On The Run: February Adventures

It’s been a while since I did a general life update post. This one will fill in some gaps of things I have been up to in the last month since the Western Arthurs mission. I have been embracing the ‘yes man’ mentality and agreeing to do more things than I probably should. It has resulted in some less than conventional training but it’s been a fun adventurous month and there’s a many more exciting things to come. In this post I will discuss my selection into the SingleTrack trail team, a trip to Wilsons Prom, a foray into the property market, sweeping the Takayna trail event and my preparations for Gone Nuts 101km.

🤼Single Track Trail Team

The first most exciting piece of news is that I was selected for the SingleTrack Trail Team for 2026.

What does this mean?

Well it’s not an elite running team but more a team of frothers that helps spread the good word of SingleTrack events. There are 16 members this year, 12 new and 4 returning from last year. We are essentially ambassadors for SingleTrack events.

As part of the team I have to attend at least three events through the year, wear the uniform and make a few social media posts. Pretty good terms considering these are mostly things I would already do anyway. In return I get free entry to the events and various other perks, not to mention getting to meet epic people and be a part of a cool community.

I almost didn’t bother applying but at the eleventh hour I threw in an application. I’m so glad I did, now I have a very exciting year ahead of running and content creation.

At this stage these are the SingleTrack events I am planning to make an appearance at, but who knows I might get eager and take on more events and more distance:

• Buffalo Ultra Grand Slam
• Hounslow 17k
• GPT100 Miler Stage Race

🏖️Wilsons Prom

Shortly after finding out I was on the SingleTrack team, George asked me if I wanted to come running at Wilsons Prom with Joe Dorph to scope out the Wilsons Prom running festival 100km course. SingleTrack events acquired RunningWild last year and now have a heap of new events to organise. Joe had never been to Wilsons Prom so was planning a trip to check out the course.

I agreed to the trip because it sounded like a fun time. But I jumped in before I knew how much running we were doing. I thought we were running parts of the 100km course and this was kind of right except the first part was 90km!!! By the time I found out this pertinent piece of information flights were already booked and I was locked in for a big weekend with the boys.

George and I flew over to Melbourne, Joe picked us up from the airport and we headed straight to Fish Creek, the nearest available accommodation. The following day we headed off on our big one. Starting bright and early we embarked on what I was told would be an 85km day. It was hot and muggy and I had no motivation. But after we summited Mt Oberon I started to feel the stoke levels building.

We ran all the way round to Sealers Cove but had to do a massive out and back since the usual track is closed. It was 15km out and 15 back. I hate out and backs at the best of times but this one was particularly big. The heat was sucking all of the moisture from my body. When we found water sources they recommended treatment, all the hikers were using water filters. In the end I just had to risk it to get the biscuit or else shrivel up from dehydration. Note to self, bring aqua tabs or a filter if I return to Wilson’s Prom.

After completing our mega out and back George was bonking hard. We were only 50km deep and had a long way to go. It was a funny old day, hot and muggy then cloudy and threatening to rain. Our next stop was the lighthouse which entailed another out and back. By this stage I was resigned to the big day and somewhat embracing it. The lighthouse was epic, build from locally quarried granite. Similar to my all time favorite Eddystone Point lighthouse.

From the lighthouse we had one final out and back down to the southern most point of the Australian mainland. I was dreading it but actually enjoyed it. I was feeling quite energised and empowered. By this stage I was feeling the strongest of all of us. After ticking off the final out and back both of the boys started begging me for Panadol, so I granted them a dose of the good stuff to get them through.

We all had mini-bonks as we headed down to Oberon beach. I dragged myself out by smashing a couple of gels in quick succession. In the end I finished feeling quite good considering a 13 hour day.

The total distance was 90km!! If I’d known it was that far I may have been less keen, for some reason 85km seemed more palatable. To our great surprise and pleasure there was a kiosk open and I was able to finish the day with a choc top and a can of coke!! Such a good way to end a big day on the tools. Sadly all of the local eateries were closed by the time we got back to Fish Creek and we resorted to emergency pasta. Probably a good thing, nice food would have been wasted on us.

