Runner Libby Oakley relives her adventure at the 2024 Unreasonable E.A.S.T 200 miler, recapping a sleepless run, hallucinations, and getting lost in the wilderness.
20 August 2024 – Far North Queensland: Five days, five nights. To save you any suspense, I finished under cut-off, in 118 hours and 15 minutes. This is my longest ultra to date, having done 352.9km at 9,892m elevation. Yipee!
I loved the finish line. It felt amazing with tears, happiness, but then the downer, off to Atherton emergency for immersion injury (trench foot). Not celebrating with my friends but sitting in bed, with a medal around my neck, waiting to hear the verdict from the doctor.
My absolute single mindedness to finish this event nearly got me in trouble as I left my feet wet almost the whole time. You would think I would know better. I’m recovering well, but these events always give you more than you bargain for.
A 200-Mile Odyssey Begins
The start and prep were super fun as always. I ran well the first day and put in! I don’t usually run most of 60k, so it was a good day. Starting off with participants Gayle and Darlene, I really enjoyed the chatter and excitement through the first climbs and aid stations. It is always great getting to know how people run. I kept up with the pack for most of the way to Kuranda, only doing a slight ‘town tour’ on the way into the Kuranda aid station. It was very hot and humid, then very wet (for the next 24 hours); it was difficult to use a phone or map so for the first time in a race I was glad for my watch map.
I left with runners Gene and Suki, and off we went to the ridiculous mud tracks and Speewah. I felt worse here and laid down in the carpark dying for a minute or so, then got up and moved onto Davies. This was an obstacle course, but fun and it had dried up a bit before we arrived.
Mud, Heat, and the First Low Points
It was hot now and I was feeling low and lethargic; most likely from a big previous day with no calorie replacement. I had tried a few lollies, a cliff bar, half a cup of soup at Kuranda and Speewah, but that was it. At Davies aid station, I saw runners Sym and Lucy head off to Turtle Rock. Duc and Oliver were there, and Tristan and Simon and a couple of other runners. I had a short rest before the horrible, relentless mountain bike loops. I was definitely in a low.
Two cups of tomato soup helped, and I headed off to Turtle Rock with Gayle. This was lovely but she had done it a few hours ago, in error, so had an unfair advantage. Even knew where the toilets were.
Onto Turtle Rock and the second night. I ate well here for the first time. Suki, Gayle and I headed off to Varch Creek, which was a very wet, technical obstacle course. However, it was a long night as Gayle powered on and Suki was a bit down, relying on my headlight. I remained positive for the climb, but then was tired on the never-ending Edith Rd and onto Kauri Creek. My phone was out of charge and so wet, and when I plugged it in, I got nothing. No phone equalled no map. Luckily I blew on the connection and somehow dried it out.
Sleepless Nights and Feet Trouble
Kauri was great, but when I laid down to sleep, I simply couldn’t. There was too much pain from my feet, so sat there sulking for a short time before getting up to do the loop. I found a bag of salt tabs someone had dropped, and tried them. My mood was turning around, and I moved on with gusto.
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Onto Tinaroo, with my stomach settling, but the bitumen was aggravating my feet. The climb was painful, and then I kicked something and felt my big toe nail avulse. Groovy.
On the way into Tinaroo a group of seven-year-olds and their teachers were crossing the road and called out to me. He was saying (RD) Shaun had told them about the event and they started clapping. One girl then said “she’s got blood running down her legs!” I replied “It’s ok, it’s not much, just from the leeches.” The clapping stopped. You can’t fool kids.
My feet had started to become a real issue at this point, and I was having three paracetamol every few hours. I re-taped my feet, and the pain dissipated.
Onwards and Upwards
Onto Walkamin in the late afternoon of Thursday, with Peter for company was great. I laid down for an hour, but it wasn’t much, so off I trundled to Billycart Brewery. Cameron, a 100 miler, caught up with me and said I was basically walking all over the place. I was in my own little world, but luckily he escorted me into Atherton with entertaining stories.
