I headed to Brisbane to do a bit of a recce on the August course for Last One Standing. And I love it! There is so much I love about it. This course is the perfect thing for me. Here's why:

1. No hills. As I am heavier than the typical runner, hills would tax my legs every rise. With only time for 3months of training, I don't have time to build up a lot of strength to be a "runner".
2. Flat Path. One thing about swimmers is that we have very flexible joints. This includes our ankles where flexibility is vital for a great kick. But put us out running and most of us have twisted our ankles, multiple times. High school involved a lot of time on crutches after cross country and just general sport on the oval. Flat reduces the risk of a twisted ankle... until the fatigue sets in.
3. It will be cold. This race is in a cold and exposed part of Brisbane. The middle of August is notorious for cold winter winds. Advantage me! This is just 6 weeks after my Ice Mile swim so I'll be primed to ward off the chills unlike the skinny runners.
4. All mental. Due to the nature of this course, this will be way more mental than physical. I reckon I have the mental strength to take on anyone. My English Channel swimming last year required so much mental strength to get through many 6hour solo swims in the ocean.

Here's a video I took of the course. This is going to be EPIC.

 OK. So this is perhaps one of the stupidest things I have gotten myself into. I stumbled across this peculiar race called a Backyard Ultra where you run 6.7km every hour... until you're the Last One Standing!

How I came about this is through my fascination with The Barkley Marathons and it's co-founder, Lazarus Lake. Both are absolutely nuts. The Barkley Marathons were designed 30years ago so that no one could ever complete it. In its history, only 13 have. Each time someone finishes it, the next year the course gets harder. The starter's signal is Laz lighting a cigarette. Nobody runs at the start as they disappear out of sight. It's an unwritten rule. Nobody wants to show Laz they are doing it easy. You get the point? They are both nuts. There is a great doco on it. You NEED to watch it.

Laz came up with the concept of the Backyard Ultra 50years ago. He ran his first 12years ago and now it is in 30 countries. The winner of BYU around the world get a golden ticket to be part of Big's Backyard Ultra, held on Laz's property. And who is Big? Well, that's his dog, of course.

The concept is really simple. Run 6.7km every hour. Do it faster, you get more of a break before the next 6.7km starts. Do it too fast, you burn up. Do it too slow, you don't recover enough to do the next. Why 6.7km every hour? It's 100miles in 24hours. Simple. Yet crazy. The record stands at 70 laps (hours). Ridiculous, but also I find this extremely alluring.

Why am I doing this? My Channel Swim will take me about 22-24hours but I had no way of testing my mental strength. Until I saw this. I figure I could run that far in an hour. I'm not a good runner, particularly because I have short stumpy legs and weight 84kg. Oh, and I'm a swimmer who hasn't used his legs for a number of years because of my distance swimming. But I just thought, if I can string together some consistent runs, I could make it to 24hours. I hope. I actually have no idea. Will the body give in? Or will the mind? I know how to suffer but this is a sport I have zero background in. Fingers crossed!