Fraser Darcy

The sequence of events leading up the World Champs in the previous editions of The Austrian Diaries were chronicled daily. To fully engage in the experience that was the ‘2023 Innsbruck-Stubai World Mountain and Trail Running Championships’ I let the daily diary slide and went full Raoul Duke/Hunter.S.Thompson. Yes. This is Fear and Loathing in Innsbruck and I was on the journey to re-define the American dream trail runners dream. (Do some googling to broaden your understanding of pop-culture if you don’t understand the reference).

Easing back into things here’s the Day 1 recap to start with.

Day 1: Vertical Race. Jumped in the car with Matt my roommate and a few other team mates for the drive out to Stubai. If the picture wasn’t clear from the Opening Ceremony, this event is a proper festival. Out in the midday sun, people sinking beers, DJ’s blasting music and the top mountain athletes doing their warm-ups. Outrageous to be doing all this on a Wednesday in a small town in Austria but this is the World Champs.

While the runners suffered their way up a 1000m of climbing, the Aussie crew jumped in the cable car and then hiked the last 200m to the top straight up a ski slope. Maybe it’s not the best prep personally before my race but I was here to soak it all in and support my team mates. I had barely met these folk but when I know I’ll be relying on their support throughout my race it was important I showed them the same kindness by supporting them in their race. Plus, we as Australians are definitely the outcasts or anomalies at this event so the more support from fellow Aussies the better. As opposed to being yelled ALLEZ ALLEZ ALLEZ by random Euro’s.

The other part of attending the Vertical is that I was able to witness first hand the finishes of the top athletes. Tour de France style, the crowds closed in on the top Kenyan athlete and then the next athlete, no matter what nation, shouting and encouraging them to keep going. It was intense and I was looking forward to competing at that level in my race at that stage.

At the conclusion of the racing the long trip down the mountain via cable car and then car ride back to Innsbruck felt similar to getting back home after a big match at the MCG. More eating out at the dinner buffet, relaxing and prepping my aid station stuff and then it was off to bed to rest before the big day.

Day 2: The race. Up at 5:45am due to both the sun getting up early and Matt thinking breakfast opened at 6. All good, feeling relaxed despite having to twiddle my thumbs for a bit. Whatever I guess. Smash some breakfast, did some stretching and then met up with the rest of the Short Trail team in the lobby at 7:45.m This was now the second morning in a row of being in the Hotel and out of a normal race routine for me but I didn’t feel toooo out of sync. Strolling into the athlete meeting area 1 hour before my race started though things started to look a lot different which was all very exciting. The only challenge in this hour before the start was getting through the mandatory gear check (tick) and timing my visits to the toilet so I wasn’t on the start line wetting myself (also tick).

15 minutes to go before the race I ventured back outside to get the body moving slightly and the volume and heat outside had been turned up to a level I’d never seen before. The crowd was in a frenzy. If I had a choice I would’ve bolted away to a nearby park to get myself sorted but the stringent regulations at this level of competition meant we only had a short 100m runway to freshen up the legs before we started. My obligatory lap through was alright, saw Aaron and his girlfriend Louise and then headed quickly away to avoid the masses.

Unfortunately this set me back from the starting pack. Despite the rules stating each country has the right for one athlete to be on the start line the 5m long start line and pack of runners meant this was logistically impossible. So much for the dream start you envision of gleefully running across the start line. Instead I was bunched up with other hot sweaty athletes for a good five minutes in full sun at 9am Innsbruck time. Oh well, not much I can do about it.

At fever pitch now the race director got us off running through a ‘neutral start’. Some marketing person (probably) created a City Trail section through the Old Town of Innsbruck within the first km which meant that the race was held at a controlled pace through this narrow artificial trail designed to show off trail running to the punters. Instead it was just a pretty fucked up nightmare of people racing to improve their start position and then bunching up again. Once we were all through the process started again and I found myself frustrated at the people in front of me who hadn’t self-seeded themselves too well. Or maybe I was just going too hard too early. Either way the race was on.

Through the first few km’s I tried to give myself the opportunity of finishing high by getting into the top 30 runners. Mission accomplished. Grinding my way uphill I didn’t feel too bad but also not too amazing. Every race start is different and for this one I didn’t feel especially poppy in my legs but not overly tired. I did though feel very hot. Again, not much I can do about it but just stick to my plan through the first hour of:

• Get through the first 10km in 1 hour.
• Drink all my liquid ready for a fresh set of bottles at the first aid station at the 10km mark.
• Have a crack at being in the top 30.

In the pine forests out of Innsbruck we climbed up. I was drenched in sweat in the first twenty minutes but was drinking frequently. I was getting passed a bit but wasn’t too concerned and was happy with my rhythm. We rolled into the downhill and I received my first lesson of the day. Europeans are a lot better at downhills than me. The top 30 ambition disappeared for a bit as we dropped the 500m down back into the outskirts of Innsbruck. I was focusing on my own race as much as possible here but it was a little demoralising to be getting passed so easily on the downs. Did these people not know we still had 4 hours at least of racing to save the legs for? Vlad, one of my other team mates, came past me here just as we approached the first aid station. He was moving pretty well and I let him go through cautious not to overcook myself and choosing instead to focus on drinking all my fluid before I reached the aid station.

