The Organ Pipes Classic is an all time classic kunanyi mountain race. The course links together some of my favourite trails on the mountain to create an awesome loop. I took part a couple of weeks ago and surprised myself by coming second and having a great run. In this post I’ll talk a bit about the course and elaborate on my race day experience.

The Course

This race is a 13km loop that starts and finishes at the Springs. It links together the Pinnacle, Organ Pipes, Old Hobartians and Lenah valley tracks. Traditionally the event has been ran in an anticlockwise direction. The course was reversed this year creating one hell of a rollercoaster descent.

I love the Old Hobartians track. It is one of the longest continual climbs on the mountain and I love running both up and down it. I have done countless hill reps on this trail and it has made me that man I am today. The prospect of running down this track from the Chalet at race pace was enough to entice me to enter. I hadn’t done a race shorter than 50km in almost a year so it was to be my return to short fast trail races.

I forgot to mention that the Organ Pipes track is one of the most spectacular trails on the mountain. It feels like you’re on top of the world traversing in front of the epic dolerite columns. As I mentioned this course links together some of what I consider to be the best trails on the mountain. I would highly recommend this route to anyone visiting Hobart wanting to get a short taste of what the mountain has to offer.

Course Map

My Race Experience

Pre-Race

I carpool to the Springs with Justin, Smick and Sam. There are prizes on offer for those who carpool and we sent in a selfie to go in the running. While I was waiting for my lift, other trail running cars waved or pulled over offering me lifts. Eventually my lift arrives and we head up to the Springs.

These races are mostly big social gatherings with a bit of fast running between. There are so many friendly faces to chat with. I look around and see many fast runners and think that the field will be a quick one. Justin, Dave and I head off on a short warm up run.

After our warm up there is a race briefing and a welcome to country. All our body warmth quickly dissipates. I opt to be bold and start cold knowing that I am about to roast myself on the impending climb. We gather on the road for the race start. The road is temporarily completely blocked by runners. I jostle towards the front just before we start.

Along the Organ Pipes

The first few hundred metres of the race follows the road up towards the old Spring Hotel site. This short but steep section of road allows us to self seed before getting onto the trails. I am surprised at the extreme pace that some people begin with. I am well back in the pack being a little more sensible and knowing that there’s a big climb ahead.

Already I am overtaking people on the steps up towards Miles Track. I lock into the Pinnacle Track climb at an intense but sustainable pace. I know this climb quite well and am in tune with my fitness levels so I sit at a level of exertion I know I can maintain. Methodically I work my way up through the field picking off runners ahead of me. I suspect a lot of people started out faster than they should have.

The gradient of the climb is steep but runnable. It never reaches a steepness to justify walking so I push on trying to maintain a consistent pace. I am feeling powerful on the climb. Recent bouts of intense hill repeats seem to be paying dividends. When we reach the Zig-Zag track turn off it flattens off and rapid acceleration ensues.

Hamish is ahead of me. He is the only runner that has been moving up the ranks with me at a similar pace. We send it along the Organ Pipes track. It is so fun pushing the pace along this track. I am loving having an excuse engage in reckless running. It is so much fun but I am also pushing myself to lean hard into the race mentality. I am not trying to overtake anyone just to stick with the group. Hamish and I catch Dave Lennon and we all push through to the Chalet together.

Freefalling Down Old Hobartians

We fly across the road towards the top of Hunters track. Hamish gets the lead and I am behind Dave. Not long after beginning the steep descent Dave takes a tumble and lets me go ahead. This is my time to unleash and I don’t hold back. I run as fast as I am physically able while staying in control. This kind of running is so focused and intense. Taking a fall at this pace would end in broken bones.

I run out of fear of Justin catching me. He expressed a desire to score the Strava crown for this descent so I expect to see him appear behind me at any moment. Out ahead I keep Hamish in my sights. I have ran this track so many times that I know every twist and turn. I know when I can unleash and when to hold back. I feel sorry for the poor bushwalkers that encountered my hurtling borderline out of control body coming towards them.

As the track nears the bottom the gradient lessens and the pace further increases. No one has caught me, and Hamish is still in sight as we finally reach the bottom of the Old Hobartians track and turn right onto Lenah Valley track. This is a harsh change going from high speed descending to a grindy gradual climb. I feel like I have been spat out of a leg destruction machine and running up hill is so hard.

Grinding to the Finish

I take a moment to down a gel just before reaching Newtown Falls. It’s always a messy undertaking so I stop to dip my hands in the water to get rid of the stickiness. When I stand up I slip on the wet rocks. As I am falling I hear the shutter sound of a camera and look up to see a race photographer hiding under a branch. I ask ‘did you get it?’ and he responds ‘yep’. Evidence of the fall can be seen below (Photo credit Robert Groom).

I keep running as best I can while trying to keep Hamish within sight. He has started looking back towards me now and I realise I am gaining on him. When we reach the fire trail that leads to Junction Cabin I am upon him. We run together and discuss the situation and that hectic descent that we just endured.

It is at this point that I realise we are in second and third place. He said to me “I’m glad you’re here with me, I was worried being this far ahead”. I think he was worried that he’d pushed way too hard and no one else would be that stupid. We hiked up the hill to Junction cabin and began the final stretch of Lenah Valley track back towards the Springs together. A volunteer at Junction Cabin tells us that David Bailey is about 2 minutes ahead in 1st place.

Surprisingly I felt a resurgence of energy. I thought I was completely done after the climb up to Junction Cabin. So I boosted ahead of Hamish and went hard knowing that there were only a few kilometres of pain left to endure. I think my recent speed training has hardened my brain to endure pain better. Especially knowing that it will be all over soon I am able to dig deep with the end in sight.

I consistently push till reaching Lone Cabin where I know the track flattens then begins to descend down to the finish. On the final descent I squeeze out the fastest pace possible. Now motivated to hold onto second place and wondering how far ahead David Bailey is. I finish strong in second place and see David there having finished a little over 2 minutes before me. I wasn’t able to make up any time on him but I was super happy and surprised with my performance.

Aftermath

Hamish finished a minute and a half later. I was able to lay down a decent gap in the final push to the finish. I stood around in an elated but cooked state watching all of the friends roll through the finish. The finish line vibe was great. We hung around for the presentations. I got my second place chunk of wood and Smick came first in the shorter event. I ran back down the mountain to my partners place for a cooldown and revelled in the fulfillment of having a good run.

This race took it’s toll on my body. I struggled to walk for days afterwards. That fast downhill induced extreme quad DOMS. I was needing handrails to descend stairs for a couple of days afterwards. The pain was all worth it for the result and at the time I was having so much fun. This event has left me wanting more short fast stuff. I may end up running all of the other kunanyi trail series events this year. They are too much fun to miss out on!

Results

Total Duration	1:06:53
Dist	12.8km
Elevation	695m
Position	2nd
Official Results	Webscorer
Strava Activity	Strava Link

Photo Credits

• Newtown Falls photos by Robert Groom
• Finish photo by Melissa McAdie
• Podium photo is from the official KTS facebook page

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