They also told me they always have one beer the night before a race … so who was I to argue with the advice of the experienced peoples!
yep … half asleep in the car on the way there
maria & mims
this is my little gang of greek peoples that helped me out soooooo much … Maria and hubby (really can’t remember this tricky name … sorry pal!!!), moi and Mims
these guys live on a beach a couple of hours north from here so will probably go stay with them after roskilde time … yay!
oh yeah … thanks to alex the champion who was chief driver, supporter and cameraman! and lovely sophia who both unfortunately didn’t seem to make it to photo time.
hmmm … why is my hand always doing that .. ???
ps Jayboy … this dude is a Greek long haired version of you … really
stretching out a cramp BEFORE the race even starts! fortunately the magnesium tablets seemed to work their magic
so these are all the nationalities participating.
proud of my flag high up there!
from a distance … bit tricky to see but if you look at that V of snow in the middle and go up from there you can see the highest point we climbed to
so this is my little beach spot … my tent is just at the top of these stairs
pretty cute huh!
sooooooo people … it’s been done! a time of 9.17.57 … yes NINE hours plus people. Oh my … this body is in a place of pain today that has never before been experienced. I was actually planning on moving onto another beach place today but I physically unable to take down my tent!
Ok … this race was truly an amazing experience all round. I could babble, but that wouldn’t be interesting so I will attempt to summarise for you.
The Starting Line
This was in a cute little historical village called Dion about 20km north from here (Litochoro). I was starting to feel super scared at this point because I’m telling you … everyone surrounding me is looking super super fit and super amazing and sucking down special power glucose drinks and eating carbo gels and power bars and I’m just throwing back some tap water and sucking on a lollypop!! (Hey … that’s glucose too right?!) But anyways, I grabbed a lift there with this super super lovely group of greek people that were staying at the same camping ground. And even though they were pretty super athletic themselves, they were totally easygoing which was good, so we went on a little warm up jog and had a bit of a giggle and I was good. Then at the starting line, they were pumping out over the loudspeakers this totally uplifting chariots of fire type music … the type that makes you think you can conquer the world … so at this point I felt a fire of running passion, so Maria (one of the Greek girls) and I decided we didn’t need to let all the pro athletes demand space on the starting line, so we pushed ourselves forward!
The Uphill
I have to admit … when I came to the first checkpoint I was feeling exhaaaaaaaaaaaaausted. Like really exhausted. As I was throwing back gels and a load of special energy drink, however, I noticed a couple of people coming by that had been in the top 20 from last year! Clearly the music had pumped me up a little too much and I started out a little fast … so I stepped the pace back a bit and then settled into a good rhythm. The whole uphill section wasn’t actually as bad as I had anticipated. There were definitely some really tough stretches, but I got into the habit of not looking up at all, never stopping (except at the drink stations) and focusing on the feet of the person in front of me and sticking with their pace, which seemed to work well. I think my stupa training paid off!
The views were absolutely absolutely incredible. I decided in the end to not take my camera, but there were heaps of camera crew along the track and soon I will be able to download some pics which I will share. Some parts were in dense forest, some in open grassy hills, some past and behind waterfalls, but the best at the top. A lot of sections were along these really narrow rocky ridgetops that just dropped away either side and really were breathtaking. I would have liked to look around a bit more but I nearly fell over every time I tried, so gave that up! Was even a bit of snow at the top!
The Downhill
So the whole race was 44km and the uphill finished around 21 km (at just under 2695m). Once I had reached this point I was actually feeling pretty good and had done a reasonable time, so was mentally pumped to be in the top five women! Welllllll … the biggest fallback in my training was clearly the lack of DOWNHILL training. I know that downhill can be tough on your knees etc but you have nooooooo idea … The trickiest part was the terrain … 90% of the downhill was on loose gravel and loose rocks … and some on really steep ridge tops. So the entire 23km’s required 110% brain concentration. I think everyone was on the verge of spraining ankles … I mean picture running at full speed on a ridge top that falls away either side of you with massive boulders and stones of all different sizes. That aside, the first 10km’s downhill I nailed it and passed a load of people and was now picturing myself in the first 3 women! Once I reached about 30km’s however, my knees really started to cave in. The final 10km’s was about 70% rocky, uneven, steep stairs and I gotta tell you, I started moving at the pace of an athritic 80yr old grandmother. Suddenly all those people I had dashed past, started dashing right back past me! At this point I adjusted my goals and started concentrating on making the 10 hour cutoff! Anyway there was a nice Greek guy that clearly started feeling sorry for me and stuck with me for the last 10kms. I have to say, I don’t know if I would have made it if he hadn’t kept pushing (metaphorically!) me and urging me on. My lastest Greek word “ligo ligo!” … which means “just a little bit more/not much further”! Clearly he was lying at certain points, but it worked anyway!
