FRAN Grady is, by her own admission, petrified.

But that is accompanied by feelings of accomplishment, pride and excitement after she qualified to contest the prestigious Six Foot Track Marathon after years of trying.

The Six Foot Track Marathon, held over 45 kilometres, has been described as “the toughest marathon in Australia, if not the world”.

It is held each March in the Blue Mountains and as the name suggests, competitors run along the Six Foot Track, a bridle trail originally cut in 1884 which runs between Katoomba and the Jenolan Caves.

In order to qualify Grady needed to complete another gruelling event held in the Blue Mountains, the 100km Ultra Trail Australia, in less than 21 hours. 

She clocked a time of 20 hours, 24 minutes in the May 14 event.

“I thought it was out of my reach for a long time, I thought I was way too slow,” Grady said

“The 100 was the only thing I could enter that I knew I’d have a chance of qualifying I suppose. After last year – I ran 22 hours last year – I was close, so I thought I had a chance this year.

“The year before that I did 25:40, so I’ve come down over five hours the last two years.

“I can’t believe it, just the time and I finished it really well. It was one of those things that you don’t think you are going to achieve it and then you do.

“I go to CityFit and I had one of the guys there do an endurance program for me for nine weeks. I think that helped a lot.”

Grady’s effort in the Ultra Trail, which was formerly known as the NorthFace 100, was not the only impressive time clocked by a Bathurst runner.

Chris Walsh completed the distance in 16 hours, 11 minutes and 19 seconds, while Brian Smith (17:22.18) and Bill McKenna (17:22.45) were also well below the 20-hour mark.

But for Grady, who is 54, to have improved so much in such a short period of time was remarkable and her Bathurst club-mates were delighted to see her qualify for the Six Foot.

Grady herself, who has watched her husband Chris contest the gruelling endurance race, has more mixed emotions.

“All the guys in the running club are very excited, I’m petrified. My husband will next year be going for his 12th run in it and he thinks it is harder than the NorthFace,” she said.

“I know how hard it is, I have spent the last 12 years at the finish line watching everyone come through and I’ve seen the pain and the cramps.

“I think is hard because you have to run so much faster. You’ve got 28 hours to do the 100, so that’s a good time, but with the Six Foot you’ve got seven hours.

“The last four kays down into Cave House, that’s the scary bit because you’re tired. The legs have done all uphill and then you are downhill and it is steep and rocky.”

The Gradys will run alongside one another in the event, or at least plan to stick with each other as long as possible. Chris – who is responsible for his wife taking up competitive endurance racing – will earn a Six Foot belt if he finishes inside the seven-hour cut off.

“My husband started about 12 years ago and I started walking around the Mount [Panorama], but he and a friend caught me running down one day – that was it. Busted running, now I’ve got to run,” Grady said.

“Four years and I’ve got the technique down, it must be working.

“I am excited, really excited, and if I come to the day and don’t finish it in seven hours, at least I can say I attempted it.”

Given the event attracts runners from not only across Australia but international competitors as well, no matter how the race unfolds it on March 11 next year, it will be something Grady can be proud of.