I am not going to lie, life has been crazy lately hence the reason for not penning down how the Refuge Road Ultra played out which was all in aid of the Dog Refuge Home (Shenton Park, WA) I have barely completed this little jaunt down South before I was lining up for the Margaret River Ultra Grand Slam which did not play out as I have planned. Leading into MRU 2026 I was hoping for the same success I had in 2025 but alas things do not always work out as we plan.
Let’s start with the Refuge Road Ultra, the date was set for the 16th of April. I had a great send off by some members of the BRG running group, Dog Refuge Supporters and even Kate Chaney MP who gave me a count down before for my start at 7am from the Dog Refuge Home. I was joined by Rob who is the great physio keeping my legs turning since we have made Perth our home, an absolute legend of a guy. Rob and I chatted away as we made our way from Shenton out towards Kingspark, to be honest the start was a tad faster than I initially anticipated for my 230km challenge but then again I was so excited to get going on my 2.5 day challenge. John was leading us out of Perth on his bike (just to be clear his bicycle). While I was planning the Refuge Road Ultra, John offered his support to carry my snacks and hydration along the way, while Steve was driving the support vehicle, keeping me on route and ensure I was always stocked up with food and drink. Legend support team!
We made it across the magnificent Swan leaving Perth behind while heading towards the Narrows, where I said cheers to Rob who was heading back to home. From here Steve, John and I were taking on the long day of running that was lying ahead of me. My target was a 100km’s. It was great to have John on his bicycle next to me, and every couple of km’s Steve would be appearing with a snack and some fresh hydrate. I also started to realise 20km’s in that my newish pair of shoes were starting to pull my right calve into a knot. Luckily I have packed my old runners as which I changed over to at the next planned stopping point.
Once changed all was good and I was ready to chip away at the km’s, approximately 40 km’s in Peter and his wife Leonie appeared next to the cycle path. It was a welcome surprise to see Peter out on route on his day off. Peter was also heading South for the weekend and would pop up along the route from time to time. Actually in the end Peter played a huge role during my run and formed a vital part of my support to get me into Busselton.
Day 1 kept on rolling until we went through Mandurah making our way towards the Old Coast road past the beautiful waterfront. It was round this time that I started to feel the endless pounding on my legs and hips. My regular stride started to become more of a shuffle than a run, looking into the distance I realised that we were nearing sunset and I still had to crank out another 18km’s before I could call it quits. Just before sunset Gavin a close friend of mine back from Cape Town days showed up as he was heading home and tracked me with on my Spot tracker. It was such a welcome sight to see him along the way, actually it perked me up a bit as my energy levels were really low.
John and I started to make our way out along the Old Coast road and very quickly the sun had set. There was no moon out and we had 8km’s to go, along a busy dark road. Luckily John had the bike lights on but I had none or any high viz on, this was not wise at all. A definite error from my end, so I hammered the last km’s as I just wanted to get off the Old Coast road. Trucks and cars came blasting past while I was grinding the last km’s out of my body until we got to our planned stopping point and 100 km mark which was at the Lazy Crab. I was so grateful that the day was done, yearning for a shower, warm meal, and a bed. We racked up the bike, and I jumped in with Peter while John and Steve made their way back to Mandurah to our accommodation in the support vehicle.
Another key element to my support team joined us after Day 1. Rainer joined us after work thus provided me with a 3 man support team as we made our way down to Busselton.
Okay I am not going to lie, the night consisted of me tossing and turning until the early hours of the morning until I fell asleep. Woke up tired and as stiff as a board. A feeling I am all familiar to and I knew that day 2 would be hard work from the word go.
Day 2 was resumed at the Lazy Crab with Gav coming to see me off, and my 3-man support team leap frogging ahead along the Old Coast road, correction Steve and Rainer leap frogging and John freewheeling along me on his bike keeping me company. It actually did not take long before we got to the crossing and jumped onto the Forest Highway heading South.
Once we got onto Freeway the hard work started for me, there was a massive amount of traffic heading South. I was constantly reminded that I shared the shoulder with trucks and the odd Road train. Initially the road was not too busy but as the morning progressed the traffic started to increase, it became harder to run on the shoulder with countless trucks blasting past us. Each truck passing dragged us along with the air being blasted from behind us. When possible we tried to stop every 10 to 12 km’s, at this stage the running became really hard especially once we passed the marathon distance for day 2. I was starting to struggle with the constant noise of trucks and cars blasting past me.
Main highlight was first Judy and then Jan who was heading South for a Mountain bike race, both stopped along the freeway to cheer me on, with a hug and some well wishes. I could not wait until we would turn right and jump off on Cathedral drive and make our way into Australind allowing us to make our way towards Bunbury. Running was becoming harder and harder for me, my energy levels were low and my body was starting to take its toll, I knew that my initial target of 95km’s on day two would be hard to achieve. As we neared Bunbury, Rainer and John was providing me so company, then Steve was in the distance ready to take over from Rainer but the funny bit was that Steve was standing wearing a Dalmatian suit. His suit really providing some great comical relief and help me to take my mind of being tired. Especially when a passer by shouted to Steve I am so confused in what you are, Steve replied – a Dalmatian. The passerby shouted back – Funniest looking Dalmatian I have ever seen.
