G'day P-Team,
 
With August 1st approaching i'm glad to say from both an organisational, entry and volunteer point of view the event is yet again coming together.  Half Painathletes and Solo Painathletes are now level pegging for numbers (~25 each) so we've got a good crowd already with alot of time to go.  Plenty of newbies who have little idea what they're in for, a number of returns from hiatus and the few who have the guts to handle this form of physical stress year in, year out.
 

Spread the word
I encourage you all to get the word out.  Painathlon is a little bit viral, news of it reaches far and wide by word of mouth, tri-club newsletters and other means.  Our main aim is to get to the people who are likely to give it a go.
 

The reason
It is easy to get lost amongst the excitement of trying something crazy but the reason I set this event up was to fundraise grants for Variety kids who may never be able to complete an ordeal such as the Painathlon due to their physical disadvantages.  Even if you each get just your mum, a friend and a workmate to sponsor you, it will make the effort that much more meaningful when you're busting your gut up a challenge.
Although completing 10/10 challenges within the cutoff is an elite achievement in itself and worthy of major athletic kudos, you'll note prize money is not a feature.  Beyond basic running costs, every excess cent of entry fee's goes toward Variety.  Our team and all the volunteers are all unpaid.
As an incentive, we offer a Painathlon Sportsfever shirt to all those who can raise $250 and hand in/transfer it before the event start.
 

Upcoming familiarisers
This saturday (3rd July) Marek will be taking his weekly Challenge 1-5 session, starting 7am at City Beach.  Highly recommended to practice this at some point, and preferably at the time of day you'll be doing it!
 
I know quite a few of you are keen for a Challenge 5-10 practice run of the 'long' section of Painathlon out to Brigadoon, Kalamunda and Orange Grove.  Michael Parrotte has kindly offered to take a group on July 10/11th (weekend after next) for a familiariser of this route starting from the Vic Park end of the causeway (location of the transition area for the Bridges Run) over approx 4hrs.
As soon as Michael confirms, i'll relay if it will be sat or sun and the starting time.  We will plan to run at least 3 long weekend sessions of this route If you want km's on the legs this is ideal and you'll save navigation stress on the day.
 
With both this weekend and next, kindly drop an email if you plan to attend.
 

The perfect Jacobs Ladder ascent
For those that came along to last sundays familiariser I demonstrated the Jacobs Ladder ascent technique I developed to be able to do 265 laps over 24hrs back in 2006.  You may have noticed i've put up a Poll-athlon on the subject to see what everyones favourite way is.  If you're serious about not being reduced to a backwards crawl on your final challenge of the day, it's probably worth a look and at least playing around with it.
 
It goes like this:
1. 1st two straight flights - run double step
2. 1st two mini left right flights - run double step
3. Next straight flight - run single step, walk the flat middle section
4. Next mini left right flights - walk double step
 
repeat steps 3 and 4 all the way to the top.
 
To explain a little:  On each descent you'll recover enough 'spring' to make those first 2 flights plus mini flights running double step EVERY time.  In order not to burn out, I then revert to single step run with an additional 'walk' recovery on the platform halfway up each long straight.  Walking the subsequent mini left-right flights double step again gives just a little breather.  Just before the top where you have a choice to go left or right, go left and walk that flat section til the last flights.  With a little practice you should be able to replicate this ad nauseum.

Painathlon partner wanted
A potential Painathlete, Nyk 52, has contacted us to see if anyone of similar pace, and better navigation skills, would be willing to race the course with him on the day (as two individuals rather than a team).  To give an indication of level, he is a fitness trainer who has done 3 x marathons and 2x half Iron-man. Best marathon is 3.42 and 6hrs for Half IM.
If you're interested, contact us to this email and we can put you in touch.
If you haven't previously done the full Painathlon before, you'll often find on the day a group of you will be going approximately the same pace and will stick together (for drafting advantage over the 120km) 
 

Letter drop request
A month prior to the event, we are obliged by the councils to do letter drops to
1) Campersic Road & Boullonais Drive, Brigadoon
2) Zig-Zag scenic drive and surrounding roads affected by road-closure
3) South side of Mount St & Jacobs end of Cliff St, Perth City
 
If you live nearby any of these locations (particularly the ones out of town) and would be willing to print out and do a mail drop please contact me and I can supply further details

Website fine-tuning
You may notice that the top menu on www.painathlon.com has far less options now.  I've spent a bit of time and decluttered it so that although all the info is there, there's not 25 menu items.
 

Pre-briefing
Remember to keep monday July 26th 7-9pm free if possible to attend the pre-race briefing and collect your racetop and racecard.
Want a minimum of steps for competitors on the morning of the start so the more at the briefing the better.  If you're in a group of friends you'll be welcome to pick up for others if we know about it prior.
 
well all for now,
 
get climbing!
 
Jono Hague
Team Pain