Six Foot Monster approaching!!

Along with some big goals, I've made a bit of a resolution this year to do some different things, like going to places I never been before, doing things I've never done before and so on. Fitting nicely in with this is to enter events I've never done before on the basis that they meet two aspects of my resolution at the same time!! So recently I've been on the lookout for destinations and events to fulfill these desires - Tasmania trip was just the first expedition of many to come.


The Blue Montains are up in NSW and are basically the northern extension of what we Victorians know as the Great Dividing Range. They run kind of parallel to the coastline, a hundred or so kilometers inland from Sydney. I must say that I'm a little naive (or ignorant?) about the Blue Mountains and what their main features are except that they are rugged, spectacular, beautiful and more. We did a family trip there when I was very young with no memories apart from visiting the Jenolan Caves - the name had a ring to it that's stuck in my mind ever since.

I first heard and read about a running race in the Blue Mountains a few years ago, which piqued my interest but was dismissed due to competing in triathlons at the time. The race is called the Six Foot Track Marathon, and is 45km from Katoomba to the Jenolan Caves over tracks and trails, up and down mountains, through creeks and over fences. It think it was the combination of all these things that stuck in my memory, and perhaps a sub-conscious desire to get off the roads and into nature. It began in 1984 and the popularity is such that the 850 field limit fills up in less than 12 hours after entries open - the history and legend of the event builds each year.

The Six Foot Track was planned as a shortcut to Jenolan Caves in the late 1800's, with the first recorded passage of the completed bridle track from Katoomba to Jenolan was by the governor, Lord Carrington, in September 1887. But by the 1930's, lack of maintenance had resulted in the track no longer being suitable for bridle use, however in 1937 is was named Six Foot Track, referring to the original tender specification for a width of six feet. The track was reopened in 1984, following reconstruction work. Some of the track passes through a World Heritage listed area - the part within Jenolan Caves Reserve.

This single event ticked so many boxes on my resolution list that, indeed, I resolved that in 2010 I would do it; to line up on Saturday 13th March at Katoomba and head into the hills on what, to me, was an unknown journey. So training is underway - lots of running up and down the Dandenongs each weekend (these runs are eipics!!), which itself is a fantastic change from the routine routes in Melbourne. I'll post updates on how training goes...