I just kept chipping away at the km’s until we got to the edge of Bunbury where Kevin, Sandra and Talita were waiting with music pumping and cheering me on. At that moment I would rather have stopped and jump in the car with them, but unfortunately I still was chasing down Day 2’s km target. As the sun was setting I looked down to my watch and noticed I was only sitting on 75km’s and was hoping to wrap up my day at 95km’s. Once I reached the 80km’s the fatigue really started to settle in and I was tired and getting cold. I mentioned to John that I was so tired and had zero energy left in my tank. My pace was shocking and I was reduced at this stage to an absolute shuffle. John mentioned you do know you can wrap today up at 85km’s, well initially I didn’t want to hear this but then I started to open myself to the idea and made the call. John and Kev on bikes next to me, I relayed to them that I was going to wrap up day 2 at 85km’s. They called ahead to inform Steve and Rainer who leaped ahead and parked at the 85km mark waiting for me. I was shuffling away praying for my watch to reach the 85km mark so I could just get it done with day 2. I was so happy to see Steve and Rainer waiting in the distance as I knew Day 2 would be shortly in the bag. Once I reached them we took a quick photo, loaded the bikes, and made our way to Busselton to meet up with the rest of the BRG crew.
I was in need of a warm shower, a big plate of food and a soft bed. Finishing below the initial 95km target meant I had some extra to do on the final day. As always the BRG crew brought with them an energy and vibe. Talita and Sandra was in top form and jovial, helping me forget about the long day out and my tiredness. Before I knew it Roy arrived followed by Stef and Sandy. Thanks to some lovely pies from the local farmers market at Vasse, a big salad and tons of snacks I was ready for bed. I felt bad that I was not partaking in the joviality and festiveness the BRG crew brought to the run, but I knew I still had a huge chunk of km’s still to cover on Saturday.
Again it was a night of restless sleep, my legs were throbbing, eventually my body grew tired of fighting and I started to drift away to me running towards my dreams.
The 5 am alarm went off which meant time to get up, have a quick bite, some coffee (have to get that caffeine fix) and pack up for the final day. I drove out with Steve while Rainer and John followed in another vehicle. My mind was actually spinning as I knew I had to do another 27km’s on the Freeway again before I would turn off and make my way to Busselton for the final 30km’s. Everyone was keen to join me but I have asked them to please only join me once we do turn off from the Freeway. I also had another request which I relayed to Steve and John that I was not stopping for any reason, be it for a drink or a snack I wanted to keep on moving as I wanted to be in Busselton around lunch time. Unfortunately I had also 10km’s stacked on extra which I did not complete on day 2.
I pushed as hard as I could at the start and before I knew it the turn off was nearing and I could see in the distance the BRG crew was waiting (Kev, Sandra, Talita, Roy, Stef, Sandy and our off course Peter and Leonie. Talita and Roy joined me at the start and Kev was on his bike initially. It was really great to have the additional company. Kev, Sandra, Rainer, Stef and Sandy all rotating around me chatting away, I even had Roy, John and Talita churning out some classic songs along the way. If they only knew that behind my glasses the tears were running as I knew my run was nearing its end and I felt so grateful to be surrounded by such an amazing bunch of people. Once I passed the marathon mark, I had a serious dip in my energy levels and Peter heard me ask Steve if there was any coke available in the support vehicle. Well there was none, but Peter raced a couple km’s back to get me a coke. Next level support all the way until the end, thanks Peter!
As we were nearing Busselton, Georgia from Dog Refuge came past with her beautiful rescue dog. The last 10km’s into Busselton was an absolute blur for me, the BRG joviality along the way got me to the end and before I knew it the famous Busselton jetty was visible in the distance.The bollard at the edge was my finishing point wrapping the Refuge Road Ultra up at 237km’s.
But we were not fully done actually the finish was another 700m meters away which was at Rocky Ridge Brewery who was backing the project, we had a table waiting for us to close of the Ultra. As I neared the Brewery the music was pumping and the Rocky Ridge crew was welcoming me home with an ice cold pint at the end. Probably the best beer I have had in weeks. Rocky Ridge quickly had a round of beers out to us all and informed me that each beer sold since my arrival a percentage would go towards the Dog Refuge home. Absolute legends!
I was so happy that I have managed to wrap up yet another challenge in aid of the Dog Refuge home, a charity very close to my heart. We managed to raise just over 22K. This run was also my last major block of training leading into the MRU Grand slam a training block that would cost me a lot on race day, 3 weeks later.
If you want to know how my MRU race day went you have to wait for the Run for Ruah completion (3 Races – MRU2026, Rottness Marathon and Perth Ultra) that is currently underway. One race down two more to go…
