Cruising Sinister 50-miler

 I first ran the Sinister 50 miler back in 2023  as preparation for The Divide 200. I'd done lots of hill running, I'd been out to the mountains to get some elevation training, and I felt confident of a good run, setting a goal of a 12 hour finish and came away with a 12.03 and a place on the podium. It was a tough race with plenty of climbing on some pretty technical trails, but I absolutely loved it and had every intention of going back. One year later I did go back, this time to tackle the 100-miles, but unlike the previous year, I had barely done any trail running let alone lots of hills. 2024 saw me DNF at the 100 miler, simply because I went into the race completely unprepared. Last year, I did the 50km event and once again, it was extremely tough with tons of climbing considering this is one of the shorter distances available. I think it took me 8 hours to complete - maybe a little longer - but despite it taking much longer than I had anticipated, I felt like I'd had a decent run and had handled both the heat and the climbs relatively well.

2026 saw Sinister once again on my race calendar - I'd registered for the 50-miler, and this time, I would be running the race with my good friend Barb. Having already experienced the course 3 years ago, I knew exactly what to expect. Barb meanwhile was unfamiliar with things, we didn't want to put a ton of pressure on ourselves, and our main goal was to get around safely and finish within the 24 hour time limit. We felt that this was quite generous and we could do that at a fast walk, but we hoped to run as much as possible and we both felt that 18 hours was more likely, even with the climbs and the sometimes quite technical terrain.

Barb has her own story to tell about this race and I'm sure she'll share things from her perspective if asked, but one thing I do know is that she was incredibly nervous, not necessarily of the event or the course or the distance, but more because she was worried about letting me down. That would never happen, and I tried to reassure her that whether we finished or not, so long as we gave things our best shot, there would be no disappointment whatsoever - I'm not sure if it worked or not, but regardless, Barb and I lined up on that start line together that Saturday morning, ready to spend a day in the mountains.

This year, the start had been moved to the York Creek Staging area just outside of town. I much preferred this as it got us onto the trails pretty quickly, and the views were already magnificent. A later start time of 10.30am meant that things were already starting to warm up, and we both knew that good hydration would be crucial for a successful finish. I was carrying 2 litres of liquid, a mix of electrolytes and water, and I was also sure to have salt tablets with me just in case. A mix of gels, biscuits, jelly sweets, Mars bars and crisps made up my on-the-go buffet, and I was hopeful that this would keep me fuelled for the duration of the race. With aid stations and checkpoints also on course, I was planning to take advantage of them too, grabbing any nibbles or drinks that would give me a change in flavour. One of the things I have learnt with my nutrition in recent races is that the nausea and vomiting is usually caused by dehydration, and I also need to ensure that I have some solid foods in my stomach around my usual mealtimes during a race, otherwise I get chronic tummy ache and terrible gas that becomes very uncomfortable.

Our amazing husbands Andy and Jimmy were there to support and crew us for the race, and having grabbed a coffee from Tim's, they accompanied us to the start, providing moral support where needed, and making sure they had all the information they needed for when we saw them at the aid station in a few hours. It would be a good 25 miles - potentially 5+ hours - before we would see them, and after the hugs and good luck wishes, they headed back to the camp area to await our arrival, whilst we made our way to start line gantry.

There was a superb turnout for the 50 miler and we positioned ourselves around about the middle of the pack at the start line. As the starting gun sounded, we started to shuffle forwards, taking a couple of hundred yards before we actually started to run. The pace felt a little quick to me, and I was sure to ease back and stick to my 10 to 11 minutes miles as I took my time on the trails. I was walking the inclines whereas many others were running, but I knew that I needed to save some energy for those climbs much later on in the race.

As soon as we'd cleared the trees, the views opened up and we had the most incredible views of the surrounding mountains. Barb and I were running comfortably, chattering every so often, but enjoying being out on the trails more than anything. Plenty of runners were passing us, but with a fair few miles still ahead of us, we really weren't too concerned when it felt like we were right at the back of the pack.

Having ran the 50 miler before, I knew what lay ahead, and I tried so hard not to spoil things for Barb by telling her too much of what was to come. There were certain sections on leg 4 that I remembered exceptionally well - the short, steep, gravelly downhill where staying upright was difficult if running too fast, the small river crossing at the bottom, the steep climb back up into the forest, the magnificent, powerful waterfall, and then the undulating double wide track that was home to lots of flies thanks to the cows that passed through. Some sections seemed much shorter and less steep than I remembered, but then maybe I was better trained this time, much stronger, if somewhat slower than I used to be.

Although we had agreed to run together, there wasn't constant chatter, and we both ran in companionable silence, not feeling pressured in to having constant conversations. Sometimes Barb would be ahead of me, sometimes I would be ahead, but we were both conscious of waiting for each other, checking on each other, ensuring we were eating and drinking, and everything felt ok. 

