Wayne Spies’ race

They say “You have to see it to believe it”. Yet having seen Wayne Spies’ incredible performance at the Sri Chinmoy 100km Road Race in Canberra on 24 and 25 February 2024, I still actually can hardly believe it!

Running the first 5km lap in a sleek 19:14, many onlookers assumed Wayne was representing one of the faster relay teams. Was he wearing the wrong race number? Next lap he accelerated to 19:03, followed that with 19:09 and another 19:14. Each and every lap of the first 50km ticked over at less than 20 minutes. This was Wayne’s first ever 100km race – perhaps his inexperience was leading him to go out too fast?? (this was a random thought bubble – having won the Male 50+ at last year’s Comrades Marathon in his native South Africa, Wayne clearly was not without experience, and knew very well what he was doing!!)

A runner pure and simple: Wayne shone with power, speed, grace and harnessed exuberance through every thrilling stride, scattering joy and igniting wonder all about him as he sped on through the twilight and into the night.

The 50 mile mark (just over 80km) was reached in a phenomenal 5:25:44. All eyes had been focused on the Australian M50 age record for this distance, previously held by the late Bryan Smith from 1995, of 6:19:57. It’s very rare that such a massive slice is taken from what was already an impressive and long-standing record. Then it was realised that Wayne had indeed broken an even older record, of more than 50 years’ standing – the World 50 mile IAU WABP of 5:35:05, set in New York in 1970 by the Father of Long-Distance Running himself, the immortal Ted Corbett. Fittingly, Ted Corbett was a close friend and mutual admirer of Sri Chinmoy, the founder and inspiration behind this Canberra race.

Focus now turned to the Australian national M50 record for 100km of 7:47:33, held by Kevin Matthews, set at Australind, WA in 2018. The only question was: by what margin would Wayne lower this mark? Wayne’s pace eased only slightly through the second half of the race, his slowest lap clocking at 22:22. Only one relay team – of 10 very fit and much younger athletes – eclipsed his finish time, a phenomenal new Australian M50 benchmark of 6:49:55!! Needless to say, Wayne won the solo race outright with a performance and an effulgence none of us will ever forget – even if we find it difficult to believe…

Everyone else’s solo race

Rhiannon Snipe, as always, was superb in winning the Women’s race and claiming the title of AURA Australian 100km Road Champion, placing 3rd outright in a fine 8:34:23, from 2nd placed Christine Ta with 12:18:42. 3rd place in the Australian Championships was claimed by Female 60-69 winner and local legend, Pam Muston, whose decades of experience and innate racing memory, brought her to the finish in 12:51:19, despite coming from 12 weeks enforced lay-off with zero training!  The Female 50-59 category turned out to be a very close contest with Karen Chan’s 14:40:01 just eclipsing Beck Myors’ 14:41:13, providing drama even in the final half hour of the race.

The men’s Under 50 contest was effectively the race for 2nd place on the AURA Australian Championships podium. Benjamin Kuang saw off all contenders in running a remarkably consistent pace – 22 minute lap splits all the way to lap 17, only losing a few minutes over the final hour – to win his category in a fine 7:35:28. 2nd place was Marcus Cockshutt with 8:37:59, from James Hewatt’s 9:12:01. Lachlan Obaydin (9:19:15), Michael Griffin (9:32:33), Dan Symonds (10:07:22) and 100km debutant, teenager Oliver Payne (10:45:29) filled out the top 7 placings.

2nd place in the Male 50-59 was a solid run from evergreen contender Kevin Muller (9:30:56); with Ross Scott finishing 3rd with 13:46:39. Brett Crowe took out the Male 60-69s with 12:09:27, from Stephen Graham’s 12:51:05; while 70 and Over champion Greg Wilson, continued his winning ways with an outing of 12:58:54.