The Finish Line
So I tried to make the Greek dude cross in front of me but he would have none of it, so we crossed together with another girl that had run the last couple of km’s with us. Felt like an absolute champion! There were these two cute little girls that even asked me to sign their hats! Yesterday, my knees felt like they could fall apart, but my muscles didn’t feel too bad. Todayyyyyyyyyy however, I am walking around like a 100+ yr old extremely arthritic grandmother. Spent the morning on the beach trying to swim and stretch it out, where a whole lot of other marathoners were too. Was funny … like a special kinship between everyone … a lot of little knowing smiles, waves and grimaces!
The Greek People
I have to say, if the rest of Greece and the people are anything like what I’ve experienced here, I think I will need to come and live here at some point. I think I have hardly opened my wallet to pay for a single drink or plate of food since I’ve been here. People always ask where I’m from and why I’m here … and upon hearing my answer are so obviously touched that I made the effort to come out here that we either have a chat for half an hour, or I am provided with a free coffee or food or whatever depending on the venue of course. I also met a few shop owners when buying some bandaids, gels and magnesium tablets etc in the days before, and they were all planning to shut their shops for the day and were volunteers on various stations along the track. This totally pumped me up actually, because along the track they would recognise me and yell out “Come on Katie, keep it up Katie, go Australia” … etc etc Was super super nice. Kinda felt like family!
The funny funny funny media stories
If you haven’t already, you need to first read the post below to understand this section.
Anyway, the film doco people seemed to find me everywhere on the track! At the starting line, in random spots along the trail and dragged me over for an interview less than 2 seconds after the race finished!
The funniest part happened just this morning … Was flaked out, half asleep in invalid fashion on the beach and the film crew people just appeared out of nowhere and asked me if I would do another interview with them and ALSO with a writer from Runner’s World! They wanted to do the interview around my tent and when I arrived at the top, the Runner’s World writer (apparently a famous marathoner from Austria???!!!!) had set my filthy runny shoes and sweat band beside my tent and was busy photographing them! Apparently the TV crew people had taken him for interviews with all the winning runners etc and then they told the guy that they thought he would be interested in meeting me and hearing my story! That’s right … little insignificant probably never meant to be an athlete at all Katie! So anyway, I start prattling on and told him my story about how I decided to do the run, but didn’t have any decent shoes, and no one on the internet would deliver to Laos. So I took two bus rides to Chiang Rai (about 6 hours away in Northern Thailand) to the one sports store there. They had a few different varieties, but all Asian sizes so none fit me. At the time I had walked out a little despondently thinking I wouldn’t be able to participate (because my old shoes were dead), and then noticed this one bigger pair of Adidas hanging in the window display that I hadn’t noticed inside the store. I asked them if I could try them, and they weren’t too keen to start with because they were some freebie from Adidas to use in their advertising … but I urged them on, and it turned out they were a perfect fit! Anyway, he seemed to find that all very amusing, in addition to my stupa running stories! At the end, he asked if he could take some photos (keeping in mind I have just wandered up from the beach, so no doubt my hair was crazy, and my shorts and singie were half damp and sandy). So I was like sure, why not, so he gets me to sit with my arm resting on some statue of an ancient greek athlete that was in the garden! I had about 1 minute between his request and him taking the photos, so I had the option of quickly rushing to the bathroom to sort my hair out, or getting into my tent to find some beads … so yes of course, I went for the beads. Can’t have myself being photographed without my main attachment.
So yes … I am still giggling to myself a LOT!