The following day we had to go and finish what we started and do the final section of the course. We dragged ourselves back out and once we got warmed up we were all running well. Good training for the Buffallo Ultra Grand Slam. Surprisingly, we got our 16km run done in under 2 hours. We finished with ice creams, coke and a salubrious swim at the beach.

It was a whirlwind trip and in two days we covered a large portion of the trails on the prom. I love big days on the trails with good people, the delirious banter gets ridiculous. The Wilson’s Prom 100km is a tough, remote course with minimal aid stations, but a cool route with heaps of great runnable trails. It would be a great event for the adventurous and self sufficient trail runner.

🏠Buying A House or Not

Now for a digression from trail running. Renae has a master plan to create a commune of friends. She owns an upstairs apartment on a block of land with three separate apartments. Her plan was that another friend, Tim buys the back place and I buy the one downstairs creating a cool cohousing situation without the downsides of share housing. The downstairs place wasn’t for sale at the time she first mentioned it, so I didn’t give it much thought.

Tim went on to officially buy the back place. Then much sooner than expected the downstairs place was being prepared to go on the market. I have always had an aversion to buying property, anyone who knows me knows I have plans to reach financial independence through investing in shares. But this new opportunity made me consider buying a place, not as an investment but as a secure place to live.

One thing led to another and I got pre-approval for a loan, did loads of research and even tried to make an off market offer on the place. The vendors refused my offer insisting on going to market. So I waited and when the place finally hit the market I threw in a low offer to set the baseline and show my interest. Turns out someone else was interested too. The place was listed for offers over $510k. I initially offered $512k then after I heard there was a higher offer I threw in $526k which was still too low, so I went all out on $530k unconditional, hoping to entice them. I thought I had it with this offer but the vendor counter offered $545k and I said ‘no way’. They signed a contract with the other buyer and I missed the boat.

The whole process was so stressful. I likened it to psychological warfare. It’s such a crazy system, essentially a silent auction. I didn’t know if the counter offer was a bluff or real. But I am glad I held my ground, I had set myself a limit and didn’t want to exceed it by $15k. I am disappointed but also relieved, now I can go back to focusing on running and content again rather than stressing about lifelong debt. The trail running commune has been thwarted but it will happen one day.

🌳Takayna Trail

Lauren, my partner and coached athlete, signed up for the 62km Takayna Trail. Not only did she train to tackle the distance, but she also raised a significant amount for the Bob Brown Foundation. It’s a wonderfully wholesome event; everyone camps on a nearby oval, spending the weekend running, hanging out, and eating communal meals. I think more events should take a leaf out of their book, offering camping and meals makes the experience so much more social.

Lauren, George and I drove up to Waratah together. George and I volunteering to sweep the course and Lauren gearing up for her longest run to date. As her coach I was confident in her physical ability to get it done, but she was worried about meeting the cut off times. I had faith but also lacked course knowledge of the first 37km.

I originally signed up to sweep that first section, but at the briefing, Majell dropped a bombshell, George and I were now sweeping the full 62km. It was another classic instance of me getting more than I bargained for. I resigned myself to a long day, though I was given the option to tap out at the 37km mark. With a 100km race on my calendar for the following weekend, the idea of spending 12 hours “plodding” wasn’t exactly ideal.

The best part about sweeping is meeting other legends and spending a cruisy day in a beautiful place. George and I were joined by Robyn, who had finished the Tarawera 100km just a week prior, and Aimee, a Hobart-based runner I’d somehow never met. We started well on a downhill road section, but once we hit the forest trails, the running stopped. It became a slow hike behind the stragglers.

To occupy ourselves we named as many marsupials as we could. I mistakenly said the native water rat (rakali), I’ve since found out it is not a marsupial, pouches don’t work underwater. We then moved onto doing the alphabet of countries. Eventually we caught a group of 37km runners and one 62km runner and sauntered along behind them. We started falling behind the cutoff time. George decided to let the 62km runner know that he needed to speed up to meet cut off. After this we didn’t see him and assumed he boosted to get ahead of cutoff.