The course for the 50 miler includes just the latter half of leg 4 and I think it's only about 12km before reaching the main aid station. We'd reckoned on about 90 minutes to get there, but we arrived well ahead of schedule despite us taking things relatively easy. Things were already heating up, I was dripping with sweat, and I'd been drinking quite a lot to make sure I avoided getting dehydrated so a quick nip to the loo was required. I also wanted to be sure I topped up my water bottles for the next stage which was a much longer section, refilling things with plain water and Tailwind. I haven't used Tailwind for quite some time, preferring Skratch for my electrolyte choice of drink, but having drank all my own drinks, I had to use what was on offer - thankfully it didn't cause me any problems, although later on, I did switch to just water and salt tablets - but the Tailwind did upset Barb's tummy later on which slowed her down for a short while, before bouncing back and feeling full of energy again. Beside the drinks, I also took some crisps (or chips as they call them over here), and grabbed some watermelon with some salt on it, which was so refreshing on a hot day. I was a little concerned that the watermelon might cause me problems - I'd eaten some at Survivorfest a few years back, I was sick, and haven't touched it since, but today it felt like the right thing to have, and I was relieved that it didn't cause me any problems.

Leaving the aid station, I knew we now had a couple of miles on road. This was where I had DNF'd at the 100 miler a couple of years ago as the thought of running up the road at the time just wasn't appealing. Barb had gone ahead whilst I was restocking my food and drinks, but I was running a fairly decent pace, and I gradually caught her as we reached the busy main road crossing. That road crossing is scary as there is so much traffic, some drivers not expecting runners to be playing chicken trying to cross the road. We must have waited a good 5 minutes or more before we could cross safely, by which time there were about 10 of us huddled in the shoulder, hoping we didn't trip and fall when we had the opportunity to go for it.

Running on a gravel pathway up the next road section felt much longer than I remembered, but we were still moving well, we were in good spirits, and were feeling good. Now that we were sopping wet with sweat, the bugs were definitely bugging us, and it was getting quite tedious swatting them away when we hit the trees and bushy sections.

Leg 5 is not my favourite, but the middle section through the forests is very pretty. Before hitting the forest trails,  there are a few short, steep inclines to tackle. I recalled these going on for quite some time, up and down, up and down, passing alongside a meadow between the trees. Today though, we seemed to get through them much more quickly, and they didn't seem quite as bad as I remembered. It was at this point where the Tailwind was starting to take effect on Barb. Her legs were feeling great, she was in a great spot mentally, but her tummy just was not happy. She continued running for a short time, hopped in a bush, did what she had to do, and then boom! She was a beast again!

The forest section was just as lush and green as I remembered. The trees provided us with some much needed shade again the glaring sun, whilst the tropical looking undergrowth made things feel damp and cooler. A couple of years ago, this trail was muddy as hell, but today, it was pretty dry and quite dusty in parts which meant we could at least see all the tree roots that had been hidden in the quagmire in previous years. Although I like this section previously, today I struggled a little and I knew it was because I hadn't eaten enough, and also because it was far hillier and much longer than I remembered. I knew there was a long downhill at some point, and every time we hit a downhill I thought that was the one, but for some reason, it felt like that forest was never ending today.

A few groups of runners caught us up as we made our way along the trail, we chatted briefly, and then we played cat and mouse with them for a few miles. We finally made our breakaway when we hit that long downhill - both Barb's legs and my own were ready to go!, but we were sure to stop to snap a couple of pictures as we admired the views.

We eventually arrived at the checkpoint where we once again refilled our drinks and grabbed some food to nibble on. The next stretch included the quad trails, and I really wasn't looking forward to it. It was hot, dusty, noisy, hilly, and we had to do it twice. I hated it last time, and the thought of doing it again now just was not appealing. Yet those quad trails weren't as bad as I recalled. Sure, they were dusty and hilly, but there weren't as many people out there today and it was relatively quiet. Barb and I had fallen in to our comfortable running pace, we'd zoned out, and were just following the runners ahead. I remembered that we turned right off the trail at some point, so when we made a right turn, I didn't think too much of it. We ended up sliding down a really steep hill, a bunch of other runners following us, but we couldn't see any race flagging. It was then we realised we had turned too soon and had to scramble our way back up the terribly steep hill, covered in dust and dirt.

Back on track again, we had to go down another incredibly steep hill that had a stream crossing at the bottom. It wasn't particularly technical, but it was steep and gravelly, and with everything being so dry, it was dusty and slippery (I much prefer muddy trails as you can get more traction). Next thing I know, I slipped and crashed to the ground, bruising my arm and cutting my hand and leg as I went down. The cuts were stinging like crazy, I was of course a little shaken, so when I finally reached the stream, I splashed some of the cool water over the injuries in an attempt to stop any swelling, or indeed infection. It wasn't a bad fall, but it was enough to make things stiffen up a bit.

