KOKODA CHALLENGE TRAINING FOR THE BEGINNER TO INTERMEDIATE

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Pierce Summers
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1 KOKODA CHALLENGE TRAINING FOR THE BEGINNER TO INTERMEDIATE By Steven Halligan, 3 times KC finisher and Director of Halligans Fitness Personal Training. 3. Course specific fitness and training This is where we start the endurance walking on the event track. Start trail walking as soon as possible and make sure that you do every part of the course that is included in the course training notes. The better you know the track, the less the surprises on the day of the event, plus your body will become more accustomed to the terrain. The best way to start with training on the track is to start on one of the easiest parts of the track for example Waterfall loop CP5 CP7 or Nerang State Forest. In saying that in my training schedule I have put to start at Polly s Kitchen, the reason being is that it makes you realise quickly what you have signed up for and it is a bit of a reality check, every year we have done the Kokoda Challenge we have started with Polly s and it is a quick reminder of how tough yet rewarding the Challenge is. A good way to fit training into a fairly busy schedule is to try and train as a group once a week, we trained early on a Sunday morning starting off at a fairly reasonable pace, remember to always stay together YOU ARE ONLY AS FAST AS YOUR SLOWEST PERSON! You will get faster as the weeks go by and the training increases in intensity. Here is a training schedule for 20 weeks leading up to the event. I have also included some options to keep the weekend training sessions from becoming too repetitious, feel free to use the structure I have provided and mix it up if it works better for you. The below 20 week plan is available as a separate PDF in the competitors area in a larger format for printing. Note from KYF Admin. Steven's team used this training plan to complete the Kokoda Challenge in around 28 hours in 2013 and Steven's wife Danielle was also in the team and with 4 children under 12 they were very time poor. In addition to their weekend walk wherever they could steal an hour during the week they also performed additional strength and cardio sessions. While Steven is a Personal Trainer the other three team members where only of average fitness before commencing this program. This plan is the absolute bare minimum suggested to prepare yourself for the event and needs to be coupled with additional mid week strength training and cardio sessions. All track training information and section profile graphs can be found in the training notes on the website. Please make sure that you login to your competitors area, download and print off the training notes and carry them with you when training to avoid getting lost! If you are unable to travel to the Gold Coast to train have a look at the Checkpoint (CP) section track profile graphs. This will give you an indication of the type of terrain you need to seek out to complete your training sessions.

2 WEEK 1 28th Feb & 1st Mar 2015 Polly s Kitchen top of hill return Start at the carpark 500m towards Springbrook from Polly s Kitchen. There is a toilet block here and the track starts straight over the road through the National Park gate. Using your training notes follow the fire trail to the top of the hill/mountain to the log that is in a clearing at the top, turn around and then return to the carpark. On this walk you can car pool as you will only need one car for this walk. It is only 5 kilometres however it is a very steep climb and a great introduction to the Kokoda Challenge course. WEEK 2 7th & 8th March Waterfall Loop The waterfall loop from the corner of Pine Creek Rd and Murwillumbah Rd, complete the circuit to Numinbah Hall and back to the car. This walk is 14 kilometres and relatively flat through the water crossings. There are creek crossings and it is important to see what they are like and especially closer to the actual event so you can be better prepared for how deep they will be. Many teams change shoes at CP6 after this section. WEEK 3 14th & 15th March 2015 Mt Nimmel Lodge Return. Park in the clearing 200m before Mt Nimmel Lodge on Austinville Road. Mt Nimmel Lodge is private property so please do NOT enter the property. Public toilets are located 500m back along the road. Being careful of traffic follow Austinville Rd then left into Tallowwood Rd. Follow the training route up Mudgeeraba Hill, along the ridge and down to Austinville Rd. Return back to Mt Nimmel Lodge. This is one of the hardest hills in the course. It is 13 kilometres however

3 the hills are very steep, this will give you an idea of how challenging the event can be. You can car pool to this venue also as you will be going out and back. Please do not train along Tallowwood Rd during the night as it disturbs the residents, use the Bonogin Rd trail head if walking here at night. WEEK 4 Sunday 22 nd March Toowoomba Kokoda Challenge. The event is either 15 or 30km and is a separate event you can enter. Funds raised go towards running a Toowoomba chapter of the Kokoda Challenge Youth Program A good reason to enter the Toowoomba Kokoda Challenge is that you use the event as a dress rehearsal for the main event and for those who are doing it for the first time get to experience what it feels like to have so many other people walking or running beside you at different paces. It is also an opportunity to test your nutrition plan, shoes, walking poles etc. The other option is a long beach walk or doing one of the other training sessions twice. WEEK 5 28th & 29th March 2015 Polly s Kitchen Pine Creek Rd corner. Start at the carpark 500m towards Springbrook from Polly s Kitchen. Follow the course over the top of Polly s hill and down the other side to where you exit the National Park steel gate onto Pine Creek Rd. Two cars required with the second left at the gravel turn out by the gate. WEEK 6 EASTER 4th & 5th April 2015 Mt Nimmel Lodge to Polly s Kitchen. CP2 to CP4. Park in the clearing 200m before Mt Nimmel Lodge on Austinville Road. Mt Nimmel Lodge is private property so please do NOT enter the property. Public toilets are located 500m back along the road. Follow the course route finishing at Polly s Kitchen. Second car parked across the road from Polly s- 2 cars needed. WEEK 7 11th & 12th April 2015 Syd Duncan Park to Belliss Road. Starting at Syd Duncan Park Lower Beechmont (CP10) walk carefully along the bitumen road, down Hellfire Pass to Bellis Rd - 2 cars needed WEEK 8 18th & 19th April 2015 Polly s Kitchen to track exit at Pine Creek Rd - return. Start at the carpark 500m towards Springbrook from Polly s Kitchen. Follow the course over the top of Polly s hill and down the other side to where you exit the National Park steel gate onto Pine Creek Rd. Return to Polly s Kitchen. WEEK 9 ANZAC DAY 25th & 26th April 2015 Mt Nimmel Lodge to Polly s Return. (CP2 CP4 CP2) Start near Mt Nimmel Lodge and take the track to Polly s and then return to the Mt Nimmel Lodge. A longer training walk including two of the events Big 5 hills. WEEK 10 2nd & 3rd May 2015 Mount Warning. Start in the dark and get to the top for sunrise. Test out those head torches.

