Interview - Charlie ‘cowboy’ Hamilton (AUS)
Read time 8 minutes
Introduction
Charlie ‘cowboy’ Hamilton is an Australian (Canberra) based elite trail runner who is not only an impressive athlete, but a wonderful human. Sponsored by ASICS and Precision Hydration & Fuel, and a favourite at the race events, he is one to watch. Charlie spent his younger years competing in the road cycling scene, something he says he does a lot of with his training still, switching time on legs for the bike. Charlie also does some coaching, so hit him up on his Instagram if you want one of the best supporting you in your trail running efforts. You can find him on Instagram @cowboyhamilton
Interview
Let’s start at the beginning. How did you get into trail running?
I grew up road cycling and I did that to a pretty high level. Then when I turned 18, I kind of stopped doing exercise altogether, spent a few years just partying and having fun, and I ended up with a little bit of extra weight on me. I decided one day, God, how am I going to lose this weight? I can't start cycling again. That's too expensive when you're a uni student, so I might as well just start running. I started running through Covid, so I couldn't really do any events. The first event that came up was a local Canberra trail run, and I realised straight away how good the sport was. What blew me away was my friend who finished four hours behind me, everyone cheered her as much as they did me, and that blew me away. I came from cycling, where you didn’t see that. It made me want to keep coming back.
What are the 3 things you would focus on as a new trail runner?
1. Patience. Running is a sport that can hurt your body quite quickly if you're not used to it. We all get really excited and want to do the next longest event, or we want to run as far as we can every weekend. But being patient just means that you're going to be able to get stronger and you're going to be able to run more eventually. It just takes time.
2. Eating. Eating on your runs and around your runs. As long as you keep fueling, you’ll have a better time, because you're going to have more energy.
3. Finding events and putting yourself in the community. Sometimes it can be hard to find that community at the start, especially when you're just getting into it. But putting yourself out there, getting to events and getting to local running clubs, it really does help, and it makes you want to run more if there's more people around.
What is your proudest trail running achievement so far?
I've had a couple opportunities to pace some of my friends in hundred mile races. I think particularly the first time I paced my friend Matt Gore, who's from Sydney at GSER hundred miler, it was special. I got to be in the race with him, but I wasn't racing myself. It was just helping someone get through something really, really hard. Finishing that with him and watching how he tackled that, how hard that was, that was awesome. That feeling at the end was as good as any of my race results. I've also done that with Kelly Emerson, who's a champion runner. I paced her at Grampians hundred miler last year, and watching her run through the night, it was unbelievable.
What is your favourite kind of trail to run?
I like alpine trails. I did what we call the Good Loop in down in Bright last weekend, which runs up to Mount Feather top along the Razorback region down, and it's pretty technical. It's got these long climbs. There's just something special about having a hard long run ahead of you on hard trails, and I'm kind of just heading out and getting it done. I really like doing that.
What is your favourite trail you have ever run, and why?
Two years ago when I went to Europe for the first time, I was in Chamonix. We were there watching UTMB and there's this mountain called Le Buet. You start in the valley, climb up 2000 meters to above 3000 meters above sea level on this big rock. And it's absolutely brutal, because you climb for about two hours, you're running up a 20-30% gradient.
What does your typical weekly training schedule look like?
The big weeks I do about probably 10 hours of running, and I do lots of cycling as well, because I'm still somewhat new to running. I can’t run 130-140k a week, week in, week out anymore, because I'd probably get injured. But because I come from cycling, I can probably do 5-7 hours of cycling, as well as the running. We do two sessions, a nice long run, and then as much cycling in as I can.
Let’s chat nutrition, what is your go-to stack for, let’s say, a long training run?
I am supported by Precision Fuel and Hydration, and I'm a big fan of their PF 90 gels. It's 90 grams of carbs, which is like three regular gels. So I just take two or three of those out for a long run, and that's all you really need. Plus they've got these chews, and they have a lemon and a mint flavour and they taste like Turkish Delights. So it's a little treat when you're heading up a long climb in your long run, and you've got this little Turkish Delight lolly. It's delicious.
What is your preferred road training shoe and trail race shoe at the moment?
I love the ASICS Trabuco Max 3s. They're a super cushioned shoe that are just awesome for punching through any trails. I absolutely love them.
My road shoe would be the Nimbus TR Nimbus 26 T. It's got a little bit of grip on it, but it's a super comfy everyday running shoe.
What up and coming trail running athletes are standing out for you at the moment, and why?
I'm super stoked on all the Australian trail runners. I think the level that we have here is incredible, and I think in no time, there's going to be someone that's going to punch through into the international scene. Mikey Dimuantes is one, he'll be really good at the 100K and Anna McKenna, I think we already know how good Anna is, but it's only going to take one result, one good run for Anna to be up there with some of the best in the world.
Any advice for new trail runners on how to improve their overall performance?
I would just say just enjoy your running. I think some people can get stuck trying to do too much and trying to go too hard, but just go out there with some friends and just jog around in the trees, and that's going to make you a better runner.
Are you up for chatting about your incredible Buffalo Stamede race?
Context: Charlie placed 2nd (moments behind 1st) at this year’s Buffalo Stampede 42km SkyRun after an incredible fight to get back on the podium after going 4km off course with the lead pack after the first 10 minutes.
Yeah, it was a shame. I was super excited to race Ronnie Sparke and Reece Edwards. So that was a bit disappointing to not get to finish that race with them, the pace was already so hot at the start.
Seeing you cross that finish line in second place after what happened was really emotional even as a spectator, can you talk me through how you felt crossing that finish line?
It was a really emotional race that whole time. I have so much respect for that race, and Single Track events are so good for the sport. Buffalo Stampede is such an important race for Australian trial running. I just knew I couldn't not do the race justice, even though there was some unfortunate circumstances. Crossing the finish line was super emotional. I knew my partner Lily, my dad and Mikey, and all my friends were there, and having gotten so close to Billy's run was incredible, but having gotten so close to him, but just not to be able to finish it off, that was probably the hardest part. I just had to make sure I could give it everything I could. I think that's really all you can do.
Photographer: Instagram @EarthyMedia
Deciding to go on and fight your way back in that way took incredible character. Where would you say those qualities come from for you?
Growing up, both my parents were super athletic and I watched my dad do Iron Man triathlon. He wanted to break 10 hours on his first Iron Man, and he didn't do it for years. It took him until his fifth Iron Man to break 10 hours, but every time he would just put his head down, get back to training, and he wasn't going to stop until he got that time. And eventually he did, and it meant so much to him. So I learned that if you just put your head down, you can do these things. You can just get it done. Mum was a swimmer. Mum's done lots of running as well. Both my parents are incredible athletes. I watched them my whole life train and race. That taught me a lot.
You said in your Instagram post about it, that it is the nature of the sport. What would you say to people when their race doesn’t go as planned?
I think you have to reflect on what you're actually there for. Whilst we're all there for the race, I mean, what we're really there for is to just go spend a bunch of time with people that love running and spend time up in the mountains. If things don't go well, you're still in a beautiful place with people that care, and people that love the sport. So just go and enjoy it.
Where can we follow along on social media?
Instagram @cowboyhamilton
Read the feature story inspired by Charlie ‘cowboy’ Hamilton on A cowboys’ character
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