5 Tips to Survive Kokoda Challenge Gold Coast as your team of 4
Words by Ultra- Runner, Sky Runner Ambassador & GCPSH Sponsored Athlete, Caine Warburton
follow Caine’s blog at Running on the Edge
The Kokoda challenge race is without a doubt a fitting tribute to the punishment and difficulty that soldiers experience in PNG along the Kokoda Track. With steep climbs, harrowing descents, mud, water and at times tears the Kokoda Challenge will be, for a lot of people, the ultimate endurance test.
However, it is not all misery and despair as the race is achievable with a little training, effort and a smart approach.
Being experienced in Ultra distance mountain races and having previously fielded the winning Kokoda challenge team in 2013 I have summarised my tips for a successful Kokoda Challenge race below.
1. Mates are the Key: the race itself is all about team work and as such you need to finish with all of your members alive and intact to record an official time. Getting all four of you across the finish line will come down to good Team work and a solid understanding of your team dynamics. Its important to get to know your team mates, go out training and learn about who they are, what they like, what they don’t like, who has what strengths and what are their weaknesses. This information will allow you to provide the right type of encouragement to each person when the going gets tough (and it will), not everyone responds positively to being yell at!!
2. You are only as fast as the slowest person: When it comes to selecting the right pace to run/walk at it is vital that the pace is not too fast. Many teams each year go out to hard and burn out their weakest/less fit member in the first 20-30km of the race. This usually results in a long day for everyone with lots of suffering and cramping for the less fit and frustration for others. A good technique is to be honest with each other and when one of your team members starts to feel bad or tired put them at the front to set the pace. If you ensure your slowest/most tired person is always at the front then you will never go faster than what your team is capable of.
3. Checkpoints beware: Throughout the race you will come to a number of checkpoints/aid stations where you will be able to see your crew, fill up water, change clothes and pick up food. These checkpoints can be great morale boosters and are key assets to help you complete the course. However, it is important not to dwell to long in them as every moment in a checkpoint is a moment you are not completing course. Many teams lose hours in checkpoints for no good reason, at night the warmth of the checkpoint will be very inviting but you can’t stay there (if you plan to finish) and will have to go back out into the cold night eventually. A good rule to follow is to be in and out of the checkpoint in about 5-10min, long enough to fill water and change what equipment/clothes you need. Instead of eating your food in the checkpoint grab it and walk out eating as you go then at least you are still covering the course and getting closer to the finish with each step.
4. Test and trial gear: Having good equipment that will aid not hinder you in the race is very important. Blisters, broken backpacks and chafed thighs are all too common in the Kokoda challenge so make sure you test everything out (more than once) on a long run/walk BEFORE the race day. If something doesn’t work then change it out, if your shoes give you blisters try another pair, if your shorts rub wear some tights!. It sounds simple but all too often new participants come unstuck using equipment on the day they didn’t test beforehand.
5. Dig deep and then dig some more: It is going to hard, very very hard!! But that is what you signed up for and that is what it is all about. Mentally preparing for the race means coming to terms with the fact you will hurt, you will be cold, hot, tired and uncomfortable…yet you will still need to keep pushing forward. To help you in the tough times try using mantras, counting to 10 with your foot steps, listening to music or better yet remembering how hard the soldiers in PNG had it and how they persevered through conditions much worse than we will ever experience in the race.
For more information about Kokoda Challenge Gold Coast or other events, go here
