We protect what we love

FRIDAY . 09 . 07 . 21 .

Good morning! 😊

In this week's edition of the FWP newsletter, we’re introducing you to the Simpson Desert Ultra (SDU) - Australia’s newest ultra marathon event. With an average annual rainfall of 150mm, temperature highs of 50 degrees in summer, heatwaves common during winter and large sand storms a frequent occurrence, the Simpson Desert is a hostile environment - perfect for ultra marathon runners to challenge themselves (because running more than 42.2kms isn’t challenging enough).

Intrigued? Read on to learn a little more about the SDU, including a wonderful race report from 100km finisher and friend of FWP, Julie Steele.

THE SIMPSON DESERT ULTRA

The Simpson Desert Ultra* is one of Australia’s newest ultra marathons and, as the name suggests, takes place in Australia’s Outback - the Simpson Desert. 

The Simpson Desert crosses the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland borders, covering an area of 176, 500 sq kms, and the event takes place near Birdsville in south west Queensland. Participants traverse a variety of terrains from sand dunes** to rocky gibber plains, offering each participant the opportunity to immerse themselves in a unique part of the Australian landscape and truly test their limits.

There's no place like the Simpson Desert.

Source: Simpson Desert Ultra IG

The event was established by Jenna Brook - a Birdsville local who has a passion for showing others how beautiful and inhospitable the desert can be. The SDU was inspired by her time as a volunteer for the Big Red Run - Jenna became a self-appointed “Campsite Cheer Coordinator” and loved that she was able to make a positive difference to each participants’ experience. Jenna’s positive vibes and energy penetrate the SDU experience, and offer every participant an awkwardly-long finish line hug (which is non-negotiable).

It’s not just bragging rights that the finishes of the ultra events (50, 75 and 100km events) get to take home. The SDU has partnered with local Indigenous artists to provide all finishers of the ultras with a unique memento of their achievement - a hand-painted mug. These paintings tell the stories of the Wangkangurru Yarluyandi people, who are the traditional custodians of the land on which the event takes place.

Commissioned local Birdsville artists hand-painting enamel mugs for every finisher of the SDU.

Source: Simpson Desert Ultra IG

Julie Steele is a friend of FWP and one of 12 finishers from 41 participants who set out on 5th June 2021 to tackle the 100km event. Below is a snapshot of Julie’s race report.

*Information about this event was sourced from the Simpson Desert Ultra website.

**Fun fact: the Simpson Desert contains the world's longest parallel sand dunes, which vary in height from 3 to 30 meters

JULIE'S RACE REPORT

Full race report is available on the Simpson Desert Ultra’s Facebook page

The SDU was an epic adventure and one that I will cherish for life. In our distinctive “Bear Grylls” (aka Bear Rentals) 4WD, off to Birdsville we headed for our 26 day outback adventure.

The set-up

The SDU took place at Jenna's family cattle station, and the 100km course consisted of four 25km loops. Each loop branched out from a central race hub, like flower petals, with each loop offering a fully stocked mid-way checkpoint and two additional emergency checkpoints. The central hub was party central, offering music, munchies and a medical team.

SDU race course. Source: Simpson Desert Ultra IG

A unique but challenging twist to SDU was that participants had to choose their own start time. You calculated this time based on trying to complete your race distance before 2pm on Sunday. Because this was the inaugural event, there were no previous times to consider making the start time decision extremely difficult.

After much anguish, I took Jenna’s advice to back myself and start at 8.00 pm on Saturday 5 June, hoping I had given myself plenty of time to complete each loop. Selecting an appropriate start time was the undoing of many faster runners because everyone, including me, underestimated just how tough this course was and how long it would take to complete each 25 km loop.

The terrain

Put simply, it was brutal. Each loop consisted of flat claypans, punctuated with random cattle hoof imprints and knee-deep holes that claimed the legs of many runners.

There were notorious vast gibber plains comprised of thousands of ancient volcanic rounded red rocks designed to roll unsuspecting ankles. And that sand - endless dunes composed of fine red sand that kept giving way under your feet, providing a precarious and unstable surface – no compacted sand out here. Traversing along the tops of those dunes, especially in the depths of night with the wind whistling across the peaks and navigating around the unexpectedly dense vegetation was a relentless challenge. We were rewarded, however, with absolutely stunning outback desert vistas.