Which I did pleasingly. Grabbed a fresh set of bottles, some more gels and was in and out very efficiently with a nice thumbs up from my team mates Bastien and Alastair. A little road running section was nice to relax into and I didn’t lose any spots here but the sun was still out and cooking. Two punchy climbs and descents brought me back to my old stomping ground of Gotzen’s and I was on track with my ambitious time goal of around 5 hrs. Usually though, if I haven’t felt too crash hot at the start after an hour and a bit of running I do tend to feel better. Unfortunately I just never got rolling into a rhythm. Yes I knew where I was going on the course so I was relaxing into it but one aspect I hadn’t factored in was the crowd and it’s distracting effect. Race day was a public holiday and every man, woman and child was out there shouting and swinging cow bells like I had to ALLEZ ALLEZ ALLEZ and GO GO GO for every single step. No chance to switch off and just cruise and be with my own thoughts. Nope, always something to look and listen to. Lesson two of the day received.

The big climb out of Gotzen’s was up next and I did a fair amount of hiking up here which started to cook my back a bit. In training and in my course reconnaissance I had mostly run steep hills but today I was dropping into hike mode a lot. We were also running on a different part of the hill to that which I had reconnoitred which left me feeling uneasy. Were we all going the wrong way? I never asked if there was a last minute course change or I just got it wrong.

Three quarters of the way up I checked into the Mutterer Alm aid station at 22km or about 2.5 hrs. Again, my plan here was to have finished my bottles (tick), be here before 2.5 hours (tick) and be in the top 30 (not tick). The lead woman was cruising up behind me on this next section of the course which was cool as a spectator/fan of the sport to see but it meant the crowd support was even more amped as I went past and there was a TV camera on me too. Having already realised I wasn’t having a great day I kept checking in with myself making sure I was giving my best effort at least. To which I could say yes, I was giving it a good crack but I was a little disappointed at what my best effort was outcome wise.

At the top of the climb the first warning signs of cramps started popping through too. Halfway time wise and distance wise and it was clear this was going to be a battle from here. Push too hard, don’t drink enough and I’ll be cramping my way through to the finish which sucks. Back off the pace though and I’ll be swearing at myself all the way to the finish which sucks too. The inspiration to keep moving forward with purpose from here was to keep the ‘directing mind’ of Marcus Aurelius focused on doing the best I can given what I have available. The challenge behind this was staying in this mindset and giving myself a pat on the back in the midst of being shouted at by all the spectators to push harder every few minutes.

The next section of the course had some technical single track that allowed me to get some rhythm going but it was still a procession of runners passing me. Fortunately though the temperature had dramatically changed over the last hour and I was at a much more comfortable operating temperature which meant my cramping wasn’t going to get worse too quickly.

At the 33km I had one big climb on a nice gradient to reach the final aid station. This was the climb that most reminded me of Dutchmans Stern and Mt.Brown at home in Quorn and I leant it and started running properly. My position in the race even improved a few spots up the climb as I kept ticking the legs over. Again, I was just trying to ensure I gave my best effort up the hill knowing that once I was at the 36km aid station it was only 40 minutes of uphill and then a long descent to go. It would’ve been nice to get a real kick going here as I pushed in and out of the aid station and I got a little support from the crowd in but heading out the other side the technicality of the single track slowed me back down. If there was a low point of my belief during the race it was probably on this next section.

Everyone has visions of themselves running strongly through the final moments of the race, especially in such a cool location, but I felt very cooked instead. I was experiencing the classic ‘heavy’ legs feeling negotiating the obstacles on the trail and avoiding any more cramps. Somewhere along this section I was finally passed by Matt which was more a relief than anything. I felt I had been going so slowly throughout the race that he should’ve passed me earlier so was starting to worry what had happened to him. But nope, he’d just paced himself a lot better and spent the race passing people instead of being passed like me. Both him and Vlad though are very experienced at racing internationally and are at least ten years older. Perhaps I can be just as smart and race proficient as them within the next ten years!

The final downhill was a long 6km’s of surviving pretty much. Let some runners past on the open sections, try not to cramp and try not to fall over. It was a little frustrating from a course design point of view that this descent took about 30 minutes and left only a minute or so of flat running to finish. There was no chance of a big 20-25 minute flat or uphill finish to give it everything and get the lungs and heart screaming to feel like you’ve crushed a race. Nope, after descending for that long you almost start to feel fresh and relaxed. Coming into the final km I was relieved to have made it and proud of myself for sticking at it despite it not being the dream race I envisioned over the last two months.

I think I’m very guilty of building up the expectations on big ‘A’ grade races to be perfect executions. Of course there’s no such thing as a perfect race so every mistake or lesson learnt in an A grade race is over analysed. The races I look more fondly on are the ones where I’ve gone in with low or no expectations and just tried to enjoy my running. I didn’t feel that was appropriate for a World Champs race though because it was almost like I wouldn’t have respected the race enough with considering my expectations around it. Oh well though, another lesson learnt from the experience and one which will make me a better runner… which as a reminder is the overall aim with running!

