Paluma Push Marathon, 2013

31/7/13

Unfortunately my trip to Perth ended on a bit of a downer with a crash over the handlebars.  I went out for a short spin on the morning of my departure and after an hour and half of quality mtbiking ,thanks to Tony Tucknott’s trail guiding, I totally miss-judged one of the tight corners and clipped the handle-bars on a tree.  I landed quite heavily on my left side but at the time didn’t think too much of it.  It was a little hectic packing the bike up and getting to the airport on time and I only realised how painful my ribs were once up at altitude!  Turns out I had sustained a fracture in one of my ribs and the doc has enforced a little time off the bike.  This meant I was forced to withdraw from this year’s Paluma Push Marathon.  The Push is one of my favourite events for the year and I was mighty disappointed not to be competing!

Despite not racing, I still made the trip up North as I was scheduled in to give a presentation on Race-Specific Nutrition.  Topbrand Cycles in Townsville have a great reputation as offering some of the best customer service going around as well as selling quality product.  Of course this includes only the best sport nutrition on the market Torq Nutrition!  I was able to talk about how to best prepare for a longer race with appropriate carbohydrate loading, what to eat during an event and also how to best use nutrition in the recovery process. Those that attended were then able to sample some of the awesome Torq flavours such as the new Raspberry Ripple, yummy! Judging from the response, most people learnt a thing or 2 and were able to put into practice their carb loading strategies for the Paluma Marathon event in a day’s time.

Torq gels with guarana really does give you wings!

As I was sidelined for the race, I was able to act as soigneur for some of the riders competing.  The beautiful rain-forest of Paluma and Hidden Valley was certainly not the worst place in the world to be confined to foot as I was able to get out for a picturesque walk up to the lookout and then jump in the car to get to the finish just in time to see all the riders come in.

The cameraman sure had his position sorted

I was proud to see young Karlee Gibson smash her previous best time on the course and in doing so claimed 1^st female Junior and 2^nd female overall in the shorter 40km race.  I have been coaching Karlee over this last year and her progress has been quite phenomenal. She is certainly a high achiever and works hard both on the bike and in her year 12 studies!

Karlee Gibson finished 1st Junior female as well as 2nd outright female in the 40km event

Karlee’s father Peter Gibson has been event organiser for the Paluma Push for the previous 3 years.  He has done an amazing job in lifting the quality of the race.  His attention to detail and making sure everything runs smoothly on the day has lifted the profile of the event quite markedly!  This year the event was sold out well in advance and many people actually missed out. Some high profile riders including the likes of Australian Marathon and 24hr champ Jason English continue to return each year, giving the locals a chance to ride alongside the Nation’s best.

Race organiser, Peter Gibson,  had a little trouble keeping up with his son Ollie

Another work-horse whom I’ve had pleasure of coaching, Nick Verhoeven, finished the race with a smile on his face and recorded quite a respectable time on the day!

Nick put in a great ride and thoroughly enjoyed:)

Overall Naomi Hansen took out the female category and Jason English, as expected, blitzed in the men’s.  With the choice of 2 race distances the Paluma Push really caters for all levels of rider and looking around at the range of age groups present at the post race BBQ, this race provides a great weekend away for the whole family!  I will most definitely plan to return next year, hopefully then a little more able-bodied and therefore right to get out and race!

Top Brand Cycles were one of the major sponsors and the team had some great results too!

Ed and Adrian contemplating the 70km ahead