I had a feeling that we were now only about 5km away from the main aid station where both Andy and Jimmy would be waiting for us, so I sent a message to Andy to let him know that we would be there likely in 40 minutes or so, based on our current average pace. We had been moving at around 12 to 13 minute miles for the most part, making up time on the downhills. Sure enough, about a half hour later, we could hear the music from the aid station and we knew we were close.

I ran into the aid station and quickly found Andy, whilst Barb went to find Jimmy. The next leg was the longest and also the toughest, we would likely be running in the dark, and things would likely be cooling off as the sun went down. I had been fuelling really well and so far, there had been no nausea or bad stomachs. I'd bought some mashed potatoes and ravioli with me to ensure I had a good "meal" before starting leg 6, but ended up having the mashed potatoes with meatballs - my favourite food that is provided at all races in recent times. Having all that protein, salt and carbohydrate in me made a huge difference, and with a cup of tea and a full cup of iced fizzy water, I felt like a new woman and ready to tackle the huge climb that was to come.

I restocked my backpack, took my headtorches with me along with a waterproof jacket, and then both Barb and I set off for the next 35km or so, which would include the huge climb to the highest point on the course.

Starting off on leg 6 seems flat but it is a gradual incline up to the checkpoint around 8km away. I remember running this bit on my own the first time I did the race, and it was where I was most worried about running into a bear. It didn't help that last year, it was this leg where a runner had encountered a cougar. Thankfully this time I did have company, and Barb and I were still happily running together, and running well. I think seeing Jimmy had been a huge boost for Barb, and she was flying up the trail and seemed to be in her happy place. I was too - I was feeling strong and happy, and barring a fall or something silly, I had no doubt that we would finish the race, and likely finish in a much quicker time that we had originally anticipated.

I stopped briefly on arrival at the checkpoint, to once again refill bottles and to take on board some food. Barb  carried on and I eventually caught her up again after tackling the single track trail alongside the stream, before the real climbing started. A couple of other runners were close by so I knew Barb would be ok if I carried on. I just wanted to get to the top to soak up some of the views, and hopefully snap some pictures up there.

This climb is definitely steep and tough. The trail is extremely narrow, there are some parts where you really have to lift your legs to get up to the next level, and then when coming out above the treeline, you enter a gorgeous alpine meadow, awash with wildflowers and the most amazing views of the surrounding mountains. I found myself alone and that feeling of a possible bear encounter crept over me again. It's definitely bear country and I looked into the distance looking for movement, whilst also been extremely conscious of the possible hiding places for big mammals in the trees lining the trail.

Up and up I went, sweating cobs, trying to eat and drink whilst trying to get oxygen in my lungs, legs burning, heart pumping, pushing every onwards. From below, the climb looks long but also not that far, but when I reached the part where things finally levelled off before one final climb to the ridge. I turned to look for Barb and those following looked like tiny ants following me in the distance.

I sat waiting for Barb, getting eaten alive by all the flies and mosquitoes that seemed to be extremely fond of sweaty runners, and admiring the views whilst I was there. Other runners came past and we offered encouragement to each other, and then I spotted Barb making her way steadily up the mountainside. I felt bad leaving her on the climb, but she later said she was glad I had as she wanted to tackle the climb on her own, to prove she could do. I was so proud of her!

Running along the ridge was incredible. It was windy and fresh, but with the sun starting to set, it was absolutely gorgeous up there. Now that the worst of the climbing was over, we were both in excellent spirits, feeling energised and excited. The Tailwind problems were now well past, Barb was able to eat and drink properly, and I was still feeling great after the mashed potatoes and meatballs - boy, had they made a difference.

The trail down from the ridge is rocky with large boulders and loose gravel. We took our time running down there, not wanting to fall again, and the trail gradually narrowed as we headed down, eventually being wide enough for just one person and lined either side with dense bushes. There was that bear thought again! As things flattened out again towards the bottom, I knew the aid station checkpoint wasn't too much further, but I had forgotten that there were some long, stick climbs on forestry trails to get there. Those climbs knocked the stuffing out of us but we pressed on, knowing that when we next saw Andy and Jimmy, there would only be about 10km to do before the finish.

The pre-race info had noted that the next checkpoint had been moved to changes in land use, and we found ourselves running down a long and very steep gravel road. I had completely lost my sense of direction by now, and that road was  twisting and turning, and dusty as hell which made gripping things difficult. I had no idea when we were to expect the next aid station, and then there it was! There were quite a few other runners sitting there, some struggling from the effects of the heat or their nutrition choices, and it always makes me feel bad when I see folks in this state. I've been there myself on numerous occasions and it isn't nice.

