Falls Creek

He's in Kenya and he always comes, he'd come off altitude to break that.

I think the first time he broke the Australian record, that was like, was it like, fairball march like off of Falls Creek one and he also broke the Australian half marathon record the start of this year off an altitude block so I was like kind of excited to see what he was going to do at world half off his Kenya trip but a nasty fall has knocked him around hopefully it

doesn't impact Melbourne

Yeah, hopefully not.

So, yeah, it is quite a remote place.

People might have heard of mountains like Mount Hotham at Falls Creek and that sort of stuff.

It picks up a lot of the watershed from mountains around that area.

So it relies heavily on snowmelt in the spring, but it's a big enough catchment that you can run it in summer.

So I did extensive testing over Christmas before I'd even qualified.

Uh, I took my TT bike, full disc wheel, aero helmet, and actually climbed Mount Hotham and then Falls Creek two days later, so both six-hour rides-

Of course you did

... back to back.

And then in year nine you do a big hike up in like, like around Mount Bogong sorta area.

Like, um, like Falls Creek-

Mm-hmm

... sort of that mountain-y kind of area, and that's a bit more intense.

I had done all my training in Australia.

So I was training in some quite warm conditions at altitude in Falls Creek.

So I was very confident that, you know, I was going to run well at the world cross country.

And cross country is something that I always enjoyed.

And that was the first year that the World Athletics decided to divide the cross country because it used to be just one medium sized race of six kilometers.

So they decided we're going to have a long course and a short course and try and get more of the middle distance runners to take part.

So I was thinking I was going to do the short course and then my coach Alan one day I was up in the attic where I was staying in the loft in Falls Creek and he said well you know the real race is the long race and then I was like yeah so I ran the long race that was in my head and I never really thought about running the short race until I had finished and won the long race and And then I was going for lunch in a hotel with one of the American athletes who I used to train with, Bob Kennedy.

And he just kind of talked to me as if I was running the next day.

That deep dive is coming up for you next.

[upbeat music] One of Australia's worst snow seasons on record is coming to an end, with some of our country's biggest resorts, Mount Buller, Hotham, and Falls Creek, closing early over the weekend.

A run of unseasonably warm and rainy weather has plagued the mountains since June, when the season usually begins, and tourists were met with disappointing conditions throughout.

Instead of fresh powder, skiers turned up to warm, rainy weather and slopes that were more dirt than snow.

Yeah.

On the 27th of July, the Fove's played the man hotel at Falls Creek.

The next day they shifted over to Jack Frost at Mount Hotham.

How did you feel about doing interviews in the press in the 2000s? You were sort of lamenting.

We've still got Bourke Street turning here.

Falls Creek have got four lifts.

Hotham's got one lift only.

The Summit is still turning.

Just a reminder, we have police up and around the Alpine areas this weekend as part of our road policing operation Eastern Snow.

That's around Mount Buller, Falls Creek and Mount Hotham.

We want everyone to have a great time and be safe.

I'm not sure if you know, but all vehicles that enter Alpine areas during the snow season are required by law to carry wheelchains.