4 WEEK 11 9th & 10th May 2015 Syd Duncan Park to Belliss Road Return. Starting at Syd Duncan Park Lower Beechmont (CP10) walk carefully along the bitumen road, down Hellfire Pass to Bellis Rd and return back up Hellfire Pass. WEEK 12 16th & 17th May 2015 Nerang State Forest Return. Starting at the finish line at Nerang Velodrome follow the course out to CP12 near the corner of The Oval Drive and Beaudesert Rd. Return to velodrome. Note: an option is to follow the training route to increase this to 24km. Take plenty of water as there are no refill points along this route or leave a second car with provisions at The Oval Drive. WEEK 13 23rd & 24th May 2015 Polly s and Waterfall Loop. (CP4 CP7) Starting at Polly s over the hill to the corner of Pine Creek Rd then complete the Waterfall Loop via Numinbah Hall. 2 cars needed with second left at corner Pine Creek Rd. WEEK 14 Sunday 31st May 2015 Brisbane Kokoda Challenge Brookfield. You can choose to enter the separate Brisbane 30km event as a great opportunity to test out your team, your gear and strategy. There is also a 15km event which some competitors choose to do with their family or friends to give them a taste of what you get up to each weekend while out training. The event is also a fundraiser for the KCYP. WEEK 15 QUEENS B'DAY 6th & 7th June 2015 Nerang State Forest - Return NIGHT WALK. Starting at the finish line at Nerang Velodrome follow the course out to CP12 near the corner of The Oval Drive and Beaudesert Rd. Return to velodrome. Note: an option is to follow the training route to increase this to 24km. Night walking is a big part of the Kokoda Challenge experience so make sure you at least complete one night walk in the bush. WEEK 16 13th & 14th June 2015 Mt Nimmel Lodge-Polly s-waterfall Loop. (CP2 CP7) The longest walk of this training plan. Starting near Mt Nimmel Lodge follow the course over to Polly s then over the hill and on to complete the Waterfall loop via Numinbah Hall. You will cover 3 of the Big 5 hills in this session. 2 cars needed with the second car parked where you will finish at Pine Creek Rd corner. WEEK 17 20th & 21st June 2015 Mt Nimmel & Polly s. Starting near Mt Nimmel follow the course over to Polly s and then on to the steel National Park gate exit onto Pine Creek Rd. (2 cars needed) WEEK 18 27th & 28th June 2015 Polly s and Waterfall Loop. Polly s Kitchen over the hill to complete the waterfall loop and back to the steel National Park gate where Polly s track exits onto Pine Creek Rd (2 cars needed)

5 WEEK 19 4th & 5th July 2015 Gold Coast Marathon. You may like to mix up your training with a short run or as quite a few KC competitors are also keen runners you may be participating in the half or full marathon. Otherwise read how your body is feeling and train accordingly or give yourself a rest week. WEEK 20 11th & 12th July 2015 Waterfall Loop. One week out from the big day and this is an easy taper walk. The waterfall loop from the corner of Pine Creek Rd, complete the circuit via Numinbah Hall and back to the car. This week you are looking to get the legs turning over however it needs to be at an easy relaxed pace. WEEK 21 18th & 19th July 2015 Gold Coast Kokoda Challenge Mudgeeraba-Nerang 96km 11 to 39 hours. Good Luck to all the teams. I will be leading some group walking sessions throughout the 20 week program to assist participants with becoming familiar with the track, but also to help with ideas on ways to organise your team, support crew and general tips and hints on how to finish as a full team and injury free. Details on these walk will be posted for me by the KYF Admin with limited places for a small fee. If you would like more information contact me via the information below. Steven Halligan Director Halligan's Fitness Personal Training Mobile web: info@halligansfitness.com.au

3. Continue west along Franklin Drive for 100 metres to the entry of the Nu Wave Trees property.

3. Continue west along Franklin Drive for 100 metres to the entry of the Nu Wave Trees property. Section 1. Mudgeeraba (Start) to Orange Court (Checkpoint 1) Starting Point: Firth Park Sporting Complex, Somerset Drive, Mudgeeraba UBD: Map 58 - C3 GPS: (WGS84 datum) 56 535663E 6893480N Height: 5 metres