I am addicted to challenges, whatever form those challenges take. Every year I try to tackle something new. In 2018, I’ve been learning to surf and took up ocean swimming to get over my fear of the sea. In 2019, I have unfinished business with trail running.

The 100km has been on my radar since I ran a 50km trail ultra in 2012 but I stopped running for a few years to pursue my passion for travel and to pursue a career in which I don’t have to wear a suit. Now it’s time to get fit again and why not jump straight in with a big challenge. Besides, I turn 40 in September and want to enter my forties fit and ready to take on anything the next decades throw at me. When The Guzzler appeared on my Instagram feed on Christmas Eve 2018, I took it as a sign. I hope it’s the first of many ultra trail adventures to come. 

I grew up running in Bayview Conservation Park in the Redlands. I lived next to the park as a teenager and again in my early thirties before moving away. I ran my first and only trail marathon at Rainbow Beach in 2011. I entered on a whim with insufficient training and had a ball. I ran / walked the entire course in bare feet, finishing in 7:30. In 2012 I ran my first and only ultra: the 50km Flinders Tour, which I finished in 6:48.

When I moved away in 2014, I stopped trail running because I was too busy travelling the world. I briefly returned to running in July 2016 when I ran the Jetty2Jetty half marathon merely because it went past my house and I walked the Rainbow Beach trail half marathon. I didn’t train for either and the time wasn’t right for me yet. Life was too chaotic with travel and changing careers. But now it feels right – and I will be following a seven month training plan leading up to The Guzzler.

My goal is to find my fitness again through my training for the race, and to feel like an athlete again after letting myself go for a few years. For me, entering The Guzzler is about the journey.

I want to arrive at the start line injury free; to walk all the uphills and jog all the flats and downhills during the daytime hours on the course then fast walk during the night. Ideally, I’d like to finish in 20 hours because I’d rather wake up to see the dawn than to be running into it.

But mostly I want to enjoy the experience so that it inspires me to enter another trail ultra in 2020. 

My husband, Paul, because he has the best hugs and I know I’ll need some hugs when I’m feeling low. He also has the power to make me feel like I am capable of anything. Sandy or Simon from my years as an Audax cyclist because they always organise the best checkpoint food. 

You can find Andrew on Instagram @lookingfor42