I did stride it out pretty strongly over the finish and got some nice photos. Straight into the marquee afterwards I caught up with Matt and Vlad and was glad to have finished. Matt and I both had a shower, chatted to Mum and Dad which was great to share the moment with them before I headed to the lunch room for some well earned real food.

Here the biggest evidence to myself that I did push myself to the limit and find my limitations (as I hoped for in #7) was when I started feeling very sick and dizzy waiting in line for lunch. The classic motion sickness problems I’ve experienced when kayaking or flying through turbulence of being super hot, vision blurry and stomach not right. I grabbed some food with spurts of verbal commands to the nice staff and then quickly went outside to get some fresh air and be horizontal for a bit. Feeling like death is therefore a good indicator that I did push myself to the limit without overstepping it too much.

So yes, I found my limitations in the end but just maybe wasn’t as happy with how I had to do it. I recovered enough to eat some food before a second stint was required outside to do some burping, lie down again and just switch off. The lunch room was hot and noisy and it would’ve been great to be able to just be in a peaceful outdoor environment, you know, kind of like the type of environment that trail running usually occurs in… Instead the after race area was just like the pre-race area and the race atmosphere itself so the best I could hope for was lying outside under the balcony to get my shit together.

Eventually we got there, I ate some more food and then I started to relax. The post race feeling of accomplishing 45km of trail running was starting to soak in and it was great to share this with not only Matt but also a few of the other boys who had come out to support during the race. A bus ride home, a couple of beers in the afternoon sun at the event village, some dinner and then it was pretty much bedtime and that was that. Day 2 done. My race done.

Overall Race Stats: In a nice poignant moment for the Darcy family my final finishing position was 88th (8 is somewhat of a lucky number in the family) with a time of 5hrs 27 min 6 seconds. 1hr 6mins off the winner, 20 minutes behind Vlad and less than ten minutes behind Matt with our fourth runner, David, another 30 minutes behind me. There were 153 finishers from 172 starters meaning I was in the top half overall which is cool.

Doing such an extensive course reccy means I can compare my race ‘segments’ to my pre race efforts. Kind of surprisingly and pleasingly I ran most of the sections either faster in the race or very close to it compared to when I did them in 20km sections. The Kreuzjoch climb segment, the last major climb, was only ten or so seconds slower in the race than when I did that by itself, despite having 4 hours of running under my belt. Same with the descent from the top being faster than when I did it during the inspection. I guess practice makes perfect right? Imagine if I lived in Europe and could train on segments like this all year-round…side blog to investigate one day…

Any Other Business: The other comment to make regarding the feeling of disappointment towards my result is that losing, or coming 88th, in a race sucks. Watching the finishes of the other events over the championships it looked sick to come in the top 10. Without watching those top 10 athletes push to the finish line I’m not sure I would’ve really understood all my disappointment with my race. It’s good in a way to not want to finish 88th. It shows I’m motivated to do better next time. Like always, translating my result to another sport, tennis in this case, my race outcome was like playing your debut match at a Grand Slam on Centre Court and losing the first set 6-4 then the next two 6-1, 6-1 with most games going to deuce but I was never able to finish off the game. Everyone who enters a grand slam dreams of winning but at the end of the day there’s only one. Novak Djokovic may have won the French Open this year, bringing my two weeks in Innsbruck of following the tournament to a close, but his first grand slam was in the 2005 Aussie Open where he lost in the first round. He didn’t win his first grand slam until the 2008 Aussie Open so it just shows that even though it didn’t go as well as I expected first time round, if I stay motivated, stay diligent who knows what can happen.

Something else to consider with my race that I alluded to was being aware if I was feeling out of rhythm or not. Having spent a few more days post mortem the race, it is possible the fact that I was ‘on’ from the Tuesday morning of race week until race day (and past it for that matter) played a role in my performance. I’m very used to being in my own little bubble in Quorn or Eden Hills and I’ve definitely mentioned getting better at my ability to transfer this mindset around with me. It’s easy to do so when I can exercise choice over what and when I eat, who I see etc. Things I couldn’t or chose not to do in the hotel because it was easier and cheaper to eat the hotel buffet and the provided athlete dinner. In addition to this being around the other Aussie and American’s athletes was great for a lot of things but also meant I was distracted on what they were doing sometimes when I should’ve focused more on myself. I don’t have to consider this when I’m out in Quorn by myself. Something to be aware of for next time.

In Summary, the key lessons from the race:

• Get better at downhills
• Free up my expectations for big races and don’t get sucked into needing a good result. The ‘Don’t lose your passion for glory’ lyric from Eye of the Tiger is quite fitting.
• Learn to conserve my pace and placing early on in big races. More like Matt’s efforts essentially.
• Adapt better to crowd noise and other runners being around.

That’s enough about that though for now. The race was just one day and aspect of my whole experience in Innsbruck. The diary will conclude with one, possibly two, more entries finishing it all off. Until then, there’s a bit to digest here for you dear readers…^^^