An Igorot Journey: The Camp Mountain challenge

Wednesday 28 August 2013

The Camp Mountain challenge

Sometimes the Bunyaville trail runners from across the hills would invade Camp Mountain.

They are powerful runners and would flash past in a blur when every time they come for a run in this neck of the woods. Sometimes in their nighttime raids they carry torches with them. There really is nowhere to hide when these invaders are about. I managed to shoot a couple of secret photographs of them.

Some other park users visit Camp Mountain too. They always have smiles on their happy faces. Must be the air up there, or the hidden wonders.

Amongst the secret wonders of Camp Mountain are the magnificent views over Samford Valley, Samford Conservation Park and beyond to Bunya and Bunyaville Conservation Park, Glasshouse Mountains, Moreton Bay and of Brisbane City.

Then there’s the picnic grounds right on the mountaintop. Sheltered picnic tables and barbeques and views amidst the tall gum trees, what more could people ask for? Oh yes of course there’s a toilet amenity as well.

The best thing about Camp Mountain though is its challenging trails that wind up and down and head in all directions: north to Samford valley, east to Ferny hills/Upper Kedron, south to Bellbird Grove and west to Mt Nebo Road from The Gap or Mt Nebo.

The Australian Mountain running championships and Queensland Mountain running championships have been held here in recent years. Part of that mountain running championship course is a 5.075km (5,075m +/-25m) loop which includes a 210m climb.

This loop is now unofficially the Camp Mountain time trialling course. It will be declared official soon as I become PM. For a time trial to qualify, a runner has to complete the full marathon+ which comprises eight laps plus an extra climb up Camp Mountain and back down. The half-marathon+ includes four laps plus an extra climb.

Runners may run, jog, walk, crawl, climb or roll or do any combination. One Sunday morning I set out to do exactly this – a continuous marathon+ time trial.

In the previous month the Bunyaville trail runners had scheduled and then cancelled this same time trial. On Sunday 25th August 2013, I turned up anyway and used it for my yearly long run. The lower junction at the corner of Mclean Road South and Sutton Court was my start/finish line. At day’s end I had set an easy time trial target.

The results are tabulated below:

Lap	Distance	Cumulative Distance	Split time	Cumulative time	1.3km climb
1	5.075	5.075	0:35:00	0:35:00	0:12:00	Jog
2	5.075	10.15	0:35:00	1:10:00	0:12:30	Jog
3	5.075	15.25	0:36:30	1:46:30	0:12:00	Jog
4	5.075	20.3	0:35:00	2:21:30	0:13:30	Slow jog
5	5.075	25.375	0:43:30	3:05:00	0:18:30	Crawl
6	5.075	30.45	0:50:00	3:55:00	0:18:00	Crawl
7	5.075	35.525	0:45:00	4:40:00	0:18:00	Crawl
8	5.075	40.6	0:48:00	5:28:00	0:20:00	Slow crawl
	2.5	43.1	0:32:00	6:00:00
Splits
Half-marathon		21.1		2:35:00
After 5th climb		21.5		2:40:00
After 9th climb		41.8		5:47:00	0:19:00	Slow crawl
Marathon		42.2		5:50:00
Marathon+		43.1		6:00:00

View the course in garmin: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/365442905

Nine climbs is just under 2,000m.

Every 5km there is a 200m rise over a distance of 1200m, a gradient of about 16.7%

It was my slowest marathon ever (I only ever ran one other marathon). I also set personal slowest times for 5km, 10km, half-marathon, and any distance from 100m to marathon. Other runners are welcome to post their results as a comment. Just put a link to your tcx or similar. Remember, the time trial should cover the full marathon+ distance (about 43.1km) in one continuous running activity – no pauses or stops on the watch, even for drinks, food or call of nature.

During my personal time trial, I stopped at the end of every lap for a drink. I also stopped for brekky, smoko, brunch and lunch (I would have stopped for dinner but the Camp Mountain cafe was closed for Sunday). And then I ‘dropped’ by the mountaintop throne room. As in a race situation, the watch was running throughout.

At the end of the run, the time traillist could barely lift a finger.

It was a marathon effort after all, albeit a very slow one. I invite fit though not very fast runners - certainly not the elites, to take the challenge and post your results as a comment. Each time a new best time is recorded I will update this blog to show the best times and names. Runs are self-verified although that goes without saying. This is not quite a fatass event but it could be. It definitely is a fit-ass event. So it also goes that anyone undertaking the camp mountain time trial must be physically and medically (and mentally) fit on the day and that, in any event, will do the activity and kick ass at their own risk.

Good job shoes.

The pedestrian's stash of Power-walking Enhancing Drinks PEDs..

All up he consumed a small matter of 5 litres of fluids. This guy's got a drinking problem.

My performance-enhancing drugs or rather drinks of choice include flavors of malcus domestica and citrus sinensis. One bottle contains a concoction of citrus paradisi, musa sapientum, psidium guajava, punica granatum, rubus idaeus and vaccinium macrocarpon. There’s also a dash of caffeine in the drink called primus. My breakfast was a bar of corylus avellana. I had merienda for smoko and my lunch contained tanghalian. All these drinks and food contain lots of asukal or sucrose.