Work Off Christmas 🎄 Lunch - Fancy an Everest ⛰Challenge?💪🏽

I first heard of Everesting through some of my colleagues attempting this in Hong Kong. It is a challenge initiated by Hells 500 and involves reaching the Everest height in vertical gain, 8848m for a full Everest or 4424m for the climb to Base Camp. The mountains in HK are magnificent, and the inclines are unrelenting, so I could see how this was enticing.

My first thought was the trek up to Cloudy Hill when I was last in HK, featuring a 396m elevation gain over 3km (13% gradient). I put that in the back of my mind thinking how hardcore these Asian Trail Girls were for tackling such a challenge! Then following the 2021 BTU in July, I saw La Sportiva athlete Mick Keyte’s Everesting Pegana 10k-ing aka BTU FOMO run. That looked crazy! Yet amazing. Fast forward to November, and the word Everesting came up in a conversation with La Sportiva athlete Hayley Teale (BTU 110km winner 2020) & Sheree Rowling (BTU legend & BTU pacer). Wow, my initial thought was, yeah, nope.. hmm, why not? Haha, was I easily led? I figured - third time is a calling, so from an initial conversation to the reality of the attempt was a short 4 weeks.  

The preparations required us to find a track that would fit all the criteria for Everest, and in the end, we chose the Python Track, Mt Coot-Tha. This is the first trail climb in the Brisbane Trail Ultra 10km and 30km course. This track is 1.23km long with a vertical gain of 180m (14.5% gradient) and meant a trek to Base Camp would be 25 laps (67km up and down), and a full Everest would be 50 laps (cumulative 124km). 

Energy Tree! Red Bull Energy tree!

Thanks to Red Bull Australia, we were stocked up with an assortment of Red Bull Energy Original, Summer Edition & Tropical Edition. As Jen from Red Bull was so super speedy in making sure the Everesters were looked after, I had the pleasure of having the cans on display for Xmas.

Summer in Brisbane is hot and humid. Additional strains on the body needed to be accounted for, along with the distance and elevation itself required strategic thought.

Hammer Endurolyte caps & fizz, Anti-fatigue caps, Perpetuem and Tropical Gel, are always my go-to. Along with frozen coconut water and some ginger biscuits, and rice crackers. I'm ready to go.

Gear? I had trialed the La Sportiva Karacal, Jackal, Bushido IIs, and Helios SRs on the trail during training runs. Due to the weather conditions, I decided to start in the Bushido IIs, taking the Helios SR and Ultra Raptors with me. Hayley decided to start in the La Sportiva Akasha and had her Ultra Raptors handy. I always prefer sleeves for summer and decided on a T8 shirt and shorts. As my T8 order arrived just in time from Endurance Edge, I had the fantastic red T8 shorts for the day.

Susannah Harvey-Jaimeson, (AAA Racing, BTU legend, CP4 & BTU 100miler), Lisa O'Brien, (BTU 110km & BTU 30km)and I started at midnight, while Neil McNeil (trail legend) had already been going since the evening prior and clocked 3400m before heading off to a busy day! Hayley joined in on the fun just before sunrise.

Neil, me, Susannah & Lisa for a midnight photo at the top of Python Track, Mt Coot-Tha

We were blown away by the support we received. Cheryl (AAA Racing and BTU CP 4 legend) came out at midnight and kept us company for five laps. Jane, Leah & Michelle (Amazing Bunya Belles and BTU CP1 team) joined us in the morning for a couple of laps; Bunyaville Trail Runners Alec (BTU 100 mile finisher 2021) and Darren (BTU 30km 2019 and BTU legend) kept us company for five laps. Noelis Rheault (BTU 100 mile winner 2020) came out to do a fast half marathon, Jess Schluter (BTU 110km winner 2021) came out with her beautiful four-legged running buddy, and Jodie Oborne (BTU all-round legend and MC) with a massive 11 laps. It was also super-exciting to see Marta & Eugeni (BTU volunteer legends) out on the trails.

I expected a tough challenge, and it definitely was that.. I felt good for the first eight or so hours. And then the heat and humidity crept in. I kept a log of the temp and relative humidity. On looking back at the data now, they did play a huge part in sapping out a lot of energy. The most difficult part was keeping up with nutrition as the temperature progressively moved up to 34degC. All I felt like was fluid. Thankfully, we had Red Bull ad libitum at the top in an ice-cold cooler. I had my Hammer endurolyte capsules and Hammer Fizz to keep the electrolytes in. As I found it difficult to stomach solids during this period, I diluted the equivalent of 10 tropical gels in one liter of water. I sipped it, alternating between a gel flask 1:10 dilution, Red Bull 1:1 dilution, and fizz with the standard two endurolyte extreme capsules per hour during the heat.

container left at the top of the climb

During the heat, fatigue started to set in, and as always, Gill Davison (BTU legend & legend in general) turned up to help get me through some tough laps. Leigh Richmond (BTU legend & CP 5 manager) arrived just before the first downpour. The rain cooled it right down for a short time before the humidity got us again. I was starting to feel it at this time. Twelve hours in and huge fluctuating temperatures made it difficult on the body.

Alun Davies (AAA Racing & Coaching & CP4) and Leigh popped their heads in as we shuffled down to the bottom. Thanks for the ice and sparkling water, Alun! The following lap was tough, and I decided to change from the La Sportiva Bushido IIs to the Helios SRs for a short period of dry feet. As I was changing shoes at the bottom, Suzanne Chatterton (BTU legend) turned up with a cooler of goodies. She hiked up to the top with me, just in time for a 2nd huge downpour. We hid behind the BBQ as the wind and rain swept in, which gave me an excellent opportunity to refuel. That rockmelon hit the spot.

As we all passed each other on the trails again, it was agreed that it was best for all of us to call it at the half Everest. We would all finish at around the same time. I think my legs were relatively happy with this decision, with the last three laps being an awkward shuffle—all up for me, just over 18 hours, 67km, and 4424m elevation.

The most memorable part of the entire experience was the support we received from fellow trail lovers for what started as a bit of banter. The support from Red Bull Australia (thank you for the wings!!), Brisbane City Council (thank you for keeping the toilets open for us!!) and from all our family and friends that were out there cheering us on during the heat, wind, and rain.

This experience highlights the fantastic trail running community in South East Queensland. A particular thanks must go to La Sportiva Australia athlete, Hayley Teale & Sheree Rowling for coming up with such an idea close to Christmas. Thank you, Susannah, for always being a catalyst for crazy ideas and Lisa for always supporting me.

We are looking forward to the next challenge! Shona, we’ll make sure it’s time you’re around as I know you had just a little bit of FOMO!

Happy Trails

Cora