Cassie Scallon lines up as a favorite for this weekend’s The North Face 100k-Australia. In this interview, Cassie talks about how her 2015 races have prepared her for racing TNF 100k-Australia, what she thinks of all the race’s stairs, and what gear she’ll be carrying to fulfill the required gear list.
Find out more about who’s racing with our in-depth race preview.
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Cassie Scallon Pre-2015 The North Face 100k-Australia Interview Transcript
iRunFar: I’m Kerry Suter from iRunFar. I’m here with Cassie Scallon ahead of The North Face 100k-Australia. Cassie, welcome to Australia.
Cassie Scallon: Thank you. Great to be here.
iRunFar: What brings you out to Australia?
Scallon: Well, I’m here with the Ultra-Trail World Tour and here to run a great race.
iRunFar: You’ve had a couple of days here in Australia. Tell me a little bit about your experience so far.
Scallon: It was smooth getting in here, pretty easy flight. I came right from Sydney right over to here, so I didn’t get to see any of Sydney yet. I went out on the trails a little bit with Amy [Sproston] and got to see how many steps we’re going to be in for. It’s very, very full of steps.
iRunFar: You got to go for a run on the trail and experience the course, but you must have heard a little bit about it. What are you expecting?
Scallon: Well, I was expecting the stairs, and it was my plan that I was going to get on the Stairmaster a little bit back at home, but I actually didn’t do much of that. It’s too hot in my gym.
iRunFar: So training specifically for this race or in the build-up for this race, what have you been thinking about and doing?
Scallon: I’ve done a couple other races this year which I always think is the best training. I ran Chuckanut 50k in Washington state, and I ran Lake Sonoma last month. Those were my big bits of training, but other than that, I’ve been consistently running and have been feeling good. I had an injury up until the first of the year. Then I was cleared to run again. I’ve been running since then.
iRunFar: It’s been good to get back into it. So, some good racing this year. What do you think your best results have been in the past six to 12 months?
Scallon: Both of those races I’ve run before, and both times, this time running them was much more comfortable, and I’ve had good times there. I want to continue that sort of thing—just trying to run a lot more relaxed and pushing it towards the end a little bit harder instead of at the beginning of the race.
iRunFar: So you think that’s going to have something to do with your race plan or strategy on Saturday? Is it a “go easy and then push yourself,” or how to do you think it’s going to fall with the other girls in the race?
Scallon: Yeah, well it depends. I’d like to maintain a little bit of contact from the beginning, but I also want to just stay within myself and be very comfortable. So it depends on what everyone else does a little bit, up to a point, but I just want to stay comfortable and really enjoy it.
iRunFar: So there’s a little bit of a compulsory-gear requirement with this race—you get to bring along a lot of stuff with you, and I guess you get to test a lot of your technical equipment. Tell me a little bit about what you’ve packed for the race.
Scallon: This is my first-ever race having to have a list of things to bring along, so that’s a bit interesting for me. I’m lucky to have the support of Salomon, so of course I have all of my Salomon gear here and a little bit bigger pack than I would normally carry. Then, of course, I’ll have my Drymax running socks on which always get me through the race without any blisters, so I’m hoping for that same luck again. I’ll have some Julbo running sunglasses for this bright sun.
iRunFar: Yes, there is some lovely weather out here, but it’s a little colder than you anticipated. You’ll have to change things and adjust for that?
Scallon: Yeah, it’s a lot colder than I anticipated. I was kind of expecting wearing a tank top, but I’ll have plenty of jackets with me and layers to put on and maybe even some heated hand warmers that I depend pretty heavily on.
iRunFar: Yeah, run fast and stay warm. That’s what we say.
Scallon: That’s a good idea.
iRunFar: All the best for Saturday. Good luck out there.
Scallon: Thanks.
iRunFar: Cheers.
