As an addition to my previous article on low and no cost runs in South Australia, I thought I’d do a few reviews of these runs for you. This one’s of the The Pichi Richi Marathon which also includes a 1km kid’s fun run, 5km, 10km, 21.1km half marathon and full 42.2km marathon distance.

 

Location

Port Augusta, is a tick over 300kms north of Adelaide. In 2018 there was some talk about a course change, but for now at least, it looks set to stay as is, starting at the Standpipe Hotel on the northern edge of town, and taking the highway south to the turn off to Quorn and following that all the way to the town of Quorn on the edge of the Flinders Ranges, finishing at the local footy field.

 

Race choices

The race has a 1km kid’s race ($10), 5km ($50 regular entry/$40 Earlybird), 10km ($60 regular entry/$50 Earlybird), 21km ($70 regular entry/$60 Earlybird), and 42km ($80 regular entry/$70 Earlybird). No race day entries on the day. I ran the 42km so my review is for that course.

 

Elevation

A picture says a thousand words, right? Need I even say more about the elevation? This course starts out flat, then goes, up, and up, then up a bit more, then down a teeny weeny bit before going up and up and up again, and then down a bit to the finish line. By which time you’re too buggered to really take advantage of it.

The surface

It’s on a road. For safety reasons, the road is closed, so you can run in the right hand lane. The only real issue is dodging the odd bit of roadkill.

 

Support

Support is frequent, but basic. There’s a support station every 5kms for the first 30kms, with a few extra ones chucked in over the last 10kms. As far as I know, there was only water available, but with the option to have your own drinks/nutrition placed at the drink stations for you. (Which I did, having a few sports drinks for me at the 15km, 30km and 36km stations. You just need to make sure you label them clearly.)

 

Start/Finish line

Starts at the Standpipe Hotel, making that a pretty convenient place to stay, although my personal hotel of choice is the Comfort Inn which is run by Aaron, a local runner, and is only about a kilometer away. You can use the toilet at the hotel from about 7am – for a 7:30am start.

The finish line is at Quorn football oval. Water and fruit were available, but more importantly, the local school had soft drinks and baked goods available. I’m talking cakes and donuts. *fist pump* You can also use the bathroom and shower facilities at the caravan park next door.

It’s important to note, this race currently allows an early start. So if you want to do a specific distance, but are anticipating being slow, you can start earlier than the main group in order to finish closer to when everyone else finishes.

 

Notes

In 2018 there was a lot of talk about changing the course due to road safety reasons, and re-routing it to nearby Wilmington. Eventually they worked it out, but that’s something to keep an eye on in future years.

If you can knock the first half of the full marathon off in under two hours, you’ll hit the half marathon start line in time to run with them. If, like me, you miss it, even by a few minutes, you may find yourself out there with not a lot of other runners around for the rest of the race. I managed to reel a few of the back runners in, and passed the 5km race start right before they started so had a bit of moral support in that last section, otherwise I ran most of the race on my own after the first 5kms when the relatively small marathon field started to spread out.

I think I’ve well and truly covered the course elevation but it warrants one more mention. Conventional wisdom puts this course at about 15 to 20 minutes slower than your flat marathon time. (I ran this one three weeks after the Kanku-Breakways Marathon with almost no training in between, and ran it three minutes slower than that one. It’s definitely a bit harder than that one.)

You cross the Pichi Richi steam train line a few times along the way. A few of those are bridges, but there was one ground level crossing where I managed to cross less than a minute before the train came through. So if I’d been a it slower I may have been caught waiting for the train to go past which would have been a bit weird. It’s not like it would have cost me the race, and as it was, I stopped and took pics anyway, but waiting for a steam train mid marathon is definitely not something that happens during most races.

 

2018 Bling/Prices/Entrants

42km ($80 entry/$70 earlybird): 15 finishers

21km ($70 entry/$60 earlybird): 39 finishers

10km ($60 entry/$50 earlybird): 72 finishers

5km ($50 entry/$40 earlybird): 35 finishers

1km ($10 entry): 14 finishers

Basic ‘off the shelf’ race bling. Basic race number – not personalised. Tops available to purchase.

It has to be said I really only included this race on my no/low cost list because the marathon is good value. The other races get progressively worse as the distance shortens. $50 for a 5km race is expensive. Although the chance to run that route is nice enough, and in 2018 the 10km course included a ride on the steam train from the finish line to the start line which makes it great value!

 

My verdict

Even if you’re used to hills, running consistently uphill, even on mild elevation (by trail terms), for almost 30kms wears a bit thin after a while. It doesn’t help when there’s a headwind for a lot of the way either. And if you’re a road runner used to flat courses, this is particularly brutal. But for some reason, and I’m honestly not sure if I can articulate why, I’m quite fond of this race. I like running (and walking) through the hills, it’s beautiful out there. And like a lot of the other races I’ve been running and reviewing this year, I like the community spirit and ‘small race feel’. I’d love to see them lower the prices of the shorter distances though. And maybe have some sports drink and lollies available at the support stops. And dare I say it, if they’re going to do race bling, a custom medal instead of the bog standard trophy store one, would be a nice touch and add to the appeal.

And if you do go up, I highly recommend doing a bit of exploring while you’re up there. If you only have an hour or so, at least duck into the Arid Lands Botanic Garden on the edge of town for a walk, a look around, some bird watching or even a bite to eat. I’ll write a separate blog on what I did while I was there.

 

GPS

My Strava GPS data is here.

 

Gallery (A few more pics from the day available on Facebook here soon.)

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