Sometimes there is so much to say that I struggle for words.
Delirious W.E.S.T. was obviously a special event for me. On the finish line, I had a vivid feeling that a chapter in my running life had closed, and a new one opening. There are reasons to be excited about the future.
While Homewood in Tahoe had always drawn me back to it like a magnet, and the Tahoe finish was never in doubt at least in my mind, finishing Delirious was not so straightforward. There were many moments of doubt and frustration, and it took assistance from friends and volunteers at the right times, and moments of epiphany leading to strong positive re-framing of situations, to enable me to climb out of dark holes and get stronger as the race went on. For that, I am grateful. You know who you are. Thank you!
Generally I was happy with the performance. It was a fair reflection of my ability at the moment. While I always thought that the third day struggling through the heat over exposed sand hills was my slowest, the performance graph actually showed a pretty steady pace throughout the event, slightly faster on the first and final days. Most of my good running occurred on these two days, so that was no surprise. The official results have not been released, but I suspect I finished somewhere between 25th and 35th, about mid-field.
As the Bibbulmum Track took my weary feet over rolling hills and wind-sculpted rocks, through giant tingle forests, unforgiving coastal scrubs, and white sandy coastlines, leaving me gasping at the numerous wonders of nature, I could not help thinking that this trail is a perfect example of the right level of human intervention with nature. The trail clearly has the hallmarks of human intent; however it is as natural as it could have been, and the memories of each human thought and hand contributing to shaping the trail have been seamlessly absorbed into nature, not sticking out like awkward look-at-me’s on top of it. Such is the definition of harmony, and that would be the best way I could describe my experience at Delirious – a harmonious one.
The insights from running Delirious have urged me to refine myself further and be a better person. Whether it’s running, or music, technology work, or family life that I pursue – that is probably the best outcome I would have expected from any of those pursuits. For that, I would always hold this experience dear to my heart.
With pleasure, I would like to share with you some amazing scenery and action photos from the event. The good ones were taken by Shannon Dale and others.
Again, thank you my friends for random acts of kindness, for following this race and supporting me all the way. Till the next race – which is not that far away.