Journey to 100 Miles - GSER PART ONE

By Rob Martin

They say that the longest journey begins with a footstep, but I thought I’d begin with a blog post!

I’m Rob & I’m one of the co-founders of Run Vault – I’m also a passionate runner with many years of experience running ultra distance events up to 100Kms, as well three successful attempts at 3 Marathons in 3 Days in Cairns.

But, with all the half marathons, full marathons, trail races, 50K & 100K races in Australia & overseas, I’ve never run 100 Miles. (This equates to 162kms).

This year, 2021, that’s going to change!

I’ve signed up to run the Great Southern Endurance Run to be held in mid-November 2021 in the Victorian Alps, one of the toughest 100 Mile races in the Southern Hemisphere.

I know the area, and I’ve paced my good mate John Kilkelly for 85km’s though some of the most difficult sections of the course back in 2017 when he conquered the inaugural event, which was then a point-to-point race from Mt Buller to Bright.

It’s now an out & back course that starts & finishes in Harrietville.

Things haven’t got off to a great start – I had planned to run The Guzzler 100K event this year as a training run, having completed it in 2020 & feeling that I could have done better.

However, an injury sustained after not resting sufficiently after completing the Brisbane Trail Marathon this year has seen me side-lined for a while & now out of time.

The Guzzler is off the menu for this year, but if I can get prepared in time I'm planning to run the inaugural Cairns To Port Douglas Ultra 120K race in August with John. Then I will shift all my focus to GSER in November.

I’ve enlisted Jamie Hunter, my co-founder of Run Vault, and Head Coach of Run Vault Performance to guide me on this journey.

I’m not one to ever do strength & conditioning as part of my training, but Jamie assures me that I’ll be doing it now! I’m super excited – NOT!

My plan is to take you all along on the journey of a typical mid-pack runner as I train for a distance I’ve never conquered before, battle potential injuries, and adapt to a new style of training under the watchful eye of my coach & business partner – this should be interesting!

I’ve received the all-clear from my podiatrist to start running again (alternating days for now with not too much pace or vert) – hopefully things will go well & I can slowly build my running volume again & stay uninjured.

My plan is to update you all every couple of weeks as things unfold, but if you want anything more specific or have questions, please hit me up on the Run Vault socials or at rob@runvault.com.au.

Until then, here's a few photos of John and myself at GSER in 2017 - what a race!

Happy running!

Rob