”
she adds. “Even though the run raises
D
“The toughest was
having to put the
trainers on again
each day from day
three onwards – I
had blisters on top
of blisters”
money and awareness for Type 1 diabetes,
I just thought running it seemed like a
fantastic opportunity to help find a cure,
and would be a fitting tribute to my dad.”
Big Red Run is the passion-child of
Sydney-sider, Greg Donovan whose son is
a Type 1 diabetic. With an inkling of cause
related running, Greg collected a team of
five runners, dubbed Team Born To Run,
and they ventured through the 4Deserts
series, a four-day desert run across the
Gobi, Atacama, Sahara and Antarctic
deserts to raise awareness for Type 1
diabetes. Not satisfied, and scanning the
local horizon for something to raise the
profile of the cause in Australia, Greg eyed
the Simpson Desert and the Big Red Run
was born.
www.womensrunning.com.au September/October 2013
17
r
ying he
, displa
w
e
m
lo
ho
cy Bart g
ster, Lu
Young r ultra runnin
fo
talent
New Ze
!”
OVED it
lutely L
ker
Jess Ba
“I abso
d from
es
her sho
ke
ess Ba
inner J
w
Overall
e san
ting th
r empy
While Greg’s Born to Run team lined
up for the event with serious adventure
running experience under their hydration
belts, the majority of the field, including
Carmen, were recreational runners at best;
few had serious sand-under-the-toenails
exposure to desert running.
“I had no idea what I was getting my self
in for,” says Carmen, who was anxious
about more than just putting one foot in
front of the other - the adventure side of
the Big Red Run equation had her worried,
too. “I was very nervous about camping,
I hate it. I like a bit of luxury. So it was
going to really test me. The food was also
worrying me because I’m very picky and
was not looking forward to the freeze dried
food.” Competitors were limited to taking a
bag of 14kg, which had to include all their
food rations.
Having zero experience in preparing
for big challenge runs like the Big Red
Run, Carmen had less than a year to get
conditioned. “When I started training I
18
“It was a tale
of two sexes at
opposite ends of the
threshold meter”
September/October 2013 www.womensrunning.com.au
could hardly run 2km with out stopping,”
says Carmen. “I started by gradually
increasing the kilometres and used a half
marathon training App, which I completed
in June, just one month before Big Red.”
Keep in mind that those undertaking
the full Big Red course endured three
marathons in three days, followed by
a ‘shorter’ day of 30km, and then a
penultimate stage of 85km (or two
marathons in one day). The only stage that
was to be less than a half marathon was the
final day’s run into Birdsville.
“I did a couple of mini triathlons in my
local town, but other than that I really
didn’t do too much. I think towards the last
few weeks I was running about 40-50km
a week, which I had never done in my life
before,” says Carmen.
Compared to Carmen, at the other end of
the desert running experience spectrum, is
Jess Baker (31 years). Jess is one of Team
Born to Run members and, like Carmen,
she is personally affected by Type 1
diabetes - her partner, Roger Hanney, also
an ultra runner, is a Type 1 diabetic.
Jess is also one of Australia’s more
mew (17
artholo
Lucy B
ail star, overall
tr
g
in
ird
-com
Up-and ay to finish th
w
on her
years),
accomplished runners. She holds the record
for running the 250km Great North Walk
from Newcastle to Sydney with Meredith
Quinlan (54 hours 52 minutes) and won a
silver medal in the World 24 hour Rogaining
Championships in Czech Republic
(alongside another of Australia’s top female
ultra runners, Gill Fowler).
For Jess, the Big Red Run was
comparatively easier than 4deserts. “I found
it less arduous because we didn’t have
to carry as much gear on our backs and
because of the cooler temperatures,” says
Jess. “Sahara reached temperatures of
46 degrees Celsius, compared to the
Simpson where it reached maybe 28
degrees,” she adds.
Even so, Jess remained surprised at how
she coped with the relentless running
and the toll a rough desert underfoot can
take. “If you had asked me if i could run
a half marathon (on Stage Four) at 5.20/
km pace after having run three consecutive
marathons days before – I’d have said no
way! If you had asked me if I could run
84km (on Stage Five) in 8.5 hours after
having run 166kms that week – no way!
I was amazed at how well my body held
up physically and mentally, I absolutely
ati
isa Tam
nner, L
ltra ru
aland u
LOVED it – I can’t remember a particularly
tough patch. And I never really tested my
mental resolve because I had fellow runner,
Lucy Bartholomew, for company all day!”
That day proved to be a watershed
moment for Jess, who overtook the race
leader, Matt Abel, running far enough
ahead in cumulative time to secure her the
inaugural Big Red Run win.
“Beating a buffed-up, internationally
sponsored Matty Abel was nowhere in
my wildest dreams,” says Jess of her
aspirations. “It felt so awesome running
into the checkpoints with Lucy, and seeing
everyone’s surprised expressions and
exclamations of ‘Omigosh, it’s the girls!’
Everyone was so excited for me. It was
lovely. It’s lots of fun being the underdog!”
While Jess ran into the final camp
alongside up-and-coming trail star, 17
year-old Lucy Bartholomew (who went on
to secure third overall), the pair smiling and
barely raising a sweat after two marathons
in a day, behind them it was a different
scenario for the blokes.
Race favourite, Matt Abel breached the
final desert sand dune limping, troubled
by ITB issues. Having gone out fast in the
earlier stages, his early marathon speed
was now coming back to haunt him. “I’ve
never cried before like I did on that leg,” he
muttered.
