Fraser Darcy

Part 1: I said I mightn’t get one done but here I am in the mid-afternoon with time up my sleeve. The shifting of the base from Gotzens to semi-downtown Innsbruck went smoothly. Washing all dried, easy jog ticked off, even a bit of school work attended to before a nice bus ride into town. No use of Google Maps required.

Checking into my new digs was nice. Sharing a room with a fellow short trail team-mate Matt Crehan from Victoria. Have a view to the Inn, some more churches and some mountains and can hear the sound of buses and trucks by my window mixed in with a few birds. It is the almost ironic part of the Trail World Championships that the hotel and event village is in the city. For a sport that most people enjoy practicing on their own in the bush (AKA me from yesterday in the clouds above the Kreuzjoch) it’s funny how the consumeristic aspects and appeals warrant the need for hosting the event in the city.

Marquees upon marquees of sponsors, some loud announcements in German that no-one seems to be listening too like always and some fun and games for the kids. Lots of athletes kicking around in their team kit. And then me, wandering through in my casual clothes, with a footy, looking for a pretzel. Got two in the end and accidentally got a Pigeon stuck in the bakery. A local just picked it up and threw it out (I call pigeon’s rats of the sky and didn’t want to contend with any disease so close to the race so I sheepishly stayed away. Pick your battles Fraser). Some more wandering took me to a stage like area where I’m not sure but it could be the opening ceremony. Check back below I guess.*Editor Note: It’s not for the opening ceremony, it’s for a Pole Value Competition called the Golden Roof Challenge. Look it up.*

Back at the hotel, some more bumping into other Aussies and some Americano’s and then yeah, some relaxing. Read my book. Read my beta map. Watched the tennis. Got started here. Thought about the race.

INTERMISSION. Take a drink of water.

Part 2: Wowiee things ramped up quickly from the lazy afternoon. Corralling 31 Aussie athletes in a hotel foyer felt very similar to organising students on school camp. Felt in my comfort zone. Wandering down to the ‘holding area’ things got busier and busier and the ‘Whatever’ mindset really had to come in to play. Pleasingly, I was able to retreat into my own little mind whilst still soak up the fact I was surrounded by around 1400 athletes from 68 countries.

After a bit of standing around, the herd of cats we were got moving. Australia was third in line and it was cool stopping traffic and wandering through parts of Innsbruck I wandered through earlier in the day looking for my Pretzels. Won’t be able to do that again. The initial excitement wore off though when we were held in a little area off to the side and watched a bunch more teams cruise through. There seemed to be a plan the officials were following but without knowing it some members of the team were confused. Whatever.

We finally got going, got our two seconds of fame on the stage and then moved off. You can see a livestream of it all here: https://www.innsbruck-stubai2023.com/en/. After that it was pretty much it. Some more sitting around in the park, wondering what the plan was was on the mind of elder team mates who were expecting some formal ceremony but I could sense that we were done with and we could move on. So we did in the end, with all the other athletes to eat dinner at the official catering spot.

I felt for the staff here. This wasn’t designed for 1400 athletes at once and here we were. A little bit of patience, some chatting to the Indian athletes (I brought up the cricket as a convo starter) and soon enough I had my own place of rice and pasta and got to eat it in the Hofburg Innsbruck Palace with some of the best athletes in the world. I couldn’t help admiring the grace of the Kenyans and Ugandan’s as they strolled through. Absolute big dogs.

All the time spent standing, sitting and eating gave me a good opportunity to meet more of my team mates. Nice people of course, all coming from different running backgrounds. The first race gets on the board this afternoon and then from there we roll straight into my race. 9am start in Innsbruck. Again, results and livestream are here: https://www.innsbruck-stubai2023.com/en/.

To finish off the evening I popped down to say g’day to Mum and Dad and then wandered back chatting to a couple of Americano’s. One more day to go now before I get the opportunity to put my best effort at ‘mastering’ trail running on this particular course together. I feel confident in my preparation and ability which ensures I have the right amount of belief. I understand what my purpose is and what the purpose for the event is. On one hand I feel as if my whole life has been leading to this. But isn’t that what life should be? A cumulation of experiences that we learn from and apply to each new day to the best of our ability. I think so. Hence, it’s not a big deal to acknowledge this could be what I’ve prepared for my whole life. The day after the race will soon have that title too. And the day after that and so forth.

To finish off the pre-race blog series I’ll end not on a quote from Marcus Aurelius but on something my Dad often used to tell me before I would go and do a similar level of adventure (i.e. Bass Strait, climbing thing etc.). A man’s gotta know his own limitations. I used to interpret this as be conservative and don’t overstep the mark. I’ll have some of that approach in the race tomorrow but recently I have interpreted an almost ‘exactly, I’ve gotta seek those limitations out by pushing outside my comfort zone’ mentality. If I want to be the best outdoor athlete and specifically trail runner I can be I need to be prepared to be uncomfortable and continue giving my best even when things aren’t going well. I do that, I’ll have outcomes I can be proud of and use to take the next step forward in my athletic career and life. So that’s what the plan is.

Tschuss.