Just The Big Red Run, a 250km bolt-for-your

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MEN’S FITNESS
OCTOBER 2013
GUTTER CREDIT
GUTTER CREDIT
Just
deserts
The Big Red Run, a 250km bolt-for-your-life through the unforgiving Simpson Desert
(that’s the heap of rocky yellow stuff that killed explorers Burke and Wills in 1861) is
Australia’s newest and most confronting multi-day adventure race. With equal parts
inspiration and survival, dozens braved the fierce heat and body-bashing terrain to smash
out an average of a marathon a day over six days. MF was there to capture their pain.
By Chris Ord
Photography by Jason Malouin and Chris Ord
OCTOBER 2013
MEN’S FITNESS
87
How to run a mega desert multi-day race
Top tips from Roger Hanney, veteran of numerous desert ultras.
Be organised. Test both your gear and your nutrition in training, as there’s nothing worse
than gear failing in the field. Have a system for packing your backpack and plan your
nutrition. Being an anal calorie-counter is a good thing in multi-day racing.
Consult, listen and learn from other’s mistakes. It’s much easier and quicker to learn
from those who have already got it wrong (and hurt themselves) in the desert, than go
through the time-consuming process of making mistakes yourself.
Learn from your own mistakes. You’ll still make them, even when you’ve gleaned tips
from others. This includes in training as well as in events. Make sure you note what went
wrong, what didn’t (and did) work, and implement the lessons on your next desert sojourn.
he man’s built like the proverbial brick
shithouse. And as we all know, shithouses
shouldn’t run — not more than 50 metres
and not without the intent of knocking
someone’s block off, anyway.
Yet take a look at this bloke [see picture
p.88], all 100-plus kilos of truck-driving
grunt, and wonder: what the hell is he
doing out here lumbering across a desert
with nary a goalpost, blade of pitch grass or
someone to tackle in sight, let alone a ball.
“I was sick and tired of going to
funerals,” Mark Moala says. “Heart
disease, obesity, bad eating habits,
lazy lifestyle. It’s killing too many of my
people, my community,” says the Pacific
Islander, who admits it may have killed
him too if he hadn’t come across a bunch
of crazies — or so he thought at the time —
telling the world they were about to run
250km across the Simpson Desert.
That bunch was Team Born to Run,
and Mark had met one member, Matt
Donovan, in his local gym, which had
become his first port of call in seeking
a healthier lifestyle (after all, big men
lift weights, right?).
Matt had been drafted into a madcap
scheme by his father, Greg, to take a
team of five globetrotting to knock off
the famous 4Deserts adventure runs, a
quartet of multi-day running events set in
the world’s harshest desert environments:
Gobi (China/Mongolia), Atacama (Chile),
Sahara (North Africa) and Antarctica.
The aim was to set a bunch of records —
the oldest, the youngest, the first couple,
the first father-son and the first type-1
diabetic — to complete the series. Like
Mark, the impetus for Greg was to change
lives: his youngest son, Steve, had been
diagnosed with type-1 diabetes and he was
determined to raise awareness and money
to find answers. And so Team Born To Run
was created and Matt was drafted as part
of the father-son record attempt.
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MEN’S FITNESS
OCTOBER 2013
Make mistakes on purpose . In training, go out and see how far you can run on 20g of
carbohydrate; go and see how far you can run on a hot day relying on (but carrying more
than) half a bottle of water. Getting used to the feeling and knowing what your body does
under these stresses will make you aware of what you’re capable. Although, don’t do
anything that puts you at significant risk — have a back-up on hand.
Condition yourself. Multi-day running is about preparing your body to be on your
feet for long periods and then tuning your body to recover quickly (so you can do it all
again the following day). Long, slow runs are great, and a longer, slower run the next
day is even better.
MULTI-DAY MADNESS:
Another 40km-plus day
crossing the Simpson.
“TRAINING FOR A MULTI-DAY IS ABOUT DOING
THINGS THAT HURT YOU ENOUGH TIMES SO
YOU ARE PRACTISED AT FEELING HURT AND
CAN WORK THROUGH IT.”
Fast-forward four deserts (and all those
records) later and Greg wanted a fifth
desert to conquer — something closer to
home — giving birth to the idea of his Big
Red Run across the Simpson.
And so Mark — and plenty more firsttimers like him — became ensnared in the
promotional net that challenged runners
to four marathons in four days, followed
by a double marathon distance on day
five, with a chilled incentive to push
through a final 8km to finish day six with
a cold beer outside the iconic Birdsville
Pub in outback Queensland. The irony?
To have any chance of completing the
arduous desert challenge, runners would
have to swear off beer for many months
beforehand — for this run, men would
truly have to become camels.