Julie in the bottom right corner

My race

I started my adventure at 7.30 pm with two other women, Row and Sandi, but we each settled into our own pace within the first few hundred metres. I ran the first loop predominantly by myself in the pitch black, with very little light offered by a new moon. Instead, I was kept company by a blanket of brilliant stars and tiny native mice that scurried between my feet, startled by the headlamp light. The iridescent glow of pairs of green spider eyes lit by my headlamp and weaving across the sandy surface was mesmerising. Although I could hear distant dingo howls, they kept their distance. Running alone for so long was initially a little daunting, but I soon realised how privileged I was to be able to savour the solitude of the desert. The image of that single star shooting across the desert sky is etched in my mind forever.

Each participant was provided with a hand-written note, inside a Dr. Seuss book, from RD Jenna

I started the second loop relatively strongly, having found a rhythm to navigate the gibbers and claypan holes. However, things started to go astray, with my legs refusing to do much more than a shuffle on the soft sand.

The third loop also took longer than anticipated, and I was now concerned I might not make the 2pm Sunday deadline. However, this was the loop during which the sun rose across crystal clear skies, gradually warming the air and making marker identification more straightforward. I could finally remove that annoying headlamp and navigate by daylight.

Coming into the race hub just before 9.00 am, the ever-smiling Jenna greeted me. Jenna, dismissed my 2pm deadline fears, telling me to “high-tail it” out onto that final loop and “just do it”. Although the final loop was relatively “kinder” from a technical perspective, the heat from the beating sun replaced the night-time coolness and the swarms of flies had become so thick that, after swallowing a couple, I donned that essential fly net, not wanting to consume anymore “protein”. 

Continuous encouragement from other participants motivated me to keep moving across that penultimate expansive gibber plain. After scrambling up that final sand dune down and excitedly sighting the race hub, I crossed the finish line to clanging cowbells at 1.58 pm. I have never felt so emotional at seeing a finish line, being greeted with a huge hug.

Post race reflection

We really can go places we never thought possible. The unique finishers mug is such a unique and stunning race memento that will be proudly displayed at home!

As an indication of just how tough SDU is, of the 41 starters in the 100 km event, only 12 completed the entire distance and only 6 of those finished before 2pm. Although SDU is much more about the challenge and adventure than winning, I was shocked to find I had shuffled my way to the 2nd fastest time overall, despite being much slower than anticipated (18 hours 26 minutes). Stubbornness, not speed, is my strength, although I will sacrifice two toenails on each foot to the run. The ever-smiling Mindy Durdin took the 100km win in 16 hours 21 minutes. She floated past me while traversing a Loop 2 dune, making it look effortless while she espoused continuous words of encouragement. SDU 2021 was one for the women!

If you are looking for an adventure to challenge you both mentally and physically, I strongly recommend you consider experiencing SDU yourself. An enormous thanks must go to Jenna and her team of passionate volunteers who worked tirelessly in the lead up to and during this unique event. SDU was impeccably organised. Jenna’s attention to detail was meticulous – I have never seen a race director care so openly for every participant.

FIND OUT MORE

More information about the SDU can be found on the website, Facebook page or Instagram account.

If you’re not quite convinced about participating in the event, but still want to experience the spectacle, we encourage you to inquire about volunteering. Volunteers are the cornerstone of all running events, and the SDU is no exception. More information about volunteering can be found here.

And finally..

THE 'HEAL COUNTRY' VIRTUAL RUN

It's NAIDOC Week and all week, the FWP community have been participating in HEAL COUNTRY - a virtual running event organised by the legends at Clothing the Gaps Foundation. It's been awesome to see our community acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands they love to explore, and reflect on how we can all be better custodians for this incredibly country we call home.

While you're out and about over the weekend, we would love to see what Country you're running/walking/cycling on - be sure to tag @forwildplaces so we can share your Country with others.

Have a wonderful weekend folks.

And as always, thank you for taking the time for wild places

Julie, Elanor & the For Wild Places crew.

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We acknowledge the the First Nations people who have been custodians of land, waters and culture for tens of thousands of years. We pay respects to First Nations Elders past, present and emerging.

We acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the lands where this newsletter was written.

Always was, always will be.

By For Wild Places

We're a group of adventurers who love to

protect wild places we run on