Spiny Cray Ultra - Qld

Cairns, Qld.
Friday: Distance - 3.5 kms in 18' 45" at 5' 21" per km
Weather: cloudy, temp 27 degrees, humidity 90%, wind calm

Sunday:
Distance: 57.0 km
Time: 6 hrs 46 mins 20 secs
Rate: 7' 08" per km
Finished: about 14th overall
Altitude gain & loss: 1000 metres
Start altitude: 420 metres, turnaround 1200 metres
Weather: cloudy, temp range 21-28 degrees, humidity 80%, wind mostly calm
Oct: 200.1 km, Year: 3743.95 km

Flew to Cairns on Friday morning via Brisbane to find the weather very warm and the first dry sunny day they had seen in weeks. A few laps of the school oval while the local training group were running 200 metre repeats.
Next day drove with my brother and sister-in-law to Port Douglas for lunch and to watch the horses run in the Caulfield Cup on a wet, heavy track. May be an omen for Sunday where there has been plenty of rain as well in north Qld.
We then drove up the mountain to Julatten where the run was to start at the Highlander Hotel. Rained all night but the track was reasonably dry, just a little muddy in places. Start time at 7 am found 33 starters in the longer 57 km event and about the same in the 21 km run.
After 1.5 kms down hill on the road, it was all up hill with some down hill to make the return journey interesting, if not tougher.
I ran really well to the turnaround, but faded on the return as the down hill on the way up, turned into to real slog coming back. Where did it all come from ?
Then to keep things interesting, snakes alive. I saw one, the leaders saw 4, and most other runners saw 2 or 3. Mostly red belly blacks, but mine was not black, a grey colour, not sure what it was! And not staying around long enough to get a closer look.
Passed by a couple of girls runners, looking very strong and eventually finishing about 15 minutes in front. The sun came out at times through the thick rain forest. The image above shows just how thick the forest is. My GPS lost the signal for most of the return journey. A few creek crossings as well allowed for water bottle refills but that also meant wet feet for the almost 35 kms of the journey.
A tough day out, really enjoyable, something very different in a far away place.
No injuries or sore spots except normal tiredness, a couple of days and I should be back in business. Two weeks holiday now will help that as well, hopefully away from the cold and rain.