If it was to match the experience,
Mark’s training regimen should have
consisted of never-ending treadmill
sessions, set up in an oven, with a fan
blowing sand head-on, while someone
thrashed his legs with a thorny branch.
Alas, Australia’s desert-run training
facilities don’t yet extend to such
specialisations, and so Mark submitted
instead to regular around-the-block runs,
trying to increase his aerobic capacity
while readying his legs (and mind) for
what could be more than 20 hours at
a time on his feet.
Given that he only ever managed three
runs and a longest distance of 18km in
training, Mark essentially knew the Big
Red Run, for a fella like him, was Mission
Impossible. One set in a frying pan called
Central Australia. He’s a religious man, is
our Mark. So God help him.
Of course, he wasn’t the only one
facing up to impossibility. Sharing the
field of relentless dream-busting dunes
was a line-up of ordinary people out to
achieve extraordinary things. There was
Carmen Boulton, who, never having
run a marathon, entered in memory
of her father, who passed away from
way, four multi-day desert runs and plenty
of other ultra adventure runs besides.
When the novices such as Mark looked for
answers as to how they would finish Big
Red, Roger was the walking “been there,
done that” guide book.
“I’ve heard many powerful preachers
before,” says Mark. “But being out there
on the Big Red Run and witnessing Roger
not only preach the idea that anything is
possible, it’s just a matter of how we get it
done, but to also then put his words into
action on the sand, was powerful and
inspirational to watch.”
Roger — a type-1 diabetic used
to smashing down the barriers of
impossibility — demurs. “Everyone has
something stopping them from realising
complications from type-1 diabetes.
There was Duncan Read, a long-time
type-1 diabetic, out to show the disease is
no barrier to achievement. Belgian-New
Zealander Patrick Rousseau had signed up
to do only a 100km leg, yet got into the spirit
by running the first day’s marathon on a
warm-up whim, and went on to complete
his first, and entirely unexpected, 250km
multi-day race. Previously, he had only
ever run one road marathon.
Then, of course, there was Steven
Donovan, the inspiration behind his
father Greg moving heaven and earth to
make the Big Red Run a reality. Like Mark,
on the Monday morning, Steven had never
run a marathon. Come that evening, he
had a notch on the marathon belt, having
struggled with wavering insulin levels and
a gammy knee. Within 48 hours, he had
two marathons done and very dusted,
surpassing what many “real runners”
would aim for in an entire year. Steve
now has the equivalent of six marathons
completed within six days.
At the other end of the spectrum
from these first-timers is Roger Hanney.
Here stands a man who has conquered
challenges, stereotypes and, along the
OCTOBER 2013
MEN’S FITNESS
89
The Gear
What you need to beat the elements.
Hydro pack. Comfort and access
are the key points here. The ability
to hold lots of water (in a bladder
and in bottles) and have plenty of
accessible pockets for stashing
easy-to-get to nutrition is crucial
(if you have to take a pack off every
time you need to eat, you’ll get lazy
and not eat enough). Train in the
pack you will race in — make sure
there are no hot spots. Size will
depend on the style of race
(self-supported or aided).
Shoes. Important that you get
ones that are light, breathable,
but good at keeping out the sand
(i.e. big-holed mesh uppers are no
good). Stay away from heavy-duty
shoes lined with Gore-Tex — they’re
for cold conditions only. Grip isn’t a
huge consideration. Something such
as The North Face Ultra Guide or
Salomon’s Sense is recommended,
or given the distances, try Hoka
One One — which provides ubercushioning and protection from
the often concrete-hard and rough
desert floor.
TRUE GRIT: Mark Moala
(right) conquered weight
and dehydration problems
to finish the race.
their dreams. Or that’s the perception. For
me, it was type-1 diabetes. For Mark, it was
his weight, his eating habits, his cultural
background. For others it may have been
as simple as not seeing themselves as a
runner — you’d be amazed at how many
people don’t run just because of their
self-perception. I’ll tell you now, most of
those out running around the Simpson
Desert were ‘non-runners’ when they
began their journey.
“That’s the great thing about multidays — they seem like such a big deal,
such a huge, adventurous feat… but all
it takes for any ordinary individual to
complete one is one step — the first step.”
For Mark, that first step was away from
another friend’s grave, although he freely
admits he should have taken more steps
— training steps — before fronting up to
Birdsville. “My first run was sparked by
what many blokes would understand —
a blue with my wife. I got some water and
ran around Centennial Park in Sydney.”
A shift-working truck driver with
five kids, Mark found little time for the
requisite big runs he should have been
pounding out to prepare his body.
