Mark J. Keenan

This is the tale of two ultras; a story which begins on the golden sands of a picturesque beach on the southern coast, and finishes, in the dark, on a loosely paved footpath in the hills. In mid-October, I packed my car with all my trail-running gear, some downloaded tunes, and my youngest son, and set off on a long drive. Our destination was the port city of Albany; a town renowned for the breathtaking beauty of it’s rugged coastline. And we were going to run it. Perth Trail

Last year, I had planned to run the “whole truth” - a 50 kilometre, double loop, trail event held in Jarrahdale called Truth and Consequences. I didn’t. Instead, I ran the single loop event, changing my entry to the 25 kilometre course after four weeks of ankle pain. Really, I shouldn’t have run the event at all. And I definitely shouldn’t have kept training afterwards, and then run the City to Surf as well. But that’s how it was last year. Caught up in the excitement of comp

Trails, trees and great people. Check. Check. Check. The Pemby Trail Fest had all of these. And more. The Friday night run was a cracker. Many people had spent a good few hours seated in a car and everyone was ready to get moving, so when the start countdown finished there were a lot of woohoos. The first section of the trail was flat and wide, helping the group to spread out. As we ran back past the historic swimming pool we could hear voices cheering us on from the start-li

"There is magic in patience, you know." Zedd. The Sword of Truth, Terry Goodkind. My 2017 running goal, set at the end of last year, was to complete the PTS Bloated Goat trail event. On March 26th, after 18 weeks of training, I did just that. I wasn’t fast - taking just under 5 hours to finish the 30km, 1400m vert course - but, I didn’t die either. And I loved it! The challenge, the solitude; me against the hills, me against the distance, me against me. To cap it all off, Mel