Anyway the film people want to meet up in Athens and follow me around down there etc as well, so more giggles ahead no doubt! The upside is, they always end up buying me lunch or drinks and driving me places, so my viewing of the acropolis and various other places will perhaps be done in a whole lot more stylish comfort!
oh yeah … if you want to check out any more detailed stats or pictures etc go to
It’s in Greek so you need to click the UK flag on the top right for translation.
ok i had to file a little update because this whole experience is really making me giggle a whole lot
so last night i headed into the main reception area to register … a very small minority of participants are non greek so when i turned up and started speaking english, suddenly this camera crew, massive boom mike and interviewer started filming everything i was doing … including fumbling in my bag for my passport, signing my name and started pounding me with questions!! so you’re katie from australia but living in laos is that right?? so are you living in the jungle? what are you doing there? why did you decide to come all the way to greece for this event? what other mountain running events have you done?? meanwhile a thousand other people are milling around, i’m still trying to find my passport, sign the registration form and and and!! anyway they asked if they could come and have an interview with me today … i said i’d meet them at the reception, they said, oh no that’s ok we’ll just come and find you on the beach! anyway when it came closer to the time, i decided i definitely didn’t need myself in bikinis on some greek documentary, so whipped in for a quick shower and clothes! so i had my little interview and the guy tells me that this year they are wanting to focus on a few individuals and their stories leading up to the race and afterwards … serious athletes and non serious alike (he seemed to sum up fairly quickly i was the non serious type!) so he says your story is kinda unique so we’d like to follow you on the day and after the event as well. so he tells me that whenever i see a camera tomorrow i need to pay attention to it and say something (he’s assuming i will have enough breath to actually be able to speak) and then asks me what i am doing for the rest of my time on holidays! i told him i was flying to denmark next week for a music festival, so he was like great! we can get some footage of you leaving athens airport … and then says … we will try and send someone to the roskilde festival to get footage of you there, but otherwise do your best to get some people you know to capture some so we can include that … footage of what i’m thinking!!! sweating it out in the mosh pit, crowd surfing, skulling a beer … what???!!! then he asks what i’m doing for the rest of my holiday and i said i didn’t really have a plan and he said ok you need to keep us in the loop and we will send camera crew to meet you wherever you are in europe! then he says we would also like to follow your story over the rest of the year so will hopefully be able to come over to laos and meet you there … how very funnnnnnnnny is all of this!
ok well anyways … i am off to a “scientific athletes meeting”, pasta party and then early to bed for me. really trying hard not to be intimidated by the extremely svelt athletic types milling around town
sooooooo … i’m in greece and the day has nearly arrived! staying in a beach place called plaka and camping 20, no maybe only 15 metres from the beach with the clearest water ever. eating loads of fetta, olives, yoghurt and not much else … and my alcohol free training zone of the last 3 months has disintegrated in the face of local wines, and a multitude of icy cool european beers on tap. probably could leave it til after the mara, but … oh well … the temptation has been too great to hold out against … and besides … i’m in tapering mode … and so my re entry into this also needs to be tapered. there … justified perfectly
am feeling kinda excited! there are signs and banners everywhere around this little town - litochoro - and a real buzz!! i think every bar or cafe i’ve been in i’ve been asked why i’m traveling alone … tell them about the marathon … and then without fail get an extra top up or little discount!! and then today, they have been setting up the finishing area and there are flags for all the nationalities taking part, and i have to admit to feeling super patriotic seeing my aussie flag flapping in the wind there!
i’m still trying to work out how i can take my camera with me … maybe a head sweatband?!! i don’t want to kill myself running up that mountain without any photo evidence! the weather is super hot … like 35+ it feels, so i reckon i am going to have some hometown running advantage on some of these svelt athletic cold weather running europeans.
and some traveling insights for you …
1 cultural lesson of the day - do not drink a greek coffee to the last dregs … even though it looks deceivingly like an espresso … there is a whole world of coffee grains layering the bottom of that cute little cup which really kills the end of a good coffee
2 cultural insight of the day - if you are a man, have grey hair, a big belly, a great throaty laugh and are 60 +, then greece seems like a great retirement place of choice. the cafes in the mornings are lined for hours with big groups of jolly old men just catching up on the gossip of the day … for hourrrrrrrrrs. i asked the waiter where the women drank coffee and he looked at me kinda strangely and said “oh this is where the grandpas sit”.