“I managed one 18km run, but struggled,”
he says. “While I was doubled over,
Five Big Desert Multi-days
Cash in your annual leave and find out if you’ve the ticker to smash these monsters.
250km
Big Red Run
Simpson
Desert,
Australia;
July 2014
bigredrun.
com.au/
90
165km
Marathon
Oman
Bidayat
Desert, Oman;
9-15 November,
2013
marathon
oman.com/
en.html
MEN’S FITNESS
250km
The Ultimate
Desert Ultra
Namib Desert,
Namibia;
15-20
November, 2013
beyondthe
ultimate.co.uk/
desert-ultra.
asp
OCTOBER 2013
240km
Marathon
Des Sables
Sahara Desert,
Morocco;
April 2014
marathon
dessables.
co.uk
225km
Gobi Desert
Challenge
Gobi Desert,
Mongolia;
June/July (TBC)
2014
sand-baggers.
com/gobi_
challenge.html
another runner
came past and
told me to ‘try to
get consecutive
days of running
in’. It didn’t
help much
at the time,
but it was
my first sense
of belonging
in the running
community and
a taste of the amazing
camaraderie that I was to
experience in the ultra
community.”
Mark managed
another 16km effort,
but otherwise relied
only on a few CrossFit
training sessions — his
exercise of choice prior
to becoming a runner.
Training tally? Three runs
totaling less than 50km. No
wonder the spectre of 250km
had the big fella trembling on
the start line in Birdsville.
Even so, Mark had hurt in
training, and that’s what it’s
about, Roger reckons. “Training
for a multi-day is about doing
things that hurt you enough times
so you are practised at feeling
Gators. Yes, to keep the sand out,
but also, in the case of the Simpson,
to keep shin- and calf-shredding
thorn bushes at bay. Moxie does a
great line in comfortable, lightweight
and breathable gators to protect
lower legs and also does a line of
X, which needs to be velcroed onto
your shoe, but once on, keeps the
grains of sand at bay.
Headwear No one wants to look like
a French Legionnaire, but the desert
soldiers wore those daggy-looking
flap hats in the dunes of Africa for
good reason: they keep you alive.
Keeping the head cool and sunburn
at bay is a priority out there. Worth
committing the fashion faux-pas on
this one.
Buffs. A great bit of lightweight kit
that works to protect the neck from
sunburn. Use as a sweat band and
as a beanie when the temperatures
drop at night. Stick over the mouth
and nose when the sand storm
comes a-calling.
Nutrition. It all depends on the
style of event (carry all your own
gear or supported), but you have
to be mindful of the huge mount of
calories you’ll need to push through
a multi-day and that you won’t feel
like eating. Pack food that’s high
in calories, that you know you can
ingest in bite-sized pieces when
weary without wanting to chuck it up
again. Test your gels and electrolyte
mix before heading into the desert.
Needs to be lightweight too.
FROM BREAKING POINT TO BIRDSVILLE
Clockwise from top left: Pat Farmer gees up the troops; bad to the bone in the Simpson; multi-day old hand Roger
Hanney; the Birdsville pub; Mark Moala and Matt Donovan; Red Run founder Greg Donovan and son Steve.
hurt and can work through it.
“You have to be used to running
dehydrated, overheated, starving, tired,
running through the night when your
digestive system is shutting down — but
you keep on going.
“There’s truth for multi-day runners
in a saying I heard that gold medal
performances aren’t about winning
things; gold medal performances are
about doing the best you can given what
you have got in you on any given day.”
After six days gutsing it out, Mark Moala
crossed the line in last place and was
quickly mobbed by media and supporters.
His was a gold medal performance. “I told
myself either run, walk or crawl. But I was
going to complete this race.”
Legendary ultra adventure runner
Pat Farmer — known for running from
the North Pole to the South Pole — bearhugged Mark at the finish. “You’re my
hero, mate. You inspire me,” he said.
As event ambassador, Pat had joined
the fray every day, setting out on foot
from checkpoints, heading across the
plains to cajole and encourage those
flagging. He spent the penultimate
84km day with Mark; the legend and the
legend-to-be leaning on faith and passages
of verse (and likely a few famous Pat
Farmer quotes) to pull Mark back from
the brink of quitting.
The pair eventually lumbered into
the final night’s camp under the glare of
bobbing head torches and to the tune of
Chariots of Fire at four in the morning,
22 hours after setting off. Both were silent,
exhausted and broken, but content in
the knowledge that Mark would indeed
achieve the seemingly impossible the
following day.
And while Roger’s practical advice
on how to approach your first multiday desert run should well be heeded,
Mark knows that there is another, more
important factor: a heart as big your
waistline used to be. ª
OCTOBER 2013
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