Last year while preparing for the GPT100 I headed to the Grampians for a 3 day training camp. After attending the official training camp Justin and I were eager to see more of the course. We planned the trip together but soon amassed a crew of other helpful and eager participants. We had an epic three days of running and got to cover a lot of ground. This trip was an important part of my preparation for the race and I’m so glad I did it. This is a belated post about our training camp experience to complete my series of posts about my preparations for the GPT100.

The Plan

The plan was to run the whole trail before the race to gain course knowledge. We had already ran most of the final stage on the official GPT Training Camp. So for this trip we planned to run the first three stages of the race over three days.

Date	Stage	Dist / Elevation Gain
21 July 2023	Stage 1 – Mt Zero to Halls Gap	49km +2024m
22 July 2023	Stage 2 – Halls Gap to Mt William	37km +2345m
23 July 2023	Stage 3 – Mt William to Griffin Fireline	42.89km +1920m

Once we locked in the dates for the trip we sent a message out to the GPT100 WhatsApp group looking for recruits. We had a few people take the bait and we ended up with Phil Lamb and Peter Ham keen to join us over the weekend. A few days before heading on this trip I also heard of some Hobart friends Lydia and Floyd who were going to be passing through Halls Gap on their way to Alice Springs. They were recruited to join us on a day of running. What started as Justin and I grew to a proper crew of good running people.

Logistics

Running long point to points causes difficulties with transport logistics. Justin and I had access to his grandparents car for this trip but we really needed two cars to achieve what we wanted to do. Phil offered to come along and help with car shuttles but wasn’t arriving till Friday afternoon. We looked into renting a car for the day and eventually decided that we might leave our car at Mt Zero and pick it up the following day.

The night before our first day of running I received a message on Whatapp from a lady called Sally. She had attended the official training camp and wanted to help. She was going to be up in Halls Gap the following day for a run. I audaciously asked if she could drop us at Mt Zero from Halls Gap and she agreed. This is a long drive to do for total strangers and a super generous offer.

Day 1 – Mt Zero to Halls Gap (Stage 1)

In the morning we met Sally in Halls Gap and she drove us along Mt Zero road all the way to the start of our big first day. The road was in terrible condition and we jostled around dodging pot holes. Sally is a local running character from down south of Dunkeld. She is super keen on running marathons and is having a crack at the GPT50k later in the year.

At Mt Zero we thanked her profusely for the lift and began our day of running back to Halls Gap. It was glorious running conditions, cool and clear. We were already familiar with the first section having ran it on the earlier training camp. We stupidly attempted to get a Strava crown mid run on the descent down to Roses Gap. I managed to get the crown but it was a silly thing to do with so much running ahead.

Shortly after leaving Roses Gap I took a bad fall on flat unremarkable trail and it hurt my leg and knee. It was at this point that I realised that one bad fall could end it all. Justin and I both pledged to the goal of no falls on race day. We didn’t want that the be the cause of a DNF.

At Mt. Difficult road, the location of the second GPT100 aid station we found a couple of muesli bars on the ground near a sign. We were going to take them then decided against it thinking they may have been left for someone. Later I checked my phone and there was a message from Sally saying she had left the bars for us.

Justin and I took photos at the honeycomb rock and noted it as a wonderful landmark that signifies the beginning of a relatively easy descent down to Halls Gap. We ran strong down to finish our day back in town. I immediately grabbed an ice cream and Justin got a pie. Excellent post run nutrition. Justin was devastated when a Kookaburra swooped for his pie knocking it to the ground.

Shortly after finishing I received another message from Sally asking if we wanted a beer since she was back in Halls Gap. So we met her at Rock Paper Scissors where she proceeded to buy us drinks and food. It should have been us buying her the drinks but she refused. She was so generous! This was the first of many supportive trail runners to help us with our training camp weekend.

We headed back to our accommodation and Phil and Lydia and Floyd had all arrived. We all booked into the same place which made catching up nice and easy. We headed out to the Spirit of Punjab for dinner where we were served curry by a robot waiter and laid out maps on the table planning our next days adventures.

Plans for the following day were worked out by the end of our meal. Phil was going to drive to Mt William and do and out and back run up there then pick up Justin and I. We were going to do a car shuffle to drop Lydia and Floyd’s car at Burough Huts so they could run with us then leave us from there.

Day 2 – Halls Gap to Mt William (Stage 2)

After doing all of the car shuffles we were ready to run. Lydia and Floyd joined Justin and I while Phil headed out to Mt William. I was physically struggling at the beginning of the day. The fast 50k and many falls had left me feeling worse for wear. But after warming up the aches and pains subsided and I was able to start enjoying myself.

We ran past many classic Grampians sights and stopped for photos and views. This was the first time running these sections for many of us. Justin had already seen much of it since he came up a week earlier and ran most of it already.

Justin and I made mental notes of the Rosea Carpark and tried to visualise ourselves here on race day. The climb up Mt Rosea was fun and the descent down towards Burough Huts was lovely and runnable. We noted this as a section to look forward to in the race.

At Burough Huts Lydia and Floyd begrudgingly left us to continue on their road trip. Lydia was super keen to continue onwards but Floyd was the voice of reason suggesting hitting the road since they wanted to be in Adelaide that evening.