On arrival around 5.30am Friday, I was pretty hungry! I asked Matt to make a toasty with as much butter and cheese as possible, plus sauerkraut. AMAZING. I then had a 12 minute nap, and Shaun unceremoniously woke me so Peter could sleep. I caught up with runners Bianca, Sue and Kate who were on a 100-miler mission.
Then I was off to Herberton, quite happy, applying sunscreen, charging my Coros, just in case. Doing my housekeeping before settling in for the day. The ladies passed me, and I enjoyed the climb and had a 5-minute sleep in the pretty wildflowers near one of the peaks. It turned into a sleepy afternoon, predictably, with me feeling low and unmotivated again. I listened to a trail running podcast to wake up and luckily Peter came by, with an increasingly sore ankle, and we headed off to Herberton together.
Battling Pain, Injury and Hallucinations
Into Wild River aid station, and I really enjoyed the hospitality of Heather and Eric. I was running out of paracetamol here and Heather, kindly giving me a couple, was alarmed at how much I was taking. I understood, in my medical mind, but my stubborn mind differed. This is probably where my wheels began to fall off and things began to go badly.
I didn’t read the blurb and headed off the wrong way for the loop. Fortunately, someone had said the river crossing was at 19.5k into the 20k loop, and here I was crossing it. I then met Mindy, a 100 miler, who turned me around. Costly mistake avoided. I was alone but this is always how my hallucinations start. So two poles in the ground to haul up some hills, which was good for me as it kept me awake. I was talking to people at this stage (although it was no one, of course).
I actually did ok and finished at 2.30am, despite my confused state, but then wasted 3 hours because I couldn’t move forward in any organised fashion and ended up telling someone off who was curled up on the ground. I was encouraging them to get up, keep going and cross the river which was only around the corner and a short trek to the aid station. In the end, obviously, the person on the ground was me!
Eventually, I got up and crossed the river, which was not that bad after all.
The Wild River Spiral
Back at Wild River, I signed myself in and out at 5.24am, and didn’t take any food. I really had no idea. I had no paracetamol left, and bad foot pain. It’s amazing how the body and brain still regulates bad pain. My tracker apparently froze here too, and there was lots of rain forest and leeches again. Finally, I got onto a drier track and the undulations where I received my first phone call asking me if I was okay. I was totally unaware of the issue and close to Herberton aid now.
I enjoyed being looked after by the volunteers at Herberton. A quick sleep, some beef stew and hashbrowns, and I was off to Peter Road, down the train line. Once I got there, I declined the tequila (good move) and left.
Lost in the Darkness
I was soon joined by my imaginary friends, showing me their trails at night on Saturday, but in a moment of clarity, I was lost. I got out my compass on my phone and started to head west, and found a marker. I moved on well here for a time but had alerted Doug to ring Karin to tell her to pick me up on the way home!
They caught up with me, thank goodness and we did the last massive stair climb up Mt Baldy, together. It was dark, wet, and slippery but the three of us had it under control. It was a highlight of the whole run, after 300+ kms.
Down onto the golf course and I rang Duc, Oliver and Ed in a group call, and they said there was only two hours to go – it was 7am Sunday.
I never felt in danger of cut off, so that was nice for me this time.
The Final Push to the Finish
I had a moment here, and left the two ladies. I desperately wanted sixth place and felt bad at the time but still had energy to power up the hills and jog a tiny bit.
The end felt fabulous, and I couldn’t hold back the tears. I would re-live that day any day, despite what happened afterwards. I had conquered my fears. The hugs from Sym, Gayle, Oliver, Duc , Shaun and Peter were amazing. We had all done it!
Then Matt sat me down and the rest was, well, you know that part.
A huge thanks to my running buddies and sharing of your crew. A big thanks to the medics, Matt and Kath, for looking after me when I did not look after myself. Finally, massive thanks to Oliver and Duc, Sym, Gayle, Ed and Peter, for looking after me at the end and helping me get home.
