The Salt Shaker Trail Race, Rockingham Western Australia.
Apologies for the delay with this one.
We love to hear about the far flung corners of the world where our members don the famous vest. Thanks for sharing Mhairi.
The Salt Shaker Trail Race was organised by Rockinghams local running club, the Secret Rocky Runners. It took place at Lake Walyungup which is a shallow Salt Lake used locally for land yachting and trail walks. My brother had signed myself and Martin up before we arrived in Australia. There was a 5km, 12km and 24km option and a kids 2km fun run. The 12km was one loop which sounded like a good option and doable in 20-degree heat. I knew we were going to be jetlagged as we arrived in Perth on Friday night, 2nd May. The Salt Shaker was on the Sunday 4th May. I had asked my brother what the route was like as he had completed the course last year. He assured me that there weren't many hills and I wouldn't be running on sand. I was also worried about running in the heat, again he assured me it was pretty cold at this time of year. The start was well organised with a coffee cart and toilets and there were 3 water stations out on the course. The kids were getting ready to start the fun run. Most of them had embraced the fact it was May the 4th (Star Wars Day) with Star Wars outfits and light sabres. The 24km had already kicked off an hour beforehand. The 12km started at 8am, my brother and Martin lined up near the start of the pack. I nestled in at the back, as my goal was to go at a steady pace and enjoy some new surroundings. I hadn't slept great the night before so knew it was going to be a slog. We had also done the local parkrun the day before. The route followed a gravel path on the outskirts of the Salt Lake and I was quite grateful for the gentle breeze in the 20-degree heat. The faster runners were quickly no where in sight. The gravel path, which I was led to believe to be fairly flat, very quickly became a roller coaster of up and down hills. I actually started making up a wee bit of ground here (Coach Alan O's hill sessions obviously paying off). If I was as fast as my brother I would have seriously considered tripping him up right now as me and him obviously have a different opinion of what contemplates hills. Surprising, my legs were feeling OK, unlike the parkrun yesterday where my legs were like dead weights. Up ahead was the first water stop which was around 3km in. 2 volunteers who were wearing hoodies in weather which would be classed as "taps aff" back home were handing out cups of water. I don't cope well in the heat and quickly poured the cup of water over my head to try and eliminate the roasted salmon look. The 2 volunteers gave me a few strange looks and off I went continuing along the gravel path of ups and downs. Around 5km in, the route detoured off to the left and into the bush on compacted sand. This was a welcome respite in the shade and from the hills, although I did start thinking about how little survival skills I had if I were to encounter any of the local wildlife. Soon at a clearing a 6km was another water stop and a chance to grab some sweets, I thought a few jelly snakes were quite fitting. Soon the bush trail led back onto the gravel for a short spell then headed off to the right onto the Salt Lake, then back into the bush. After a while I was on soft sand dunes and I could see people ahead of me walking. I think I must have been about 8km in at this point. I decided to give jogging a bash on the sand as I could use the footprints already carved out in front of me. The sand dunes were never ending and my legs were feeling it now. A wee sign with the words last hill was stuck into the sand at the bottom of a large sand hill. I thought to myself, this better not be some kind of Aussie sick joke. The sand started to become compacted and the route started to level out. Soon I knew I was heading out in the direction of the Salt Lake again. At the bottom of the path, I could see my brother and Martin cheering me on which was a nice surprise. They ran the remaining 1km ish with me to the finish line and by this point I was glad of the extra support. At the end of the race, we received a medal in the shape of a salt shaker which I felt I had earned. The Salt Shaker (according to Strava) was 129m of elevation, over a variety of different terrain which made the race a bit different to what I'm used to running on. Did I enjoy the race? Absolutely! Running is a great way to see and experience places and I would probably do it again if I had the chance. Time 1.19.29.