Struggling alongside Matt was Jess
Baker’s partner, Roger Hanney. A veteran
of many desert runs and more ultras than
he has fingers and toes, Roger struggled to
finish on that day, and admits the pan fry
hot day nearly beat him.
It was a tale of two sexes at opposite ends
ker and
Jess Ba anney.
H
r
e
g
Ro
r,
partne
th
One of
ants
articip
male p
y’ fe
e ‘man
19
Top tips for
multi-day
ultra running
Big Red Run Winner Jess
Baker gives her insights
into ultra running.
1. Know that you TOTALLY can do
it. The cut-off times are generous.
If you are willing to just put one
foot in the front of the other, that
medal will be around your neck at
the end of the week. Remember:
“If your dreams do not scare you,
they are not big enough” – Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female
president.
2. Accept pain as part of the
adventure. Know that the more
pain you experience, the bigger
those tears at the finish line and the
greater that feeling of exultation
and achievement.
3. Saying that, the more you train
the less likely it will hurt. Multi-days
are all about backing up, so back up
your training sessions. Maybe do an
evening run, and then a morning run
the next day. Or do a morning run
and an evening run on the same day.
4. If the goal feels too huge, break it
down. You are just getting through
that day, to that checkpoint, to the
tree in the distance.
5. Look after your body. Eat well
(protein and fruit and vegetable
goodness). Rest well. Pay attention
to recovery – practice yoga, get a
massage, stretch, whatever works
for you.
6. And finally, as my favourite saying
goes: “Don’t stop when you are
tired, stop when you are done!”
20
September/October 2013 www.womensrunning.com.au
of the threshold meter: the women breezing
through (as much as you can when running
multiday and ultra distances) and the men
grunting through, displaying the runner’s
equivalent of Man Flu. Interestingly, there
were more women competitors in the field
than men. It was a topic of conversation
between Lucy and Jess as they trotted over
the line.
“I absolutely love that women stand their
own in ultra-running,” says Jess. “The
longer the distance, the more equal the
balance of men and women at the front.
For example, the winning marathon time
for a male is a lot faster than the winning
female marathon time. As the distance
increases however, the gap closes, until
women taking (overall) podium places in
ultras is a real and exciting possibility.”
“I have heard a few theories as to why
this might be. One is the evolutionary
notion that women are better able to
tolerate pain as an adaptation for childbirth.
Another is that men are so pumped up with
testosterone (and ego?) that they are less
able to pace themselves as well as women
– they set off too gung-ho at the start and
then blow up,” explains Jess.
“It would be interesting to compare the
DNF (did not finish) rates of men and
women in ultras – I think you may find (but
I’m happy to be wrong) that relatively more
men DNF than women.”
However, that mental toughness is
not only apparent in well-trained and
experienced female runners like Jess and
Lucy. Back in the pack, Carmen and many
“I would never
have quit, I am too
stubborn for that”
other women like her stoutly continued to
put one foot in front of the other, passing
over a brutal and other-worldly beautiful
desert; battling fatigue, blisters, torn
tendons, bruised feet, heat, sand, wind and
dehydration, in order to finish the 250km
run. For many, it was their first marathon,
let alone first multiday ultra. For all, it
proved that mental resilience, more so than
any physical capability, is what saw them
over the line outside Birdsville Pub six days
after having left it.
“I would never have quit, I am too
stubborn for that,” says Carmen of her
journey. “But it really did get very tough
especially on those gibber plains on the
85km day. I remember letting out a few
screams, my feet were so sore, from
swelling and blisters, and I just kept on
kicking those rocks. I would have to say
the whole experience was very challenging
in general, but definitely the toughest was
having to put the trainers on again each day
from day three onwards – I had blisters on
top of blisters,” she adds.
“I really hated the toilet situation, too. I
will not forget on the long day my body
was so tired and my muscles so tight, that
squatting was impossible!”
But the highs of achieving what she set
out to do – run 250km across the desert in
memory of her Dad – has erased all notions
of pain, says Carmen, and the memories
are ones she cherishes. “Crossing the finish
line hand in hand with (running buddy)
Tanya and getting showered in champagne
was amazing.
“Tanya was the one who helped me
through the full journey. When I was
starting to hit a wall, she would remind
me to eat. When I was hurting, she would
give me a painkiller. We laughed a lot, and
I had a few tears, but the thought of my
dad sitting on my shoulders the entire way
kept me going. My bag felt so heavy that I
figured Dad must have climbed in! The two
of them gave me the energy to finish.”
“Crossing the sand dunes looking out
across the desert views was amazing and
seeing lights on the fifth day knowing the
85km was coming to an end rates highly,
too. The full experience will be one that will
stay with me forever.”
Like many who take on ultra run
challenges, Carmen believes her take-away
from the experience was bigger than the
great desert itself. “Big Red really made
me think about what’s important in life,
especially after losing my dad at the age of
60. Life is so precious. You need to get out
there and experience everything.
“The material things aren’t so important,
we can all live with out them. We did
without a lot of things throughout the run
and it didn’t matter. What mattered was
the people we were with, like Tanya and
the rest of the runners, event crew and
volunteers, and, of course, those no longer
with us in person.”
The experience has also converted her
to the faithful. “I love running – I can’t
believe I can say that after Big Red. I have
never in my life hurt that much, but what a
challenge. “I’ve already booked into another
ultra. I can’t wait for the next experience.”
And while she packs her bags, no doubt
she’ll be asking her Dad to come along for
the run again.
The Big Red Run is on again in July 2014.
Check in to www.bigredrun.com.au
21