Triple Top Mountain Run – 2022 Race Report

Triple Top is one of my favourite trail races in the Tasmanian race calendar. Despite running the South Coast Track two days before the event I was still keen to give it a run. My mate Bevan had entered this year for the first time. I felt like I should come along as moral support and I couldn’t deal with missing such an good day out. This is my account of the 2022 Triple Top experience on a day of crazy weather.

Course Map

Pre-Race

After finishing running the South Coast Track late on Thursday night I was unsure of my ability to run the race over the weekend. I was completely and utterly wrecked after running for 24 hours straight. After a day of rest in Melaleuca and listening to Piotr frantically plan the next days of his challenge I started to feel better physically and was feeling inspired to have a run on Sunday. By the time we were on the plane back to Hobart I had decided that I was running triple top and was thinking about my plans for the rest of the weekend.

After a spectacular flight back to Hobart and doing an epic fly by of Federation Peak we were picked up from the airport by Mel. We went on to pick up Gareth who was Piotr’s next crewmate (victim) for Frenchman’s cap later that day. They dropped me home and I began unpacking all of my filthy gear and packing for the next day. After a couple of hours or organisation in Hobart I was on the road to Launceston and contending with the roadworks along the midland highway.

I eventually arrived in Launceston and spent the evening with my parents and catching up with a mate for his birthday. Myself and this mate are born a day apart and had a joint 18th birthday party so I thought it was fitting to make an appearance at his 30th gathering. I managed to get myself out of the microbrewery before the temptation of ice cold pints got the better of me and was able to get myself organised for the following day in record time. After the enormity of the SCT a day out on Mt Roland seemed like a walk in the park.

Race Day

I awoke on race morning to the sound of rain on the roof. I looked out the window to see thick cloud and heavy rain and felt a sense of foreboding. Bevo arrived early to pick me up and we were soon on our way to the Claude Road hall. The weather and the imminent unknown suffering was starting to make Bevo a bit anxious. The nerves continued to build as the drive went on and as the sight of Mt Roland emerged from within the thick clouds. The nerves reached all new heights once we got to the hall and grabbed our race bibs. By this stage we were both too deep to back out. I think I was more nervously excited whereas Bevo was seriously considering his life choices.

The race briefing was inside the hall this year due to the constant heavy rain outside. After the briefing we filed out and onto the buses for the ride up to the start. I chatted with people on the ride while Bevan seemed to sit facing forwards with a thousand yard stare. At the top we got off and it was still raining heavily. There was a strong breeze making for extra cold conditions. People were sheltering from the wind and rain using the buses and wind breaks.

At 10am on the dot we were off and running. I started walking up the initial hill with Bevo. I decided that this year my approach was go out slow and see how my legs felt. So I continued up the climb power hiking and running the occasional flat sections. The rain was quite heavy at this stage and the wind was intense. I was impressed by some spectators that were a decent way up the hill in the terrible conditions who cheered on Dave who was just behind me.

At the top of the road we transitioned to single track and I ended up falling in behind Dave and a large group of runners. For the next few kilometres I stuck in behind this group using them to keep myself at a nice sustainable pace. I was feeling warmed up and slowed down by the long train of runners ahead. So I started making my way up through the group. It’s hard to justify overtaking when it’s only to be behind another runner going at the same pace as the person you just overtook.

On the section between Claude and Van Dyke I was feeling the urge to gain speed and found an opportunity to do a big overtaking manoeuvre past 6 people in one go down a technical rock section. I chose an alternative treacherous path and threw myself down it recklessly and spat myself out in front of the group and took off at what felt like a blistering pace. I made the most of the first readonably runnable piece of trail and was loving it.

It wasn’t long till I reached the base of the Van Dyke climb. A climb that ruined me 2 years earlier on my first running of the event. This year I was feeling good coming into the climb and had done so much hill training lately that I was eager to smash it. I leant into it with a solid power hike and was able to move at such a speed that I took over 4 people on the climb up. Halfway up I ditched the rain jacket to keep myself cool enough to keep pushing. At the top I was feeling great and continued to run without the rain jacket and it was exhilarating to be in shorts and tee-shirt in such gnarly conditions.