well it’s been at least 3 hours since my last olive, so best i head to locate some more. hmmm … kalamata, green, anchovy stuffed, marinated ???? some stressful decisions ahead …
so i am an aunty for the third time over … totally experienced at this game now … and am having a proud proud wanting to cuddle and hold them all moment …
here are the little cuties … without forgetting my equally lovely bro and his wifey lib
(was just showing these around the office and the word is that Tim and I have the same chin … and a fine chin it is)
these are all the people in the lnt office … all laos people lovvvvve to sit around and gin som (eat sour) in the afternoons and so we are munching on various odd assortment of bitter leaves, chilli, garlic, and dipping in salt, sugar, chilli sauce etc … this is a VT version though so a bit different … nem pun
well it’s no secret to those of you that know me well and in fact even those that don’t … that i love summer. it creates a certain energy, brightness and sparkle in my step that only a warm sunshiny day can do. i’m feeling particularly chirpy today because the “tapering” part of my training has begun! every run is now a few kms, a few mins or a few stairs less than before, which feels good so good! in fact it’s 3 weeks from today that i will be sweating my way up the delightful mt olympus, gazing at the view of the ocean, and counting the km’s til i can submerge in the water again … ahhhhhh. i think i am sorted … i have my special NU PURE shirt in hand, some springy shoes, ergonomic socks, a box of bandaids and even a couple of sets of muscles that i’ve never before seen on my body! in fact i was a little worried a couple of weeks ago that i had some weird swelling thing on my leg, but upon finding the same kind of weird swelling in exactly the same position on the other leg, i’m putting it down to a new muscle group … never before seen and very possibly will never again been seen on this set of pins! i’ve also turned into something of an insomniac of late, not helped by the 4.30am chopping of wood next door … but there’s too many exciting things for my consciousness to be entertained with at the moment!
summer around here also means the wet season, but to be honest, some drenching rain in the early morning, a sunday afternoon or on a hot hot run is quite lovely. and everything is greeeeen, more green than the greenest green you can imagine. i have attempted to capture a little bit of that below, but i’m sure have not done it justice.
the wet season also means that the animal world continue to take refuge in my house, and the frogs are my latest additions. and i don’t mean cute little green frogs. i mean brown fat moley ugly frogs, getting cosy amongst my clothes. apparently if you’re a gecko, my bed is a comfy spot for laying an egg or two as well. and i’m telling you … these guys either lay eggs daily, or word is traveling around gecko world that my pink sheets are the spot to go … because if i don’t check the bed before zzzzzz, i wake up with yolk on my feet. anyway, it’s all good material for my entry into the published writing world, which will happen one day before i’m 60, i’m going to make sure of it.
was having dinner on my own the other night, and a laos guy at the restaurant started up a chat. after a bit he asked me how i like living in town now. i couldn’t remember ever having met this guy before, and apologised and asked where we had met. he said, oh no, we’ve never met … but i see you running all the time. and last year you always looked most tired when you were running out of town, and this year it’s when you’re running back into town. observant guy! i have also found out that the lady from my favourite papaya salad stall at the market can see my house from her kitchen. so every time she sees me now, i get grilled on my latest movements … why didn’t you go running this morning, how come you came home so late last night, what were you doing in your garden yesterday …. and and and … small townssssss! as much as it’s all very neighbourly and nice, i’m looking forward to some european anonymity.
had a bit of a cold this week and have been sniffling and coughing my way through the days. now of course if i was back home, the general opinion would be bed rest, orange juice and some codral cold & flu. a few of the people in the office noticed i was a bit under the weather and told me i should do some afternoon exercise, followed up by a local herbal sauna. not being much of a medicine taker, i decided to take their advice, and two days later, am as right as rain! the saunas here are amazing … a little wooden room on stilts, with a fire underneath, burning all sorts of weird twigs and leaves that have a distinct gum leaf, tea tree kinda smell. really is perfect for a chesty cough.
some good pals are on the trail of releasing a new album, so i’ve done a little unrequested promo for them below … and not because they’re good pals … because the tunes are good, really good
just putting in a special unrequested plug for some good buddies and their band … “Grand Atlantic” … a little film clip sneak preview
you wanna hear some perfect summer sounds ??? read below …
(cheers for the photog miss amanda!)
check em out people … www.myspace.com/grandatlantic
or give yourself a treat and get an album … find them on itunes
one of my favourite times of the day … in the late afternoon when the wood fires start kicking in with the scent of warm sticky rice everywhere
now normally i am a big fan of heading out for breakfast, but there’s nowhere in town that can offer me these views, so my habits have changed somewhat
the sun streaming through after a pounding of rain all afternoon … my neighbours
up the north north in phongsaly for a work trip recently … if any of you have ever been to nepal, this little town reminds me so so much of namche bazaar … the smell, the feel, the smiles, the mountains, but unfortunately no bakery to be found!
