My next adventure
In August I’m taking on a couple of epic adventures over consecutive weekends near Alice Springs, Australia. They are Run Larapinta and the Gravel Muster.
A local running buddy suggested Run Larapinta when entries opened in November and it was definitely a ‘hell yeah’ from me. I’ve never been to the outback and this seemed like an awesome way to experience it.
A few months later I was at Xterra Dunsborough (run by the same event organisers, Rapid Ascent), and was captivated by the photos of outback scenery from flyers of the Gravel Muster on display. I love riding my gravel bike and realised it was the following weekend. I figured, I’m there anyway, I could just change my flight back and do both!
Run Larapinta
Run Larapinta is a four-day trail running experience through the tectonic lines of the MacDonnell Ranges in the heart of Northern Territory outback, near Alice Springs.
There’s a short course the ‘Namatjira’ which translates to flying ant and long course, ‘Malbunka’ which refers to the concept of dreaming.
I’m doing the Namatjira:
Stage 1: 13.5km around Alice Springs from the Old Telegraph Station to the Mercure, - this is a twilight-to night run so you get to experience running through the desert at night.
Stage 2: 20km Standley Chasm > High Route loop, 997m climbing
Stage 3: 22km Birthday Waterhole to Standley Chasm, 740m climbing
Stage 4: 27km Counts Point turn-off, to Ellery Creek Waterhole, 760m climbing.
I like climbing so hopefully the course will suit me! The terrain is pretty technical in terms of rocks also. This link has an interactive map of each day showing the elevations for each course. You stay in Alice springs each night.
Gravel Muster
The Gravel Muster is also a four-day trail ride in the East MacDonnell Ranges. The route is:
Stage 1: 4km Prologue + 47km stage, including 1 racing segment of 17km
Stage 2: 48km total, including 2 racing segments with combined distance of 84km
Stage 3: 90km total, including 2 racing segments with combined distance of 47km
Stage 4: 95km total, including 1 racing segment of 43km
It’s much flatter than the Larapinta, and is point-to-point over days 2-4. Part of the appeal also is you get to stay at outback cattle stations and it’s limited to 100 riders so you get know people with plenty of time to hang out around the campfire in the evenings and check out the stars in the outback sky.
Training
For the Larapinta, you get a copy of the Hanny Allston 19-week training planner which is brilliant and includes some podcasts to listen to from her ‘Find Your Feet’ podcast during the plan which have been interesting to listen to, even as a seasoned runner. Being new to Australia I hadn’t really heard of her before but turns out she is pretty famous in the trail running space.
The plan started in April but before that I did plenty of general swim-bike-run and strength training over summer to get ready for Xterra Dunsbrough which was in late March. So the plan started a couple weeks after that which was great timing.
For company on the longer runs, I started a weekly Wednesday morning local run with some buddies from Fremantle tri club, and at the weekends I’ll often organise a ‘mission’ run around Perth to go somewhere different.
Tuesdays and Thursdays I typically do intervals and hills around Perth with Valentudo which ties in well with the plan, and they have created a specific run strength programme for me to complement the running. I do some pilates and core at home, and some stretching also.
Podcast inspo
In the mails from the organiser sent out during the buildup, there have been a couple more gems for inspiration during training.
Back in 2023, Andrew Davies and friend Ed Litton created a mini-series on their Podcast channel to follow their journey in the lead up to the Run Larapinta Stage Race; and post-race reflections. Well worth a listen for any runner and a reflection that really resonated was how much they enjoyed the shared experience aspect of the event, which they talk about in episode 9 as a reflection. I made a playlist:
The organisers also shared a useful and entertaining video on managing yourself over a multi-day event - basically, eat plenty! I did aslo get myself some new compression tights and I treated myself to some Normatec boots earlier in the year, so they will help too.
What I’m looking forward to
The landscapes, the camaraderie, the outback night sky, and sharing an adventure with a bunch of like-minded people - both runners and bikers.
Training has gone well and I’ve done some tough multi-day events in the past - see my blog - so I’m confident I can do it physically. Key will be about managing energy levels and recovery during the events.
Overall it’s great having an exciting challenge to train for over winter, really keeps the motivation levels up and has helped me meet new people locally and explore new routes.