UTA50: The Race With Many Stairs

States here we go!

Ultra-Trail Australia lived up to everything I’d heard: tough, stunning, and stacked with strong competition. This one had been on my radar for a while, and it didn’t disappoint.

We arrived in Katoomba on Wednesday night. The town was blanketed in mist, and both Thursday and Friday brought cold, drizzly weather—definitely not the Australian holiday Michelle had in mind! But race day was forecast to be clear. Would we finally catch a glimpse of the iconic Blue Mountains? Spoiler: yes, we did.

But first—since a few of you have asked about my nutrition and training in the lead-up—here’s a quick breakdown of the days before the race:

Pre-Race Routine: Simple, Familiar, and Carb-Heavy

Wednesday Night – Arrival in Katoomba
Dinner: Satay noodles takeaway

Thursday
Breakfast: Hotel buffet—bagel with honey, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage (crap coffee). Followed up with a proper café coffee.
Run: 90 minutes including 5 x strides, fuelled with PF&H carb/electrolyte drink and a 90g gel
Snacks: 2 x PF&H chews
Lunch: Rice with peanut butter and honey + cereal with protein powder
Dinner: Rice, pesto chicken, broccoli
Dessert: More rice with honey and peanut butter

Friday
Breakfast: 3 slices of honey toast and a coffee
Run: 70 minutes including 3 x strides
Lunch: Rice with peanut butter and honey + honey toast
Dinner: Same as Thursday
Dessert: Same again

Saturday – Race Morning
Breakfast: 2 slices of honey toast, coffee, 500ml PF&H carb/electrolyte drink, and a gel 15 minutes before the start

Pretty basic, but it works for me.

From the Gun

From the gun, the pace was pretty honest. David Haunschmidt went out hard and opened up a ~100m gap on the front bunch early. The opening stretch featured a short out-and-back on 4x4 track—nice for warming the legs up. David came back to us by the time we looped past the Start/Finish line, and from there, it was Miguel Menitiz and me out front pushing the pace. He looked smooth and relaxed, and it turns out he’s a sub-2:15 marathoner—so that explains it.

That was probably the only section that actually felt relaxed. We were soon into punchy climbs and technical stair descents. I moved to the front, applying pressure to see if I could shake Miguel—or at least make him work—while still keeping something in reserve for the second half. The views in this section were unreal. Who would’ve thought… Australia.

Shout-out to Phillip Sage capturing the moments

I felt solid early on, sticking to my fuelling plan of Precision Fuel gels and carb drink—about 110g of carbs per hour.

At 18km, we hit the Fairmont Resort aid station together. Michelle handed me a bottle in a slick transition while Miguel stopped to fill up—giving me a small gap heading out.

Opening It Up

The next section was more my style—flowy trails with a few punchy climbs. I stuck to the “out of sight, out of mind” approach and tried to open things up. When I reached Queen Victoria Hospital at 29km, the lead had apparently grown to around two minutes. I didn’t know that at the time, but I kept transitions sharp to maintain rhythm.

Then came the big descent into the valley—classic Aussie 4x4 trail. I pushed hard on both the ups and downs, using this part to my advantage before the final climb out of the valley toward the base of the iconic Furber Steps.

That climb is no joke. Runners from the miler were grinding it out too, and there was a real sense of shared suffering. Everyone was digging deep.

Reaching the base of the Furber Steps, you know there’s only about a kilometre to go—it just happens to be straight up. You grit your teeth, drag yourself up, and then finally hit the finishing chute.

Crossing the line to cheers from my parents and seeing Michelle just beyond the tape—it was a special moment.
Final time: just over 4 hours and 1 minute.

Reflections

This race was exactly what I needed at this point in the year: a hard effort on technical terrain, a chance to test fitness under pressure, and the opportunity to race in a world-class event in a new environment. The UTA community is passionate and welcoming, and the course is a beautiful beast.

From a training perspective, I’m stoked with how the body responded—especially considering I hadn’t tapered (I wouldn’t usually do a 90-minute run two days out and 70 minutes the day before). But that was part of the bigger picture as I build toward Western States. The legs handled the stairs and descents better than I expected, and mentally, it was a great hit-out to sharpen racing instincts.

And yes—Michelle did finally get to see the Blue Mountains, and we had a really special few days together before I took off again for training in the U.S.

It was also a privilege to be out there with a few athletes I coach—Ali (who crushed it for 2nd in the 50km), and Sam and Trishn in the 100km. Watching their efforts unfold was inspiring.

Gratitude

Massive thanks to the UTA team (the same legends behind Tarawera Ultra) for putting on such a class event. It’s races like this that make the early alarms, long travel days, and endless bowls of rice all worth it.

Now it’s time to recover, reflect, and keep building. States is on the horizon—and I’m excited for what’s to come.

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