Winner of Ultra-Trail Australia – Kellie Emmerson, Uncut
Over the last few years, HOKA ONE ONE athlete, Kellie Emmerson, has risen through the ranks to become one of the top ultra-trail runners in the world. Kellie has achieved numerous outstanding results accumulating in winning the 2018 Ultra Trail Australia 100km.
Below are some excerpts from her in-depth interview in Australian Athlete Mag.
On running the brutal the Trail Running World Championships in Peneda Geres National Park, Portugal
“Everyone ran out of water and were desperately trying to find whatever dribble they could in the paddocks- yes right next to the cows! It really was brutal.”
On juggling full-time work, a PhD, and training
“I also think it has helped me to be efficient. There’s something important about having routine and structure, even if sleep gets compromised sometimes.”
On winning the 2018 Ultra Trail Australia 100km?
“It had taken me three attempts to get there, the effort and hard work makes it so much sweeter.”
On bonking
“If you can push through the low patches, you will always come good again at some point. At TDS recently, I had to wait 18 hours to come good! But it happened, and I was able to finish strong.”
On mentally coping with time off, injuries and off-season
“The best cures have been going away for proper holidays where you are out of routine anyway, and cross training with friends- doing gym classes, going climbing, still being active but having some fun without a plan.”
On go-to nutritional product
“SOS Rehydrate is my go-to for electrolytes.”
WINNER OF ULTRA-TRAIL AUSTRALIA – BRENDAN DAVIES UNCUT
Brendan Davies is the best-known ultra-runner in the southern hemisphere.
His amazing story, as never told before, is outlined in an 8-page feature interview in Australian Athlete bookazine. Order your copy now (printing early December) and receive a free pair of Steigen socks – the best running socks in the world. The perfect Christmas present.
On preparation
“Preparation for ultras is a career like affair, you rise through the ranks the longer you stick at it. For me, this has meant the accumulation of years of 100km+ training weeks without fail and the adaptations that go with it is what has enabled me physically and mentally to keep pushing the boundaries” – Brendan Davies
On training
“When I’m really in the zone, I’ll also throw in a hard VO2 Max interval session in the morning and sometimes my mileage can get up to 50km plus for the day spread over 5 sessions!” – Brendan Davies
On how vital his wife Nadine is to his success
“It is very easy when your performance dips to only focus on the minutiae of performance, to become obsessive with the one percenters. When this dip inevitably goes for more than 12 months, being obsessive just takes you further into deficit, into the pits of ‘if only’ and ‘work harders’. My wife doesn’t suffer this foolishness.” – Brendan Davies
On mileage
“I was hitting 200km weeks consistently leading up to UTA this year and I guess ultimately it was just not the volume but the mixture of sessions I was able to maintain” – Brendan Davies
On bonking big time at TransGranCanaria
“I learned a lot from that run, mostly that each moment in an ultra always directly impacts the rest of the race, and problems need to be addressed by pulling back rather than pushing on.” – Brendan Davies
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