I ate 60 persimmon the day before the race (nothing else).
I slept reasonably well leading up to the race and felt well slept at the race start, though I'm sure a little more sleep would have been even better.
I wasn't as hydrated as I would have liked at the race start.
I'd been running only 30 to 40km per week (in 6-7km sessions) and did a 3 hour training run about 5 weeks before the race.

My friend Brian is making a documentary on the positive results of a vegan diet on health.
I was honoured when he asked if I'd like to appear in it as an example of an athlete thriving on a plant-based diet.
So a camera crew was hired and I hope I delivered what they were after.
Why do camera crew always wait for runners on an uphill section? I guess they find joy in the torturous facial expressions.

- 2 litre camelbak + backpack containing safety matches, firelighter, 2 headlamps (2 sets of batteries), reflective vest, maps, map case, whistle, compass, compression bandage, 1kg of dried fruit, goretex jacket, beanie, thermal top and pants and mobile phone.
Leaving each checkpoint I was carrying 2-3 litres of water (including soak water for dates).
I figure I was carrying at least 6kg through most of the race.
I changed my socks (as in every race) at each of the 3 checkpoints allowing dropbags (54km, 67km, 89km).

I was held up for about 15 minutes waiting in a queue to go down the Narrowneck ladder. I took the opportunity to remove some rubble from my shoes (I did most of the race with them tied a little looser than they should have been), ate some celery, relieved the bladder and sat down and gave my calves a nice massage. Time well spent. Left good as new!
I progressed very slowly up the steep hills and steps during the last 2 sections of the race.
The 1000 steps up Nellies Glen were still torturous but much easier doing them in daylight than at night last year.
At 2 points during the final 50km I felt really flat to the point where I stopped to rest, investing 15 to 20 minutes each time.
I think this may have been due to letting myself get low on sugar, at which time I wasn't very interested in running...or eating much as I wasn't fully hydrated due to eating so much dried fruit.
The final section was extremely slow going for me, as I'd long since lost any powerwalking drive for going uphill.
Call of nature (#2) took about 5 minutes during last section. Oops...too much information?
Lilians Glen seemed to climb forever until it spat me out happily onto the Leura golf course near the finish line.

I ate about 6200 calories during the race consisting of:

During and after the race I had no aches or pains from wear and tear, no blisters, no cramps, no ITB issues, no shin splints, no hip flexor issues, no sore knees, no tight achilles, no heel spurs, nothing! Woo hoo!
I did a series of squats, crunches and burpees at the finish (Some people will do anything when you put a video camera on them).
Apologies to the runner at the finish suffering in an arm chair, legs up, shivering under a blanket, pointing at me saying "That's just wrong. Make him stop."

Race start: 7:10am
Finish time: 23 minutes 34 seconds after midnight
Total race time: 17 hours 13 minutes 34 seconds
First 50km 7 hours 7 minutes
Final 50km 10 hours 6 minutes
I received a well crafted, weighty, bronze belt buckle for completing the course in under 20 hours.

I met Dean Karnazes. Author of "Ultra-marathon man...confessions of an all night runner".
He says he eats raw (nothing cooked over 120 degrees Fahrenheit) and he would be vegan except for eating raw salmon.
He eats tonnes of fruit. I also heard he ate Tim Cochrane's last slice of pizza at the last checkpoint, so maybe he isn't fussy about what he eats during races.
In any case, Dean looked in great shape and he was genuinely a top bloke to talk to.

I had an enjoyable 8.5 hours sleep after the race.
I ate a whole watermelon in the sunshine for breakfast.
I then went running up hills (only 14 hours after finishing) for the video camera and felt awesome.
I then completed a series of interview questions for the documentary.
I ran the "Pain in the Domain", a 6 km interval run in Sydney on the Tuesday after the race in 30 mins and felt solid, especially up the hills and stairs.
On Thursday I ran 7km from the city to Rose Bay and back.
On Friday I ran a quick 4km over the Harbour Bridge.
I've signed up for the Poor Man's Comrades (96km) on Saturday 13th June, just a few weeks away. It goes along the old Pacific Highway from Gosford train station on the Central Coast to the steps of the Opera House in the city. Can't wait!

The event was perfectly organised by The North Face and the trail was flawlessly marked. I didn't need to look at my map once.
I'll be back again next year :)