Thank you NU pure! So my very lovely and very generous pals Mowie and Holmsey and fellow OXFAM pain participant Matty Holmes are my official Mt Olympus sponsors!!
And what is NU pure you ask? Refreshing spring water sourced from the pristine Numinbah Valley Springs in the Gold Coast Hinterland. Annnnnnnd … as the label suggests, Nu-Pure Spring Water is soft and smooth with a full body and crisp aftertaste, but unlike a good wine it doesn’t need to be rested for years to be enjoyed! So if you’re not flying over to Greece to provide some sideline support … do the next best thing and buy a bottle of Nu-Pure today! And or order a box. Annnnnnd … if you don’t live in Australia, order a whole heap of boxes and start distributing some Aussie pure natural spring water today!
Check out … http://www.nu-pure.com.au/ or try the link on the RH side.
A few new pics for you below …
A few quick stories now …
The tall guy is back at work … Yep … the only guy in town that’s taller than me, and thinks this means we can get married. You see not a day goes by where someone doesn’t try and set me up with a cousin, son, nephew, neighbour, brother of a son’s cousin’s uncle’s neighbour etc etc … you get the picture. Me? Absolutely not interested. My standard, and I would say previously successful response was that I couldn’t marry a man shorter than me, and Laos men are all short. Foolproof. A few months back I was repeating this to someone over lunch however and a random guy from a different office, but in the same building wandered over and stood next to me. Yep … he was precisely 1 milimetre taller than me. Anyway he disappeared to work in Muang Long but this week, has returned. Hmmmm … this means he seems to keep turning up everywhere and sussing out the marriage possibilities at every other moment. I’ve tried to explain to him that he wouldn’t be happy married to me as I wouldn’t be cooking for him, cleaning for him, serving beer to him, letting him have little flings on the side or generally running around after him. He’d be happier with a Laos wife. He seems to think I’ll change. He’s wrong. Yeah … it’s not funny anymore. It stopped being funny a long while ago … Aaaaaaaaaaaah … !
We are piloting a Non Formal Education program at the moment called REFLECT …. I say a little more down below … but essentially it is focused on people learning literacy through thinking and problem solving on topics/issues relevant in their villages … as opposed to textbooks. Anyway … went out to a village in Muang Sing to see how it was operating and was the first first first time I have heard teachers and students ask “Why?” … and not just once … several times! A ground breaking development I would say … and now the trick is finding out how to take some of these techniques and spread them through all activities … My brain is ticking …
I am eating so much pineapple at the moment that my mouth constantly feels like it is buzzing from all the acid it is having to process … But it tastes soooooo good!
My lovely friend Nitzy sent some amazing homebaked choc chip cookies in the post this week. And just when my supply of chicos had run out. So so great!!!!! Thanks Nitzyyyyyyyy! I’ve been trying hard to be generous with them but I have to admit to hiding some in the corner of my fridge.
There’s some photos below of the fried dog feast we had in Muang Sing … and that is another story … but after eating, the Naibaan (Village Head) rounded up his collection of daughters (and being Akha, he is allowed to have several wives, so there were a lot) … and he instructed two of them to give me this amazing massage in the corner while the men got stuck into the rice whiskey … One of those twilight zone moments
Some of the men from the above village wanted to know how many wives you could have in Australia … !
It is less than 5 weeks til I will be in Greece … ! The old OXFAM ankle injury has decided to revisit which is highly annoying, but I’ve switched to a bit of cycling in the meantime which is actually super nice. Was nearly washed away in the rain last weekend, but a good cool down. My motivation levels are still pretty high and the special hydration and protein powder my lovely Mum sent over is helping that process along as well. Thanks Muuuuuuuuuum!
OK … well some pics below …
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