Now it was Justin and I climbing up the rock slabs towards Redmans Bluff. The trails were now noticeably more technical and course finding less obvious. I realised that this leg will be particularly difficult to navigate in the night. I decided for certain that I would like to find a pacer for this stage.

Justin and I enjoy technical trails so we had fun scrambling up and down. Looking back towards Halls Gap reveals the frightening scale of the mountain range we are destined to run the length of. The views along this section are epic and I am glad to get the opportunity to see them in daylight.

Eventually we can see the road snaking up Mt William and know we are getting close to finishing but it drags on. We attempt a fast run along the rocky trails and I’m disappointed to clock a 6 minute km while moving along at what felt like a super swift pace. We eventually reach the carpark to find Phil waiting there with salty chips and soft drinks ready to drive us back to town. We sit quietly in the car all feeling the fatigue of a couple of big days.

In the evening we catch up with Phil to arrange the following days logistics. He offers again help with a lift for us so we won’t have to leave a car at the top of Mt William. We have Peter Ham and his friend Dan joining us on the final day of our training camp.

Day 3 – Mt William to Griffin Fireline (Stage 3)

We meet Dan and Peter at Jimmy Creek road and leave our cars there. Phil drives us all up Mt William then heads off for a run down near Burrough Huts. Peter and Dan also have a car at Griffin Fireline for when we finish. Our final logistical hurdle has been solved and now we have an abundance of cars.

It is cold, misty and windy at the top of Mt William. Dan is feeling the cold having not brought much warm stuff. Justin and I are feeling at home in the cool conditions. This section is technical and slippery but we are moving at a sensible pace. It is soon quite apparent that Peter loves a chat. He and I chat for hours and this is a welcome distraction for me to divert my thoughts away from all of my bodily pain.

At Jimmy Creek Road we gather snacks from our cars, it’s our own mini aid station. The next section is decidedly easier than the descent from Mt William. I had heard of this section being rough but it seems that track work has made it much more navigable. At Yarram Gap road Dan decides to bail out. He opts to walk down to the main road and wait for us. We continue on and are all gradually bonking from a long day after many long days.

This next section through to Griffin Fireline is reasonably nice and runnable. We cross Grampians road and know that we are nearly done for the day. I lead the way along the nice snaking trail and feel a resurgence of energy. I feel amazing and strong and it is interesting to feel this powerful after so many back to back long days.

When we arrive back at Grampians Road we find Dan has hitchhiked to meet us. He was picked up by a 96 year old man. The elderly farmer couldn’t understand the concept of trail running but it was nice of him to pick Dan up. We drove back to our cars at Jimmy Creek Road and went our separate ways. Justin and I drove to Ballarat and stayed the night with a friend who cooked us spaghetti and entertained us. A final generous gesture to round out the weekend.

Wrap Up

At the end of this weekend I gained so much respect and gratitude for the trail running community and their generosity. Sally, Phil and Peter all volunteered to join and help Justin and I who were relative strangers with shared passions for trail running. Without their help and company our camp would not have been possible or anywhere near as enjoyable.

I highly recommend any prospective GPT100 runners get out onto the trails and run as much as possible before the event. This camp was so valuable for me to see the entirety of the course and to understand the technicality of each section. It allowed me to mentally prepare for the challenging terrain. On race day I was not frustrated by the slow movement through certain sections because I knew to expect such conditions. Training camps are fun! It’s a great way to get out and do epic back to back runs in awesome places with good people. I look forward to my next training camp. In May I will be back in Halls Gap for the GPT training camp again because I can’t resist missing out on all the fun.

Training Camp Splits

This is a table of the section splits compiled from all of my training runs over multiple training camps. These times were helpful to prepare for the event and to predict my section splits. I used a method of looking at the section time compared to to total time as a percentage. These percentages can be used to estimate how long each leg would take depending on a goal time. My only recommendation to anyone thinking of using my times is to add some extra time to account for night time running. Also now there is the benefit of last years results to draw from for planning.

CP	LOCATION	RACE DIST [km]	DIST TO NEXT CP [km]	VERT [m]	SECT SPLIT	% Time
	Mt Zero Picnic Area	0	15.6		0:00
1	Roses Gap Road	15.6	19.6	622	1:53	7.6%
2	Mt Difficult Road	35.2	13.7	1005	2:54	11.7%
3	Halls Gap	48.9	9.1	291	1:42	6.9%
4	Rosea Carpark	58	12.5	652	1:43	6.9%
5	Borough Huts	70.5	14.6	437	1:52	7.5%
6	Mt William Carpark	85.1	18.8	1167	3:07	12.6%
7	Jimmy Creed Rd	103.9	10.4	762	3:00	12.1%
8	Yarram Gap Rd	114.3	12.0	584	1:58	8.0%
9	Griffin Fireline	126.3	11.1	436	1:41	6.8%
10	Cassidys Gap Rd	137.4	10.7	451	1:35	6.4%
11	Baingugg Carpark	148.1	10.2	648	1:52	7.5%
12	Dunkeld (Finish)	158.3	0.0	457	1:27	5.9%

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