Our pace, however, continued to crawl. The 37km runners had no real incentive to hit a cut-off; they just wanted to finish. At one point, we found them standing around basking in the sun, a sure sign they weren’t moving with urgency. On such a hot day, they should’ve been seeking shade to cool down, not looking for warmth.

We were moving at less than 4km an hour, almost 2 hours behind the cutoff. Eventually, we reached Waratah road, the 37km aid station. Our swept athletes were relieved to be done. I checked my phone and had a text from Lauren, she didn’t make cut off and had been taken back to Waratah. I was pretty sad and was worried that she would be too, so I opted to head back rather than continuing sweeping. Plus we were now 2 hours behind the runners so they had sent another lot of sweeps. George decided to get a lift down to Magnet mine and keep running while I headed back to town.

When I found Lauren she seemed to be in good spirits. She’d known she wasn’t going to meet cutoff for some time and processed the loss while still out on trail. Coming into the event she knew it was going to be a challenge to make it. I was glad to see she was ok, and she still had energy so we went for a little de-brief run around Waratah. She’s now determined to come back and resolve the unfinished business. All in all it was a good weekend, the hardest part for me was driving home from Waratah.

🥜Gone Nuts Coming Up

Now onto the next big thing this coming weekend. Shortly after finishing the Western Arthurs, Ziggy and I decided to sign up to Gone Nuts 101km. The thinking was that it would be a good practice run for Buffalo. The whole Wilsons Prom trip was not on the radar at this point so it seemed reasonable. Now it seems like I am doing an ultra distance run every second weekend. But I am committed to doing the thing so I will follow through.

I have recruited Mum and Dad as support crew. They were keen to catch up, so what better way to do so than following me around the North West coast handing me flasks and gels. I get to race against Ziggy, Ryder and Markus. All of us operate on pretty similar levels so it’s bound to be an exciting race.

I have nominated a few process and outcome goals for the event, I’ll put them in writing here so we can revisit next week and see how I go.

🎯Race Goals

Nutrition and Hydration Plan

I am going to test out a simple and repeatable plan, I want to keep fluid intake up along with sodium supplementation.

I’ve set a baseline carb intake of 60 – 70g/hr which can be added to if I want, but I want to maintain the steady minimum intake.

Hydration plan:

• Minimum of 1000ml/hr fluid intake
• Approximately 1000mg/L of sodium in all fluids (I might occasionally drink plain water)

Nutrition plan:

• 500ml / hr of Moor drink mix (40g carbs, 500mg sodium)
• 1 x Precision gel (30g carbs)
• Total carbs = 70g/hr
• Then I can eat additional gels, food, drink coke to add to this number

I always start with the best of intentions and the wheels generally always fall off. We’ll see what transpires on the weekend.

🏋️Training Update

My training ever since GPT100 has been fairly unstructured. I needed some time to chill after the GPT build and have been enjoying being a more spontaneous with missions and training. My strava graph looks a bit hectic. Despite the inconsistent training there’s still been a decent culmalative volume, I am hoping this helps me get through Gone Nuts and Buffalo.

I’ve been getting along to speedwork most Tuesdays which helps maintain some intensity and I’ve done a few steady state workouts with George. After Gone Nuts I think I’ll have a recovery week then lock in for a final big build towards Buffalo. I will start training a bit smarter rather than impulsively doing stupid long runs. It’s been fun but I am a creature of habit and enjoy dilligently following a training plan.

Wrapping Up

It’s been a wild month of saying “yes” first and checking the mileage later. From the shared community vibes at Takayna to the grueling, unplanned 90km days at the Prom, my “unstructured” training block has certainly been an adventure if nothing else. While the property market gave me some extra excitement (and a newfound appreciation for debt-free living), I’m glad to have the headspace back for what matters most: running long distances with good people.

With the SingleTrack team selection fueling the stoke and the Gone Nuts 101km just days away, the “yes man” era is officially in full swing. I might be heading into this weekend with some unconventional prep, but the legs feel strong, the crew is ready, and the plan is set. Time to see if I can survive another big day out.

Joseph Nunn: An avid trail runner based in Hobart, Tasmania. He loves getting out for big days on the trails with mates or racing against them.

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