M2M = Marysville to
Melbourne = 19km run, 50km ride, 41km ride, 14km run, 16km paddle and 15km
paddle. Team Fully SLYK = 3 blokes over 40 years of age.
Cyclists get a bad rap. Start listing the reasons why and
you may never stop. Beach Rd monster packs taking up two lanes; training
sessions that involve sitting and rolling; parking at coffee shops taking in
double the amount of calories that the ride will drop; and of course, lycra.
On the other side of cycling is the kind of stuff that Cadel
does. Now
Marysville aint quite the Pyrenees but I still saw some pretty
unbelievable stuff on the weekend. Massive amounts of cyclists were hurting hard
as they climbed some ugly gradient around Kinglake. I was getting driven from
the end of my 19km trail run leg to the start of my 14km run leg when we went
past a lot of these riders. We pulled up next to Austin, a young fella from
my school as he was pushing uphill.
Kid couldn’t speak, he was working that
hard, but he also couldn’t stop smiling. We then found my team mate Andy a few
kms further along and going up a nasty piece of ascent. This was no roll along
Beach rd with a view to a latte, it was brutal. With every up there must be
down but going down those hills is not exactly a walk in the park either. Come
off at speed and it’s all shades of serious hospital time. Full respect to all
riders in the M2M.
My own day kicked off at 6.30am in the main street of Marysville.
I stood next to Sam and Matt, two more young blokes from school, and Sam’s dad Mark
who was filling in for a late injury to a member of one of the 8 teams our
school had entered. It was great to be part of it. Great to see the nerves and
excitement of the boys who were going to run further than they ever had before,
and they were going to do it on trail in hills. Super effort to even sign up
for it.
Sam and Matt took off like it was a 5km school cross country
event. If I wanted to, I couldn’t have kept up. Sam settled after a few kms and
I spotted him a short way ahead. The next time I would see Matt however was at
transition. He smashed it. Unbelievable running, and a bright future in the
sport if he chooses to revisit the hills at any stage. It took a while but I was
able to catch Sam and we ran together for several kms. This young gun gave me a
lesson in the beep test last year when he was in year 7 and like Matt has got
outstanding ability and good times ahead as a runner.
We were moving along nicely battling a few ups but pulling it back
together on the flats. You would think the more experienced one would know when
to keep his mouth shut but NO. I was the one to count chickens and say to Sam,
“I reckon that’s the last of the steep stuff for a while.” Two minutes later we
were slapped in the face by an ugly, ugly ascent. Ouch.
After ten km Sam was feeling the pinch and said for me to go on.
Now this is a young kid we are talking about, let’s not lose sight of that fact.
He took a few moments at the top of another sharp hill, he was then actually physically ill, went as pale as a sheet and then
just started up again and continued on for another 9km. I didn’t quite hear what he said to Austin on the
bike in transition but I reckon there may have been an expletive thrown in
there when describing what he’d just been through. It was one of the most courageous
runs I’ve ever seen. Meanwhile back in Melbourne it’s just past 8am Sunday and
‘normal’ kids are still in bed.
After finishing my run I handed over to Andy and he did the tough
stuff as mentioned above. I then started the logistical marathon to get to
the next run leg before Andy did. Mark weaved past cyclists as he drove me and
Pete (photographer on the day) back to the accommodation at Kinglake. Scoffed
down a couple of jam sandwiches, a banana and a Gatorade, changed socks and
trail runners for road runners then jumped in Pete’s car to get going.
Meanwhile Mark was loading up his boat on some roof racks on another car to get
to T4 to take the timing tag from me after my second run. They don’t actually
call them boats though, it’s more like ski or craft or somethin’, I was
learning a bit as part of this team. So Mark was doing all of this after
running 19km in the hills for another team. Andy and I had given him strict
instructions to cruise the 19 so he was ready for our team’s 31km paddle.
My second run leg was a bit of a worry. I wanted to have a crack
at it but I had seized pretty severely after sitting in the car and was struggling to walk without
pain. I tried to get into a shuffle from the car to the transition area then
started stretching thinking I had a bit of time to loosen up. But just five
minutes after being in position, in flew rider 178. Andy had ridden the gears
off the thing and put us in a great position. Marysville to Melbourne has a
stack of different categories. We were classed as a 3 Person Veteran Team and
as such were a chance to podium in that small, select field.
On leaving the checkpoint I was shocked that my legs just kicked
into gear and I felt pretty good. It was a strange leg to run. I was passing
quite a few individual entries who were slowing after already completing over
110km. Then others, doing just the single leg in six man teams, were going past
me like I was standing still. I just tried to hit a rhythm somewhere between
4.10 and 4.30 kms. Everything was going great but as soon as I started believing
the hype in my head I began sensing the possibility of cramp. I slowed a
little and was able to hold it together. When I thought I still had a km to go
I popped up over a little hill to see the transition right there. I was over
the moon.
Sam had made a great recovery from his run and was next to me
straight away, helping to get the timing band off my ankle and on to his dad.
He then helped Mark carry the craft into the water and pushed him away on to his
31 km journey to Docklands. I was happy to be finished my part and was keen on
some dry clothes, coffee and food.
It was a bit strange with the race still going on but, really at
this point, I had nothing more to do with it. Mark was pushing into pain and I was cruising around town trying to fill some time. I ended up going over to a
mates place, drinking more coffee and then finally made my way to the finish line. Mark
had just arrived and had crossed the line, hand in hand, arms raised, with his other son
Jack who had also paddled both Yarra legs for one of the other school teams. Our team, Fully Slyk, had crossed the line in second place for our category, Jack’s team
finished first in the juniors and Sam’s team second. Not a bad day for the
family.
Marysville to Melbourne is a ripping event, I loved it. Best part
though was seeing parents, kids and teachers all come together and share a day
of pain and exultation. Pretty amazing culture at the joint these days.
