Stats
As with all figures, these are from my own information I could gather but seem to agree with most other runners as far as I can tell. Always check the web site in case things change!
Web Site: trails+
Distance: 160km (100mi) in 8 x 20km laps
Elevation: 3200m
Runners: 30 to 40
Weather: Generally going to be fairly cool and possibly quite wet. Since it is laps you can easily bring a lot of extra gear and vary it over the day and night (and day again).
Mandatory Gear: N/A. Since this event is lapped you could get by almost entirely without any special gear with the exception of a good head torch with spare batteries and backup in case. Navigation is a non-issue and it's quite a safe course. As above, bring gear to allow for bad weather.
Web Site: trails+
Distance: 160km (100mi) in 8 x 20km laps
Elevation: 3200m
Runners: 30 to 40
Weather: Generally going to be fairly cool and possibly quite wet. Since it is laps you can easily bring a lot of extra gear and vary it over the day and night (and day again).
Mandatory Gear: N/A. Since this event is lapped you could get by almost entirely without any special gear with the exception of a good head torch with spare batteries and backup in case. Navigation is a non-issue and it's quite a safe course. As above, bring gear to allow for bad weather.
Course
Elevation Profile
The hills are obviously fairly restricted to a single part of each lap, with the rest being largely runnable. This allows for a lot of running for a miler and is something you'll need to contend with on each lap.
The You Yangs Hardcore 100 course makes for a great introduction to milers, but is also something quite different for those that have already gone 160km+. The start / finish for each lap is also an aid station and perfect for a gear drop, especially as you do an out and back up Flinders Peak each lap so have two opportunities to use it. The other aid station is at approximately 10.5km in near the park main entrance. You also pass this one twice, once before the horse track 5km loop and once after. As mentioned above, there is a lot of runnable course and my strategy was to run everything from the top of Flinders Peak to just after the horse track which was 1.5km to 16.5km, leaving 5km of walking hills. Since it is a lap you can be very light on gear and you'll feel better for it, especially by the later stages. I did keep a jacket and gloves in my pack at all times though, because you don't want to spend even half a lap uncomfortable and let your mental state take a dive.
Obviously training, fueling and the state of your body and mind on the day will play a huge part in this event, but I think the biggest two aspects that I could control on the day that I think made the biggest difference were keeping strict goals for myself throughout each lap and keeping my mental state in check. In the earlier laps I was strict on running the 16km of runnable with no walk breaks and later used familiar logs or other landmarks as my point where I would allow myself to walk. I think ad-hoc walk breaks can really be your undoing on this sort of event as you quickly feel like you are no longer in control of your race. To keep my mind in the right place I used as many strategies as I could to switch off and enjoy the event. I thought about the event leading up as a great opportunity to go for a run and not have to stop and go home which sounds great (just don't think about the rest of that). I would hum tunes to match my cadence for kms at a time, enjoy the scenery, chat to other runners and when I could, just zone out completely. The more of that you can do the better.
Summary
Obviously training, fueling and the state of your body and mind on the day will play a huge part in this event, but I think the biggest two aspects that I could control on the day that I think made the biggest difference were keeping strict goals for myself throughout each lap and keeping my mental state in check. In the earlier laps I was strict on running the 16km of runnable with no walk breaks and later used familiar logs or other landmarks as my point where I would allow myself to walk. I think ad-hoc walk breaks can really be your undoing on this sort of event as you quickly feel like you are no longer in control of your race. To keep my mind in the right place I used as many strategies as I could to switch off and enjoy the event. I thought about the event leading up as a great opportunity to go for a run and not have to stop and go home which sounds great (just don't think about the rest of that). I would hum tunes to match my cadence for kms at a time, enjoy the scenery, chat to other runners and when I could, just zone out completely. The more of that you can do the better.
Break Down
I'll go into more detail than usual here since I only need to cover 20km (one lap) and as you are going to be running the same sections eight times it pays to have a good approach for all of them.
Up Flinders Peak (0 to 1.5km)
The Flinders Peak climb is quite manageable and was a welcome break from running for me on each lap. There are a lot of stairs going up so wherever possible, take the slope beside the steps to avoid putting too much on your quads and hamstrings climbing steps. Don't be tempted to run any of it apart from the 50m or so flat stretch at about 700m - you'll need everything for later and there's very little to be gained here.
Down Flinders Peak (1.5km to 3.0km)
I played to my strength on downhill and kept a steady 5min/km or less up for every Flinders Peak descent. The keys to not trashing your legs with this are: high cadence (180+), controlled descent (using your forefoot), not over-striding (heel strike and strain on knees) and again using the slopes not steps. For less impact on turns, use the grip on rocks and even bounce off them to change directions.
Branding Yard to base of Saddleback Track (3.0km to 4.5km)
This is actually a fairly technical descent and I would just continue on from the Flinders Peak descent and try to flow down this one onto the next section. There are a few little inclines, but all runnable if you ease back a little (particularly the last one just before Saddleback).
Out to Eastern Boundary and down to Eastern Epic (4.5km to 8.0km)
This is a beautiful runnable stretch where you head out over some nice bridges and through the trees to the eastern edge of the You Yangs and run down to a turn off to Eastern Epic. Eastern Epic had not yet been completed for the inaugural event, but it may be used now so check on the day. If it is in, look forward to a few more rolling inclines. This is 3.5km of solid running though either way and there's no reason to walk any of this each lap as you need to keep yourself moving.
Eastern Epic to Horse Tracks (8.0km to 10.9km)
This is where the tough part of each lap began for me. By now I'd been running 6.5km, with another 2.9km of "relatively" flat trail along the southern edge of the You Yangs until the next aid station. Since the Eastern Epic has been designed for mountain bikes, there are lots of little rolling hills to keep them interested and you will really feel it. I varied my pace a lot over this, shuffling up the tiny hill and then faster down, repeating this process a lot. There is also a gradual incline to the entrance here and you'll feel that in your legs. You may want to walk some of this in later stages, but try to run what you can.
Horse Tracks (10.9km to 15.9km)
There's no nice way to say this - these tracks will be hell. It's flat, it's wide and it's a long stretch that will feel like you're going nowhere at night. My advice is to practice switching off and just getting a good rhythm going so you can clear this without thinking about it. Don't let yourself hate it or it will be worse. If you are going to have a pacer at any point, this is the best place to have company. Either that or try to find another runner to tag along with (I'm sure they'll appreciate it too!)
MTB Track and Big Rock Walk (15.9km to 18.2km)
By this stage you've thoroughly earned a walk break and enjoy the gentle climb up to big rock. You start up the bottom of a mountain bike track to the park office, then start the Big Rock Walk. There's two nice but brief flat spots you can jog heading up there, but only if you feel good. You can also jog across from Big Rock itself to the bottom of the next climb along the grass.
Big Rock to Turnable (18.2km to 20km)
After a final climb at the start of this, there are only two main hills in here so it is another fairly good opportunity to run, but play it safe. You will be walking up Flinders Peak again soon, but chances are you'll stop at the aid station and that rest will freshen up your legs enough so you could take this section as a chance to run before resting.
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