Marysville to Melbourne

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.