Leaving the aid station, we veered off onto a trail through the forest again, and as the trees thickened and Barb started to fall behind a little bit, I resorted to the yelling and clapping that I do when running solo, in the hope of keeping the critters away. Faster runners were now catching us, most of them relay runners that were racing for a team. Everybody was so nice and encouraging, and we were sure to move out of the way to let them pass.

Before long, we were back on the quad roads again. They were definitely much quieter this year and I really didn't mind them as much, in fact, I almost enjoyed those ups and downs as each step brought us closer to our hubbies who were waiting to give us one final energy boost before heading out on the final leg. Having experienced a beautiful sunset, we were now at the point where the head torches needed to come out. I couldn't see the course markers in the dark, and I didn't want to get lost or take a wrong turn and end up running further than we needed to.

When I knew we were getting close to the transition area for a final time, I sent Andy a message once again to let him know our ETA. He was there waiting, making sure I had enough fuel for the next couple of hours, making sure I was warm and comfortable, and that I had enough battery life in my torch to get us to the finish.

we spend minimal time at the aid station, getting in and out pretty quickly. We left some stuff behind to reduce the weight we were carrying. The final leg wasn't quite as exposed, most of it was in woodland, and so we figured it would provide shelter from any adverse weather than we might encounter.

The start of the final leg has a long climb and it is nasty. It's like a dirt road that goes on and on and on, and it seems even longer in the dark. We could see torches ahead of us where other runners had already started the ascent, and they seemed to be miles away. It certainly took a good half hour or more before we reached the turn, and even then, the climbing continued. This was another part of the course that I remembered well. I knew that there was another steep, rocky, dusty, slippery downhill coming, too steep to run with confidence, especially in the dark. Barb and I were still running well, although we were obviously now started to tire having been on our feet for about 14 hours, but that downhill stopped us in our tracks as we clung to trees to stop ourselves from just falling down the slope. Relay runners were still approaching fast from behind, making very light work of the conditions, but on tired legs, the gradient for me was definitely a little too much.

We finally arrived at the bottom of that hill, and then it was a short drop down to the main forestry trail that would take us to the next aid station and checkpoint. That trail down was ridiculous, and both Barb and I slid down on our backsides at quite a fast speed, Barb having to grab a hold of a tree to stop herself crashing into my back with her feet. It was lots of fun but also quite annoying as neither of us wanted to get injured this late on in the race.

We didn't bother stopping at the aid station. They told us it was around 5km to the finish, so we just pushed on. More climbing, more single track, more chasing torches through the trees, trying to spot the markers to keep us on course. It seem to take forever before we exited the woods and entered town - and there were more ups and downs that I thought! But coming out into town, we only had a couple of miles if that to go, and being road, we could move a little more quickly. The street lights also meant we didn't need to rely so much on our headtorches as the flagging was easier to see.

It's strange doing these races when you have to run through towns. Everybody is asleep in their homes, it's 3am in the morning, and here we are still running after and incredible day on the trails.I checked my watch as we navigated the streets of Coleman - there was a possibility that we could dip under 16 hours if we could just keep the pace going. We hadn't wanted to put pressure on ourselves by setting a time, but with our initial goal being sub 18 hours, to finish in 15.xx would be incredible!

Barb was still working hard but I think she was also ready to finish, and I ran ahead to see how far it was to the finish line. Approaching the parking lot, there was about 90 seconds for us to go sub 16 hours, but i knew it was unlikely we would make it, even with a sprint finish. I had no intentions of finishing before Barb - we had agreed to start together, run together, and finish together, and that's what we did, crossing the finish line of the Sinister Seven 50-miler in 16 hours 40 seconds, and both of us over the moon. Andy and Jimmy were there to greet us and seeing their proud faces as we crossed the line made us both extremely happy.

It is now 3 months since we did the race, and I'm sure there are details that I have forgotten. I found it hard to write this one as I am so used to running on my own and writing about my own feelings when I'm racing. This time I had company, and I didn't want to make it sound like I was speaking for Barb when writing this - this is purely how I remembered the day. What I will say is that Barb was an incredible running companion for the whole 50 miles, and she never once complained about what lay ahead. She dealt with things in the moment, and focused on just putting one foot in front of the other. From being nervous about letting me down, to making me so proud of her and how she is willing to try hard things, things that are outside of her comfort zone.

Although I now have two 50 miles finishes and a 50km finish at the Sinister Seven Ultra, I do still have some unfinished business with the race. I DNF'd at the 100 miler, but I still want to have that 100 mile finish. Needless to say, wisely or not, I've signed up for the 100 miler for 2027 and that will be my one and only focus for the year. Here's hoping I get the finish I want, even if it takes me the full 30 hours to complete.