The following section along the back of Mt Roland I was feeling strong and started pushing myself. It was one of the more runnable sections so I tried to make up ground and went hard to keep my body temperature up. The amount of water on the track was immense. As I continued on I heard what sounded like a raging torrent. What is usually a small trickle of a creek was now a whitewater rapid. Eventually I had to give in and throw the rain jacket back on to prevent myself getting dangerously cold. I ended up falling over many times on the slippery rocks but there was so much adrenaline coursing through me that I felt no pain. I took a particularly bad fall and landed with my thigh on a rock and corkied myself. I then had another fall which resulted in both knees smashing onto rocks.

Approaching the Roland summit I saw two figures ahead and I recognised them as Kev and Justin Dyer. It was in almost the exact same location that I caught up to Kev last year. Last year I made the mistake of yelling out “I’m coming for you Kev”. This spurred him on to speed up without even looking back and he beat me by a long way. So this time I stealthily worked my way closer towards them and said hello to Kev. This year he didn’t have anything left in the tank and I ran with them for a bit before overtaking.

As I approached the face track descent I heard some banterous words coming from behind. “Jeez you’re a bit slow for someone who actually trains” with this I knew Kev had caught me up again. I let him then Justin pass me again and tried to keep up but my confidence was waning after so many falls. As I ran through a deep puddle my foot caught on a submerged object. I went diving forward landing with my whole torso submerged. I jumped up quickly thinking of my phone in my vest pocket hoping the ziplock bag would save it.

My confidence in my footing was severely reduced after the last fall so when I reached the face track I didn’t have the usual reckless abandon that I would tackle it with. My shoes weren’t giving me confidence on the wet rocks. So I tentatively made my way down the steep rubble field and used my hands to steady myself. Even at my reduced pace I managed to overtake a few people and kept myself moving. I ditched my rain jacket once I reached the forest anticipating a redline smash to the end.

In the forest section all of my downhill training of the last months finally paid dividends. My quads were feeling good enough to let gravity take hold and free wheel down the slopes at a dangerous somewhat out of control pace. I started catching and overtaking more people. I eventually caught Kev again and got past him. Then just as I reached the gravel road I caught and overtook Justin too. These guys were the only people that overtook me all race and it felt good to catch them up again.

Now on the home stretch down the road to the finish I unleashed as much speed as I possibly could. I clocked a 3:15 minute kilometre coming down the hill. I was eying off another runner about 300m ahead trying to catch them but they were holding me off. At the base of the hill I was cheered on by my parents who had come out to watch. I came around the corner and pushed hard to the finish. I was greeted at the finish line by many familiar faces and was handed a beanie and a cider. I stood around for a while discussing the race and how much fun it was with fellow runners before I went into the hall to get out of my wet gear and get warm.

When I emerged from the hall I found Bevo was finished. He was in one piece and seemed to be in good spirits too. It was good to see him do a good time and finish unscathed after such a brutal race. We hung around for a while eating Lion’s Club sausages and drinking our cider before I set off with the parents to get additional snacks at the Elizabeth Town Cafe with my Aunt and Uncle.

Results

I was pleased with my result. I had little to no expectations going into this race and just had the goal of going out and having fun. So I was happy that I was only about 5 minutes slower than last years time in significantly more adverse conditions. On average all of the faster runners were going 10 minutes slower than usual so I possibly performed better than last year given conditions. Bevo cruised in at 3:06:28 and has now set his sights on going sub 3 next year.

Time	2:38:27.9
Position	16th
Links:	Results Page
	Strava Activity

Aftermath

After the event I got a lift back to Launceston with my parents where I stayed the night. Most of my bodily pains at this stage were from the many falls, the muscular soreness would come later. I had a corky on my left thigh and both knees were bloodied and bruised. The arch of my left foot was bruised from stepping on a sharp rock. I took Monday off work anticipating not wanting to drive back to Hobart Sunday night and it was my 30th birthday.

I woke up Monday feeling understandably wrecked. Muscular soreness built over the day and weirdly I was sore in my upper body and shoulders. Probably from using my arms to catch myself and break the many falls. I drove myself back to Hobart feeling incredibly tired but completely stoked with how much I managed to packed into the final week of my 20’s. As the days wore on all of the pains faded and I knew I had got through uninjured and the desire to get back out in the mountains was back stronger than ever.

Photos credits go to the event photographers. All race day photos are from the event facebook page.