T2 (Relay teams of 2)

The idea of the T2 format, was to offer runners a taste of an ultra running experience, without having to complete the whole 100km solo; and to enjoy that experience with a teammate – something like a tandem skydive. The 20 laps could be shared between the two runners however they chose. Some teams elected to run 50:50, two 50km races back to back. Others alternated 10 x 5km legs through the night, a particular mental and physical challenge, backing up time and again on increasingly-tiring legs. Still other teams allocated the kms spontaneously as the race went on, even running a few laps together (even hand in hand!)

“Team Dordo” (David Dexter and Martin Rowe), a pairing who chose to alternate legs, were fastest in this category, winning the T2 Open in an impressive 7:52:46. “Ultra Pioneers” (Kristy Janszen and Justin Hiatt) also alternated their way to 1st place in the T2 Mixed division, with 8:14:08; while the winning All-Female combination “Jordassie” saw Jordan Anderton and Cassie Cohen run consecutive 50km stints each, to finish in 8:28:56.

T10 (Relay teams of 3 to 10)

The T10 category saw the greatest variety of contestants, from agglomerations of casual park runners, to highly disciplined ensembles of pedigree racers. Like the T2 category, T10 teams could also divvy up the legs between their members however they liked, and could make those decisions as the race progressed, logging their team schedule via a constantly-updated online form. The only requirement for T10 teams which did not apply to the T2s, was that no runner could run consecutive legs – the “baton” (in this case, the race belt with number bib and timing chip) had to be exchanged after each and every lap – just to keep everyone on their toes! This flexibility meant teams could race tactically, bringing their fastest and freshest runners into the fray when most needed. Some teams had a designated Team Manager, with furrowed brow, clipboard, multiple pens and stopwatch in hand, responsible to ensure each runner was warmed up and ready to race off, the moment their teammate came hurtling out of the dark and storming across the timing mat.

The team format brought tremendous competitive camaraderie to the scene, with rival and friendly team “camps” complete with tents, banners and vocal cheer squads urging on and applauding their champions. There was a tremendous contrast between the meditative, almost silent further reaches of the course, with just the sounds of runners’ footsteps and breathing, gliding by the lake’s edge under a midnight full moon canopy, around the serene Nerang Pool, then rising up the final “hill” and turning into the “finish chute” and the floodlit, fun-filled clatter of the relay transition zone.

“Kudos Running Crew Canberra” proved the pace-setters right from the first leg, with four very fast females (Brittany Harriden, Sarah Fletcher, Lili Mooney and Louisa Hulin), handing over to six very fast males (Jonathan Blanchard, David Coward, Daniel Carsen, Joe Pascoe, Daniel Chung and Kale Hulin), presenting as a very well-oiled operation who recorded the fastest female (Sarah Fletcher with 18:07) and male (Daniel Carson’s 16:38) 5km lap splits for the whole race. Running 2 legs each, they duly won the T10 Mixed category in 6:23:15, setting a gold standard for future teams to aspire for.

Though trailing “Kudos Running Crew Canberra”, the Open category had closer competition and a deeper field. T10 teams could conscript anywhere from 3 to 10 members, and you might think that more runners would mean fresher legs, and hence the prospect of a faster overall time. Confounding this theory, the “4 horsemen” of Will Mackie, Jesse Toniolo, Josh Leith and Hugh Mason contrived a unique plan; the pairing of Jesse and Will running alternate laps for 50km, then handing over to Josh and Hugh to alternate for the remaining 50km. Their unorthodox strategy won them the T10 Open division, finishing in 6:51:21.

“The Wagga Joggers” (Chantelle McCallum, Hettie Dunn, Lila Gordon-Smith, Kath Mills, Alison Skinner, Lucy Bourne, Simone Francis, Sally Hawkins, Emily Gordon-Smith and Lauren Oates) exemplified the team ethos of fitness-as-fun, sporting their custom-designed team uniform for the occasion and performing brilliantly on the night to take out the All-Female T10s in under 10 hours – 9:55:53.

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Our sincere gratitude to all involved in planning, preparing and staging this first-time event, which proved to be an historical occasion. All going well, the event will return.